The Carrington Chronicles

Valentine's Party

2012-02-14T16:21:00.002-05:00

We had a Valentine's party for the kids after church last weekend. The kids all brought Valentine's to give to one another and they decorated their mailboxes together. It was craft supply central and the kids loved it! When they finished decorating their mailboxes we set them up around the living room and they went around delivering. It was a tad chaotic since most of the kids can't read yet, but it worked. :)

This little rascal decided to boycott his trusty late afternoon nap that we were counting on, but once we gave up and got him out of the pack n play he was happy to hang out in Mark's arms. He must've figured out there were some fun Valentine's activities happening without him.

Both of the girls did such a great job with their boxes. We were so impressed! They really enjoyed decorating. Looks like I'll have to pull out more craft activities at home!

(I caught E mid-smile in this picture.) Emory was the last to finish and she only stopped because I made her . She glued on about 10 mini-cupcake wrappers methodically over her entire box.

The most artistic of the bunch, Emily, helped the kids with their boxes.

After Valentine delivering was over we all had dinner. Soup, salad, bread, veggies and dip. Yum!

And of course, to finish it off we decorated sugar cookies. What a hit!

Sleepy Sim.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Cartoon Time

2012-02-11T15:59:00.001-05:00

SNOW!

2012-02-06T14:21:00.000-05:00

We had snow here a couple days ago - more than our city's seen in 10 years! The girls were SO excited. Brooklynn has even shed tears this winter over having no snow. It was a great treat. (Weird weather, though. The last few days were in the 60s.)

I find it funny how different my kids' snow experiences are than mine were. Growing up in Minnesota snow was a part of every day life from November to March. We lived in snow pants and boots and begged our parents not to make us wear them to the bus stop once we were in middle school.

Then I moved to North Carolina. At the first mention of snow, all bottled water and bread was bought up from every store. School was canceled for a week. And everybody's snow boots were really just rain boots. Snow is a once per winter occurrence down south, so it makes sense.

So that's what our kids know! They know lots 'o snow when they visit Granny PeeWee and Pop Pop, but that's it. So when it snowed here we put them in jeans and wind pants if they have them and tennis shoes or rain boots. But no complaints! Our snow day in a big city was lots of fun, complete with hot cocoa at the coffee shop below our house. Not bad if you ask me!

Brooklynn wanted me to take a picture of her shoes. Someone took my 4-year-old and replaced her with a 10-year-old. She looks so grown up!

Watching the snow fall.

Saying, "Coooooold!"

Winter gear.

Sad that he couldn't be outside with his sisters.

Snow Day in a big city. :)

Close to crawling!

2012-02-01T03:19:00.001-05:00

I think Trey will take off really crawling any day now. He's been up on all fours for the last few weeks and just in the last couple days has put the army crawl into full effect. As was true with both the girls, he's a bit agitated that he's able to get up on all fours but can't yet figure out what to do next. I know he'll be happier as he starts moving around. He turned 6 months last week so it looks like he'll be following Brooklynn's timeline for crawling (6 months) instead of Emory's (9months). Both didn't walk until 14 months, though, so we'll have to wait and see on that one.

Go get 'em big boy! There are lots of dress up crowns and princess dolls around just waiting to be slobbered on.

He starts out like this and tries to scoot forward....

....which sometimes results in a belly flop.

Then he'll get back up and straighten one leg to sort of do a plank.

There we go, back on all fours.

And the face of frustration that we often see. Soon, buddy, soon!

Homemade Applesauce

2012-01-31T01:29:00.001-05:00

I've started buying a couple pounds of apples each week to make applesauce for the kids. It's been a hit! We all like it and it is EASY to make. Enjoy!

8 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 1/2 cup of water
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Combine all ingredients and simmer over medium heat until the apples are soft. Remove from heat and mash with a potato masher or fork.

The original recipe calls for sugar but you really don't need it. This is a much healthier version and still really sweet and tasty!

Kid Craft - paint popcorn trees

2012-01-29T03:30:00.000-05:00

While Mark and Trey were at our friend Ben's boys-only superhero party the other night, the girls and I had an evening of pure girl time. I wanted to do something fun together and we found this easy craft courtesy of Pinterest.

We did our craft, played a My Little Pony board game and ate popcorn. A very fun and very girly night together!

Here's what we made and how we did it:

Paint Popcorn Trees

1. Put popcorn in a ziploc bag with a little bit of paint. We used 4 different colors so 4 different bags. I used finger paint because that's all we have and it worked well.

2. Shake, shake, shake the bag! Try to get as much paint on the popcorn as possible.

3. Lay popcorn out on parchment paper to dry (took about 15 minutes).

4. Meanwhile, with brown paint have the kids make a hand print on their card stock/paper. This will be the "branches" of the tree. Then have the kids paint a trunk with the same brown paint.

5. Glue the popcorn pieces on as leaves.

Voila! A beautiful fall tree.

(I am not very crafty and this one was easy-peasy. The girls could handle it and it didn't stress me out. Success in my book.)

Hoot.

2012-01-29T03:10:00.000-05:00

Mark: Emory, you're a hoot.

Emory: No, Daddy, you're a poot.

1.28.12 Solids - a first!

2012-01-28T02:30:00.000-05:00

Don't we just look like the happy pair. We got exactly one picture of Trey eating solids for the first time before the complete meltdown began (Trey, not me). I don't know if it was being tired or sick or just hating bananas, but he was not a fan. We're now about a week into it and he's taking to it much better. Bananas mixed with rice cereal seem to be a hit.

Now to see if a little extra food will be what our 6-month-old needs to start sleeping through the night...

1.27.12 Good morning, boys.

2012-01-27T15:16:00.001-05:00

Guess How Much I Love You

2012-01-23T15:06:00.000-05:00

We received this book as a gift when I was pregnant with Brooklynn - a few copies actually, and it's a favorite in our home. It's a classic. If you haven't read it, Little Nutbrown Hare is telling Big Nutbrown Hare how much he loves him. One line is, "I love you all the way to the moon and back."

Both girls have started saying this to us and like to come up with their own "all the way to's." It's sweet (and funny) because they are trying to come up with what would be the farthest place they can think of. Here are a few:

I love you all the way to the stars and back.

I love you back and to the moon (Emory's a little confused on the order.)

I love you all the way to heaven and back. (Brooklynn. She's also told us she loves us to hell and back but I told her let's just stick with heaven.)

And my personal favorite,

I love you all the way to America and back. So far away in a 4-year-old's mind. :)

1.23.12 Silly Faces.

2012-01-23T02:30:00.000-05:00

1.22.12 Goofy.

2012-01-22T03:00:00.000-05:00

Family Day

2012-01-21T16:26:00.000-05:00

Last week we had a Family Day. We explored a couple little towns near where we live. The first place we went turned out to be farther than we were expecting and the road was windy and bumpy - so much so that at one point the girls were sitting up front with Mark & I because we were all (minus Mark) feeling queasy. But, it was one of the most beautiful drives I've ever been on. We drove along the water the whole way and ended up on a quiet little town on the water. We played at a park, had lunch and walked around before heading on. It was a bit more car time than we had wanted but it was fine. We loved the time we had as a family and are going to try to make Family Day a regular thing.

Sleepy town.

Typical. :)

Guess who's sleeping on my back?

Gorgeous!

Handsome. :)

Running hug.

Awwww.

Goofies.

1.20.12 Thankful.

2012-01-20T02:30:00.000-05:00

1.19.12 Napping Buddies

2012-01-19T15:29:00.001-05:00

Emory and her buddy, Simeon. So sweet.

1.16.12 Put that lip away.

2012-01-16T02:30:00.000-05:00

Camel Wrestling

2012-01-15T16:31:00.000-05:00

Not many people can say they spent their Sunday at a camel wrestling festival with friends, but that is exactly what we spent today doing. We bundled up, loaded in the van and headed to a city nearby to witness the great event. It was a lot of fun. I'm so glad we went!

Mark did some research before we went and we learned a few things. Two camels wrestle at a time with two more waiting in the wings for their turn. They wrestle in the winter during mating season. It's always males who wrestle but occasionally they'll put a female in front of them to get the camels to fight one another for her. Another tactic is to not feed the camels to get them agitated before wrestling. If a camel runs out of the ring or gets pinned down he loses. Crazy, right? It was. The whole experience was quite the adventure. :)

These guys were waiting their turn for wrestling.

Up on the hill watching the camels.

These guys were great. They were in front of us laughing, dancing and singing the whole time. Why not bring your violin and clarinet to a camel wrestling match?

Stretching.

Getting ready to enter the holding gates.

That's a whole lotta camel spit.

Concessions? Camel everything. Camel sausage? Yep. Everyone ate a camel sandwich - kids included - except me. As much as I wanted to to say I'd done it, I took one look at it and couldn't bring myself to take a bite. According to Rebecca it tasted like beef. :)

Camel wrestling is for everyone. Sweet ladies, babies, puppies.

After we'd had our share of wrestling we headed down the road for some good ol' local cuisine. We warmed up with tea on cushions around our little table. I LOVED this place!

Three cheers for a day with camels!

Family Vacation

2012-01-13T02:30:00.000-05:00

Guess what? Several weeks ago (as in mid-November) we took a family vacation. The only reason I haven't posted any pictures from it is because I completely forgot about them in the busyness of the last two months. But we had a great time and I have the pictures to prove it!

We spent 2 1/2 days in a seaside town about an hour from our house. It was a much-needed and enjoyed break for our family. Mark and I tried to set realistic expectations so we weren't disappointed when we didn't get to sleep in, have leisurely mornings and read books on the beach. But what we did get was quality family time, great food, pretty beach views and wonderful family memories.

A view of the town from our balcony.

Our sweet girl. We went on a walk on the board walk and Mark caught up with us after he went back to get his jacket. When Brook saw him coming she ran to him. I didn't get my camera out in time to catch the full sprint but caught the most precious ending of her jumping into his arms. A favorite sight for sure.

Tickle time.

Bible time in the evenings.

There was a great playground at the hotel for the kids. And I forgot to mention that we were the only family there. We practically had the hotel to ourselves. Me and the girls enjoyed an afternoon at the park playing princesses while Mark and Trey took naps.

In this picture Brooklynn is most likely trapped in a high castle held captive by her evil stepmother.

Another pretty view from our balcony.

On our way out of town we made a pit stop at Starbucks. This was no 7-11 pit stop. This Starbucks was right on the water and offered a beautiful view to look at while we drank our coffee. After coffee Mark took the girls to play at a playground while I fed Trey. A great end to our vacation!

This old castle was right across the bay from where we were drinking coffee.

1.12.11 Happy Family.

2012-01-12T15:29:00.001-05:00

A great photo to kick off Year 2 of my Photo a Day (sort of ) project. I am in love with my sweet family!

Not sittin'

2012-01-10T07:56:00.000-05:00

I woke up around 2am to find Emory lying face down on the floor next to our bed....

Me: Mark! Look!

Mark: Emory! What are you doing?!

Emory: (in a whisper and wide awake) I'm not sittin' Daddy.

This girl. About two hours earlier I about had a heart attack when I came out of my room and she was standing in the hallway. Apparently she needed to go potty. This whole getting out of bed thing is new for us. Brooklynn will still not get out of bed. She'll yell for us at the top of her lungs before she'll get out of her bed.

12.16.11 Snow!

2012-01-03T10:52:00.001-05:00

Look, snow! If you squint you can see it up on the mountain. Not much, but still snow on Christmas! :)

Trey at 5 months

2011-12-27T00:55:00.002-05:00

Our little boy is healthy and happy and growing so quickly! He had a check up and shots a couple of weeks ago so these stats are Trey at 4 1/2 months.

Height: 69 cm. (27.2 in.)

Weight: 7.8 kg. (17.2 lbs.)

Head: 43 cm.

Our sweet boy is still happy as ever. We get lots of smiles and laughter and a generally easy and calm temperament.

Eating

Trey is still nursing with no formula or solids yet. I don't think we'll start solids until some time after 6 months. He seems to be growing just fine without them. :) He's a good eater and takes a bottle well if I'm gone.

Sleeping

Sleep is by far our hardest thing with Trey. He naps well - generally about 3 naps a day anywhere from 45 minutes to 3 hours. Usually he'll take 2 short naps and one long one. Night time is a different story. About a month ago we let him cry it out at night to help him sleep through the night. After 2 nights of waking up and crying he started to sleep through the night. We got 3 great nights in and I thought we had "arrived." I was wrong. Trey started rolling over in his crib onto his back and couldn't roll back over. So for the last few weeks we've been going in several times a night to flip him back over. (This happened with the girls too but only lasted a couple nights at most.) Now we're on vacation and can't let him fuss and cry (you're welcome hotel neighbors) so we just keep moving backwards. Add on to that a nasty cold and I'm now up feeding Trey at least a couple times a night. So when we get home from traveling we'll get back to working on it. Mark & I are exhausted and beyond ready for a good nights' sleep. I'm beginning to think that might not happen until we're Empty Nesters. But, even though I've done my share of complaining, I try to remind myself that it's a season and it too shall pass. Both of the girls had their sleep "things" that I thought would never end and now those memories seem foggy. I can't wait until Trey's sleep thing is foggy too. :)

Tricks

Trey loves being on his tummy and will kick and squirm and move himself backwards. He can get up into a baby push-up and can almost pull his little knees up underneath him. Looks like it won't be long before he's up on all fours rocking and then crawling. He's not sitting up yet either but when we "practice" with him he'll do it for a few seconds before toppling over. I love each new stage! Trey likes to put anything in his mouth and enjoys his crinkle toys. He's got quite the grip and will hold tight to anything within reach - toys, burp cloths, his sisters' hair....

So that's our growing boy at 5 months. We're so thankful for you sweet Trey!

12.25.11 Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T03:00:00.000-05:00

Rejoice!

Praising God for the birth of our savior, Jesus.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope."

-Romans 15:13

Amen! Merry Christmas!

Love,

Mark, Katie, Brooklynn, Emory & Trey

12.24.11 Push-Up.

2011-12-24T02:30:00.000-05:00

Getting closer and closer to crawling!

12.23.11 Happy Birthday Pop-Pop!

2011-12-23T02:30:00.000-05:00

12.22.11 Making Cookies

2011-12-22T02:30:00.000-05:00

12.21.11 Tower.

2011-12-21T02:30:00.000-05:00

12.20.11 Christmas Boy.

2011-12-20T05:26:00.002-05:00

12.18.11 Sibs.

2011-12-18T02:30:00.000-05:00

Brooklynn's School Party

2011-12-18T01:02:00.001-05:00

The tradition at the girls' school is for the parents to bring in a cake and juice and then the class has a little party in the lunchroom. We didn't know about this for Emory's birthday so we'll have to wait until next year for her.

Can you spot the birthday girl? Hint: look for the fancy mardi gras mask. :)

I baked a chocolate cake, per Brooklynn's request. I was all baked out by the time I finished icing this one. Baking from scratch is no joke! I have taken box cake and brownie mixes for granted, that's for sure.

Singing happy birthday in the local language to Brook.

Blowing out the candles. If you look at Emory in these pictures you'll see a huge smile in all of them. She was so genuinely happy for her sister. I loved seeing that.

Brooklynn's sweet teacher had a gift for Brooklynn AND Emory. Emory is in the younger class at school but sometimes comes in to Brooklynn's class - either because she's sad to be away from her sister or because Brook's teacher loves her so much. Probably a bit of both. :)

Trey got some good lovin' attention during the party too.
The kids eat breakfast, lunch and a snack at school. This is the sweet and talented woman who cooks for the children every day. She's always so kind to us when we see her at school. Brooklynn calls her their "cooker lady."

They let the girls cut the cake. So sweet.

Brooklynn's class and teacher. Once the cake was done they all went back up to their room and had a little dance party before we took the girls home. What a sweet and special party for Brooklynn!

12.17.11 Slow and Steady.

2011-12-17T02:30:00.000-05:00

Our slow and steady (and great!) eater. Usually the last to finish up at meal time.

12.16.11 Look at us!

2011-12-16T15:29:00.002-05:00

I hear this a lot these days. "Look at us, Mom! Take our picture!" We're enjoying watching Brooklynn's sweet affection for her brother.

12.15.11 Enough.

2011-12-15T09:14:00.002-05:00

Poor kid. The girls finally shared one too many stuffed animals with Trey.

The One You Need

2011-12-15T04:13:00.002-05:00

Do you think Brooklynn and Emory will be willing to reach back to 2011 for this gem to dance with their daddy at at their wedding? I hope so. Best father/daughter song I've heard to date. Enjoy the lyrics below if you don't want to watch the video.

Hey hey sweet daughter
I am so proud to be your father
Each day is like a gift from God

Hey hey sweet daughter
There’s no music like your laughter
And your smile is like a rising sun

You know I loved you from the start
So come in close
Take my hand for
Daddy shares his heart

I wish that I could be your everything
Be the one to give you all the things you need
Sometimes I’m gonna let you down
But there’s Someone if you just believe
Be your hero like He’s always been for me
Darling, Jesus is the one you need

No matter what you walk through
He will always love you
Just the way you are
For there’s nothing in this world
That I’d walk for my baby girl
That she’ll be happy ever after

The story of your life is still untold
I pray the King of all the Universe
Would make your heart His own

Who will never leave
He’s been there all along
All ready You can find to love

A Princess Party

2011-12-13T13:54:00.000-05:00

On Brooklynn's birthday we had a princess party for Brooklynn with her girlfriends. We invited a couple friends from our church and all 8 of the girls in Brooklynn's class. We were praying that at least 1 girl would come from school and 4 came! It meant a lot to us. Brooklynn enjoyed the time with her friends and I met some moms. Win-win!

After Brooklynn, Belle was the star of the party - or at least I think she should've been for all the work it took to make her. I baked 4 cakes and assembled and decorated the night before. It wasn't perfect by any stretch but I had fun making it, was pleased with how it turned out, and Brooklynn thought it was great. I followed this tutorial to make it.

The girls started off by putting on princess dresses and getting their nails painted. After that they each got to decorate a crown with stickers, makers and glitter glue. Emory put that entire page of stickers in one pile on her crown.

Next we played musical chairs. The girls didn't totally get it, or else weren't that into it, but we managed to complete it. Birthday Girl got out almost immediately and was in tears pretty quickly. Brook's friend Emma offered her place to Brooklynn so she could keep playing. It was a sweet highlight of the party.

Since Emma was out she helped with Trey. He didn't mind one bit not being with Mama.

Mark was the ONLY male there but happily jumped into Princess World and kept all the games and activities moving.

After that we played Pin the Crown on the Princess. Our friend drew this for our game! (B&E colored it.)

Happy Birthday Princess.

Brooklynn's friends were so generous with the gifts they gave.

Fairy wings and a wand!

The aftermath. We were exhausted but grateful for such a fun birthday celebration for Brooklynn. Happy birthday big girl!

12.13.11 Blow out the candles.

2011-12-13T03:03:00.001-05:00

Celebrating at home

2011-12-09T15:58:00.001-05:00

We had Brooklynn's birthday party on her actual birthday so that made the day especially busy. But we made sure to have a special birthday breakfast before the party began and opened a few more presents in the evening after more cake and ice cream.

The birthday girl!

Little sis.

Brooklynn got a special new mug (Emory too) with hot cocoa in it and a fun straw. It was a hit. Disney princesses are a BIG deal in our house these days.

Brooklynn ate her breakfast on a special birthday plate. Blueberry muffins imported from America (a big treat!), scrambled eggs with cheese, fruit and juice. Some of Brooklynn's faves,

Trey watched/drooled happily from the sidelines.

Later that night we opened a few presents that friends and family had sent and that Mark and I got her.

Emory got Brooklynn some sparkly pens and a coloring book.

A Disney Princess activity book and twistable crayons from Uncle Tommy and (soon to be Aunty!) Lindsay. Thanks guys!

This was from us. We got her a doll house. She loved setting everything up and playing with her little people in there. Emory was so sweet while Brooklynn opened her gifts. She was so happy for Brooklynn. It was precious to watch.

We loved celebrating our big girl's special day!

Brooklynn's many birthday celebrations

2011-12-09T03:00:00.000-05:00

My family has always joked that we celebrate my birthday for a solid week each year. Well, Brooklynn seems to be following in my foot steps. Each year she's managed to have multiple birthday celebrations. This year we had brownies with our church, a birthday party at our house with her friends and then a birthday party at preschool. Pictures from all of those are coming. Exhausted as we were, we loved celebrating our sweet girl!

Celebrating after church.

4 years old!

Tears. The #4 candle melted and burned out before she had a chance to blow it out.

Solved. We replaced it with the #0 and tried again.

Friends!

12.9.11 Reading.

2011-12-09T02:30:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving

2011-12-08T09:24:00.001-05:00

We had a great Thanksgiving with dear friends this year. We're usually with Mark's family and missed them a lot, so we were extra grateful to get to spend the time with close friends. We had quite the spread; almost everything we would have at Thanksgiving in America. We even had carrot souffle which was as good (if not better) than sweet potato casserole!

Tic-Tac-Turkey

Kids' place cards. Aren't these cute?

Mr. Trey hung out happily on his blanket. Next year he'll be packing away this feast I'm sure!

The crazy kid table.

Buddies. I love their friendship.

Dessert time! We had pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and pumpkin cheesecake!

This is Emory's "smile" face.

12.8.11 Tired.

2011-12-08T08:48:00.001-05:00

Trey's trademark sign that he's tired is to rub the back of his head.

12.6.11 New 'Do

2011-12-06T02:23:00.000-05:00

Mark went to get a haircut the other day and came home looking exactly like his barber...ski jump and all. :)

12.5.11 Planking.

2011-12-05T02:17:00.001-05:00

Trey can plank with the best of them.

11.27.11 Birthday girl! 4!

2011-11-27T02:30:00.000-05:00

To our sweet Sugar Bear,

We love you and are so thankful for the 4 wonderful years God has given us with you. What a blessing and joy you are! Happy birthday, Brooklynn Grace! We love you!

-Daddy, Mommy, Emory & Trey

11.26.11 Unhappy?

2011-11-26T03:00:00.000-05:00

Maybe. But still cute.

11.25.11 Mirror.

2011-11-25T02:30:00.000-05:00

Thankful for the Gospel.

2011-11-24T00:10:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving! On this day we are thankful for so many things: our marriage, our three beautiful children, our family and friends that live near and far, good health, food on the table and a warm home.

But most of all we overflow with thankfulness for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Without his shed blood we would still be lost in our sin with no hope of redemption. Praise the Father who sent His son, Jesus to the cross to bring us forgiveness of sins and everlasting life in Christ. Amen and amen!

Praying that on this day you will be encouraged in the gospel, or perhaps ponder it for the first time.

³^(G) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!^(H) According to his great mercy,^(I) he has caused us to be born again to a living hope^(J) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴to^(K) an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and^(L)unfading,^(M) kept in heaven for you, ⁵who by God’s power are being guarded^(N) through faith for a salvation^(O) ready to be revealed in the last time.

-1 Peter 1:3-5

Happy Thanksgiving,

Mark & Katie

11.23.11 Mom, take our picture!

2011-11-23T15:37:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday, Angel!

2011-11-23T05:22:00.001-05:00

A day late on the blog shout out, but I'm sure the pictures will make up for it.

You're welcome.

Halloween 2000-something.

Oh wait. Here we go. That's a little more current. Happy 30th to my-best-friend-since-4th-grade!

We love you, Ang!

Romans 3:23

2011-11-22T09:52:00.001-05:00

Encouraged by this sweet lil' 2-year-old.

Trey's Room

2011-11-18T09:05:00.001-05:00

Small space, big style. That's what we were going for with Trey's room. It is teeny tiny. I am sometimes shocked at what we've been able to fit in here. We really wanted to have a guest bed in there and managed to do it. Sure it's cramped, sure it feels kind of hodge-podge. But, over the last few days we finally got a shelf hung, things up on the wall and little decorative pieces in place. Oh my what a difference! I really love his room now!

A big shout-out to Ikea for 90% of what you see in this room.

Welcome to my room!

Changing table. We have a changing mat on top of Trey's dresser (which is immediately to your left as you walk in the room) but rarely use it. However, this nifty little pocket holder has been handy for all the changing goods.

Guest bed. This daybed pulls out in to a king bed for guests. You can't walk around it when it's open, but you can sleep in it! We'll leave it as a twin day bed for Trey when he's done with his crib. Hard to imagine, but I bet it'll be here before we know it! One more green frame still needs to go up. We had one with a picture of me pregnant with Trey in it, but somehow it went missing.

The polka dot fabric and green fabric is the same fabric used for Trey's crib bumper, handmade by one of our dear friends here. It adds so much color to the room! (Thanks, K!)

This is where you can still find me in the middle o' the night. This adorable blanket was handmade by our friend complete with Trey's name embroidered on it! I love it.

:: Details ::

This clock was given to Brooklynn at a shower by Mark's grandma who passed away a few weeks before Brooklynn was born. It's so special to us. I love being able to use it for Trey now.

This bear was mine as a little girl. It winds up and plays "Twinkle Twinkle."

Isn't this so cute?! Our friend hand-sewed this owl for Trey. I love having unique pieces like that in his room.
(Thanks S!)

Trey's mobile...hanging from the fan....the only place we could put it.

I was so pleased with this find. It's a magnet board and matched our colors perfectly. I love that we'll be able to switch pictures in and out.

Storage, storage and more storage.

And last but not least. My very favorite accessory in this room. He was a great assistant during this shoot, holding my scarf. Real men wear pink, right?

11.15.11 Sleeping Like a Baby

2011-11-15T05:16:00.001-05:00

It's been awhile since we've seen this sweet little bottom straight up in the air while sleeping.

Fall Photos

2011-11-12T07:34:00.001-05:00

Several weeks ago we took the kids outside to get a few fall pictures. Somehow it took us a solid hour to get them dressed and out the door. We took pictures across the street at a store front that had pretty bricks and good shade. By the time we got there Trey was ready to nap and Emory wasn't really feelin' a photo shoot. We had promised a treat for good cooperation and it didn't take Emory long to lose that privilege. We ended the time with Brook in tears because she stepped in cat vomit.

And with all of that we still came out with some of my very favorite pictures of the kids to date.

Sweet biggest sister.

Ha. There's so much to love in this picture.

Emory, that face. Cracks me up.

Thankful.

2011-11-07T08:42:00.000-05:00

Oh how we would love to live closer to family...

...but since we don't...

we are so thankful for skype. :)

Homeschool

2011-11-06T02:30:00.000-05:00

I come from a family of teachers, yet I still don't think teaching is really in my blood. My mom and older brother are both gifted teachers and I'm hoping some of those giftings will get passed on to me. But, either way, God has seen fit to lead our family this way right now, so I have begun a homeschool supplement with the girls. I use that term very loosely. The girls are already in preschool 3 half-days a week, so this is a short thing we do each day to supplement what they're learning at their local school. I'm giving myself lots of freedom and hopefully lots of grace as I learn my way through this.

I am using a Letters of the Week curriculum that I found here. The girls are really enjoying it! We're keeping a little book of the crafts they create, which we've already enjoyed looking back through.

Emory calls it homeschool preschool. :)

First Day!

Ready!

Supplies

11.5.11 Taking care of eachother.

2011-11-05T02:30:00.000-04:00

When the girls were both sick one weekend Mark found them like this, totally unprompted.

Monster Mash

2011-11-04T11:14:00.000-04:00

Here's some footage of our fall festival. The kids had a blast and so did all of the adults!

Scottie keepin' things under control.

Getting ready for musical chairs.

Emory didn't fully understand the game...or else she was just pretending and guarding her chair. :)

Next up was "Hot Pumpkin."

It came down to Brooklynn and Emory and Emory won! Brooklynn was a great sport about it too.

E and Trey were excited for Emory. :)

Pippen and Mauer.

We all shared a great fall meal together. Homemade pretzels, applesauce, chicken wild rice soup, veggies and dip and pumpkin pie bread. It was awesome. Oh, and apple cider too!

After dinner the kids got to decorate cookies.

Former kindergarten teacher, can you tell?

Concentrating on those sprinkles.

What fun memories we made!

11.4.11 A Princess and her Pizza.

2011-11-04T02:30:00.000-04:00

Even a princess can get her hands dirty.

Trey - 3 months

2011-11-03T10:08:00.002-04:00

Mark took Trey in today for his 3 month well-check (although he's now 14 weeks). He's continuing to grow like a weed. A healthy weed, so we're grateful!

7.5 kilos (16 1/2 lbs.) - 90%

67 cm. long (26 1/2 in.) - 97%

42 cm. head (16 1/2 in.)- 90%

'atta boy!

Here's Trey at 3 months...

Loves his Mama and Daddy (and sisters too!)

Overall, Trey's doing well in the sleep department. He goes down for his naps by crying himself to sleep each time, but the crying only lasts a few minutes. His morning nap(s) are usually short - an hour or less - and then he takes one good long one in the afternoon (2+ hours). His naptimes depend on when he wakes up in the morning and that isn't consistent yet. He's awake for an hour and a half to two hours before each nap.

The kicker is nighttime. He's still not sleeping through the night. I know plenty of babies do it much later than 14 weeks but Brook was 10 weeks and Emory was 8 weeks AND Trey's done it a couple times, so it's killer knowing he can but just won't do it consistently yet. All that to say, he eats quickly and goes back down easily, which I am grateful for.

He sleeps only on his tummy and sleeps without a binky. And he crosses his ankles which is SO cute.

Yes the bumper's on the outside of the crib. It's not operator error. Trey kept creeping into the corners and sides, so for his safety we took it out. Then he kept getting his arms stuck in the slats. So we compromised and put it on the outside, which doesn't totally eliminate the limb thing but helps.

He's only nursing, no formula yet, and is a good and efficient lil' eater. He eats every 2.5-4 hours, depending on his naps.

Trey is actually pretty fond of bath time. Believe it or not I have yet to give him a bath. Mark's been the one to do it...and he just doesn't get as many baths as the girls did. :)

We are loving and enjoying our sweet, happy, easy baby boy!

(Just as much as we enjoyed our sweet, happy, but not-so-easy baby girls.)

Living Room Playtime

2011-11-03T08:14:00.002-04:00

Killing time before bed one night. I'm so grateful for our kiddos. A treasure and a blessing!

11.3.11 Beauty shop.

2011-11-03T02:30:00.000-04:00

11.2.11 Lovin' her brother.

2011-11-02T16:20:00.001-04:00

10.31.11 Sunset.

2011-10-31T03:21:00.000-04:00

The Cast of Characters

2011-10-30T14:41:00.000-04:00

What a fun afternoon! We had a "fall festival" with our kids and some friends. We did lots of fun activities and had a great meal together. I'll save footage of the games for tomorrow; but for now, meet the cast of characters.

10.30.11 Smile!

2011-10-30T03:16:00.000-04:00

Is God bigger than Daddy?

2011-10-29T09:18:00.000-04:00

Brooklynn: Mommy, is God really bigger than Daddy? Like, really?

Me: Yeah, he is. Can you believe it?

Brooklynn: Really??? Oh my... Daddy is really big. Look at him when he's sitting up like that. He's so big. And God is bigger!

I love her love and admiration for her Daddy and for God. Such a tender heart.

My Little Pony Party

2011-10-29T08:38:00.000-04:00

This afternoon the girls and I met up with some friends at the mall for a My Little Pony party. What a hit! Brooklynn and Emory love My Little Ponies. The party was perfect for their age. It was a smallish event that wasn't crazy and crowded, and was jut the right amount of time to hold their attention. There were "hostesses" there that took 4 kids at a time to each station. They got to color, play with the ponies, watch some of a video and dance on stage. When Emory found out I couldn't come with her (parents watched from around the fence) she burst into tears and refused to go. Brooklynn was kind of pensive the whole time but enjoyed it. And they were sent home with a DVD and mini pony. All for free!

The whole thing took maybe 20 minutes and we followed it up with lunch. What a fun girl date!

All ready for our girl date. The girls took their purses with Ponies inside.

Sad to not go in, but not sad enough to leave Mom.

Dancing on stage.

Coloring with their "hostess."

And of course, a rapper/emcee.

Pony playtime.

So sweet.

A Pinkie Pie tattoo!

10.29.11 Hey Mom!

2011-10-29T03:15:00.000-04:00

Buddies.

2011-10-28T03:27:00.000-04:00

We spent a few days away with friends this week. I hardly took any pictures but did manage to get these gems.

Made for eachother.

Confident S. :)

10.28.11 Daddy & Trey.

2011-10-28T03:12:00.003-04:00

10.19.11 Happy Birthday Uncle Tommy!

2011-10-19T01:57:00.000-04:00

....from a fellow Twins fan.

Encouragement for your soul.

2011-10-17T02:09:00.002-04:00

The King Himself Has Come

Imagine American prisoners of war held behind barbed wire in a camp with little food and filthy conditions near the end of the Second World War. On the outside of the fence the captors are free and go about their business as though they don’t have a care. Inside the fence the captured sol- diers are thin, hollow-eyed, unshaven, and dirty. Some die each day.

Then somehow a shortwave radio is smuggled into one of the barracks. There is connection with the outside world and the progress of the war. Then one day the captors on the outside of the fence see something very strange. Inside the fence the weak, dirty, unshaved American soldiers are smiling and laughing, and a few who have the strength give a whoop and throw tin pans into the air.

What makes this so strange to everyone outside the fence is that nothing has changed. These American soldiers are still in captivity. They still have little food and water. And many are still sick and dying. But what the captors don’t know is that what these soldiers do have is news. The enemy lines have been broken through. The decisive battle of liberation has been fought. And the liberating troops are only miles away from the camp. Freedom is imminent.

This is the difference that news makes. Christians have heard the news that Christ has come into the world and has fought the decisive battle to defeat Satan and death and sin and hell. The war will be over soon, and there is no longer any doubt as to who will win. Christ will win, and he will liberate all those who have put their hope in him.

The good news is not that there is no pain or death or sin or hell. There is. The good news is that the King himself has come, and these enemies have been defeated, and if we trust in what he has done and what he promises, we will escape the death sentence and see the glory of our Liberator and live with him forever. This news fills us with hope and joy (Rom. 15:13) and frees us from self-pity and empowers us to love those who are suffering. In this hope-sustained love he will help us persevere until the final trum- pet of liberation sounds and the prison camp is made into a “new earth” (2 Pet. 3:13).

- John Piper, God is the Gospel, p. 20, 21

Brooklynn's first "real" haircut.

2011-10-12T03:00:00.000-04:00

I took the girls on a Girl Date this week and our first stop was to a salon down the street to get Brooklynn her first real haircut (Mark took Emory for her first last week - I'll try to get those pictures up soon too.) I've always cut the girls' hair but the price at this salon can't be beat, not to mention it turned out much better than anything I could do!

Brooklynn loved it. The girls each got treats and we enjoyed getting to know the owner and his wife and son who is Brooklynn's age.

I was kicking myself for not bringing my camera, but I did get these two of Brook (and Tiana) before bed that night. Beautiful!

10.11.11 Balcony.

2011-10-11T02:30:00.000-04:00

PW Iced Coffee: A Staple in our Fridge

2011-10-10T14:34:00.000-04:00

The Pioneer Woman - a favorite of mine - was kind enough to post her iced coffee recipe on my birthday. I think she meant it especially for me. If I lived near a Caribou I would head out right now for a white chocolate cold press. But I don't. So I make my own. And if I dare say so, I know I've gotten at least one other person hooked. (Amen, Bec?)

You can find her recipe and all the pretty pictures here. But here's my version. So simple!

Photo credit: Pioneer Woman

(Her amounts are different, so just use what works best for you.)

1 lb. of ground coffee (we prefer whole beans we grind ourselves, but already ground is great too!)
2 liters cold water
fine mesh strainer
paper towels (but cheesecloth is better if you have it - I don't.)

Dump your coffee into a large pot, bowl, or container with a lid.
Pour the cold water over it and mix it up enough for all the grounds to be covered in water.
Put the lid on and let it sit overnight, or at least for several hours.
The next morning place your strainer (lined with cheesecloth or paper towels) over a large bowl and start pouring your coffee through.
Transfer your strained coffee into pitchers and store in the fridge.

Best served ice cold! I drink mine with milk and a little bit of sugar or chocolate. We have loved it here all summer. Enjoy!

What Trey's up to...

2011-10-10T02:30:00.000-04:00

This is about it... He lays on his back or tummy, switching between his blanket and play mat. When we're feeling especially wild and crazy we'll set him in his bouncy seat.

I'm sure we'll blink and he'll be rolling around, sitting up, clapping, crawling and then running around with his sisters. (Seems impossible to imagine now).

What? Me? Yes, you Big Boy.

We are enjoying these sweet and simple baby days with our Trey. :)

10.9.11 Proud Little Brother

2011-10-09T02:30:00.000-04:00

10.8.11 Snuggle

2011-10-08T02:30:00.001-04:00

10.7.11 Ceiling Fan.

2011-10-07T15:53:00.002-04:00

Sick

2011-10-07T15:52:00.000-04:00

Mark, Brooklynn and Emory all have some version of a cold, but it started with Emory last weekend. She had a fever and a yucky sounding cough that really wiped her out. Poor thing was exhausted. We were watching Beauty and the Beast before naptime but I knew Emory wasn't going to last...

I went to take a shower and came back to find her sound asleep with her blankies. I was able to change her into a pull up without her waking up.

Brooklynn, healthy at the time, loved all the movie watching we got to do. (Emory, on the other hand, could take it or leave it. Not our TV girl.)

10.6.11 Love.

2011-10-06T16:05:00.000-04:00

Trey - 2 Months

2011-10-03T08:13:00.000-04:00

Our sweet boy is two months old! 10 weeks tomorrow, actually. Mark and I both agree that he's been our easiest so far, and we're grateful for that. Having the easiest be #3 sure is convenient. Here's a bit about Trey at 2 months:

Stats:

Birth:
8 lbs. 13 oz. (82%); 20.5 in. length (78%); 36.5 cm. head circumference (66%)

1 month:
12 lbs. 5 oz. (85%); 21.7 in. length (28%); 38.5 cm. head (35%)

2 months:
15 lbs. 9 oz. (97%); 24.8 in. length (89%); 41 cm. head (56%)

Eating:

He's a good little eater as you might've guessed from the cheeks and rolls. He is mostly nursing but will take a bottle if need be. He hasn't had any formula yet, although I don't think we plan to introduce it to him anytime soon anyways. He eats every 3 or so hours, give or take.

Sleeping:

Trey's also a good sleeper and we usually have an easy time getting him down for naps. He averages 3-4 naps a day and will often take really long naps (2+ hours sometimes). We keep him up after his last feeding around dinner time and then I feed him one last time before bed and put him right down. He has done some longer stretches at night recently, but then has also thrown in a night here and there where he's up every 2 hours. At least I know he can go longer stretches (7 hours). We're hoping he'll start sleeping through the night soon. Brook did at 10 weeks and Emory at 8 weeks, so so far they've got him beat. :) I will say with Trey it's been the least stressful and exhausting. While I think it will be nice to not have to get up at night with him I haven't really minded it (I read a few books!). With Brook and Emory I had many "I can't do this one more night" moments. :)

Trey's also a tummy sleeper. He's slept much better that way since early on. It made us nervous at first so I slept in his room at night with him for awhile. But he's stronger now and we have a video monitor in there that has given us some peace of mind. It's sweet seeing him sleep with his ankles crossed and little bottom up in the air. :)

Skillz:

There's not a lot a 2 month old can brag about except maybe rolling over or pushing up on their arms. Trey will on occasion roll from his tummy to his back and when he's doing tummy time he'll push up on his arms so his chest is off the floor. Nothing else to report yet.

Sweet boy:

We love all of the smiles and coos and giggles! I had forgotten how sweet those big huge grins are on teeny babies. The girls love to tell me every time they see him smiling. "Trey's smilin' Mama!" He has a generally calm and even disposition. He'll cry when he wakes up and is ready to eat or sometimes when he's in his crib trying to fall asleep, but otherwise he's pretty content. After a bit of awake time he'll fuss for some more one-on-one attention before going down for his nap. Overall he's predictable....which is wonderful.

My morning walking buddy twice a week.

Mark has jumped into the late-afternoon time slot graciously hanging with our sometimes fussy boy while I fix dinner.

We get lots of smiles these days and even some giggles!

Trey does well on his tummy and will hang out like this for awhile before getting tired of it.

WE LOVE YOU SWEET BOY!

Potty Training: Final Recap

2011-09-29T09:28:00.003-04:00

Potty training 1 week later: trained! Enough that I'm happy with it and feel free to call Emory "potty trained." Her first day was the hard one and then after that it's been pretty easy. She just doesn't go very often so that's made it much easier. She'll tell us that she needs to go, although she has quite a few false alarms. I'll take that over lots of accidents! She has rarely had any accidents since the first day, except for a couple #2's (TMI?). She seems to be a little scared of #2 but I know that will work itself out in time. She is very proud to go on the potty and even wakes up dry from most naps - sometimes even in the morning! One funny aspect of it: she gets pee pee and poo poo mixed up so usually says to us (frantically), "I have to go poo poo!!!" and we rush her to the potty....just to have her go pee pee. :)

From what I hear, boys are harder but I figure I've got a solid two years before I have to worry about training Trey... Until then, yay for just one kid in diapers!

Day trip to the beach.

2011-09-27T15:17:00.000-04:00

There is no shortage of beautiful beaches near us and we have taken advantage of that by making some easy day trips to the beach. This one was about an hour away and was beautiful. It was a small beach with crystal clear, calm, shallow water. We had a great day together. It's one of my favorite family memories we've made.

Trey rested in a little tent. He made the day easy on us by taking a good nap.

Brooklynn was a fish and had no fear of the water.

Emory is still scared of the water and prefers to play up on the sand or sit right at the edge and let the water splash on to her.

Weeeeee!!!

Hey Mommy!

Water wings!

Snack time.

Not a bad view, eh?

Picture time.

Love my girls.

A quick rest and a snack.

Here I go!

I made Mark take a picture to provide proof that I swam in the water and even went all the way under!

Big Girl swimming!

Related?

2011-09-25T02:30:00.000-04:00

Sometimes we hear that Trey favors Emory but we mostly hear that he favors Brooklynn.

You be the judge.

We always called this Brooklynn's "old man look".

Tummy Timers

2011-09-24T02:30:00.000-04:00

Brooklynn - 6 weeks

Emory - 4 months

Trey - 8 weeks

Potty Training: Day 1

2011-09-23T05:49:00.000-04:00

Recap of Day 1:

In Emory's own words she said, "bye-bye diapers; hello underwears!"

Overall, I'd say Day 1 was fine, but exhausting. Brooklynn was easier to train, but Emory's still doing well. She never refused to go and she was excited about her new underwear (some new ones, some hand me downs from Brook). We gave her lots of juice and water to give her plenty of "opportunities." This meant lots of accidents and very few "successes" but I think she's getting the hang of it. Each time she went on the potty it kind of scared her and she cried, or she would sit for 2 seconds and start whining to get off. As she got used to it she was excited when she went potty. She got one m&m (the generic brand here) each time she went. She slept in a pull-up for naptime and bedtime. Overall, she was extra weepy all day which was tiring for us, but we made it!

One day down; on to Day 2!

What's not to love about potty training if you're wearing pearls?

The Roll

2011-09-23T03:15:00.001-04:00

Still rolling when we put him on his tummy...seems to surprise him each time. :)

9.23.11 Hey there!

2011-09-23T02:30:00.000-04:00

9.22.11 Time flies.

2011-09-22T04:00:00.000-04:00

Brooklynn at 4 weeks.

Trey at 6 weeks.

New Swing

2011-09-21T15:59:00.001-04:00

Trey got a new swing. He seems to like it, but I think the girls are more excited about it then he is.

In other news, potty training starts tomorrow for Emory... Here we go!

Still trying to decide if he likes it.

9.21.11 Sweet boys.

2011-09-21T02:30:00.000-04:00

Quality time with Daddy.

2011-09-20T02:00:00.000-04:00

All grown up.

2011-09-19T02:30:00.000-04:00

Seems like only yesterday Emory was being held by her big sister. Now she's a big sister! I can't believe how quickly our kids are growing up. Here's to trying to cherish every moment!

(That hair!)

9.18.11 Filling out.

2011-09-18T02:30:00.000-04:00

Our boy is not having any trouble putting on the pounds.

Out for ice cream

2011-09-17T02:00:00.000-04:00

9.16.11 Achoo!

2011-09-16T02:00:00.000-04:00

Rolling over!

2011-09-15T05:33:00.000-04:00

Trey rolled over for the first time yesterday. He was propped up on a little pillow for some tummy time and he pushed himself from tummy to back with his arms. I don't know if it was an accident, but as I write this he looks like he's about to do it again. :) He's had great head control since he was born, can push up on his arms so his chest is off the ground and is putting on the weight well. He's our big and growing boy and we're so grateful to the Lord for that!

9.15.11 All Smiles.

2011-09-15T02:00:00.000-04:00

Trey has come out with the smiles in the last couple weeks. We love to see that sweet, happy little grin!

Tea Time

2011-09-14T16:00:00.001-04:00

I was having tea with a friend the other morning and Emory wanted to join in. The girl will eat and drink almost anything so I figured she might actually enjoy the glass of hot tea. She did! Brooklynn wanted in on the fun, but only for the enjoyment of stirring a sugar cube around in her glass. I don't think she ever tasted the tea. :)

Look at that pinky out. :)