life happens...

and at lightning speeds it goes by. The months have just flown by. Last thing I remember it was a few weeks into summer (and I was kind of bored and a little stir crazy to tell the truth). Now, all of a sudden it is the middle of October- fall is upon us, our routines are back in full swing, and I am FAR from bored. Where did the time go? We have most definitely not been idly passing our days... we have been busy, busy, here, there, home, gone again, and back. I finally have just a moment to breathe and to do some SERIOUS catch up...

1. The end of August, the girls and I drove to Oregon to attend my brother's white coat ceremony upon his entrance into Oregon Health Sciences University Medical School. It has been a long fought road to get him there and I am so very proud of him. I am so happy we made the trip to be there to share in that event.

We figured that if we were going to drive 12 hours there, we were going to stay a while. We were gone for almost a full 2 weeks enjoying beautiful Oregon summer evenings, spending time with family and friends, and having a blast.

On the way home, my sister drove with us down to Loomis, CA so we could visit with our grandma. It was wonderful to see family!

We missed Paul terribly by that point, and were very excited to get home again. However, the drive from my grandma's house to my mom's house that usually takes 1 1/2 hours ended up taking 4 hours because of road construction (at midnight). At one point, everyone was screaming at the same time, Avery had to go to the bathroom, but we weren't near an exit, she wouldn't use a cup, I tried to put a diaper on her- she wasn't going for that either. I had to take Emerson out of her car seat to nurse ( we were at a standstill). When we finally got off the freeway, the gas station's bathroom was out of order, the 24 hour McDonald's was closed, but we finally got her to a bathroom on our third try. Whew. That was exhausting. Comical looking back- not so comical in the moment :).

2. Home for a week, crammed in dentist, doctor, and hair appointments before heading out again. We went to Utah (early September), with Paul this time, for round 2 of visiting with family, friends, and enjoying our time together. Another LONG drive, but we had a great time.

We stayed with our good friends the Clawsons for a couple of nights in their beautiful home... (Kelli is the most wonderful hostess- thank you my dear friend!) and then went up to Park City for the rest of the week. Had fun visitors come up and enjoy the pool with us. We finally got some updated family photos too- thanks Kelly... we love them!

Kelly also introduced me to tres leches from Cafe Rio. I came home and HAD to find a way to recreate it. Found a good likeness HERE. Made it, LOVED it. Heavenly yumminess. Truly.

Stopped in Vegas on the way home. Stayed HERE. Had a great view of the Bellagio water show. The girls were glued to the window the whole night. Finley liked it from our room, but was NOT a fan of it up close (or it might have been the crazy people she didn't like down on the street- the angel and satan street performance pair were more than a little creepy).

3. Avery started back to school ...tiny tigers again- minus Mrs. Waterbury :( She is loving it. Finley wants to go so badly- but she is still pretty far down on the waiting list. Oh, how glorious it would be to have them both at the same place at the same time- for 2 hours I would just have one!! I know the day will come, all too soon, that they will all be in school all day and I won't know what to do with myself... but, that moment feels very far away at times. I can't believe that this time next year Avery will be in kindergarten!? She is getting so good at recognizing and writing letters and simple sight words. She wrote BOO on a piece of paper the other day after pointing out B-O-O on my halloween banner. She is growing up so fast.

4. I turned 30. It is done- nothing more to dread. Now, moving on. Thank you to all who helped me celebrate this milestone birthday (including my husband who wasn't going to do anything, saw the error of his ways, and then surprised me with a spa day at the last minute... good save babe! It was lovely). Beautiful flowers courtesy of my thoughtful sister-in-law and brother-in-law. Thanks Jodi and Chris- they were gorgeous! Smeared writing on my cake (and notice the piece with my name is completely missing?!) thanks to my girls :)

5. Avery started back at dance class- after months and months of asking, pleading, and begging. I told her "in the fall" and now it is fall and there is no escaping my promise. Our favorite dance teacher Miss Daniella is not teaching now, so we found a little class at the Avila Community Center that is great. Miss Kristy is great- she is teaching them well, but overall it is more low key. The recitals are small and on a weekday evening (instead of at the cal poly theater with a big stage, lights, and $35 tickets). Avery is just happy to be dancing again. Finley is still dying to get in on the action. Soon baby girl, soon. For now, Finley gets to have one on one with Gramma Lee while Avery is in class. It is a win for all!

6. Emerson is 5 months old already (actually she is almost 6 months old now). I am not sure how that happened?! She is so squishy and just adorable. She has the. best. smile. EVER. Oh, it melts me like nothing else.

7. Our dirt plot is finally looking more like a real yard. Only 2 1/2 years in the making! There is still more to do, but at least we have a good start on it.

We are enjoying the new play space we have. Now we just have to replace the trampoline... almost a year later:)

8. Paul turned 32 and we went to Disneyland to celebrate. We discovered Avery is 42 inches tall and was able to go on Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad and a few other rides that were off limits before. She LOVED splash mountain- went 3 times. She tolerated Thunder Mountain once, but did not want to go again. It was fun for us because we got to go on something other than dumbo, the teacups, the carousel, and small world. A welcome milestone!

Paul then stayed in L.A. to go to a Laker's preseason game and a Oregon/UCLA football game while I went home with the girls to execute craft day :) Fun times were had by all! (there might be just a hint of sarcasm in there)

9. I have been keeping crazy busy with my church responsiblities (craft day was this past Saturday. I found planning and executing it to be very time intensive and exhausting), photo shoots (it is family photo time again :), and mom duties. NEVER a dull moment. I take moments as I get them... which isn't very often. Might be why it has taken me 2 months to get this post up?!

There it is...a "quick" recap of our past few months. Just for you mom! I think we are up-to-date now:)

chunky little monkey

We had Emerson's 4 month check last week. Our suspicions were confirmed.... we have a bona fide chunky monkey on our hands. She is 15 lbs. 4 oz. and 23 inches long. That puts her in the 95th percentile for weight and 25th percentile for height. This is a completely new experience for us- the other girls had fallen off the charts by this point (and still aren't back on- Finley only weighs 6 lbs more than Emerson right now!!). We thought we just made them little, but Emerson has broken the mold! Oh, how I love my squishy baby.

Her legs, my oh my, her legs- I don't know if I have ever seen anything like it! She is healthy and happy... she has the BEST smile, complete with one adorable dimple. Her eyes are still blue.... it is probably too soon to gloat, but at some point I am going to be able to say "I told you so" to all the doubters (most specifically my dear sweet husband :).

This has been a big month for Emerson- she has really come to life! She smiles all the time (when she is not being tortured by her sisters), giggles, and squeals (my goodness she is loud). She has started sitting up on her own. All the girls have sat up early- no rolling over for them. They all go straight to pulling themselves up to a seated position from laying down. It is really the craziest thing. She loves the car... as long as the car is moving at a descent speed. She has found her thumb- doesn't quite know what to do with it, but she her left thumb is constantly in her mouth. I am not complaining. I LOVE it when they find a mechanism of self-soothing (Avery sucks her thumb and Finley has her belly button). It makes life a little easier for everyone. I am pretty sure she is teething, though I have yet to see any real evidence (no teeth popping through just yet)- she has just been extremely fussy and baby orajel seems to help?!

I think we can finally say that we have made the adjustment to 3. It took a few months, but we have it down now. It is definitely busier than 2, but it is well worth it. I can't imagine our little family without Emerson in it. We love you little Emmy! Couldn't you just eat her up?!

my heart is full

Tonight, the girls were trying desperately to satisfy their sweet tooth after dinner. I was making brownies for dessert, but they were not being very patient while we waited for them to bake. They wanted to lick the mixer spoons, the bowl, and eat chocolate chips out of the bag. After asking over and over with the answer consistently being NO, Avery got frustrated and screamed at me. I just gave her the "oh, no you didn't" look and she ran into her room (and everyone wonders where my girls get their dirty looks- they learned from the best). We all assumed she went in there to cry and throw a fit. About 5 minutes later, she came back into the kitchen with a smile on her face. She said "I just prayed to Heavenly Father to help me make good choices." Wow. That is not what I was expecting to hear and it completely melted me. I had been so agitated by the interaction we had, but all that went away instantly as I felt the sweet comfort of the spirit wash over me. I hugged her tight and just breathed in the moment. What a joy it is that she is coming to know for herself where she can turn for help- and exercising the faith to call on our Heavenly Father in prayer. My heart is full.

taming the mane

Finley's hair has taken on a life of its own in the past few months. It has become a crazy, big, out of control mound of fluff on top of her head. So, we thought it was about time for her to get her first hair cut. Our friends came over for dinner and as a MUCH appreciated bonus, Krissy cut both of the girls' hair.

BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER:

MUCH BETTER!

It turned out so cute. It is amazing how a simple haircut changed my little Finn from a toddler to a big girl in a matter of minutes!

Both Avery and Finley are loving the fact that they have matching hairdos. They really do look so much alike- especially when they smile!