Nothing sweeter than this

Heres my boy all squeaky clean after his bath. Ammon is really starting to enjoy bathtime. He is still a little unsure about it all, but he is very calm and relaxed and has this inquisitive look on his face the whole time. Like, what is this wet stuff? He'll even smile at me during it now. Its so sweet! I'm sure pretty soon he'll start to splash like crazy. I know hes contemplating getting his mommy all wet:) I'm just waiting until he figures that out.

Thank you Mommy

My mom and a couple of bros came up and visited at the beginning of the month and I forgot to post a couple of pics from when they were here. Honestly, not many pics were taken because I was so sick that weekend! We were probably really fun to hang out with...with the poopy driveway and a sickly lady and all. . .but it was still really great to have them here. :) We hung out, watched movies, ate good food and played the wii. Good stuff. Oh, and we got to shout "Happy New Year!" together and clink our sparkling cider drinks. It was the baste!(say it like Nacho Libre) And I have to publicly thank my mom for helping and taking good care of me when she was here. It was the first time in a long time that I had my mommy taking care of me when I was sick and it was nice. Its great to be a mom but its also nice to be mommed again:) I love you Mom. Thanks again for coming up to be with us so we could have our own little Christmas together.

Grandma and her grandkiddos

Grandma and happy little Ammon

She also came bearing Christmas gifts for everyone. The girls were very surprised and excited to get Lalaloopsy dolls and lots of squinkies and goodies.

My sister also came up for a little bit and got the kids pillows with their initials(a BIG hit) and some other cool stuff from Justice-the "cool" store for little girls:)

I also have to thank my inlaws for the TON of stuff they sent us for Christmas. The shipping alone must've cost a fortune. Boxes and boxes and boxes were coming in the mail(it was so exciting-I love to get mail!) Toys, games, crafts, giftcards-we were very very spoiled by everyone.

Thanks all yall:)

Zac on back

Never fails, if you are laying on the ground at our house, you'll have a furry companion climb on your back to chill out for awhile. I love how friendly and cuddly our little Zac is :)
And if he gets really lucky, he might even get to go for a ride with Cali.

Always excitement at this house. Even when everyone is stuck at home sick, we find a way to have some fun(these pics were taken last month in the middle of it all).

My boyz

These are seriously the two most handsome men on the planet. They looked so cute this morning all dressed up for church that I had to take a picture. I just wuv them.

Stephens Candycane Cocoa, where have you been all my life?

While shopping at the upscale grocery store I go to(aka Walmart:), I was in the hot cocoa section and nearly wet myself with excitement. Usually this store only carries 3 brands of hot cocoa(Swiss Miss, Nestle & Land o Lakes). But on this visit, I was in for a surprise. Not only are they carrying Stephens products now, but they are also carrying Ghirardelli too! I know, I know, I excite easily. But hot cocoa is one of my most favorite things about winter and now that we've got the good stuff, I'm a happy girl. And this candycane cocoa is UH-MAZING!

Ammon loves Zac

Here are those giggles I promised. . .

Ammon: 4 months

On New Years Day, our little guy turned 4 months old. And to celebrate he gave us his very first giggle session:) You know, the kind where they laugh and laugh and laugh. He had given us little laughs here and there, but this was the real deal. We were all laughing at our sweet boy. I'll post a video soon for you to enjoy-his laugh is infectious. I'm just warning ya:)

So, this boy has been up to soooo much the past month. He has become very grabby. He grabs at everything and he is even starting to bring what he grabs into his mouth to chew. He has also become quite a finger sucker. He will put as many fingers as he can cram into his mouth and suck away(This has been wonderful! He can finally soothe himself!) So, this month has been great. He enjoys toys and is more easily entertained. And he can soothe himself. He is so much more content, even in the car. We put a toy ring thingy on his carseat and he will play with it. I finally have a little bit of car sanity! :) He also sleeps 10-12 hours straight at night and takes 3 naps a day. So, he is pretty much perfect! He is thinning out and getting longer(all of our babies are a little thinner than most) so his chunks are fading, but thats okay, lighter on my arms:) He eats plenty, sleeps great and is happy(just like the other 3) so I am happy too! Another thing he is learning is how to jump in his jumperoo(another video I have to post). This week he has started jumping like crazy and it is so funny to watch. He is still a cuddlebug too and he seems to especially love his mommy. . I don't mind:) I love my boy.

Bumbo photo shoot with Mom. He is finally old enough to sit in his Bumbo. He is slouched over in this picture because he loves to grab his toes.

Very focused. . .trying to grab his keys

I got my keys Mom! Ready to roll.

Just a cute picture. I love his little cheeks. So kissable.

I said something funny. He thinks I'm a riot.
Happy 4 months Ammon!

Ella lost her first tooth!

The day Ella has been waiting and waiting for finally came! She lost her first tooth yesterday! At the age of 7-poor kid was one of the last in her grade to lose a tooth. My kids as babies don't get their first teeth until they are almost one, so they lose them late too. I've actually read that its a good thing. Anyways, it had been loose for a couple of months but she didn't like wiggling it too much because "it hurt." :) It is one of her bottom baby teeth that is now gone forever.... And she actually has a very wiggly top tooth right now too, which actually has made it look like she is missing a tooth on the top but shes not. Its just moved over some and made a space. I think the tooth fairy will probably be visiting again very soon! It always makes me a little bit sad when they start losing those baby teeth because it means they are growing up:( And when the adult teeth come in, it just makes them look so much more grown up. Boo dat.

Ella with her two buckaroos! Our tooth fairies(they each have their own ya know) bring two dollars for the first tooth and then one dollar for each one after.

She even received a special note from her tooth fairy. I guess it had fallen on the floor because Ella didn't see it at first. She knew Aubrey had received one and looked a little disappointed this morning when I came into her room. When I pointed out the note on the floor, you should've seen her face:) "I got a note from my tooth fairy too Aubrey!!! And her name is Emerald!" They each have their own special fairy. :)

Here is a closeup of her new smile. See that little gap on the bottom. And see what I mean about that gap up top. That front tooth has wiggled over really far and is actually colliding into the others. She needs to get it out fast!

We're so happy you finally lost a tooth Ella. Its so exciting to have the Tooth Fairy visit our house! Keep on wigglin :)

I made cake balls. Go me.

For Christmas neighbor/friend goodies this season, I decided to get all ambitious and attempt to make cakeballs. While they are easy, they do take some time and are a bit messy, but dang, they are good. And oh so pretty. Mine were far from perfect, but they turned out cute enough. I used Duncan Hines devils food cake and classic chocolate frosting for the inside. And then I dipped them in Ghirardelli Double Chocolate candy making chocolate(the big bar from Sam's-its the best!). So yeah, they were very chocolatey. Just the way I like em.

Snow!

Just two posts ago, I shared pictures of fall. Well, here are pictures of winter. . .our first snowfall of the season. Our backyard looks pretty different! Its been transformed into a beautiful winter wonderland. We have enjoyed every minute of it. You never know in North Texas if you'll get snow or how much or how many times even! I love that we live somewhere where theres a good chance of it snowing at least once a year. You can't beat that. It was so exciting for the kids to watch the snowfall on Sunday afternoon. We spent two days playing in it, building two snowmen, snowball fights(which always end with someone crying:), snow angels, making snow cream, eating icicles, and sledding in our backyard and also at a new secret hill we found. Not telling the location. . .its all ours! hehehe.

We bundled up Ammon and took him outside for a little bit so he could see his very first snow. He was cooing at it as it fell:) He was very curious about what all that white stuff was.

We gave him a little taste too.

What is this stuff?

One of our backyard trees enveloped in white.

A cute kid enjoying it all.

And a silly kid making a snow angel with her tongue sticking out. Cali was so funny out there. She was eating everything. We couldn't get her to stop. She also just kept on flopping herself onto the ground and rolling around in it.

Aubrey and Ella in the middle of a snowball fight. Aubrey ended up getting smacked with one right in the eye about a minute after this picture was taken. She wasn't happy. Like I said, snowball fights at our house always end in someone crying. Oh well, they are fun while they last anyways:)
Sledding with Daddy in the backyard. Didn't get any pics of the hill we found and the awesome time we had sledding on Joey's snowboard there. Mainly because Joey and I took turns in the car holding Ammon-way too cold to stay out more than a few minutes with him. His snowboards make a perfect sleds!

The girls and one of their cute lil snowmen.
I took this picture because I was amazed at how you couldn't tell where the sky ends and the house behind us begins. Can you? Its hard to even tell there is a house there! But if you look close you can see at the bottom left toward the fence the proof that there is a house.

We got a few inches, about 5-6. Pretty good for Texas! And its still there. Some has melted away but we still have plenty. Sadly we can't go and enjoy it anymore though. . .Ella got sick the night after we did sledding(Monday). More sickness over here. Bummer. But at least we were able to enjoy two days of snow fun!

Aubrey's Winter Piano Recital 2011

Aubrey did wonderfully at her piano recital this past Saturday. She played two pieces, "Boogie Jingle Bells" and "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes." She was a little bit nervous, but she did awesome! She also looked very pretty in her sparkly blue dress:)

Playing away

Here she is with her teacher and fellow students afterwards


Tulips from Daddy
After they all performed, her teacher held the big "piano auction" which is always fun for the kids. They earn music money throughout the year and get to bid on fun things. Aubrey won us some mint oreo cookies and a big bag of starbust candy-woot woot. We likes sugar. And then we took the kids out to eat at Rosati's, one of our favorite pizza spots. We hadn't been as a family since Ammon was born so it was fun to go again.

And here are the tulips today, making our living room beautiful.
Oh, and I can't forget-here is the video clip of her pieces. The color is funky because I was holding Ammon while trying to video and accidentally pushed a button somewhere. Oops.

We are proud of you Aub!

Goodbye fall. Hello leaves.

I love the trees in our backyard. You can see every season in them. My favorite is when they turn bright yellow. When I looked out the window on this day, I had to grab my camera and run outside:) Its just so beautiful. There isn't a whole lot of nature where we live, but this is enough to make me happy all week long.

With fall quickly fading away, the leaves have changed and now we've got a whole lotta leaves to rake up. These pictures were taken during Round 1 of raking a couple of weeks ago(actually these were from the beginning of the month before the leaves turned totally yellow). We have since raked another time. . .well, when I say we, I guess I mean Joey and the kids. I got the baby:) And the last leaves fell off the trees just last week, so we've still got a lot of leaves back there. You could swim in them there are so many. The trees are now "naked" as we call it. No more pretty leaves:( The girls love helping their Dad and being outside. And strangely enough, they don't even use a rake half the time(since we only have one rake, they take turns). They use whatever they can find in the garage to help:) And Zac, well, he supervises.

I like to watch my kids work. Sounds mean, but its good for em. And when they are working together, it brings them closer together. I remember that as a kid. Picking weeds really wasn't so bad when I had my sister and brother there to talk to and joke around with.

Don't you just love what they are using? Ella has this sweeper thingy and Cali has a dustpan.

And now for the really fun part: jumping in them!

Goodbye fall. You were fun. Now we're in the bitter cold of winter. But I like winter, Texas winter that is. Pretty mild compared to most places. Today we were in the 60s, which was nice. But we have a chance for snow next week-whee! (Its exciting for us Texans:) It actually gets pretty cold in North Texas though, enough to snow a couple of times a year. And thats perfect for me. I think I'll just sip my hot cocoa and sit by the fire with my honey all winter long.

Build-A-Bear & Chili's for the Birthday Girl

On Christmas Eve, we braved the malls in the cold(and I mean COLD), rain and crowds to finally do Ella's birthday activity of choice: Build A Bear. I knew if we didn't do it then, it would get postponed for weeks(and I was right, Aubrey got sick that very day and then I did a week later). We hadn't done this since we first move to the Dallas area a few years ago, so it was exciting for them. Plus, it was Cali's very first time ever which made it extra fun.

Here is Ella smiling a shy smile as she is about to kiss her bear's heart and put it in.

Pushing on the pedal to stuff him good.

Aubreys turn!
Cali watching the worker very closely as she sews her bear up.

Cali meeting Beary for the first time as a real bear.

Ella holding her new "boy" bear, Luke. We were wondering why she picked a boy but our wondering disappeared when she told us that he was going to marry her girl bear at home. Smart girl, always thinks ahead.

Aubrey picked this peace sign bear. Totally fits her. And turquoise blue is her favorite color. She even picked out some Skechers Twinkle Toes for her bear to wear. Fab.

Time to give the bears their first bath(I think this part is the cutest:)

Cali really enjoyed this part and made sure she was very gentle.

The dudes didn't really know what to do with themselves. . .so they just hung out while Mom helped the girls pick out accesories.

Oh, and here is a funny sequence. After I took this picture, I told Cali that the tag was covering her face and asked her to move the bear down and smile again.

As you can see, she didn't really want to.

But she did anyways. Thats a girl :) If I had only posted this picture, just imagine what you would've missed.

And here are the 3 bears chillin in their new home wearing their cool new stuff. From L to R: Claire, Luke & Beary. Aubrey and Cali got to pick one accesory. Aubrey chose the Twinkle Toes and Cali chose a light-up Christmas shirt. Ella got to pick out two things. So she picked shoes and an outfit. Her bear is actually wearing corduroys! I think these are 3 pretty darn cute bears!

That day we also went to Chili's for lunch. While we were there, Ammon started crying, so Joey walked around with him half the time. We told the waiter that it was Ella's birthday so they'd bring her a treat. But then Aubrey started feeling sick/tummy hurting and didn't want to eat her food so I asked for a to-go box and told them we needed to leave quickly. Well, you wouldn't believe it but the guy came back and said he talked to the manager and they took care of all of the kids meals. I guess they felt bad that we had a sad baby and a sick kid on our other kids birthday. They also brought her a treat to go. A huge brownie with a little container of hot fudge. And a container of icecream. They went all out! I guess we looked pitiful or something? :) It was really sweet of them and it did make our day better! Props to the Chili's in front of Stonebriar!

Here is the Birthday Girl enjoying her Chili's pizza. See that gap in her teeth. No, she hasn't lost a tooth yet, but its reeeeally close to coming out. Its shifted so its caused a gap to form so you would swear shes lost a tooth but she hasn't. Shes hoping she does soon!