Perfect Sunday Afternoon

We are LOVING having 9:00 church these days!! It allows for Sunday afternoons like this. We got home, had lunch, Hayden took a little nap, Matt went home teaching, then we spent almost 2 hours at a local state park and still was able to go to a family dinner at Jay and Bonnie's. AWESOME!!

Here's our crew.

Carter is now very skilled on his two wheels so we started our afternoon off by riding on a trail around this lake.

Then we skipped rocks - a favorite pass time of ours.

We got a GREAT surprise when Dad found a tiny frog and caught it for the kids to look at and hold. Carter loved holding it. Hayden was all about acting brave and wanting to hold it until Matt would go to put it in her hand and then she would quickly change her mind - see video below.
And what would be a nature outing with out some play time with sticks.
Hayden got in on the stick fun as well.

Here is the video with the frog:



It's relaxing quality times like this that make having a family the best choice ever. Family life can be oh so challenging and to the onlooker we probably look like we made the craziest choice ever to have kids, but these good moments and having an eternal perspective on it all, makes all the challenges worth it!!

Jumping back to January

Over the Christmas break, Whitney perfected this position that put Abbie into a peaceful trance. I tried to do it myself but was unsuccessful. Perhaps I need a little more cushion in the chest area.

Bonnie brought this outfit home from San Francisco - Precious!

In January, Hayden finally convinced me to try and potty train her since she was relentless in asking to go potty. I was not ready since I just had a baby, but I decided to give in. I guess she wasn't quite ready either. She has all the desire in the world, but cognitively she just wasn't connecting the dots that when she felt like she needed to go to tell me that she needed to go so we could get her on the toilet. We gave it a solid 3 days and after talking to her Dr at Abbie's wellness checkup, we decided to give it a break for a couple months. He thought that Abbie was too young and new to introduce something so big to Hayden and that he also recommends the average age for potty training is 2 1/2 years. So we are waiting. She is now starting to push for it again (it's march 20th) so we might try again soon. Anyway, the picture above was taken on her first day of trying. I thought for the first bit when usually the most accidents happen, we would paint in the bath tub where there would be little clean up needed for an accident.

She thoroughly enjoyed painting with the shaving cream/ food coloring mixture. And it was great for me because as soon as she was done, I just had to rinse it off.

Abbie at about 2 months.

Carter's December art work and our Christmas cards.

Our cute new family.

This was Abbie's first day in the Bumbo. She thought it was pretty great!!

Video of Hayden painting:



Video of Abigail when she first started to talk and smile:

Friday, March 2, 2012

Weekend Warriors

This last weekend we had a lot on our plates. Friday I started painting Abbie's room. It was quite an undertaking with 3 small children demanding attention and one little girl who kept trying to sneak the paint brushes and paint. Oh that Hayden!! On Saturday things went much better with both Matt and I at work.

After much browsing on the internet, asking friend's opinions, and lots of time on pinterest I decided I needed to stay true to us and go with a simple yet very sweet and delicate pink and white stripe.

Since it was Abbie's room we were painting I decided she needed to get to work, too. I know I have said this a million times, but I LOVE MY moby!!!

The just about finished product. We still have to get furniture in and touch up a few spots. So glad to have most of it done. I am NOT a fan of painting!!
We did two walls in the stripe and one wall solid.
In addition, Saturday night we had a dinner for all the doctors on staff at our near by hospital. We've nicknamed it "Dr. Prom." Thanks to my sweet friend and visiting teacher Sandy for doing my hair and makeup.
I really didn't know what to do for a dress, but luckily Shabby Apple had a few great choices. I LOVE that website!!
This was our first night leaving all 3 kids with a babysitter other than family. I knew that we left them in capable hands so I wasn't worried. When we got home I got to see these beautiful sleeiping faces.

There are a couple funny things here: Hayden has about 3 binkies with her - she's obsessed. Abbie and Hayden both have their arm(s) out to the same side. And when I got home I couldn't find Abbie for a couple minutes and got really freaked out. We were painting in her room and her pack n play was in there but it was a total mess and had no door on the room. I first checked there. I had laid a blanket on my bed and thought that they had maybe placed her on my bed to sleep. Nope not in there. Where could she be? My heart started beating fast...I went in to check on Hayden and... duh! of course she was there in the baby crib. Hayden had moved to the toddler bed a couple weeks ago and we just left the crib in her room since Abbie's room wasn't ready yet. So there were my two girls sleeping peacefully in the same room together. Ahhhh! Then at 4:30 am Hayden woke us up because we had forgotten to tell the babysitter that Hayden now MUST have her pink and brown blanket (no wonder she had to read Hayden "like 100 books" according to Carter before she fell asleep). So Matt went hunting at 4:30am for about 30 minutes for a stinkin blanket. He searched and searched until finally he said a quick prayer and found it about 30 seconds later. Why do we wait so long before we turn to God?

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Watch Out World, Carter is now an Orange Belt!

You may want to think twice before you mess with this little boy:

As of last night he is now an Orange Belt!!

Carter testing with other "tiny tigers"

Carter has been taking Karate for about 4 weeks now and has picked up really fast on it. His instructors were impressed with him enough that they invited him to test to become an orange belt. They said they couldn't believe how fast he was picking up on things and were very excited to have him test so quickly.

Here is a video of Carter testing:

Here is Carter with Dad who will be presenting him with his orange belt.

Group hug with Mrs. Hanlin their tiny tigers instructor.

Carter was SOOO excited to become an orange belt!!

This is his tough guy face that he is supposed to have as he does his form.

About two weeks earlier, Carter earned his white belt - your first belt you get in Karate.

At the beginning of class, they do many exercises including push ups - which I think is adorable to watch. Carter's form gets better and better. He is at the end of the first row.

Practicing his form.

Karate is very time intensive, but I think Carter has found his niche. He loves it and is always excited to go. With other activities we've tried he has burnt out rather quickly. He is determined to go all the way to a black belt which he says he will get by the time he is 16. I love the discipline and the respect it teaches. Plus he has a check list that he has to mark off everyday to make sure he is putting forth a "black belt" effort at home. What mom wouldn't love that!!

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