Happy Birthday Audie!

My little Audie turned 3 today.
A little bittersweet.
A little weird.

Yesterday and today I was reminiscing of what I was doing 3 years ago.
Giving birth to my kids has been one of the most amazing things I have ever done. Period.
It is also so amazing to watch them grow up.
I would not laugh as much as I do if it weren't for Audra.
She reminds me of myself.
I love her spunk.
I love her.

We went out for a quick 3 year birthday shoot. I think I'm lucky to have gotten the pictures I did. She really wasn't in the greatest of moods, after a rough morning.
Still, she's a beautiful little girl, and I love to call her mine.

So expressive. She obviously gets it from her dad.

She was very ready to be done.

We had a small little party, both grandparents and Aunt Leslie, Cameron and Kylie came.
I made her a unicorn cake...purple, of course.

I think she had a great day. I love making my kids feel special, and I hope we did just that. She knew it was her day, but she was selfless about it. She shared her presents with Corinne, and was gracious all day. Love that girl.

Happenings

I can't believe summer is coming to a close! We'll be celebrating the older girls' birthdays the next couple of weeks, and also starting Corinne in Kindergarten.
I have an almost 5 year old. Totally weird.
Here are some photos of what's been goin' on.

Below is one of my favorite views. A little baby butt in the air. I just want to squeeze
this every time I see it. Her little chunker legs are pretty cute too, if you ask me.

The weather has finally cooled off a bit in the evenings. We've spent many evenings at the park.

Last week we attended the wedding of one of my friends! Since we were dressed up and all that jazz, we took a few photos. The dress Corinne has on was my latest sewing project... I've been in a domestic mood lately. I'm working on crocheting a hat, and I think I am going to make Corinne a plaid pleated skirt for her first day of school.

And speaking of school, we are going to be starting school (homeschool) the Monday after Corinne turns 5. I have the first six weeks of lesson plans ready to go, and I am quite anxious and excited! I still need to make a few copies of some papers, and grab a few supplies for the craft projects we will be doing. But other than that, the curriculum is laid out and everything is in place! I never thought I would homeschool my kids. But at the same time, I am quite relieved! I don't think I would have been ready to send Corinne away to school this year. Time is flying waaaaaay to fast!

We fed giraffes today.

Selah is 3 months!

Selah turned 3 months old last week!
A few pictures were definitely needed for this occasion.

This weekend, It was just me and the 2 little girls. Matt went on his annual fl

oat trip, and Corinne joined Grandma and Grandpa in KC for the weekend.
While I missed them both, it was nice to have some quiet for a few days. I made Audie a new dress, and a few bows for the girls' hair. You'll see them in the pictures below.

While we're at it, let's do some of Audie too.

Summer

This has been an incredible summer. We have been better than ever, our little family of 5 is enjoying each other, and we couldn't be more blessed.
Here's a little of what we have been doing the last couple of weeks...

Our church had a pool party, and it was Selah's first trip to the pool! She turned heads in her pink swimsuit.
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Last week, we had a missionary family that we support over for dinner. I cannot begin to tell you how much of an encouragement they were. The wife, Tina, was so incredible- lively, energetic, encouraging, loving...I could go on and on. I had never met them before (Matt knew them from his church in KC), but we hit it off. It was crazy how alike Tina and I are. Same interests, same passions, we both married engineers... :) They are the kind of people you feel like you have known forever, and hope that you are as warm and as much of a blessing as they.

After dinner, we treated them to Orange Leaf!

Our girls, and their two kids, Madelynn and Ben played so well together. I wish we could be neighbors with them! They are so great.
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...and some family fun washing the car.

Audie says...

Audie: "I smell poop."

me: "Is it you?"
Audie: "No, it's you."

This, That, and a Lie

So, I lied. I told you that I would have lots more 4th of July pictures, and I don't. I'm sorry and I know you all will forgive me.
I did get two pictures, both of which I never want my father to see. Him being a fireman, I would never hear the end of it with him knowing my kids lit fireworks...because we never did them as kids either, right dad?

4th of July was fun, we went to our friends' house and enjoyed bbq with our small group.

July 2nd came and went, and Selah turned 2 months!
Notice the double chin below? Selah is toppin' the charts in the 93rd percentile in her weight.
Even though most of that is brain, she is bigger than her other two sisters were at her age. Corinne and Audie were always under 10 percent. I"m interested to see how she will change the next couple of months.

We're getting plenty of smiles and coos from her!

and finally, a picture of me and Corinne. She wanted to do something special with me yesterday, and she suggested that we take a picture together.
Let me tell you, Corinne has turned into the sweetest little girl around. She is gentle and does everything she can to please. She follows me around everywhere...and I mean everywhere. But as she follows she helps me, and talks to me, and asks me questions.
I love my girls.

boots and umbrellas

We got a good 20 minute storm yesterday evening. It made good puddles by the curb for the girls to play in.

Something totally weird happened this morning.
Background: Corinne is at VBS. Audie is here in the guest bedroom with me doing a puzzle. Selah is upstairs on my bed sleeping.
The monitor is just outside the guest bedroom, and I thought I heard a baby crying. So I stepped outside the room to put an ear to see if I heard right.
Then I heard "Da da!" in the monitor.
Okay, at this point I am totally creeped. Either Selah is a prodigy child and saying "da da", or a kid is in my house, and I can hear them talking through the monitor.
My heart is racing.
I listen some more, and then I hear a mom say, "brush your teeth!".
Our baby monitor is picking up someone else's monitor.
Phew! That scared me!
I listened in to be entertained for a while. :)

We'll be switching baby monitor channels. I sure don't want anyone eaves dropping on our conversations!!

Shut the front door!
Are my girls cute, or are they cute?

Okay, so maybe I am a little biased. But still, you can't argue that these are some of the prettiest girls around.
The thought of getting a great picture really challenges me, and I can't shoot enough pictures. A little bribing with some ice cream, and the girls cooperate for a bit to allow me to get some shots of them. I love it!

Cheeky

Names have been left out to protect the indecent...

She gets herself dressed these days.
Maybe she is trying to start a new trend of a "one piece thong".

1 month

Happy 1 Month Birthday, Selah!

Audie says...

Last night Matt and I came upstairs to go to bed. I turned on the bathroom light which revealed that Audie had climbed into our bed. As the light came on, she sat up and squinted with a slight smirk across her mouth "pretending" she had just woke up and didn't know what was going on.

Matt picked her up and told her she needed to go back to her bed, and started carrying her to her room to which she replied:

"But my bed is too lumpy!"