The Sheppard Bunch

Levi's First Official Hair Cut

2012-02-14T12:33:00.000-08:00

I have trimmed Levi's hair to keep it out of his eyes and off of his neck but yesterday Doug used his clippers and gave Levi a big boy haircut. Someone said Levi was a, "Pretty little girl!" and that was when I made the decision that it was time...especially since this is the 2nd time someone thought he was a girl. So here he is before and after:

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T12:26:00.000-08:00

Aila's Vday Party

2012-02-14T12:17:00.000-08:00

Aila's class had a Valentine's party at school and Doud and I got to go. The kids made their own icecream sundaes, exchanged valentines, played with toys and sang their ABCs. It was really cute to watch Doug play dollhouse with the little girls in Aila's class : )

Valentine's Are Made!

2012-02-14T12:11:00.000-08:00

I finished the kiddos Valentine's!

Aila's School Work

2012-02-14T12:06:00.000-08:00

Logan's School Work

2012-02-14T11:58:00.000-08:00

Togetherness

2012-02-14T11:52:00.000-08:00

One of the best parts of being a mom to kiddos so close in age is seeing the relationships develop between them. They really love eachother so much!

Humidity

2012-02-14T11:49:00.000-08:00

This is what my hair pretty much looks like in TX:

Valentine's Play Date

2012-02-14T11:47:00.000-08:00

I had a little Valentine's play date and the kids made cards for some of the elderly and handicapped that Doug works with:

Logan is Growing Up

2012-02-09T18:45:00.000-08:00

It seems like only yesterday Logan was this small:

Now he is 4 1/2! Sometimes he still acts 2 and sometimes he acts 20! This week he has been acting very grown up. I have been pretty sick with a double kidney infection. Logan really stepped up and helped take care of Levi and Aila. He filled their cups with milk (without spilling), served them lunchables for lunch, put them to bed at nap time (complete with telling them a story and singing them a lullaby) and he put movies on for them. This week I got a little glimpse into the future man that he will become. Pretty neat!

I rewarded him for being so mature this week by letting him get his own library card today. He is so proud of it and was showing everybody at the library his card. When it was time to check out our books he carried them himself to the counter and handed the librarian his card. He was so proud of himself when we left that library.

Cherish the little moments because before long, your children will be all grown up!

I am different...

2012-02-09T11:46:00.000-08:00

I have come to realize that as a mom, I am very different. I believe in baby wearing. I follow an alternative vaccination schedule. I try natural remedies before turning to traditional medicine. I believe in breastfeeding and doing so until my baby is ready to wean, not just because they turned a year...in fact Aila was almost 2 when she decided to wean. I am about to have 4 kids (2 more than the average american) and I can't say that I am DONE having kids. I start potty training my kids really early amongst mothers who say to wait until they are 3. I am ok with letting my kids eat things that fell on the floor. I will be homeschooling in a society that looks at homeschool kids as sheltered and antisocial. I believe in disciplining according to the bible.

But all of these things are right for me. I am not saying they are right for everyone. I hate that people, especially other moms, feel like they have to defend their choices because mine are different. "Well I bottle fed because I couldn't make enough milk." "I could never homeschool. I don't have the patience." It is almost as if that by being different they feel I am telling them their choices are wrong and that mine are better.

Sometimes I wish people would realize that God made us all differently. We are not all made from the same cookie cutter. Instead, we are more like unique pieces of a very beautiful puzzle. Not only is it OK to be different...it is good to be different!

Ephesians 4:11 says "So Christ himself called some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and some teachers"

God has given us all unique gifts. All of our gifts compliment eachother. Our strengths cover others' weaknesses and their strengths make up for ours.

You see it is all part of God's plan:
Ephesians 4:16 "From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work."

So today I am accepting the fact that I am different. That is, afterall, how God made me : )

Our Family Mission Statement ; )

2012-02-01T11:25:00.000-08:00

"You Have Your Hands Full!"

2012-02-01T10:24:00.000-08:00

Everywhere I go I am constantly hearing the phrase, "Wow! You have your hands full!" Sometimes people say it like they are impressed. Sometimes it sounds like they are concerned for my well being.

The truth is, my hands ARE indeed full. They are full of GOOD things! I love that my kids know my response when people tell me I have my hands full. Sometimes they even respond before I can..."We are very blessed!" And now they like to throw in, "And we have another baby on the way!"

Is it EASY? Of course not! But in my experience, anything that is worth something is going to be somewhat challenging. I am not superwoman! I pretty much always have a ~~pile~~ mountain of laundry waiting for me. Someone always needs something; a lost shoe, a wiped nose, a diaper changed, a drink of water. There will always be something on my to do list that gets moved on to the next day's list, maybe even for several days.

But I am OK with that. I am not going to ever be the "Perfect Mom" because there is no such thing. But in my weakness there is One who gives me strength.

“It is a kindness when God strips us of self-reliance, because it is there, in our emptiness and brokenness, that we experience the privilege of his sustaining grace. It is only when we arrive at the dreaded place of weakness that we discover the surpassing power of Christ."

I may not be perfect but He is.

Getting Ready for Valentine's Day

2012-01-30T19:04:00.000-08:00

I am hosting a little Valentine's playdate on Saturday and so I took these old canvases and made them into a "Love" sign for a Valentine's decoration : )

Aren't They Cute?

2012-01-30T17:57:00.000-08:00

Forgot to upload these from our AZ trip...

Levi's Big Boy Bed!

2012-01-30T17:48:00.000-08:00

So we did some major projects this weekend. Doug took apart the crib and moved it to Aila's room. Then we took apart Aila's twin bed and replaced it with her toddler bed instead so that both the crib and bet could fit in the girls' room. Then we took the mattress from Aila's twin and put it on the bottom bunk of Logan's bed for Levi. Levi was very excited to sleep in his new big boy bed and didn't cry for his crib at all. The first night he fell asleep on the floor and Logan was asleep on Levi's bed. The last two nights both boys ended up sleeping in Levi's bed. Way too cute!

I'll post some pics of both rooms soon!

Girl's Night Out

2012-01-20T18:43:00.000-08:00

LeeAnna, Abby and I went to the Cheesecake Factory sans kiddos! Then we walked around the mall for a while.

This is us making silly faces in these silly hats at Claire's:

I love u girlies!!! Can't wait til our next GNO!

Mesa Youth Museum

2012-01-20T18:26:00.000-08:00

We met up with friends again to go to the Youth Museum. The kids loved playing with the giant blocks and with all of the toys.

Playdate at a Park

2012-01-20T18:06:00.000-08:00

We met up with our friends again at a different park. The weather had been close to the 80s all week so we thought it would be a great way to spend the day...except it was pretty cold that day. LOL I can't complain though because it was the only day we had "Texas weather" in AZ.

Thanks Joelle for bringing an extra bike and scooter for my kiddos!

Back to the Train Park

2012-01-20T18:02:00.000-08:00

I took the kids to the train park again because they were begging to go back. We went during the day and rode the train, carousel, and played at the playground.

Meeting up with Nicole

2012-01-20T17:57:00.000-08:00

I tutored her when she was a little girl and now she is a beautiful young lady! It was so nice to chat with her and hear about what she has been up to. The kiddos loved her too. She is going to be a great teacher someday : )

The kids had fun dancing to the music at the McD's where we met:

Fun at the Mall with My Besties : )

2012-01-20T17:55:00.000-08:00

I met up with LeeAnna and Abby at the San Tan Mall and we let our kiddos play and ate some Auntie Ann's while we got in some girl talk : )
And they convinced me to check out the cute shoes they had in payless and I now own some really cute, comfy shoes!

Micah's Birthday Party

2012-01-20T17:50:00.000-08:00

The kids got to go to Micah's birthday party while we were in town and they absolutely loved jumping in the bounce house and the little petting zoo:

Fun Night at Chucky Cheese

2012-01-19T21:44:00.000-08:00

We got to go to Chuck E Cheese with my mom and brother. I had some awesome coupons that got us tons of tokens and the kids played forever. Even Levi loved the little rides!

Playdate with James and Jacob

2012-01-19T21:12:00.000-08:00

The kids got to go to their friend James and Jacob's house to play. They totally got into the Wi Dance game. it was so cute!!!

Playdate with Ashlynn and Annabelle

2012-01-19T21:08:00.000-08:00

The kids got to play at Ashlynn and Annabelle's house while I got to hang out with their mommy : )

Doug Goes to Cali

2012-01-19T21:03:00.000-08:00

Doug left after New Year's to head to California for 10 days. He attended his last 2 seminary classes he needed for his MDiv!!! 10 days was the longest we have been apart and the kids missed their daddy as much as I missed him.

New Year's Day BBQ

2012-01-19T20:57:00.000-08:00

We got to get together with our old "gang" for a BBQ for New Year's Day. It is so great to see our besties and our ever growing families : )

New Year's Eve

2012-01-19T20:50:00.000-08:00

My mom made a delicious dinner for New Years Eve and then my brother had fireworks for all the kiddos. Of course we only stayed up until NY New Year (which is 10pm AZ time), but it was still a great night!

Fun at Jambo

2012-01-19T20:43:00.000-08:00

My brother had coupons for Jambo so we took all the kiddos to go on the rides. We spent almost the entire day there and the kids had so much fun. Aila thought it was Disney World.

Another Park Playdate

2012-01-19T20:34:00.000-08:00

Logan and Aila had so much fun playing with Brady and Caitlin at Tumbleweed Park:

Happy 34th Birthday Doug!

2012-01-19T20:27:00.000-08:00

Doug and I went to his favorite restaurant, Nellos, to have a birthday date night : )

Park Playdate with Friends

2012-01-19T20:22:00.000-08:00

Logan had a blast playing with his friend Elias at the park!

Train Park Christmas Lights

2012-01-19T20:17:00.000-08:00

We went with my mom and met up with our friends to take the kiddos to ride the little trains and see all the Christmas lights at the train park. This is one of my favorite things to do for Christmas and the train park is Logan's favorite place ever!

Dinner with Harry and Mary

2012-01-19T20:06:00.000-08:00

Our sweet friends invited us over for dinner and we were so glad we got to spend some time with them! We really miss them so much and our kids totally love their kids.

Purple Mountains Majesty!

2012-01-19T20:02:00.000-08:00

Oh how I miss the mountains and the beautiful AZ sky! Pictures just don't do them justice!

Christmas Day

2012-01-19T19:57:00.000-08:00

The kids were so blessed this Christmas by all our family. They loved all of their gifts. Thank you everyone!

Then we sang happy birthday to Jesus and ate the cake for breakfast : )

After breakfast we got our Christmas clothes on and headed to church:

We ended the day at my cousin Diane's house. It was so great seeing all of my cousins and aunt and uncle!

Christmas Eve in AZ!

2012-01-19T19:30:00.000-08:00

We got to go home for 3 whole weeks and it was absolutely wonderful! On Christmas Eve we exchanged presents with my nephews and then we went to church with my mom and brother.

Then our Christmas Eve tradition is for the kids to open up 1 present and it is always brand new pjs : )

Payton's Birthday

2011-12-21T10:42:00.000-08:00

After we celebrated Christmas with Mimi and Papa we headed to the Houston Space Center for Payton's birthday. The place was awesome and the kids loved it! Thank you Uncle Mark and Aunt Jen for taking us there : ) After the space center we went back to their house and the kids made monster hats and we ate dinner and cake.

Christmas with Mimi and Papa

2011-12-21T10:32:00.000-08:00

Mimi and Papa came to town for Payton's birthday so we celebrated Christmas with them. They made a scavenger hunt with the kids, read a Christmas story and we exchanged gifts.

Christmas Crafts

2011-12-21T10:27:00.000-08:00

I made glass soda bottle snowmen, coasters, a vase, and more as gifts for people for Christmas:

Class Parties

2011-12-21T10:24:00.000-08:00

I made these treats for the kids' friends at school:

Here is the bow I made to match Aila's dress:

Aila ready for her party:

Pic of Logan (his party was on a different day than Aila's)

Aila's party:

Logan's party:

Moody Gardens

2011-12-21T10:14:00.000-08:00

We went to the festival of lights at Moody Gardens : ) We saw the lights, rode the boat and saw a 3D Christmas movie!

Starting to Show!

2011-12-21T10:10:00.000-08:00

I am starting to get a baby bump for sure! Here is a pic of me at 22 weeks:

Gingerbread Parties

2011-12-21T10:09:00.000-08:00

This month we went to 4 of the elderly/handicapped properties and put on gingerbread house making parties for the residents. Logan and Aila loved helping and we let them make a house at 2 of the parties : )

It's A Girl!!!

2011-12-01T11:23:00.000-08:00

Right before we left for Louisiana for Thanksgiving I had my 20 week ultrasound and got to find out the gender of the baby. The ultrasound tech took me back without Doug to do all the measurments and stuff. When she got to the legs she asked if I wanted to wait for my husband to find out the gender and I said yes, thinking that she would go get him then. Nope...I had to wait another 10 minutes, which seemed like the longest 10 minutes ever, before she finally got him and we got to find out. And there was no denying it....OUR BABY IS A SHE!

Here is the baby's hand:

Here is the baby's profile:

And here is the baby's gender....YES! IT'S A GIRL!

The ultrasound tech was awesome and printed off 50 pictures for us to take home! I have never had that many! She kept trying to get a 3d of the baby's face but the baby kept putting her arms in front of her face and blocking the camera. In a couple of the pictures she looks like she is ready to box. LOL

Her name will be Ariah (pronounced like Mariah but with out the M...Uh- Rhye- Uh) and it means faithful in Persian. Her middle name will be Ann after my mother-in-law (now each of our kids has been named after one of their grandparents). Ann is also my sister's middle name and my Nana's nick name.

She is measuring right on track so my due date is still April 11th. Which to me means, end of March since all my babies have been a bit early. We'll see though!

I can't wait to meet our new little princess! I already have her newborn outfits set up in the closet and I can't wait to make lots more hairbows and tutus! (Did I mention that the ultrasound tech didn't see any hair at all. That's right! My two boys were born with lots of hair and it looks like my 2 girls will have been born baldies!)

Christmas Crafts

2011-12-01T10:55:00.000-08:00

My new addiction is Pinterest. If you don't know what that is, it is a site where you can "pin" thinks you like and save a picture of it on your board. I love it for pinning craft ideas, recipes, and decorating inspiration. Here are 2 new crafts I made that were inspirde by pinterest.

A cookie sheet advent calendar (each day you take off a little magnet and it has the number of days until Christmas under it):

And a wreath made out of clothespins to display Christmas cards people send us:

Decorating Cookies

2011-12-01T10:51:00.000-08:00

Mimi and Papa got the kids a kit to make and decorate cookies. They had so much fun. They would decorate their cookie and then eat off the decorations and decorate it again. I even made some cookies with the left over dough for Doug:

Logan and Aila's Christmas Pageant

2011-12-01T10:48:00.000-08:00

The kids were so cute in their Christmas Pageant. Aila did not sing and looked like a deer in headlights. Logan sang really loud and was so proud when the audience clapped. When I asked them their favorite part of being in the show they said it was seeing me there : )

Aila didn't sing a word. She even looked at another girl in her class like, "What are you doing?" lol I was surprised because she had been singing the song at home everyday at the top of her lungs.

Here is Logan walking in and the very beginning of his song. Then my camera ran out of memory! AGGgg So I had to delete an old video fast. I got the very end of his first song but then I was atleast able to get all of his second song. I was so mad! But his little smile was adorable. He was so proud of himself:

Time to Decorate for Christmas!

2011-12-01T10:43:00.000-08:00

Smores!!!

2011-12-01T10:34:00.000-08:00

We made smores in Mimi and Papa's firepit : )

More LA Fun!

2011-12-01T10:29:00.000-08:00

The day after Thanksgiving, Mimi and Papa took the kids to this fun play place. The kids could have lived their they were having so much fun:

The kids loved this dance game:

Thanksgiving!!!

2011-12-01T10:24:00.000-08:00

The kids started the day off by playing with a new playdough set that Mimi got them. Then we took lots of pictures, watched the parade, and ate yummy turkey. After lunch Doug took Logan to get his first beebee gun and we all took turns learning hot to shoot outside. Then Papa and Doug played football with the kids. What a great way to spend Thanksgiving : )

Levi's Front Facing Car Seat

2011-12-01T10:08:00.000-08:00

Levi got to sit in his front facing car seat for the first time when Mimi and Papa took the kids to Louisiana. He LOVES it!

Dinner with Doug's Family

2011-12-01T10:06:00.000-08:00

Doug's dad went to a missions conference with Doug here in Houston. While his parents were visiting we all went out to dinner at Fudruckers:

So Sleepy!

2011-12-01T09:59:00.000-08:00

Levi fell asleep in his highchair for the first time. Poor guy missed his nap and couldn't make it through the day...

MOPS Playdate at Hidden Talent

2011-12-01T09:58:00.000-08:00

The kids had fun painting at the mall with MOPS and then we visited Santa after.

Levi is Officially 1!

2011-12-01T09:56:00.000-08:00

School Pictures...the homeschool way : )

2011-12-01T09:54:00.000-08:00

I tried taking the kids school pictures myself this year since I have a nice new camera.

Trouble!

2011-12-01T09:50:00.000-08:00

Levi was being awfully good and quiet while Logan and Aila were working on their homeschool lessons...

I Love Goodwill!

2011-12-01T09:48:00.000-08:00

Goodwill is always awesome when I haven't been able to find what I am looking for at garage sales. The stuff costs a little more (like $2 instead of a quarter) but it is great for the holidays! Check out the adorable clothes I was able to get the kids:

Burt's Bees Natural Moisturizing Cream

2011-11-15T05:42:00.000-08:00

You all know by now that I am a Bzzagent and that I get to try products out for free and then tell people about them. Well this month I got to try a really awesome one! Burt's Bees Natural Daily Moisturizing Cream! Here is what I LOVE about this cream:

-It lasts ALL DAY!
-It isn't sticky or thick!
-It makes my skin smooth and silky!
-It uses all natural ingredients that are perfect for my sensitive pregnancy skin!
-It gets absorbed by my skin right away so I can put it on right before putting my makeup on!

So I won't be having any dry, flakey lizzard skin this pregnancy : ) This stuff works fantastic! I highly reccomend you try it out!

Kids' School Work

2011-11-13T20:03:00.000-08:00

Aila's work:

Logan's Work:

Logan Singing at Church

2011-11-13T19:46:00.000-08:00

Logan got to sing at church with his school today. I can't believe how far he has come. We used to have to encourage him just to stay on the stage. Today he not only stayed on the stage, he sang and did the motions!!!

Logan's Soccer Champions Pizza Party

2011-11-13T19:43:00.000-08:00

Logan's team go to celebrate their winning season with free pizza at Cici's. They got their trophies and the coach even had a special soccer cookie cake made for the team. Logan was so proud of his trophy. He doesn't want it in his room. He wants it in our living room so that everyone who comes to our house can see it.

DInner with Our Friends : )

2011-11-13T19:32:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Feasts

2011-11-13T19:30:00.000-08:00

Logan and Aila's school had a Thanksgiving feast for all of the parents. Logan's class dressed like pilgrims and Aila's dressed like indians. They made adorable place mats and center pieces and served turkey and all of the trimmings. The kids loved having mommy and Levi come to lunch at their school with them : )

Logan's Last Soccer Game

2011-11-13T19:25:00.000-08:00

We are sad to see the season end but so proud of our lil soccer stud! His team was UNDEFEATED and Logan played awesome!

Playing with Babies

2011-11-13T19:22:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

The kids started off the day by going to school:

Then after school they came home and got their costumes on. Levi was a lion again. Logan was going to be a lion but then he decided it was too hot so he changed his mind last minute and wore his cow costume (good thing we have lots of dressup clothes! lol) Aila decided to be Tinkerbell again.

Daddy had to run some errands and Aila and Levi fell asleep in the car! I think they were still wore out from trunk or treating. Logan kept asking me to take pictures of him mooing. LOL

We ate dinner at Jason's Deli before doing our Halloween stuff. YUM!

Then we went to a carnival at the kids' school:

We ended our night trick or treating around our neighborhood. The kids got so much candy! Of cource OCD mommy oragnized it into baggies according to its kind...LOL

2nd Baptist Trunk or Treating

2011-11-01T10:06:00.000-07:00

We went Trunk or Treating at 2nd Baptist Church and the kids had an amazing time. This was the most all out trunk or treating I have ever seen. For those of you who don't know what trunk or treating is, it is an event that churches put on where their members decorate their trunks for halloween and then kids go trick or treating from trunk to trunk. At 2nd Baptist though the people didn't just decorate their trunks. They made all kids of interactive games for the kids. One person even brought their giant fishing boat adn let the kids fish off of it for candy. On top of all the trunk or treating games they had 3 big bouncers, a hay ride, and a fire truck. We definitely want to do this again next year!

The kids in their costumes: (Aila decided not to be a princess anymore and wanted to wear her tinkerbell costume. Logan was a lion again and Levi was a puppy since his lion and bear costumes needed to be washed)

On the bouncers:

Fishing for candy:

Trunk or Treating:

The hay ride:

Getting Crafty

2011-10-30T12:27:00.000-07:00

I had an old mirror with a pretty frame I had bought for $1 at a garage sale. I spray painted the mirror black and then used some scrap book paper, a wood S and some modge podge to make this design for outside our door:

I have a chair that someone was throwing away outside our door. I spray painted it black and sewed a little pillow to match:

I still had tons of spray paint left so I painted 2 glass soda bottles and made a little center piece for our dining table:

YMCA Fall Festival

2011-10-30T12:22:00.000-07:00

The Y had a little fall festival too. The kids got their faces painted, decorated cookies and played lots of games:

Roseland Manor Fall Festival

2011-10-30T12:17:00.000-07:00

Doug and the management put on a little Halloween party in our neighborhood. They had a DJ, food and games : )

Logan's Soccer Game

2011-10-30T12:10:00.000-07:00

Logan had soccer on Saturday. He was REALLY tired and pretty cranky. He finally started playing better at the end of the game. It was soooooo cold too! They won again though and are still undefeated! Only 1 game left in the season!

Levi's Party

2011-10-30T12:04:00.000-07:00

We had a little family praty for Levi's birthday. He doesn't turn 1 until Nov 14th but we had it early since Mimi and Papa would be in town!

I Love Party Planning

2011-10-30T11:38:00.000-07:00

I love picking a theme and planning a party all around that theme. Levi's theme was football/ sports.

Here is the invitation I made:

First I made him a football cake:

Then I wrapped the soda bottles to make them look like footballs:

Doug's mom got me some awesome birthday banners and a center piece to decorate with. I put the center piece on the kid table and taped down little helmets for the kids to decorate:

I got this cute flag banner at the dollar tree and some green table clothes that I decorated to make look like a football field:

I found these cute little football bowls at Hobby Lobby. Filled them with sports lollipops, blowers, footballs whistles and football yoyos:

I photoshopped Levi's face on a football player and made little helmets for a pin the tail on the donkey type game where the kids had to try to get the helmet on Levi's face:

This is the table set up ready for all the food to go on it. Doug smoked lots of delicious meat! He made the best ribs I have ever tasted!!!

All Dressed Up for Levi's Party

2011-10-30T11:15:00.000-07:00

Aila got to wear an adorable outfit that Mimi made her. She gave me some fabric scraps so I could make matching bows. Isn't it adorable???

Logan looked so handsome : )

They were so cute posing together:

Of course Levi looked adorable in his birthday outfit. Logan wore the same outfit when he turned 1! I can't believe Logan is 4 and Levi is turning 1 already!!!

I am absolutely blessed!!!

Baytown Nature Center

2011-10-30T10:45:00.000-07:00

On Fridays we like to go to Tike Hike at the Baytown Nature Center for part of our homeschool science curriculum. This week Mimi and Papa were in town so Mimi got to come with us too : )They had the kids come in costume and do a scavenger hunt for candy and they taught about cockroaches! They even had giant madagascar hissing cockroaches and the kids got to touch them! EEEEEWWWW! Of course they loved it!

Old River Baptist Fall Festival

2011-10-27T10:47:00.000-07:00

We went to a fall festival at a church last night and all we had to pay was 1 canned good per person to donate to a food bank : ) They had tons of different bounce houses, a rock wall, a mechanical bull, a clown doing facepainting and balloon animals, a spinning swing ride, a petting zoo, a train ride, a hay ride, and an entire preschool area with games for little kids and a little cardboard box corn maze. Needless to say, the kids were in heaven!

Posing before getting on the ride:

This is how they were waiting in line. So cute how much they love eachother!

Cute little train ride:

Logan loved the hay ride!

All of us on the hay ride:

Waiting to go in a bounce house:

There was this fast spinning ride and Aila was too afraid to go on with just Logan so I sat with Aila and Levi and Logan went all by himself. They totally loved it!

The kids loved the petting zoo:

Logan's School Work

2011-10-27T10:35:00.000-07:00

Aila's School Work

2011-10-27T10:25:00.000-07:00

Fall Photo Shoot

2011-10-27T10:20:00.000-07:00

I wanted to try my camera outdoors so I brought the kiddos outside for a photoshoot. I really wanted a pic of all 3 of them but Levi just wanted to crawl around everywhere. I finally gave up and brought them inside and sat him in his bumbo. He was trapped and I got to take some pics of the 3 of them together ; )

We Love School!

2011-10-27T09:59:00.000-07:00

Logan and Aila are thriving in preschool and homeschool. The kids love both forms of school and I love seeing all of the things they are learning.

Here they are ready for preschool:

The kids have been asking LOTS of questions about space lately. Logan asked if he could fish on the moon. Thank you Dreamworks Movies for giving my kids that idea! lol Aila wanted to know if when the sun sets if it burns the road. All of these questions made us decide to study the solar system in homeschool. The kids learned about all of the planets and can tell you which ones are terrestrial and which are gas giants. Logan learned all of the names, except he kept calling Uranus, "My Ranus". Haha

Cutting Molars

2011-10-27T09:48:00.000-07:00

In the last 2 weeks, Levi has cut 2 out of his 4 molars and a 3rd one is starting to come in. Fussy is an understatement for how he has been. Poor guy is simply miserable! He finally seems to be happy again today so maybe we will get a little break before number 4 comes in....I hope! Here he is eating his breakfast:

Trying Out My New Camera

2011-10-27T09:44:00.000-07:00

I had to try out my new camera and the kids don't sit still long enough for me to play around with the settings. So instead I took pictures of our living room, the cat, the dog, and Doug doing homework...

New Camera!!!

2011-10-27T09:41:00.000-07:00

My old camera bit the dust : ( Yes I cried : ( How can I be the mamarazzi without my trusty camera? Luckily I had recently gotten all the pictures off of it so I didn't lose any of them. I called Doug all upset and he pretty much laughed and said we knew it was about to die and he was planning on getting me a new one for Christmas anyway with some of our tax return. He said this way works out better because now I can pick it out. After doing lots of price comparing and research I ended up picking this Fujifilm Finepix camera. It takes 14 mp pictures and can zoom up to 18x! I am still learning all of the features but so far I love it! So there will be more blogs posted and lots of pictures because it looks like my days as the mamarazzi are not yet over : D

Ready for Halloween!

2011-10-11T11:01:00.000-07:00

The Nature Center

2011-10-11T10:57:00.000-07:00

I have been taking the kids to the Nature Center on Fridays for our homeschool science lesson. They have a tike hike and teach a lessons on different animals or the environment. Afterwards the kids love to have some time to play and explore at this great playground.

LeeAnna Came to Visit!

2011-10-11T10:31:00.000-07:00

I am very lucky that one of my besties also married a Texan so her inlaws are here : ) She came to visit with her family and I got to hang out with them. The kids loved playing with Ashlynn and Annabelle. They have missed their lil friends as much as I have missed mine. Wish it didn't have to end : (

Picture Day

2011-10-11T10:24:00.000-07:00

The kids got all dressed up for picture day at school:

2nd Trimester!!!

2011-10-05T11:25:00.000-07:00

I had my first appointment with the actual OB on Monday and surprisingly she did an ultrasound! I didn't even know she had a machine in her office because they usually send me to an ultrasound place on another floor. It was awesome because Doug's mom decided to come visit and so Doug was able to come to the appointment with me and he was so excited to get to see the baby. Of course I was nervous. It was a good thing they did the ultrasound because the baby was a lot more developed than it should have been for my dates so once again they had to readjust my due date. My now FINAL and OFFICIAL due date is April 11th! I asked if she could see any girl or boy parts yet but she didn't see anything so I guess we will have to wait until my next ultrasound. My next appointment is on Halloween so maybe she will do one then, but I don't expect her to. She'll probably want me to schedule it for that other office like I did with Levi.

The awesome thing is that today I am 13 weeks! This is how far along I was when I started hemmoraging with Levi and told I was going to have a miscarriage. I remember thinking "Yay! I passed the first trimester so my chance for miscarriage is a lot lower!" and then the next day I started bleeding. Praise God for His healing because our little miracle is so precious! You would think after seeing God do a miracle like that I would not be so worried for this pregnancy, but I am. It was such a relief to see a healthy baby on the ultrasound. It's heartbeat was 151 : )

Here are the ultrasound pics. The baby is already sucking its thumb! So far Levi is our only baby that wasn't a thumb sucker.

Your Baby in Week 13 of Pregnancy
What's up with your baby? Well, besides being as large as a peach now, that big old noggin of hers is now about half the size of her crown-to-rump length (that’s one reason why your little peach looks more like an alien from outer space at this point). By the time you give birth, her body will catch up, measuring three-quarters of her total size. What else is going on in there? Tiny bones are beginning to form in her arms and legs, the intestines are beginning to move from the umbilical cord to the abdomen, and the vocal cords are well under construction (the first step toward saying, "I love you, Mommy!"). And because she can move her arms and legs in a jerky fashion, she may be able to get her thumb into her mouth (a habit that may come in handy for self-soothing when she’s a newborn).

Dress for Aila

2011-10-02T12:28:00.000-07:00

Another dress I sewed for Aila:

Doug's Big Catch!

2011-10-02T12:25:00.000-07:00

Trip to the Beach

2011-10-02T12:24:00.000-07:00

Summer is comming to a close. We will miss going to the beach now that the weather is cooling down.

Learning to Read

2011-10-02T12:21:00.000-07:00

Logan has moved onto a new phonics reader. We are working on the EEP word family and his new book also has a lot of sight memory words. We study the lists and then Logan tries to read the book. Here is a video of his first attempt at reading the book after learning the lists. I am such a proud mommy : )

Some more soccer...

2011-10-02T12:18:00.000-07:00

Never a dull moment : )

2011-10-02T12:17:00.000-07:00

Painting With Daddy

2011-10-02T12:15:00.000-07:00

Doug loves to paint and so do the kids. Especially when daddy lets them help.

Mall Treat

2011-10-02T12:12:00.000-07:00

The kids have been getting such excellent reports from their teachers that when I picked them up on Wednesday, I took them to the mall as a surprise. I let them play at the playground and then we each had a cookie and shared an icee drink. They thought it was the best day ever : ) Kids are so easy to please!