Memorial Day Weekend

What a hot past few days we had!  We kept cool by staying in the pool, well, at least keeping the kids in the water as much as we could.  Other than that, our weekend was filled with cookouts with family and friends.  Paul and I also managed to get quite a bit of landscaping done, which was much needed!

I FINALLY talked Paul into us getting a little pool for the kids.  I have promised to empty and move it every few days so it doesn't kill his precious grass (blah, blah, blah).  With the fun the kids had in it over the weekend, it has already been so worth it!

Ella climbing up the "slide" that goes from one side of the pool to the other.

Too cute babies!

I matched all of the girls in these dresses for church and our cookout. 

 

Ella giving Hannah a hug <3

We had my uncle and aunt, cousin, and Uncle Ryan over for a cookout on Sunday afternoon.  The girls were waiting for them to arrive here so we could get the "party" started.  Everything to Ella is a party these days...even when it's just one friend coming over to play :)

Ella Grace

Hailee Noelle

Hannah Faith

Ella's festive bikini!  I got this at the twin sale earlier this season for only $1.50!  What a bargain!  Everyone thought she was oh-so-adorable in it!

Ready for another day of cooking out and another "party"!

H&H were catching up on world news (or maybe just the ads) before we left.

Ella and her friend Addie!

Daddy and Hannah

Ella

This photo is just hilarious!  Addie was squirting Hailee with this bottle and Hailee thought it was so funny.  She kept doing it and Hailee just kept laughing.  So cute and funny!

Ella never eats when she is having fun and keeping busy.  We finally got her to sit for 5 seconds to eat something and all she would have are these two pieces of cheese.  Oh well! 

Hannah on the other hand, ate all evening!  Her and Hailee ate three plates full, yes three, between the two of them! 

Hailee

Vegas!

Whew!  Well, after a long week I am finally posting our Vegas photos! 

Paul and I went to Las Vegas last weekend with a couple of good friends. We'd had the trip planned for a while, so were really excited about going.  It was the perfect three night getaway!  We had so much fun laying out at the pools, relaxing, and hanging out.  It was so nice to spend some quality time together with no need to put in a paci, change a diaper, prepare or clean up food, etc.  The trip was a great little re-charge for the both of us!

Paul in our hotel room.  We stayed at the Aria hotel.  It was probably the nicest hotel we have ever stayed at.  Paul won this trip from his work, otherwise we would've stayed somewhere more budget-friendly :)

My love and I

Us at breakfast

Ready for a fantastic dinner at N9ne Steakhouse.

K and K at brunch :)

Friends!

One of the pools at our hotel!

We even went to the Billboard Music Awards!  What an experience!

What a great trip!!

This is why I blog...

I received an email while in Vegas this past weekend that said my blog had a new comment.  The comment was on this post and read:

AnonymousMay 18, 2012 11:43 AM

They both are so adorable, and you are a very big inspiration to other mothers! Thank you for sharing your amazing story! Gives me hope :)

I must say, in the midst of laying out in the hot Vegas sun, this comment really touched me.  Besides just keeping family and friends updated with our crazy busy everyday lives, I hope to be an inspiration to other readers.  I hope to reach other mother's of multiples, preemies, toddlers, stay at home mom's, etc. that have gone through or are going through similar experiences.  This anonymous post stating that I have given another mom hope really meant a lot to me.  If the mystery reader is reading this now, thanks to you :)

Our little soccer player

Ella started taking soccer about two months ago.  I'll be honest, the first few practices were pretty much train-wrecks.  When I say train-wrecks, I mean it.  I'm talking rolling on the floor, whining, running around when not instructed to, I could go on and on.  Soccer is the first sport that Ella has been in with a coach, more structured instruction, and some (few) expectations.  As the practices (they don't have games this young) go on, Ella has gotten better and better.  It is actually somewhat enjoyable to take her to soccer now and watch her play.  She can make goals, run when instructed to, follow obstacle courses, and dribble the ball.  I can't say that I don't still have to bribe her with some ice cream afterwards once and a while, but all in all she is improving.  I hope Ella's love for soccer keeps growing! 

Walking out on the field

YAY Ella!

Making a goal!

I really don't know what was going on here...

or here.

Ella tickling her friend Adelynn.  They are SO cute together!

Running laps!

"Come on Addie, let's go run!"

The best part of soccer (or gymnastics, or any other sport we have done) is getting stamps at the end!

Happy 3-0 to my dear husband!

Paul's 30th birthday just passed, as of last week.  We had big plans over the weekend (see later post) so we kept his actual birthday quite low key.  However, celebrating such a big milestone I did want to surprise him with some things throughout the day :)

I must first mention the surprise that my mom had started the day off with.  Paul was getting ready for work and noticed something out in our yard.  It was a bunch of cows and a yard sign!  Oh my gosh!  Really?!  How embarrassing!  After, oh about 30 seconds of thought we knew they had to be from my mom.  My mom was just waiting to get Paul back for the AARP sign he hung on the front door for her recent 50th celebration.  Well, I think you showed him up, mom!  We all headed out front for some photos before Paul had to get off to work.  Ella loved the cows.  She thought they were halarious!  We went out a few more times throughout the day to admire them again.  We then spent the next few days with neighbors yelling over "Happy 30th birthday Paul!!"  There was nothing to hide after the cow presentation :)

My surprises were on a smaller scale.  First, I had some Cheryl and Co cookies sent to Paul's office in a birthday tin.  Then, I had hid a card in his laptop case with a card from me with a gift certificate to an hour massage with an appointment made for him after work.  Yes, somewhat girly you may think but Paul has had some pretty major back pain lately so it seemed to fit.  Plus I had swim lessons with the twins that evening so it gave Paul something to do while I was gone for that hour as well. The girls and I had decorated the house with balloons and bought Paul an ice cream cake.  My brother came over to watch the girls and Paul and I went to get a quick bite to eat.  It was such a nice day.  Paul said he loved all of his surprises! 

I am really proud of my husband and what he's accomplished over the past 30 years.  I look forward to what the next 30 hold for us!

Mother's Day

I am so thankful for the mother's in my life.  First and foremost, I am thankful for my mom.  She is caring, helpful, loving, and supportive.  I feel very blessed to have been given my mom as my mother and grandmother to our kids. 

I am also thankful for my mom friends.  It is nice to have friends in my life, some of which have been through and are going through some of the same things I have.  I'm thankful to have a handful of mom friends that I can call at any given time to talk about my kids, the love I have for them as well as the frustrations I feel at any given moment. 

I am thankful for the mom groups that I am a part of that have led me to meet so many new awesome people.  My twin mom group (CMOTC) and my church mom group (MOPS).  Both groups are compiled of such encouraging moms with kids of all different ages that can relate in one way or another to my own journey of motherhood. 

Mother's are amazing.  They are nurturing.  They are loving and caring.  Mother's are selfless.  They are strong.  They are beautiful.  I hope everyone took some time yesterday to think about and spend time with the moms they love most in their life!

I had a fabulous Mother's Day with my three little girls.  We went to church, to a nice lunch, home to relax, and then to frozen yogurt.  It was a perfect day.  All I wanted was to spend time with my family and not have to cook anything.  I got both of those things, plus two bouquets of tulips, some cute cards from Paul and the girls, and some running shoes :) 

I had realized yesterday evening that we had taken no photos yesterday.  I was already changed in my comfy clothes for the evening and the girls were less than enthused about having to pose for a photo.  Well, Ella and Hailee weren't very happy about it.  Hannah was though, as she's always happy, clapping, and waving about something!

Mother's Day, 2012

Paul said this photo is more like real life.  Ha!

Professional Photos Preparation

The last time we had our family's photographs taken was right before Ella's first birthday.  It was just the three of us.  Life was simple. We had one, barely walking baby.  I had just found out I was pregnant, and did not yet know it was twins.  I remember emailing the photographer asking if she thought we should stick with the session or cancel and wait until our other family member(s) were born.  I decided to stick with the session.  I am so happy I did.  I love going back to those photos, remembering the time when we had a small little family.

I have been wanting to get our family of five's photos done for quite some time now.  I remember emailing the same photographer months ago that I was interested in setting up a session.  Of course I have plenty good photos of the kids, together, separate, you name it.  But I really wanted a few updated photos of our grown family.  Maybe even one of Paul and I.  Maybe one of Ella and I, or a baby and I.  These are shots that I myself being a photographer cannot capture.  So, I finally set up a session.  It was scheduled last night. 

I have literally spend the past three weeks preparing.  Coordinating outfits, ordering multiple bows and headbands online for the girls to match.  Getting my hair done.  Making sure Paul could be off work early to help me prepare on the day.  Going to three, yes three different Old Navy stores to get the specific shoes I wanted for the girls in each of their sizes.  Preparing five coordinating outfits (well, really 10 because we had an outfit change) was extremely difficult!  Much more so than two years ago when I was planning for the three of us.  I remember buying Ella a shirt back then and scrounging something up in mine and Paul's closets to match.  Then I was stressing yesterday that they wouldn't get good naps, would be fussy, would get some bump, bruise, or scrape that would be so awful that we would have to reschedule.  And then of course there is the weather.  The weather plays such a huge part in outdoor photos. 

Well, the photo shoot is now over.  It was windy and got chilly.  It didn't rain though, so that was good.  Hailee and Hannah were ok, for the most part.  Hailee smiled more than Hannah which is not the norm.  Ella was a handful a few different times, but we managed her (somewhat).  I must say, we were EXHAUSTED when we got home.  The shoot lasted about two hours.  That is a while for a family photo shoot.  But, with five people it is to be expected.  Paul, the photographer and I literally spend two hours, jumping around, clapping, yelling, chasing babies, resetting babies, etc.  Hannah would not sit or stand for anything.  She just kept walking and walking.  Ella kept running.  It was close to being disastrous at times.  Luckily our photographer has four kids of her own and totally gets it.

All I can think about now is how much work our photographer has!  She's going to be Photoshopping heads with other photos like there's no tomorrow.  I remember last time feeling like she was expensive.  Now I feel like she is too cheap!  Ha!  She will definitely be working for her money this time!  We are anxious to see how they turn out.  They have got to be better than the only family photos of the five of us that we have to this point.  You remember, the one from Easter?  I'm sure it will take her a few weeks to edit and I will be SURE to post when I get them back from her. 

Our best family photo yet.  Ha!

That's another thing that I now understand about being a photographer.  I remember our last session feeling like two weeks was FOREVER to edit photos.  Really, how long can it take?!  Now I know, a long time, a lot of work, especially when you have a family to care for during the day and can only work once everyone is in bed.  I will respect even more now how much planning and effort my clients put into their sessions.  The preparation was exhausting.  I feel like us having our own family session is exactly what I needed before a summer of new photo sessions!  I am even more excited now to shoot the families that I have coming up!

Family photographs are so important to me.  I have a passion for photography and that is why I do what I do.  But, I think it is so important to have full family photos, mom and dad included, not just of the kids.  I will never regret the money we spend on photography.  Memories are priceless.  I will always cherish our photos together, even with a screaming (or running) baby or two in a few of them ;)

Here are a few of my favorites from our session almost two years ago: