Five Tall Smalls - 2010

New blog address

2011-01-14T06:19:00.000-08:00

2011 family blog at http://www.fivetallsmalls2011.blogspot.com/ :)

Facebook

2010-08-15T15:22:00.000-07:00

Well, I think I've decided to stop writing on this blog. It seems to be at the bottom of the to-do list and I never get to it and feel frustrated that it's so outdated. I'll be posting pictures on Facebook if you would like to keep up with us there. (So Dad, you might just need to get an account to see pictures.) :)

Happy Birthday Ashley

2010-08-01T22:01:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that Ashley is one today! The year went by so fast. She is such a happy little girl and we have had a great year. Here are a few picture from our day. (Birthday party pictures will be posted soon!)

Starting off the morning with a birthday scone.

Not sure what to think about her new tent and tunnel . . .

Cake time!

Vacation - part 1

2010-07-26T13:41:00.000-07:00

We are in the middle of sharing Tom's parents vacation with them up here on Lake Morton. Then rented a house on the lake for 2 weeks and have graciously allowed us to stay with them. 5 of the 6 kids are in the bunk house (and suprisingly sleeping pretty well). It's like a big slumber party every night! We LOVE spending the late afternoon and evening out by the lake and have been having so much fun fishing, kayaking, canoeing and swimming. Oh, and eating smores. :) Here are a few pictures, including a few from Ashley's first birthday party that we had here last Wednesday. I'll post more pictures when I get them off of Mom and Dad's camera.

Great view of Mt. Ranier while kayaking on the lake

Playing in the lake

Ashley eating her cupcake

Breakfast at the Lake House

Mt. Rainier

2010-07-13T21:08:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we headed out to Mt. Rainier . . . without the camera. It ended up being a horrible experience and we were ready to trade the kids in (not really, but if you're a parent, you can just visualize in your head what the day was like without me saying anything more. Yes, it was that bad!)

On a positive note, Mt. Rainier is so beautiful. There were waterfalls everywhere that were just gorgeous! It was super crowded as it was the first "summer" Saturday we have had. At one point, we were high enough up to throw a few snowballs, which was the highlight of the day for Sage and Molly. Maybe next time (if there is one), we'll take some pictures . . .

4th of July

2010-07-07T14:57:00.000-07:00

For the 4th of July, we went over to a friend's house for a BBQ. We were introduced to a few new games that we loved and were able to do a few fireworks. (As well as watch the millions going off at the houses around us.) Then at about 10:10, we watched the fireworks over Lake Meridian. It was so nice being at someones house so we could put Ashley down to sleep since it stays light here so late!

Ella and Trisha

The girls LOVED the sparklers!!

Laying down on the very wet grass to enjoy the show

Molly and Lauren watching the fire works over the lake

Toy Story 3

2010-07-07T14:46:00.000-07:00

I would not normally blog about going to a movie, but this was Molly's first movie and she was so excited. She loved Toy Story 3. (The rest of us did too.) We were able to leave Ashley with a friend from church so it was just the 4 of us. :)

Museum of Flight

2010-07-07T14:42:00.000-07:00

So I'm a little behind on blogging . . . but we're still here . . .

Last week we met Tom after work at the Museum of Flight. We were only there for a few hours, which was plenty of time with the girls at the ages they are. Here are a few pictures of our adventure.

Happy 4th of July (a little early)

2010-06-12T20:34:00.000-07:00

Tom's Mom sent up some matching outifts for the girls for 4th of July so we attempted to get a picture . . . here are a few good ones. Molly - 2 1/2, Ashley 10 months, Sage - 5 1/2

My favorite!!

Ashley was so fascinated with Molly. So in most of the pictures, she's turned and looking at her. :-)

10 Months Old

2010-06-12T20:24:00.000-07:00

Where have the past 10 months gone? Ashley is just the cutest little girl with her beautiful blue eyes and wavy hair! She is moving all around, but not by crawling. She rolls and scoots on her tummy. :) She started clapping a few weeks ago and it's adorable to watch! She's wearing 18 month clothes, and even a few 24 month ones (mostly shirts and dresses). She is starting to copy sounds and loves to "sing" along with the girls (who of course are singing most of the day.)

Not much going on . . .

2010-06-03T14:45:00.000-07:00

Not much going on around here except . . . rain! It's been raining constantly so we've been trapped in the house and garage. Anytime in the past few weeks that it has stopped raining even for a few minutes, the girls are outside. There have even been a few times where they've put on their bathing suits when the sun has come out. Now for those of you who are used to sun meaning warm, it does not mean that up here. It's been in the high 50's and low 60's and Sage is still out there in her bathing suit. It's pretty funny to watch!

So besides the rain, here's a brief update on what's been going on with all of us.

Yesterday I took Sage to register for Kindergarten and to take her Kindergarten readiness test. She did great and was so excited. She asked if she could start Kindergarten tomorrow. She's going to love it next year! She is looking so grown up to me lately.

Molly is talking constantly and has only one volume, LOUD. She loves to sing and make up songs just like Sage. She has been less fussy lately, especially if we are at home.

Ashley is still not crawling, but manages to move all over the room other ways. She's getting close to crawling, but her belly seems to be so heavy for her to get off the ground. :)

Tom started his new job as the Executive Chef of Armando's Cafe Itiliano in Renton last week. He has total control of the food in the restaurant and is excited to change both the lunch and dinner menu in the next few months (which is what he was hired to do). We went to the Renton Farmer's Market on Tuesday to check it out and he's looking forward to going each week and then using the produce he buys for specials that evening.

As for me, I've just been keeping up with the kids, cooking and laundry. MOPS and Bible Study are over, so I'm trying to schedule some playdates to keep us busy. Now if the weather would just clear up so we could get out of the house a little . . .

Mother's Day

2010-05-10T15:07:00.000-07:00

Oh Mother's Day . . . I have a love/hate feeling about that day. I love being a mom and am so grateful or 3 wonderful, healthy daughters that God has given me. I also loved being celebrated by them (with the help of my wonderful husband, of course). We had such a nice day staring with a morning around the house, then going to church. I was able to take a rest in the afternoon and then Tom prepared tea for us for dinner. (With enough food for our lunch today too!) We ended the evening with a fire outside because the weather was AMAZING!! So that is the part I love about Mother's Day.

No chance of all 3 girls looking at the camera AND smiling . . . this was the best one. :)

As far as the part I hate . . . I don't get to celebrate my Mom any more (at least not have her with me - I know I can still celebrate her, but it's not the same.) For a while, I thought it was getting easier as time passed, but as life progresses and I get older, I find myself more and more upset that I lost her at such a young age. I wish she could have met the girls. She would have loved their singing and dancing so much. Hardly a day goes by that I don't wish I could pick up the phone and call her and ask her advice or just talk to her about the tough things that are going on. I know her death was all part of God's plan, but still have a hard time understanding why. As for now, I'm glad Mother's Day has passed. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way . . .

We also didn't get to celebrate in person with Tom's Mom. I love that we moved up here, but sure miss family on holidays (and other times too)! I love you Mom. :) Wish I could have given you a big hug in person yesterday!

Mt. Everest

2010-05-09T20:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we took a day trip down to Mt. Everest, or to most of us, it's known as Mt. St. Helens. Sage kept calling it Mt. Everest the whole way there . . . and yes it is a long drive and yes a few times we thought we were crazy! But overall, it was a great day and we all had a lot of fun.

After stopping at all the lookouts, we headed back north and stopped in Olympia to BBQ dinner in the park. The girls had a great time playing on the playground while Tom got the BBQ going and grilled our dinner. As we were eating dinner, some clouds came in and cooled it off a lot and we got in the car just as it

started raining. Great timing!!

It was so nice to get away for the whole day as a family. :)

9 months old

2010-05-07T07:49:00.000-07:00

Happy 9 month birthday Ashley! It's hard to believe she is 9 months old already!! She is now double the length of the bear. Wow! She is wearing 18 month clothes too. She is sitting up well, and is starting to get frusrated about not being able to reach toys, so maybe crawling will be somewhere in the near future. We'll see. :) This last month has been a little rough for her because she had the stomach flu, but she's over that now and eating well again. (Getting up at 5 - AHHHHH - but we'll fix that soon (hopefully.))

Our Adventure at Lake Meridian

2010-05-06T15:29:00.000-07:00

Wish I could have captured this short trip to Lake Meridian on the camera . . . but in about 40 minutes we managed to walk through the beautiful park by the lake, feed the ducks, watch Molly run after the ducks with a cracker trying to feed them, hear the girls make duck noises while chasing them . . . oh and then notice Ashley had thrown up her whole dinner while sitting quielty in the stroller (no more pasta carbonara for her for a while . . . oops), hear Tom say, "Molly don't get too close to the water," and as he went to grab her, slip in the mud and push her into the water (and then of course scoop her up). . . all this just to get out of the house becaue the kids were fussy after dinner. All you can do is laugh after an outing like that. If I just would have posted the pictures, you never would have know what an adventure it truely was . . .

Special things you get to do when you're 5 . . .

2010-05-06T15:15:00.000-07:00

Special things you get to do when you are 5 . . .

Make Button Soup with Daddy

Go to Cubbies (this is the Awana Award Ceremony last Sunday)

Kindergarten Round-up . . . Yesterday Tom, Sage and I walked to Washington Elementary to attend Kindergarten Round-up. We got a tour of the school. Sage got to stay in the classroom for a little while and then ride the bus. She is so excited to start Kindergarten next year! Fun! (No photo opportunities at this, so no pictures to post. Sorry.)

Spring time

2010-05-06T15:04:00.000-07:00

Well, besides the cold, crazy weather, spring is here and the flowers are blooming everywhere. This the tree in our front yard. It doesn't have quite as many flowers on it right now since we had a crazy wind storm a few days ago, but it sure is beautiful!!

Since Tom has been home so much lately, we finally had time to plant the garden. Unfortunately, we had some very cold weather, including a bunch of hail and wind, so I'm afraid many of our tiny plant starts will not make it and we'll be headed off to buy a few. But the garden is all divided up, so we'll see what happens in a few days.

This is the garden area at the beginning of spring last year (after all the trash was picked up). It was a lot of work, but we got it all ready this year instead of just the half we did last year!

The Pig!

2010-05-06T14:49:00.000-07:00

I haven't felt much like blogging lately, so I need to get caught up . . . first about the pig . . .

A few weeks ago, Tom and his friend Marcus orered a whole pig from one of their suppliers at work and on their day off, cut it up for us to eat. They did it at our house, which was great, so the girls and I could see the process as well. Tom smoked some of the meat and also cured some. We love having all the meat in the freezer ready to go.

Here's a few pictures of the process . . .

Sage was out with them the whole time. She was so excited and had so many questions.

All the pieces of meat ready to be packaged or cooked

Some of the pork in the smoker

The bacon after it was cured and smoked

The ham after it was cooked and smoked (and yes, it tastes as good as it looks!!)

Sage's Tea Party

2010-04-17T15:26:00.000-07:00

After a week of horrible bedtimes with Sage, we started up a "going to bed" sticker chart again to try and help her stay in her bed. So this morning we had a tea party with one of her friends as her reward for completing the sticker chart. (This past week was much better!) She was so excited. She made all the food and name cards. She set the table and of course chose which dress-up clothes to wear. Molly was pretty excited about it too. :)

Homemade Smoker

2010-04-15T10:27:00.000-07:00

I know you're wondering why I'm taking a picture of this huge barrel . . . but if you would have been at our house for dinner last night you would know by the taste of the YUMMY burgers. Tom built a smoker out of an old storage barrel. Crazy! So far this week we've been able to enjoy a smoked chicken, smoked mozarella and smoked burgers. I have a feeling we'll be using this a lot in the months and years to come! His main motivation for this, besides wanting one for a while now, is that he and a friend are getting a whole pig next week and he wants to be able to smoke some of the meat. Pictures of 2 chefs and a dead pig to come . . .

Gardening

2010-04-12T21:18:00.000-07:00

The girls and I started some seeds in some egg cartons but were not getting much growth. So Tom set up a little greenhouse in our basement. He bought a few full spectrum light bulbs and some trays and seed starter. He set a little heater to 70 degrees and 6 days later we have a lot of little veggies starting to grow. This picture was taken on Saturday and they are so much bigger today, 2 days later. Now we just need to get outside and finish prepping the garden to plant. The girls are excited to use all their gardening tools and gloves they got for Easter so hopefully we'll get out there soon!

Easter 2010

2010-04-08T17:20:00.000-07:00

Easter morning started off at church - 7 a.m. for me and then I came back and got everone else after I sang in the first service. After church, we came home, had lunch and found Easter Baskets and then rested. We then headed over to Aunt Patti and Uncle Chuck's house to spend the evening with family. :)

Easter Preparations

2010-04-06T15:27:00.000-07:00

As always, we did a few things to get ready for Easter. We opened a Resurrection Egg each morning and learned about the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ during the month of March. Then last weekend, we dyed eggs, made egg salad for lunch afterwards and then made cookies. Instead of frosting the cookies this year, we painted them with egg yolk, colored with food coloring (before cooking them). They were different and the girls loved painting them.

Spring 2010

2010-04-06T15:17:00.000-07:00

Last week, we headed down to Tacoma for a while. We froze! But other than that had fun. We stopped by the greenhouse at Wright Park and took a few pictures . . .

Molly chasing the ducks

Sage loves flowers!

Ashley is finally sitting up pretty well on her own. (But my arm was just out of sight and ready to catch at any moment!)

Thoughts on being a parent . . .

2010-03-25T20:24:00.000-07:00

There are many times I miss my Mom. This morning was one of them. I'm sure she could relate to how my morning was going because I'm sure she had many of them when I was 5. Oh what a morning! I wish I could apologize to you Mom!!

Trying to discipline a child out of love and not out of anger is not an easy thing to do when they know exactly how to push your buttons! Anger has never really been something I have struggled with in 35 years. But anger management has now been added to my morning prayer time.

I have had so many emotions while dealing with Sage lately. I get so angry with her and then feel so bad that I am angry. Sometimes as a parent it's so easy to think they are doing things wrong just to annoy us. But in reality, our children have a sinful nature just like we do and I need to remember that it's my job to teach her what God's Word says about her behavior and then discipline her out of love, just like my Mom (and Dad) did with me.

Spring is here!

2010-03-25T20:07:00.000-07:00

Now that spring is here, we are ready to start gardening again. Last year Tom spent hours just getting the junk pile in the back turned into a garden. This year, we were able to borrow a rototiller and somehow, I was able to rotatill the garden and all the flower beds by myself. I found many new muscles that I was not aware of . . . and had a hard time gripping things with my hands for a few days because of this . . . but I did it!

We planted some sunflowers and herbs in a few flowerbeds yesterday and on the next sunny day will keep planting. The garden is so big, but we're going to try to fill it this year so we have a ton of produce to choose from! It's much easier gardening this year since my belly is much smaller than last year at this time . . . though not totally gone . . . but I guess that's another blog post.

After working on the patio area, we started a fire and enjoyed some hamburgers outside. We also had our first marshmallows of the season! It was such a beautiful day!

Molly was playing and singing "Jesus Loves Me." It was so cute!

I think the fire pit is one of the best purchases we've made. I love sitting out by the fire as a family!!

Ballet

2010-03-25T20:02:00.000-07:00

For the past few months, Sage has been taking ballet classes through Kent Parks and Recreation. She loves going and is constantly practicing at home (and at the store, and at church and pretty much everywhere she goes.) The last class was Tuesday. I know she would like to continue so maybe we'll pick it up again after she gets into the Kindergarten routine in September.

Blue-eyed girl

2010-03-20T20:47:00.000-07:00

We took these pictures of Ashley a few weeks ago. I LOVE the outfit she's wearing and Mom, I purchased the color because I knew you love it! The color really make her eyes stand out, even more than normal. She's getting big so fast and just had her first tooth poke through the other day!

First day of Spring

2010-03-20T20:38:00.001-07:00

So how did we welcome in spring? By spending the morning outside in the BEAUTIFUL weather, or course. I was able to use a borrowed rotatiller to prep our garden and flower beds. It was a lot of work and used muscles I am not used to using, but the rotatiller made it so much easier and took so much less time. I'll be making an extra meal this week to thank the couple that let us borrow them!! (On a side note, Tom and I went on a date last night and walked around Lake Union . . . 6 miles. . . I have no idea where my energy is coming from!)

Here's a picture of Ashley enjoying her bottle during our picnic lunch today. Sage thought she needed sunglasses.

Fairhaven

2010-03-20T20:24:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since we've gone anywhere as a family, so on Wednesday, we headed up north to the small town of Fairhaven, near Bellingham. It was an adorable little town and we had fun looking around and being outside enjoying the beautiful weather! The girls love to be outside and free. :)

Looking at a tiny crab we found walking near the water

Ashley and Mommy

Mom and Dad - this picture is for you . . . it's our version of the Yosemite rock picture :) Not the same, but we were thinking of our fun trips there when we saw the huge rock!

Perfect weather!! I love spring!

No time to blog

2010-03-08T13:06:00.000-08:00

So I've been meaning to write something for a while now, but as you can tell by the lack of posts, have not gotten to it. I've been overwhelmed with 3 kids and a sick hubby. So here's what's been happening and hopefully more pictures (and time to post them) will come soon. (Though I'm not holding my breath . . .)

Tom - he is in quite a bit of pain right now as he has a pinched nerve. He's been to the Dr. a few times and is awaiting some physical therapy on Wednesday and a test with the neurologist on Friday. Please pray these appointments go well (and can maybe be rescheduled sooner) and they can decided on a course of treatment soon. It's making it hard for him to work.

Sage - She has a few more ballet classes left and has started taking Taekwondo. She and Molly have really been enjoying playing together lately, and most of the time do well. :)

Molly - After a week of constant fussing, I finally took her to the Dr. and found out she had an ear infection. So, after some medication, she's doing much better and thankfully fussing less. :) She is talking so much and is really staring to vocalize her likes and dislikes.

Ashley - We are finally coming to an end of a 3 week long diaper rash with numerous trips to the Dr. She doesn't seem to mind it, thank goodness, but it's nice to have one less reason to call the advice nurse! She's 7 months old now and still not sitting up. She weighs a little over 18 lbs and has a huge belly, which seems to be in the way when trying to sit up. :) She is still the happiest baby and adores her big sisters!

Me - I'm overwhelmed by all the above . . . trying to find the time for anything but the daily needs of the family has been tough. We got a new washing machine and dryer, so at least that part of the daily routine has been a little more fun (if that's possible).

Well, that's about it for now. Off to get some stuff done while the 2 little ones nap. . .

Photo Shoot

2010-02-24T14:48:00.001-08:00

When Mom and Alyssa were up here, we took the 4 girls to The Picture People to get some pictures taken. They turned out so cute. Here's the link . . . http://smilestore.picturepeople.com/PR3/ThumbPage.aspx?e=6258093

Valentine's Day

2010-02-13T21:16:00.000-08:00

Well, it wouldn't be a holiday around here without making sugar cookies. So today, we made Valentine cookies and decorated them with lots of frosting and candy!!

Ashley - 6 months

2010-02-13T21:04:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Ashley is 6 months old already. She is the cutest little girl. Her blue eyes are so beautiful and she is full of smiles all the time. She loves to lay on the ground and play with her feet. She adores her sisters and loves when they come and play with her (which is quite often). She was 17 1/2 pounds at her 6 month check-up and today I just washed up all the 9-12 month clothes. She was in the 6-9 month ones for a total of 6 weeks. Hopefully she can stay in these clothes just a little longer!!

One month old

6 months - look how much she's grown!!!

All ready for Valentine's Day!

Awana Grand Prix

2010-02-13T20:47:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago (I'm behind in blogging . . .) Sage made a car and raced it in the Awana Grand Prix at church. She was so excited and had so much fun playing with her friends.

Standing by her car, "Ocean."

Starting a race

Sage and Jake watching their cars race

And what, you may ask, was Molly doing the whole time? Well, the better question is what was she not doing? Besides eating, she was running around everywhere, taking pictures with the camera (which I found later), and making us very tired!! At least she's cute . . .

Snoqualamie Falls

2010-02-13T20:34:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, we headed out to Snoqualamie Falls for the day. Both Tom and I were sure we had been there before, but soon realized we must have been thinking about another waterfall because this did not look familiar at all. We enjoyed looking at the cute hotel and after walking around the observation area for a bit, we hiked down to the bottom of the falls. Then my wonderful husband hiked back up and got the car and brought it down to us. :) (Thank goodness!! I was carrying an extra 17 lbs. on my hip (Ashley) the whole way and am not in the greatest shape right now!!!)

It was a fun day and so nice to get out of the house, even if we did get a little wet.

Molly's Birthday Party

2010-01-30T06:41:00.000-08:00

The battery died in my camera right away at Molly's party, so this post is a little late. (Thanks Emily for the use of your camera!) For Molly's 2nd birthday party, we took our cousins to the Bouncy Place to jump and then went back to the house for dinner and cupcakes. The girls (and the adults) had fun jumping and then we were all ready for some dinner. All 4 girls ate so well - the soup was a big hit. After some presents and dancing, everyone was pretty tired so it was off to bed. :) Molly had a great time and now keeps asking to go to the jumpy house with Rose. I guess we'll have to try and do that again soon!

Lauren and Ashley

Providence, Molly and Sage

Molly did a great job getting up to the top of all the big slides! I couldn't believe it.

Emily and the girls

Ashley needed to bounce too :)

I can't believe she's 2 already!!

Minnie, Goofy, Mickey and Donald cupcakes

Fun presents

She's an official northwesterner . . . she had a vest!

Minnie Mouse dress-up costume

Molly and Rose dancing together - too cute!!

Amie, William and I were there too . . . but escaped the camera somehow. :)

Dentist with 3 kids

2010-01-27T20:30:00.001-08:00

Yes the title tells it all. I am crazy and will never do it again, but Sage and I had dentist appointments I didn't want to cancel. The girls did well until the end and then Ashley was done! So I left without a cleaning, just an exam (where they told me I have 6 small cavities - Oh joy!) Sage also has one small one. That appointment should be fun!

Well that was the "highlight" of the day. We have a fun play date with friends tomorrow which should be much nicer than our trip to the dentist today.

Scrapbooks

2010-01-23T17:02:00.000-08:00

I was reminded today about how important it is to keep up with scrapbooking! The girls and I took a few minutes to look at a few scrapbooks and they loved it. Sage loved seeing me as a little girl and Molly kept saying, "Ashley" for every baby picture she saw. Sage loved her baby book and I'm so sad that Molly's isn't printed yet. (But at least it's done on Shutterfly!) She kept saying, "Where's me?" :)

It was fun to show them pictures of Grandma Janet (the reason I got out the books) and they loved seeing old pictures of Papa, though they didn't recognize him. And when we got to my high school years, they immediatly recognized Tom. It was so cute! Sage also was quick to find Aunt Patti and Uncle Chuck in many of the pictures too. We even had a few of Aunt Amie, Laura and Tia when they were little, to which Molly asked, "Where's Rose?" (Amie was probably 7 or 8 in the picture.)

I think the scrapbook added to my roller coaster emotions for today, but after a nap, very good cry and a short time of questioning God as to why my kids will never get to know their Grandma this side of heaven, I'm doing better. A walk out in the sun helped too. :) The day dragged on and seemed like it would never end, but it's almost over (yea!) and Tom is on his way home . . . so on to January 24th . . .

My life revolves around the toilet

2010-01-22T15:22:00.001-08:00

Yes you read the title correct . . . my life revolves around the toilet and things that go into it. (And no, I'm not pregnant and having morning sickness.)

First of all, Molly is pretty much potty trained. No accidents in quite a long time, even when we are out. She still wears a diaper at night and for naps, but after naps she's usually dry. I'm so proud of her.

Second, I finally took Sage to the Dr. for her stomachaches and after looking at an x-ray of her stomach, it turns out she had some stool where it should not have been . . . so she's been taking some mira-lax to solve that and she's a much happier child now. Thank goodness.

And now on to Ashley. After thinking about it for quite some time, I'm moving into the cloth diapering world. Thanks to my generous cousin Amie and friend Jessica, I'm able to try it out for about a month to see if it works for us, without investing any money into it. (Well, only $10 - but that's AMAZING!!) We are on day 2 of it and so far so good. Cloth diapering has come a long way since I was little. :)

All that to say, I'm hoping to be able to focus on other things in the coming weeks. But for now, I'll just keep making sure my bathroom is REALLY clean since I feel like I'm in there more than any other room in the house. Ah. . . the life of a stay-at-home mom. :)

Ashley - 5 Months Old

2010-01-16T13:37:00.000-08:00

How has it been 5 months already? Ashley is growing so fast and is so chubby. I'm giving her 10 ounce bottles every 4 hours! AHHH!! I never had to go past 8 ounces with either of my other girls. I tried giving her rice cereal for a few weeks, but she just wasn't getting the idea of eating off a spoon, so I'm taking a break and we'll start up again in a few weeks. She's still very happy and loves to bounce in her bouncy seat. It's so funny to watch her bounce. She's also enjoying the exersaucer and her little play gym. Her sisters love playing with her and she still giggles the most for Sage.

Happy Birthday Molly

2010-01-16T13:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we celebrated Molly's 2nd birthday. Time goes by so fast. She's talking in sentences, doing a great job of using the bathroom by herself (and as I write this I realize I forgot to put a diaper on her for her nap. She usually wakes up dry. Hopefully today she will too!!!), running around chasing Sage and being a great Mommy to her babies. She loves to sing and dance too.

So yesterday as we celebrated her, we started off with Mickey Mouse pancakes for breakfast. Then we just had a pretty normal day around the house and when Tom got home, she opened her presents from us and Grandma and Grandpa, had some yummy mac and cheese and of course a Mickey Mouse Cake. They she and Sage played until bedtime. We'll celebrate her birthday again on Wednesday with a little party for her and her cousins (well, 2nd cousins, but we call them cousins.)

Breakfast

Present time

A special gift just from Sage

Trying out her new scooter

She can't quite figure out how to spin on the sit and spin, but still loves it! She'll figure it out soon. :)

Cake time!

She loves hearing Happy Birthday sung to her. She asked us to sing in a few times during the day. It was so cute!

Remembering my Mom

2010-01-15T06:33:00.001-08:00

There are many things that bring back memories of my Mom. I cried a few Sundays ago in church because of the song "He Lives," not only because of the lyrics, but because of the memories of constant Gaither music in my house growing up. I look at the calendar and see that January 23rd is coming soon and the memories of that day come back to my mind. I think of her as I hear Sage sing CONSTANTLY and know I am getting paid back for my childhood. :) I think of her as I hold my little ones and wish so much that she could have met them. She would have loved them so much and would have been a great Grandma.

But most of all, I think of her when I have friends who lose a parent. Yesterday afternoon I got a call from a friend telling me that Christina's dad has lost his battle with Leukemia. All the emotions from my Mom's death come to my mind as I think of her (and other dear friends in the past 8 years) who are now feeling what I felt back then (and since then).

As I struggled with what to say to her, there are no words that can really make you feel better, at least for more than a few seconds. The only words I could offer were to remember that he is with his Savior. He was a godly man who taught his family and others about God for his whole life, and now, he is with Him, celebrating who God is, forever. (And maybe saying hi to my Mom, and my friend's parents too.) While death is part of life, it sure is hard. While I have greatly missed my Mom for the past 8 years, I am sure I will see her one day again in Heaven, and I'm so grateful for that. Not knowing this would have made it so much harder. And that brings a smile to my face, even if it's just for a few seconds.

Anyways, there' s where my brain was all last night and now this morning. Now that I've written some thoughts down, I need to get into birthday mode as the girls are starting to wake up and it's Molly's birthday . . . no more tears for now.

Potty Training

2010-01-08T13:50:00.001-08:00

Molly is obsessed with the toilet. Nice . . . so on Monday we started potty training. She's actually doing really well around the house considering she's not even 2 (at least not for one more week). She is so cute running around in her little panties with her big belly. :)

That's pretty much been my week, so I don't have much else to blog about. I'll omit pictures for this post!

The time has come . . .

2010-01-03T13:07:00.000-08:00

Well, Ashley is just over 5 months old now and the time has come . . . I actually have to go and buy diapers for her! We got so many as gifts when she was first born they lasted us this long! And they were the perfect amount and sizes. On to size 3 . . . so if you hear of any good diaper deals let me know!! (Or maybe I just need another baby shower. :))

Since we're talking about diapers . . . Molly is OBSESSED with her little potty and talks about going to the bathroom ALL THE TIME!! AHHHHHHHH! I'm going to go out of my mind! So I guess we're going to have to try to potty train this young or I'm going to have to listen to her talk and fuss about it. This morning I forgot to mention it in the nursery and sure enough, Tom saw someone running with her to the bathroom. Oops. Maybe we will have a long playday in the garage a few days this week to avoid accidents in my house.

Happy New Year

2010-01-02T10:31:00.001-08:00

On New Year's Eve, we had way too much food, which is of course part of the Small family tradition! We watched movies and celebrated the New Year EST so we would all be awake (Sage, Tom and I). It was fun to sit around, eat good food and spend time together. :) Tom's Mom had sent up some fun New Year's decorations, so that made our evening even better!

Gotta love the smiles . . .

Molly - almost 2, Ashley - 5 months, Sage - 5

Ashley's first New Year's Eve!

The girls both love it when we have appetizers for dinner because there are so many choices!

Food - Round 1

Visiting with the Barnes

2010-01-02T10:22:00.000-08:00

One of the highlights of our holiday season was getting to spend some time with the Barnes last week. We miss living next door to such great friends! So here are a few pictures that I took during our evening together . . .

Wii . . . need I say more?

Christina and I

7 kids eating dinner :)

Sage, Maddie, Molly, Max, Mason, Davis and Jack

Shannon and Tom and Ashley were there too . . . just no picture. Sorry guys. (And Ashley was screaming her head off almost the whole time they were here - so who wants a picture to remember that.)

Woodland Park Zoo

2009-12-29T14:34:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, we went to the Woodland Park Zoo with my friend Lauren and her 5 kids and 2 nephews. There were a lot of us, but it was a blast!! Since there were so many of us . . . on the way to and from the Zoo in our car I was able to chat with Emily and Brittany (Lauren's daughters) and get to know them better, which was so much fun!!

Sage and Molly had unlimited piggy back rides and people to pick them up for things they couldn't quite see. At one point I told Lauren that I was going to take her daughter Emily with me everywhere from now on! I don't think Sage let go of her hand much while we were there. And if she did, it was to hop on Brittany's back for a piggy back ride.

So here are a few of my favorite pictures . . .

AHHHHH!

Molly loved feeding the birds!!

Sage and Emily

Molly looking at the reptiles with Riley

I'm not sure what this thing is that they all climbed in, but the picture turned out cute.

Brittany's favorite animal is a hippo . . . hmmmm . . . quite a few conversations and silly songs about that yesterday.

Ashley's first time at the zoo. :)

More fun . . .

Lauren and Ashley

Combining Christmas Presents

2009-12-29T14:31:00.000-08:00

Ever wonder what baby dolls do when they're not being played with? I guess at our house they play the Wii. I came out in the living room yesterday morning and Molly had them on the couch like this. Too cute!!

Christmas Day

2009-12-26T15:44:00.000-08:00

This year, we had a quiet Christmas day, or at least as quiet as it can be with a 5 year old, almost 2 year old and 4 1/2 month old. We opened presents in the morning, played with our new Wii (family Christmas gift) and ended the night with a little celebration for Jesus' birthday. We put our last ornament on our Jesse tree and enjoyed some flourless chocolate cake after singing Happy Birthday to Jesus and blowing out candles of course. Tom made us a great Roast Beef dinner and we're looking forward to those leftovers in a few short hours!

While I really missed being with our parents this year (and last), I have so much to be thankful for . . . my wonderful husband and 3 beautiful daughters, all of who are happy and healthy.

So here are a few pictures. . .

The girls were in PJ's all day, so I guess it's a good thing we got some cute Santa pictures with them in their Christmas clothes!!

More Chritmas Activites

2009-12-26T15:37:00.000-08:00

On one of our many days around the house, we made these cute snowman pretzels. Molly wasn't really able to help, but Sage did a great job. Molly of course did a great job eating one though!

I was so disappointed that we had not found any good Christmas lights to look at yet this year and then found out about the Bellevue Botanical Garden. Half of Washington was there with us the night we went, but I'm still glad we did it. The lights were beautiful.

Visit with Santa

2009-12-18T13:24:00.000-08:00

We headed out yesterday to the Nordstrom in the Southcenter Mall to visit Santa. There were no other families there, so the girls got some great alone time with Santa. Sage brought him her list and a cookie and told him what she wanted for Christmas. Molly showed him her hair . . . random, but so cute. :) They all did great and we got some cute pictures!!

Ashley - 4 1/2 months old

Sage - 5 years old

Molly - 23 months old

The Life of a Mom and an Alto

2009-12-13T14:05:00.000-08:00

This morning around 7:30 I was so discouraged as I thought it was going to be the second year in a row I was going to missing singing on the Christmas music Sunday at church. Last year because of the crazy amounts of snow and this year . . . we'll, here's the story.

Sage was sick all day Friday, but was doing great yesterday. So I thought, GREAT!! Everyone is healthy so we can all be at church on Sunday. Wrong! Sunday morning a little after midnight I wake up to her screaming as she had thrown up in bed. After taking care of her and getting back in bed, I was so sad, knowing that I'd have to miss singing. 2 songs without an alto . . . oh well, what can you do.

Well, Aunt Patti and Uncle Chuck to the rescue. They ran on over early Sunday morning to stay with the girls, I hopped in the car and made it to church 5 minutes before the service started. YEA!! The music went well and Pastor John gave a nice message at the end tying it all together. I'm so grateful I was able to be a part of it. (And Sage seems fine and had fun with Aunt Patti and Uncle Chuck!)

All this to say, I love serving at church alongside my husband, but most of the time something does come up with one of the girls and I end up missing it and he ends up singing a solo. I'm glad we had a chance to sing together this morning. :) Thanks family!

Christmas Cookies

2009-12-13T13:52:00.000-08:00

It just wouldn't be a holiday without making and decorating sugar cookies. This was the first time that Molly was really able to be a part of what we were doing. First of all, let me say that we were around the house all day so I let Sage do her and Molly's hair and pick out her own clothes. So here are the girls in their cute Christmas aprons.

Taking turns cutting out the shapes . . . so cute hearing, "Sage's turn. My turn."

Next came time to frost them. Molly got her own plate of frosting and candy and really couldn't spread the frosting, but sure had fun trying! I was amazed at how much Sage has changed in a year. She did such a great job decorating the cookies and is very excited to give some to Miss Robin at storytime, her Moppettes teachers and she even made one for Santa for when we see him later on this week. She thought he needed a present, since he gives out so many. (Cute. :))

Ashley - 4 months

2009-12-10T14:48:00.001-08:00

Well, Ashely is continuing to grow. If I didn't have all her Christmas outfits in size 3-6 months, I would have pulled out the next bag of clothes as things are starting to get a little tight and short. (So I'm stretching all the Christmas outfits and not drying them in the dryer - only a few more weeks!)

At the doctor on Monday, she weighed 15 1/2 lbs. and is 26 1/4" long. She's just about the same size as Molly was at this age. She's still very happy and is sleeping great. We're trying to move her to eating every 4 hours, instead of every 3, but can't seem to go longer than 3 1/2 hours during the day, or she is starving at night. We are starting rice cereal and are on day two of that. There's a video below. It's not quite as peaceful as Sage's first feeding . . . ahhh . . . older sisters. :)

O Christmas Tree

2009-12-03T21:44:00.000-08:00

Last year, our attempt to cut down a tree in the forest resulted with a Charlie Brown looking tree and a great story about getting lost and having upset kids in the back seat of the car.

So this year, we decided to add another kid and try again! With a little more research, we headed out past Enemclaw and managed to follow the map to a great grove of trees. Our tree is amazing and the day went well . . . hardly any screaming from the back seat. (Sage was a little car sick at one time, but other than that, the girls did great!!) It was in the low 30's . . . BURRRRR! But clear and sunny!!

After we got home and napped, we decorated it and I'm enjoying it right next to me as I type this post. :)

Tom, Sage and Molly standing near our tree in the forest

Cutting it down . . . he only almost fell once. :)

Wow!

Ashley - hanging the first ornament

Sage was close behind with the next one . . .

Molly's favorite thing right now is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so we made sure she got ot hang up one of the Mickey Mouse ornaments. :)

Taking a break to show Daddy how big she is

The finished tree

Thanksgiving

2009-12-03T21:31:00.000-08:00

On Thanksgiving, we went to my Aunt Patti and Uncle Chuck's house. It was great to see my Aunt Marilyn, Uncle Paul, Sara and Aaron, who we haven't seen in about 6 years. My Aunt Carol and Uncle Dave and cousin David and his new wife were there as well. Add all of that family to those of us in the area and there were 22 people total. It was so neat seeing everyone!

One of the highlights (at least for the girls, maybe not for my Dad and Oralia), was making a Gingerbread House. (Thanks Aunt Patti for getting those!) Sage was so excited and loves looking at the completed house. Molly tried to take the candy off for the first few days, but luckily has given up now after being told many, many times that it was yucky. :)

Aunt Marilyn, Dad, Oralia and Sage

This is fun . . . really . . .

Our chubby little Ashley on her first Thanksgiving :)

A Day in the Snow

2009-12-01T21:19:00.001-08:00

We drove up to the snow a few weeks ago and had a blast. The weather was great the day we went. The next day, the ski resort got 13 inches of snow. Great timing!

Up at Crystal Mountain

Dad and Oralia's Visit

2009-12-01T20:54:00.000-08:00

A few days before Thanksgiving, my Dad and Oralia came up for a visit. We had a great time visiting with them and I think they had a great time. (Although, they were pretty cold most of the time.) :) Here are a few highlights . . . more to came later . . .

My Dad meeting Ashley for the first time

Dad, Oralia and Ashley

Thanksgiving day - Ashley giggling and smiling for Papa

Chubby, Chubby

Sage and Papa putting together a tool box he made out of wood

On the observation deck of the Space Needle

Sage's Little Mermaid Birthday Party

2009-11-11T20:18:00.001-08:00

Today at 3 p.m., 14 little kids (13 girls and 1 boy) swam into our house to celebrate Sage's Birthday. We also had 4 little babies and some wonderful adults (some that came with their kids and even 3 without young kids that came per Sage's request.) Thanks guys!!

We played some games, opened presents and had some cake. (The cake was wonderful! Tom did such a nice job on it!) Then the kids played for a little while before they went home. As they were leaving, they each got a fish (complete with bowl, rocks and food.) I didn't warn the parents ahead of time (oops), but none of them seemed to mind taking home a new pet. We had one extra fish, so now Molly has her own fish. :)

We're pretty tired, but so were the girls, so we should all sleep good tonight!

Ariel cake designed by Tom

Ariel pinata

Getting ready to open up presents

Getting so big

2009-11-08T20:22:00.000-08:00

Ashley is getting so big!! She's smiling so much and almost ready to laugh. You can tell she tries to "talk" to you. It's so cute. She's sleeping from about 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. (with one bottle in her sleep right before I go to bed.) We've had a little trouble finding a diaper in a size 2 that will hold through the night, but I think we finally found one!

She's had a little bit of a cough for a few days, but it doesn't seem to bother her. She's not sleeping nearly as much during the day, but loves to sit and watch what is going on. She's such a content baby. She has been eating a lot less at each feeding the past few days, and then wanting to eat more often. So she's been getting a binkie, as I really don't want to feed her every 2 hours. Silly girl!

Previous months pictures with bear

Happy 5th Birthday Sage!

2009-11-08T19:58:00.000-08:00

Sage and Molly were up at 6:30 a.m. and Sage was ready to open some presents. She had requested a scavenger hunt with clues to find her presents, so off she went.

Her new camera - YEA! No more random pictures on our camera!!

Toy blender - she made 2 drinks in it before lunch :)

After we got home from church, she and Tom put together a pencil box Papa made for her. She always wants to make things out of wood so she loved getting to hammer the pieces together!

After AWANA, we had homemade Macaroni and Cheese, Sage's dinner choice, and chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting and ice cream. Then she was able to video chat with Grandma and Grandpa. (Dad - please set your up so we can chat with you too!!)

Make a wish!

Now they are all in bed . . . we are tired . . . but it was a fun 5th birthday. :)

More Halloween Fun

2009-10-28T15:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we were not able to go to MOPS because Molly wasn't feeling well, so we took advantage of a little extra time to make our Halloween sugar cookies. Molly was able to be part of this with us this year and she was so excited!

This morning, we got an early start on our pumpkin carving. The girls drew their faces on their pumpkins and then Tom cut them out.

Sage's Pumpkin

Molly's Pumpkin

This has nothing to do with Halloween, but Tom and the girls were having so much fun playing hide-and-seek this morning, I had to take a picture of it. :)

More Halloween excitement to come later this week . . .

Halloween Costumes

2009-10-27T14:29:00.000-07:00

We are all ready for Halloween!! On Friday, the girls are able to wear their costumes and go to a special Halloween story time at the library and then trick-or-treat around the library. Then on the evening of Halloween, we are planning on going to a harvest party at a church in Kent. :)
Here are the girls costumes.

Molly is Jessie from Toy Story 2

Ashley is a ballerina. :)

Sage is a butterly (headband is being made today . . .)

The latest . . .

2009-10-19T22:17:00.000-07:00

No pictures to post, but here's quick update on what's been going on.

Last week Tom and I were able to go out to dinner and see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the 5th Ave. Theater in Seattle. It was such a nice evening!!

Tom has been quarantined in the bedroom with the flu for the past few days. He's doing better tonight and is planning on going into work tomorrow. (My hands are dry from washing them and using hand sanitizer so much to try and keep the rest of us healthy!!)

I've been so careful about what I've been eating and have managed to get exercise (and morning devotions) back into my routine. I'm down to the last 5 lbs. of pregnancy weight and am feeling great about my progress. :)

Sage is talking about her birthday constantly!

Molly is very interested in the little Winnie the Pooh potty in the bathroom . . . we'll see what comes of that in the next few days.

Ashley slept until 5:15 this morning. YEA!!! (Since I normally get up at 5:30, I was pretty happy!)

I've had some very cute mommy moments this week . . . Molly walking in rain boots, the girls dressing up in their room and then coming downstairs to dance, hearing Molly yell, "Love you Daddy" to Tom since she can't be near him. I love being a Mom and am so blessed to be able to stay home with them!!

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-12T16:16:00.000-07:00

Supposedly our nice dry weather is over as of this week, so we headed out to the pumpkin patch yesterday after church. We found one in Renton that we liked. They had a lot of animal for the kids to look and there were so many great pumpkins! Sage, of course, wanted them all. But we settled for 2 large ones and then 1 small sugar loaf pumpkin to cook with. Not too many meltdowns while we were, so all in all, a good trip. :)

This is not from the pumpkin patch, but it is fall . . . we make pumpkin bread the other day. This was Molly's first time helping. The pumpkin (butternut squash) we used was from our garden!! The bread turned out great and Molly was so excited to help!

Around the house

2009-10-08T20:20:00.000-07:00

When Tom and I were up in Seattle on our date the other evening, we enjoyed some burgers at Red Mill Burgers and then driving home, stopped at Krispy Kreme. They had the cutest pumpkin doughnuts, so we decided to get them for the girls. The black frosting they used for the eyes, nose and mouth went everywhere!! At least they enjoyed them!

Well, our garden is officially done. Things grew so much faster and larger than we anticipated. We also were not able to keep up with all the weeds with me being pregnant or with a newborn and with Tom's new position at work. It was just too much. All that to say, we were able to enjoy some great vegetables. The other day, I went out and picked the last of it. Here's a picture of a few of the vegetables. I picked a bunch of green tomatoes that are ripening out in the garage. We learned about lot and look forward to trying again next year. :)

Ashley - 2 months old

2009-10-08T20:12:00.000-07:00

Ashley is growing so much. All her 0-3 month clothes are out of her dresser and the 3-6 month ones are in! Crazy!! She's getting very chubby. She's still such a happy, content baby. We are so blessed. Here are her monthly bear pictures at 1 month and 2 months so you can tell how much she's grown. :)

1 month old

2 months old

AWANA

2009-10-08T20:05:00.000-07:00

Sage started Awana (Cubbies) a few weeks ago. This past week, we went at the end of the meeting and saw her get her vest, books and bag. She is so excited to go each week and is doing a great job on her verses. :)

Dad's Visit

2009-09-29T16:13:00.000-07:00

Dad came up for a visit last weekend to meet Ashley. It was great to spend time with him. Even though the girls weren't feeling the best, we still managed to get out a little and enjoy the beautiful weather. Here are a few highlights from his trip . . .

Going home with Grandpa . . .

We took the hummer to a park in Kent for the girls to drive . . .

After Sage was done driving . . .

Dad brought some cute Halloween shirts with him for the girls

On our walk in the park - Sage had fun with the camera.

Baby Shower for Ashley

2009-09-29T16:07:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, we went to a baby shower for Ashley at church. Since there were a handful of us with young kids, we met downstairs so the kids were able to play. We played a fun game, had some food and I opened some great gifts for Ashley. Lauren also gave a nice devotional. :) I had such a great time. Thanks ladies!!

Puyallup Fair

2009-09-29T15:55:00.000-07:00

Last week, we took the girls to the fair. I wish it could say it was a great day, but it was pretty rough. Molly was pretty hysterical the whole time. We just thought she was teething, but later found out she had sores in her mouth and had hand, foot and mouth disease. No wonder why she was so sad!

Back to the fair . . . when we were able to distract Molly enough, the girls had fun looking at the animals. Sage and Tom went on the skyway over the fair and we found some really neat markers that we bought for Sage. She's used them for a few hours each day since then. It was definitely a great purchase!

We enjoyed a scone, but ended up leaving after a few hours, so we didn't get to enjoy any other yummy fair food.

Ashley was awake for a lot of the time, just looking around.

Trying to enjoy a scone with a sore mouth . . .

Sage had no problem enjoying a scone!

Looking at baby chicks

Pictures from Photo Session

2009-09-19T09:27:00.001-07:00

Here's the link to see the pictures I had taken of the girls yesterday . . .

http://smilestore.picturepeople.com/my/images?tk=33ed8ac6-530b-47eb-91f5-6666921291d8

Busy Week

2009-09-18T20:18:00.000-07:00

This week has been a busy but good week. Monday, the girls and I headed off to story time at the library, which started up again this week.

Tuesday was the first day of MOPS. It was nice to see some friends from last year and meet some new women at my new table. It was also Tom's 36th birthday, so when he got home, we had dinner, cake and opened a few presents.

Wednesday, Tom was off and we spent some time at Flaming Geyser State Park. We love that place!

Thursday, bible study started at church.

Friday, I took the girls to The Picture People at the mall to have their picture taken. I wanted to get an individual picture of Ashley and a picture of all 3 girls together. They turned out great! I'll post a link to the on-line pictures as soon as they e-mail it to me.

Tomorrow we are going to a birthday party and Tom is cooking a dinner for someone . . . then we hope to relax on Sunday. :)

Can you tell who is who?

2009-09-16T20:25:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to compare these pictures for such a long time and am finally getting around to it. The first 3 pictures are of the girls all wearing the dress that Sage wore home from the hospital. Can you tell who is who?

Order from top to bottom: Sage, Ashley, Molly

The next two pictures are of Molly and Ashley wearing the dress that Molly wore home from the hospital. They definitely look the most alike. Can you tell which one is which?

Order from top to bottom: Ashley, Molly

Tiny Feet

2009-09-14T10:07:00.001-07:00

Mom (and eveyone else) - here's the cute feet picture we wanted to get of Ashley. :)

Picture attempt

2009-09-14T09:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday after church we went to the park across the street to try and get a cute picture of the 3 girls. There's no perfect one, but here are a few that I think are cute. :)

Growing Fast

2009-09-12T20:45:00.000-07:00

Ashley is growing so fast!! She's eating and sleeping great and is such a great baby! She weighs between 9 and 10 lbs. according to our bathroom scale here at home. We'll go back into the Dr. in about 2 weeks for her 2 month check-up and see how much she weighs then.

6 weeks old

Her feet kept poking out of the blanket . . . I had to take a picture!

Puyallup Fair

2009-09-12T20:31:00.000-07:00

On Friday, Amie and I piled all the girls (5) in her van and headed off to the fair. We had so much fun looking at all the animals. The girls were so cute.

Here are a few highlights:

Amie told Rose to go pet the dog and she walked right past the real one and went over and started petting the large stuffed dog. Amie and I thought it was pretty funny! It wasn't too long before the others were joining her. :)

Petting lots of dogs (Molly's favorite part of the day) - and I managed to get all 4 girls in the picture . . . Molly, Sage, Providence and Rosemary (top to bottom)

Trying on fireman jackets

No trip to the fair would be complete without a scone . . .

Sage's favorite part was the hand washing station. They gave us some lotion that made our hands glow under a black light. Then we went and washed them the best we could and looked at them under the black light again to see how good of a job we did. She wanted to do it again and asked if we could buy some of the lotion. Cute!

Celebrating my birthday

2009-09-12T20:22:00.000-07:00

The only pictures we took on my birthday were on our outing to the Hylebos Wetlands with my Aunt. The girls and I went out with her the afternoon of my birthday and had a great time walking around the beautiful wetlands. It's still hard for me to believe there are so many amazing, beautiful places to close to our house!

One of the best parts of my birthday celebration (besides the creme brulee made by my wonderful husband) was hearing Molly sing Happy Birthday. It's so cute!

That evening, my aunt joined us for dinner and even cleaned up. Happy birthday to me!!

Lovin' on Ashley . . . but not sure it Ashley's lovin' it . . .

Around the House

2009-09-01T11:23:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few pictures taken around the house . . .

Sage wanted to be swaddled just like Ashley.

Sage wanted to see if Ashely would fit in her baby doll pack and play. She does . . . but not for long!

Ashley - 1 month old - just looking cute in my lap

Monthly Bear Pictures

2009-09-01T11:09:00.000-07:00

With Sage and Molly we took a monthly picture of them next to a bear so we could see how much they grew each month. Below are the start of Ashley's bear pictures. I took the first one at one week old and the second one I took today on her one month birthday. Happy birthday Ashley!

The onesie she is in is still a newborn size, but most of the one piece newborn clothes she is getting too long for. :) She's growing so fast!

Thanks Aunt Sharon

2009-09-01T11:03:00.001-07:00

Aunt Sharon - this blog post is just for you. Here is Ashley in the beautiful blanket you made for her. I'm sure it will get used a lot as the weather starts to get colder. :)

Sprinkle for Ashley

2009-08-26T15:14:00.000-07:00

Friday night when Mom was here, Amie and Aunt Patti threw a "Sprinkle" to celebrate Ashley's arrival. It was fun to get together with friends and family to celebrate her. (It also made me very home sick for my friends in So. CA!!!!) Ashley slept and ate during her party . . . but since that's all she does any time, I guess that's ok. :)

Mom, Alyssa and Ashley

Quilt sqaures from Laura and Patti :) Can't wait to see the finished quilt in September!

Mom's Visit

2009-08-26T14:58:00.000-07:00

Mom and Alyssa flew up here last week to meet Ashley and spend some time with us. It was great to have them here and we enjoyed spending more time with them! Here are a few pictures . . .

Grandma holding Ashley for the first time

Bath time

2 weeks old

Who is this new person? I don't remember her from when we were here before.

Tom's Transfer

2009-08-11T19:47:00.000-07:00

Today was Tom's last day at the Bistro in Tacoma. Starting Thursday he will be in downtown Seattle at the Flagship Store as the Chef of the Marketplace Cafe. This is a great move for his career as he'll be in contact with corporate people more often as the corporate office is right down the street. He's also planning on taking the train and light rail to get to work, which means the girls and I will be able to use the car most days. Yea! :)

Update on Ashley

2009-08-11T19:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I took Ashley to the Dr. because we thought she had thrush. It turns out she does and the Dr. gave us some drops to put in her mouth 4 times a day. Fortunately, it doesn't seem to bother her and she is still eating and sleeping well. She had gained a few ounces from the last time we were at the Dr. and the Dr. said she looks great. So we'll go back again at 2 months. :)

Other than some major depression on Sunday, I'm doing well. Thanks to family and friends, I've had a lot of help and company the last few days, which has made things easier.

Video from the Hospital

2009-08-05T21:12:00.000-07:00

Here is some video we took at the hospital the day Ashley was born and then the day after when the girls came to see her for the first time.

Big Sisters Coming to Visit

2009-08-05T21:03:00.001-07:00

After church on Sunday, Tom brought the girls to the hospital to meet Ashley. Sage was so excited to see her and Molly wasn't sure what to think, but was still very cute.

Welcome Ashley Noelle Small - The Fifth Tall Small

2009-08-05T20:30:00.000-07:00

After getting to the hospital around 1 a.m. on Saturday, August, 1st, after 17 hours of labor (most with an epidural) and without a c-section, :-) Ashley Noelle Small was born at 5:09 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs. and was 21 inches long. Even though she was born pre-term at 35 weeks 6 days, she was healthy and is doing well.

Waiting and waiting and waiting . . .

After she was born, they immediately put her on my chest after Tom cut the cord. I got to hold her for a long time before they weighed and measured her and cleaned her up.

Ashley on the scale

Tom holding Ashely for the first time