11.26.2010

thanksgiving





We have so much to be thankful for this year, namely...
:: our new home
:: our health
:: brian's work
:: our families
:: our wonderful girls
:: our baby girl {and a smooth pregnancy}
:: and most importantly our Heavenly Father


This year was especially fun because finley really got into the spirit of thankfulness.
We've had many, many conversations about what each of us are grateful for.


This year she is thankful for
:: hailey
:: salami
:: for "being a princess"
:: singing
:: adalaide


hope you had a great thanksgiving as well. now on to christmas decorating!


{even though we couldn't make it all the way up the mountain to get our tree. boo.}

11.22.2010

snowy day!

we woke up to a winter wonderland this morning.
by 9 am, we were bundled up and ready for some fun in the snow!






we didn't have quite enough snow to make a snowman, but we've gotten a few more inches this afternoon,  so i foresee one in our future.








ready for some cookies and warm milk!

11.19.2010

is it just me...

...or is someone looking rather grown up lately?!
















i can't get over how long her hair is!

11.16.2010

our daughter

meet our daughter...



isn't she the cutest?!



here are her little legs, feet crossed at the ankles. such a lady already!



here she is giving us a 'thumbs up'



and here is the gender shot. since i know what to look for, i saw the 3 white lines before the tech even said anything!


 seeing your baby on the screen just never gets old. in fact, i think this ultrasound was my favorite {am i allowed to say that?}. everything was so clear, and she was doing all sorts of darling things. plus, the lady doing the ultrasound was the kindest person, and spent lots of time gushing along with us.


a LONG time ago, brian and i talked about how fun it would be to have 3 girls {of course, realizing that we would have zero control over it}. that's not to say that we wouldn't be excited about having a son, because OBVIOUSLY we would. we just sort of pictured 3 girls.  almost everyone we know was hoping for a boy. we've heard all sorts of reasons why we, or more specifically brian, needs to have a boy. we would just smile and say "we'll see. there's a 50/50 chance". 


when we found out our baby was a girl, we were really excited. really, truly excited. that probably doesn't make sense to a lot of people. but we were. are. i don't know what God's plans are for our future. maybe He's laughing right now, because he knows he'll be sending us a son. Or maybe this is it. three girls. either way, we are so excited for our family. so excited that our girls will have each other. 3 sisters close in age, how fun will that be! And my husband, the most manly man i know, surrounded by ladies. He loves his little darlings so very much. And don't worry that he's missing out on anything by having girls...


Finley knows her way around a tool box better than most boys!


oh, and one final somewhat frightening thought: our girls will all be in high school at the same time. a freshman, sophomore, and senior. wowza!

11.11.2010

home

It's been a crazy few weeks, but we're all settled in our cozy new home and we couldn't be more thrilled. The original plan was that we would move in to our new place on the 1st, the day after the renters moved out. My family was under the impression that they were 'good renters' who would be leaving the house in good condition. holy. mother. of. disgusting. That was not the case at all. My mom and I took at walk through the house and were  utterly speechless. seriously we had no words-just jaws dropped. Before even taking two steps in the door we were hit with the most horrific smell {think animal pee + cigarette smoke + general dirtiness}. And the stains, oh the stains. There were so many pee stains throughout the house, I really don't know where one stain started and stopped. THEY WERE EVERYWHERE! And the real kicker.... they left the house full of their crap. couches, tables, old electronics, kitchen stuff, trash, you name it.

Needless to say, we had to change our plans and push back our move in date. Brian and my parents worked together to clear the house of their junk, remove the carpet {which allowed us to uncover wonderful hardwoods-hooray}, paint, and disinfect every square inch. Finley's room was by far the worst in terms of smell. There were pee stains all over the walls, and nicotine crusted in the blinds. Thankfully, the smell is almost gone and she's not commenting on it anymore. 

The transformation that took place in a week is just crazy. It's like a completely different house. We are so thankful to my parents who have worked so hard to make this home a nice place for us. My dad gave up his vacation, and took another week off to get this house in order, inside and out. And my mom has been so helpful watching the girls, helping unpack and organize, doing our laundry for us {we are without a washer/dryer for a bit, and i had no idea how awful it would be}. Basically, they are awesome and we are EXTREMELY grateful.

And of course to my husband, too. He unloaded our moving truck and then left immediately to stay the week at our old place getting it ready for the people moving in this weekend. He hasn't slept in two weeks, and i've never heard him so exhausted. We miss you babe, and I promise to let you sleep in all weekend {although i can't say the same for Finley-she really misses her daddy}.

On Sunday night, I left the girls with my mom and took off for a baby shower. I was feeling so overwhelmed by the house full of stuff {and no husband around}, but most troublesome was the fact that none of us had beds for that night. On my way home, I got a call from my mom telling me that a bunch of family and friends had stopped by. People were unloading, unpacking, and most importantly someone had set up our beds {sheets, blankets and everything}! I just started crying, thanking God for all the people who love us so well. You know who you are, thank you. You have no idea how much it meant to us.

We've been settling in all week. I'm slowly making progress on the gazillion boxes we have. I was curious how finley would react the moving, the change of it all, waking up in a new room, etc. She's done great! Both girls seem very happy here...we all are.

Here's what we're loving so far:
:: the location {great commute for Brian, close to family, close to a town with all the essentials}
:: the paved, flat, 6 mile trail that is across from our house
:: the layout of the house. the fact that the playroom is centrally located so no matter where i am, i'm near the girls
:: the big fenced in back yard
:: the large dining room {we finally have room to fit our entire dining set, plus a buffet, and extra storage thingy}

With all our focus being on renovating, and moving, I've hardly remembered that tomorrow is the big day that we find out if we'll be welcoming a baby boy or girl. I still think it's a boy. So does Finley, and she insists that we'll call him doofy. Last night during our prayers she reminded me, "don't forget to pray for doofy". Could she have come up with a more hideous name? Ha, I love her.

We aren't entirely sure, if this will be our last child. I would love more. But, 4 c-sections is risky and controversial. I joke that unless Brian gets snipped, we'll probably have a 4th. Two out of our three have been 'surprises'. Anywho, perhaps because this could be our last, a teensy weensy part of me has thought about not finding out the sex. Brian wants to, and I mostly do too, but we'll see what happens over the next 24 hours...