Happy 4th Birthday Talia

Here are some pictures of Natalia's birthday party. She had a lot of fun celebrating it with her preschool friends. Hopefully in two weeks we will be celebrating the birth of our little girl.

Devin decorated the cake, There were sprinkles on it to but you can't tell 

As an activity we made birthday hats, I think the kids were very creative and I would do it again.

Here they all are!

birthday surprise

Have you ever watched a show were they allow a contestant to have a shopping spree. They usually give them a minute or less to grab as much stuff as they can fit in their cart, then they get to keep it all. When watching I would wonder what or where I would start.

            Well yesterday I had a mini version of that. It was my birthday surprise from Devin. There were rules and stipulations that I had to abide by. First thing was I had to pick a pocket? I chose the left pocket and was surprised when he handed me an envelope with money. I asked to know what the other pocket had but he refused to tell me, I may never find out! He then gave me the rules of the game and that included a time limit and I had to use all the money or the money would be disposed of (thrown out the window, burned or given to strangers). If you know Devin he sticks to his word and there for I started to panic inside. I wish I would have been able to recall all those things that I have been wanting for a while (fake bangs, I know it sounds weird). Anyway we went to the mall and first place I went was the purses I can always use a new purse, and then I went to the jewelry section. I love earrings and hope to have the world’s biggest earring collection (not really but sounds amazing)

            Shoes was next, I wish I wasn’t pregnant I would have loved to buy jeans and shirts but I like to try clothes on to know if I like it. Devin did however manage to find two really cute shirts for me that look good on now and will when I am not pregnant. I was excited that I found a pair of shoes that were just the coolest pair I have ever owned. They look amazing on but now that I have tried them on at home I have realized they are not very practical. The next part was fun because I got to shop for Natalia and Laila. I found them cute matching outfits so I can get there pictures taken in.  

            This all sounds like it was all fun and no stress. I am a thrift shopper! I never pay full price for things so it was so hard to find something that I loved and had to pay full price because I didn’t have hours to thrift through all the racks looking for that amazing deal. I have never bought something because I had to have it. I have bought things because they were a good price and it looked cute. It was a new experience and after the shock of paying full price for a sweater I just had to follow the rules and have fun with it. I loved every minute but struggled to pay, so I had Devin pay and tell me when I was getting closer to my limit. WHAT A CRAZY EXPERIENCE BUT SO FUN. I guess Devin had been working on this surprise for a while so he was able to save up enough to make it worth it.

            That wasn’t half of the love I felt on my birthday, Natalia had been planning how she was going to decorate my cake for days and finally the time had come. She took out her princes dolls and wanted to make me a princess cake. It turned out amazing with sprinkles that looked like snowballs; she wanted her Snowhite princes playing with the snow. The fairy godmother was going to have pixie dust all around her. It really was beautiful and very thought out! THANKS DEVIN AND NATALIA FOR GIVING ME MORE THEN I COULD HAVE EVER ASKED FOR.

  I LOVE MY FAMILY

Christmas day

I am sad to say that I didn't get any pictures of the Jackson cousins but that doesn't mean Natalia didn't like spending time with them. I think she loved baby Nora a lot this time around, all she wanted to do is kiss, hold and hug her.

These next pictures are of the Cheney family and I know my mother will love to see them.

I'm a big girl now!

I am so proud and excited to announce "Laila is in pull-up diapers!" She has been so good at telling us when she needs to go potty. I am still not ready for her to have underwear but this is one step closer. I am sure we will have lots of accidents but anything is better then having to change diapers all day long. She is 18 months and loves to play and talk all day long, of course there are only a few words she can say but that is the start of long conversations we will be having in the near future.

Christmas Fun

25 days of Christmas! This was the best idea in the world, we all had a lot of fun! We made crafts, Christmas cards, found out what we were having, went to the movies with Ethan and Teos, saw Santa, and lots of other things. Here are a few pictures.

Everyday Natalia took a link off and the pants traveled up. On the links it had an activity we would do that day.

We started out having a dress-up picnic lunch.

Gingerbread houses are so fun. I think they had more fun eating the candy

Hot coco night!

Popcorn and a movie night

They even got to open a present before Christmas.

Same, Same

I have been amazed at how much Natalia and Laila are alike, I am sure all kids are but it is fun to watch Laila do the things Natalia use to do. When Natalia was little she would not go anywhere without her stuffed monkey Mono. She would drag him around everywhere and often get upset if she couldn't find him.  I guess it is Laila's turn to share the same joy with the one and only Mono! Laila loves to carry him around and loves giving him hugs and kisses, she also loves to feed him a bottle. It is fun to see how much joy a little stuffed monkey can bring to them. The sad part is that Natalia would like to play with Mono but Laila wins that fight every time. Natalia is really good at excepting that Mono is now someone Laila loves and adores just as much as she once did.

Natalia reading a book to Mono

Natalia swinging with Mono

This is Laila with Mono

It's a girls!

We went to the doctors today to find out what we were having. I was scared Natalia was going to be disappointed if we got told it was a girl. She had been telling everyone it was going to be a baby brother and even today she drew a picture of what her little brother was going to look like. Once we heard the news she was so excited and really sweet about it. I know my Natalia and she will love the baby just as much if it was a boy or girl. I really couldn't be any happier!!!!!!!! I am so blessed for two beautiful girls and to add one more is amazing.

 OR

I took these pictures earlier.