Dusting off the ol' Blog

6 months. That's how much time has passed since I last blogged. That's way too long and one of my New Years resolutions is to update our lives on here more often.

I could blame it on our busyness, but truth be told it's a combination of that, the fact that I'm tired all the time, and the fact that I've let Instagram substitute for updates on our lives. Instagram is okay, but even though a picture is worth a thousand words, I forget that words are often times better.

In the last 6 months much has happened. I figured since it's the new year I should start it off right. I want to kind of recap our crazy, busy, wonderful fall and thank God for all he did to finish out our 2014. I'm also looking forward to 2015 and what God has in store for us. 

Since I last blogged, so much has happened. I'll begin with the kiddos, youngest to oldest.

Our Emsley began walking just before her 14 month. We were all so excited for her! She took her first steps at the Howard family cabin.

We also dedicated Em to the Lord at our church on Sunday October 12th. It was a special day and we celebrated with family afterwards. We all love having Emsley around. She is turning out to be quite a ham and has us laughing on a daily basis.

Ethan began preschool 2 half days a week and is loving it! He was very shy and hesitant at first, but preschool is accomplishing all that we hoped it would in him. We knew he was doing okay academically, since he loves to learn and is obsessed with letters and numbers. We just thought he needed a nudge socially and in learning to be a bit more independent. We've seen him grow up a lot this fall. He has several friends at preschool and although he still melts down when he's tired, he's a lot more mature and social! Praise God!

Elliana started kindergarten and is loving that as well. We've never worried about her since she is so social and loves to learn as well. She is also flourishing! The biggest change I've seen in her is the way she has taken on her role as a big sister. She amazes me with the way she loves and cares for both Ethan and Emsley. Another big milestone for her is that just before her 6th birthday she lost her first tooth! She was so proud of herself.

At the end of October, I got to check a visit to New York off the bucket list! As a Christmas gift from Caleb's parents, the four of us stayed with Caleb's Aunt and Uncle for 5 days and the trip was everything I dreamed it would be! We saw everything from The Statue Of Liberty, One World Trade Center, 9-11 memorial, The Met, Rockefeller Center, Top of The Rock, Empire State Building, Central Park, Broadway, Times Square, etc.

The biggest highlights for me were ice skating in front of Rockefeller Center, seeing the fall colors, seeing Wicked on Broadway and going to the top of the Empire State Building at midnight with Caleb. It was a wonderful trip and one that I'll never forget.

In October we also visited California but not for a happy reason. Caleb's paternal grandmother, Jeannette Howard passed away and we went to celebrate her life at her lovely funeral. It was sad to be there for that reason, but also so good to see the rest of that side of the family.

In early November Caleb's volleyball team won State again this year and they completed another season undefeated! Their record is now 58-0!! There are no words to describe that moment, or how proud I am of him and his incredible team. They are so special, and not just athletically.

At the beginning of the fall Caleb and I finally joined a small group at our new church Mill City and we are enjoying getting to know more couples and families there. One of my goals for this year is to get on the worship team at church.

We ended 2014 with a whirlwind December. We celebrated Ellie's 6th birthday, my 33rd (gulp) birthday,

bought Ellie a betta fish as her first pet for Christmas (she named the fish Sophie),

and then took off to an indoor water park in South Dakota for a few days. It was a wonderful trip as well!

Whew! 2014 was so busy and so, so good to us. It's true what people say about the years going faster and faster. Here is my new favorite photo of my 3 littles on Christmas Eve.

We have much to look forward to in 2015 and I'm excited to see what God has in store for us. It's hard to believe that Caleb and I will be celebrating 10 years of marriage already! We've planned a trip to Santa Barbara in March to celebrate! Stay tuned, I promise to not go 6 months again. ;)

I hope your 2015 is off to a great start!

Arbitrary Autumn

Well folks, since I don't get much time to blog these days, I'm afraid I'll have to put all of my thoughts into another random post. I just had to come up with another word for random, so arbitrary it is. ;)

Suddenly I feel as though life is in fast forward. I'm not sure if I like it or not. However, I do like that we are in the middle of my FAVORITE season! I've been loving the beautiful weather and colors around here lately
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We just came home from spending the weekend at the family cabin in the mountains and it was heavenly up there.

Speaking of life moving fast, my baby girl is 4 months old this week. FOUR months already! Even my sister Jenn agreed that Emsley's baby months are going too fast. I'll update on what she's like these days later this week.

Caleb's having a very successful and fun volleyball season. The team is currently undefeated and ranked 1st in 2A! Their record right now is 13-0 and they haven't dropped a game. I'm SO proud of him and his team. It's hard to believe that in 3 short weeks it will already be volleyball play-off time. It's going to be fun to see how far they go this year.

Speaking of undefeated teams, let's hear it for the Denver Broncos! Yeah, overall it's just a great year in our sports world.

I've got to say, I honestly don't know how any couple raising young kids survive without family around. I am oh-so-thankful for family that live nearby and have watched Ellie and Ethan a lot lately to let me go and support Caleb and watch his team. I've had so much help from my mom, my sisters and Caleb's parents too and it means the WORLD to me.

Elliana is loving preschool. I don't know why we ever hesitated about it. Every day I drop her off she has a smile on her face and never looks back. Then when I pick her up her smile is just as big if not bigger. I always knew she'd love school, and it's so much fun to see her blossom. I can't believe in less than a year she'll be in kindergarten and I'll be dropping her off 5 days a week! My heart is not ready for that...

I mean, seriously, wasn't it just yesterday that SHE was my little baby girl?

Ethan is so much fun. Every day I'm blown away by his wit and his ever expanding vocabulary. It's hard to explain, but he just makes me smile. Even though some days his crazy energy makes me want to pull my hair out, this boy has a special place in my heart.

I love how Ethan adores Ellie and how their relationship is SO tight! They are such good friends that some days I wonder how Emsley is going to fit into the mix. I'm hoping as soon as she's crawling around and showing more personality they'll become the three amigos instead of just the older two and the baby.

I'm sure a lot of moms can relate, but I totally wish I could get on one of those free makeover shows. I feel like I would be a great candidate. ;)  Most days I feel quite frumpy and I hate everything in my wardrobe. I'm working on becoming more aware of fashion and I'm looking forward to getting some shopping help from my fashionista sister Courtney next weekend. :)

I'm hoping I'll go from this, to this: Ha!

Now where can I get a new body? ;)

We're having family photos taken at the end of the month and I'm having a lot of fun putting outfits together for my kiddos. Our color scheme is going to look something like these photos:

I hope it all comes together well and I can't wait to see the photos!

That pretty much sums up life right now. I'd love to write more but I don't get a lot of kid-free time these days and I think I should go spend some of it with my man. :)

Life These Days

Well, well, well I'm  actually going to get to blog twice this month. Go me!

This is going to be a completely random post but I just wanted to catch up on life these days.

I feel as though we're finally past the fog that is the first 2 or so months after we bring a new baby into our lives. I'm beginning to see what life is going to be like as a family of five. I feel as though we're settling into a new routine and a new "normal". It feels good. :)

Elliana Faith is starting preschool tomorrow. I don't know how it happened, really it happened all too fast. Caleb and I had many conversations this past year about whether or not we would put Ellie in preschool, and until a few weeks ago we had decided against it. Then once Caleb returned to school and I was alone caring for all 3 little ones it became obvious to me that we had made a mistake. Ellie was clearly becoming bored at home and I was failing at meeting her social and academic needs since the younger 2 were eating up so much of my time. So we contacted Caleb's school about their preschool program several weeks ago and we were put on a list. I didn't have high expectations for getting in any time soon. Then, Caleb called me last Thursday and said Ellie had been accepted and would be starting tomorrow. It happened so fast that I didn't have time to sort my mixed feelings out. I knew this would be SO good for her, but also sad for me. Suddenly I won't be spending almost every hour of every day with her. This will be good for both of us, and really I think it will be a great gap between now and starting kindergarten next fall. She'll only be gone on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.

Ethan James-with each passing day I'm so thankful that God gave me a son. Ethan has captured my heart in a way that is so different from the girls. He makes us smile and laugh on a daily basis now. His vocabulary has really taken off in the last few months and he says the funniest things. For some reason, he thinks it's the best joke in the world when he adds "Elmo" to the end of a sentence. It never makes any sense, but he laughs every time. Ethan has also become obsessed with the alphabet and at the age of 2 he knows every letter of the alphabet and points them out where ever we go. He can also count to 13 and he recognizes colors and shapes too. He's definitely a smart one, and although I was once worried about Ethan living in Ellie's shadows, I have no doubt now that he'll make his own path and do very well for himself.

Speaking of doing well for himself, Ethan can handle himself and stand his ground when he wants to. Ethan and Ellie have just started little sibling spats. Ethan doesn't let Ellie tell him what to do. I always knew this day would come, but I am not enjoying playing referee and telling the kids to stop kicking or hitting or what have you. For the most part, these 2 have the BEST relationship and they love each other dearly, but they still fight just like all other siblings.

The weather around here has been HOT the last few weeks, and I am not a fan! I believe that with the beginning of the school year, fall weather should come along with it. And it should hang around for more than 2 weeks here.

Speaking of fall, I'm just chomping at the bit to put on some sweaters, jeans and enjoy all of the fall colors and flavors. Can anyone say pumpkin spice latte? Or how about some fall decorations around the house? Yes please!

Caleb's volleyball season is well under way and while I'm not thrilled to be seeing so little of him right now and in the coming months, I am very excited for him and the team. Almost every day he comes home with a grin on his face and says "Christine, they are going to be SO good this year!" Their goal this year is to make it to not only the State tournament, but the State championship match. I believe they can do it! Plus, the school has a brand new, huge gym this year. I'm really excited to watch his games (as much as I can with 3 littles in tow).

Emsley Jeannette is beginning to settle into a routine of her own and has become a wonderful night time sleeper (Thank you Lord!). She's also really starting to show us bits and pieces of her personality. She smiles on a daily basis now and every smile warms my heart. I think she will be my most easy going, non-wild child. I think we were overdue for a mild personality (wink). Of course I love that Ellie and Ethan are so over the top full of personality, but it's nice to have one like Em too. :)

On a side note, I got the BEST picture of Emsley and her smile today with my dinosaur phone. After a long time of looking into it, I discovered I have no way of accessing that picture and sharing it anywhere but on my phone. Add that to the growing, long list of why we need to join the 21st century and get smart phones. Sigh... we're working on it but it may be a while. It's a boring story about contracts. I hate phone contracts. 

Speaking of little Emsley, Ellie and Ethan adore her. They can't get enough of her. I often have to tell them to back off and give her space. I think Elliana thinks that Emsley is her own personal live doll, and Ethan is so tender with her. I can't wait to see how each sibling relationship grows over the years.

Between Caleb's schedule and life as a SAHM mom of 3, there isn't a lot of time left for me these days, but that's okay. I really am enjoying this stage of life as crazy as it is. I am looking forward to a haircut and color this week, and it will be the longest I've been away from Emsley since having her 11 weeks ago. 11 weeks... wow, where did it go? Anyway, I'm going to soak up every minute of that appointment. :)

Well, that's life for us in a nutshell right now. It's crazy, but it's good. I hope you all are enjoying your end of summer/ beginning of fall.