4th child or 2nd 1st?

We've been keeping a secret; Trevor was expecting. But he gave a beautiful and easy birth to a gorgeous toddler girl. We're not sure what to call her. For now, we've been calling her goofball.

Can you blame them?

*Objects in pictures may appear much cleaner than they actually were


Is it just me or does Mikey's left hand in the last picture look like it has frostbite?

Allie or Maya?

One is Allie. One is Maya. Which is which?

Allie's Third Birthday

Allie had her third birthday! I can't believe we've had her for three years! She turned three smack dab in the middle of moving, and we just had Maya, so I wanted to keep it very simple, but also wanted to make it special. I was a little sad not to throw her a party with her friends. I know she would have loved that, but I had enough on my plate. To make it special, my mom, Trevor, and I snuck in her room the night before while she was sleeping and put balloons and streamers everywhere. My mom taped a crown and a new princess dress to the side of the pack and play so she saw that first thing when she woke up. When she woke up she was very excited and kept exclaiming "It's my bird day! It's my bird day!" She immediately put the dress and crown on. As soon as that dress was on, she looked at me and said "I need to dance." So, we put some music on and danced. After breakfast, we all headed to the children's museum and spent most of the morning there. After naps and dinner, Tristan and Tiffany also joined us for cake and presents.





If you want to hear the cutest way to say "Tinkerbell" then this movie is for you!

We sure love our little princess. She has been a tremendous blessing and a joy every day.

I couldn't decide

I couldn't decide which video is better, so I had to post both. My boy is so sweet. He makes my day.

Halloween 2011

I'll admit, I went a little lame and uncreative this year. Between having a baby and moving, I just didn't have it in me for Halloween too. That makes my heart sad since it's one of my most favorite holidays, but what can you do? I had a full plate. I was already planning on making a couple of tutus for Allie's birthday, so I made this blue and green one a little early. Gammer Ruth bought Allie some fairy wings, so it was pretty simple to do. Allie was in heaven. She's been obsessed with "Twinkerbell" lately and was more than happy to be a fairy.




Last year, Gammer Ruth also sent a bunch of dress up clothes for Allie's birthday. One of which was a dog costume. Mikey fit in it this year, so voila, that was done too. Trevor was a hunter and Mikey was his hound dog. Trevor took the kids to our church Trunk or Treat/Halloween Party last night. He said the kids had a blast. He lost Allie for a little while. He found her in a room that had nothing but black lights and music for the youth to dance. He said she was going crazy with the dance moves. Why does that not surprise me? I sent Trev with the camera, but he forgot to get it out at the party. They had a blast anyway. A big thank you to the E family that helped out my hubby with taking the kids to the cars and getting candy! Sad I couldn't come, but there's always next year and there will be one more cute kid to dress up!

Maya Grace has arrived!

Maya Grace was 4 days overdue, but she finally decided to come meet us on Oct 17th. She weighed 7 lbs 11 oz and was 20.5 inches long. I went into labor at 7:59 am and had her three hours later at 10:58. It was a long labor. Longer than her older siblings combined. I'm kind of thankful for it though, since I was so worried about making it to the hospital and I went into labor during rush hour. So, I suppose three long hours was a blessing, but we still would've had plenty of time if it would've been half that long. I didn't know I could scream like that on the last push. I bet the whole hospital heard me. ha ha! But once she came out, she let out a few wails and calmed right down. And that's how she is. She's mostly calm, she'll cry to let you know she needs something, and then she calms down. Unless you take too long. She's already a heavy sleeper.



Mikey and Allie can be screaming their lungs out, and she doesn't even flinch.










We chose to be surprised on knowing the gender, but I wasn't surprised when Trevor announced that we had a girl! The pregnancy was just like Allie's, so I was pretty certain she was a girl. Trevor and I had not been able to agree on any name. Not one single one. I was voting for June, and he liked London. Neither of us would budge. We'd suggest other names but the other would dislike it even more. Finally, we basically quit discussing names and hoped one would come to us once we saw the gender and the face. Not long after she was born, Trevor stared at her for a while and suggested Maya. That name had never crossed either of our minds. It never came up in discussion, but as soon as he said it, I knew that was what she was supposed to be called. She looked like a Maya to me. We had some trouble picking out a middle name, but Grace also felt very right and true to her. We are so very in love with our newest member of our family. Allie loves her sister and constantly wants to help wrap her in blankets and put hats on. Mikey likes to kiss her, but he's not sure what to do with her if she makes any sort of noise, and he gets bored with her quickly. He wants her out of the way so he can play. ha ha. She'll be more fun to him someday, maybe. Happy Birthday Maya, and welcome to the world!

Happiness is.....

...seeing the world in a new way...like from the ice cream maker's point of view

...reading a book while snuggling with my munchkins

....waking up to find a bed intruder.

...a caterpillar. It's even better to hear Allie try to say caterpillar.

Tutu

I found a tutu tutorial that looked simple enough, and it was! I did this tutu while watching a movie with my hubby and some friends, so it was pretty fast too! (Note: on the tutorial it says she uses 50 yards of tulle, but I think that's a typo. I used 5 and it was plenty.) I made this one for Allie's best friend's birthday. I plan on making Allie a few for her birthday in a few weeks (IF I can even wait that long! I'm to excited to dress my little princess up!). When Allie saw this one, she flipped out and had a very hard time letting me wrap it.
I think she'll like hers.

I only had Christmas wrapping paper, so I turned it over and let Allie color on it. I actually liked it.

Twinker Litter Star

Just thought you could use a sweet voice in your life. I know I can.