The Dean Triplets

What a difference!!

2010-09-24T17:06:00.000-07:00

I took some pictures of the girls the other day. We took similar pictures when the girls were about 8 months old. Those pictures hang in our hallway and I LOVE THEM. I really do not want to replace them so I think I will hang these new ones right next to the old ones. These pictures show just how much the girls have grown.

2010-09-09T21:58:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that it has been over 3 months since I last blogged. I am assuming that I do not have any readers anymore. Well, what can I say...the girls keep me VERY busy. They have grown so much and they are now almost 3 years old. Did I really just say that? I fall in love with them more and more every day, now that is not to say they don't drive me crazy and bring me to my breaking point. Everyone keeps telling me that it is not the terrible twos you have to worry about, but it is the threes. Well if that is true than I am in for it....and I must say that I am a little scared. These girls are already so stinkin' smart.

I really want to keep this blog going. I started it when I was pregnant and it has been a journal of sorts for me. So I am really going to do my best and keeping it updated. I thought I would start by going back to some pictures from July.
These are the girls and my toes after our little pedicure party. They LOVE to have their toes and fingers painted. As soon as the polish starts to come off they cry "My paint nails are coming off Mommy!" Sophie asked me one day after painting her nails if she could "take her paint nails to church!" They are all pretty girly. They love their purses and tap taps (high heels). They LOVE to play dress up and will quickly tell you who they are going to be for Halloween. Sophie is going to be "Pretty Pretty Belle" Mia is "Princess Cinderella" and Gracie is "Snow White." They are in love with all things Princess.

These next pictures were taken the day Carl left for Romania back in July. The girls missed their daddy terribly and were so happy when he came home. These girls are in love with their daddy. They can't wait for him to come home everyday.

These last pictures were from the 4th of July. We had a big party at our house. I will have to find the picture with all the kids because I think there was over 30 kids. The kids outnumbered the adults.
Sophie Bear

Mia

Gracie

Disneyland

2010-05-29T21:15:00.001-07:00

We took the girls on their first trip to Disneyland. THEY HAD SOOOOOO MUCH FUN!!!! I knew that the trip was going to go one way or the other. I was ready for them to hate it, Goofy, Mickey Mouse and all that comes with Disneyland, but they really did love it. I was so happy and thrilled that our first experience was a great one. My girls love Goofy (thanks to Grandma). They knew a little about Mickey and Snow White and they knew that Disneyland was their home.

We went down the night before, which I am so grateful we did. The girl loved the hotel experience and woke up super excited for their day at Disneyland.

Here are my favorite pictures of the day.

On the trip down. Sophie and Gracie.

Mia, please do not feel bad that she is in the back. Mia loves the back and prefers to be there.

We purposefully left at nap time hoping that the girls would nap all the way down. Well it did not exactly happen that way. Here is Sophie during her SHORT nap.

The girls all ready to go. So happy to be wearing their Goofy sweatshirts that Daddy got them in Orlando.

I love this picture just for the expressions on their faces.

Gracie "Yea, come on let's go!"

Mia "Whatever!"

Sophie "Let's go Mom"
The walk on Main Street. Mom ran ahead of us to take the picture. The girls wore their sunglasses pretty much all day. Gracie only took hers off during the submarine ride where it was pitch black.

Goofy and the family.
Grandma and Pa with Soph, Gracie and Goofy.
Sophie sitting in Goofy's chair.

Mia taking a short nap. Thank goodness she did take one.
Gracie and Mom getting ready to ride Dumbo. All the girls loved it.
Soph and Grandma having a great time.
My favorite picture of the day. The girls loved the teacups.

I can't wait to take them again. We are already planning another trip.

Sunny Days!!!

2010-05-05T19:15:00.000-07:00

We have been loving the weather around here. We have a pool, but when it is just me and the girls we resort to the "kiddy" pool. When we first brought it out this year we let the girls go in naked....BIG MISTAKE!!!! Second mistake was letting them pee on the grass....BIG MISTAKE!!!!!

Gracie, proving herself to be a big girl.

Mia in her "baby suit."

Sophie, cheesy smile and all.

Gracie Poo, look at that belly!!!!

Here is Mia helping her daddy shave. The girls are obsessed with daddy's whiskers right now. They love to help him shave.

2010-04-08T12:52:00.000-07:00

Our Easter break was low key and full of family time. The girls and I love having Carl home for a full week, they love waking up and seeing their Daddy's face. We didn't get the projects done around the house that we wanted to but we did spend great quality family time together. The girls are at such a fun age right now. Now don't get me wrong, they are a lot of work and there are days I want to lock myself in the closet and hide, but I love this stage and the things they do. Some of their current favorite things include:

- Singing --These girls sing all the time. As I type this Sophie is in her crib singing "Jesus Loves Me" while she is supposed to be napping.
- Babies -- The girls are always walking around with their baby dolls. They talk to them, sing to them, put them to bed, feed them, etc..... It is funny to watch because usually what they say to their dolls is something that I have said to them.
- Yo Gabba Gabba -- Obsessed, is all I can say about this one.
- Silliness -- The girls have mastered the art of being silly. They all love to do things just to make you laugh.

They say things out of the blue that crack us up. Some of my favorite include:
"Mommy I love kisses" (Mia)
"That was an amazing poop!" (Sophie)
"Good Morning Baby Susie!" (Gracie - after going in her room to get her baby up from a nap)
"Mommy, I didn't freaked out" (Mia - No idea where she learned the words freaked out from)
"You want some, huh?" (Mia)
"I sad Daddy not here" (Sophie)

Here are some pictures from our Easter weekend.

We went over to Auntie DeAnn's house to decorate Easter cookies. As you can see the girls loved every moment of it.

Gracie eating more frosting then she is putting on her cookie.
Mia...I think she might be in a sugar comatose at this point.
Later that day we went to visit my Grandma.
Easter morning...my futile attempt to get a picture of all three smiling.
Another attempt!

Gracie proudly showing off her new Yo Gabba Gabba book.

Mia and all her Easter goodies.

Sophie and her basket.

Sophie intently reading her new book.

Hollywood!!

The real Miss Hollywood herself!

Mia

Gracie

Sophie

2010-03-25T21:19:00.000-07:00

So I am assuming that I do not have many followers anymore as I seem to only blog once a month....SORRY!!! These girls keep me on my toes and do not give me much time to do anything else. The following pictures are from the past couple of weeks that were taken on my phone. Enjoy!

This was a picture taken that we sent to Daddy while he was at work. They are signing "I Love Daddy!"

This picture was taken when we went to a basketball game at Carl's work. The girls love to go to Daddy's work. They do great at the basketball games and enjoy all the candy and treats they get from Glen.

This picture was taken last Sunday. We took the girls out to eat then to ice cream. Here they are enjoying their ice cream with sprinkles. "This is YUMM-O Mommy" (Gracie)

First off, sorry this picture is sideways, I do not have the energy to try and fix it right now. This was taken when we were at lunch on Sunday. Gracie LOVES salsa. Here she is basically drinking it!!!

I took this picture tonight. I asked the girls to put all of their toys that were in the living room and put them back into their playroom. I was cleaning up in the kitchen and looked into the living room and thought "Wow, they did a great job of cleaning up!" Then I walked into their playroom and this is what I saw. I guess they did do what I asked!

Here is Mia with her Daddy's shorts on. She put them on and said "Look at me Mommy I am a silly girl!"

Today was a big day in our house, I started potty training Sophie. Right now she is the only one that is ready and I figured why not. She did great in her big girl panties, not one accident today. She even came to me and told me when she needed to go potty. But....she will not (I repeat WILL NOT) poop in the toilet. She will not poop in her panties or the toilet so that makes her miserable. When I put a diaper on her tonight before bed what did that stinker do....POOP. I guess I can't complain too much, she did do a great job all day at staying dry. We did spend a lot of time in the bathroom as she said she needed to poop, but could never get it done. So needless to say I spent a lot of time in the bathroom with her. What so you think happens when Mommy spends a lot of time with one girl, the others are creating trouble elsewhere in the house. See the evidence below....

Mia came running into the bathroom with her mouth full yelling "Look at me, Look at me....I am funny, I am funny!" She had a mouth full of skittles. I made her spit them out and asked her how she got them. "I climbed on the counter Mommy, I funny!!!! Mia certainly keeps me on my toes!!!

The girls make their singing debut!!!

2010-03-04T08:09:00.000-08:00

Lately the girls have been running around the house singing. "Jesus Loves Me" and "The B-I-B-L-E" have been their songs of choice. We sing a lot around the house but they also sing at church on Sundays and Wednesdays. I am always amazed at their memory for songs. They are still singing "Away in a Manger" from Christmas time.

Mia

Gracie

Sophie

Proof is in the Picture!

2010-02-27T13:44:00.000-08:00

So if you did not believe me about Gracie being the pack rat, take a look at the picture below.

You can see here that she has her:
1. Purple Blankie
2. Baby Susie
3. Daddy' Bracelet
4. Santa PJ's
5. Goofy
6. Book
7. Washcloth (she i laying on top of it!)
8. Pacifier

We are thinking about potty training. I believe that Sophie is ready, but the other 2 are not quite there yet. I was really hoping and praying that they would all be ready at the same time, I can see that that is not going to happen. We are still trying to figure out how to tackle this whole new adventure, any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I leave you with a picture of Gracie "trying" to go potty. I love that she is reading a book and she is all smiles.

What do you take to bed??

2010-02-17T21:12:00.000-08:00

So Gracie has become a pack rat. This girl always has something in her hand and has a lot of things in her hands when she goes to bed. Soph and Mia are usually content with taking their blankie to bed, but Gracie needs a lot more. I decided to take some pictures when she woke up from her nap this afternoon.

Here she is with everything. This picture doesn't do her justice as you can't see all that she is holding.
First please notice the beanie on her head. This thing is practically glued to her head. Around our house it is simply known as "Daddy's beanie." We have set some rules for "Daddy's Beanie"
1. Gracie can't wear it at the table while she is eating.
2. She can't wear it when we go out (but she does take it with her but she leaves it in the car!)

Next you will see that she has a pacifier (Neener as it is known at our house). All the girls still use pacifiers, but only at nap and bed time.

Finally in this picture you will see "The Wheels on the Bus." She must also have a book to sleep with.
In this picture you can see her purple blankie and a Santa Clause shirt. Yes, as weird as it sounds, she must sleep with her Santa Clause shirt. As for blankets, purple is the only one she wants....ever!!!!

Here she is holding Baby Susie and Goofy, both are a must.

Gracie and her Santa Clause shirt.

What you do not see in these pictures (because she dropped them while walking down the hallway) are a washcloth and "Daddy's Bracelet." The washcloth is a must because her nose might run and Daddy's Bracelet.....well don't even ask!!!! So if you were counting that is 9 things that she goes to bed with everyday!!!!

So what do your kids sleep with????

2010-02-05T09:29:00.000-08:00

So I have not been intentionally avoiding my blog. My days are filled and by the time I think of the blog, I am just a tad bit tired. There is so much I want to blog about and I am determined to get it all on here.

The girls are amazingly funny right now. Carl and I are always laughing. It is especially hard to keep a straight face when they do something wrong, but are being funny at the same time.
Their language has EXPLODED lately, especially Mia. You tell her something one time and she remembers it. When I went to get her out of bed this morning this was our conversation:
Mia "Where's Daddy?"
Me "He's at work, he'll be home in a little bit."
Mia "Daddy at work with Auntie DeAnn teaching."
At some point I mentioned to Mia that Daddy and Auntie DeAnn both teach at the same place.

They love to read books on their own, sing and go to church. Well.....Mia still cries when we drop her off at church but they tell me she stops within a minute. By the time I pick them up they are having tons of fun playing and learning. On Wednesday morning they go to "Puppy Club" at church while I go to bible study. When I picked them up this past Wed. their teachers told me that they talked non stop saying things like:
"We go to Puppy Club, Mommy at Bible Study."
"Learn about Jesus at Puppy Club"
They love to pray, and their prayers at night are getting more precious by the day.

I have tons more to say, but I have got to run before these 3 girls tear my house apart.
Here is Sophie laying on my bed watching Signing Time and cuddling with my robe. You can often find her dragging it around the house. Look at that expression on her face, that girl loves her Signing Time.

Here is Mia after eating a chocolate chip cookie. Do you think she liked it??

A picture of Sophie and Gracie playing in their kitchen.

Yes, Gracie got stuck all on her own. She gets in with no problem but can never make it out.

Sophie with a piece of cereal stuck on her face. She and I thought it was funny because it looked like it was coming out of her nose.

Back in the land of Technology

2010-01-14T21:56:00.000-08:00

So I have been without a computer for almost 1 week. It is sick....very sick and I am taking it to the Dr. tomorrow. But...because I have the best mom ever, I have her computer for a couple of days. I have certainly been having Internet withdrawals (ok maybe just blog and facebook withdrawals).

Last Saturday was my birthday, no need for numbers, but yes I did have a birthday. On Sunday Carl flew to Orlando for work and the girls and I headed over to Grandma and Grandpas house for a little birthday celebration. Since I am using my Mom's computer I decided to take advantage of the pictures she has and share some with you all.
Gracie showing off all her "pretties." I think she has on every necklace that was in the house.

Gracie and her bag of pretties.

Gracie getting a horsey ride from Pa. Of couse she has her baby in hand. She is rarely seen without it.

Gracie giving her baby a horsey ride....too cute!!

My Cousin Jen with Mia. How cute is Mia in Cousin Aislyn's glasses. I think my kids are destined to wear glasses. If you know me you know how horrible my eyesight it. At least she looks CUTE in them.

Mia playing with Grandma's fake doggie.

Sophie opening up one of my presents. I love the look on her face. Can you tell this girl LOVES to open presents.

The girls helping me blow out my candles...can you figure out how old I am???

Soph showing off all her pretties.

Family Pictures

2009-12-30T08:16:00.001-08:00

So my idea of a post everyday in December has not really worked out. As always, I started off with great intentions....BUT, well life sometimes gets in the way.
We had some family pictures taken in December by a great local photographer. You can check her out at her website. She was great with the girls and patient with us.

I love this shot as we play "Ring Around the Rosie" a lot around our house.

Love this one of all three.

Gracie was done towards the end of the shoot and we could not pry the chapstick from her hands.

Love Mia's expression in this picture. She could not decide if she liked the leaves or not.

Cute....need I say more?

Another favorite....look at Gracie's smile.

Daddy and his girls.

Mia up in a tree.

Sophie, this poor girl took a beating the week prior to pictures. She got a black eye (you can see the remnants on her left eye) and she hit her nose in her crib.

I add this picture because it portrays Mia's attitude that day, "Whatever Mom!!"

December 11th

2009-12-14T19:45:00.000-08:00

These pictures are from 2 years ago (12/11/07). The girls were 1 1/2 months. It is hard to remember them ever being that small.
Any chance you can guess who is who????

December 10th

2009-12-14T19:41:00.001-08:00

For a lack of a way to find a picture I chose the 12 file then chose the 10th picture (12/10) and here is what you get. This was back from June of this year.

December 9th

2009-12-09T19:16:00.000-08:00

Here is a little Gracie flashback. This picture was from November 2008.This one is from Novemeber 2009

December 8th

2009-12-08T21:38:00.000-08:00

Sophie and her new cheesy smile!!

December 7th

2009-12-07T21:36:00.000-08:00

Here is a little Mia flashback. The picture below was taken in late November of 2008 at Camryn's birthday party.

This picture was taken in November 2009 at Papa Jim's Birthday party. I guess her hair has really grown.

December 6th

2009-12-07T09:49:00.000-08:00

Today (Sunday) the girls performed in front of the church. As you will see from the photos below, Sophie was simply chillin' out have a good ol' time!

December 5th

2009-12-05T20:12:00.001-08:00

Today the girls had their first "performance" at church. My girls are getting so so big! They had to stand on stage and sing a new version of Twinkle Twinkle" and "Away In a Manger."

The song goes..."Twinkle twinkle little star, shinning brightly from afar..."
Gracie sings "Twinkle twinkle little star, shinning brightly from a bar!"

The girls did great and they do it again tomorrow during the morning church service, I'll let you know how it goes :-)

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December 4th

2009-12-04T21:55:00.000-08:00

The girls and their friend Camryn. Here they are all eating rice crispy treats at a birthday party.

December 3rd

2009-12-03T12:17:00.000-08:00

Flashback to the girls first football game (Nov. 2008)
Sophie (Check out the lack of hair on my baby!!)

This picture is taken from the girls first football game of this year (Nov. 2009). Now check out Soph, she can even get a bow in that hair now!!

December 2nd

2009-12-02T14:55:00.000-08:00

Some pictures from our Thanksgiving!!!!

December 1st

2009-12-01T18:13:00.000-08:00

So it has been forever since my last post so I am making a promise to myself and you all...1 picture post a day throughout December. It may be a new picture or an old one but I promise to post something.

So Day #1 -

Here is me with the girlies and their Great Grandparents. We love and miss you Papa Jim and Grandma Raydene!!!!

Some Funnies

2009-11-18T20:53:00.000-08:00

Well the girls are always doing or saying something that makes us laugh. Sometimes when I should be disciplining them, I am trying really hard not to laugh at what they are doing or saying. So I thought I would share some of these funnies with you.

The girls often want to be held and cuddle and usually it is all three wanting it at once. Out of frustration one day I said, "OK, I will hold Mia for 5 minutes, then it will be Sophie's turn for 5 minutes then I will hold Gracie for 5 minutes." Now the girls run to me with the saddest face they can make and cry, "Mommy hold you 5 minutes....5 minutes please!"
Whenever Sophie gets hurt she will come to you and say "Need medicine, I go to Dr." This girl is Queen of Medicine. Every little spot on her body she thinks needs medicine.
All three of the girls love to hide. They hide from each other throughout the day.
I love watching the girls interact with one another everyday. The following are some things I hear throughout the day:

"Move please Sissy!"

"Go Gades!"

"Sissy hurt!" (translation - Sissy hit me and hurt me)

"After night night??" (translation - Someone asks mommy to do something that I don't want to do right now and I will tell them later. They will always respond with "After night night?" and trust me, they will remember to ask me when they wake up.

"Color paper" (translation - I want to color on paper)

"Tato head night night!" (translation - Mr. Potato Head has gone to sleep - or - Mommy is tired of playing Mr. Potato Head and has put it up)

"Sophie did it" or "I did it" (Sophie gets very proud of herself when she accomplishes something and lets everyone know.)

"Happy Birthday to Bubba" (They have been singing Happy Birthday since their own birthday. The other day we were on our way to Cousin Bryan's b-day party and they started singing in the car and Gracie sang Happy Birthday to Bubba. I laughed and said "Who's Bubba?" My laughing made them laugh and ever since they think it is hilarious to sing it to Bubba, they crack themselves up doing it.)

Halloween 2009

2009-11-12T20:05:00.000-08:00

So I am a little late in this post...sorry!!! Since Halloween fell on a Saturday I will assume you know where Carl was (Football!!). So it was up to me (with help from Grandma and Auntie Mo) to make sure that the girls had a great night.

We started the evening off by going over to some friends house to eat dinner. I had not dressed the girls in their costumes since they were a tad bulky and I did not want them to get dirty. But I did quickly dress them for a group shot of all the kiddos in their costumes.

Next we all ventured over to our church who was hosting an event. That's where Grandma & Grandpa met us, and as you can see from the pictures below, the girls had fun.

Sophie feeding Gracie some popcorn. This was their first taste of popcorn.

Gracie the cow

My mom and I walking around the girls and loading up their candy bags.

A group shot. Of course the girls are enjoying thier suckers.

Sophie the elephant and her yummy sucker.

Grandma and Grandpa with Gracie Poo.

Mia the Giraffe and Auntie DeAnn

Party...Party...Party!!!!!

2009-11-12T19:34:00.000-08:00

Last Friday we celebrated the girls birthday with a little party at the local jump house place. I had been prepping the girls trying to get them excited about their party. By party day they were READY to go jumping and sing Happy Birthday. We had family and friends and I think a good time was had by all.

The girls were all over the place. They jumped tons with Daddy, played with the baby toys, they ate lots of pizza and quickly ate up all the cupcakes.

The girls jumping with Grandma, Jacob, their friend Camryn and her momma Liz.

I love this picture. I am holding Camryn's hand and she is holding Sophie's hand. The girls love their friends and often ask to go play with them.

Carl with his Dad and Soph.

Gracie playing with the baby toys. She did not want to get out.

The girls with their Auntie Mo going down the slide. I can't tell who is having more fun.

Sophie digging into the pizza. I think she ate more this night than she ever has.

Mia and her cupcake.

Gracie and her cupcake. Gracie is funny to watch eat, she does not like to get frosting on her hands so she puts her hands down to her side and leans over and eats.

Sophie had to use a fork to eat her cupcake.

One of my best friends, Jessica, came down and spent the weekend with us and helped us celebrate the birthday. The girls love her and are still wondering where Auntie Jess is??

Thank you to everyone who helped make the day special.

Abc...easy as 123!!!

2009-10-28T15:03:00.000-07:00

Gracie has been saying her ABC's and counting for a while now. I just captured it on video yesterday. She first started out saying her ABC's as I would sign them she would say the letter. Now she just says them on her own. She does a pretty good job here, but misses N and U (if I remember correctly).

We started counting when sharing became an issue. If one was playing on a toy that someone else wanted to play on I made them count to 10 then they had to switch. Now they run to me all the time shouting "count...count" when they want their sister to share.

At the end of the video you'll see Grandma and Grandpa playing "Ring Around the Rosie" with the girls. I love to listen to Sophie laughing.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Birthday

2009-10-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

Today is the girls 2nd birthday. Happy birthday

Gracie...Sophie....Mia

New Pictures

2009-10-24T20:27:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago Auntie Mo took the girls to the Pumpkin Patch while Momma got some time to herself (thanks MoMo). From the pictures below you can see that they had tons of fun.

I guess Auntie Mo taught Sophie how to drive and from the looks of it....she loves it!!
Soph takes her driving responsibilities very seriously.

Look at this cutie with her pumpkin. They were all so excited to show off their pumpkins. A couple of days later I found all three on the kitchen table (where their pumpkins were) getting ready to throw their pumpkins off the table. They were all shouting "ball...ball!"

"No I will not smile for a picture Auntie Mo!"

"I said no pictures MoMo!"

Sophie with a pumpkin just about as big as she it.

Mo Mo with her girls.

This picture was taken the other day. Soph put on a onesie over her clothes, put a purse on her arm and said , "Bye Bye!" The girls love to pretend to go "Bye Bye." When I ask where they are going they always respond with "Football!"

Friday as we were waiting for Daddy to come home we decided to go for a walk. The girls are LOVING their baby dolls and strollers.

Sophie and her diaper issues!!

2009-10-16T20:26:00.000-07:00

So we have been having some diaper issues around here lately. The girls want to be "helpful" and take off their own diapers for me and they often try to change their own diapers. A caught Sophie on video trying to change her diaper. Usually they just try to change their baby dolls diapers but sometimes this is what happens in our house -

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

All of the girls are into doing everything themselves. All day long I hear "self....self!!!" So I suppose we are entering into the independent stage, I thought this would be a helpful stage, but now I am rethinking that thought.

Picture Update

2009-10-05T20:42:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick update in pictures. Sorry it is so short on words, but I am sure most of you come for the pics anyways...

Gracie getting ready to play Play-Doh with Grandma. She is looking at her watch here that Grandma gave her, she has to wear it just about every day.
Mia striking a pose.

Soph is all smiles when the Play-Doh comes out.

Mia after having some of Grandpa's birthday cake. Do you think she liked it?

The girls love to get into the baby doll pack-n-play to play around. Here is Mia, who looks like she just woke up.

A little sisterly love.

Gracie giving Grandpa some kissies.

Soph getting her share of kissies in.

The girls at the park with Auntie Mo Mo.

Sophie...proof that she really does have hair.

Gracie - All the girls love to go down the slides at the park. Their lastest accomplishment was to go down the twisty tube slide all by themselves.

All three going down together.

Sophie helping Grandpa fix our sprinklers. After this picture was taken she had to go and sit on a rock right next to him.

Trouble Makers

2009-09-26T10:11:00.000-07:00

So I turn my make for one second (mistake #1) and this is what I find.

My 3 little beauties got a hold of my mascara this morning and painted each other. Go figure...this is the 1 (and ONLY) time that they share!!!!

Sophie, "What's wrong Mom, I look beautiful!"

Gracie, "Come on you know I did a good job!"

Mia, "You know I look the best Mom!"

Wednesday Morning Bible Study

2009-09-16T19:59:00.001-07:00

So I started a new bible study this morning at our church. We are starting the Beth Moore - Daniel: Lives of Integrity, Words of Prophecy and I must say that I am very excited to see what God has in store for me to learn. I am being joined by my high school best friend, Debbie, who I do not see nearly enough and some of my other best gal pals.

Part of Wednesday morning bible study is "Puppy Club" or "nursery/Sunday (even though it is really Wednesday) school. I was a little nervous getting myself and the girls there on time, but thanks to a fantastic Hubby (who fed the girls before he left for work), we were there 15 minutes early. I got the girls all signed in and off they were to "Puppy Club." They are official members of the Purple puppies. Now dropping them off in class didn't come without tears (for the girls not the momma) but I must say that they are getting much better at being left in class at church. Because we go on Sundays, they are familiar with their surroundings and their Sunday teacher is also their Wednesday morning teacher.

I picked them up 2 hours later and they were happy as could be. Gracie had her shoes off and piggies out, Sophie was attached to the teachers hip and Mia was off playing with the boys. I got all their stuff and was heading out when the teacher handed me these -
Mia showing off her BEAUTIFUL artwork of the day.
Gracie, crazy hair and all, showing off her work proudly.
Sophie and her masterpiece.
I believe Sophie is saying, "Ok Mom, have you got enough pictures YET?"

I can't believe how BIG my little girls are getting. So yes, I will be PROUDLY hanging their first works of art on the refrigerator.

After bible study Michelle, Trent and Luke came over for lunch. When they left this is what I found-
Every one's name tag from the day stuck to my dishwasher.

A Yummy Site!

2009-09-11T14:41:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to blog about this for a while now, but as usual I let time slip by. I came across a great food blog that is all about Yummy and Healthy food. Andrea, the blog's author, is serious about her family eating healthy food that tastes good. I have tried the BBQ Chicken Pizza and Carl must now have it once a week, usually on game day. I have also tried the Ginger Glazed Mahi Mahi and it is now a staple in our house. Andrea shops a lot at Trader Joe's which has inspired me to get back there and do some shopping there myself. I love their ready to bake pizza dough and I am going to try a few other things soon like the Harvest Grain Blends and the Brown Rice Melody.

So check out Healthy & Easy Recipes if you are in need of something Yummy and Healthy. Thank you Andrea for sharing and inspiring me to cook good food.

Football

2009-09-09T08:43:00.000-07:00

Football season is here (well it has been here in this household since July 27th). We taught the girls early on that when Daddy is gone he is at work. The have been signing work for a long time now. You would ask, "Where is Daddy?" and they would sign "work." Now they know when Daddy works he is at football. So now when asked they either sign or say "football." The girls also know when football is on TV and they also like to play catch with their football.

So needless to say, football is very much a part of our everyday life. Back in August my mom and I took the girls to one of Carl's scrimmages. Armed with lots of snacks we attempted to watch. As you can imagine not much football was watched, but the girls did have fun.
Here are the girls enjoying the action. I think they sat here for about 3.5 seconds.
Here we are...no one is enjoying the action. The day was all about the snacks.
This was my only chance at seeing any plays. After the scrimmage Carl asked me what I thought of the team. My response, "Really? You think I was able to watch????"
Daddy getting some love from Sophie.
Grandpa getting some love from Mia.

The girls will not be attending any games in the near future. All of our games are at 7pm which is bed time around here. The last home game is at 1pm so hopefully we will be able to go to that one.

Gracie Mae

2009-09-02T08:06:00.000-07:00

Gracie Poo Boo

Favorite Foods: Kiwi is by far her favorite fruit. This girl would eat kiwis all day if I let her. She also loves strawberries, grapes, raspberries and bananas. She loves pizza, chicken nugguts, cheese, crackers, milk, water with ice and cookies. Gracie is known for stuffing her mouth full. She is the cleanest eater, she does not like to be messy. If she gets food on her tray she wants you to clean it off for her.

Loves: Like her sisters Gracie loves her blankie and neener. She also loves to build towers out of her blocks, to read, and to be bossy. She likes to take things away from her sisters and she always has to be "in charge!"

Favorite show to watch: As if there is any question here, Signing Time is her favorite as well.

Words: Gracie will attempt to say any word you ask her. Her newer words are: Dawby (strawberry), kiwi, pizza, juice, and zoo. She can names tons of animals as well as sign them. Just about all the words she can say she can sign as well. One day I need to write down every word they say, because when I try to sit here and think of all the words she can say my mind draws a blank.

Gracie stories: Gracie really likes older children. When our friend Camryn comes over to visit Gracie follows her around and will even let Camryn boss her around (which she never lets happen with her sisters, usually she does all the bossing around).

The other day, out of the blue, Gracie did a sommersault all on her own. Now she thinks it is very funny to do them all the time.

After bath time at night Gracie loves to run around the house. She will either run around in circles or run from the couch to the front door and do it over and over again.

She is starting to tollerate piggies and bows in her hair. She will even keep them in for long periods of time.
Gracie with piggies in.
Gracie after ripping the piggies out.

Gracie is still the biggest of the three and will use her size to her advantage. She often tries to push her sisters out of her way.

She loves the water and to play outside. She loves to blow bubbles in the water and splash around.

Gracie is also known for falling and when she does it typically ends with a bump on the head.

Gracie and her bump.

She is a joy (doesn't a mother have to say that!?), but really she is. She is in love with her Daddy and likes to follow him where ever he goes. She is the best hug giver and will usually give one when ever you ask. She is a fast learner. You show her how to do something one time and she will remember how to do it.

Mia DeAnn

2009-08-25T19:51:00.000-07:00

Mia DeAnn "MiMi"

Where do I start with Miss Mia?
Favorite Foods: Cereal, grapes, milk, noodles, snacks (to be specific she loves fruit chewies, pretzels, gold fish and crasins), watermelon, cheese and crackers. Mia gets the runner-up award for messiest eater.

Loves: Mia loves to sit with you and read books, be in charge, to swing at the park, be silly, be the center of attention, her neeners (pacifiers - right now I think this is the most important thing to her), the silky side of her blanket (she loves to rub it in between her toes), and hiding from mommy and daddy.

Favorite show to watch: Mia is just like her other sisters and loves Signing Time.

Words: Cereal, Mommy, Daddy, Pa, noodles, snack, beeps (grapes - why I have no idea), milk, water, melon, funny, ook (book), read, easy, neener, Sophie, and tons more. She will repeat anything you ask her to. Her newest word is Firefighter (she learned from Signing Time). She has many many words and she signs up a storm. She knows tons of animal signs and will attempt to say them all as well. My favorite animal sign of hers is penguin.

Funny Mia stories: The other day I pointed to Sophie and said, "What is her name?" Mia said, "Sophie." So I pointed to Gracie and asked the same question. Mia replied, "Poo Boo." I guess we call Gracie Poo Boo more than we call her Gracie.

When I ask Mia to stop doing something that she is not supposed to be doing she often replies with, "I funny....I funny!!"
Here is Mia's "I funny!" face.

One day Sophie fell and cut her lip so I gave her some ice to put on her lip. Shortly after I saw Mia bang her head on the refrigerator (on purpose) and then look at me with the saddest face and say, "ice...ice...ice!"

Mia loves to say "swimming...swimming," so you would think that she loves the pool...NOT! Mia would rather take her snack and sit in a chair by the pool. She does love her Popsicles and to play outside though.
The Queen herself on the 4th of July. Everyone was swimming except Mia who was fully clothed and eating a snack with just her feet in the pool.
Her is a drama look for Mia while swinging at the park.

Sophie Bear

2009-08-19T08:44:00.000-07:00

Since the girls are almost 2 (Wow, can you believe that?) I wanted to do a post on each of them since they are so different. I will start with Soph.

Sophie Bear

Favorite Foods: milk, cookies (she loves to take them apart and eat the middle part), noodles of any kind, grapes, smoothies and bananas. She and Mia are the messiest eaters I have ever seen. Her she is after some yummy noodles.

Loves: Her blanket (she likes the soft fuzzy side and will hold it up to her nose for LONG periods of time), to cuddle (she is certainly the cuddle bug), putting her shoes on (and she can do it correctly about 75% of the time), dressing herself, baby dolls and nee-nee's (pacifiers). She loves to play in her kitchen and cook. She will put her play food in a bowl, stick it in her oven and cook you something tasty.

Favorite show to watch: Signing Time - The girl could watch it over and over and over again. When she wants to watch it she walks around the house saying and signing, "signing....signing??"

Words: cereal, signing (for Signing Time), beeps (grapes), Mommy, Daddy, no, Mowie (Molly), Mo, bath, body, cheese, milk, water, dog, cat, turtle, Pa, snack, noodles, cracker, church, Jesus, cook. The list could go on and on. She signs a ton as well. Every word she says she signs as well. I would say she signs more than she talks.

Sophie can always put a smile on my face. I love it when I walk out to the garage and she meets me on my way back in. She pokes her head around the door and says "hi!" I love when I put the phone up to her ear to talk to someone and she says "no."

She loves to put on her own clothes and shoes. Most of the time she puts clothes over clothes and gets pretty upset when you try to help her. She certainly has an independence about her. Even though she displays a lot of independence, she loves (LOVES) the word help. She loves to say help (she will say and sign it at the same time). She also loves to use the word hurt (again she says and signs it at the same time). As soon as she gets hurt, even if it is barely a bump on the leg), she will run to you and say "hurt" and wait for you to kiss it.

Here she has on capris over her jammy shorts, and a tank top on upside down.

Soph still lacks a little in the hair department. She sometimes still gets called a boy even when dressed in all pink. When I put piggies in her sisters hair she asks for piggies to. She barely has enough hair for one small (very) small piggie on the top of her head.

Sophie is pretty mellow but knows how to turn the drama on. When she is hurt, even just a little, she wants your loves and kisses (kinda like her Momma).

Sophie has loved the pool this summer. She loves to play in the water and eat Popsicles outside.

I love this little girl more than words can describe. She is a joy to be around and can make you laugh. She is sweet and such a cutie pie.

Sophie and Daddy on the 4th of July.Sophie sliding down a jump house slide.

Just Because...

2009-08-08T18:30:00.000-07:00

This girl (Mia) loves to dance and get her groove on. My mom caught this video of her not too long ago. Enjoy....

I know...I know...

2009-08-04T08:16:00.000-07:00

So I am way WAY behind on posts, but if you have been around my house lately you would know why. The reason...3 almost 2 year olds running around and running me raged. We are always doing something (reading books, watching Signing Time, playing in their kitchen and cooking all kinds of concoctions, swimming, playing outside, etc...). They are talking more and more everyday. I really want to write a post about each girl and share their likes, dislikes, words, personalities and so on. I will write this post....I WILL. But until then I leave you with a recent picture of all three.

Date Day

2009-07-27T14:00:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday Carl and I were blessed to be kid free for the entire day and night thanks to Grandma and Grandpa. We left the girls in their care and headed off for a day and night of fun. Our first stop was to one of our favorite local restaurants, Luigi's, for a yummy lunch. Then we headed off to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I could write an entire post on my thoughts about the movie but I will not bore you with that. After the movie we headed home for a little relaxation before going to a friend's wedding reception. It was strange to be home with no kids wanting your attention. And the quietness, it was a great thing. We went to the reception then out for a little nightcap. Lots of fun was had, but we did miss the girls. They had a great time with g/g and have already said they want to go back...hint hint!!! I leave you with the pictures of the day.

Us headed to the movies.

Just got home for a little nap before heading out again.

Us before our night out.

Can you believe that Carl indulged me by letting me take all of these pictures of us??After out fun night, Carl looks ready to go, I on the other hand look a little sleepy.

On our way to pick up the girls, do we looked refreshed??

First Zoo Trip

2009-07-20T13:34:00.000-07:00

So in order to stay cool and beat the heat of 100 and HOT we decided to take the girls to the Santa Barbara Zoo this past Friday. We had a great day and the girls loved just about every minute of the day. What they didn't like was the trip home and the traffic we got stuck in because of a bus fire, but I won't bore you with those details.

The girls know all about animals through their various books and the Signing Time Videos (The Great Outdoors and The Zoo). We saw elephants, gorillas, alligators, giraffes, etc.... If you asked them today what they saw they would sign "gorillas, night night", "giraffes, eat!" and "penguins, eat and swim!" Because yes the gorillas were asleep, the giraffes were eating and the penguins were swimming when we saw them. They loved getting out of their strollers and walking around, running on the grass, and sliding down the big "ant hill."

It was so much fun to watch their face light up as they saw the animals. Gracie was walking around all day signing and saying animals (which sounded like anmals). After the zoo we headed across the street to the beach, yes I said across the street, How cool is that? Soph fell asleep and the other 2 got to go on the swings and eat suckers. The ride home was long like I said above, and we thought we were going to lose our minds trying to entertain the girls. But once we got home they were exhausted and went right to bed.

Sophie and Gracie looking at the turtles. Gracie has a very serious look on her face as she takes it all in.
Daddy, Mia and Gracie watching the giraffes eat.

The girls following their Daddy. Mia was lagging behind because she was much more interested in seeing what everyone else was doing.

The girls checking out the birds. Soph's reading all about them.

The girls playing in a play area that the Zoo had.
Sophie taking a snoozey while the other girls were swinging and eating suckers.
Mia wanting to share her lollipop.
Look at the face....Too Cute!!

Summer

2009-07-13T12:28:00.000-07:00

SWIM DIAPERS +

POPSICLES =

SUMMER FUN!!!!

Gracie's Signing Skills

2009-07-08T19:27:00.000-07:00

We started signing with the girls very early on and lately they have expanded their signing vocabulary. I would like to take credit for this but I believe the Signing Time videos they watch get most of the credit. I am always amazed when I randomly say something and the girls will sign a word back to me. The following videos show some of their (Gracie mainly and some of Sophie) skills. Auntie DeAnn, I hope these videos make you proud!!!!

Like Mother Like Daughter.....Like Grandmother Like GrandDaughter

2009-06-29T15:45:00.000-07:00

I recently was given some of my baby clothes that I wore. I thought it would be fun to put the girls in the clothes and compare pictures.

Here is Gracie and I am in the upper left. Out of all the girls Gracie is the one who looks most like me when I was a little one. I have pictures where we look almost identical. I love this picture because of our bellies, we both had big ones.

I love this shirt/dress that Mia is wearing. I wore it from about 5 months and wore it as a dress. Mia is here modeling it as a shirt at 19 months old. How cute does she look?

I often here comments that Sophie looks a lot like my Mom and my Grandpa. Here is my mom at 17 months old and Sophie is 19 months old. I think Sophie looks like a little doll.

I have more clothes of mine and am just searching through old pictures to find me wearing them so I can compare. I love that my Grandma saved so many of my things and things of my moms. I have shirts, dresses (a few from Hawaii), a bathing suit and lots and lots of shoes that the girls love to put on and wear around the house. One thing I can say about the shoes, thank goodness that they started using velcro because I do not think I could mess with shoelaces right now.

The Great Pacifier Mystery - SOLVED

2009-06-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

So for the past few weeks pacifiers have been hard to find in our house. I have searched under couches, beds, inside the toy boxes and everywhere I could possibly think of. In the end I chalked the lost pacifiers up to just being lost. Maybe they were lost on walks or when we have been out and about, but lost they were. I was at Target last week and bought a couple of new ones (2 to be exact) and they QUICKLY became the hot comodity in our house, then one went missing. Ughh...what was going on. If you know me I tend to be a little manic about pacifiers. If I realize that we lost one while in a store I will run around the store (or send Carl) to find the missing pacifier and we almost always find it. So needless to say, the case of the missing pacifiers in our house was driving me NUTS.

Then yesterday I hear Carl yelling, "Hey Chris, come look at THIS!" Of course I figured it was just one of our girls doing something crazy like climbing, tearing something apart, or opening the front door! I walk back into their room and see this---
Yes, if you look closely that is a few pacifiers stuck between the shutters and the window. Then we see THIS---
Tons of pacifiers stuck between the shutter and the window. (Please pay NO attention the the dirty window sill....PLEASE!)

So the case of the missing pacifiers has been solved. The culprit.....SOPHIE KAY.

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T07:58:00.001-07:00

Happy Father's Day to the best Daddy I know. Carl you certainly are one in a million. I thank God for you everyday. The girls love their Daddy-O very much and anyone can see why. You love them to pieces, provide for them, play with them, and so much more. Thank you for being you and loving us the way that you do. Happy Father's Day!

YOU ARE THE BEST!!

Play Time With Friends!!!

2009-06-18T21:56:00.000-07:00

We have had lots of friends over to play lately. Trent and his brother Luke came over to hang out and play for a bit the other day. My mom was here and took pictures (thankfully because I am bad about taking pictures).
Here Mia is pushing Luke. For being so little the girl has some power, she pushed him all over the yard.

Here is Trent. Geez, I can't believe how big this boy is. His parents and us became friends a little bit before he was born and he is already 3+. He is a doll and I love him lots.

Soph checking things out.

Luke checking things out!

Chairs....the girls love to sit in chairs. Well, the really love to sit in "big people" chairs but I try to get them to sit in their "little people" chairs.

Vacation 2009

2009-06-17T09:09:00.000-07:00

So during the first part of June we took the girls on vacation to the beach. This was our second year going and lots of fun was had. We had a few things on our agenda to do and the girls loved every minute of it. The first day we took the girls to Avila Valley Barn. If you are ever near Avila Beach this is a must if you have kids. The girls loved all the animals and feeding and petting them. They also loved just being able to run around. Gracie, Mia and Daddy feeding the goats. All the girls were a little timid at first but by then end they were all feeding the animals.

Here the girls are climbing on hay and having fun!

We spent some time at the pool. The girls enjoyed it but only for a short time. Their attention spans are very short these days.
We spent some time on the beach. Here Mia is showing me a treasure she found in the sand.

Here Gracie is testing out the water with her toes. They certainly were not too sure of the water. Gracie is the only one who got close enough to test it out.

Here are Gracie and I chasing birds. All 3 girls became obsessed with birds on this trip, especially Sophie. Every morning at home now she looks out the back door in search of birds.

Now this girls loved the sand. She loved to just lay in it and let it run through her fingers and toes. She certainly does not mind getting dirty.

Here Mia is making angels in the sand!!!

Here Sophie is enjoying getting a little dirty.

On this trip they got introduced to suckers and let me tell you, they could not get enough. They know the sign for candy and use it often. I couldn't help but take pictures of the blue tongue.

Here Sophie is being funny trying to eat her sucker backwards.

On Friday, the day we came home, we decided to go to the San Luis Obispo Children's Museum. I am glad that we made this stop. The girls enjoyed the time spent there and I enjoyed watching them discover new things. It is a hands on museum with tons of things to do for little ones.

Here is Mia enjoying the puzzle room. Yes that is a toy in her mouth. I try hard to keep them from putting germ infested things into their mouths, but as you can see I am not always successful.

This is Sophie and Daddy playing some music.

Here is Gracie enjoying the train tracks.

Sophie is obsessed with shoes right now. She has taught herself to put on her own shoes and does a good job at it. Here she is putting on boots and the firefighter dress-up station.

We stopped for lunch on our way home at Firestone (one of our favorites) and the girls discovered some of their new favorites.

Gracie LOVES ketchup.

Mia LOVES BBQ sauce.

Sophie LOVES ranch dressing.

For Your Amusement!

2009-06-15T14:30:00.001-07:00

Just in case you were wondering what I have been up to today, take a look below!
Yes that is me fishing out a plastic hot dog and a bottle cap out of the VCR. I thought I had taught the girls not to play with the VCR/DVD, guess that they did not learn that lesson. I have caught Sophie 4 times today trying to shove her toys into the VCR. She has become fascinated with it. I think I am in trouble!!!!

Cutie Pies!!!

2009-06-14T17:17:00.001-07:00

I love this picture because they look like they are dancing but they are really spinning round and round, one of their favorite things to do. Look at Sophie in the pink shorts, she looks like she is doing the twist.I was cleaning out the linen closet and gave them each an empty bottle to play with. They are all about putting lids on things, they sat and played with these for a long time.
Gracie, Mommy and Mia Look at the wild hair!

Mommy and Sophie Bear, she did not really want to take the time to take a picture she wanted to eat her "nack nack."

Mia giving Sophie some lovin.

More lovin going on. I love Sophie's expression.

Fun Times

2009-06-13T19:54:00.000-07:00

Today I bought a cute sheet at Target to use as a curtain in the girls room. It was in the living room and we decided to play and hide under it. The first couple of times we did it (not on video) Gracie and Soph loved it. In the video Gracie sounds like she is not enjoying herself, but she stuck around and played.

Noisy Dinner Time

2009-06-12T20:29:00.000-07:00

So the girls were enjoying their dinner of green beans and noodles (as they like to call mac & cheese) and I thought it would be to take some video of them, so here you go.

Bath Time Fun!

2009-06-11T20:37:00.000-07:00

So I know that I am really behind on posts (vacation, fun in the pool) but I figured I would do a quick post on tonight's bath time. The girls still really enjoy bath time, thank goodness because when they don't it is miserable for everyone involved. Lately they have taken to drinking the water out of the faucet as the tub is filling up.

Gracie enjoying a drink.Here is Sophie face just after getting a drink and Mia is about to get one. This is what Sophie looks like most of the time. She loves to smile and laugh at the silly things that she does.

Soph is a little mad because I had just turned off the water as she was about to get a drink.

I promise to get going on all of the delayed posts that I have. We just got back from a week at the beach and had a great time. More to come....REALLY!

Little Mommies

2009-05-28T08:19:00.001-07:00

The other day the girls were playing with their dolls. The like to hold them, feed them, put them to night night, oh and bite their heads (I am trying to stop that one but they find it VERY funny).

Here are some pictures that capture them and their dolls.

Gracie feeding her baby.

More feeding and rocking.

Mia

Soph kissing her baby.

Watching the girls with their babies made me think of when they were my little babies. It made me think of their own swaddling days so I thought it would be fun to see if I could still swaddle them. They weren't too sure of the swaddle, but thought it was fun when I rolled them out of it.
Big Sis Gracie actually enjoying her swaddle.
Sophie

Mia
Here is Soph enjoying getting rolled out of the swaddle. They kept signing "again, again" when we were done. It is now hard for me to think back to those days of swaddling. I can't believe they were so tiny at one time.

Trouble

2009-05-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

If I recall right I have written a post with this exact title already. Everyday it seems as though the girls have found a new way to find trouble. I have found them on top of the kitchen table, playing in the toilets, pulling dishes out of the dishwasher, pull every single last wipe out of the wipe container and stringing them about the house, really the list could go one FOREVER!

Here are some of their latest antics.
They love to empty their dresser drawers of all their CLEAN clothes. I found Sophie walking down the hall with shorts on each leg, she loves trying to dress herself. When did she get so big?
Here is Gracie stuck in her kitchen. Before this picture was taken she had both legs in the sink area and was happy as a lark. When she realized that she could not get out she started throwing a fit. Being the good Mom that I am I went and got the camera first to take a picture then I helped her out.
The other day while I was vacuuming the car out at the car wash someone handed me this purple car and asked if I knew someone who could use it....Well of course I knew someone (someoneS) who could use it. When we got home Sophie thought it was like her car outside that she sits in and "drives." She quickly learned they are not the same.

A Girl and Her Shoes!

2009-05-20T13:11:00.000-07:00

First it was hats and now it is shoes. Gracie is obsessed with shoes. It started with her bringing your shoes to you when you took them off. If she found your shoes, anywhere in the house, she would bring them to you and MAKE you put them on. She can't stand to see shoes and them not be on someones feet. Yes it can be annoying, especially if you are someone like me who loves to go around the house bare footed. I have a bad habit (although I like to think I have gotten better over the years) of leaving my shoes all around the house just waiting to be tripped over. Well I think that Gracie has taken it upon herself to break her Momma of this bad habit, she simply wants me to keep my shoes on my feet.

Now Gracie has taken to putting everyone elses shoes on her own feet and walking around the house. She loves shoes like she loved hats, what's next????

Gracie wearing Momma's pretty pink shoes, she loves them.
How cute!!
Gracie in Daddy's flip flops.
Look at those cute tiny feet!

Popsicles....Oh What Fun!!!!

2009-05-09T18:40:00.000-07:00

So this afternoon it was warm and we thought it was a good day to play in the water and eat popsicles. So the shirts came off (the little ones that is) and we slathered them up with sunscreen (a little too much as some got into Mia's eye and what claims to be tear free is not really tear free) and out we went. We have had popsicles before so they knew what they were, but this was the first time that I let them just go at it and get all messy, and boy did they have fun.
Disclaimer: They may look like boys, but they really are girls.

Mia eyeing her yummy treat. "Geez Mom a donut and a popsicle all in one day, you are the BEST! But what would Daddy think????"

Mia

Sophie getting every last lick that she can get.

"Oh, you want a kiss Mom...sure here you go!"

Gracie looks all hot and sweaty here but it just the sunblock.
Here are all the girls enjoying their treats.

Daddy also sprayed them with the hose and they loved that. I have video that I will upload and post this week.

18 Months old...Already??

2009-05-06T13:02:00.000-07:00

Sophie
Nicknames - Baby Bear, Mama Bear, Big Bear
Sophie is certainly a mommy's girl and she loves to cuddle. You can almost always find her with her blankie to her nose and a pacifier in her mouth (I am still trying to figure out how to break this habit....any suggestions??).
Some of her favorites: Cuddling with mommy, eating ice outside on a warm day, praying at meal times (I need to take a picture of this, she is too cute!), talking to herself in her crib, giving loves to her sisters (hugs and kisses), singing (which often sounds like screeching), spinning around and winking. She is talking more and more, some of her latest words are: Amen which comes out men, and Molly which comes out mowie. She is signing a bunch, some new ones for her are Amen, car, water and work (when you ask her where daddy is she will sign work). She knows where her eyes, ears, nose, mouth, tongue, teeth, hair, head, face, hands, fingers, feet, toes, belly and legs are.

Sophie with her ice outside.

Playing on the slide

Sophie giving mommy some lovin.

Sophie and her Grandma.

Gracie Poo
Nicknames: Big Sis, Poo Boo
Gracie is a force to be reckoned with. She will push past her sisters to be first, knock them down to get a toy or yell louder to be heard. She hates it when she does not get her way, she will cry and cry and cry. She is a great helper, Gracie loves to bring her crying sisters a blanket and a pacifier.
Some of her favorites are: Singing (or screeching), spinning around, playing outside, climbing on chairs or anything available to climb on, reading books and Daddy.
Gracie talks the most. She will try to repeat anything you ask her to. She also signs a bunch, some newer signs include: potty, hurt, car and water.
She knows where her eyes, ears, nose, mouth, tongue, teeth, hair, head, face, hands, fingers, feet, toes, belly and legs are.
Couldn't resist posting this picture. The orange beads are caught around her leg making it so she can't walk. She gets a tad frustrated, we are trying to teach her to problem solve!

All smiles in the toybox.

Caught red handed...she has been told over and over again not to pick the flowers.

What a cutie pie!

Mia
Nicknames: Peanut, MeMe, Me
Diva....Drama...what more can I say. Just as soon as you think she is a girly girl you will find her outside laying in the dirt playing. She is certainly not afraid of getting dirty.
Some of her favorites are: Singing, spinning around and around, playing hide n' seek, dancing, playing in the dirt, being tickled and being scared, and loving on the dogs.
She talks and signs a bunch. Her favorite words to say are buddy, daddy-o, howdy. Daddy has taught her that he is her buddy. You can often find her walking around the house yelling "Daddy-o, Daddy-o!!"
She knows where her eyes, ears, nose, mouth, tongue, teeth, hair, head, face, hands, fingers, feet, toes, belly and legs are.
Mia and Grandpa playing hide n' seek.

"Hello all my people!"
Mia and her Grandpa.

A rare moment when all three are in close enough proximity to each other for a picture.

Noriegas

2009-05-04T08:13:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday we took the girls to our FAVORITE restaurant. Noriegas is our favorite for many reasons but we love it most for the atmosphere and the people who work there. It is a Basque Restaurant that serves family style. Now by family style I do not just mean that they bring out food for you to share with your party. At Noriegas you sit at long tables and sit next to people you do not know. I love that we meet new people and have great conversations with them while sharing a great meal of yummy Basque food.

We go there for dinner often but since they serve dinner at 7, which is the girls bedtime, we have not taken them. So we thought a Saturday breakfast would be perfect for them. We want the girls to grow up loving Noriegas. The had a blast and I think that Mia ate her weight in french fries. Let me explain the menu for those who have never had Basque food.

Breakfast Menu:
Fried eggs or omelet
French fries
Pork chop
Basque sausage
Hard jack cheese (I think I ate my weight in this!)
French bread
Last but not least....Red wine (yes wine with breakfast)

Dinner Menu (Wednesday Nights...our favorite)
Basque soup
Beans
Bread
Salsa
Salad
Marinated carrots (my favorite) or pickled beets (Carl's favorite)
Cottage cheese (not your ordinary cottage cheese)
pickled tongue (another of Carl's favorite)
French fries
corn
Spaghetti
Blue cheese
Wine
***All of the above is served every night, below are the items that change
Oxtail stew
Prime Rib (the reason we love Wednesday nights)

Yes I know it is a lot of food, we almost always over indulge. It is yummy...yummy...yummy!

Below are pictures from our visit with the girls.
Here are the girls waiting to go back to the dinning room. They love to sit in "big" chairs.
Gracie only wanted the jam and she would only eat it from her own fork.
Grandma feeding Mia some eggs, she loved them.
Gracie eating some fries.

Sophie eating her fries from her own fork as well.

Sophie talking with Bernadette, one of favorite waitresses. This was her first time meeting the girls.

My favorite picture of the day. Mia with a fry in her mouth, a fry on her fork and a fry in the other hand. This girl loves her fries.

Ice Cream & The Park

2009-04-29T11:56:00.001-07:00

We went to the park this morning for Trent's birthday. The girls love the park. Sophie runs to the swings as soon as we get there. Mia goes to play in the wood chips and Gracie usually heads off to the slides. I love that the girls are getting more social and enjoy playing with other kids. There was a time I thought it would never happen. They love to eat their snacks at the park (I think they get more on the sidewalk then in their mouths!). Michelle brought push-ups for the kids as a treat. I was going to let the girls share one (while I held the push-up), but Liz said they all needed their own. Sophie and Gracie loved LOVED them, Mia had a couple of licks then was done. So as I sit here at home, while their shirts are soaking in the sink, they are napping after a fun day of the park and ice-cream.

Yummy

Sophie loved it.

This is what Gracie looked like after, the picture does not do her justice.

Sophie double fisting the ice-cream.

Luke, Trent's brother enjoying his ice-cream.
Camryn

The Birthday Boy....Trent. Happy 3rd Birthday!

2009-04-23T08:36:00.000-07:00

Last weekend our couples bible study, along with our church, landscaped the new Ronald McDonald House that is going up in town. We took the girls and they enjoyed walking around the site, but most o fall they wanted to help Daddy dig and plant. Needless to say, the girls and I went home so we would not interrupt all the work going on. Carl continued to work hard and when he came home he planted some stuff in our yard. Well once again the girls wanted to help and help they did.
Here is Mia tearing apart the flowers that Daddy was suppose to be planting.
Her she is laying and playing in the dirt.
Mia making sure that Daddy is doing it correctly.
Gracie helping to dig a hole.
Sophie wasn't interested in helping much, she just walked around and smelled the flowers.
Her is Sophie winking at Mommy.

The last two pictures were taken last week.

Here is Gracie in the morning before breakfast. All the girls love to sit inside bowls and pots.

This is how Sophie came to breakfast one morning, the girl loves her jewels.

Things have been good around here. The girls turn 18 months on Sunday. Wow, my little babies are a year and a half. I promise a long post after we visit the Dr. for our check-up.

Easter Weekend

2009-04-14T11:00:00.001-07:00

On Friday we took the girls to visit my grandma. As I mentioned in a previous post, she was recently moved into an assisted living home and this was my first visit with her there. My cousin Jen and I walked into her room to get her and as she was getting ready she said, "Now remind me again who you are!" This broke my heart. Growing up my Grandma and I were very close, I spent lots of time with her when I was small and even through high school. Never did I ever think there would come a day that she would not recognize me! Below is a picture of Carl, Gracie and I with her and her dog Teddy.

Here is Soph and Mia playing with some balloons.
Soph trying to push the wagon.
Mia at the Easter Egg Hunt...once she realized that there was candy in the eggs she had no interest in finding any more she just focused on the egg in her hand...and eating the contents.

On Easter we all made it to the early service which was great. The girls did ok in the nursery, they are still not sure they like it. We talked about it all morning while getting ready saying, "Ok girls we are going to church today to praise Jesus." They are close to signing Jesus and they love to pray. But once we walked into the nursery the tears began. Bless those women who take care of them because when we left they were all screaming.

We went home for a short nap then off to family's house for fun fun fun!
Here is Sophie finding her treasures in the eggs, the girls founds tons of eggs and loved it.
Later when the girls were getting crabby we put a bucket of golf balls in front of them and it entertained them for a long time. Go figure, who needs to buy expensive toys anymore?
Here is Soph enjoying the golf balls, listen to her laugh....Funny!!

This is a picture of Mia and Gracie exploring through their Easter basket. They loved the sunglasses and hair brushes.

We got home from the party and tried to put the girls down for a short nap but they were not having it. So outside we went to play. Look how tired Mia looks.

Playin' in the sunshine!

2009-04-05T20:26:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would share some pictures of our time out in the backyard today. Grandma bought the girls some new buckets to play in the dirt with. They love to explore around the yard and find treasures....(dirt, bugs and dog poop!).

Sophie picking petals off the flowers.

Sophie loving on Mommy or maybe it is Mommy loving on Sophie, either way I'll take it.

Sophie hanging on for dear life and not wanting to let go. She finally let go and loved the ride down the slide.

This was what Gracie looked like when her sister stole her bottle of bubbles from her.

This is what Gracie looked like when she took them back!

Here is Gracie telling everyone that it is her turn to go down the slide (she is pointing to herself), notice she has a death grip on the bubbles.

Mia smelling or kissing the flowers, not sure which one it is.

Look at those eyes, she is a cutie pie.

Mia playing in the dirt. I put the bow in her hair today, she found the headband and put it on herself (good thing it matched!).

This is for you daddy!!

2009-04-05T10:15:00.000-07:00

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17+ Months

2009-04-02T10:54:00.001-07:00

Sister Mia trying to give Sophie

a hug.

My latest attempt at getting a 3 in a picture.

Gracie Poo

Favorites: Gracie can still be found with a pacifier in her mouth and her blanket in hand. I keep thinking I need to break the pacifier habit but am not willing to attempt that yet. Gracie loves to be outside and play on the slide, but she does not really like her hands to get dirty. She will play in the dirt then come over and want us to wipe her hands off. She loves to wear necklaces and will often wear 3 or 4 at a time. Another favorite is to make soup. She takes her bowl and spoon and walks around feeding anyone who will take some of her delicious soup.

When I get them up in the morning Gracie is always the first in the kitchen to get her milk. She will get her milk then grab one for one of her sisters and take it to them. When she hands them their milk she signs "thank you" like she is waiting for them to say thank you to her.

Words: She attempts to say cracker, and cookie but they come out more like caca. Other words that are regular for her are: milk, mom, daddy, mo (auntie mo), shoes, ball, bath, jack, snack

Words she signs; all of the above plus- car, signing time, cheese, bread, water, dog, horse, red, baby, eat, more, apple, candy, peach, cereal, mommy, daddy, work, please, thank you, hungry, book

Sounds: She can say the sounds that sheep, cows, owls, roosters and turkeys make. You can often find her walking around the house saying gobble, gobble gobble.

Gracie scrubbing the floor, I have taught her well!
Big girl on the slide.
Gracie making soup....yummy!!!
I could not resist taking this picture. Carl was working on the computer and Gracie was laying on the floor and stool.

Sophie Bear

Favorites - Sophie also loves her blanket and pacifier. Soph is the biggest love bug she will crawl up into your lap and snuggle with you. She likes to play outside and you can often find her in a corner of the backyard exploring on her own. Soph loves her pretties and wants to wear them all day every day. She certainly makes the funniest faces out of all the girls, we must have hundreds of pictures of all her funny faces. Soph too, likes to make soup.

Words: Milk, mom, daddy, jack, ball, snack

Words she signs: Horse, milk, more, please, thank you, baby, signing time, dog, book, cereal, red, bread

I know that Sophie says and signs more but this is all that is coming to my mind.

Pretty girl Sophie

"Look at my belly mommy!"
Going down the slide head first.
Sophie and her Grandpa face.

Mia "MiMi"

Favorites: Well drama is still a favorite of Mia's. I think she has perfected the art of temper tantrums. When she does not get her way....WATCH OUT!!!! She can scream like no other. Mia loves to be outside and play in the dirt. She often brings over handfuls of dirt to us. She is certainly an explorer around the backyard. Mia also loves attention, and she loves to smile and say cheese into the camera. And she is just like her sisters and is always making soup.

Another of Mia's favorites is ceiling fans. If she walks into a room and their is a fan she must...MUST have it on.

Words: Mom, daddy, work, jack, snack, ball, book, shoes, no no

Words she signs: mom, daddy, word, dog, please, thank you, eat, ball, book, cereal, water, milk, candy, apple, sold, horse, baby

Sounds: Cow, sheep, mommy (no..no...no)

Mia at snack time.

Mia and her Daddy

Pretty girl

Sunshine!

2009-03-27T11:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went and played in the backyard and enjoyed the sunshine. Mia was a bit under the weather and was inside napping, so Gracie and Sophie got to enjoy some quality Mommy time. I took a few pics, the girls thought saying "Cheese" was fun. They love to play in the dirt and explore in the backyard. Yesterday they turned 17 months old so I will try to post some updates this weekend. They are getting so big and busy.
Gracie showing off her new summer sandals.
I tried to get Gracie to give up her blankie but it was not going to happen, at least I got her to take the pacifier out of her mouth.

Sophie tickling her sis. They love to tickle one another and make each other laugh.

Sisters playing in the dirt. They were having lots of fun.

Sophie Bear

Last weekend I painted the girls toenails and they loved it. They sat perfectly still and loved when I blew on their toes to dry them.

Sophie examining my painting job.

Mia and My toes...aren't they pretty.

Great Grandma's Jewels

2009-03-19T11:37:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, we have unearthed some great treasures from my Grandma's house. Since the girls love to play dress-up I brought home some necklaces for them to wear. My Grandma had every color of beads imaginable and the girls love to wear their "pretties."

Mia

Here is Mia saying "cheese."
Gracie showing off her pretties.

Gracie giving kisses while showing off her pretty necklace.

Sophie

This is a picture from yesterday, Sophie was wearing her bunny ears all day and talking on the phone to Grandpa.

We are alive!!!!

2009-03-13T14:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry for such the long delay in posts, we have been a bit busy around here. A week and a half ago my mom and aunt had to move my grandma into an assisted living home. It was certainly sad but she is doing great and seems to be happy. She has met new friends and she also got to take her much beloved dog "Teddy Bear" with her. Over the past few months my grandmas dementia had started getting worse and all of us were worried for her safety since she was living on her own. She has been in a slow and steady decline and it is our prayer that she will thrive in her new environment and her quality of life will increase.

My grandma lived in a 1700 square foot apartment that was packed to the ceiling with stuff. Please know that I am not exaggerating at all. It has taken all of us (6 of us at times) to sort through everything that she has. I made the decision early on that I wanted to take on the task of her photographs and jewelry. Now this may sound like an easy task, pictures and jewelry how hard can that be. Well let me just say that I now have 5 large boxes packed of old photographs. I decided that I would keep everything from my childhood and back. I have since uncovered pictures 6 generations back...boy do I have a chore in front of me. Below are some pictures of our first day of sorting and unearthing some treasures.
These are photo albums that I did not keep since they were more recent and between myself, my mom and aunt we all have our own copies of them all. Yes that is a shopping cart you see, she had two of them in her house.
A picture of a card from 1953. I think my grandma kept every card ever given to her or her children.
One of about 20 scrapbooks that she has.
This is a scrapbook of cards from my grandmas wedding shower and wedding back in 1950. Yes, she has every one that she received.
My aunt showing off the money my cousin Jen found. I also found some money hidden in her china cabinet.
Now don't be jealous of these beauties. When my grandma worked she had shoes, purses and jewelry to match every outfit.
Me trying on some of her fashionable jewelry.
John modeling some tribal necklace and a grand poobah hat.

We have had fun going through all of grandmas treasures. Though we often get frustrated that she has soooo much stuff, I am amazed at all the history she has in that apartment. I will post soon of the baby clothes of mine and my mothers that we uncovered last night. I can't wait to dress the girls in the clothes and take pictures.

Lastly I leave you a picture of Sophie playing with one of my toys from when I was little. This has quickly become a new favorite of the girls.

We really are girls!!!

2009-03-04T11:48:00.000-08:00

My GIRLS get called boys almost on a daily basis. It doesn't matter if we are in all pink with hearts and flowers, one of them will surely get called a boy. The other day it was pretty warm here and the only short sleeve shirts that fit them were their red football shirts. We headed off to the store in our red shirts, jeans and the cute red shoes below. I was sure they would be mistaken for boys, because who would look at the shoes to determine the gender of our girls. At the checkout the lady was complimenting us on our cute GIRLS. Wow, I was pretty surprised. I asked her what tipped her off and she said those cute adorable shoes.

So in an effort to make the girls look more girly we have been trying bows. Well let's just say that they are not much into bows. They might last 5 minutes, but it is usually 5 seconds.
Mia
Sophie
Gracie

The next 3 of Gracie I love. It is like she is saying "No mom, Come on mom I really don't like it, NOOOOOOOOOO!"

I got the girls some sunglasses at Target the other day. The glasses only stay on for about 5 seconds as well.

The final picture is what things look like at our house as soon as Daddy walks in the door from work. All three girls want hugs and loves from their Daddy.

Sisterly Love

2009-02-23T08:25:00.000-08:00

The girls are really into loving on each other. When they are not stealing from one another they are hugging and kissing each other. Sophie is by far the biggest lover. She likes to hold onto her sisters and squeeze them and kiss them and tickle them. My mom captured the pictures below when Carl and I were out on a date.
Sophie loving on Mia.

Sophie loving on Gracie.

Not sure if this is love or a wrestling move.
More lovin'

One of the girls newest tricks around the house is to climb on anything and everything. If their chairs are by the couch they will climb on them to get onto the couch. They (Gracie and Mia) also love to climb on toys.
Gracie
You can almost always find a spoon in one of the girls hands. They love to use a play spoon and stir "soup" in a bowl. They also love to feed you the "soup" that they have made.
Sophie signing "again" to Grandma.

Carl and I on our way to a friends wedding.
Our attempt at a family shot. The family pictures are very hard to come by these days.

Lastly I leave you with Grandma's attempt to get all three in a picture. Grandma was convinced that it could happen, and below is the result.

Mia (booty in the air), Gracie (pushing on Mia), Sophie (grabbing her head and wondering when Grandma will stop!)

2009-02-17T11:14:00.000-08:00

Gracie has a new thing where she likes to "jump." Well, at least she thinks she is jumping. Below is a video where I tried to catch her jumping, I will continue to try to get more as this is not that great. She likes to "jump" on the wood floors or in the bathtub (which is not too safe!). The first day she started doing this she had shoes on and I think she liked the sound her shoes made on the wood floor. When she gets "jumping" she cracks herself up. In the video you will also see Mia "jumping" as she did not want to be outdone by her sis.

More jumping while playing with Daddy in the backyard.

Lastly I leave with you Sophie Bear. Maybe I should try to put bows and ribbons in her hair (what little hair she has!). She is too stinkin cute!

Sleepy Sophie

2009-02-12T15:49:00.001-08:00

Today Auntie Mo watched the girls while I got out for a few "kid free" hours. While she was feeding the girls lunch the video below is what she captured. Sophie decided not to nap this morning and I guess she was pretty tired come lunch time. I know the video is pretty long but well worth the watch. Towards the end, Mia and Gracie are trying to keep Sophie awake.

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2009-02-11T08:10:00.000-08:00

These are some pictures from last Sunday.

How cute is Sophie Bear???

Mia pretending to have an earring on. She is all girl and all drama!

All three cuties playing.

Gracie with her favorite outside toy...a football...go figure!

Need a Laugh!

2009-02-05T09:20:00.000-08:00

A friend showed us these You Tube videos that are pretty funny. You might have seen them already, but they are well worth the watch. So if you need a laugh or a smile today, watch!

This last video is a bit longer but well worth it. During our couples bible study a couple of weeks ago all of the guys were pulled into another room to watch this. I was not familiar with these two men who do "Flight of the Conchords" but I have watched some stuff recently and they are pretty funny. Enjoy!

15 Month Check-Up

2009-01-28T08:25:00.000-08:00

Gracie

22 pounds 13 ounces

30 3/4 inches tall

11 teeth

Still the biggest and acts like it. Gracie has to have things her way or she is very unhappy. She is not big on sharing. She still loves her Daddy and will drop everything to play with him. If I ask Sophie to go get me a book to read with her, Gracie will RUN to get a book and be the first to sit in my lap. If I ask Sophie or Mia to go ride the zebra, Gracie will run to get on Zebra first. She is the Alpha girl.

Can you tell who I asked to go ride zebra? It was not Gracie.
Gracie has taken a liking to playing "Ghost." She puts the blanket over her head and walks around. When she lowers the blanket she wants you to say...."BOOOO!"

Sophie

21 pounds 1 ounce

30 3/4 inches tall

10 teeth

Sophie loves to laugh at herself. She will do silly things to make us laugh and in turn she ends up cracking herself up. She LOVES her blanket and her headband. She pretty much takes those 2 things where ever she goes. She will watch Signing Time whenever we put in on and she sits glued to the TV watching it.

Just about every morning that I go to get Soph out of her crib she is laying down with her hands through the slats reaching for her pacifier that she threw out of the crib. While reaching she is screaming at the same time.

Sophie loves to play with the magnets that go on the fridge. Here she learned that they also stick to the cookie sheet. She spent 30 minutes by herself the other day playing with them.
Soph with her headband, pacifier and blankie.
A picture of Sophie after eating spaghetti.
Another one of Sophie's new things is to push all of the books out of the shelf, climb through the shelf to the other side.

Mia

18 pounds 8 ounces

29 1/2 inches tall

12 teeth

Still drama and still adventurous. She loves to get in and out of the bathtub on her own (when there is no water in it). She will climb on anything she possibly can. Her latest thing is eating, she wants to eat all the time. The Dr. is not worried about her weight and says that she will love her fast metabolism when she gets older :-)

She is still the best signer, her newest signs include, horse, bread, work (you ask her where Daddy is and she will sign work), and thank you. We are working on Grandpa and Grandma and I think she is close. Yesterday she signed "Daddy Work" out of the blue.

Every morning when I go to get Mia out of her crib she is saying "Mil...Mil...Mil (Milk...Milk...Milk), as well as signing Milk. She is a girl who knows what she wants.

Often times when Mia is suppose to be napping she is yelling (at the top of her little lungs) Daeeee....Daeeeee (Daddy....Daddy!) She must think since Mom won't come get me Daddy will.
Mia climbing and standing on her piano.
Cutie pie!
Full of attitude.

All three girls love to ride in their choo-choo wagon, play outside and read books. Everyday I look at them and am amazed at how fast they are growing. They comprehend so much. If I ask them to put their shoes away in the basket they do it. They will go and get me a diaper or pretty much anything I ask for. They are such big girls.

A Beautiful Day!!!

2009-01-23T10:59:00.000-08:00

We have been having some great weather and have tried to take advantage of it. We have been taking walks, sometime two a day and we have been playing outside (Well that is until the rain started yesterday!) Here are some pictures from our time in the backyard.

Mia, Mommy and Daddy playing catch with the football. Mia was having a blast.

Look at that big smile on her face. I am happy that her smile is back!

Gracie and Daddy playing catch with Jack. The all love to hold the "Chuck-it" stick.

Sophie riding on Hippo.

Gracie with her turn on Hippo.

Mia wanting Mommy's sunglasses.
Carl and I watching as the girls entertain themselves.

The rest of the pictures are a few more from our sick days.
The look on Mia's face says it all.

"Come on Mom, I am sick...NO MORE PICTURES!"

Gracie running away from me while I am trying to change her clothes.

Thank Goodness the yucky sickness is behind us. Right now we have runny noses, not fun, but will take this over that other stuff any day.

2009-01-22T18:55:00.000-08:00

I stole this idea from The Kirk Krew since we haven't had too much excitement lately.

Here are the rules:

1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer
2) Select the 4th picture in the folder
3) Explain the picture

So here is my 4th picture from my 4th folder. How cute is Miss Mia. This was back in early April (so that makes Mia around 5 months old). What a cutie pie.

Things are good here. I have a few posts in the works, just have not finished them up. The girls are great, fully recovered and back to normal. I promise more pictures to come.

And in case you were wondering....I did get my book back and am working on the 3rd one. Does anyone know if the 4th is her last or are there more to come??????

Really???

2009-01-17T19:51:00.000-08:00

My husband has hidden my "New Moon" book. Really?...Really!....
Come on...I only have about 1o pages left until I am done. He says I am addicted to the "Twlight" series, well ya I probably am (that is a whole different blog, which I will be posting soon). He says I need a 24 hour break...I don't think I can take a 24 hour break...what am I going to do??????

Oh, and by the way, the girls are doing great. I really think we are on the mend. Now we have some snotty noses but I can deal with that!

3 Words!

2009-01-14T19:58:00.001-08:00

IT'S NOT OVER!!!!!

The Plague!

2009-01-13T10:07:00.000-08:00

Websters defines "Plague" as "a disastrous evil or affliction."
Well the plague hit us Thursday afternoon and we are still feeling the remnants of it (and it is Tuesday!!) Let me give you a run down of the last 6 days.

Thursday - Mia starts vomiting around noonish and does not stop until 6pm that night. She laid on my chest in my room all day alternating between sleeping and vomiting. The other girls were ok and Carl took them out of the house for a while.
Everyone slept great!

Friday - Mia looked better, just whinny and crabby and wanted to be held all day. Around 3pm Gracie was outside with Carl and she vomited everywhere. She did not stop until around 8pm that evening. She slept on Carl's chest while alternating between sleep and vomiting.
Everyone finally got to sleep around 8pm.
Mia woke up around 8:30pm vomiting. Got her settled down and everyone was back to sleep.
11:15pm Sophie woke up screaming and she vomited all over her bed.
She slept on my chest while alternating sleep and vomiting and finally got done around 3:30am. All were sleeping.
And I forgot to mention that today was my Birthday....Happy Birthday to me!!! Thanks for all the texts and calls. Sorry I did not respond, now you know why!

Saturday - All the girls were lethargic and crabby. They all wanted to be held but for now the vomiting has stopped. Grandma and Grandpa come over to bring us some Chicken Soup and Grandma held Mia. Well you probably guessed it....Mia vomited all over Grandma...YUCK! (Mind you Mia has only had Pedialyte and water). Mia was very lethargic and not holding anything down so Carl took her to Urgent Care. After 3 hours they send him home and tell him to keep her liquids to 5cc's every 15 minutes and up to 10cc's after an hour if she holds it down.
The other girls were asleep and once Mia got to sleep everyone slept 14 hours.

Sunday - Gave the girls plain cheerios and water (Mia only gets Pedialyte) and Sophie vomited in her highchair. So now Sophie was on the Pedialyte diet only. We sent out for reinforcements, Grandma and Grandpa came over to help (hold a baby all day). We make it through the day with no more disasters.
Girls go down at 5:30pm and sleep until 7:30am.

Monday - Carl decided to stay home from work as the girls are sill VERY VERY needy, basically they want to be held all day again. They were all still lethargic. The diet has progressed to water, Pedialyte, toast, bananas and applesauce. We made it through the day (mom and dad actually get a shower).
Girls went down at 6pm and sleep until 7:30am.

Tuesday - Wake up and go get the girls and see that Gracie has vomited sometime during the night (she never cried). Cleaned her up and gave the girls some breakfast. Breakfast consists of a tad bit of milk, toast and bananas. Daddy left for work, they took good naps, ate again and we took a walk for some fresh air. That brings us to now...we'll see what happens the rest of the day!

I leave you with some pictures of our adventure with "THE PLAGUE"
I believe this was from Saturday. I am trying to hide my face as I look terrible...yuck! Mia and Sophie hanging out.
What we were watching over and over and over again!!
Sunday - Grandpa with Gracie
Grandma with Mia
Mommy with Soph
We were watching football
Monday - Daddy with all the girls as Mommy showers
Mommy with all the girls as Daddy showers. I love this picture with Sophie's hand on Mia.
A rare moment on Monday when all the girls were content in their chairs watching...Signing Time.

Updates...

2009-01-06T12:57:00.000-08:00

So I promised to update in my last post so here goes:

Sophie -

--7 teeth (4 on top, 2 on bottom and 1 molar)
--Loves to give dirty looks
--Is completely IN LOVE with the Signing Time videos, you simply pop one in and she becomes entranced
--Signs - more, eat, please, thank-you, again, bird (more like dirty, but she is trying), yes, baby
--She is attached to Mommy
--Becoming a pro at walking (She is not running like Gracie but she walks pretty well)

--She loves to hold your hand and walk
--Great sleeper (Sleeps 12-13 hours a night and takes great naps)
--Food - She loves to eat but when she is done she just spits out the food. We are working on her signing "all done"

Mia -

--11 teeth (4 on top, 4 on the bottom and 3 molars)
--Still loves to be drama (As I type she is screaming while she is supposed to be napping)
--Signs - more, eat, please, thank you, yes, mommy, daddy, baby, all done

--She too is walking better and better everyday and will hold your hand to walk anywhere

--Great Sleeper as well but not always a great napper

--She has turned into an eating machine. This girl can eat and eat and eat, but you would never know it by the size of her!

--She likes to cuddle before going to bed

--Loves to take her socks off

--Loves to bite. The other day at the grocery store she bit Gracie and made her scream and SCREAM!!!!

Gracie -

--10 teeth (4 on top, 4 on the bottom and 2 molars)

--She is still the biggest and has the attitude of the biggest.

--She is running all over

--Good eater, but always cautious before taking the first bite

--Great sleeper but not so much of a napper

--LOVES HER DADDY (I think she loves him more than anyone or anything in the world. She hears him come through the door and she runs to greet him at the door with a big smile and a big kiss)

--Signs - More, eat, all done, yes

--Loves to sit in your lap.

--Loves her Squeakies. If you have a little one these are a must, she wants to wear them everyday!!!

They all love their new chairs.

Soph watching "Signing Time" enjoying the new chair.
Gracie
Soph
Mia

The following are some pictures that I took during dinnertime last night. We had pasta and boy was it a disaster. They always get a bath after dinnertime, but last night I think Carl had to scrub extra hard.
Mia
Sophie (Surprisingly the cleanest of them all) Gracie

Christmas Day!!

2008-12-30T09:49:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning we got the girls up (well they got us up at around 7:30) and we opened gifts and stockings. It took them a little while to get into it, they needed breakfast and milk first, but I think they enjoyed themselves. This Christmas was quite different from last.
Daddy helping Mia open a gift.
Mommy and her girls. I only post this picture to show you our cute jammies, we all matched.

Soph opening her stocking.

Mia and her Christmas loot.

Gracie enjoying her new See-And-Say Elmo toy.

All the girls enjoying the toy that was a big hit.

I have lots of updates on the girls (teeth, attitudes and issues...Many ISSUES). I will try to post them all soon. Hope everyone had a GREAT and MERRY Christmas.

Christmas Eve

2008-12-29T10:01:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve we had another celebration at our house. The girls did not have great naps that day so they were a tad bit temperamental, but they hung in there like troopers. They enjoyed opening presents and playing with new toys.

Here we all are all dressed up. I had completely forgot that I had bought the girls Christmas outfits, they looked super cute.

Here is a pic of Carl and I. That is our tiny tree in the background. We bought a living Christmas tree this year that we will be able to plant in the backyard. It worked out great as the girls are not tall enough to reach it and pull on the ornaments.

Here is Grandma and Grandpa with the girls.

This picture along with the next are probably two of my favorites from Christmas Eve. Here is My Grandma, Me, My Mom and the girlies. 4 generations of my family. My Grandma's health is not that great and the times that we get to spend together as a family are special.

Here Grandma was checking out the food for the evening and I snagged her for a picture. She was always the family historian (basically a picture taking fool!). She is not much for taking pictures now but she will always pose for one.

Here is Grandpa playing dress up with all the girls, doesn't he look cute?

Here are the girls after they ate. I never got a great picture of the fronts of their outfits but from this shot you can see that they are pretty darn cute. They love to play in chairs so for that reason Carl and I just bought them their very own chairs hopefully they arrive soon.

Gracie

Sophie! Remember I said that Gracie is all about the hats, well Soph is all about the scarves.

Mia and Mommy

We are all about the kisses in this family. Here Gracie is kissing her new doll.

...and Sophie kissing!

...and Gracie puckering up for a big one!

Christmas Celebration #1

2008-12-29T09:38:00.000-08:00

On Saturday (the 20th) we celebrated Christmas with my Grandparents. Everyone came to our house and we had a great time. The girls were happy (which makes everyone else happy) and enjoyed playing and spending time with the relatives.

Sophie with Auntie Janice.

My cousin Randi and Jennifer, Aunt Janice, Myself and my Mom.

My Cousin Jennifer and Travis with their girls, Alexa and Aislyn.

Sophie taking time out of her busy playing time for a picture.

Gracie playing on her Zebra, she can never get enough of Zebra.

On the following Sunday we went over to my Mom's for brunch. She fixed a yummy set-up and the girls even smiled for a picture with their great grandparents.

This will have to hold you over!

2008-12-27T09:35:00.000-08:00

So I have been unsuccessful in downloading pictures so this will have to hold you over. We had a great Christmas and the girls had lots of fun. These pictures are from Christmas morning at my Moms. She fixed a yummy brunch and the girls got to open their choo-choo train. THEY LOVED THE choo-choo. I will work on a couple of posts this weekend to fill you all in on all of our Christmas festivities.

I could not resist adding these pics because Mia's face shows her attitude.
"What do you mean I have to share my new toys, I am not sharing no matter what you say!"
"I told you I am not SHARING!"

The Debate is Still Going.....

2008-12-22T15:52:00.001-08:00

So after dinner tonight we asked the girls, "Ok, Who wants to take a bath???" This is something we ask them every night after dinner. You have to understand....these girls are MESSY eaters and a bath is pretty much a necessity after dinnertime. The girls love taking baths, so when asked the question, they get all excited and start lifting their shirts at the dinner table. Yes, I understand that lifting your shirt at the dinner table is not the best of manners, but it is pretty darn cute.

So as Carl was taking the dishes to the kitchen I was undressing Mia (taking off her shirt and pants, but leaving her diaper on as I always do.) I go to get Gracie out of her highchair and happen to look over at Mia and this is what I see...

She had undone her diaper and was crawling towards the bathroom. I guess she could not wait until she got to the bathroom, she wanted to be naked NOW!!!! Not wanting to miss the moment I grabbed the camera and took a picture.

The picture below is of Carl and Mia walking to the bathroom. The girls are really into holding your hand and walking. HOW CUTE IS THIS?????

Stripper or Escape Artist

2008-12-16T14:10:00.000-08:00

Twice now we have gotten the girls up in the morning to find Mia like this. So you tell me, is she practicing her stripping skills or working on becoming an escape artist???????

I think we have known from the beginning that Mia was going to be the one to watch out for. She is adventurous and has no fear. Point in case...Today I found her standing on top of her giraffe to get to the top of the end table.

So basically this girl loves to strip, has no fear and is always in for an adventure. What is in store for Mom and Dad in her future????

PRICELESS!

2008-12-08T16:07:00.000-08:00

1 Gallon of Milk = $3.99
1 Hungry little girl (Gracie) = Haven't figured out a price for this one yet!

These 2 together = PRICELESS (Look at the photos below)

Yes that is my little girl basically swimming in milk. I dropped it on the floor and the plastic busted. Needless to say, Gracie was not a very happy little girl. She was wet from head to toe and covered in milk.

Mo had just left and I getting ready to pour milk into the girls sippies. Yes, I was on the phone (but that had no effect on what happened because I am a girl who can multi-task). As I grabbed the milk out of the refrigerator it slipped from my hand and fell to the ground. Of course milk went every where and the noise scared the girls to death. I ran outside (with 3 screaming girls at my heels) to see if Mo had left yet. I caught her just in time and she rescued me. I tended to the SCREAMING kiddos while she cleaned the disaster I had made.

The Dean Family Disco Dancers!

2008-12-05T20:58:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Party Party Party!!!!

2008-12-02T10:16:00.000-08:00

Carl and I belong to a couples bible study that has been running strong for the past 3 1/2 years. It is an awesome group and we have made friends that have become family. We have seen each other through a lot of stuff including 8 births (3 on the way) and 3 weddings (1 on the way).

We had our annual Christmas Party last night at our "Fearless Leaders (aka...The Sampleys)" house. There was yummy food, great fellowship and lots and lots of crazy fun. Below are some of the top highlights from the night.

The first picture is from the ornament exchange. This was our first year doing the ornament exchange and it was lots of fun. Carl and I got 3 picture ornaments with each of the girls picture in them...VERY CUTE (thanks Michelle!). The Martins wanted to buy us a Fresno State ornament (Michelle is a grad from there) but when Carl said he would only run over it she opted for the much cuter ornaments of the girls.
Here is Michelle with her ornament (a cute little nativity scene!)

The next couple of pictures are from our white elephant exchange which proved to be the best one yet. I won't say that everyone went home with something they loved, but tons of fun was had. I ended up with 5 lottery tickets and from those 5, I won 2 more tickets, so maybe I will end up with the best gift (come on BIG money!)
Here is Samer with his gift which included 2 pistols, a holster, a mask, Sheriff badge, and bandanna. Needless to say he did not keep it for very long as it was a hot ticket in our group.
Here is Andrew and Wendy (The couple who is about to get married). They ended up with a few items to use once they get married (handcuffs, etc...)
Michelle's gift was another hot ticket. She won both the shirt and the statue, but it was stolen from her very quickly.

The Best Was Yet To Come.....
Nick opened a gift basket of lotions (basically some girly stuff) but attached on the back was a pregnancy test. Someone from the group yelled "Who would put a pregnancy test with a gift?" Then out of the blue Cecil and Tracy (pictured below) jumped up (literally JUMPED UP) ripped open their sweatshirts and yelled "BECAUSE WE ARE PREGNANT!!!!!!!" We were all surprised and excited for them. Congratulations Cecil and Tracy!!!

Derick, Carl and Samer
Liz, Me and Michelle

Samer and Liz (who are expecting baby #2 in January)

Jeff and Michelle

Pat and Kelle

Derick and Michelle

A Weekend Away!

2008-11-24T20:15:00.000-08:00

Carl and I were able to get away this past weekend (Thank you Auntie Mo for watching our girls). Our Alma Mater was playing at home so we went to watch the Spartans take on the Bulldogs. They fought hard in the beginning BUT we ended with a loss... Geez I hate those Stinking Bulldogs. Saturday we were off to Rocklin to see our good friend coach in a bowl game, again a hard fought game but ended in a loss. We spent the rest of the day with our friends, Ed & Gina who are friends from college. We figured out that we average seeing each other once every couple of years (not nearly enough). We had tons of fun and lots of chatting. Gina and I chatted lots about the births of our children (Gina & Ed have two boys, Nick and Christian). Both Nick & Christian were born at 33 weeks and were NICU babies so we had lots to talk about. It is always nice to talk with someone that has walked in your shoes.

Of course I never got a picture of the four of us so I will leave you with some pics of Carl and I, keep looking because I added some recent pics of the girls since that is why most of you read this blog.

On our trip to San Jose we bought the girls a few gifts. We decided to get Gracie a hat since she wears one everyday...all day! Since we have brought this hat home it has been on her head. If one of her sisters tries to take it off, she screams. Her favorite way to wear it (or daddy's favorite) is backwards. She is certainly Daddy's little girl. How cute is she?????

Here is Mia and Daddy playing magic giraffe. Mia is quite the daredevil, she is suppose to be holding on.

Here is Soph with one of her favorite hats.
Mia with her choice of headwear....mommy's headband.

On this particular day Gracie would not wear any hat except for this red, white and blue one. Matches well don't you think. And in case you did not notice her dress is on backwards, she went almost all day before we noticed.

The Girls First Football Game

2008-11-15T20:15:00.000-08:00

Today the girls got to go to their first Renegade Football game (they went to a scrimmage before the season started, but this was their first real game). It was a 3pm start time so they got both of their naps in and we made it by the middle of the 1st quarter. With 3 sippy cups, lots of pacifiers, blankies, and tons of snacks we were ready for some football (by the end of the game I think they had all eaten their own weight in Cheerios and Goldfish). Even though they are still VERY mommy attached, they did fabulous. Thank goodness Grandma and Grandpa were there and the girls LOVE their Grandma and Grandpa. My family was there (Aunt Janice, Uncle Tim, Cousins Jennifer and Travis and their little ones Lexie and Aislyn, & Uncle Millard). I do not think that I got to see much of the game, entertaining the girls kept me busy. We ended up losing, but to look on the bright side....the season is over and DADDY IS HOME!!!!!
Grandma & Grandpa with Gracie and Sophie (is Grandpa ever holding anyone other than Soph???)
Mommy having some fun with Sophie. My cousin Jennifer brought some fun stuff to play with and these glasses the girls loved).
Soph with one of her MANY funny faces. Here she was playing with a straw. Today at the game I think they got their first taste of soda, licorice and nachos-Hey isn't that what football games are all about?Mia with her funny face.
The whole gang.

Birthday Party!!

2008-11-10T20:53:00.000-08:00

The girls had their birthday party on Saturday. Great fun was had and the girls did great. Below is the day in pictures:
The girls waiting for their cake. They each had a hat to wear. Mia is wearing the Birthday cake, Sophie the purple crown and Gracie the pink crown.
Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday Dear Mia, Sophie and Gracie, Happy Birthday to You!
Gracie did not like the cake. Look at this poor pitiful face.
Sophie LOVED the cake. LOVED it!!!
Mia not so sure about the cake, but ended up hating it.
Gracie opening presents, she loved playing with all of her new toys.
Mia opening her presents.
Look at that look on Sophie's face, she loved to open presents.
Gracie playing with a new toy.
Mia making her future husband, Trent, wait on her hand and foot!!!!
Luke and his Mom, Michelle! I am thinking that Luke and Sophie will marry someday.
Grandma and Sophie

Jess and Soph. Jess is my great friend who came from out of town to celebrate the girls birthday with us. Sophie became her buddy. Thanks Jess for visiting, we loved having you.

Pumpkin Patch & Halloween!!!

2008-11-05T20:25:00.000-08:00

Ok, yes it is November 5th and the following pictures are Halloween related. Sorry they are so late. I was talking to a friend on the phone tonight and realized that I had never posted these pics. So here you go. We had a fun time at the pumpkin patch. I think the girls enjoyed being outside.

The whole family. I think Sophie is holding on to Carl for dear life.
Grandma and her girls.
Look at our little walker. She walks everywhere nowadays. I think she would much rather walk than crawl. And yes, she is still into her hats.
The gals and their pumpkins. (Gracie, Mia & Sophie)
On Halloween we went to our church festival. Here Mia and Sophie are enjoying looking at themselves in a big mirror.
Our friend Michelle and one of her handsome little ones, Kyler.
Grandma and Sophie.
Uncle Mike and Auntie DeAnn with Mia.
Carl with Gracie (she is such a Daddy's girl).
The girls loved this little ride. I think they went around 3 or 4 times and enjoyed every minute of it.
Mia in her little car.
Soph in hers.
Gracie...yes she has a snickers in one hand and a reeses in the other and NO she did not eat either (I know the peanut butter rule!)

Happy Halloween...a Little Late!

2008-11-02T10:02:00.000-08:00

On Halloween we took the girls to our church festival. Lots of our friends were there and the girls had a good time (I will post those pictures soon!) It was too hot for them to wear their costumes so I made sure that we took some pictures at home of them dressed up. Poor things were hot just taking pictures (...note to self - next year do not buy such warm outfits!)

Gracie has been VERY pacifier attached lately. When these pictures were taken I pulled the pacifier out of her mouth and this was the face she made.
Gracie the Butterfly

and then she would cry wanting her pacifier back!

Sophie the Bumble Bee

Mia the Lady Bug

They are Officially 1 !!!!!

2008-10-26T20:56:00.000-07:00

I am tired and it is late so I will leave you with a short post. We had a tiny tiny party for the gals this evening (Sunday - today is Wednesday, I never finished the post on Sunday). It started a little late so the girls were a tad grouchy, but I think fun was had by all. I did not take a single picture, but I know that Grandma made up for that. I will post those pics soon. Enjoy these pictures...Can you believe how BIG our girls are????
Mia DeAnn

Then...

and now...

Gracie Mae

Then...

and now...

Sophie Kay

Then......

and now...