Little Debbie

I enjoy baking, but don't it all that often. Maybe it's the fact that I don't have a dishwasher and with baking comes lots of dirty dishes, or the fact that none of us NEED all the tempting cookies, cupcakes, muffins, and pies sitting around, or that I tend to get stuck in a "recipe rut" and sometimes I simply don't know what to bake! Whatever the reason, I'm not Betty Crocker by any stretch!

That being said... I love baking with my girls! I do! But with children come messes and it's been a stretch for me to let go of having a sparkling clean kitchen and hand the reins over to a 1 year old and a 3 year old!

I typically do the measuring and let them pour, stir, taste, scoop, etc. But Alia is now at the age where I'm trying to let her do more things on her own. SO... she made her very own cake the other day. 

Don't judge us... but out came the boxed cake mix, and away we went!

Every "neat and clean cell" in my body wanted to help out... but I let her do the majority! And to my surprise spills and messes were kept to a nice minimum!

Look Mom... no shells! 

We made Alia's masterpiece into a jello cake and it was moist as could be! She's on her way to being a "Little Debbie" in no time... next step, becoming a master dish washer! :)

365 Project: January 5, 2012

Today was a "first and last" day for Larren! 

The last time she slept in her crib... bittersweet I tell ya! But, it was time! Bedtime temper tantrums have been cut down substantially!

And... the first time she went pee on the potty on her own, without us asking her if she needed to go. 

Can ya tell I'm a mom? Big girl beds and peeing in the potty get me excited!!! :)

365 Project: January 4, 2012

Jan. 4th brought us to Caidrie's 6 week check up with our beloved midwife. Our appointments with Marla are anything but rushed, and we do our fair share of chit chatting... but this time I think we made a record! Our visit was nearing two hours when we decided to say our good-byes! Have I mentioned that we absolutely L-O-V-E her? Even Alia and Larren get giddy and excited when they get to visit with "Miss. Marla!" Maybe it's because she brought them sweet little necklaces & bracelets after Caidrie was born... or that she let's them be the little assistants when she checks Caidrie & I... or maybe it's because she takes time to show them specific things and give them hugs... or simply because she knows how to make a person feel extra special! We've been OH SO blessed to be under her care and to have her deliver all of our babies. She is so gentle, kind, caring, insightful, compassionate, and basically just the friendliest gal you're ever gonna meet! 

Caidrie did fantastic and is healthy as can be! She weighed in at 12 lbs. 2 oz. and is flying right out of her 3 month clothes and rounding the bend to 6 month! At the age of 6 weeks, mind you! :) This is on the verge of craziness!

So yeah... knowing this was (most likely!) the last official appointment we'll ever have with Marla made me shed some tears! A friend once said to me, "Maybe you & Marla should find some other things in common so you don't have to keep having babies to see her!" And...*sigh*... she's probably right! :)

365 Project: January 3, 2012

Larren woke up from her nap just in time...

What would childhood be without a few beaters & spoons to lick?! :)

365 Project: January 2, 2012

Only two days into my 365 Project and I realized something quite beneficial to attaining my goal. In order to really capture the day in ONE shot, my camera will have to come with me everywhere I go! 

A good friend and I headed to the States for a day of shopping and to, dare I say it, get away from the kiddos! I could have gotten several more accurate pictures of what our day entailed...
- maybe of Loralee and I trying on cute (read: on the verge of ridiculous!) hats
- eating at Jimmy John's for the first time (which has been added to my "must eat at again" list!)
- climbing in the VW through the passenger side door umpteen times because Jon's car decided to give us grief
- battling to open the cars overflowing trunk on several occasions because it too decided to give us grief
- or maybe our cheers and shouts of WOOHOO! when the border officer let us through without paying duty on all our purchases!

But... because I didn't bring the big black box needed to capture those things... I settled on an "end of the shopping day picture" with this cute little bean!

Caidrie came along on our shopping expedition (of course!) and my oh my, she was positively perfect! The only mishap was a diaper blow-out in aisle 12... but other than that we couldn't have asked for a better shopping companion! 

God knows me well... and knew that after Larren's rough first year I needed an easy baby for my own sanity's sake! I've heard baby #3 is the "golden baby" and so far that's ringing true! Caidrie is the most laid back, barely makes a peep, goes with the flow, baby I've ever met! I think I see many more shopping / spa trips in her future! :)

365 Project: January 1, 2012

As mentioned, my goal is to take at LEAST a picture a day for the year. When 2012 is over I'd like to compile them all together in a book to document how we spent our time! They may not be anything fancy... actually I KNOW they won't be anything fancy :)  ... but they're us. And as we glance back over the year I look forward to the memories that will follow!

Jan 1st. had us saying goodbyes to my family as they headed back to O-HI-O. Funny how our house actually felt QUIET after they left! We tidied up a bit, took a nap here & there, and basically just spent the day relaxing / playing with all the new goodies the girls received. 

A great way to welcome in the New Year in my books! :)

New Year's Resolutions... or Lack There Of

As appealing and inspiring as New Year's resolutions can be... I've just never been all for 'em. Maybe it's because I know myself (and my shortcomings) a little too well or maybe it's because I feel my normal every day life is about as much as I can currently handle!

This year I'm only going to commit to two things.

1 - Take at LEAST one picture a day for the next year! Doesn't sound too hard right? But I must admit, I'm not the greatest with picture consistency... so this will take effort! The extra twist is that I want the picture to sum up the events of the day, if possible. My ideal goal would be an award winning photo every single day... but I'm telling both you, and myself, to keep expectations low! Real low...

2 -Wake up in the morning ready to give up my own personal expectations and to simply SAVOR the day. I have found that expectations usually take AWAY from my life instead of adding to it. And the short story of the matter is... I have too many, and I need to get rid of them! :)

My "365 Project" officially started January 1st... but here's a little appetizer from our New Year's Eve festivities!

Visiting family, kids, and cards... if I would have included the huge spread of food we consumed than this pic would have hit the nail on the head! :)

Caidrie Cuteness

Caidrie and I had a little newborn photo session the other day and, to be honest, I simply couldn't stop taking pictures of her! The lighting was fantastic, her skin was oh so perfect, and her newborn scrumptiousness just overtook all sense of time!

Here are a FEW pictures of our smallest cutey patootie! :)

 

Beautiful Bundle #3

This is the week of American Thanksgiving (with Thanksgiving being our third little love's actual due date!) and we have MUCH to be thankful for!

Caidrie Praise was born on Monday, November 21st at 4:50 pm. She weighed in at 9 lbs. 1 oz. and 21 1/2 inches long! 

Labor and delivery were more difficult than I expected and quite different than the other two, but overall it went very well.

We were, once again, blessed to have a natural water birth delivery with our FABULOUS midwife! Marla has been our midwife for all three girls... and I am always blown away with her gentle spirit and her servant heart!  

Caidrie was super purple when she was born, and couldn't breathe all that well, so sadly she wasn't able to hang out in the pool with me as long as the other girls did...but after some TLC she was good as gold and ready to snuggle!

Everything is super low key and relaxed with a midwife and we were each able to take our guess as to how much Caidrie weighed before she officially hit the scales... 

... needless to say we were all over a pound short! There was a slight gasp across the room when the scale said over nine lbs!

The next day both big sisters came for a visit and, as predicted, Alia was instantly smitten with her new little sister!

The supply of hugs and kisses is unending!

Larren hasn't been so sure about the whole thing and tends to keep her distance... (sadly, she has been very sick this week, which has aided in her apprehensiveness) but it's so good to see those moments when her sweetness simply can't be contained! Every now and then a kiss is handed out with a little "yuv ooo" to top it off!

Nana Betty and Papa Ron cared for the girls while we were at the hospital and oh, what a blessing to not worry about them! They were spoiled to the nines and loved on good and proper while we were away!

Once again, our stay at the hospital was fantastic and the nurses were so good to us! We only stayed 24 hours (though I said that with this baby I wanted to stay until they kicked me out!!) but probably should have stayed one extra day... needless to say that first night was interesting with two sick kiddos and a brand new baby!

Despite a crazy household Caidrie has been such a little blessing! She's content, easy going, sweet as pie, nurses like a pro, and has hardly made a peep since she was born!

Can I just say, for the record, that having three girls is absolutely amazing!! I love all the pink... the dolls... the hair bows... the drama :) ... the dresses... the massive amounts of shoes... dress up time... baking with built in "assistants"...  it just keeps getting better and better!

And I wouldn't have it any other way!

39 Weeks and Counting

Well, it's pretty obvious that I have been LESS than stellar about taking pregnancy pics this time around... like I MAYBE have a dozen and a half! My intentions are good... but then I'm either too lazy to set up the tripod or I see myself in the pics and cringe!

So as a result... this baby will only see what her preggo mama looked like to a small degree!

My best friend Jen and I have an annual tradition of attending a local women's retreat together, and this year Jen made it clear we were using a bit of our free time to take some pregnancy pics! I might have whined a tad bit, but I'm SO THANKFUL that we were able to document this amazing time in life! And... I'm kicking myself for simply not taking ONE picture a week! Oh well...

Let me be clear that it is hard for me to be a model... very, very hard. In my "previous life" (AKA before kids!) I had no quams about being in front of the camera, and could actually take a decent picture! But for some reason kiddos have changed that and I look like a loon every time the shutter goes! That being said... this is the only full face shot of the bunch! Not because Jen didn't take more, but because well... just because!

So here ya go... 

The classic heart pic... which makes me smile!

We took these pictures in September, and I thought "Oh, I haven't grown THAT much..." but as you'll later see, yes... indeed I have! :)

And this next shot is one of my favorites... a slight view of what it's like from the top!

Again, thank you Jen... I really appreciate it!

For months now the girls have taken to kissing "the baby" on a very regular basis. In the morning when they wake up, when we're playing together, when they're laying their heads on my belly as we read books, when I'm washing their faces after a meal, before nap time, before bed time... on a regular basis is not an understatement!

Here's MY recent view of the oldest little kisser!

And the inevitable "Does baby like it when I give her kisses?" question! :)

Jen was over for lunch last week and simply said "march to the end of the hall young lady!" :) 

I gotta say... I FEEL that big, but had no idea I actually looked it!
39 weeks and counting... Mama's ready for ya baby Kreiser! 

Sisters

Siblings fight. It just seems to come with the territory and our gals are no different. 

BUT... the bond of friendship that is starting to form between them simply makes me sigh and smile! All these pictures were taken over the last week or so. Nothing planned or staged... just several "Hey girls!" then quickly click - moments. 

I never wished I had a sister growing up or felt deprived by not having one... but after having two girls I can see why sisters have such a close bond! They are an automatic built in best friend!! And when we add another little lady to this here mix... and one best friend turns into TWO... well, let's just say that these loves are super duper blessed!!