The past two weeks have been rather busy around our home.  I took Mason to the Doctor two weeks ago, because he had been running a fever, and it seemed like his breathing was not right.  It turned out that he had pneumonia, and by the time we were finished with his appointment, his oxygen level had dropped so low that he needed to be hospitalized.  What I thought was just going to be a quick check-up turned into a five night stay in the hospital with my little guy.  Because he has Down Syndrome, he’s more prone to respiratory illnesses, so it takes a little longer for him to…

I shared yesterday about Isabella turning four, and today it’s Mallory’s turn.  Never in my wildest imagination did I think my first two children would be born just one year and twelve days apart, right after Christmas!  It’s a busy time of year for us, but lots of fun.  Somehow it always sneaks up on me and I’m obviously behind in writing about it. Anyhow… Mallory turned 3 last week and we had a fun day celebrating her.  She requested a smoothie for breakfast, cheese chips for lunch {tortilla chips with melted cheese}, and pizza, NOT homemade, veggies and dip for dinner.  We topped it off with strawberry cake.  Mallory…

Our oldest daughter, Isabella, turned 4 at the end of December.  It’s hard to believe we’ve already had her in our family for four years.  She is such a delight to us!  We had a family celebration on the day of her birthday, just a small dinner, cake and some gifts.  The birthday girl requested macaroni and cheese with sweet potato casserole for dinner.  She’s easy to please!  She was a little bit sick on her birthday, so didn’t really enjoy it, but her attitude was great anyway. What is Isabella like at four years old? Well… – Questions abound.  Who, what, when, where, why, how–that pretty much sums it…

We had a lovely Thanksgiving week!  Bradley’s parents arrived the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and we enjoyed having them here all week.  We relaxed some, worked on some projects around the house, played, ate, and just enjoyed being together. Our Thanksgiving feast: Gingerbread House Project with Nana: Project Downstairs Bathroom:{finished product to be revealed soon} Tea Party with Gocky: Beginning of the Re-upholstery Project:{hope to finish this one later this week–thanks, Mom, for getting it going!} Grandparents with the Kids: I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Well, actually our weekend isn’t over, thanks to the Veteran’s Day holiday!  We still have today to enjoy having Bradley home, have fun, and maybe get a few things done. On Friday night, my sister and brother-in-law arrived for a visit.  The girls waited up for them and were very wound up after a few minutes of wrestling with Uncle Caleb and being tickled by Aunt Sherri.  When Bradley finally put the girls to bed, Isabella said, “I like them because they always love us.”  She can definitely pick up on what it looks like to be loved. Saturday morning was spent talking, playing with play-dough, working in the garage,…

I can’t even believe that November is here already!  October seemed to fly by and now we’re into some colder weather, leaves falling, shorter days {don’t forget to set your clocks back tomorrow!}, and the holidays are just around the corner. Here’s a little of what was happening around our home in October: Lots and lots of coloring. Playing and teaching Mason how to play. Spending time outside now that the weather has cooled down. Playing around with my new camera! Hiding from Mommy while she plays with her new camera. Cooking up some new recipes.  Coming soon!! It was a fun month!  Now, I’m gearing up for the holidays…

We’ve been back from the beach for a few days now, but it’s taken me that long to really believe that vacation is over, thus summer is over, and now we’re moving into fall. We had a fantastic time at the beach!  A few highlights: -seeing my girls enjoying themselves so much.-walks on the beach with my husband and kids-not wearing shoes for 6 whole days!!-eating lots of M&M’s-talking with my parents, sisters, and brothers-in-law every night-riding a wave in on a boogie board {it’s been a few years}-crab stomping and hearing Isabella say, “I haven’t pulverized one yet!” -riding out past the breaking waves on an inflatable boat with…

The girls love to have tea parties, especially with their Daddy.  They dress up like Princesses {thanks, Nana, for the handmade clothes}, Daddy wears a blazer, and they eat whatever Daddy decides.  Maybe not what you would see at a traditional tea party, but this is Daddy’s way.   My friend, Callie, let me borrow her extra camera for a few weeks while she was on maternity leave.  I had so much fun working with a professional camera!  She encouraged me to keep it on the manual setting, which I did, and these are some of the ones I took.  Thanks, Callie!! The ‘tea’ you see here is actually strawberry milk.…