Birthdays, New Kids and Thanks

The day of Thanksgiving has come and gone, but we're still thankful for so much.  We were reminded of all the joys in our lives, yesterday, as we celebrated with Mike's family.

"Aunt" Sam took a turn, holding our newest bundle of joy.  Isn't Sam just gorgeous?

And Riley took in the other new addition to our family-- Cousin Haley, born one week after Brooks!

Naturally, with two babies born so close together, we simply had to get pictures of the two of them.  And even more naturally, hilarity ensued.  Apparently, 3- and 4-week-olds don't sit up very well on their own. :)

This next one reminds me of the paparazzi shots, as the star is trying to make a break for it but has to breeze by the camera to do so.  In other words, Brooks says, "See ya!"

Not to be outdone, the two oldest cousins got ready for a shoot with all six kiddos!

There are few things funnier than getting a group of kids to try to all 1) look and 2) smile at the same time.  Really, these turned out amazing!  :)

Holy cow-- I almost can't stand Riley's sweetness.

... and Noelle's.

We're thankful that Noelle is almost TWO!  We celebrated her birthday with the fam.  This is her saying, "Open it!?"  She was pretty stoked. And then she opened this one, and it was all three Knuffle Bunny books!  Oh, Mo Willems, we heart you.

 And a pony!  With a hot air balloon!

But the highlight for Noelle may have been the unlimited crackers.  Oh, man, that party was off the hook!

We love giving thanks, yesterday, today and always.

Photos with Stephanie

We did a little photo shoot with Stephanie yesterday.  We kind of forgot that the sun goes down at, like, 2 pm, so we lost a lot of light, but the girl is so good that she got these super cute shots.  I love them!  Stephanie, we're so thankful for you, and not just because of your mad photography skills.

Oh, Brooks...

 Deer in headlights Noelle :)

I love love love this one, and that's saying a lot because I'm actually in it. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nothing says thank you like some 3-D hand turkeys!  Hope you have a lovely and amazing Thanksgiving!

Told you so

I can't get enough of ruffle fabric. I told you-- I'm addicted. Here's proof: my newest fabric in my stash and Riley, with her little knock-knees, modeling another one. :)

PB, have mercy!

I found this recipe on Pinterest, and I just so happened to have all the ingredients, so, a couple days ago, I whipped up a half portion, just to try it out. Holy freaking cow. This is phenomenal. I could just eat it by the spoonful. It takes next to no time to make, so I highly recommend that this is what you offer to bring to all your holiday gatherings. :)  I actually didn't "ball" it up but just used it as a dip with apples.  Mmmmmmm!  Enjoy!

http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2011/08/peanut-butter-cheese-ball.html

Fingerpaints

Celeste is an amazing mom.  I'm astounded by the number of ridiculously fun projects she does with her kiddos.  I really need to apply for her to mentor me. :)  Yesterday, she brought over dinner and gifts for all three of the kids.  First of all, dinner was amazing.  The Barnetts clearly eat better than the Greens.  Mmmmm, corn chowder and a delicious salad.  She got Brooks adorable clothes.  But what I want to focus on is the girls' gift, which was a tremendously huge hit.  See for yourself:

 Note Riley's technique: the full hand.

 And Noelle's: the dainty little finger.

The evidence of said techniques. :)

Noelle was so ecstatic about painting that when I put the camera away, she actually looked at it and demanded, "Cheese!"  I'm not going to argue with a girl who wants to smile for a picture!

Ruffle it Up, The Start of an Addiction

I already can't get enough of the ruffle leggings.  Noelle was sporting them yesterday.  Then, this morning, I found a green top with purple butterflies on it.  I had to match it with the leggings again and, of course, snap some pictures.  I need these for the girls in every color of the rainbow. :)

 

Apparently, they're perfect for playing with Legos (or Duplos, if you're picky), which is a definite requirement in this house. :)

Preschool Moms

I missed every single parent event for Riley's preschool, thus far.  For orientation and visitation day, we were in California for Brandon's wedding; for open house night, I was horribly sick and unable to speak with some throat virus.  And when I drop Riley off and pick her up, I always have Noelle (and now Brooks!), so if I get to talk with other parents, I often have to race off to keep Well-Well from dousing herself in the drinking fountain or running off. 

So I've been really sad that I haven't gotten to know many of the other moms in preschool.  But things have been looking up (at least slightly!) in that category, as of late.  First, this weekend, Karina had a birthday party at McDonalds.  I got to meet Joy and Stephen and their adorable and super-sweet family of five kids.  As I monitored Noelle and Riley in the playzone, I got to witness what a beautiful family they are.  One of my favorite things in the world is when siblings love on and look out for each other.  I saw plenty of that on Saturday.  My favorite part: when two of the older sisters were hoisting Malachi, the 2.5-year-old, up into the playzone, so he could take part in the fun.

Then, yesterday, we got there a little early, and Christy (who I had liked instantly upon meeting her) was there, too.  Jake is in Riley's class, and Christy has a 6-week-old, Louie.  So we will get to see her again in preschool when the little guys grow up. :)  Anyway, Noelle clearly has taken a liking to Christy, too, because she ran up to her and gave her a big hug.  She was handsomely rewarded with a rubber fishy ring that she toted around with her for the rest of the day.  Yep.  Noelle LOVES fish.  She'll even sing the "I love fish" song if you ask.

Then there's Katie.  She has an Etsy shop called Tuscanycreative which has some AMAZING handmade toys and accessories.  A couple of my favorites are the finger puppets

and the mama and baby owls. 

And look at this handstitched nativity set!  Wow!!!

But here's the hilarious thing.  She had actually randomly contacted me via Etsy a few months ago, before preschool started.  And yesterday, she offered to give us one of her bibs and told me about Tuscanycreative.  At the time, I thought, "Huh.  That sounds familiar."  But my mind's been a little fuzzy lately, so I didn't say anything.  I came home, checked my Etsy account, and sure enough!  Katie and I have talked through Etsy!  Ha! 

And she told me that Erin, another mom from the class, also had an Etsy shop, YOUniqueBaby.  Naturally, I had to check her goodies out, too. :)  I heart this blanket!

I mean-- how snuggly does that look?? 

So the long and the short of it is this: these moms are amazing, and I'm so excited to get to know them (and others!) more!

Man on the Town

Well, Brooks has started to get out and about... a little. Yesterday, my first full day with a 3-to-one ratio, we made a Target run, because Mommy was getting antsy.

This doesn't bode particularly well for my sanity, seeing as I couldn't stay home bound for even one day. Ah, well. But have you seen these carts at Target? They're ginormous!! And they drive about as easily as I imagine a semi drives... when it's hitched to another semi. I almost took out a Target employee at one point. He was very gracious. Thanks, guy.

Then, this morning, we all got to pile in the van and head to preschool. It was a pretty nice day out, so no problem. Then Brooks, Noelle and I came home, did some tummy time, and played. What a busy morning. ;)

Oh, and Brooks didn't take part in this one, but R, N and I got to go to a McDonalds birthday party this weekend. I'm sorry to say that Noelle is a huge fan of McNuggets (gross). Riley just loved her stylin' hat.

Three cheers for getting out of the house!

Erin's gift and OH MY WORD!

Alright... here's the reveal of my sneak peak.  Because the suspense has been killing you.  Yep, that's what I thought; you don't even remember what I'm talking about.  That's ok. 

Here's the tote bag I made for Erin for her THIRTIETH birthday!  She's currently at Notre Dame, so it's inspired by the Fightin' Irish. 

 

It has one pocket on the outside, a couple larger ones on the inside, some places for writing utensils, and-- of course-- an iPhone-sized pocket. :)

And it has a squared off bottom, which I thought would be hard, but with the help of this tutorial from the amazing Ashley of Make It and Love It, it was unbelievably easy.  Actually, the whole bag was easy.  Loved it.

So I loved making that bag, which was a first time project for me.  But then-- the OH MY WORD portion of the post title-- I made these!

I had been eyeing ruffle fabric for quite some time, so when I found some of it for 50% off, I decided the time was now!  And I have to say-- totally worth it!  Look at these adorable leggings which took roughly 15 minutes to put together!  So freaking cute!!!  I love them so much.  I mean, when you're Noelle (or Riley, who will get some soon, too), you're tiny and have squishy, super-squeezable legs, why NOT sport some ruffly leggings?? 

Now I just have to make some kind of tunic top to accompany them.  Any suggestions for style/color? :)