MOPS Slumber Party

Yesterday my MOPS group had a slumber party for the moms and the kids. We all had to show up in our pajamas and bring along blankets and pillows so we'd be more comfy on the floor.

Pizza, soda and munchies were provide as was the entertainment...A Veggie Tales movie!

Ella nursed right when we got there, but then she slept the rest of the time. She looks so cute in her ladybug pajamas.

It was fun getting to hang out with all the moms AND their kids. Here's Kim and Andy...in just a few short weeks we'll know if there will be another boy or a girl joining their family. I can't wait to find out!!

This is Tricia and her son Aaron...Tricia goes to church with Kim and is new to our MOPS group. Look at that cheesy grin...what a cute guy!

Here's Carmen and her daughter Jezlyn (in her arms) and Alysha (her back to the camera). Wendy is in the green shirt. She's new to our MOPS group too. She's from South Africa...I could listen to her talk all day long. I love accents!

Don't they look so sad! There weren't though the camera just captured it that way. I was getting up to go get more pizza and Jack was a little sad about that so Owen reached out to hold Jack and make him feel better. This never happens so I decided to grab the camera. It was lots of fun getting to do something out of the ordinary at MOPS and have the kids be with me instead of in their classes.

Hitchin' A Ride

Taking and afternoon stroll through the neighborhood in separate cars = Awesome!

Getting to hitch a ride with your big Bubba = The Best!

Mommy getting a picture of my boys having fun together = Priceless!

Side note: While out on our walk we took the boys down the private road that is across the street from house...this is the view from that road!

Oh yeah I'm coveting this view and the private road that comes with it. There is a house back their that I would love to live in. It's only one street over so the move would be a short one! We also know the people that live there and Michael is doing some painting work for them....who knows MAYBE one day that house will be ours! Wishful thinking!

Chubby Cheek Children!

Owen - 1 month old February 2007

Jack - 1 month old July 2008

Ella - 1 month old March 2010


The more I look at these pictures the more I think Owen and Ella look a lot alike!

More Smiles!

Even though all her smiles are still in her sleep doesn't mean they aren't just as precious as the ones she'll soon be giving us when she's awake!

Sleepy Girl!

This cute little princess is such a good sleeper. I'm actually ready for her to get to the phase where she is more awake. I'm not rushing this newborn phase by any means, but I really enjoying seeing her beautiful eyes every once in a while. Plus I can't wait to see what her personality is going to be like.

For the most part she sleeps anywhere from 16 - 20 hours a day. She is now only eating once in the middle of the night. Normally she goes down for bed around 9pm and then she's up to eat around 2:30am and then back to sleep until 7:30am when I end up waking her up. It's the perfect schedule for us too since the boys sleep until 8am. It gives me enough time to feed/burp/change her before the boys are up and at 'em.

Just so you know I don't put her down to sleep on her tummy although I'm not against it. Jack was a tummy sleeper from 3 weeks on because he would not sleep on his back...at all. Ella doesn't mind sleeping all swaddle up on her back, but I was trying to get her to have some awake time so I put her on her belly and that's how I got this picture. Obviously the whole trying to get her to have awake time failing miserably! :)

In regards to Ella's sleeping arrangement...she is now sleeping in her pack and play in the office that's connected to our bedroom. The boys made it 21 days sleeping in our room and Ella made it 23...we have really noisy sleepers and I'm a light sleeper so they have to be in another room. Once she's sleeping through the night around 5 months or so she'll move into her room.

Plunking In Action

Here's a little video of the boys throwing rocks in the water. There were a few times while the boys were doing this that I was sure Jack was just going to dive head first into the water. He'd just run right up to the edge. It got to the point where I couldn't watch him anymore. Michael ended up sort of rescuing him once because he threw his rock and it just went to the edge of the water so he went after it so he could throw it again...thankfully he didn't get all wet just a little muddy!

Nature Walk

We had a couple nice days last week so after the boys woke up from their naps we decided to get outside and go for a walk.

We walked down the street from our house to a dirt/mud service road.

Jack got to walk through crunchy leaves.

Owen ran way ahead of us.


Then Daddy spotted something that might be a lot of fun. So the boys went in search...

for BIG rocks!

Big rocks that would make a big splash and a big plunk sound in the water.

They ran back and forth getting big rocks and throwing them in the water for quite a while.

Then is was time to head home.

I captured this cute shot of the boys on our way into our neighborhood. They don't normally hold still for together pictures, but I guess it's a little harder to run away when you're standing on a big rock!

Laundry Closet Remodel

I've been wanting to remodel our laundry closet for quite a while now. Michael hasn't really been looking forward to it, but I finally got him to come around and it only took a couple days from start to finish. I didn't think it would be as time consuming as it ended up being!

Here's what my laundry closet looked like before. It was nice it was organized, but I didn't really feel like I was using all the space to it's full potental. I didn't like the cleaners being out where the kids could get to them if they pushed a chair over and climbed up on the washer or dryer. Plus I had to use a chair if I needed to get to the top shelf. This is how it looks now...

My mom and dad have had their front loading washer and dryer stacked for a while now and they love it. I figured that would be a better use of space. Of course I didn't think it would mean that we'd have to get a new longer dryer cord or a new longer lint hose...oops! Also see the nice cabinet on the left. I got that off Craigslist, but originally it was twice that size. I didn't measure the closet space when I bought it so Michael ended up having to literally cut the cabinet in half so we could fit all the other stuff in there...oops!

Here's the nice hanger thing Michael put up so I could hang up all my Swiffers. Our Kirby vacuum is right in front. This was another main reason I wanted to remodel the closet. I didn't like having my vacuum in the entryway closet. What you don't see is the lint hose going into the floor. Michael ended up having to saw into the floor and move the lint hose over about 8 inches so the hose would stretch far enough to reach the dryer....oops!


Here's the inside of the cabinet with all the cleaners, the sewing machine and vacuum attachments. Love it!

The Tara Dress!

On Sunday Ella got to wear the dress that my Aunt Jan made her. My Aunt first made this dress for her first grand-daughter...my cousin Tara. She couldn't find a pattern that she liked so she designed this dress specifically for Tara hence the name of the dress.

The blanket under Ella is the blanket that GG made her.

This is all kinds of cuteness!!


There was actually a hat that went with the dress, but unfortunately Ella's cute head was too big for it. There is also a matching petticoat, but her cute arms were too fat to wear both the dress and the coat at the same time. Thankfully Ella's Easter dress is also purple and it's really thin so I'm going to put the petticoat on her then.

Here's her cute shoes that Ga-Ga got her. Ga-Ga also bought her a pair of those fluffy bottom tights, but they were totally hanging on her so she wore her white and purple socks instead.

I was so happy I dressed her in this dress on Sunday because they ended up announcing Ella in front of the church and Pastor Procter presented us with a rose for her. It was fun getting to show her off!

Don't Fall....Don't Do It!

Owen has really started to pretend play now. He pretends he's going to work and say, "Have a nice day Daddy!", and runs out of the room and then runs back in like he just got home. Lately he's started getting on the back of the couch and acting like he doesn't want to fall and he wants one of us to make a big deal out of it. He has so much fun "falling" over and over again.

Jack wants to get up on the back of the couch so he can be just like Bubba and he can do it by himself, but since our couch has two recliners it has to be away from the wall and it freaks him out since he could fall off the back.

Here's a video of Owen in action. He's such a goof!

Fun At The Mall

On Thursday we headed out to the mall so we could buy a new dryer cord and lint hose for a little project I had planned for the laundry closet (more on that in another post). Since we were there we decided to make it a fun family outing. While Michael and Owen were buying the cord and the hose at Sears me, Jack and Ella were hanging out at the toys.

Jack wasn't too sure what to do with himself since Bubba wasn't there so he hung out with me on the bench mostly.

He did venture out a little, but every time he went down the slide he would walk to the left instead of the right and then he'd lose me and get all freaked out. I ended up just calling his name when he came down so he'd see me and know I was still there.

Ella just chilled in the Bjorn and slept...what's new!

When Michael and Owen came the first thing Owen did was climb to the top of the train. He really loves to conquer things! Owen played for a few minutes and then he said he was hungry so we headed to the food court.

Michael got MCD's for him and the boys. Owen ate a whopping 6 nuggets...that's a record!

I think Jack ate 4 1/2 which is really good for him too. The real miracle was that he actually was fairly clean at the end of the lunch and there was sweet and sour sauce involved...like I said MIRACLE!!!

It was nice that the boys ate so much, but at the same time Michael only got a 20 piece meal and he was sharing with the boys. Luckily in each 10 piece box were two nuggets stuck together and they only counted them as one, so they got 22 pieces instead.

After lunch I went to get a refill on our soda and noticed that MCD's had those little free ice cream cones and I got one for each of the boys.

Ice Cream! Yummy!

In the van on the way home the boys decided it would be fun to hold hands. I love it when they do loving sweet things like this all on their own.

Middle Child

This cute chubby cheeked boy is now the middle child in our little family. I've never much bought into the whole middle child theory. I think you should make a point to have special one on one time with each child and in turn no child will feel left out. However, recently I can see how it could happen. Right now Owen is a Daddy leach...literally suction cupped to his side most of the day. Meanwhile I'm pretty consumed with taking care of Ella. Thankfully Jack is what we call the bull of the family. I remember praying when I was pregnant with Jack that he would be a little more aggressive so he could stand out and up to Owen since Owen is our little bossy guy. Jack definitely make himself known and I think he has the perfect personality for a second/middle child.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things!

Smiles- Snack Time

Happy Boys

Chubby Cheeks - Puckered Lips

Silly Faces

Laughter

Sharing - Movie Time