Today...

These are the things that made me smile today:
*Hannah's beautiful smiling face
* Abby snuggles this morning
*Adam and Hannah dancing
*The weather!  Warm and beautiful enough for all of us to get outside and enjoy some fresh air for quite awhile!
*Abby trying to learn how to wink and snap.  Quite cute.
* Going in to find out why Abby was not taking a nap to find her pants off, hair on end with a gigantic smile on her face...she just wanted to snuggle. 

Dancin with daddy. :)

She looks so puffy. :(  However, I want to be more like Abby...I want to be able to be sick and puffy and covered and hives and still find immense joy in the day.

This is the backyard...right now.  Although we are renting, we have plans to put a massive garden in and kind of spruce things up a bit.  The people before us had a bunch of dogs and so the back yard needs some help...there's so much we would do if it were our own house...but we obviously won't be doing all of that...the girls are loving the back yard though...going to be lots of fun with a garden in it!  Hannah's got a special spot all picked out for her and Abby to plant whatever they want to and to play in.

Really loves being outside. :)

Check out how dirty her leggins are. :)

Things that are not making me smile today: 
*Really only the fact that we cannot shake this nasty cold we all have.  It seems to kind of go away and come back and ALL of us have it.  We are never this sick!  Really looking forward to be done with this.

A Picture A Day....

Keeps a gramma happy. :)  Hannah asked me specifically to take this photo and put it up so Gramma could see her....so now we'll know if you're actually reading our blog mom. :)

This is Hannah right now: extremely helpful, even more in love with music if that's possible, just found out she gets to be a flower girl in a wedding next summer and is SUPER excited, loves all things art-if she can paint it, draw it, color it, squish and mold it etc etc...then she loves it, is the official mixer and stirrer of the house...anything in the works being cooked, baked or mixed Hannah must have a hand in, loves dress up, rain puddles and dirt/mud, loves anything dinosaurs-expeditions, learning about them, talking about them....her love for this has been around for awhile and intensifies... LOVES to dance and perform...again...very artsy this one.  Is very fun to have around daily.

Tubby Scrub

This mornin Hannah and I mixed this up together:

Bathtub / Sink Scrub:



In a bowl, make a paste with baking soda, a squirt of your dish soap*, and a squeeze of lemon, to the consistency of frosting. Dip cloth or sponge into paste and scrub.


For really stubborn grime, allow to sit 10-15 minutes before rinsing.  (found from this site)

Then we both scrubbed down the bathtub.  Hannah thought it was great fun.  :)  Now our tubby is gleaming and smells deliciously lemony.  Also, we are tackling the task of cleaning/disenfecting and organizing all the tub toys.  We've managed to collect a lot...so she scrubbed those down after we cleaned out the tub...and it seemed suspiciously like fun and not so much work in her world.  :)

 

We Miss It...

Hannah informed me today she really wants to bake something...she's right!  It's been awhile.  But then again we haven't felt real great...and who wants to bake when you don't feel good.  But she's decided we need to make some brownies for daddy to enjoy when he gets home later... :)  Sweet girl.  We really have not been up to much...just recuperating.  Bleh. and Blah.

 Chillin and eating a cookie she helped make last week...

This is a random picture...but it makes me smile.  They love each other so much.  They dismantled the couch and got on it to snuggle.  :)

I'm a Nerd...

I like clean things.  I like to clean.  It's therapeutic, it makes me feel good and I love how things look and feel after a good cleaning.  I am anxious for spring...I want to throw open my doors and windows and let a fresh cool/warmish air blow in...I want to roll up our rugs and scoot back the couches and give everything a good scrubbing, I want to start gardening and be out working on getting flowers and plants and vegetables to grow!  But...it's not quite time. So in the meantime I've been tackling small projects...getting the girls rooms cute, purging anything we don't use, need and all around simplyfying things.
 I randomly stumbled upon a blog of an old friend/roommate I had in college.  She has always been one smart cookie and as I recently found her blog (sure not how I ended up on her page!) I find her as refreshing and clever as always.  So as I clicked the link to "Follow" her blog a few weeks ago I was excited that I'd found this person, who also happens to have a delightful blog worth reading! 
Today, I am on day 12 or so of feeling pretty down right rotten.  This cold/flu/disease/virus...call it what you want, is REALLY taking it out of me.  Normally I do not get taken out of commission like this!  Whenever one or all of us is sick I feel like I want to clean the whole house top to bottom, and refresh everything once it all passes and we are healthy again.  This is how I am feeling, except not quite well enough to get up and do something about it.  So today I sat down to relax and blog stalk and found myself on her blog here, about making your own cleaning products.  I was intrigued and, really excited!  I was SO excited I went to the link she listed for essential oils and ordered some and now I am awaiting a delivery of delicious essential oils to boost the natural cleaning we'd already started in motion here.  I figure by the time it gets here I will be feeling much better and ready to tackle a sparkling clean and fresh smelling house.  :)  I feel like such a nerd getting so excited over things like cleaning, and organizing and gardening...but it really does make me feel so good...and like something worthwhile got accomplished for the day.  And that is a glorious feeling...at least for this mama. 

Abby 1st Birthday

Friday 1.21 Abby turned 1 year old! This still seems weird to me. It went so much faster than I remember it all going with Hannah. We had a small party for her on Saturday with some family, and the weather was GORGEOUS! I loved it! Despite us ALL getting very sick this last week we had a good time. She's completely walking and is trying now to run, she LOVES dogs-the girl can spot them from miles away!-she loves to be outside and out on the playground. She really loves her big sis, she follows her everywhere now and prefers to be in her (Hannah's) room to her own. Even though she knows how to say Mama she rarely uses it, she just calls everyone daddy. But she loves to ask dat? Dis? (this) can say out and up, doggy and all done. She can also sign all of those words plus, please and thank you. She is a hilarious little giggle box and is almost always sunny. Here are some of her pictures from her birthday weekend:

Oh Today...

                                                          hehe!  Baby in a drawer!

Today is one of those days where the later part of the day is much calmer than the first half.  We've had an on-going teeny tiny ant problem and they attack any time there's any kind of crumb left or forgotten more than a day, and then it multiplies quickly to out of control.  So I spent the better part of my morning vaccuming up our garage...part of the house...etc...Hannah's been kind of emotional the last few weeks, I think we're still trying to catch up on missed sleep-she does horrible if she misses several days of good solid rest-and Abby is about to turn one so she's going through some changes and just wants to be held all the time.  Which I love...except when I'm trying to do things!  haha  She's also in "want dat" mode and is not super happy when you tell her no she's had enough.  I swear I've cleaned the kitchen like 10 times...anyway you get the picture.  :)  You don't need to hear me complaining.  But now Abby is down for a second nap of good rest, beautiful Hannah and I are snuggling, chocolate chip oatmeal cookies are made...bread enough for 7 loaves is rising and getting ready to be baked...Adam will be home shortly and there is worship practice tonight.  Things are looking up. :)  I had two things on my list today to get done...neither of which I have yet.  But I'm ok with it.  I feel like today is one of those days where we scrap the original plan and go with the flow.  We've also watched more tv collectively today than probably necessary, usually it's off because I hate just having it on for no reason, but I'm ok with it today. :)  I'd say I've been a big fat lazy, but I've actually gotten quite a bit done!  Happy Thursday!

Today was just one of those days....

 When life hands you a day of craziness...

 Grab your camera and start taking pictures (yes that is half a box of cheerios on the floor...all I have to say is she's quick!)

And take lots of pictures so that way you have documentation and proof of the chaos that sometimes ensues all in one day...because sometimes it's one of those days where proof is necessary! :)  Plus you'll need it to look back and laugh on...cause sometimes when it's been one of those days you don't necessarily laugh in the moment. 

Favorite Moments...

Tonight I finished this beautiful book my mom gave me for Christmas called "Mitten Strings for God" by Katrina Kennison.  It is a marvelous book!  I have several mama friends and mama-to-be friends that I think would really love and enjoy this book, some I've already told about it but I know a handful of others (Sara, Bethany I think you'd love it!) that read this blog occassionally and I think would enjoy it.  It's an easy read and just a wonderful reminder of the gifts our kiddos are and the time we have with them each day.  I got to the last chapter tonight and I started sobbing.  She was describing how she had started the book as a letter over a year and a half before the closing of the book and now their lives had changed...her boys were in such different places then they were when she started the book.  And I found myself crying (I am SUCH a nerd) over her description of how the place she once had in her sons life had become less hands on. (as it should)

In a couple weeks Abby turns 1.  I don't know why I am struggling with this.  It could have something to do with the fact that she may be our last...the jury is still out on this.  Or it could have something to do with the fact that with her I wasn't in constant mama survival mode wondering what I was doing at every turn and have had chances to enjoy a few of the baby things a little more.  (Sorry Hannah!)
 For the last week or so Adam has been able to put Abby down for bedtime.  This is great.  It is.  Really.  Ok I'll get there!  It's nice to have that freedom...but it's also weird!  Gone are those days where I would try and leave the house only to be called back 2 hours later because she wouldn't stop crying, only to have her turn into immediate sunshine upon seeing me walk through the door.
  I am in utter disbelief that it has actually been a year since I went in to my midwife and told her something wasn't right...and was then admitted to the hospital.  A year?  No way!
 This book is a wonderful reminder of what gifts our children and spouses are.  A good reminder to slow down and enjoy the phase we are in now...to love every minute you have.  So these are my currrent favorite moments with the girls:
*Hannah is constantly telling Adam, Abby or I how very much she loves us.  If I am the one that puts her to sleep she says it at least 5 times before closing her eyes for good and that's skimping it.  She is SO loving and so willing to give hugs and snuggle and tell you that she thinks you are beautiful or compliment daddy on his shirt or how handsome he looks.  I love it.
*Abby is in point and "dat" mode.  I love watching her see familiar things and get excited and try to form the words for what she sees. 
*Hannah is such a good helper and a wonderful hostess.  She is so welcoming and fabulous with people that come over and is so ready to share anything she has.  We had some friends over on Sunday and normally she'd be so shy, but she sat next to one of the guests and had a wonderful conversation with him and did a wonderful job of being polite.  She is ALWAYS volunteering to help me with whatever needs to be done. 
*Abby wakes up so happy, really pretty much always.  Sometimes I stop and listen for a few mintues before I go get her just because it makes me smile...then you open the door and her happiness increases and becomes immediately infectious.  I love it.
*The girls are starting to play more together.  They are able to make each other giggle and Abby is constantly toddling after Hannah.  It is so wonderful to watch them light each other up and love on each other. 
*Hannah is always making up songs....about anything (many of us in this family do this) but Abby is starting to try and sing with her...or when Abby hears music she will start to try and dance with Hannah.  It is so fun to watch!

I do see my kiddos as gifts.  I hope I am able to continue remembering and enjoying the gift of them every day...even on those days where it seems like we need to go back to bed and start all over.  I am thankful for my little family.  I hope I never lose sight of my thankfulness...and continue to reflect on my favorite moments right where we're at. 

Christmas Pictures

Christmas was pretty great this year.  It was mostly relaxing and it seemed like we got multiple Christmases!  A few weeks ago we celebrated Christmas at the coast with Adam's parents and this last week we celebrated with my side.  It was nice to have the cousins get to play and hang out and the age gaps between the girls are closing as the younger two get more mobile and toddler like. Here are some of my favorite pics: 

 These two love each other so very much...I love watching them play together more.

 Hannah got a new bike.  It was supposed to be her birthday gift but we didn't find just the right one so it became a Christmas gift. 

 Hannah's a big fan of any kind of mommy shoe, she's always trying them on

Sisters.... 

 Man I love these two...so very fun!

 Cwaziness!

 Sister Becca...

 haha ahhh...I don't even want to put a caption on this photo it just is what it is.

 Don't they look thrilled to be in a photo.  We were getting sleepy at this point.

 She loves the tree and all the bells.

 :)

Miss Kendyl