For your viewing pleasure

We drove around to look at christmas lights and stopped here to ride the train and admire all the decorations.  While we were driving Ellie was singing all sorts of Christmas songs so I caught Jingle Bells on video with my phone.  Then Kate needed to sing for me as well, but she chose to sing the ABCs.  I love that LMNOP to Kate is "I'm a little pea"  :)  The third video is just the girls playing doctor together.  They love to play house, school, doctor, grocery store, etc.

Just some cute Jack

I love the little bit of time I get with just Jack before the girls wake up from their nap :)

K & E are 3!

My fun, silly, sweet, girlies are 3 years old!  I cannot believe how they have transformed into little people all of a sudden.  The things they say crack me up.  Kate and Ellie have finally accepted that they are twins and will be together a lot, so they may as well get along.  In the last 6 months they have really started to play and pretend together so much more.  I love seeing their friendship grow, and most of the time when you ask them they will say they are eachothers' best friend.  One time that I wish they would play together less is nap and bedtime.  Ellie and Kate are still in their cribs and never try to climb out, so we are in no hurry to switch to big girl beds.  While they are in their room together they spends hours playing, talking, singing, and tossing their babies and stuffed animals back and forth.  Tonight I was watching them on the monitor and they were playing picnic and trying to spread a blanket across their two beds to make a table.  They didn't settle down and get quiet until 10:45!  I am so glad that they are becoming so close, but they still could not be more different.  Here is a little bit about each of my twins.

Ellie
Is almost 2 inches and 2 pounds bigger that Kate right now and wear a half size bigger in shoes.  She is my quiet, serious, polite little girl.  She loves puzzles, books, helping mommy, and Max and Ruby.  Ellie is so smart, she can spell her name and knows all 26 letters and most of the sounds they make.  She has memorized at least 10 of her favorite books and can 'read' them to us word for word.  She loves her white (now a dingy greyish) bunny.  His name is Bun and he goes pretty much everywhere and sleeps with her.  In the past few weeks she has started telling me she want to be a Daddy when she grows up.  But she says she will be a beautiful Daddy who is a girl.  She also refers to herself as Bun's daddy.  I realize it is a little odd, but she LOVES Todd so much, that is makes since to me.

Kate
Is my spunky, loud, sweet, spirited little girl.  She loves to test all rules and see what she can get away with.  She is FULL of questions and is always asking why?  Why that man wearing a hat?  Why are Layla's eyes brown?  Why does the mail man have a pony tail?  Why is that truck green?  Why, why, why!?  Can you tell it makes me a little crazy sometimes? :)  She is also quite chatty and will ask anyone what their name is.  Kate LOVES babies.  She has about 40 baby dolls ranging from 2 inches tall to two feet tall.  When she wants to be, she is very sweet and nurturing.  She will kiss your boo-boos to make them better or cover you with a blankie if you don't feel well. Kate still likes to be held and snuggled a lot and needs several blankies while sitting on the couch or in bed.  She loves her little brother and generally plays so sweetly with him.  She will show him how to do things, read books to him, offer her hand to help him climb up on the couch. 

We are so lucky to have two perfecly unique and amazing little girls.  I cannot imagine life any other way!

Arboretum Pumpkin Village

The Monday after Kate & Ellie's third birthday Todd took the day off work so we could all go to the Arboretum.  We had a great time!  We haven't used a stroller in a while, but we thought it would be a good idea to bring the Bob.  They had the opposite reaction to what they used to.  Everyone wanted to ride!  We had to take turns and I think Jack did most of the walking while his two big sisters just sat back and let Dad push them :) 

This was the best of the 3 of them :/

Watching the girls get their faces painted

Tiny Prints

Last year I was super lucky and found a great offer from Tiny Prints.  All I had to do was write a review about thier holiday cards, fill out a simple form and they gave me 50 free holiday cards of my choice!  I love Tiny Prints and used them for my babies' birth announcements and holiday cards in the past, so I was thrilled about this offer.
It is getting to be holiday season again and I have started the hunt for the perfect christmas card to send out this year and found myself back at the Tiny Prints website.  They have so many beautiful options, I am going to have a hard time narrowing it down.  I love the tri-folds because you can use a bunch of pictures, but I also like the ornament cards because far away family members can hang it on their tree :)  Here are a few that I like, but you have to go look for yourself.  There are tons to choose from!!

Jack's 18 month check up

This is a little late, but I wanted to squeeze it in before I got into pumpkins and birthdays :)

My little Jack is growing up!  Everyday he surprises me with his silly little personality.  He has become a little more mischievious recently, but is still the sweetest boy I know.  Through out the day he randomly comes over to hug me or snuggle up in my lap, he says 'I love you' when I put him in bed or when Todd leaves for work, he is just a sweetheart!  Jack is also starting to get a lot better and speaking in sentences and phrases.  Just tonight he told me, "No, I don't like milk" because he wanted me to put juice in his cup :)  In the last few months Ellie, Kate, and Jack have all started playing together more and more.  I never thought this day would come, for the longest time they just seemed to prefer doing their own things, and struggled with sharing and being kind to one another.  I am super excited to watch as they grow, learn, and play together.  They were playing doctor yesterday for at least 20 minutes.  Each of them would take a turn being the patient while the other two checked their ears, heart, and eyes.  Todd was home too and we just smiled to eachother as we watched them.   Some of Jack's favorite things these days are coloring, dogs, unfortunately his paci, his blankie and dog lovey, grapes, strawberries, yogurt covered raisins, cookies, being outside, singing, swinging, and super why.

playing together!

busy in his outdoor office :)

Jack is a bit of a ham when we are out places and the doctor's office is no exception.  He greet everyone, always smiling and saying hi!  When Dr. Burns was checking him out he just calmly sat on my lap and let her check everything out.  Never fussed once, Dr. Burns actually said it was the easiest 18 month check up she had done in years.  Then it was time for the shots.  He got two in one leg and one in the other and cried quite a bit :(  But when the nurse who gave him the shots was leaving the room he sucked up his tears enough to say bye bye to her and blow her a kiss!  Is that forgiveness or what?! 
Here are Jack's 18 Month Stats:
Hieght: 33in (75%)
Weight: 23.9lb (25%)

My 30th Birthday

On September 7 I turned 30.  This is kind of a big birthday and Todd and I talked about taking a trip to celebrate, but I was just not ready to go on a trip and leave the kids.  I go back and forth between feeling 25 and 45.  Somedays I am tried, feel frumpy, and notice wrinkles forming on my face while other times (mostly when I am kid-free) I think of myself as that cute mid-twenties kindergatern teacher who was always up for a happy hour.  I guess this is what it feels like to be 30?

So in my actual birthday some of my sweet friends had a Mommy's birthday party playdate for me.  Todd took the girls to the dollar store and had them pick out a gift for me and they wrapped it.  We went over to Corrie's house and she had set up a whole little party for me!  The kids decorated party hats and cupcakes, we sang and blew out candles, and then we opened all of my fun and fancy gifts :)  It was so fun and the girls really loved that mommy had a birthday party.  Amanda took some great pictures and I am so glad I have them to remember this day.

We also had an adult celebration.  Todd planned a dinner and invited our friends.  We had a great time eating, drinking, and chatting.  He aslo a booked a hotel for the night while his parents stayed with Ellie, Kate and Jack.  It was glorious to sleep in until 10am!!  All in all it was a great birthday and I felt very loved :)