THANKS BABE!

They're beautiful - I needed these this morning!


I love you!

On turning 30!

I can honestly say that I feel ENORMOUSLY blessed to be turning thirty tomorrow! I've thought about the big birthday from time to time in this last year, and I do have to say that it is pretty surprising that I am turning thirty. I really don't feel THIRTY (like it is some bad/dirty word). I couldn't be happier with where my life is and the blessings the Lord has bestowed upon me!

Not having family close by can be tough (you're all great and I love/miss you dearly), but having AMAZING friends sure makes it a lot easier. Throughout my twenties friends have come and gone. I really do believe that God puts people in our lives for different seasons. It is amazing to know that there are those hand full of people you will always have in your life to lean on. Whether you talk to them every day or once every couple months those people that you have truly connected with will always hold a special place in your heart. I feel very lucky to have been blessed with true friendship throughout my twenties.

I have two BEAUTIFUL children who I absolutely ADORE. While there are difficult days, I never end a day without thinking am I really this lucky to get to stay home and love them, watch them grow, kiss that boo-boo, play babies, read the same book over and over again, and watch their little faces light up when I do some goofy motion, dance, or made up song?! Their smiles and laughs melt my heart - I am so in love with them!

I have an amazing husband who loves me with every bone in his body. It is hard to believe that we have been together for twelve and a half years. We have grown up together which is such a special thing not many people get to experience. There have been more wonderful memories then I can even begin to count. I grow closer to him, and fall more in love with him as each day passes!

And last, but certainly not least is what I am the most thankful for as I enter my thirties, my Lord and Savior. My faith has grown by leaps and bounds in the last ten years. Our God is a God full of grace, love, and forgiveness, just to name a few. He is my Rock and I couldn't deal with this life it weren't for Him. I recently read something wonderful about growing older, "Jesus is all about living an abundant life in the here and now … whatever stage of life that may be for you. Jesus came so that we can live abundantly and eternally. Eternity began the moment you accepted Him as your Lord and Savior. Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away (Mary Southerland)."

So there you have it - I am ecstatic about turning 30!!! I can't wait to see what the next decade holds for our family!

Finger Paint

It only took 2 1/2 years - but Adi FINALLY finger painted!!! It was short lived, but she did it!!!

Winter?!

Today was a GREAT day. I decided to make an entire morning of it with the kids, and they did great. We ran all over the place, including the mall, and we all had a great time. I think it must have had something to do with the BEAUTIFUL weather. My spirits were high and just really felt happy all day - it is definitely contagious. When I really think about it, my grumpiness really spreads to the kids, which makes for a tough day for all of us. Days like today remind me to live each day like it is my last.

Here we are playing in the ALMOST 70 degree weather. Is it really February in the midwest?!

She told me repeatedly she was running to babies r' us!


Even Coop enjoyed basking in the sun!


She obviously put her own shoes and socks on (she doesn't understand the socks need to go under the pants)!


Loving being outside!

Thank you warm weather - I hope you're here to stay!!!

Ponytail

Adi has been really, really, really, wanting a pony tail. I spray, spray, spray, slick it down, and WAHLA - a sweet little ponytail. You'll get more hair eventually my love!!!

Missing you daddy!

We <3 U!!!

PINK

My pink themed post starts with pink eye! YUCK...Adi got pink eye on Saturday night. Her poor little face looked horrible, but I tell you what she was quite a little trooper. She didn't even seem to mind that her eyes were matted shut. It took a couple days for them to heal. Brandon took Adi and I took Abe. I hesitate to even write this, but we have seemed to prevent the spread of it to anyone else. A lot of Lysol, Clorox Wipes, serious amount of laundry, and raw hands have seemed to work. We spent Sunday just laying around since we were highly contagious. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Haight we enjoy enjoyed the new Pooh movie!



The next pink pictures are Valentines Day. I really tried to get pictures of the kids in their cute little Valentines outfits, but life happened. Abe has carrot spit up on his shirt, and Adi was covered with pink icing when we were finished decorating cookies! All-in-all a very successful Valentines day!






Adi has been saying some pretty funny things here lately. This has nothing to do with this post, but I want to remember a few of the cute things Adi is saying right now.

Adi's two year old little language:
Koala Bear aka Walla Bear
Chocolate aka Choclick
Raisins aka Roasins
Gummy Worms aka Jiggly Worms

Even though we're stuck in doors and the kids seem to be sick often life couldn't be any sweeter right now! <3

Winter

It finally feels like winter around here. We spent all week in the house playing. Abram is becoming more and more interactive. I was telling Brandon that I can't believe he is almost half way through his first year of life. :( These two spent one evening working on their cars, and I can't help but to sit there and soak up every second of these sweet times. It was nice having Brandon off on Friday. We spent the day enjoying our two little ones, and then had a great evening out on our own.

Adi and Abe working on their cars.


One early morning with all her jewelry on!


Those squeezable cheeks - I just LOVE them!

Abram is 5 months

Height - 26.5 inches (? percentile)
Weight - about 15 lbs 6 oz ( ? percentile)

Sleep - Well, well, well, what can I say about sleep? I can say that I'm not getting all that much of it. :) All of these transitions within the first year make it difficult to really follow through with much of anything. I am handling the lack of sleep much better with this little guy. I think I finally have convinced myself that these sweet little babies are one before you know it, so I am really trying to enjoy all of it - whether that be 2:30 in the afternoon or in the middle of the night. But, for my records, he is going down about 8ish, he is walking about 11:15. I am trying to hold out on nursing him until after midnight. Once I feed him once through the night he is up every 2 hours until morning. He is out of his swaddle sack since he flipped to his belly twice now while swaddled. A friend of mine let me borrow a magic sleepsuit to try and transition him out of the swaddle. Unfortunately, he seems to really hate it. The poor little guy just doesn't want to sleep unless he is swaddled! It is strange he acts like he is ready to get up for the day at 6:00, but if I nurse him and lay him in the middle of our empty bed he falls asleep immediately. Oh well, we'll get to the sleeping through the evening eventually. I got the rest of my life to sleep right?! :)

Eating - He is nursing about ever 3 hours and doing it pretty quickly. He is much more interested in everything else this month. Keeping on and focused seems to be a bit more of a challenge. I introduced apples yesterday and he LOVED them. We are well on our way to eating solids!

Milestone - He is rolling a lot and honestly is showing signs of wanting to start crawling. My little baby - please stop! You're doing these big boy things too quickly! He is really wanting to sit up a lot right now. He is just more and more interactive. He thinks it is hilarious when I sneeze and when we play peek-a-boo. What a JOY you are Abram!!!



That smile just melts my heart!


Rocking and rolling



His first time eating his apples.


Waking up in mommy and daddy's bed.

64!

Really - 64 degrees in February?! It is just beautiful here today! We were out and about this morning, and when we got home I decided to push Adi's nap back a bit so we could play in this wonderful weather. I'm sure we'll get another snow before spring gets here, but I sure am taking advantage of the warmer weather today!

Adi has been talking a lot about telescopes here lately. She had funny pretending with the one on her slide today!


Can you say SLOBBER!


Can't go outside without picking out handfuls of her "favorite" rocks.


And just a little more slobber - just look at those ADORABLE cheeks!