1st Snow

Don't get me wrong...I enjoy the fall weather in Colorado.  It's finally been temperate enough to enjoy the parks and play outside.  The one thing I don't like is the looming winter season.  For those who know me, I'm a self-proclaimed sun goddess!  Snow is nothing but a nuissance to me in which I have to bundle up 3 kids just to run errands.  uggghh! 

 

Last week we warned the girls of the upcoming snowstorm.  Brooklynn's response - "Can we build a Rams snowman?"  Last year we made a sweet Broncos one, so naturally fitting to make a Rams one this time.  When I woke her up Thursday morning she ran to the window and was ecstatic to see the snow.  She immediately put on her boots, grabbed the gloves, and had to stomp around in it outside.

 

It was so fun to see her excitement.  I guess I forgot how exciting snow is to kids (although it may have never been that way for me).  We attempted a snowman, but there wasn't enough snow and it didn't pack together well.  Next best thing - a snow mountain!

 

Seeing her joy brought me joy and made me look at the snow a little different....a little magical....a little less of a pain in my butt!

 Chandler did the same and grabbed whatever she found - my gloves, her summer shoes, and Broklynn's hat

Now I'm awaiting a good snow, where we can build our snowman and hopefully bring some good luck to those Rammies.

Total Middle Child

Perhaps the one who had the most adjusting to do with a new baby in the house was Chandler.  She was our "baby" for 2 1/2 years!  We always said she was born a typical "middle child".  One website I found said of "middle child syndrome":

 

The middle child, unlike the eldest child and the youngest child, is not given much attention. They have to go the extra mile just to get some of it.

 

This could probably explain everything about our Chan Chan.  She will definitely go the extra mile (or more) to get attention, and it's usually for getting into things she's not supposed to or destroying stuff.  The other morning she came downstairs with this:

 

Apparently she had gotten into my mascara.  Awesome make-up work rockin' the unibrow! 

Although she is starving for attention, she is the funniest kid!  Her intelligence amazes me everyday (maybe a little scary).  Her wit and ability to understand sarcasm is uncanny. 

She's always been extremely high verbally - speaking in full sentences by a year and a half.  Our favorite is her new word - whobody.  In a sentence - Whobody is going to be at the park?  Makes total sense, right? 

We're working daily on working out the behavior kinks and trying to praise the positive (no matter how small or few there are).  I'm afraid if we don't our house or sanity will be destroyed!

Just Pin It!

I have found a new obsession - Pinterest.  It's like fantasy football for women!  I know it has many uses, but I've enjoyed the DIY crafts, family pic ideas, and mostly the recipes.  The recipes are heaven to me, because you see a picture of this beautiful, unique meal (which helps my visual style) and then a short description of the food.  I've been attempting to make 2 new meals each week to add to our meal repertoire.  I've always loved to cook, and now that I'm home I've been cooking even more, making most meals from scratch and trying to eliminate the boxes and cans in the pantry and cutting down on meat.

 

The girls have been receptive to our uniquely different meals (no mac & cheese or nuggets here) and are enjoying trying new foods.  Here's a few of the ones we've tried (pics from Pinterest, because mine didn't look nearly this good):

 

Sweet potato burger with avocado

 

 Sweet potato & poblano enchiladas

 Sweet potato and peanut soup

Spinach lasagna rolls

 Summer pasta w/ tomatoes & basil

All have been a hit (except the veggie burger with Steve - he rather have a real, juicy burger).  I still like to find recipes online where they are rated, but there is fun experimenting with the recipes from Pinterest.  I recommend every woman out there get an account and get working finding passions.   Maybe someday I'll have my own blog where I create recipes or DIY crafts, but I have a long way to go!

5 months

It seems like with each kid time flies faster and faster.  It's hard to believe our bug is already 5 months old!  She's changing so quickly and developing her own little personality.  She's always been laid-back and easy-going but is now starting to want to explore everything!  She loves to grab anything and everything in her reach - toys, food, and lots of hair!  The other day she even started army crawling towards a toy.  We put an end to that immediately.  We're dreading the day she's mobile and eating Barbie's accessories.

 

We're getting ready to start solid food.  She's so interested, and we're feeling like we're depriving her of the delicious mushy food.

 

 Always smiling!  We've even gotten a few giggles.

Another water baby

A couple weeks ago I was feeling ambitious and decided to take the 3 girls swimming with our neighbors.  So between the 2 adults, we had 5 kids (2 under a year).  Luckily Adaley loved the water!  She just sat in her floatie and let the girls spin her around. 

 

We had to take turns going down the big waterslide - 1 adult, 1 kid at a time, but they loved it!  The girls are excited to start swim lessons again, and they'll finally be in the same class - easier for us and more fun for them!

 

Chandler didn't leave her side

Brooklynn entertaining Sophia

JD is outnumbered  by all these girls!

Now that I've conquered the swimming we can do anything! 

Who does she look like?

Most people, when they see Adaley, immediately say, "Wow!  She looks just like Brooklynn.  She looks like mom for sure."  When she was born I saw Brooklynn's twin in her, but as she gets older, she's developing her own features and looking less like Brooklynn.  I do think Adaley looks more like me as a baby than Brooklynn did.  Here's some pics of each of the girls to compare around the same age.

 

Adaley and her brown eyes (very tired here)

 Chandler and her bright blue eyes (I think she's changed the most since this pic)

 Sweet baby Brooklynn and her baby blues

It's amazing to see how the gene pool works and we have different mixes with each girl.  Lucky for us (haha) they're all beautiful and we'll be in a world of trouble during those teenage years.

Happy Birthday Steve-O!

I know it's super late, but we didn't forget to celebrate Steve's birthday.  They do become a little insignificant with kids now, but we're always looking for a good reason to enjoy some cake!

 

The girls helping open the gifts

 Singing and brownies.  I actually bought a store-made pan of brownies - it was tough to do, but it's been a little too crazy around here to always bake myself.  They were yummy though!

 One of Steve's gifts was tickets to the CSU vs. Air Force game in Colorado Springs.  We've never been to a game at Falcon Stadium, and Steve wanted to take the girls to a game this year, so it seemed perfect.  I'm not sure how much of a "gift" it is to take 3 kids to an afternoon (naptime) game, but they did awesome!  Too bad we can't say the same for those Rammies.

Tailgating with the big kids  (Chandler was trying to sneak the beer....uh oh)

 Family pic before the game

 Checking out the gliders

 After the game traffic back to Denver was horrendous, so we decided to stop at Sam's diner for some grub.  We rarely take all 3 kids with us to eat, but load them up on coffee creamers, sugar packets, and mac & cheese, and they do alright.

We did enjoy an adult evening for Steve's birthday as well with dinner at Tamayo and a stand-up comedy show, which was very entertaining!

Happy Birthday babe.  Now the girls are even happier, because it's Chandler's birthday next.