Enjoying the weather!

The nice thing about Arizona is when the weather finally cools down, it's SO nice to be outside. We took advantage of our zoo membership this weekend and took the girls! Claire did great and didn't really fuss at all, and Ellie loved it through and through. Can't tell you how much I love those two sweet girls. They are the lights of my life- for reals :) 

 Gotta love Claire's tiny hat! Ha! It's all I could find that morning...of course later in the day I found the jackpot of hats that fit her :)

 Daddy and his girls :)

 That coke bottle entertained Claire the entire time! It's the little things- forget toys! Anyways, how cute is she?!?! :)

 Ellie playing at the splash pad place- love this picture!

 Sleepy baby girl...

My girls :)

Hopefully there will be many more zoo trips to come. Our goal to get out every evening as a family during this wonderful weather! I'm so happy it's fall. Can't wait for the holidays and to start new traditions with my little family...:)

<3 Krystle

Things to Remember

Claire:

• 
  
  The perfect way to describe Claire is to say that she's definitely a girl. Very emotional. High highs and low lows :) Very different than Ellie. Ellie was very content 98% of the time. But I love their differences. I can't wait to see how it all plays out when they're older.


• 
  
  Claire BITES when we nurse! OUCH! Again, something Ellie never did. She's not crazy about the whole eating process in general. She only wants to eat to get it done and have a full belly. She doesn't linger, which is nice. But I love the sweet moments when she takes her time and her and I get to have a little one-on-one time.


• 
  
  She doesn't like food at all right now. She acts like I'm torturing her! Little stinker.


• 
  
  She has a few nicknames that she responds to like stinky & missy Lou! :)


• 
  
  Of all people, Ellie can make her laugh the most- melt my heart.
  

Ellie:

• 
  
  She is talking up a storm these days! I just love it. My favorite thing she says/asks is "What's that it is?"- translation- "What is that?" Haha! It is so cute.


• 
  
  Every night when I put her to bed, we have to re-enact the last part of the Tangled movie when Rupunzel and Eugene hug and kiss- too funny. She lays in bed and we both look at each other like we've never met and say "Eugene!" then hug and kiss. We always do it, no matter how tired she is, she always remembers :)

Just a few things I want to remember about this time in my life right now. Having kids is so much fun!

P.S. I'm already ready for another one! No joke.

A Little Bit of Everything

This is short & sweet post. Here's what we've been up to!

At 5 1/2 months Claire started crawling! Almost EXACTLY when Ellie did! She also started pulling herself up and sitting within a week (that's exactly like Ellie!). We have to chase her around a little more, but she's so much fun and so happy to be independent :)
Trying to snag a family photo these days (well a decent one) is hard to come by...Ellie 3 out of 4 looking at the camera isn't bad :)

Ellie loves messing around with her daddy :) She is so coordinated...I love it! I hope I'll have a little gymnast or dancer on my hands!

Claire is teething...or at least I think so. She constantly has her hands in her mouth! No signs of any teeth yet though...

Ellie got a big girl bed- she loves it! We had a party when we got it...we turned on Tangled (her favorite movie) got her tangled sheets and a blanket, and sang & danced around. It was such a special moment...She seems so big in there!

Claire doing what she does best :)

Ellie scored this princess dress from her Nana- she was SO happy to have her very own princess dress and wants to wear it EVERY day. I would too if I were her! She looks SO DARN CUTE! This is her and her cousin Hana. So sweet.

Ellie is a huge fan of the pool! Excuse the no swimsuit- we couldn't find it, and plus, she's still adorable in just her swim diaper :) ...and now that I mention it, Adam is lookin pretty adorable too...Glad I get to look at them both every day!

We have started juicing! Some juices are gross, but this one was delicious! This is all the fruit needed to supplement ONE meal with juicing. Isn't that crazy!?!?! It was really good. And we're really enjoying it. We watched a few documentaries and really got some good info out of them. If you're ever bored, I'd suggest, Fat Sick & Nearly Dead, Food Inc, & Food Matters. Actually, not only if you're bored, do it anyways! Be informed about what you are putting in your bodies!!! Ignorance is NOT bliss people. Yuck!

We probably have about 20 different varieties of this picture. Ellie falls out of bed every night. It's super cute how she ends up in different spots on the floor and then continues to sleep there all night, no problem!

Until next time!

May 28th????

Has it really been since May 28th that I last posted?!?! Wow, time flies. I know we've been busy, but not sure exactly with what. The girls definitely keep me on my toes each day, but they are absolutley wonderful. Love them soooo much :) We have been trying to get a lot of family time in lately, and our newest development is trying to figure out how we're going to pay off the rest of our debt (bloody student loans!) by the end of the year. Lots of our energy is spent planning and scheming :) We're really excited about it though. It will be so awesome to call into the Dave Ramsey show in December and scream "We're Debt Free!!!!"- Can't wait! Here are a few recent pictures of my sweet sweet girls... :)

Ellie at the park- Gotta love that smile :)
Don't pay attention to her blurry hand, but look at that squinty grin! So cute!

This picture just kills me! Too adorable. Such a scholar I tell ya!

My father's day card I made for Adam :)

Ellie & Daddy doing some gardening!

Hopefully I'll have more inspiration to post more soon. My brain feels pretty zapped of energy these days!

Cali Vacay

We went to California last week to help out my best friend Heather. She was taking her finals and had no one to watch her kids, so we went out so I could pay my best friend "duties and obligations" (gladly of course!) and also made it into a mini-vacation for our little family. The girls did great in the car against all odds- thank goodness for travel DVD players! And we had a week full of craziness, with some fun mixed in too :) Here are a few photos of us at the beach...

This picture SERIOUSLY melts me......seriously.
Mommy & Claire- she's so alert in this picture- love it!

And we got to go out on a date! Yahooo! :) We had dinner in downtown Orange County and thoroughly enjoyed our alone time!

Love, Krystle

2!

My first baby is turning 2 in a few days (th 17th)! I can't believe it. I have a two year old! Birthday party post to come, but I just wanted to stop by quick since I have totally been neglecting my blog. I have just been focusing on being a mom lately and having lots of fun :) TTYL!

Thoughtful Thursday: Follow up on Fear

Oh man. It has been a WHILE since I have posted. Glad to be back tonight...writing posts is definitely theraputic and relaxing :)

I wanted to follow up on my post about Fear a couple weeks ago. Things are turning a corner and it feels SO much better. After writing that post, Adam and I had a long talk about everything. It was to a point where I was having mini-panic attacks and I felt like it was consuming me. The next morning, my sweet, godly husband wrote notes for me around the house for when I woke up (before he went to work). He put notes up telling me how much he loved me, and verses from the bible about fear and anxiety to encourage me.....and encourage me it DID! This wasn't the cure, but it was a huge step in reminding myself that I'm not alone, and that I always have Adam to lean on through the things that I struggle with.

From then until now, it seems that a lot of things have come up- Ellie got a really high fever (due to an ear infection), she hurt her leg and had a limp for a few days, and someone in our family had some not-so-good news. It all made me think that here on earth, we are not exempt from anything. And to add to that, I felt the Lord telling me that I should count my blessings right NOW and be thankful instead of worrying about what MAY or may NOT happen in the future. That was a pretty big deal for me. My prayer life has changed from prayers of worry, doubt, and fear- a sort of pleading with God, to prayers of thanksgiving, love, and humbleness that He is in control and cares for me. It's been wonderful. I am in no way healed from this, but I feel so much more hope, and I also know that God strength can take me through anything that may come my way.

Here is a verse I'm holding onto:

"Humble yourselves, therefore under God's mighty hand that He may lift you up in due time. Cast ALL your ANXIETY on Hum because He cares for YOU" - 2 Peter 5:6-7