Sankt Nikolaus Tag

We had fun celebrating Sankt Nikolaus Tag this year with the kids. We had them leave their boots by the door and Sankt Nicolaus brought them some fun prizes! I realized after we all ate our candy and looked at the calendar that I was actually a day off. We must have been pretty good because he came to see us even though Mommy is going crazy and got her dates mixed up!

Three Years Old!

Three years ago this little boy came into our lives. Three years ago he made me a mommy; a name I respond to with great satisfaction. Three years ago our lives were forever changed for the better.  God blessed us with this perfect little boy who every day teaches me love, forgiveness, honesty, and lots and lots of patience. He is hilarious. He is charming (ask the older girls at church). He is my handsome little boy who keeps me on my toes, is fully potty trained, sings all his ABC's everywhere he goes, and pants like a puppy dog to every stranger we meet. I love him.

Now that he is old enough (and talking well enough) I wanted to interview him. Here was his response:

favorite color: purple--and always has been
favorite show or movie: Busy Town, Curious George
favorite food: beans and rice
favorite toy: puzzle and stuffed animals
favorite song: ABC's and Old McDonald
favorite book: Young McDonald
best friend: Corey (one of the young women at church) Callan, and Annie (and I would like to add Mommy and Daddy depending on the day:)
favorite place to go: Frying Pan Farm and North Carolina
profession of choice: Daddy

Ethan LOVES fuzz as you might remember so we got him an entire bin of fuzz for his birthday! He loved it needless to say!

Landscape Woes

We decided to get rid of our old bushes. They looked HORRIBLE. Unfortunately, they were like four miniature trees, that were 30 years old, and very well rooted--practically into the house. It took a real man to get this job done:) It looks considerably better now that we have planted new bushes and flowers.

Here she comes!

Look at the that crazy hair! I think the wind caught it just right!

Elizabeth has decided to walk now! I knew she could for a while now but just hasn't had the motivation. She saw some of her friends at church yesterday walking though and I think that did the trick. She stood up and took about 10 steps like she had just been waiting for the right moment to tell us all she actually already knew how! We were so happy that Craig was there for it since he missed Ethan's first steps because he was on a business trip. Although he did have to leave a few hours later--we were glad he could be there for the special moment:)

2012 Fall at the Farm

I love fall. I love the food, the colors, the final release from horrible hot humidity, the sudden disappearance of many bugs. Oh, I love it:)

This year as part of our celebration we went to the frying pan farm park fall festival.  We usually visit the farm about once a week, but this trip was extra special. They had all the old machinery up and working--including the massive apple cider press, the logger and lots of other exciting tools. We saw baby piglets just two days old--they were adorable! We enjoyed apples, honey, and a hilarious puppet show. If you have never been to the east for a fall festival you need to do it--seriously a highlight of the year. Here are some pictures of my adorable children enjoying themselves.

She is One Year Old!!

 Elizabeth is one year old! What a party we had! Grammy and Grampy came up for the occasion and we all enjoyed her favorite cake--strawberry short cake.

I know everybody always says "I can't believe it's been a year!" well, I really can't believe it. I really can't believe it. We love Elizabeth more than I can say. She is sweet in every sense of the word. Her little smile it the best thing ever.

A couple weeks before her birthday she had no teeth. She now has seven teeth. They took their time but showed up in full force ready for birthday fun! Once we can get her sleeping again at night we will all be a little happier.

I imagined this to be a gloriously adorable photo with all the colorful balloons but I could not for the life of me get her to look at me. Baby photography is serious business!

Her favorite toys are balls. She LOVES balls. Big, little, smooth, rough. If there is a ball within a mile she will crawl (with one little leg pushing) as fast as you ever saw a baby on all three move to get it.

Some of her skills right now include backing down the stairs--for which Mommy is very grateful. Also she is remarkably good at somehow stealing anything from Ethan in the car. Unfortunately I can't see how she does it because I am driving, but somehow she ALWAYS ends up with whatever Ethan is holding. She also loves to irritate Ethan. She will steel his toy, crawl as fast as she can with it to our bed and throw it behind the head board so he can't get it. She thinks she is hilarious. She also loves to wrestle with Ethan. She is only 5 pounds high junior so they make a fairly good match and they are hilarious to watch tumble around.

Elizabeth also loves music. Sometimes I turn up the radio and we all have a dance party. (Sometimes I forget to shut the blinds so if you drive by you might be in for a show) Elizabeth loves its. She bounces, waves her arms, yells along. I can't wait to enroll her in her first dance class.

There are so many things about this little girl I wish I could write down. I hope she knows how much we love her. How beautiful she is. How much her Heavenly Father loves her and expects of her. She is my little princess, and in truth a perfect daughter of God.

Happy Halloween!

 Ethan decided he wanted to be old McDonald for Halloween. The crazy thing is Elizabeth said she wanted to be a prize winning piglet! So they went great together:) They both played their roles like they were born for it. You can't see in the picture but Ethan has a cute beard we drew on and Elizabeth has a curly pig tail. They were adorable. They raked in the candy, and now we just have to plan what we can dress up for next year!

Of course he hated getting his hands dirty!

Happy Easter

We had a wonderful Easter. The Easter Bunny came during nap time and brought lots of fun goodies. We even had an Easter egg hunt in our back yard. Here are some pictures of the kids in their matching outfits. Mommy made them in the midst of moving (I always seem to pick the most inconvenient time to finish projects--I think Craig wanted to donate my sewing machine to goodwill that day...)

Can you believe these kids were actually just born that cute?! No photo shop, no makeup--just pure God given, natural beauty. I love them. Oh I love them.

Funny Kids

I want to share these little stories so I never forget how adorable my children are. (Sometimes when Ethan screams all day that he just wants to watch movies or when Elizabeth just won't sleep I sit down and read this to remember just how much I love them:)

The other day I left Elizabeth on the floor while I was in the other room helping Ethan. She has just started wiggling around a little to get things she wants and she had been squirming quite a bit for something when I put her down. When I cam back I realized what she had wanted--Ethan had left his peanut butter and jelly sandwich on the floor close enough to tease her. When I came back in the room she had bread, jelly, and peanut butter all over her face and clothes--even a piece of bread sitting on her forehead. She just giggled when I picked her up. Apparently peanut butter is actually not that bad for kids under a year...oops. I just wish I had gotten pictures because she was clearly pleased with herself.

Ethan has been quite the little character lately also. We were having dinner with some friends in the ward the other night when he disappeared. I could hear yelling upstairs so went up to investigate. We found him in the master bedroom, in the bed, under the covers with both hands up behind his head like he was lounging on the beach thoroughly enjoying himself. Then he jumped out of the bed wearing nothing but a diaper and t-shirt and started telling to us how comfy he was in that bed! We found his pants on the other side of the room. Our little Goldie Locks had found a bed just right.

Our New Home!

We are now proud owners of our own single family home! I just kind of giggle inside when I say that because I am still go giddy with excitement about the whole matter. Blessings untold is all I can say. To pull into my own garage, walk leisurely through my door (while staying dry of course), and then kicking my shoes off to enjoy my own four walls is a pleasure I have yearned for! I love not running the mile up a hill with two babies in tow and then up all the stairs to get into my apartment then only to listen to the neighbors yell at each other through the paper thin walls. The yelling I hear now is from my two year old who has recently discovered his vocal chords:) Somehow it's just different when it's your own kid though.

I am thrilled to say we love the neighborhood. People have been so friendly! For the first week we were here we had more bread brought over than we could eat! The ward is also wonderful. Ethan went to nursery with no difficulty whatsoever and has continued to do well. Our backyard is full of weeds right now, but they are our weeds! We love running around the yard finding all the birds nests--three so far, chasing the bunny rabbits that live under our deck and planting a beautiful garden. There are so many reasons we are happy to be in this beautiful home. We have been blessed so much for some reason I can't quite figure out. With bidding wars going on like crazy here and prices through the roof, somehow we were able to find a better than perfect house for us. Sometimes I look at my beautiful children, my sweet, hardworking husband and wonder why I am so blessed. But then I think I shouldn't ask why--but just be grateful as can be and share whenever possible.

Pictures of the house to come soon:)...still gotta pick up some boxes....