Happy 5th!

I think the day Ben and I got married is definitely the happiest day of my life. We celebrated five years on Tuesday. My sister Mary came up at the last minute and Ben and I were able to go out to dinner. She watched all three kids and put them each to bed. This is our first date without any of our children since before Joseph was born. It was great!

It feels like we've been married forever - it's the best five years I could imagine and it's really awesome that our marriages continues on.

A Great Christmas!!

We really had a nice Christmas. The kids were spoiled like crazy. We try to keep it pretty calm at home because the grandmas really just can't help themselves no matter how hard we try.

It's great when they are this little. At 3 months old, Joseph is too little to know and definitely does not need anything, so he only got two little gifts from us. Also, most everything was on sale, secondhand or free. We bought Tim's scooter half-off at Toys R Us and Carolina's came from a thrift store for $3. They also received Target clearance toys, yard sale finds and even a truck from a freecycler. We also gave them stuff that they need anyway (socks & underwear) and called them gifts. I had fun buying for them because I try hard not to give them treats throughout the year, so this is one of my only opportunities.

After spending a couple hours at home we went to my parents' house for a few hours and then to Ben's family's house. It made for a long day, but it's great to be able to see everyone. That's why we're living here in Maryland.

Merry Christmas!

It's really neat enjoying the Christmas season with the kids as they are getting older and more aware. We've really been working on our Christmas traditions. Here are some: (share yours so we can add to our list!)

1. Putting the tree up the Friday after Christmas

2. Reading about Jesus from the scriptures each night
(okay, not every night, we spent some nights catching up).
We used the reading chart from the December 2008 Friend.

3. Sitting on Santa's lap at the ward Christmas party

4. Driving around to see Christmas lights

5. Messiah Sing at the stake center

6. Opening up one present Christmas Eve (matching pajamas).

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!!

Santa pictures

The kids did great with Santa. If I was a kid I'd be scared of this Santa :)

She's Two!

My little Carolina girl turned two yesterday! Here are the top 5 facts to know about her:
1. Her best friend is Timothy. They are practically joined at the hip -- it means there is nearly always a little trouble brewing, but they really love to be around each other.
2. She is considering the nicknames "Lina" or "Carly." She goes back and forth.
3. Her favorite colors are pink and purple.
4. She has never had a haircut and probably won't until the front gets to a nice length (thanks for the advice, friends!)
5. She is seriously super-sweet (except when she's not)

Some recent crafting

Check out the "craft" blog for a play-by-play of the reincarnation of Tim's quilt.  

One good kid

It's so interesting how three kids can be so different -- yet I can still they're siblings. Timothy was such a handful when he was an infant (some of you out there remember all the CRYING). I'm pretty sure I haven't completely recovered yet after 3+ years. So, we had Carolina nearly two years ago and I thought she was a really good baby. I thought to myself, she's the kind of baby everyone should have...

Until we had Joseph. He is awesome. I'm almost thinking we should stop now because it definitely can not get any better. I also think that if everyone had babies like him we would totally have a global population problem.

He's 2 1/2 months old and nearly sleeping through the night. He slept the other night until 5:30 a.m. after his last feeding around 8:30. Excellent! Timmy and I have decided that he only cries if he is tired, hungry or he wants to hang out with us.

Oh...and he is super-cute!

Picasa 3 has a new feature where you can take a snapshot of your video. I learned that to get the best timing, you should pause it first and then take the snapshot. So, here he is sneezing and then a happy face right afterwards. I love baby sneezes!

Gratitude

Lots to be thankful for...
++ 3 super-sweet children
++ an awesome husband
++ with his great new job
++ a really swell extended family
++ opportunities to serve
++ our health
++ Christmas

We started listening to Christmas music last Friday and decorations will start going up tomorrow!

The kids are usually pretty good in the backseat. We're still driving our camry,
so it's nice and cozy for all of us. Joseph was fussing on our errands out
last night and the older kids had really had enough!


Carolina begs to talk on the phone every chance she gets.
Here she is talking to Mee-Mee on our way to visit her this morning.


Here they are snacking on cereal on the way home (thanks, Mee-Mee!).
Tim fell asleep for a few minutes until Carolina started poking at
him and screaming. They really do a lot to entertain each other.

Bathroom redo

Okay, I wish I had a real "before" picture...just picture country blue wallpaper with pink flowers all over the walls and a hideous medicine cabinet/mirror/light thing. I found a close match here for you. This project started sometime during the pregnancy and got to this point a couple weeks ago. We learned a lot! The second-hand sink was free from one of the docs at Ben's old job, the mirror was a $5 yard sale find (Ben doesn't care for it though) and the other stuff we got from our favorite home improvement store. Ben and I are not naturally very handy, but somehow we figure it out...it just takes a little longer. :)

(the hall right between the bathroom and front door...i love the hooks right at kid-level)

Home Improvements

We are finished all the "big" stuff in our half bath -- took down wallpaper, painted, put down new floor, replaced toilet, installed pedestal sink, new mirror, and new light fixture. The pictures I have really aren't great because of the lighting and the space, but maybe I'll post a couple before and after shots. Aside from bathroom improvements, we have also had to deal with our water heater not working right and our upstairs toilet leaking. The joys of being a home owner. Anyway, we've been spending a lot of time at the home improvement stores (mostly Home Depot). And the kids are horrible! They aren't quite so bad at other stores, but something about the store brings out the worst in them. Lately, I've been making trips there by myself after they go to bed, but last night we decided to risk it again. It was actually the best trip we've had there in awhile. Probably because we were in the plumbing section (for the toilet, which is now fixed) and they invented some sort of plunger-human bowling game...Whatever it takes!

(And yes, they are wearing pajamas with sweaters)

Joseph's Blessing

Our normally very sweet, calm boy cried the entire blessing! I totally knew it. He hardly ever cries, but I just had a feeling. It was pretty cute. I was hoping for pictures of him with others in the family, but by the time he woke up from his after church nap, everyone else was changed and/or napping. I can't believe how big he is.

Halloween

We carved the pumpkin way too long before Halloween and ended up throwing it out before the big day. I hate to admit it, but this is the first pumpkin we've carved in our marriage. It just didn't seem worth the trouble before, but now the kids are getting older and can appreciate it more. Plus, at three (and a half) years old, our oldest is so much more aware and I'm not sure he would have let us miss out again.
(Do you think I should cut bangs or continue trying to pull it back with a clip? I was hoping to let Carolina's hair grow, but sometimes she just looks homeless)


Tim wanted to be a firefighter and Carolina wanted to be a princess. I'm really not into all the girly-girl stuff, but it's cute that she is. I tried to get her to consider other costumes (like Tim's old Elmo costume), but she wouldn't even try it on. She's pretty particular about what she wears. Basically, as long as it is pink or purple or has a princess or something fancy on it, she'll wear it. Joseph was a turtle. I removed the shell from Tim's first costume and sewed it on to one of Joe's pajamas. The older kids had a bunch of fun trick or treating; Joseph slept the entire time. Kids come from all over to our neighborhood for Halloween and it's super crazy congested. It was really fun at first before the crowds, but after a bit, it became overwhelming.

Pumpkins!

Okay, so these pictures are at least a couple weeks ago. The kids really had fun. Joseph slept through it all, as always.