Valentine's Day 2018

I taught FHE on Monday about The Family: A Proclamation to the World and then had the boys write a proclamation that they would share with the world if they had the chance. They stood on a chair and talked about our family and Jesus. It made me smile. The next day, Austin stood on the chair and talked about his proclamation again. :)

Tuesday was Valentine's Day - my favorite holiday! The past 4 years I've planned a play group with friends from church with a Valentine exchange. We kept things simpler this year and delivered cookies and Valentines to our closest friends. The boys were excited to wake up to heart pancakes, eggs and gogurts.

Eli handed me this Valentine and I was excited to see that he wrote out MOM all by himself!! I love watching my children learn so much. And little sister looked so cute in her Valentine's Day outfit my friend Emily sent us!

We were so excited to have Papa Joe surprise us! He was driving back home from a business trip and called me saying he was 30 minutes from our house. Eleanor got to meet him and the boys got to wrestle him!!

Aaron came home with sushi for dinner. We used paper plates and chopsticks and lit candles while relaxing music played on Pandora. Eli called his chopsticks tweezers! Hahaha. The boys were so calm during dinner. Maybe I should turn off the lights and use candles every night.

Family pic!

Eli as the photographer.

Austin as the photographer.

And our sweet baby girl turned 1 month old on February 15!! We love our baby cakes! :)

Were the boys every this tiny? They look like giants. Aaron had Friday off, but he had a work dinner until 9 p.m. on Thursday evening, then did some translating on the computer until 12:30 a.m. and then had to go back into work at 3 a.m. So even though he had Friday off, he was exhausted and slept all morning. I love this picture of Eleanor sleeping next to her daddy.

Saturday morning the weather was so lovely, I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. Austin wanted to join me so after my first lap around, I came back home and he went with him. When I turned into cul-de-sac, Austin was dressed and waiting for me on the porch. It was so cute! We held hands the entire time and he talked the entire time as we walked around the block. I love him! Saturday evening Aaron took us out for Thai ice cream!! Every night we've been watching the Olympics and we love it. 

And here is little cutie ready for church! 

We had a little photo shot on Valentines day. The pictures are blurry, but I love these three little one so much. I love how much they love each other.

First week of February

I still take a nap every afternoon - Eli really has outgrown naps, but he's good to have quiet time in his room. He came in to check on us and brought some books for us to read. 

I printed out my blog into two books about our time in Colorado so far. The boys loved looking at them and have read them again and again.

Eleanor was giving Aaron some special smiles before bed time.

Teigan Benson invited the boys over to play one morning so Eleanor and I made a trip to Target. Her first trip to Target and she loved it. ;) It felt good to get out of the house for a bit.

The boys were exited to do their school work using candy hearts. 

We're enjoying the 2018 Winter Olympics over here!! Go team USA!

It's funny because Science was never one of my favorite subjects in school, but I can tell the boys are going to love it. They ask daily if we can do a science experiment. We tested which substance would make the hearts dissolve the quickest - water, lemon juice, oil and vinegar.  

Aaron ended up working Thursday night, and Friday evening and having a funeral to go to on Saturday afternoon. It snowed all day Saturday so we decided to bake heart cookies. 

Eli was so cute. On Saturday evening when I  reminded the boys that church was the next day, Eli said, "Mom, will you please come to church with us?" The first thing Eli asked me this morning was similar - "Mom, are you going to come with us to church today?" He and Austin were so excited when I said YES! Eleanor slept great last night and I've been missing church. We loved being at church together today. 

Last week of January

We spend our time at home these days cuddling our new baby girl and watching movies. 

My friends have been so kind - they have more kids than I do and they've insisted on bringing us food. Teigan delivered Chick-fil-a at our doorstep and then that evening, our neighbors that recently moved delivered a pizza and salad. It was so kind of them!

We needed to get out of the house for a bit, but I don't want to go anywhere with lots of germs because the flu is wicked this year so we went to base to visit the airplanes. The boys ran around crazy and Eleanor slept in the car.

So much milk! I love when it's dripping off my babies faces.

We went up to Denver the first weekend in February to celebrate Cambry's first birthday!!

The boys looked so handsome going to church. 

Newborn Pictures!

My friend Becky (we met in Chicago and now she lives in Denver!) asked if she could come over and take pictures of Eleanor! Of course I said yes! These pictures are my favorite. :) Aaron and I have always dreamed of having a big family, but with 3 c-sections, we realize each birth truly has been a blessing for us and we feel grateful that we've been able to have children. I'll cherish these pictures forever. I've teared up so many times these past two weeks wishing Eleanor could have a sister (because I love my sisters so much and they are such a blessing in my life) - a friend told me that I'll be Eleanor's best friend! I love my little best friend so much already.