What Day Is It?

For the past few mornings, I wake up and really have to think about what day it is. Pete has been on vacation since last Thursday so my days are all mixed up. I have been able to sleep until the girls come into our room. It has been a nice change from my usual 5am alarm. And for the days following Christmas, we have not done a whole lot more than play with our new toys and games. I had some big plans of organizing a couple of closets and unpacking the last two boxes sitting on my closet floor. I also wanted to go to the city to see the big Christmas tree. But none of that has happened. And that is ok. I mean, do I really need to unpack my scrapbook stuff? I think it has been over a year since the last time I have scrapbooked. And it really is too cold to drag three young girls into the city just to see a really big Christmas tree. So I am going to continue to enjoy the last few days of Pete being home from work. We'll play some more games and do some more puzzles. And we'll stay indoors and keep warm.

Here are a few pictures of us enjoying our new stuff.

   

 

   

   

While the kids and us enjoy the new toys, games, and puzzles, Maddie enjoys her bone that Santa left for her.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

We had a great Christmas here in New Jersey. Unfortunately, it was not a white Christmas; although, there are still a few patches of ice from last week......but I don't think that counts. I definitely would have loved to see some snowflakes falling from the sky today.

Every year I get more and more excited for the girls to come down and see what Santa has brought them. Alli woke up at 5AM!! I was not so excited that I could not send her back to bed! She ended up sleeping in our bed for the next hour and a half. But as soon as there was a little sunlight in the room, she was up again.  Here are a few pictures from today.

Thank you Grandpa Pete and Linda for my number train puzzle.

Santa brought Katie Baby Stella and a stroller.

Look Dad! It's the Wii!

Santa must have received the girls' letters. He did not forget anything from the list. A few of their favorites were the Twin Time Doll House, The Honey Bee Tree game, bikes, art easel and art supplies, a "real" microphone and, of course, make-up! Pete and I think the  Wii is the best gift....it said to Alli, but I think Santa meant to leave it for us.

Fun With Dad

The best thing about having a dad who cheered in college is......

doing stunts with him.

I think we have some future cheerleaders on our hands!

Winter Wonderland

Okay- the snow and ice was fun at first, but SERIOUSLY! When will it go away?

It really would not be that bad if I did not have to drag my 60 pound dog through it! Maddie is so spoiled. She DOES NOT like the ice or snow. She DOES NOT want to take care of her business on ice! The problem is, there is ICE EVERYWHERE!

The girls and I decided to go out and have some fun on the ice yesterday. It was fun until Tori wiped out and fell on her face. It looked a lot worse than it was. And it was actually her second fall of the day. Earlier that morning, she fell while walking into the gym....notice the big band aid on her forehead. Overall, the girls had a good time. Alli learned a hard lesson last week when she took her gloves off while playing in the snow. So this time around she had a lot more fun since her hands were not frozen. And Katie LOVED IT! We have a lot of little hills around here so the girls were body sliding down them....even Katie.

 

 

Look at ALL THAT ICE!

Happy 3rd Birthday Tori

Three years ago today our sweet Victoria Grace came into this world. It was completely planned, even though I tried my hardest to not be induced. My babies just don't seem to want to come out on their own. Alli was 10 days late, Tori 4 days and Katie 5 days. And December 14th seemed to be the best date. It is also my grandpa's birthday. My mom came to McKinney a few days earlier just in case......but nothing. So the 14th it was! Pete and I checked into the hospital bright and early that morning. Everything was going great. My wonderful doctor came in early to break my water and advised me to get the epidural soon. About thirty minutes later the contractions started to get a little intense. I was ready. We call the nurse to let her know. She walks in with a sympathetic smile. The anesthesiologist was in a c-section. I would have to wait. At first, I thought, maybe I wont get one. I always wanted to try natural birth. About two minutes later that thought was out the door! You girlfriends who have gone through labor naturally must have a VERY HIGH tolerance to pain. Or, better yet, my tolerance must be EXTREMELY LOW. The next hour was agonizing- to say the least. But when my night in shining armor (aka the anesthesiologist) walked in, I knew things would be getting better quick. And quick he was! Pete was amazed by his work. And just a little over one hour after getting my epidural, my second baby girl was born.                             

  one day old

1st Birthday- a party at home with friends and family

2nd Birthday- a gymnastics party

3rd Birthday- a Chuck-E-Cheese party

Tori is just the cutest thing! She has the sweetest voice. My favorite thing that she says is "sure". It sounds more like "shoore". She LOVES to look at books, magazines and catalogs. And she loves to watch her shows. She really gets lost in the TV. (Not a great thing- I know!) She is pretty independent. She wants to do everything on her own. Tori is a great sister to both Alli and Katie. Now that she is officially three, she will be able to participate in a ballet class. She starts on Monday. We celebrated Tori's birthday in San Antonio. She had been talking about it for about a year! And everyone she wanted there was there. It was perfect.

SCHOOL IS CANCELED!!!

This is what it looked like outside today. That is ICE not snow!

 

So what do you do when you are stuck indoors with three little girls?

     you play with Floam

you paint

  and you bake  

     

 

And look who climbed on top of the table to get some of the sweets!

20 - 2 = 18

The second tooth is out! She actually lost it while we were in SA. (I am just a little behind on my blogging!) Isn't that a cute smile? And she already has another loose one!

Our Texas Trip

We had a wonderful time in Texas this past week. My brother's wedding went off without any problems. And we are so excited that Laura is officially "Aunt Laura".

It was such a wonderful feeling to be around family and friends. And the warm weather was great too. It was a nice break from having to bundle up the girls.

Leaving for the airport at 4:30am was BRUTAL! But, even worse, flying for four hours with three young girls!!! They were all too excited to sleep! Can you believe that? I thought for sure they would sleep a few hours......we got maybe 30 minutes from them! The flight home was better. They all slept. Alli and Tori slept the entire flight! Pete had Katie duty and I got to watch a movie......what a sweet husband I have!

Off To Texas

We will be leaving VERY EARLY tomorrow morning for Texas. We chose to torture ourselves just so we could have a full day in San Antonio. Our flight leaves at 7am so that means waking up at 3:30 to leave here by 4am. We will literally be taking the kids from the bed to the car and changing at the airport. Hopefully, Pete and I can get to bed by 10 tonight....but I doubt it!
Can't wait to share photos of my little brother's wedding! Any prayers for him would be appreciated. He is super sick right now with his allergies and asthma. I am really looking forward to seeing all my family and friends. I will even get to attend Sammy's baby shower while I am there!!! I have seen pictures of her with a belly, but can't wait to see it in person. I better get back to packing!

A New Tradition

After Thanksgiving dinner, Alli and Tori made their first Gingerbread House. It was so hard for them to put all that candy on the house and not eat it! But I think they enjoyed seeing it become a house and will want to do it again. Next year, Katie will be old enough to help.

Now This Is Fall, Y'all

The Fall is absolutely beautiful!! These past couple of months have been really nice. I am really enjoying the crisp cool Fall weather and seeing all the leaves change colors. This is the first time I have experienced a real Fall. Well now it seems that Fall is coming to an end. The weather has not gotten out of the 40's in over a week and the leaves are slowly falling off the trees. We even got snow today! That's right, folks! Snow! I loved it. That is, I loved looking at it. It was not cold enough to stick, but it sure did look pretty coming down. Unfortunately, the biggest snowflakes came down while I was at the gym. And, of course, I did not have a camera. So no snow pictures from today. But take a look at the Fall pictures in my slide show. We went up to West Point with our friends Will and Rachael and their son Drew. They came up from Dallas to spend the weekend with us. Will and Pete were classmates at West Point. It was nice to have some old friends around. Will and Rachael are both from Boston so they thought the 40 degree weather was just perfect......a little on the chilly side for this Texan!

One Tooth Short

It finally happened!! Alli lost her tooth! She was so excited and so were we. My little girl is growing up too fast! I really can't believe how fast she is growing up. It seems that after having our first child, every older person we met told us that she would grow up so fast. It is something you never realize until you experience it. And here we are, over five and a half years later, playing Tooth Fairy for our baby girl!

Good Habits

I love that my girls are already interested in working out! Look at these two girls! Isn't that awesome? I would like to think that my good habit is rubbing off on them......I just hope they don't get any of my bad habits!

Gosh- is it really November 13th???

Time flies when you are having fun!

We had a great visit with Grandpa Pete and Linda. And two days after they left MoMo was here! It was so nice to have family around.

Pete and Pete

The girls loved the books Grandpa Pete and Linda brought them.

MoMo never gets her own bed! Alli's tooth is getting more wiggly, but no end in sight!