Spring 2013 Photos

I have been wanting to take photos of my girls for a while now.  It is such a big production with three little ones, and Paul hates helping me!  He thinks it is stressful and doesn't like to yell, act like different animals, chase the kids around everywhere, and make a fool of himself at parks and such like I do on a weekly basis with other families.  I finally talked him into going with me to help out.  I have a totally different goal in mind when I am photographing my own children:  to get ONE, just one, good photo of them all.  When I am photographing other families, I try to give them about 30 good photos of their family.  I give a variety of ones of their kids, individual ones, family ones, lifestyle shots, etc.  With my own children, I am happy with just one :)  Well, our session was a success.  I got such good ones of my kids together, and even one of each of them separately.  I think Paul is happy to be off the hook for the next few months! 

My VERY favorite photo of our girls to date!  Love that they are all smiling!  I believe Paul was sticking dandelions in my ears at this point and that's what got them to all look and smile for more than one second.  The things we will do for a photo... ;)

Love this of Ella and Hannah!  Ella is a little blown out from the sun, but I still love her with the flower :) 

Paul was acting silly to the side at this point and the girls were all looking and laughing at him :)

Hannah.  They loved the dandelions.

Another favorite

And another favorite.  Love the joy and happiness in this photo.

Ella

Hailee

Hannah.  These three will all be hung somewhere together.

Love each of their faces here.  Very "them".

More laughter!

Hailee is so cute here!

And...the smiles started to get fake!  Still love this one though!

That's a wrap!  Off for ice cream for the good behavior by all...even Paul ;)

I ordered a gallery wrap of the first photo and it came yesterday.  Gallery wraps are a little pricey, but of so gorgeous!  I love that they don't need a frame!  This is a 16x20 and is perfect size for the space we wanted it in. 

This is a phone photo, so isn't great.  This is the wrap on our wall, in front of our two windows.  I love how it all looks!

The wrap from the side.  The photo goes on to the sides and is why a frame isn't needed.

The wrap closer up.  LOVE!

Phone photo dump!

I've taken SO many cute photos of the girls lately on my phone.  Enjoy!  *If you are on FB or Instagram, I apologize for the repeats! ;)

One wants to sit on my lap, then they all do!

Fun at Grandma's!

These two..you never know what they will do next!

She let me put piggies in her hair!  SO CUTE!!!  This was a while ago and now she lets me put them in all the time!

Fun shopping with mommy!  We love stores with kid carts!

So much love between them all lately.  Precious.

My little Snow White, Cinderella, and Ariel!

A favorite photo of them of all time!  I told them to get ready for a picture and Hannah plopped right on Hailee's lap!

Everybody washing each other.  Tub time sure is fun these days!

Ella's dance class all trying on their recital dresses.  Recital is in a couple weeks.  Can't wait!!!  (Ella is second from the right in the back)

We have definitely been taking advantage of nice weather and lots of ice cream lately!

I looked in at them in the car cart the other day and Hannah was on Hailee's lap! :)

This just makes me laugh. 

The other evening Hannah told Hailee to say "cheese".  Hailee lifted her shirt up and posed for the camera!  Oh boy!

More sister love.

And more sister love.  These girls sure love to hug and kiss each other!

Soccer!  Hailee and Hannah started soccer about a month ago.  They finally are getting used to it...it took a few weeks.

This was just this morning.  Hailee and Hannah went in and woke Ella up.  Love our girls!

March for Babies

We did the March for Babies this past weekend.  It rained and was crappy weather.  We did it anyways.  The rain did stop for a lot of the walk so that was nice!  We met our donation goal and are so thankful for everyone that supported us!

Our family, walking for Hailee and Hannah!

Staying dry, and having fun!

To continue or not?

I've been contemplating something for the past month or so....to keep my blog active or to quit altogether.  I have not blogged in a while now, and really, I just don't have time.  When I have ANY free time at all, I am generally working on stuff for my business.  Even that is just at nap time and after bed time.  I have been staying up later and later lately trying to keep up with everything and not fall behind.  So it is tough for me to find the time to write, edit and post photos, all for this "hobby" of mine.  Also, I have found that I don't have much to say lately.  Ha.  That is probably a good thing considering the fact that in 2011 and 2012 I had quite a few bad or sad experiences to write about.  I feel like I just write and post about random things just to have something to say.  The last thing I would ever want is for people to thing I am just bragging about things my kids have done, or things we have done, or rambling about random things that no one cares about.  I  don't want this blog to come across that way.

The number one reason I want to keep blogging is to someday have our story, all written out, for my kids and family to have forever.  I think that would be such a cool thing to hand down over time.  The other reason is that I do think, and have heard more than a couple times, that people have forwarded my blog on to other's with preemies or others that have had RSV and been hospitalized in the past.  I do feel that we have been a story of hope to other's in similar scary situations. 

With all of that being said, I will continue to blog for now.  I'll keep doing what I am doing, updating with random photos and thoughts.  Enjoy these recent photos from fun times outdoors!

Love this photo!  We recently got another Cozy Coupe for the girls to share.  Last year the three of them fought over the one we had. 

Ella's first big girl bike!  Yay!

Hannah.  Loving life!

Hailee

Daddy teaching Ella how to ride.  How fun!

Love this one too!

Hailee and Hannah, and Ella for that matter, have taken a huge liking in our little t-ball set.  H&H are pretty much continually fighting over who gets to hit the ball next.

Hailee yelling at Hannah to stay away!  Ha!

Baby Swap

This past weekend (yes, I do realize it is already Thursday) was a bit of a change for us.  I had a good friend's baby's 1st birthday party to attend.  There was stuff to get done around the house, so Paul was going to stay in town (the party was out of town).  Since it was a 1st birthday party, I decided to take the twins with me instead of my usual partner in crime, Ella.  I was going to my parent's house for the night after the party, so H&H would get a lot of one on one time with my mom and I which does not happen...ever.

Paul and Ella had LOTS planned here in town too!  Friday evening Paul took her to get her nails done.  Yep, you heard it...he really is the best dad ever ;)  Then they went to Ella's friend's house and hung out with her and her daddy (and little brother) for the evening.  Then on Saturday Paul and Ella met up with some more friends that we hadn't seen in a long time.  They had such a great time together!  I was SO happy that Ella never cried for me and barely even asked for me!  She has been a daddy's girl ever since!  Although their daddy/daughter weekend was much needed, it does make me somewhat sad that she is clearly favoring her daddy ever since the weekend!

Hailee, Hannah, and I had a great time away!  The birthday party was so much fun!  I saw great friends that I don't see often and H&H were on their best behavior (which is rare).  Then we went back to my parents house and my mom and I went to a late showing of Safe Haven.  The movie was great, as was the time spent with my mom.  Then on Saturday morning we went to the outlets and got a good start (and maybe finish) on all of the girl's summer wardrobes!

Sunday, all together again, we spent the day as a family at church and then at the park and out for ice cream.  What a perfect day!  Enjoy these photos from our weekend adventures!

This is the sweet and smiley face I left on Friday afternoon.  I knew I would miss my girl and I was right!

Some friends of 10+ years!  Love getting together with these ladies!

Hailee, Hannah, and grandpa on Saturday morning.  We all spent extra time snuggling these sweeties!

Beautiful day for shopping, and snacking, at the outlets!  My dad pushed the girls around all morning for me so I could shop with my mom and sister.  How nice!  He couldn't believe how many "twin comments" these girls got from people.  Yep, that's definitely the norm!

Ella and her friend Morgan at Ella's favorite restaurant...Chick-Fil-A!  These two have been friends since they were about 2 months old, when I started babysitting Morgan every day during the week.  I watched Morgan until the day I went on bed rest with H&H.  These two definitely have a special bond!

The photo I woke up to on Saturday morning from Paul.  Coloring while she was eating breakfast..she sure got spoiled by daddy!  No wonder she had such a great time!

Hailee at the park on Sunday!

Ella!

Hannah and Ella!  The girls were SO much fun at the park on Sunday.  We really did have the best time with them.  I am so excited for this summer and all the fun things we have planned!

Hailee

Hannah.  Hannah is our little dare devil.  She was going down the big, swirly slides as Hailee and Ella stayed on the little tiny ones.  Hannah really has no fear.  She was so funny and cute all afternoon.

This was just yesterday.  They were on their way to dad's night at Ella's preschool.

Daddy and Ella had such a great time!  They had pizza and dessert and Ella's class sang songs for all of the dads.  She brought home these activities that they did while there.  Notice her name at the top of the sun paper...she is getting so good at writing it!  I love the things she said about Paul on the blue paper too!