Twirls 'n Curls

These adorable costumes were compliments of Aunt Susie for Halloween. We didn't actually go trick or treating, but they wore the costumes every day for a week and got tons of candy (we even did a candy hunt around our house and finished off with caramel apples), so everyone was happy...I didn't get a pic of Natalie when she was dressed in her giraffe costume, so I'll have to post that one later!

We went to Tehachapi as a family a couple of weeks ago with a homeschool group. The girls loved picking Empire apples and sampling about 7 different kinds of apples grown right there! Tom says he remembers why he used to make fun of homeschool field trips, but a good time was had by all. And awesome apple pie was had afterwards!!

The other day I asked Hannah to come help me with something in the kitchen, and she replied with a whine. Linsey immediately jumped in, lecturing her: "Hannah, you need to help Mommy in the kitchen so you know how to cook when you get a husband!" Then she smiled sweetly at me, "Right, Mom?" Then today I "overheard" Hannah talking to herself in the kitchen very sternly: "Hanny Gwace! Don't you do that, Hanny Gwace (Hannah Grace)!" Maybe some of my lessons are sinking in after all!!

Pics: First trip to Claire's Boutique yielded fake nails that lasted about 10 minutes :) Future runway model at Santa Monica Pier Chan came to see us for about a week, it was great! Linsey is such a little mommy! She wants to be just like me, and Hannah wants to be just like her. How cute is that? The other day, she looked at me very brightly and said out of the blue, "Don't worry, Mommy, Daddy and I will take care of you when you're old!" Then she thought for a minute and said, "I guess when Daddy gets old, me and Hannah can take care of both of you."

Random facts about Hannah: She has learned to count and recognize her numbers from homeschooling with Linsey. She is the life of the party and keeps us all in stitches, especially Daddy. She is Linsey's shadow, biggest fan, and best copycat. She loves giving hugs, but they may knock you over! She LOVES being in front of the camera.

We had a ball today, taking pictures in the "big sister, little sister" shirts. I took more than 40 pictures just to get about 3 that are keepers! Thank goodness for digital cameras. The girls still get so excited every day to see each other - they hug every morning like they'd been separated for a week, and they sleep in the same room! Now we all go into my room when Natalie gets up and snuggle on the bed together. We love having little girls!!

Linsey and Hannah both LOVE pretending! They dress up at least every other day or so. Linsey was home from church because of a fever but felt ok, so she asked me if she could watch Star Wars and dress up. Whenever Darth Vader came on the screen, she yelled, "Hey, that's me!" The other picture was taken when she crawled under the top of our guinea pig cage as we were cleaning out the bottom. She just fit, till Hannah tried to crawl in too!

Natalie loves to smile and is great at interacting with the older girls. She coos and wiggles when they're around - the first time she "talked" was when she saw a picture of them! She is a wonderful addition to our family, and the girls can't wait to teach her how to crawl. (Actually, they're not waiting, she just isn't picking it up very quickly!)

Natalie is the first one of my girls not to scream during the entire bath! Actually, her bath was the only time she didn 't cry during her first hour at the hospital, so I was optimistic. Linsey did everything but wash her hair while I held Natalie steady once her umbilical cord finally fell off. She is such a great big sister and help to Mommy!

There's nothing better than having a new baby for a special day, and Father's Day was no exception! Grandma Jean made matching dresses for the girls, and the older girls made cards to tell Daddy how special he is. He even got steak for breakfast! All in all, a great day!

The ladies at my church threw us a shower when the men were gone on their retreat. We had a great time, and the girls loved opening the presents! They didn't even seem to mind that the presents weren't for them :) Actually, they liked the giant trampoline best of all!

It's been awhile since I posted, between computer blips and third trimester blahs, so I thought I'd start with some cute Easter pictures. You would not BELIEVE how hard it is to get both girls looking at the camera smiling at once! I'm not thinking three girls will be much easier...thank goodness for digital photos - you can snap a million!

This one keeps me on my toes! Very helpful, very sincere, very sensitive...very, very active!! As long as I give her something constructive to do, there's no trouble. It's when I need to get something done and giver her a little space that the adventures begin! So Hannah has become my shadow in recent days...wherever I go, she goes; whatever I do, she does! The arrangement slows me down a bit but gives me much less to clean up :) Small consolation - We ran a lot of places last month, so we had sitters for the girls a few times. Within a week's time, I had two different families from church tell me - "She's great, but she's never still! She even paced while she was playing with toys. I don't know how you keep up with her!" That made me feel a little better, but also a little curious about how I'm going to get anything done once I have three of these beautiful girls!!

Princess Cake - I had some help with this one! Birthday girl on the runway Four year olds trying to curtsy All of the birthday guests playing musical cushions Here are a few highlights from Linsey's birthday party a couple of weeks ago - we had a great time doing the girls' hair, makeup, nails, and dressing them up. It was a hit!

The girls received oodles of dress up clothes for Christmas, and they are both enjoying them! Hannah doesn't quite get what the big deal is, but she loves to do anything her sister does.

The week before Christmas, we got about 5 inches of snow that stayed for three days! The roads were a mess, school was canceled, doctors were closed - it was more snow than our area has had for about 35 years! The girls enjoyed playing in it, and we took plenty of pictures so they'll remember their almost white Christmas.