divas...room for one more?

My girls are divas.

I had Chloe get dressed in a long sleeved shirt and jeans today and she came out of her room fully accessorized...it was raining buckets, but I guess it was still too bright inside.

And yesterday, Brynn was playing outside with the big kids while I made dinner. They snuck popsicles (thus the chocolate face) and then she decided to pick my flowers. Chloe came in to tattle notify me of the misdeed and Brynn picked another plant out of the ground just to be a stinker. So I made her take a time out. She rubbed the fake tears out of her eyes, pouted her lip just so, and looked at me, just to make sure I had noticed the signs that she wasn't happy about it.

I am 38 weeks. 6 days ago, I was dialated to a 2 1/2, partially effaced and the peanut had aready dropped (less heartburn, more potty trips, still no room for air in my lungs). The next day I lost my mucous plug (sorry for the TMI). I have been awoken at 4 am to time contractions 2 minutes apart for 40 minutes and then stood up to go gather my things and the contractions went away. I have taken LONG walks, pushing Brynn in the stroller, up steep hills...nothing. I have done squats repeatedly...nothing (but sore leg muscles). I have taken all the kids to Costco twice in one week...nothing but sporadic contractions. I have cleaned the house...and cleaned the house again...and vacuumed...and picked up toys...and done dishes...nothing...not even a clean house.

Despite my Doctor thinking I probably wouldn't make it to my next appointment (which is tomorrow), this baby girl is proving to have a mind of her own...sounds like she takes after her big sisters. Is there really enough room in this house for one more DIVA?

sissies

With all the fighting, feistiness, drama and meltdowns these little ladies stir up around here, 

moments like this make it all worth it!

egg hunt

Just wanted to share a little Easter loveliness from our Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma Colleen's house...

Oh how much I love these littles!

pictures, exhuastion, and lots of love

Motherhood is an interesting thing. I am always amazed that the very little people who wear me out day after day after day are the same little people who make my life so very very happy. And since these little people make me so happy, I am sharing a little bit of their sweetness with you!

Enjoy!

At our friend's annual easter egg hunt...

she was pretty pumped about finding eggs and putting them in her basket.

she was more excited about how beautiful the eggs were

and he was mostly excited about gathering the loot and then checking it out!

um...she is waaay too cute for her own good!

Dancing in the living room...a favorite pasttime!

Brynn looks up to her big sister soooo much.
She wants to be just like her in every way!

Pure adoration!

today was high tea...

I guess I'm not technically sure what high tea is, but working under the assumption that it is

tea at high noon a.k.a. "tea party lunch"

the combination of

pj's

tea sets

tuna and cucumber "tea sandwiches"

pink lemonade

carrots with ranch dip

mini marshamallows on toothpicks



And yes..I think this is some kind of record:
2 posts in the same day and same day pictures!

Makeover #2

Starting up a photography business has required a lot of practice shoots.

Much to their dismay, my kids are about as cute as little models can get, so they have been the primary subjects every time there is a new location, prop, or accessory I want to try out.

So, I have a lot of pictures of those 3 little munchkins, but the only pictures on display in our house have been kiddie kandids photos we had taken of Morgan when he was about a month old and Chloe when she was about a month old. There they hung in my living room - 6 pictures in ugly cheapo Walmart frames, while my hard drives are brimming with updated adoreableness (not to mention better photography).

Seth has been urging me to get these pictures off the hard drives and onto our walls for months and finally, for the sake of "business" in response to many inquiries to see the different products I sell, I placed a massive print order, took a trip to Michael's with a coupon to use in addition to a 40% off framing sale and took down those 6 little 5x7s and 8x10s.

The result:

LOVE this new look!

funny things

At Sunday dinner with my fam a few weeks ago, we were talking about Shrek 4 coming out.

everyone was quiet for a minute and out of the blue,

Chloe says,

"Everyone put your hand in the air and say, 'SHREK 4'!"

If you know me and Seth, you know that she didn't learn that phrase from us...

I was co-oping in preschool a few weeks ago with one of the other moms and she told me,

"When Sylvie tells me about preschool she says, 'Morgan...you know, the funny one...'"

Earlier this week we were talking about Morgan's birthday and who would be coming to his family party,

"No ticklers are allowed at my party!"

And, just in case you are confused...a tickler is anyone who tickles him.

Pretty much all of his uncles are uninvited if that is the case!

Yesterday we were driving along and Morgan said,

"The only tickler who can come to my party is Dad, because I might want to play his iPod."

I am feeling totally overwhelmed with life right now.

The kids had colds last week and I have one this week that has knocked me flat.

I am editing a bunch of graduation pictures and dealing with birthday mayhem.

I now have 2 little girls who are highly overdramatic and have mastered the art of shrieking.

blah, blah, blah, complain, complain...

but these little pieces of humor coming from the mouths of my children get me through the day.

Sadly, I forget most of them before I get a chance to write them down,

so this is just a snippet of the ones I can remember.

I love them and I love their smart little minds and I love their sweet little faces.

Celebrations

Holidays are insanely crazy for everyone, and when you add kids to the mix...oh boy! So, we are lucky to have the most accomodating family ever! Because they are always willing to be flexible, we get to celebrate Christmas with everyone on different days and it makes for some serious fun!

We went to the annual Gregory Christmas Party (which was expanded to a church gym this year for the first time) and the kids had a blast smacking the piniata...and hiding on the stage to eat all their loot.

The Sunday before Christmas we celebrated with Grandma Becky and Fam...

I think it is every kid's dream to be surrounded by presents waiting to be opened!

We had some fun times giving/opening presents and the kids were spoiled...of course!

The girls were color coordinated with their packages...unplanned, but totally cute!

Morgan got a Leapster and once it had batteries he was off in lala land playing his game!

Chloe got this darling chest filled with dress-ups and she didn't waste any time trying on the dresses and accessorizing!

She even disappeared into the land of pretend for a while while the big people opened gifts...and then came back up and said...

"Everyone. Now we are going to sing Cinderella songs."

And then she proceeded to lead us all in song...with her magic wand, of course!

It was a great time! Thanks to all!

We had planned to do our traditional Snowshoe trip on Christmas Eve morning, but Morgan woke up throwing up, so we decided to stay home and rest instead.

He was doing much better by later in the day, so we visited the Tate clan and then it was off to Grandpa Mark's. Since my dad is getting remarried next week, it was our first Christmas Eve together with his fiance and her family. We had a turkey dinner, the kids got out all the toys at her house and we opened gifts. Chloe got a barbie and Morgan got hot wheels...and they were so excited that they ripped the packages open and played with them right there on the spot!

We always go sledding with the Tates on Boxing Day, and with everyone's travel schedules, we ended up doing our Christmas celebration and gift exchange that day as well. It was so fun to combine them and extend the Christmas fun an extra day that I hope it becomes a new tradition. I didn't take the nice camera with me, so you'll have to forgive the lack of pictures and picture quality.

The kids definitely know who to go to when they want someone's undivided attention...

Grandma Denese pulled the 3 babies born this year in the sled and had the older girls holding each hand.

The present that Seth is so excited about is a Flight of the Conchords DVD from his youngest sister...he was REALLY excited!

Mama

Our week has been crazy...
baby shower for darling sister-in-law at my house
Thanksgiving Dinner for our ward (close to 200 people)
Squeezing in a quick date to the temple

busy work schedule

busy school schedule

lots of cleaning

lots of shopping

lots of finishing touches

And then today was even crazier...
Teaching primary
Doing sharing time
Tithing Settlement
Tests and quizzes and papers due (for Seth)
Thanksgiving dinner for my dad's side of the family at my house
and lots and lots of snow falling outside

and I am totally worn out after all of it.
But tonight, we listed our Thankful Things in our Gratitude Journal like we do every night:
Seth was thankful for our amazing neighbor
I was thankful for church
Morgan was thankful for Playing Wii with his uncles
Chloe was thankful for magic wands
and as I went to put away the book I jokingly said,
"What are you thankful for, Brynnie?"
and you know what...
She dove toward me and nuzzled her head and said
"mama"

Plain and simple...
today was a beautiful day!

Going, Going, Gone

All of a sudden, I feel as if I am watching my life fly by me.

My kids are growing up a little more every day and I wonder why they seem so old. Things have been crazy around here. Church callings, Seth at work, pre-school, playgroups, family canning, cooking, planning, harvesting, other church callings, Seth at school, laundry, commitments, friends, play-doh making, grocery shopping, cleaning...

Please Slow down, time.

I need more time to enjoy Chloe singing songs, hosting tea parties, calling every dress she owns a "dancing dress", twirling around the house with her dollies...and me...and daddy...and Callie, playing pretend, reading book.after.book.after.book.after.book and quoting disney movies.

I need more time to enjoy Brynn doing the elephant crawl all over the house, scooting herself backward while she is sitting up, stacking rings, filling buckets with blocks and then taking them back out one at a time, grunting for food in between bites, and giggling like crazy just because big brother or sister are.

I need more time to enjoy Morgan telling me every detail of his day at preschool, demanding bedtime kisses before I leave his room at night, getting so excited about the scripture stories, asking if he can dust the house...or water the flowers...or clean the leather couches, his silly giggle, his delightful sense of humor and his rediculously bright logic that either leaves us laughing hysterically or beaming with pride.

I need more time to enjoy the sunny days, harvesting my garden veggies, delighting in the daisies blooming all over my yard...but especially the happy gerber daisies by the front door, my beautifully lush and green backyard, trips to the zoo, picnics in the park, flip-flops, and middle-of-the-week movies with my sweetie because it isn't quite time to study for midterms yet. :)

But, alas, time doesn't stop or slow down. It just keeps spinning on. The sun is setting earlier, the nights are getting chillier and before I know it, September will be gone...and soon enough, these moments will be replaced with new moments that I'll want to cherish and savor. So, I must slow down and take it all in. I must enjoy every second of this life...right now...because it is lovely and wonderful and fleeting...and I don't want it to pass me by before I take the time to enjoy it!

Another Friend that is Pretty Awesome

Have you seen this site? I have added it to my sidebar links because it is so very awesome! I am excited to print some coloring pages and activities, watch the Matt and Mandy videos with the kids and download MP3 files of the articles from the Friend and load them onto Morgan's MP3 Player - he will LOVE it!