January 4, 2010

+ 2 days...

If you remember, when I was in labor with Kyle, we found out that the new batteries we had bought for the camera, SPECIFICALLY FOR THAT MOMENT, were dead.... out of the package- dead. So, we have very few first day or two pictures. We opted to embrace the moments ourselves without a camera.

While we were in the hospital, Seth and Leah stayed with Nana and Papa. After being discharged (which is much harder than it should be) we left the hospital and headed to their house to introduce everybody.

baby's first christmas

It's hard to believe, but this was Kyle's first Christmas. When you picture a baby's first Christmas, you don't think of them opening gifts and walking around playing with their new toys. Apparently, merchants see it the same way; everything that said "Baby's first Christmas" was 6 months and down.

christmas 2010

GoOd mOrNInG, ChRisTMas!

I will never win against this one in waking up early.
But, Nathan had to hold me back so I wouldn't wake up the other two!
I was just TOO EXITED!

"too bright, mommy!"

I always forget to turn off the t.v. before trying to take his picture.

LET THE FESTIVITIES BEGIN!!

little mommy-part 4

Leah got a Bitty Baby for her birthday. We had held it back for a couple of years, because we thought that she was a little too young. But, this year, as you have seen, she has really started to be a good little mommy. She has been my side-kick around the house; she's always ready to help whenever she is capable. So I decided that it was time for her to get her nice baby doll. Boy oh boy was I right! She is so adorable. She takes care of every detail of her babies needs. Someday....

Leah's 3rd Birthday at OneTrueMedia.com

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mom's first turkey

This year, we celebrated with the Barleys, but because I am terrible with the camera these days, I have no pictures to prove it.

I did take pictures of the preparations (because, at that time, my dear husband was caring for our 3 dear littles). Can you even imagine? A chance for your brain to fully process multiple thoughts in a row!!!

This year was my first year to ever bake a turkey. I always want leftovers, but knew we wouldn't have any unless I made some... is that even leftovers?? It was horrible... not the turkey, but the preparations for baking a turkey. BLAH!!! Yuck!

Tom never made it to a pretty platter because I had such a bad cold that I couldn't taste anything so we carved and stored him. When I finally tasted him, he was pretty good, but all turkeys are better fresh out of the oven.

Nothing beats homemade cranberry sauce. Could it look more gorgeous?

The Chex Mix was also a first for me, and it did not last long. DEEEElicious! If you're coming to Memphis for Christmas, you're probably getting some!

I also made sweet potatoes and cornbread casserole, but they were a flop. But, at the end of the day, we had a great time eating, chilling and playing games with Grandma and Grandpa Barley.

Fall Fun

Sometimes, life's best memories come when least expected.
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naughty sinners

I was working on letter recognition with Leah (because she wants to "do school" whenever Seth does) and I want her to associate the letter 'j' with Jesus. So I tried to say some primary doctrines to get her mind working. Eventually I said something to the effect of, "We are sinners and Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins. Aren't we all sinners?" She turned and said in a very reprimanding voice, "Naughty sinners." I thought it was great, so I tried to re-stage it for the camera...

POINT PROVEN!

But! It all ended well!!

leaps and bounds

My baby keeps growing up.

This year I decided to start doing some school with Seth. I figured it would be a good opportunity to warm up to it. We wouldn't have to be super structured and I could get used to one more thing in the schedule slowly.

HE LOVES IT!!

Everyday he asks and asks, "When are we going to do school?" Then after we "do school," he wants to do more school. So far, he's been starting to read and learning to add, subtract, count money, skip count and tell time. So amazing!

This year he has also started Master Clubs at church. It's similar to Awana; the children memorize scriptures and complete activities to earn patches.

He has really enjoyed being in Mrs. Gord's Little Lambs class and looks forward to it each week. He was so excited when he finally got his vest "...like Riley and Ryan have in their closet at home." He had to wait patiently (and disappointedly) for the right size to come, but when he finally got it the child was the happiest I'd ever seen him. He's already earned his "God Made It All" patch.

Now I just need to sew it on for him!

a new do

family sing alongs

Every time we get in the car, I will here many rounds of "Jesus Loves Me" and "The B-I-B-L-E." Leah loves to sing in the car. She sings these songs over and over! However, she has just now started singing in her classes at church.

I love singing with Kyle too! He cracks me up. One day I was trying to see what was in his mouth and said, "Ahh, ahh, ahh," while trying to peek in his mouth and he started doing it back.

And now on to the important stuff...

shelby farms

September 14th

This was Kyle's first trip to Shelby Farms (the countries largest city park). Unfortunately, the playground has been torn down to make way for a new fancy playground. (Can't wait until it's finished.) So, we just walked down to Patriot Lake and back up for a while.

another attempt

So, I cut Leah's hair. I was standing in the kitchen combing it one morning, grabbed the kitchen scissors and cut away. Someone really needs to confiscate the scissors in our home. So, I wanted to take a picture of it, and since all 3 were in one place, I TRIED AGAIN.

Kyle looks as though he's concerned that his hair is next.
And I love the fact that I didn't even think to give Seth's hair even a half-effort.

Good Job, Kyle. But, Nope!

Don't you just love that they all have the same expression.
Now, if only those tight lips had been smiles instead!!

Last try, AND....
I give up!

But,

Here's Leah's new haircut.

backyard photo shoot

One cool (I say this because there weren't many) Sunday afternoon in September, I grabbed the camera and tried to get some pictures of the 3 kids together. Well, it proved to be yet another futile attempt. But here are some cute ones I got.

The boys were rolling around in the grass together.
(Kyle is my first child to not hate being in the grass.)









While Leah was busy...
building a sidewalk.

a few of kyle's firsts....

AWESOME AUGUST

Romping Around the Zoo
Waiting for the sea lions to swim by.

Not really liking it...

...LOVIN' it!!


SUPER SEPTEMBER

Riding the IPC Merry-Go-Round


Playing on the Mall Playground
My boy LOVES to climb!
Sometimes, if he's not climbing, he's not happy.

smushmellows

Somethings I just hope I never forget.
This summer,
smores
were a big hit around our house.

How's that for some sequencing??

We ended up getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, so we had to make our smores indoors.

the dragon hunter

This is by far one of my favorite summer memories and it all started here:

Mimi took us to see the movie "How to Tame Your Dragon" and all the kids loved it. Seth sat by Mimi during the movie, and at some point, she whispered something to the effect of, "We need to get a pet dragon." And that set off a huge spiral that ended with Mimi showcasing her incredible creativity.

She sent Seth on a Dragon Hunt and he went from dragon egg to dragon egg collecting clues. It was quite exciting for one and all until the clues took us outside.... in the dark. That's when Seth started to get "nervous." Alas, our brave warrior found the dragon egg and brought it in to help it hatch.

Seth and Leah were both VeRy scared about what might happen... Enjoy the videos!

It took some coaxing, but Mimi convinced him to give over the egg.

So, we all watched and waited... and waited... and waited...
Then we realized that there was a second wrapper.

AH! There we go!

We were all quite nervous...

If you look VerY closely, you can see the fierce DRaGoN.
Thanks Aunt Mimi!

visiting the daniels

Please don't ever think that Seth won't get excited if you give him clothes as a gift.

Everyone's excited about the new bowling game!!

I just loved this one b/c it reminds of a picture of my second Christmas.

Must-have picture of the birthday buddies! Born almost exactly 11 years apart. And for wondering minds, Mimi and I are 11 years apart. We had our first-borns at almost the exact same age!