Wiggles is back!

Our friendly Elf, Wiggles, is back! He showed up Thanksgiving night. The kids absolutely love him! Colton named him 2 yrs ago when he first arrived. Every year, he appears while we are reading his story Thanksgiving night. They totally get it too....well, Colton does! They love to see where he is in the morning. This picture is where he is today...hanging upside down from the light in the dining room!

Emma gets excited too, but she doesn't get that your not supposed to touch him. Every time she sees him, she says, "oh, he's so cute...I want to hold him!"....MERRY CHRISTMAS!

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!!!

Christmas is by far and away my FAVORITE time of the year!!!! We have put the tree up and I have started shopping! I am by no means clost to being done but slowly and surely I'll finish. Everytime Colton sees a commercial, his little list gets longer! Here are a few of the items Santa will be bringing this year.....

I just cannot wait to see their faces!!!!

Thanksgiving!!!

We decided to stay in town this year for Thanksgiving. I hated to not go home but we are going in a few weeks for Christmas so it was just too much to go this weekend. Nate's family came over and we had a nice dinner. Nate cooked a turkey and it was absolutely delicious!!! I made Mimi's cornbread dressing and some gravy and mom's spinach Madeleine. Nate's mom brought some other stuff and it was a great day! Here is a pic of Em helping me make the dressing....

We really just hung out the rest of the weekend since we've all been sick and decorated for Christmas!!!!!

Fall trip to the zoo!

We did a fall trip to the zoo one Tuesday with Jill, Sophie, Ashley and Jack. The kids had so much fun and the weather was perfect! They had fun running around and seeing the animals. We also rode the train which was fun because it was all decorated for boo at the zoo! Here are a few pics from the day!

Catching up.....a few pics!

We have been super busy these last few weeks! Neilson getting married in the beginning of October kind of started our world wind few weeks! When we got back from that trip, we had Halloween on the horizon. We took the kids to this free Halloween thing the night before Halloween and they had a blast! There was a hayride and trick o treating. Emma did NOT like the hayride! But the second we got off, she said, "that was fun!"....we met Jill and family there and the girls got to play for a few minutes before the rain got us...unfortunately, no pics as I forgot my camera! Oh, and I also forgot Ella's costume...she was dressed in all black with no punkin costume...she looked like a bank robber! Here are a few pics from the haunted house the kids made to trick o treating!

update this week, i promise!!!!!

thanksgiving....a birthday to plan.....lots to update....coming soooooooon.....

Crazy few weeks!

I have not updated in so long, I know. Things have been super crazy around these parts! The fall always feels that way to me. It is my favorite time of year, well Christmas is, but I just love this whole season! When we got back from Uncle Neilson's wedding, Ella was sick. She got Emma's cold on the way to Arkansas and then developed an ear infection. Poor thing was on an antibiotic and then caught another cold, with a fever. She is still a little under the weather and seems to have been for about 3 weeks.

We have had a lot going on. Colton had his very first field trip last week to the zoo. I took the baby to school, they have a drop-in program, so I could have some time with just Colton. Two of Colton's buddies rode with us and they had so much fun!!

Wednesday night I took the kids to the Fall Festival at school. We met Jill and Brian there and the kids had a lot of fun playing! They had inflatables, which Emma would NOT get on, of course! She is so cautious it's hysterical!

I have much more to update, later this weekend, with pictures!!! Nite Nite!

We are off......

To Uncle Neilson's wedding this week. I will try to update before we go but I have so much to do. But, Ella has her 9 month checkup tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have time for another update before we head out.....here is a pic of my 3 munchkins snuggling with Ella while she drinks her afternoon juice!

Fall is here!!!!

I love this time of year! There is always so much to do and I love cooler weather. There was so much going on around town this weekend but 3 kids does slow you down a bit. We enjoyed a fairly uneventful Saturday morning. Went for a walk with Emma...watched Bama play and WIN!!!

After nap time we headed across the street to the Helena Intermediate Fall Festival. Not the greatest fair but the kids LOVED it. We rode some rides and had a funnel cake...they LOVED that! Colton loved the ferris wheel...he kept saying..all those people look like ants. Emma liked some of the rides...others, she looked like she was scared to death. Ella was of course the most well behaved baby in her jogging stroller. She ate her Cheerios and drank her juice and didn't make a peep!

Enough said....

When asked about this, Colton tried to blame Emma. Obviously that didn't work. Notice he wrote all their names and his initials....

Oink Oink...

Well, Monday morning of this week, Colton woke up with a fever and a nasty cough. I kept him home and called the pediatrician. They told me to wait until Tuesday and if he still had a fever, to come in. He went most of the day without one, so I was optimistic but about dinner time it was 101.5 :( He slept well but woke up with a fever so to the doctor we went. He confirmed my fears...Swine Flu :(

Nate became quarantined from work. Wouldn't be allowed to go back until Monday! We were in for a looooong week. The pediatrician started everyone on Tamiflu. The girls as a precaution at that point. Well, Wednesday morning Emma got a fever and by Wednesday night Ella had one! Yuck, this was not good. Tuesday was the worst for Colton. He was just not well.....but by Wednesday afternoon he was looking and feeling much better.

The Tamiflu seemed to work because the girls never really got as sick as Colton did. Nate and I both got some form of this...feeling yucky and super bad cold symptoms but no fever. We have been cooped up all week with little or no outings due to the contagious nature of this virus and the rain. Monday looks like a go for all to return to normal activities...whooo hoooo :)

I am usually one of the first people in the carpool line at school but this week I will probably be one of the last! I really don't have any interesting stories from the week because we really have done NOTHING but lay around....no pics but I'll post more soon!

Sewing

Just a quick update on my latest project. I have decided to start sewing. I made a bubble for the baby, with Jill's help of course, and it turned out pretty good! I am about to do some pants for Colton and Emma so I will update more later! Here is a picture of the bubble!!!

Ella Update :)

My sweet Ella Margaret is 9 months old now! I cannot believe how fast time has gone by. It seems like yesterday she was born :( I really hate she is my last little baby.....Every time she does something new I get a little sad....She has really gotten good at standing up. Sometimes, she will let go and stand there without holding on to anything! She has also started babbling more. Yesterday, I came in the room...she saw me, started crawling to me and saying, "ma, ma...ma ma...." it was soooo cute!

I am trying to teach her sign language. We are working on 'more' right now. Emma did sign language and I loved it! Oh, and she is no longer crawling like an army man, she is up on her knees like a big girl. She is eating all table food as well. She loves it! We gave her a waffle for breakfast the other day and she ate the whole thing! She absolutely adores her big brother and big sister. She is always wants to play with whatever they are playing with. Colton and Emma are really good about keeping small toys away from her, although she did put one of Emma's dress up earrings in her mouth yesterday :(

She has also developed 2 new skills. She claps! It is the cutest thing you'll ever see. She gets so excited when we cheer for her when she does it! She also likes to play peek-a-boo. Sometimes I'll see her find a blanket and put it over her head. Then she'll pull it off and laugh! It's so funny to see her entertain herself!

Likes:

Watching Dora while drinking her bottle

Playing with Em and Colton

Sitting in Mommy's lap

Playing peek-a-boo

Eating big girl food

Looking in the mirror

Dislikes: This is the happiest baby on the planet...she has none!

Skills: Pulling up;crawling;saying "ma ma, da da" clapping

Looooong overdue update!!!

We have had a lot going on around here lately. I had some minor surgery the week before labor day so it has taken me a couple weeks to get over that. Goppy and PaPa came to visit Labor Day weekend to help give Nate a break. Thanks to my wonderful family and great friends recovery went pretty smoothly. The kids are just growing like weeds. Emma is just as adorable and animated as ever. I've had to start waking her after about 2 hrs of napping, due to the fact that she was having a horrible time going to sleep at night. For 3 or 4 nights straight, Nate and I were bringing her downstairs for about an hour after Colton went to sleep. While we love the one on one time with her....we need our time too...and she needs her sleep. I have more to update and pics to add after everyone goes to sleep tonight....

Update coming......

I have been busy and I am still getting over the surgery so I will update this weekend :)

Friends

We have had a lot going on lately it seems. Nursery school started, birthday parties, doctor visits, etc. Last Saturday I took Emma and Colton to a birthday party. They had a great time playing. There was a jumpy thing, which Emma would not get in, a ball pit...they also colored pictures and made a fruit loop necklace!


Colton and Sienna



Emma and Sienna goofing off in the ball pit!



Emma taking her time with her yummy cake!


We have also had some time to just hang out. I have some cute pictures of Ella and Brody! They are so cute together!!! I can't wait for them to get just a little bit bigger and really start playing together!

Awesome weather!!!!

Last weekend we had fantastic weather! Such a rare thing in mid-August in the south! The high temperature on Sunday was 82....so we took advantage of that and headed to the Zoo! Nate hates going to the zoo but I convinced him how much the kids love it so he joined us. I love when the whole family does stuff like the zoo because I can enjoy it so much more. When it's just me and the kids I get nervous someone will wander off, etc.

We arrived at the zoo at about 10:45, a little later than I wanted, so we missed the sea lion show. Our first stop was the reptiles. I usually skip this exhibit, due to the fact I HATE spiders and snakes, but Colton specifically asked to go in there. Emma was so funny. She would not even get close to the cases where the snakes and lizards were. Then we walked into a bigger room and she freaked out so much Nate had to pick her up! She did however, like the turtles.

Outside of the reptile exhibit we saw some of the biggest turtles I have ever seen. They were walking around and everything....

Next we passed by the sea lions on our way to the kangaroos and alligators. Then we took a quick ride on the train, which everyone loved...including Ella Margaret. We continued our tour to see the rhino's, lions, tigers, zebras, giraffes and monkey's. All of the animals were out and about! We even heard one of the lions roar!!!

We rounded out the trip with lunch. Instead of our usual Mexican lunch, we branched out to some Italian food. Not our best decision but it wasn't too bad. It was a great family day!!!!

new post in the morning....

I have my pictures ready i am just too tired tonight! I will post in the morning and promise to get back to regular posting!!!