Spunky

Can't you just see the sweet spunkiness in this little girls eyes? She is such a blast. We laugh everyday watching her explore and discover new things!

Prayer for Baby Zach

A sweet little baby needs your prayers tomorrow! Our friends little boy, Baby Zach was born with Downs Syndrome and a severe heart problem called Tetralogy of Fallot. Many of you in my Woodlands bible study were praying for him before he was born! He has already endured one surgery to place a temporary shunt in his heart. Tomorrow he goes in for a full reconstructive surgery that will take 5 to 6 hours. He will be in the hospital for at least 10 days. If you think of it, please lift Ray, Amy, Baby Zach and Big Sister Bella up in prayer. I know they are grateful. If you would like to check in on their story, you can do so at http://thebrantonfamily.blogspot.com/

Catching-Up

I am way behind on my blogging, because we have had a BUSY week. We are running around and having a great time together. Austin is really helpful and obedient, however 3 kids is still ALOT, especially when your husband is out of town! I feel like by the time I keep them all three dressed, feed and picked up after that I don't have much time left to just enjoy them and play. I admire all of you out there with 3 or more. Who knows...maybe someday, if we decide to go there, I will be asking you for advice on that!

Austin and Addison went to VBS at our church this week. It was the churches first time to host a preschool VBS starting at 3 years old. Addison woke up every morning eager and excited to go. Austin loved his group as well. I know he learned a ton. I was thrilled to hear him come home talking about scripture and singing the songs. We even talked about heaven and he told me that he believes in God and wants to accept Jesus into his heart. What amazing words to hear!!! I pray that he will continue seeking that relationship and following the Lord throughout his life.

I worked at VBS the first 2 days, but decided that with Tommy being gone and an extra kid in-tow that it might not be best for my sanity. I was coming home exhausted, Reagan's nap schedule was getting destroyed (3 hours in the nursery is a bit much for her) and Austin and Addison were anxious for the next fun activity!!! I loved working with the kids, and was sad to have to stop, but I look forward to next year!

Aside from bible school we have been to the pool, the parks, the library and played with friends. Unfortunately I haven't taken nearly enough pictures of the 3 cousins together. They are on the move way too much! Hopefully I will be better this week. My dad flew in last night and is staying until Thursday. He and Austin will head out together. I am glad he is here, because Tommy has lots of travel on his schedule this week as well.

Enjoy the next few posts....lots of new pictures and stories in my attempt to catch-up!

Sharing!!!

One of the best possible things to share!!!

Sunflower Farm

During our visit with Tommy's family last weekend. We headed to Sunflower Farms, a little working farm about an hour away. My sister and Austin were here as well, so we were a big group! The farm is simply a family, who has opened up thier land and farm to visitors. The kids loved it.

The pony ride was enough to make Addison's day. She loved being led around on the pony. Although I do think that she feels like her horsemanship surpasses simply being led around on a small pony.

They had a zip-line to ride, tree houses to climb in, swings and hammocks and lots of animals to feed. We spent the afternoon just enjoying the sunshine, family and activities.

One piece of advice...if you ever find yourself at a farm and they tell you NOT to feed the ponies, take them at their word. Poor Reagan stuck her fingers through a little ponies cage and he nipped them. Thankfully she is a tough one and I think the pony was only warning her with a little bite! I grabbed her quick and we got out of there without any tears!

Dinnertime!

Spaghetti is a crowd favorite around here, but boy is it a messy clean-up!!!

Dog Heaven

Doesn't that first picture look like it belongs on an add campaign somewhere? Tommy's Aunt Beverley and Uncle Randy came through Colorado on vacation and stopped to spend the night with us. They had their grandkids, Tommy's 2nd cousins with them. Aidan and Amadea loved Maggie and clearly Maggie feels the same. The snuggled on the floor all night, and she was thrilled to cuddle with them. Randy threatened to take her home. Tommy jumped up to pack her things! But, we know he kids, we all love her too much!

Addison and Austin had so much fun with the kids here. They had it all worked out before they ever arrived. Addison told Austin, "You can play with the boy and I will play with the girl!". Indeed they did just that. We didn't hear a peep out of them at the house. The boys played video games and football and the girls played baby dolls.

We were so glad to share our home with family and have the time to visit them.

More Monkey

Reagan still climbs everything she can. This is her newest trick!!!

Sweet Little Girls

A few weeks ago I mentioned our trip to Phoenix and how precious it was that all our little girls sat at their own table, playing a game they made up. A friend emailed me the pictures today. Aren't they the sweetest things?

There were 4 couples there. Between us, the count is up to 8 girls, with another girl on the way. Precious Baby Zachary is the only boy in the bunch. That little boy is in for it!!! It was so funny to look around our breakfast table, being officially outnumbered by the kids. When our bible study was meeting a few years ago, Carlee, who is now, was the only baby in the bunch.

We sure miss doing life everyday with these people, but we are so thankful for opportunities to visit.

Cousins at the Zoo

My sister, Erica, and nephew, Austin, arrived in Denver on Thursday. We have had a great long weekend playing with the kids. We are all TIRED!!! My sister leaves tomorrow but Austin is staying here with us for almost two weeks.

Friday we took the kids to the zoo. We went in the afternoon, which we rarely do, since it is naptime. But, we had so much fun. There was lots more action than I have ever seen in the morning. We saw the lions being fed. We saw monkeys swinging all over their cages. And, best of all, we saw an enormous ape get mad at a sweet little bunny who had wondered into his cage. Thankfully the bunny got away, but not until the ape had chased him and thrown a giant log at him!!!

Addison loves having Austin here. He is so sweet and helpful with them! We are looking forward to a great week together.

Hot, Hot, Hot

We went to Phoenix a few weeks ago, to visit old friends. We had so much fun seeing everyone and catching up. The friends we stayed with have two little girls, so our girls were in heaven! We got to see there new church and experience the amazing program they have for the little ones.

Sunday morning, we met with all our old friends for breakfast before going to our old church. The sweetest thing was watching our little girls play. They sat at there own table and made there own little game. They were in their own world and having the best time.

After church, we headed to a resort there that has a small water park. We played with the girls in the wave-pool and lazy river. The water almost made the heat bearable! We lucked out and had hotel rooms on the first floor, with patios just across from the pool. Thanks to the patios, we were each able to put our girls to bed in our rooms and met back outside to visit more!

We had a great time! Thanks Wooldridges!!!

First Person

Addison drew her first person! I was so excited. See the eyes and nose? She drew this on our patio with sidewalk chalk. I meant to take a picture of it before we left town, but forgot. I was so excited to see it was still there when we got back.

"I Do"

Addison woke up this morning and decided that her favorite stuffed animal, Lamby, and her Dora the Explorer doll should get married. It was quite the celebration in our basement. We made invitations, got all the dolls dressed-up for the occasion, and made construction paper flowers for Dora to carry.

Addison had her dress-up cloths on right from the start. As we were playing, I remembered that my wedding dress was in a box in the basement closet. Thankful that I never got around to sealing it up, I asked Addison if she wanted a "real" wedding dress for the party. She was so excited to open the box and find my dress, veil and shoes. However, she didn't want to wear them.....she wanted me to.

So, I spent my morning, playing pretend wedding in the basement, with my two sweet little girls....in my wedding dress!!! What a fun day!!!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to the best Daddy our family could ever wish for. He truly is "Super-Dad". He gets up earlier than everyone and works all day without ever complaining. From the minute he pulls into the drive-way he is in full-on Daddy mode. He helps with dinner, wrestles, plays and bathes kids. He reads to Addison and prays with her every night while he puts her to bed. Reagan is becoming his buddy more and more everyday. We are so thankful for all he does for us and so honored to call him our Daddy. I pray that my girls will grow closer to him each day.

Snack Time

Addison
Reagan

Different house

Different pantry

Different girl

Two years later, Reagan is trying to sneak snacks out of the pantry just like her sister did.

Wake-Up

Latley, since Addison quit taking naps, she OCCASIONALLY will sleep in a little late in the morning. By late, I mean 8:00.

Reagan still gets up at her usual 6:15, and she cannot stand for Addison to be in her room. She tries to open the door, takes off that direction every chance she gets, and begs (lots of grunting and pointing) to go in there.

Sunday morning, we let Reagan go in to wake her up, so we could get her ready for church. We stood in the hall watching. Reagan squealed and made all sorts of noise at the edge of her bed. Addison slowly sat up and said, "Reagan, I am not all done sleeping yet!". In other words....GO AWAY.

See all the mess in Addison's room? Well, she now has an hour of "rest" time in her room in lieu of the nap. She makes a MESS. I gave up cleaning it everyday. I can't keep up!

We Went to the Carnival...

....and it was quite the experience!!! The people watching was fascinating. Not so much the watching of other carnival-goers, more the watching of the carnival workers.

As much fun as we had in the 20 minutes we were there, I don't think we will be going to many more carnivals. I think DisneyWorld might be cheaper. It cost $6 for both girls to ride the carousel. I thought my husband might just loose his mind on the spot. That is just about more than he could handle! I guess one of us has to be the frugal one.

Thankfully we discovered the "Kid's Bargain Rides" which were only $1 each. They rode Dumbo, the race cars and the train. Addison wanted to ride everything by herself which made us a little sad. She looked so big....walking in and buckling up by herself.

Daddy was the hero of the night and won each girl a stuffed Nemo fish. Those were only $3 each, but who's counting. Addison dropped her's out of the stroller on the walk home and she and I had to retrace our steps all the way back until we found it.

The carnival stays for 2 more weeks and Addison really wants to ride the big ferris wheel. She can ride with a parent, so I guess at least one of us will be heading back with her one more time.

Self-Discipline

Reagan is getting incredibly fast these days. I look away for a second, and she will be off on her own....exploring, climbing stairs, or getting into things she shouldn't be.

Yesterday we were playing on the back patio. I turned around from doing something with Addison and saw Reagan booking-it over to the dog's off-limits, water bowl.

In a matter of seconds, I watched her get all the way over there. Splash her hands around in it. And then, she stood up, looked at me, swatted one of her hands with the other to give herself a spanking and said, "No-No".

Apparently she is taking care of her own discipline these days.

She Did It

Addison has been asking to get her ears pierced for quite some time. We finally agreed, and she spent last week doing some thing to earn stickers, and we told her when she had 10 stickers she could get her ears pierced.

On Saturday we headed to Lollilocks, a sweet little girl's salon here. She was a little nervous and knew that it would hurt for a minute, but she was brave. She took her Sleeping Beauty doll to watch.

First she picked out her earrings, pink of course. Then they sat her in the chair to clean and mark her ears. She looked so nervous and anxious, but she never complained. They marked her ears and pierced them at the same time. She didn't shed a single tear. She looked stunned for a few seconds, then they held the mirror up for her and she got really smiley!

Before we started, I told her she could pick a small prize for being brave when we got finished. She picked a small pink ring, but then we found out the jewelry was buy one get one free. So, she also picked a necklace and bracelet set. Then, the store gave her a certificate, a balloon, and a giant-fancy lollipop. She left with quite a haul!

We thought about getting Reagan's pierced as well. But, I want it to be a special day for her, someday when she chooses to get it done. Also, I don't think there is any way they could keep her still enough, and she would probably have yanked them out before the end of the day yesterday. For now, she was quite content with the sucker they gave her!

Thirty

Last Monday was my 3oth birthday. We celebrated all day on Sunday. My family spoiled me and treated me like a princess. Daddy and Addison snuck off to the mall the week before and picked out beautiful James Avery earrings for me, which Addison managed to keep a secret. She also picked the perfect Disney Princess card for me. It said, "To a Sweet 3 Year Old". Daddy added his own little "0" after the "3". They also ordered me an ice-cream cake from ColdStone....my favorite.

On Sunday afternoon after church we had a baby-sitter come, (for the first time in CO)so Tommy and I could go to lunch and a movie. It was so nice and relaxing...especially lunch on a patio outside. The weather is beautiful right now. When we got home, we went for a walk with the girls and then we all went to Red Robin for a family dinner.

On my actual birthday Tommy continued to spoil me, by coming home early and grilling dinner for us.

I have had lots of people ask me how I feel about 30, and it doesn't bother me! I feel great, I have the sweetest family ever, a great church, a beautiful home, and wonderful friends. The list goes on and on. I can't imagine being sad, when I have everything I ever dreamed of and more. Instead, I tried to spend the day being thankful and enjoying the blessings God has given me.

Silly String

Miss Debra sent the girls a package in the mail a few weeks ago. Among other things, it included cans of silly string for each girl. It was a BIG HIT!!! Reagan laughed out loud as Addison blasted the string across the front yard. It was a bit of a mess to clean up and the cracks in the drive-way will probably forever have bits of yellow and green. But the smiles and laughter made it worth it.

Addison's Funny Stuff

Over the last few days, Addison has cracked me up a few times, I wanted to write them down before I forget.

A few days ago, Tommy asked her to pick up her sidewalk chalk outside. She looked at him and said, "Well, God gave me only 2 hands, so can you help?".

Last weekend, Addison was hanging out with Uncle Mike, who had come over to visit. She was really excited talking to him, and was telling him about some post-cards we bought while we were at DinseyWorld. We sent the postcards to her grandparents and Austin. She told Mike, with much enthusiasm...."We bought some cards,....for not you!"

We have been working to teach Reagan how to say "please" in sign language. We were playing outside yesterday, when she did it for the first time. Addison was so proud of her. She got so excited, ran across the driveway, gave Reagan a huge hug and said, "Good-job Reagan, we are so proud of you, you did your Simon Says".

Reagan's Words

Reagan will be 14 months old on Thursday. She amazes us everyday...she is one smart little girl! She follows directions really well. She knows her way around the house and loves to help herself to snacks in the pantry. Just in the last few days, she has mastered the stairs and opening all the doors. I have to head to Babies R' Us tomorrow, for child-proof locks. Until then....she has the run of the house.

Here are some words she says now....

Elmo, Mama, Dada, kitty-kitty- meow, roar, go, snack ("nack"), hi, bye-bye, no-no, uh-oh, ruff, bananna ("nana"), cheese, back-pack (thanks to big sister's Dora), bubbles, and pop

I know there are more, but that is all I can think of right now.