Still amazed

I know I have known for a long time now that our family was growing and we were going to have three children running around with us everywhere but sometimes this site still amazes me. I feel so blessed.

Annabeth 2 months

Time is really going fast. It's been over 2 months since the twins were born and Annabeth is doing great! Lyle nicknamed her 'Peep' in the hospital because of the noises she was making and that name was quickly picked up by her siblings. She is called peep or peepsters:) She doesn't seem to mind!

When we first brought Annabeth home she weighed 5.01. This is a picture of her a couple days after we brought her home. The kids were constantly at her side loving her so much.

At her 1 month checkup, Annabeth had gained two pounds and weighed 7 lbs 2 ounces! This is the first picture taken with her eyes open.

The kids are still by her side like moths to a flame!

They adore her to say the least. Ella has been super helpful with feeding bottles occasionally. Luke even holds one up for her now and then:)

The first stroller ride was a big deal!

I love this picture of Luke looking into the crib. I have one exactly like it of Ella peeking over into Luke's crib:)

I'm really enjoying my time at home with her. She is just so sweet and I want to soak up every minute of this time since I know it goes fast and will be my last.

Annabeth has started smiling which makes us all excited. She is not smiling during tummy time though:)

At her 2 month checkup, AB weighed 9 lbs 3 ounces! She still has blue eyes but I expect that to change in a couple months. She is eating three ounces every feeding. We still haven't figured out a good nap routine though mostly because the poor girl spends more time in her car seat than she does at home. We are always on the go with Ella and Luke (soccer, play dates, tball) so she has no choice but to ride along! Unfortunately she is not a fan of her car seat right now!

Her first bath was just as expected....she hated it! Ella caught a quick pic of the chaos:) She was only a month old.

I recently bought a baby K'tan wrap that is AWESOME! It looks kind of funny but has made a huge difference in my ability to get anything done. Grocery shopping is much easier!

That about does it for updates. She is doing great! It's amazing how in just two short months we couldn't imagine our lives without this cute little face. We love you, Annabeth!

Ella's first piano recital

Ella had her first piano recital in May. She started back in July and has really gotten the hang of it. I love hearing her play. Here is a couple pictures of the big day. She did a fantastic job.

 

Her she is with her teacher Mr. Anthony. We love him!! She got to do a special duet with him during the recital!

Mother's Day

How could I not have the best Mother's Day with these three as my kids. They cleaned the house and decorated the table with beautiful pictures and sweet poems all before I got up that morning:) I caught Ella up at 4 am starting to clean! I made her get back in bed then I crawled in and snuggled with her until Annabeth woke up. Probably the best part of my day. I don't get much snuggle time with her anymore and I miss it. I feel so lucky to have these kids and a very sweet husband. He bought me a very cool Sound Cube and a running watch i have been eyeing. He also gave me a sweet card but I'm pretty sure he didn't even read it since it was about two pages long:) Love you, Lyle!

Ella's First Communion

What a special day!! Ella recieved her first communion on Sunday April 27th. It was a very sweet and exciting day made even sweeter by the fact that Mims and Pa drove up from TX to spend it with her.
She looked beautiful that day and so very grown up!! Too grown up! We curled her hair and put her veil on right before we left.

This was her favorite part of the dress....it twirled!

One of the most exciting parts of that day was that Ella got to read the first reading at mass! It was her first time and there was about 200 people in the church so it was a big deal! She did perfect!! We were so proud of her...I was ridiculously nervous for her!
Here are some pictures of her with her friends during the reception afterwards in the Family Life Center. They all looked so sweet!

Katherine

 Emily

 Jack

 Grace

 Mary Kate

Ella and her Godmother

 Ella with her very proud parents! We love you so much little girl!!

After the mass, we all (my parents and sisters) went to Cantina Laredo for a dinner celebration. Here is Ella with her cousins. Eliza and Sophia also received First Communion earlier that day. How can they already be big enough to receive communion?? Time flies I tell ya' time flies!

Easter 2014

What an exciting Easter we had this year! Annabeth was with us!! She made it so special this year!
We kicked off the season by hanging out with my family at my sister Julie's house on Good Friday. We had a big fish fry and the kids colored eggs. My sister did a big Easter egg hunt for them which they loved. They always love getting to hang out with their cousins.
Here are the cousins goofing around:

 

 They made Annabeth feel very special!

We made them line up in front of the door before running out to hunt eggs.....just like we had to do as kids at my grandparents.

Then the race was on!

It was a great day!! Thanks aunt Julie!!

Then it was finally time for Easter Bunny to arrive! The kids did something different this year because they were worried about running in when EB was still there. So, I told them about a trick my siblings and I did when we were little. Put up a sign for the EB to take when he was leaving. They could see this sign from their bedroom and knew that if it was gone that meant EB was done and they could go in:

Luke also left a couple gifts for EB. The note said: Dear Easter Bunny, I gave a gift for you, Luke.

And Ella wrote our traditional note to him so we would know how many eggs he brought us.

Here are some pics of the loot they got in the morning.....which they woke up at 4:30 am to get. Luke ran in to our bedroom yelling about what they got...I had just put Annabeth back down....not a good start to the morning:)
Ella's basket: Notice the nice place mats Ella made for the baskets again this year. She is very proud of that tradition she started for herself.....only problem is that Luke doesn't have a tradition and he really thinks he needs one:)

Luke's basket:

Even Annabeth scored some pretty good loot! Here nickname is Peep so I thought the book was perfect for her!

Here is Annabeth's name egg this year:

Luke's said: Good job reading! Go Indians! (His tball team is the Indians)
Ella's: Happy First Communion!
Mom's: Get some sleep!
Dad's: Good luck on your Interviews!

After the kids played with their toys and ate way too much candy it was time for the egg hunt out side. Don't let this picture fool you....Lyle was thrilled to wear those bunny ears!

After a nice Easter breakfast we all got ready for Easter mass. It was a nice service and even Peep enjoyed it because she slept the whole time! Yeah for Annabeth! Afterwards, we grilled out in the backyard and relaxed all day...until daddy had to catch a flight out for another interview:(