Merry Christmas

Anna and Karly trying on daddy's work boots.

The kids enjoying their new table and chairs.

Nathan and mommy. What a momma's boy! :)

Nathan as him sweet self!

Best Friends Forever!

Aunt Tracey and Karly. Many people think Karly looks like her aunt.

This is where most of the ornaments ended up...in the kids' mouths. Today all ornaments are on the top half of the tree.

Those candy canes, believe or not, or supposed to be ON the tree!

Daddy's girl!

Sweet Anna wearing Santa's hat.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! We have had several sickness the past 2-3 weeks, so we're ready for the holidays to be over and get everyone on the mend. We're happy to say that my mom is home and feeling much better. She needs to get strong so they can come have "Christmas" with us and the kids.

The kiddos enjoyed opening their gifts. We did not take them to see Santa, we figured we'd save ourselves the crying fits! :) Maybe next year, we'll see. As this year comes to a close we look back and realize how big the kids are getting and how much our lives have changed. We are so fortunate to have our three little angels in our lives...we wouldn't change a thing! I'm always thankful for Travis, as he is the rock to our family. He's an amazing father and a wonderful husband who I'm very lucky to be able to share my life with.

We've had some weird weather so far this season, today it's 58...hoping it'll melt all the ice layers so we can start over.

Hope this find you happy and in good health. Have a wonderful and safe New Year's. We'll post more next year!!! Enjoy the photos.

Happy December

Karly calming down after one of her many cries during the photo shoot.

One of the only good ones of the three of them, Anna was great for all of the group photos, Nathan looks worried in all of them, and Karly has a tear on her cheek in most of them.

Anna was a ham through the whole photo shoot.

Love this one...typical Nathan, getting into everything!

Karly cried most of the photo shoot, she's actually sitting on my leg during this one.

Peaceful Anna...I could eat those cheeks! :)

We've taught the kids how to wink...here's Karly's try at it...Nathan isn't that good, we told him he'd have to get it down if he wants to pick up the ladies! :)

Love Nathan's look at Anna...many more of those to come, I'm sure!

Here's our T-day photo, a little slanted I know, but the camera was propped on a pillow!

It's amazing how well the kids act when remotes are in hand, we should have given them during the photo shoot!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, we sure did! Spent time in Iowa the first part of November and then at Mike and Shannon's house for Thanksgiving Day. The food was wonderful and the company was great! The kids did so well around everyone, even without a nap.

We're getting ready for Christmas...the shopping is done and the house is decorated (try that with 3 toddlers running around....urghhhh!). We've had accumulation of snow already but it's been too cold to take the kids out, hopefully later this week. Their faces were priceless to see the snow falling and on the ground...wish I had the video recorder going.

The professional photos are back and there are some really good ones of the kids individually but it was so hard to get all three of them to cooperate. I'll post here a few as well as some from the last month.

If I don't get to post before Christmas, have a wonderful holiday and a Happy New Year!

Uncle Mike dressed up to scare the neighborhood kids and their parents.

Cousin Haley as a Diva. Cousin Grace as none other than Hannah Montana (saw a lot of them this year)

Nathan as a cow (saying, "Dad, please don't make me wear this!" )

Karly as a Pig. She loved every bit of Halloween. Head down, running to the next house.

Mary, Grace, Anna, Nathan, Karly, and Alec all ready for Halloween.

Anna as a duck with Cousin Grace. She was Miss Priss while trick-or-treating.

Cousin Mary as a Spider Web, cute as can be.

Cousin Alec as a pirate. He played his part well.

Kiddos carving the pumpkin with daddy on Halloween. Karly enjoyed the contents of the pumpkin.

Sorry this post is later than projected, this past weekend was nuts for us. We were in Iowa last week, the kids traveled much, much better. We stopped once on the way there at the Iowa City Mall to eat and play at the play area and on the way home we didn't stop at all...yeah!!! So, more visits to family and friends to come. Now we just have to find the time! Travis will be working M-F and me F-Su... not sure how we'll travel but we'll see! Hope this finds you in good spirits and ready for the holidays, we sure enjoyed our Thanksgiving dinner at mom and dad's last week. :)

They're Getting So Big

Here's the first day of using the booster seats, notice Karly at the head of the table, enjoying every minute of it!

Anna playing with the "few" piles of leaves in our yard.

Nathan using the rake to move around the leaves.

Karly attempting to make her own pile of leaves.

The kids have learned to hold hands and dance and play Ring Around the Rosie...it's soooo cute!

Here's the new compartment that Trav built for all of our shoes on the back porch. As you can see, the kids enjoy it too!

I've decided to grow the girls' hair out, so working with the bangs is an issue. They sit real well for me to do their hair...at least for now.

We took the kids to Mill Creek Farms. Here's Nathan before he threw the gourd.

Every day it's amazing to me how fast the kids grow and how much they learn. Today while playing outside I was remembering how little they used to be and how big they are now. Just for a moment...I would like them 6 months old again and sleeping in my arms, looking at their angel faces so peaceful...but just for a moment! I love this age that they're at, so full of laughter and energy.

We've done away with the high chairs, the kiddos are now sitting at the table on booster seats and eating off of plates. We're slowly working on using utensils.

Travis is now part of the working world. He starts November 10th at Rinella Co. which delivers all Budweiser products to Quincy and surrounding areas. He's still doing school but feels the need to get back into the workforce. So...this means the kids will be going to daycare on Fridays for ~6 hours. I think it'll be good for them, but I'm very nervous about the whole transition for kiddos.

Halloween is in a few days, I will post some photos Saturday morning.

October is here...

Go CARDINALS! #1!
Karly and Anna "reading" on the sofa on one of our chilly days.
A rare moment...all three looking at the camera ...and SMILING!

Karly being goofy, notice the vein in her neck...just like Aunt Tracey.
Anna in all her glory. She's such a cheese ball.
Karly and Anna doing the monkey.

Karly with her cheesy grin, look at those teeth!
Cool, calm, relaxed Nathan...at least for that moment! :)
Anna Banana, picking flowers for Mommy.

October is here and the leaves are changing and so is the weather. As much as we are excited about cooler weather, we're definitely not ready for winter. We've been busy running after kids, playing referee, and laughing a lot at the hilarious things they do every day. Mom and dad visited last week and had a nice visit. Still uncertain when we'll go to Iowa due to traveling issues with the kids...it's still fresh in our minds! We'll attempt some time around Thanksgiving...keep your thoughts with us, please! The kiddos have been testing their limits and learning how to push our buttons. They know what "go to the corner" means and usually you'll find all three there even when only one is in trouble. Nathan is such a boy! He's aggressive, some times mean, and full of gas (hehehe). But he is mama's boy and loves to cuddle with me, to daddy's dismay. Karly is the leader of the pack. She's crazy, funny, and has chilled a lot over the last month. Anna continues to be our little peanut. She's very sensitive when it comes to her emotions, wanting to be held a lot by daddy. Anna sits back and watches what the others are doing before taking her next move, but watch out when she gets going, she can be as crazy as Karly if she wants to be. So far everyone is healthy, I'm hoping we can make it through the winter without any sickness. Travis continues to work on his schooling. He's in his core classes so school is requiring much more time nowadays. I'm still working weekends in the ER and love it! We're excited about our up coming trip to Vegas (Sept 27, 2009) for Travis' brother, Mike's, wedding...and no, the kids will not be going with us!!!

Have a great October, I'll post again after Halloween so you can see the kiddos' costumes. Take care!

Happy Labor Day

Does this mean it is officially the end of summer? You wouldn't guess it by the weather here...low 90's. I have to admit, I'm ready for fall, I love that time of year.

This past week my folks visited from Iowa, we had a really nice visit. They watched the kids while we went to Chicago for a few days. The kids enjoy the time with Grandma and Papa and vice versa. I know it can be exhausting but mom and dad hang in there pretty well.

We found out yesterday that we won't be going to Iowa for awhile...we went to Bloomington (2 1/2 hour drive) to visit our friends Jen and Michelle and the kids screamed most of the way there and ALL the way back. Needless to say I had a breakdown after the kids went to bed (first ever but I'm sure more to come).

We took away pacifiers two weeks ago and the kids are doing great without them, thank God! Karly has now taken to pulling her hair when she's going to sleep. She has a bald spot on the left side of her head...hoping she'll grow out of it soon! Come to find out she's taking after Aunt Mandi who also pulled her hair as a toddler.

The kiddos are doing great otherwise. They continue to make us laugh and fill our hearts with joy. Dad made me a disc of some old photos, I've posted some here and there are some new photos as well. The kids wanted to look like Papa so they tried out the doo-rag, as you can see Nathan didn't enjoy his as much as the girls. Yes...we are going to try out the leashes...as much as I don't want to I think there are certain situations for us that they'd come in handy...so the kiddos wear the backpacks around the house to get used to them. Karly in pigtails looking much older than she is. Nathan chillin' looking for trouble as always. Anna and her curled tongue sitting by the bush taking everything in as usual.