I Know What You're Thinking...

Hey Lindsay! You changed the look of your blog after 3+ years. (I know, I know. I can hardly believe it myself.) This must mean that you are committed to this blog again!

I make no guarantees.

Baby Julesy is skeptical too:

Going Public

Ok. Let's pretend for a minute that it was still 2008...people were still reading blogs like crazy...I still lived in Utah among people that would read my blog and have access to my children...and I didn't get the same 5 comments from the same 5 to 7 of you who still even read this blog. Then I would stay private. But I really can't say that I'm too afraid about people reading my blog and knowing how to get to my kids when I'm 2000 miles away and NEVER run into anyone who knows me from Adam. I never write anything good on here anyway.

So welcome world!

P.S. Don't you dare steal anything off my blog. My husband is a lawyer...a good one. And we will come after you!!

Oh Lucy!

I think that I have mentioned Lucy's naughtiness at church before. Well, she's not as bad as she once was, but her need for shock value attention is still there. For example, today I was trying to get her to use her whisper voice. She looked right at me and said quite loudly, "I just want to be myself!!"

Later Paul had her because I took Julia out and he told her to stop picking her nose (something she still does while sucking her thumb) and again she said, "But I want to pick my nose!" and again it wasn't quiet.

Another person in the foyer told me that during sharing time Sabrina watches Lucy like a hawk, and when she acts up, Sub will just look at her, shake her head, and Lucy will start to behave.

We never go a week in our ward without people commenting on Lucy. Of course, they all chuckle, and tell me how cute and funny she is. These are always people without kids. I hope they are blessed with "cute and funny" kids too.

A Report on Christmas 2011 and Some Recents

I so wish that I had some pictures of our Christmas morning or even more of our Christmas break, (which was spent mainly in jammies for all of us), but I don't. We opted to take video footage of Christmas morning and since one person has to man the video recording and one person has to help manage the opening of gifts and one person has to feed the hungry baby and then both people have to get the three other people ready for church; well, we didn't have enough hands to also take photos. It was pretty picture perfect though. Trust me. Sabrina and Lucy got a bundle of things, their favorites being a Rapunzel Tower and Cinderella Castle. Julia got a Bumbo and a floor gym. Paul got an IPad, and I got some luxury slippers, which I reluctantly take off from time to time, but mainly I wear them 24/7. Christmas Eve and Christmas Dinner were spent with Kyle and Noelle and family where we ate to our hearts content and some (not me and Julia...sick) went to see the Christmas lights at the Temple.

The break was great. We played board games almost every day together, stayed up too late, and slept in too long. On New Year's Eve we decided to drive to Delaware to check out possible neighborhoods to live in next year (Have I mentioned we're moving to Delaware in August?) and just to have a little getaway. We ate lunch at a little pizza joint where we got advice on Delaware from our pizza maker. He was surprisingly informative. Then we took the girls to a park to play while I fed Julia. We had crazy good weather here the last month or so, but...

It finally snowed yesterday. It was a weak excuse for a snow storm, but the girls were so excited that I let them go out to play in it.

Updates on all the kids:

Sabrina: Is still loving school. She really is such a pleasant kid at this age. She is always trying to help me with Lucy and Julia. She loves to sing songs and for the most part she sings her own compositions. She loves to draw and write stories (and I love reading phonetic writing again...it's one of my joys in life) and is picking up on reading rather quickly. Her teacher told me the other day that she told the class about "reverence" (a family home evening lesson we'd had) to which she said to me, "I guess you use whatever works!" I don't think most kindergarteners talk about reverence very often if they aren't of our faith.

Lucy: Is 3. She has an iron will right now. Sadly, her world came crashing down once again when Sabrina had to go back to school. She had a rather tough beginning to Primary which she thought was going to be her going to class and sitting by Sabrina the whole time. Her parents didn't prepare her correctly. I am happy to report though that last week went 20 times better and she sat with and went to her own class. She is still funny, she loves to rhyme, play pretend and make up her own words (noganer and bowyah). Her favorite thing to play is puppy or kitty. We have signed her up for gymnastics and dance which start in a few weeks.

Julia: Is just getting so big. She sits in the bumbo, and has started to grab at toys a little bit. She hates her tummy, but she loves to lay under her gym. (Funny story: Sabrina and Lucy outfitted her gym with every link toy that we own so as Sabrina put it, "she could have an extra challenge"). You can see them all dangling in the pictures.) She is becoming a happier baby overall, and slept 12 hours last night for the first time. We're hoping it's a trend. She's darling; I can't get enough of her cheeks.

And then there was January. Enjoy the pics!

Before the big holiday...

I'm doing this. Why? Because if not now, it will never happen.

Events of the last little while...

1. My sisters and Paul's parents came to visit the week after Thanksgiving, and once again, I am not deserving of the help they all brought with them. It was truly fun to get to spend some time with Nat and Shell and have a three kid to three mom ratio around here. I don't think I held Julia for 5 days. Only sisters would come to Washington D.C. and spend almost the entire weekend in my living room without complaint! Well, almost the entire weekend...we did venture out to see the National Christmas Tree which is slightly less impressive than the tree at the Orem City Center. At the National Tree was Santa's workshop where Sabrina delivered her letters in person to the man himself. (Funny story: We read online that they took letters to Santa at the workshop, so we had Sabrina write letters for her and Lucy and brought them with us only to find out that they actually don't take letters for Santa, but before I could break the news to Sub, she had already given them to him. He was probably a bit confused.)

We also decided to bless Julia since we had family in town. It was a great day for our family. Julesy screamed through her entire blessing, due in part to the fact that her mother made her wear the bonnet, and she hates ANYTHING on her head (See how unhappy she is with the bonnet on, and how pleasant she is with it off?) This probably isn't the last fight about clothing we'll have. Nonetheless, Paul held it together and gave her a promising blessing. I love to listen to blessings and ponder all that our Heavenly Father has in store for these little ones, and I know there are great things in store for our number three.

(Just in case she is the sensitive-type and is offended by the above... Julia, we love having you in our family, screaming and all, and wouldn't have you any other way than how you are. Your sisters adore you and your parents can't get enough of your smiles and round little face.)
















































2. Just for kicks I tried to reverse the camera on my phone to teach Lucy how to smile and hold still the whole time until I press the button since it is nearly impossible to get her to smile, look at the camera, and hold still for longer than .5 seconds. In my mind I thought that if she could see me actually press the button she would get it. We started out okay, but as you can see the session took a very wrong turn, goof ball style.





3. We were bored on Saturday afternoon and had heard a bit about Mount Vernon (George Washington's home) at Christmas time, so we thought, why not? We bundled up the girls and headed out the door. Of course, things weren't so easy though as Lucy kept losing her mittens, (but refused to take them off altogether), Julia needed to be fed, and Sabrina needed to go to the bathroom. We're a bit of a circus act anywhere we go. We decided that before going to the actual mansion we'd stop off at the gift shop to feed baby and re-group. When who do you think we saw? None other than Newt Gingrich and his wife doing a book signing (his wife wrote a children's book). So Paul snapped a few shots with the girls while I fed the baby. I'm a little surprised that they let us get so close without actually buying the book.

We then headed over to buy tickets to the mansion when they told us that they were closing in 20 minutes (and I am not about to pay $30 to see a mansion that I've seen 10 times for only 20 minutes...and who closes at 4:00 pm on a Saturday?). So we got a picture at the entrance and saw Newt. We're going to try again the week after Christmas. Who do you think is more famous...Jerry Springer or Newt Gingrich (see last post)?







































4. We made Gingerbread Houses with Kyle and Noelle and family on Sunday. The girls had a blast doing this so I guess it must become a tradition. The rudolph replica is Paul's. We think he shouldn't quit his day job. Do you like how Lucy is feeding Chloe candy?




5. And finally, pictures of Julia. Just because.

A Million and One Things To Tell

I just knew that I couldn't be that good about updating this blog!!! I really have had the best of intentions for a while now. But alas, life got in the way. So, here goes. And enjoy all the random pictures scattered throughout. Post organization is just about the last thing in the world I care about at the moment.

After being here for two months and seeing NO sights whatsoever, we decided to head out to see the new MLK Jr. Memorial. That's the thing about your 5th time moving back to a touristy place...you've seen it all. Nonetheless, we did enjoy ourselves. And check out that stroller piled with kids!! It still blows my mind that we are a family of 5. (Note: I take a break from doing the girls' hair every Saturday. I figure we're "east coast" now, so I can do that. Don't mind their ragamuffin appearance.)

Paul and I went to Sabrina's school showcase and our first parent teacher conference this month. So far she's rocking Kindergarten (I'm very pleased with her teacher too). She's seeming really old to me lately, and is a pretty eager little helper most of the time.


Lucy Mae is the most lovable goofball on the planet. She's constantly in Baby Julia's face. And if it weren't kind of naughty, the fact that she yells "HIT" or "KICK" every time she hits or kicks Sabrina (thereby incriminating herself before Sabrina even tattles on her) would just make me love her more.

And look at Baby Julia's cute face! She's a smiler so far and just so cuddly. As of this last week, she'll give me a good 7 hour stretch at night. I feel alive again!! I used to see more of Sabrina in her, but now I think Lucy. It's a win win either way.

I love Thanksgiving as much as I hate Halloween, and this year did not disappoint. We had Paul's sister Jac and her roommate, Lori, here for the holiday, and we thoroughly enjoyed staying up late and chatting with them.




The day after Thanksgiving we went with the Kyle and Noelle Sampsons and Aunt Jac to Snickers Gap Tree Farm to pick out and cut down our own Christmas tree. We've never done this before but are thinking it needs to become a tradition. They had hot apple cider there which was delicious and would have been more delightful if it wasn't nearly 70 degrees outside (I'm not complaining, it was perfectly lovely). After, we went to lunch at a restaurant called Magnolia's in Purcellville, Virginia and who do you think was at the table next to us eating??? You'll never guess...none other than Jerry Springer! We weren't bold enough to go get a picture or anything, but he's now the most famous person I've ever eaten next to (sorry, Dick Norse and Ruth Todd [not together mind you], you've been dethroned).

Did I mention the unusual weather? High of 71 today. Yeah, we spent the afternoon riding bikes and playing outside...eat your heart out Utahns!!

Halloween, etc.

It's no secret that Halloween isn't my favorite holiday at normal times; you add a new baby into the mix and well, let's just say it was "low key" (That's my new euphemism for doing a sub par job!). It was only a few years ago that the girls had "theme" costumes that I made myself, now they get the boxed princess suits (Lucy's is even Sabrina's from last year)and Julesy wore a pumpkin onesie that I didn't even take a picture of.

Basically we did all our trick or treating at the ward party on Friday night. On the actual Halloween, Sabrina was sick with a smoker's cough, so we just ate a bunch of candy and carved our pumpkins at home. We were going to hit the neighborhood, but then I looked at how much candy they already had, said a little "Bah Humbug" about Halloween, and put them in their jammies.

Look who started to smile this week!! And no, I didn't give her steroids; she's growing at an alarming rate all on her own!