Halloween pictures

On Friday we went to the "Fall Vestibal" (as Hannah calls it) at our church with our three little halloween ballerinas. Then on Saturday we went trick or treating in our neighborhood. This was Hannah's first year to actually go trick or treating because she is soooooo shy and gets so scared. The twins did great playing in the wagon and clapping at each other. Here are some pics of our little ballerinas....

Fall Festival

Trick or Treat

Pumpkin Patch

Here are our pics from the pumpkin patch on Saturday:

A smile please....anyone...a smile....

Seriously Kinley....please give me a little smile

I can always count on Madison for that big smile!

Mommy's girls!

Well, their not all smiling but at least their looking at the camera!



Daddy's girl

Pumpkin Pictures

All the girls kind of matched today and I tried to get some good pics.....and a pic of the girls in the sink and one shot of Madison trying to crawl.

Short update

Okay, so I know it has been like 4 months since I have updated my blog. I will save the novel and just start where we are now. Obviously things have been crazy the last 4 months, but we are survivng. Now if we can just get through the flu season!!!!

Hannah Grace

Let's start with my Hannah Grace....she will be 2 1/2 this month! She has been a great big sister (this week) helping me change diapers and telling them stories and reading to them. She loves to dance and make the girls laugh. She loves to whisper secrets to you and is getting so independent....she loves to dress herself, go to the potty by herself, wash her hands, brush her teeth, etc. We have succeded with no paci at all since July and she is in her big girl bed with her big girl decor. We are almost completely potty trained. Even though I feel like I have been working with her for centuries on this....Oh she poops in the potty just fine, it is the peeing she often forgets about! And I do mean often! Oh how I do love that girl! We got her hair CUT a couple a weeks ago. 3 inches!

Hannah and mommy last year at the pumpkin patch

Hannah cheesing for the camera before her haircut

Madison
Madison is doing much better these days. She sleeps like a rock! She likes to lay on her belly, loves to eat baby food...doesn't matter what....she gobbles it up! I can't seem to get it in her mouth fast enough. She sits up great. Her new thing this past week is sitting up from the lying position. I went into her room yesterday and found her sitting up and her paci was on the floor....and so it begins! She is trying so hard to crawl. She gets up on all fours and then lunges forward, only to fall flat on her belly again. She has the most adorable laugh and the biggest dimples when she smiles. She is really coming into her personality. Oh and did I mention....she is a mommy's girl!

McKinley
McKinley is still just as sweet as ever. She still loves to kick those legs. She is sitting up well also, but she is not ready to crawl yet. She just swims when she is on her belly....absolutely no interest at all in getting up on those hands and legs. She is a very laid back kind of kiddo. She plays well by herself, she stays pretty content unless she is hungry or tired. She doesn't really enjoy baby food like Madi, she would rather have her bottle, a mum-mum, or cereal. She too has an adorable laugh and a smile that is just too sweet. Kinley is pretty much anybody's gal, she doesn't really seem to have a preference to me or Chad. She will play shy sometimes and bury her face into my chest...which I will always love and find so precious.

We had our friend from Corsicana come down for a visit recently. Her little girls name is Hannah and she is 3 years old. Her and Hannah Grace had a blast together and it was good getting to catch up with my old friend (I totally wasn't referring to your age Linda :]) As I say with all my friends and family that come for a visit at this crazy house with twins and a two year old.....I hope they come back!


Anyway, that is about all that is going on.....just living by the moment. We are in the middle of tennis season and I have been roughing it on my own with the girls. Family comes in from time to time and we now have some friends that take the girls on Monday for a few hours so I can go run errands or sit and just listen to the silence.....so nice.....! Thank you AJ and Laura! I have recently made a dress and I know Bankhead will laugh at me, but I am so proud of myself. My friend Shannon is one of the craftiest gals I know and I just wanna be like her. She too has girls and starting making pillowcase dresses that I think are adorable! So, with all my free time :] I thought I might try to make one also. After wasting a few yards of material, I have a finished product and I have to say...not bad. So now I can officially make bows and a simple dress for my girls....which is good...because I have sooo many girls. I am also doing a bible study on Thursday mornings which has been awesome. Not only because I get to drop my girls off at 8:30 am and have some adult conversations (I really do love my babies), but we are doing an awesome study on the book of Colossians. I just love the in depth study and a chance to get back into the Word. I have to say it has been a struggle of getting in the Word since the twins...when I did have time...honestly I would have rathered sleep or stared at the wall or take a shower. Crazy, but thank you Kim for the long, endless questions.

Didn't I say I was going to make this post short......

Love never fails

Five years ago on June 12, I married my best friend. I still can't believe how quick 5 years has gone by! I am so thankful to have such a loving husband, who still to this day loves to suprise me on our anniversary. That is just one of the million things I love about my husband!

So many things have changed in our lives over the past five years. Our first year we found our church home at Temple Bible Church. We made many life long friends there who we are so thankful to call our church family. We also bought our first house that year in Temple. It has been fun decorating and painting (which I am still doing) and giving our dogs, Ace and Abby, a place to run around.

Our second year of marriage we found out we were pregnant with little Hannah Grace and welcomed her into our family on April 27, 2007.

Our third year of marriage was filled with tons of firsts. First time parents, first time we fell in love with a little girl named Hannah Grace, first mother and fathers day, firsts many sleepless nights, first boo boos, etc....I don't have enough room to elaborate! I got to be a stay at home mom and take care of our Hannah Grace that year. I did a little work on the side at the church and a little bit of home health too later in the year. It was definitely a fun year!

Then, our fourth year we decided to take a family vacation. Our first one as a little family. We went to Corpus Christi around the fourth of July weekend. We had so much fun on the beach and sight seeing, although Hannah hated the sand and the ocean. I kind of felt sick by the second day and couldn't shake it. I joked with Chad that... what if I was pregnant! Hee Hee! We went back to San Antonio a day early because of the rain and stayed with his parents the rest of the weekend. By that time, the sickness only got worse....... Sooooooo, of course we took a test or three when we got back to make sure it was nothing. Because you see, at this time, Hannah had just turned about 14 months old. Sure enough, we were pregnant! Very pregnant! I think I spent the first 3 1/2 months of that pregnancy in bed, very sick! And this could have been why......

TWINS!! Madison Hope and McKinley Faith joined our little family February 13, 2009! So the rest of the fourth year was a blur. Hannah started sleeping in a toddler bed because my belly got so big I couldn't get her out of the crib! And this year, so far it has been a blur too. My world has totally revolved around my girls....from potty training, to burping, changing diapers, rocking babies, feeding babies, playing with babies, tantrums, playing with Hannah, and everything else that comes with motherhood, there isn't time for much else! How little we knew we would be the parents of three kids some day!

So, my sweet husband decided to suprise me with a little trip to Austin for our anniversary on Friday. He arranged for our sweet friends Meredith and Grant to keep the kiddos (overnight!) while we had a day and night to ourselves! Thank you to Sarah Nass too for helping out on Friday afternoon. That is true friendship let me tell ya, I'm not so sure they will do it again....but I hope they know how much we appreciated it! It was nice to slow down and spend some quality time together. He even suprised me with a beautiful anniversary band that he promised me 5 years ago...it matches my wedding band! I just love my husband! Not just for the ring and the weekend getaway, but for just wanting to spend time with me! I love him for being a man of God and the way he is with our kids.....God couldn't have chosen a better daddy of 3 girls!

Okay so that is it in a nutshell! I better stop before this turns into a Francine Rivers novel.

3 Months Old

How fast time flies when you are having......when you have three girls! Just kidding, we are having fun too! I just wish they would all look at the camera at the same time! I just can't believe that the twins are 3 months old! I just love being a mom ya know. There are times I don't have a minute to go and pee, but I just love my girls. Madison started laughing on Sunday.....that first little laugh is always so precious! So here are some snapshots of the girls today.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day out there to all my friends and family! We dedicated the twins to the church today and attempted a few family pics.......Chad and Hannah snuck away yesterday and got me the sweetest present for me for Mother's Day. At Christmas time I told Chad I wanted a necklace with all three of my girls names on it. Chad, being the sneaky, loving suprises kind of guy he is....suprised me with it this morning. Of course he told me he and Hannah were going to watch some of his kids play tennis in Georgetown yesterday! Such a sneak! Thanks honey, I love you!

I loved Bro. Gary's message today about being a Godly momma! With all the challenges that have been going on for the last 3 months, I pray my little girl sees Jesus in me! I know it has been tough on Hannah watching her mommy with these two new babies and my reactions haven't always been right, but I am learning. I want all of them to see me as a Godly mother and a Godly wife to my husband. Today was just a reminder that my actions and words say everything about who I am to my girls. I just love Proverbs and it was just so encouraging and convicting for me today. Just thought I would share!

A special thank you to my mom and Chad's mom for being the best! Thank you for sacrificing to help me with Hannah and the twins! I really could not do it without you girls! You are both the best grandmothers in the world! Thank you for being such posititve role models in our lives, we love you both so much! And thanks for putting up with me!

I forgot this one!

Kissing cousins! This is our nephew Connor and Hannah is just loving all over him! She just loved her visit with Connor and even tried to teach him to walk! Too cute!

My first haircut

We finally decided to get Hannah a little haircut to even up the ends and get rid of the point growing down the front of her head. She did really good as long as she got to sit in mommy's lap. So, that is why all the pics are realllllly close up!

More pictures

Me and my girls

Hannah and her sisters

Madison

So sweet!

Big sister

McKinley

Madison

Princess Mommy

Madi and Kinley

Kinley

Hanging out with our girls!

Daddy with Madi and Kinley

Kinley and Madi

Princess Hannah serving Elmo tea

Another attempt for a pic with all three girls!

Madison and McKinley are definitley changing.....they are smiling more and laughing. They are able to play more on their own! We are on a schedule now and guess what????????? They are sleeping through the night....Praise the Lord!!!!! Well, by through the night, I mean like 4, 5, or 6! Last night they went down around 8 and Madi slept until 6:30 and Kinley slept until 5! Sleep is wonderful!!!!! Now if we can just get them sleeping in their cribs. They are still sleeping soundly in their bouncey chairs. They are such sweet girls with such different personalities. Madison is okay playing by herself and McKinley loves to talk to you and she wants your undivided attention! Here are some recent pics of them.