We have had a ton of fun this year! Here is a glimpse of the year (minus the birthdays...Emi turns one next week so I thought I would do a birthday post for the three of them). It is amazing to see how much the girls have grown since the Spring. Notice the common theme in the pictures with Emi. She LOVES her sisters and they LOVE her. She laughs and smiles more for her sisters than anyone. Belle and Liv are also at such a fun age and play so well together. It is so cute to hear their conversations and the things they come up with. They love playing mom and dad right now and are always putting their 'babies' (any stuffed animal) to sleep. They also love to build nests and houses with blankets, tables, and pillows and then they will pretend in their house throughout the day. I love these girls.
Spring...
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| Doughnuts with Dad at preschool |
Belle and I on a special date while Liv was at preschool last Spring.
Emi was on our special date too.
Emi's first bites of rice cereal
This is the first card Liv made for a friend. The front said Andrew and the inside is says Happy Birthday Love Olivia. She has loved learning to write and has made many cards since!
We put a layer of dry tube noodles on the bottom of a box and let them stomp and crush them. Oh how easily they are entertained.
Making cookies is a favorite around here.
Emi is such a happy baby! I love her!
Every year my parents' neighborhood has a Easter Egg Hunt. It's pretty cute. The girls are finally old enough to get it now.
Their first babysitting experience with Kendall Davis. They LOVE her and so do we!
planting flowers with daddy
fun with Papa Mark
Bloomsday
We decided to start a new family tradition and do Bloomsday. The girls were awesome! We were dreading the stroller section thinking we were going to get our ankles demolished by all the strollers but we loved it. I would recommend trying the stroller section at some point if you want to be fully entertained. There was always some parent on the side of the road with their kid going potty or some kid crying and some kid laughing and everyone had snacks. It really was a blast. My mom and Brad's mom did it with us.
Sidewalk chalk...definitely a staple around here. I think I will miss our sidewalks always having pictures when they are older.
Pricing items for a garage sale. I told them if they sold some of their toys they could buy some of Amy Hook's bows. They were so excited. (You can see one of the purchases in Belle's hair in the first day of school pics way down below).
Good times at the first day of summer party!
Memorial Day Weekend
Traditionally we go up to the Hurd's lake cabin on Memorial Day weekend and the 4th of July. Although we all love the lake and missed it, we had a great first family of five vacation. We got to stay in a hotel on the 24th floor in downtown Seattle and the girls loved it. We went to the zoo and the aquarium, walked around downtown, swam in the pool, and I would have to say that the girls' highlight was simply sitting and looking out the hotel window at all the buildings (one morning Liv woke up first and just sat at the window silent for about 20 minutes).
One of our favorite times of the year is the 4th of July at the Hurd's cabin. We love spending time as a family with my parents and the Hurds. It is so relaxing and so much fun!
I love this man. He is such a great dad and the girls are such daddy's girls.
Uncle Dougers is so much fun. This is him being some sort of ravenous creature bouncing all over the living room entertaining everyone...especially the girls.
Even though the water was freezing, Belle wanted to go in it so bad.
Belle decorating for the annual Laclede Parade.
Brad waiting for the parade to start
Emi at the parade
The beautiful float
Melissa painting the girls' toes which they loved!
Doug teaching about fire...totally safe I'm sure.
More summer fun...
We were able to head up to the lake with Kevin and Grace (and their cute boys) and some friends. It was a blast! We love the Longmeiers. Actually, Belle and Kevin have a special bond. She adores him and often brings him up in conversation or names stuffed animals after him. It's pretty cute.
Turtle hunting with the men and kids
The girls had a blast with their new friend Anna who is so sweet.
I love trying to get a family picture. Anyone have any tricks?
The park...
We LOVE the park in the summer. We go to some sort of park almost daily when it is nice out. My mom has Fridays off so she comes over most Fridays and helps out and hangs out with us. We all love it! Here are some park summer pictures...
They love funny face pictures.
Like I said, Isabelle is a bit of a climber. (Don't worry, I took the picture quickly and then was standing below her. But she really is a great climber and doesn't like help)
I love this picture because yes, Elizabeth and I do have 6 kids between the two of us. And Liv is the oldest at a few months over 4 in this picture.
Soccer Tots...
We signed the girls up for soccer tots this summer and they loved it and so did we! It is such a great and fun introduction to sports. I love how they are holding hands in these pictures.
We were able to head up to the lake for the day with some great friends whom we love. We had a blast. Thanks Matt and Jo!
Someday we will get a family picture with everyone looking the same direction and smiling....maybe.
Brad and I were able to head to a concert at the Gorge with the Strates and vanAnrooys this summer. It was so nice and so easy to travel with just adults.
It was late August and freezing by the end of the night.
Exploring at Riverside State Park
These two pictures are swimming at the Y with our friends the Pickerings and the Boggs (there are 9 kids between us. Emi isn't in this picture though).
Olivia AND Isabelle now go to preschool and love it. Here are their first day of school pictures. They are getting so old!
The Rock Ranch
If you have kids I highly recommend the rock ranch. It is way out in the deep valley and is free. They treat the kids like mini geologists and they get to dig in the dirt for rocks, sift out the rocks, wash them, and keep a Ziploc bag full of rocks. Dirt and digging are two favorites around here.
Just some normal days around our house...
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Emi is around 6 months in this picture |
Nope, not Halloween (although they wore the same outfits trick or treating). Just a regular old day in the summer.
Liv loves to take funny face pictures
More happy baby pics
My sweet Isabelle.
I had to document this. This is the girls both sitting and coloring. Now if you know Liv, she could literally do this or any arts and crafts for hours. Belle on the other hand likes crafts and coloring but also likes to be moving and climbing constantly. But there was a moment this summer when she all of a sudden turned a corner and started to sit for periods of time and color or draw or practice her letters. And this was the first time she sat there for more than a few minutes.
80's Belle
Like I said... Liv really likes coloring right now.
Preschool fieldtrip to Greenbluff
Daddy and Belle
Liv's buddy Matthew
Liv and Mrs. B!
And then we ate at the Milk Bottle after for some yummy burgers and ice cream!
Climbing
Halloween at Preschool
First Snow
More of this to come!!!
If you made it this far I am truly impressed. We really feel truly blessed and feel like our life is a bit of zoo yet so much fun. We really wouldn't have it any other way. We love you all very much.
