the harline family

piano and sandpaper

2011-05-22T23:22:00.003+10:00

My ever-so-kind-and-sweet mother-in-law gave me her piano - which originally belonged to her mother. I love that she gave it to me. The piano needed quite a bit of work, though. I called around to piano shops and restorers and it was going to cost around $5,000.00 to refurbish it. Yikes! So, Bruce and I decided to do some research and figure out how to do it ourselves. So we did. And it was A LOT of work. And we never want to touch a piece of sandpaper again. And now I love the piano all the more :)

Before:

After:

What do you think?? Should we quit our day jobs? :)

i love to see the temple

2011-05-17T23:09:00.005+10:00

Bruce and I have set a goal to take our girls to the temple at least twice a year. Just to be there. So, that's just what we did! My mom and cute preggo sister came along since Bruce had to work and it was a wonderful morning. On the drive there, Grace said, "Mommy, I'm so happy my daddy and you got wedding in my temple!" (Bruce and I were actually married in the Houston Temple.) Oh, and that morning as I was fixing Haylee's hair, she said to me excitedly, "Mom, I really can't wait to see the temple today and also see Jesus!!!" I love these kids :)

Grace is such a mommy.
This photo is Haylee to a T.

Mom, Janelle & Ava....oh, and little baby

Haylee twirling

Love the crazy Ava hair!!

hummm...can't remember what captured all of our attention....

let's play

2011-05-01T23:58:00.000+10:00

We are loving our new neighborhood for lots of reasons, but mainly because there seems to be a pool, park, or splash pad on every corner! It's fantastic! Now that the weather is warming up, we've been taking bike rides to the parks. The little girls run around and squeal while Bruce chases them pretending to be a dragon. So much fun :) I love my little family. A lot.

the garage a.k.a. Bruce's girlfriend

2011-04-27T12:54:00.000+10:00

Bruce loves his girlfriend. He spends a lot of time with her. I don't think she's half-bad myself. From making custom shelving and a custom workbench to doing epoxy over the concrete...this garage is a happy one for sure :)

happy birthday to me :)

2011-04-19T12:09:00.002+10:00

Yep. The big 31. Just for the record, turning 31 is more depressing than turning 30. So, for all of you young pups out there (my hubbie included) just keep that in mind :)

My birthday actually fell on a Sunday this year which was really nice and relaxing. My parents and mother-in-law (who are all in the same ward) go to church in the morning and we go in the afternoon. While we were still at church, they all came over to our house, cooked up homemade enchiladas and a beautiful salad & had it all ready and waiting when we got home. Yay and yummy!

We had cake, opened presents (I had lots of little helping hands!) & just spent time together. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect.

18 months big

2011-04-18T12:45:00.003+10:00

Can my baby already be 18 months old?? Time flies when you're having fun! Ava is just the sweetest and funniest little angel. She has been our easiest, breeziest child. She is just happy and placid all the time....but don't get me wrong...she's got a sassy little personality for sure. We love this baby to pieces!!

new home = lots of projects, pt.1

2011-04-18T11:42:00.008+10:00

For the no one left who reads this blog.... :)

Wow!!! Where have we been??!?!?! No, I'm not pregnant...I can't count how many people have asked me if that's the reason I have not blogged ;) We've just been VERY busy with this house.

So, the trouble with buying a "new construction" new home is that you're the suckers who have to install all of the "stuff". For example: the gas line for a gas grill, laying sod, the sprinkler system for the front and back yards, the landscaping, then ripping up half of the sod we laid for more landscaping & other basics. We enjoy doing projects.... but these were HUGE projects all at once. Whew! Glad it's over.... and I'm glad our marriage is still intact :) Nothing like huge projects to bring out your inner patience!

....more to come! Including updated finished product pics :)

luvs

2011-02-27T12:00:00.004+11:00

You'd think that by the time your third child comes around you won't be as smitten by every single thing they do. Well, not so much. We are so crazy in love with baby Ava!! We just can't get enough. And I love, love, love how in love Gracie and Haylee are with Ava. It's just the sweetest ever.

Ava is 17 months old now and talking like a big girl. Here are the words she shares with us: sisters, more, juice, milk, bottle, barbie, sophie (my sister's dog), river, water, dog, eat, stuck, cracker, cookie, all of our names, go, no, me, mine, bye-bye, come, bath, down, shoe, outside, jump, climb & play.

Well, those are the words I can think of at the moment. I'm sure she has a few more. She is just so much fun!

I said the other day while kissing her, "Ava! Mommy wants to eat you for a snack!" to which Haylee said, "No, Mommy! Ava not a snack. She a girl."

grace's prayer

2011-02-22T03:46:00.004+11:00

this was grace's prayer at dinner last night:

"dear heavenly father,
thank you for mimi, grandma & papa.
please help us to not run off in the store.
i don't want another spank
and i want to go to the store again with my mommy.
i not happy when i get a spank.
my mommy goes to the store and i want to go, too.
help me to not run off at the store.
my mommy not take me next time.
my mommy give me a spank.
thank you for my food.
jesus christ. amen."

(fyi: we rarely ever give our kids a "spank"... and this is why...they remember = i feel terrible.)

little mermaids

2011-02-15T01:44:00.009+11:00

As you all know, Grace & Haylee are only 10 1/2 months apart. Yep. Gave birth twice in 12 months. I totally recommend it to everyone ;)

Long before we knew we were going to be moving back to America, we had Grace and Haylee's mermaid birthday party planned. Well, as it turned out, their party was on the 28th of November and we moved home on the 29th! Craziness. But totally worth it.

So, here's the birthday pictures - two+ months late - but, happy 3rd birthday to our little pixie Haylee & happy 4th birthday to our ballerina Grace!

could i BE any more in love?!?!

2011-02-04T12:20:00.001+11:00

our new house

2011-01-29T05:44:00.006+11:00

Yes, that is my mom mobile. Giving birth to three children isn't what made me a mom. The fact that I now drive a van makes me a mom.

I am in love with the 'Juliette Balcony' (which is the actual term). Cant wait to use it! I'm going to make Bruce sing me songs from the driveway.

The dining room.

View into the living room from the entryway.

Kitchen into the living.

LOVE the ceiling!

The entryway. It's a great big space for the girls to play.

Looking down into the living room.

Kitchen

Master bathroom. Off to the left is a huge shower. It could fit a party of people in there...not that our parties consist of showering with our guests :)

The game room at the top of the stairs.

Media room

The powder bathroom. Don't you just love the onyx and glass sink top?!

More kitchen

We decided to go big and have Plantation shutter installed throughout the entire house. We may need to sell one of our children to fund it :) The shutters should be installed next week and I'm SO looking forward to that. There's a lot of other new homes being built behind us, beside us, across from us, etc. - and I'm not a big fan of lots of men watching me through wide-open windows all day.

good-bye to the land down under

2011-01-29T05:28:00.003+11:00

Wow. This post is two months past due, but that's been life lately...crazy! Bruce's boss told him mid-November that we'd be moving back home to Houston November 29th. Yikes! We had a total of 10 days to prepare. It was nuts. I was so exctied at first to be moving home, but then got really sad to be leaving Australia so quickly. We didn't have much time to say good-bye.

The morning we were to leave, our great friends, Jim and Kristen, along with their kids, Nyah and Levi, came and cooked us a huge breakfast. It was the nicest and most thoughtful thing. We love them so much and are missing them tons.

Our wonderful friend, Barbara Stewart, also came over and took us to the airport. She and her family were so good to us while in Australia. We love them very much and we're missing them terribly. They really were our family.

Haylee, Grace & Nyah giving eachother cuddles.

Us and the Stancombe family in front of our Aussie house.

It was a beautiful Spring morning!

The little girls with Barbara. 'Barbara' was Ava's first word :) They just adore her and her 16 year old daughter, Juliana.

We are really hoping that our Aussie friends will come visit us here in Texas. The good thing about the Stewart family is that they are actually from Houston and Barbara is a professor at The University of Houston (teaching via Blackboard distance learning). So...we really look forward to their visits!

pregnant!!!

2011-01-18T13:13:00.003+11:00

No, I'm not pregnant! What were you thinking?!?! My sister, Janelle, is pregnant! I am so excited. It's probably even more exciting than if I were myself :) She and her husband and been waiting for a l -o -n -g time for a little baby to come along, so this is especially happy news for our entire family!! See you in July little baby!

And in other news....
I've had people email me asking if moving across the world killed us (in reference to me not updating my blog). Um, yeah. Just about. Sheesh! Remind me not to do that again :) We bought a house and moved in two weeks ago. We ordered a new computer from Dell, so when that arrives this week I'll get back busy with our blog. I have so much to post on here! So, stay tuned...I know you'll be holding your breath ;)

beautiful ballerina! (and other news...)

2010-12-14T01:18:00.004+11:00

Grace's first-ever ballet recital was two weeks ago. She was so adorable I wanted to just eat her up! She did GREAT and besides picking her nose once on stage, she remembered all her ballet moves. What a perfect ballerina! We were so proud of her.

She was a pussy cat and loved shaking her pussy cat tail :)

As you can see all over her face, she was thrilled to get flowers from Daddy!

In other news... most of you know this by now, but we've moved home! Yep. We are already back home in the USA. It was a very fast decision made by Bruce and his boss, but long story short...we had 10 days to move. Crazy. It's a good thing Exxon actually packs us up moves us. I couldn't have done it otherwise.

We haven't even been home two weeks and we've already bought two cars and a HOUSE! Pictures of the house to come soon :)

The blog has taken quite the backseat to our super crazy, super busy - but fun - family life.

guess what??!!???!?

2010-11-12T06:59:00.002+11:00

WE'RE MOVING HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited, I could BURST!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bruce just got the official word yesterday that we'll be home by January 15, 2011. Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!

sisters are friends

2010-11-07T12:46:00.008+11:00

We were playing in the driveway the other day and Grace said to me, "Mommy, sisters are best friends." Melt my heart. I love that these three angels love each other.

we had a fun halloween!

2010-11-07T12:33:00.005+11:00

Halloween isn't really celebrated here, but true to form, our wonderful friends, the Stewarts, made sure Grace, Haylee & Ava had a special Halloween. We went over to their house for some candy, homemade sugar cookies, cheese and crackers, hot fudge brownie sundaes, and other super yummy food. It was really fun!

Snow White, Silvermist Fairy & Rosella Fairy had a great time :)

ava's birthday celebration

2010-10-30T16:58:00.010+11:00

Wow! Where have we been for the past month?! (Oh, that's right...we've been to New Zealand, Brisbane & Paupa New Guinea. Sheesh! I'm tired.)

Anyhow, for Ava's 1st birthday on September 30th, we decided to do just a family celebration. We went to Build A Bear - which was a lot of fun! I'm so glad Bruce and I thought of that because it was a perfect activity for our little family. Also, because we went on a Thursday night, we were the only people in the entire store! Fun! After that, we went home and had cupcakes and presents. It really was a perfect birthday for our sweet baby Ava.

Taking our stuffed friends home! (This pic should be last, but oh well..)

Oh, so many choices of clothes, undies & shoes for our furry friends....

Haylee and Gracie loved giving their kitty & bear a bath.

Stitching up their animals. Serious stuff to a toddler :)

The finished product of Ava's birthday duck! So cute!

Ava was in a binky-sucking mood...she's funny about that thing.

Haylee is digging for gold while Grace dances and sings. Typical.

Ava loved us singing "Happy Birthday" to her!

Reaching for her presents...she's a clever one!

Yummy!!

Happy, happy birthday to my sweet, sweet gorgeous baby girl!

Sea World

2010-10-23T22:54:00.003+11:00

We have been saying for years that we would take our girls to Sea World. This past weekend we got the chance. I had a conference (for work) to attend. Mandy was also invited by my work. We decided to take the girls and spend the weekend in Brisbane. The weather was great. Sea World was a blast. Grace and Haylee loved the dolphins, sharks, sting rays and sea lions. Grace did not like the loud music during the shows. Poor girl covered her ears the entire time.

Just about everything seemed to go our way. The weather cleared up just for us. In the airport, we were let to the front of most lines because we were traveling with children. The car rental place upgraded our full size to a luxury sport car for free. It made me really want to keep the Audi A4, much nicer than our Holden. Our hotel gave us a 2 bedroom suite.

The conference was very nice and well put on by SPE. Most days I was able to get home earlier than usual and play with the girls at the swim park. It was right in front of our hotel and girls loved it. One of the nights, we were able to get a sitter and go on a dinner date.

New Zealand

2010-10-15T13:05:00.009+11:00

We're back! And I'll be honest...I'm a little depressed. New Zealand was incredible! By far my most favorite place I've been so far...beats out Fiji and The Great Barrier Reef, in my opinion. (but don't get me wrong....i loved those places!!!) It really was that beautiful and amazing!!!! Here are only a tiny handful of pictures - I'll post more, but here's a start....Enjoy! Oh, and we did take a Lord of the Rings horse treck which was fantastic! Those pictures are on the other camera, so I'll get to those in a couple days.

At Milford Sound. This was cut out by glaciers - glaciers that are still in the fiords. You can see them above Bruce's head. Incredible.

On the pier in Queenstown.

We took a flight over the glaciers, waterfalls, fiords, etc., along with two other couples. This was the plane we went on and our pilot. I sat co-pilot. I can't tell you how incredible and awesome of an experience this was. However, very scary, too. The little plane just got tossed around above those mountains. At one point, the plane dropped straight down out of the sky about 75 feet (at least). Yeah. Scary. Bruce puked. He really did. And one of the other guys almost did.

How amazing is this??!?!? Ah, just awesome! To give you an idea of the grandure, you would have to stack 27 Niagra Falls on top of one another to get to the height of this waterfall.

On our boat ride through Milford Sound we saw native fairy penguins. They are about 10 inches tall. Do you see them? on the right, standing on the wet rock just out of the water. There's two.

The waterfalls were incredible. We couldn't believe the force of the water.

We saw wild dolphins! It was so exciting!

They came up SO close to us. Do you see the baby?! So much fun!

More dolphins...or a shark. Exciting either way :)

This waterfall is double the height of Niagra Falls! Just amazing to see such massive and beautiful parts of the Earth.

Native seals! So fun to watch them sunbathing. This little guy cracked us up!... upside down and was so close to rolling off the edge! He was snoozin' for sure!

Mose sleepy seals

We rode the gondola WAY up the mountain (Queenstown down below) and then did the louge down. It was a blast!

And now, for my favorite picture of the entire trip.....I honestly laugh out loud every time I look at this!!! I'll let you make out what's going on......

More to come!!!

bye, bye Australia.....

2010-10-08T22:34:00.002+11:00

....hello, New Zealand!!!
Bruce and I are off to Queenstown! I'm soooooo excited!!!!!
Passports...check.
Camera...check.
Sunglasses...check.
NO KIDS...check. WooHoo!!!!!!

See ya next week! :)

one year

2010-09-30T14:22:00.005+10:00

:::Happy, happy birthday to Ava!!!:::

Can our sweet Ava Ruby be 1 year old already?! Time flies when you're having fun....

What a blessing she is to our family. She makes us all smile every single day. I have so much love for her I don't know what to do with all of it! Like my Grandma Ruby says,

'my cup runneth over'. And it's true. I so love being a mom.

take a look!

2010-09-29T18:27:00.002+10:00

check out what my sister made! she's so talented!
http://janelleanddustinstubbs.blogspot.com/

the acorn patch

2010-09-26T20:55:00.008+10:00

After church today we walked the one block to the acorn patch. The girls loved running around and, of course, twirling!

It's a beautiful acorn patch in the Summer and Autumn seasons...not much now since we are just coming out of Winter. However, today was the first warm day we've had in months - in the upper 50's! Hooray!

Miss Haylee doing some exploring....

Ava wondering whether or not she shouuld eat bark

Gracie running from Daddy the lizard - as she calls him :)

Grace twirling!

Little tiger

2010-09-22T16:05:00.002+10:00

Ava's a smarty pants :)

a day at the fair

2010-09-19T10:46:00.019+10:00

It's Springtime, so you know what that means...off to the fair! We went with our friends, the McCartney's who also have three girls. Between the six little girls, baby animals, fairy floss (cotton candy), kiddie rides & perfect weather, it was a fantastic day!

Haylee, Sienna, Ava, Lily, Isabella & Grace

Bruce was more than happy to "have to" ride all the rides with the girls :)

The favorite ride of the day...the Fun Slide (not to be confused with the boring slide). Don't know just how much money we spent buying tickets for this. Totally worth it!
The girls were in heaven holding all of the baby animals!

Seriously in heaven....their faces say it all

Back at the slide....the girls couldn't get enough :) And, clearly, Bruce had a good time, too!

Bruce, Ava, Tim & Isabella....Just say no to strollers in crowded areas! It was great.

I really enjoyed the tiny lamb....it actually smelled similar to my kids :)

LOVE these! How cute are these girls?!

Loved all the sheep and lambs. Just so sweet.

And there's the black sheep of the family ;)

And, we're back at the slide....Me, Grace, Lily & Lauren

Isabella Grace & Ava Ruby

Lauren & me

Haylee was just in love with the animals and wasn't at all afraid of them, which is a very big step for our cautious little fairy!

toothie!!

2010-09-13T20:38:00.005+10:00

Ava has a toothie!! Yay! A cute little tiny tooth finally broke its way through yesterday. Poor little girl is really struggling with teething - Grace and Haylee didn't even skip a beat when they teethed. Ava is a miserable little cupcake ;(

I went to the pharmacy and asked the pharmacist what he could recommend for teething. (Very different medicines in Australia vs. the US.) I was so annoyed at him when he snapped at me and said, "Teething doesn't hurt babies. Research has shown it doesn't hurt." Oh, really?? So is that what babies tell the researchers? If any part of MY body was purple, swollen & flaming hot red, - like her gums are - I'm pretty sure I would be in pain! Argh...I was so annoyed at him. It also annoyed me because he was telling the wrong false information to the wrong person....I just happen to know just a smidgen about pediatrics.....

I am probably over-reacting.....maybe I'll go toilet paper the pharmacy tonight....

Anyhow, we are proud of our big girl and her tiny toothie :)

strawberry girls

2010-09-05T09:52:00.000+10:00

Haylee calls these dresses their "strawberry girl dresses." It's super cute. My girls are cute. Really cute. This first picture makes me laugh because Ava is a bit concerned about her sisters attacking her with kisses. Ah, I love these girls!

painting in the shower

2010-09-03T21:00:00.005+10:00

This afternoon Gracie & Haylee made some beautiful artwork in the shower! They started off painting with the brushes and ended smearing paint everywhere with their hands. They had a ball & it didn't matter how messy it got :) I used Crayola finger paints because they wash super easy. I actually left all the paint on the shower walls and just rinsed it off in my shower tonight. So easy and it kept them busy for a long time.

Haylee's face cracks me up here...

I loved that they painted the knobs....even the appropriate colors!

yes, that is a granny shower cap above grace's head. i'm a granny. hey, sometimes i don't want my hair to get wet....bruce always teases me

undies girl

2010-09-01T08:38:00.004+10:00

Haylee is our undies girl! Hooray! She has gone 3 weeks with only 1 accident (and that happened in the cheese asile at Costco...oops!)
I think we can officially say she's potty trained. Yippee for undies and no diapees!

This picture cracks me up. No, she's not watching tv.....just posing.

She told me, "Mommy, I not look at the camera. I just show you my undies." Okay, Haylee.

New Zealand!

2010-08-24T16:34:00.007+10:00

New Zealand here we come!! We are going to Queenstown the second week in October and we can't wait!!!!

Afterall, it's only a 3 hour flight, so why not?!

Want to know the best part??....we are going without our kids!!!! WooHoo!!

We will be celebrating our 5 year wedding anniversary.

Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown, NZ
The lodge we will be staying in....ahhh, I can't wait!

I'm actually considering taking the Lord of the Rings senic tour -- visiting all the sites where the movies were shot just outside Queenstown. Yeah. I'm a nerd. Do ya wanna come with us??

snow play

2010-08-22T13:29:00.010+10:00

Yesterday we took the girls sledding at one of the ski resorts nearby. Grace LOVED it...Haylee and Ava, well, not so much :)

All in all it was a really fun family day!

Just outside Lake Mountain Lodge.

And, yes, that is Ava sitting over there on the sled all by herself. Good thing she didn't sled off,off, and away.

Helping Daddy with his big snowman.
Bruce helped the girls make a "princess-castle-snowman", as they called it.

snow falling...
This picture cracks me up! What would she say if she could talk?!

Daddy and Grace getting ready to sled down the mountain.

Haylee wanted NOTHING to do with those sleds!

What a great day! Lets go home....

bathing beauties

2010-08-21T13:14:00.000+10:00

Winter Date Night

2010-08-19T10:51:00.002+10:00

Bruce and I got to sneak away to the temple for a date. I love the temple. I love the overwhelming feelings of peace and comfort I have when I'm there.

It was especially romantic because the weather was Wintry in every way outside, but inside the temple was warm, beautiful and cozy.

I thought I'd get warmer by hunching over into Bruce....not so much ;)
my new skirt :)

crazy!

2010-08-17T11:25:00.006+10:00

Bruce and I had a laugh last night....

Ava is exactly 10 months and 2 weks old right now....

That's how old Grace was when Haylee was born. How am I still alive?!?!

This picture was taken at Grace's Halloween party - just two weeks before I had Haylee

This is a bad picture of me, but do you think I should cut my hair short again??

Just had brought Haylee home from the hospital...Grace checking her out

Seriously, how did I survive having two babies - no, two c-sections! - in 10 1/2 months?? Sorry to all my family & friends who had to endure all the crying I did.....I don't remember much of that, but I do remember crying a lot :)
(oh, and should i cut my hair short again?? hummm....)

10 1/2 months later....

2010-08-14T12:06:00.010+10:00

10 1/2 months ago I had my third little daughter. Now, 10 1/2 months later, I still can't believe I am a mom to three little girls. Every day I am overwhelmed with gratitude to the Lord for letting me take care of three of his most precious and beautiful children. How did I ever get so lucky??

Ava Ruby is such a little lover! She loves cuddles and kisses. She loves to giggle and flirt.

We are so in love with this baby!

It's a funny thing - love. It just grows and grows.

I can remember a conversation Bruce and I had after having Grace...we asked each other, "How can we ever love another child as much as we love Grace?!" But you do. And I would even say as you become more confident in your parenting abilities, you can love (and relax!) even more than before.

Ava has now finally decided to start crawling! It's now 3 for 3...all of our girls have been late crawlers. That's okay. I say take your time, little one. She growls when you ask her, "Ava, what does a tiger say?" Yeah, it's just about the cutest thing ever! We can thank her big sisters for teaching her that one :)

I love this picture of Bruce and Ava. I think they look so much alike. They have the same eyes. The same expressions. I love it.

surgery

2010-08-14T12:04:00.001+10:00

Grace's surgery was this past Tuesday - 4 days ago. She had it done at SouthEastern Private Hospital just outside Melbourne. The operation went well and I am extremely glad it's all over with.

Grace was very brave. Bruce and I were so impressed with her. Way to go, Gracie-Loo!

Daddy took a picture of us in the hospital lobby...waiting to get called back for the surgery.

This was just after they brought her in her room from recovery. She was still very groggy from the anesthesia. I hated seeing her like this ;(

She did get sick on her purple kitty cat shirt the doctor let her wear into surgery. She was SO SAD about getting throw-up on that shirt! It was pathetically adorable. I assured her mommy would wash it and it would get all clean....good thing it did!

The dr kept her overnight and she continued to improve. *Sigh of relief*. She began keeping bits of food and drink down so her tiny IV got to come out and we all got to come home! Hooray! And hooray for a healthy little girl!

poor little princess

2010-08-06T18:51:00.003+10:00

life is crazy! we have been so busy lately....just a quick update though. gracie is having surgery this coming tuesday august 10th. she has terrible sleep apnea (stops breathing in her sleep) and it's because her tonsils and adnoids are about 3x bigger than they should be. bruce and i were in shock - and actually the doctor was, too - when we saw how enormous her tonsils are. anyhow, her airway is partially blocked not only when she's sleeping, but also when she's awake. she tires quite easily - doesn't get enough oxygen when she plays. i feel so, so, so bad for her and i wish i could go through the surgery for her. the doctor actually said the words "grace's case is frighteningly bad.." yeah, not exactly what you want to hear the surgeon say! i'm not looking forward to my baby having surgery, but i know it needs to happen.

oh.my.goodness.

2010-07-30T20:26:00.001+10:00

This is quite possibly the funniest thing I have ever seen.

Everyone needs a big brother like this. Just watch. You have to. It's 2 minutes.

NOTE: I do not think what happened to the sister is funny. Just the brother.

the Smiths are here!!

2010-07-19T07:54:00.006+10:00

Our great friends, Ben, Whitney & baby Liam, came to visit! We had sooo much fun and I felt like I smiled and laughed for a week straight. Thanks guys!!

We went to Philip Island to watch the Fairy Penguins come back from their day at sea. It was just amazing to watch all these little penguins come in large groups out of the water, waddle across the sand and up to their burrows. Fairy penguins are only 12 inches tall full-grown. We couldn't take pictures because it would scare the little guys.

Mighty crab hunter Whitney
Whitney walking along the 'Twelve Apostles' beach

The Twelve Apostles at sunset

Baby Liam played the part of a baby koala quite well

More of the Twelve Apostles

Walking down to Loch Ard Gorge. The sound of the waves crashing in the gorge was incredible!

Cannot begin to describe how absolutely freezing the water was!

The rock formations are hundreds of feet high - so you get a small idea of how massive the wave crashes are.

Lunch time! Can you imagine a more beautiful spot to picnic??

Shipwreck beach...the anchor is from an 1800's wrecked ship

Flowers??

2010-07-12T16:45:00.002+10:00

The other day Haylee grabbed the bunch of spring onions out of the fridge and carried them around the house saying, "Look! Look! I have pretty flowers!" She kept smelling them, smiling saying, "Mmmmm...these flowers smell very, really yum."

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

2010-07-11T14:17:00.000+10:00

Waves

2010-07-04T19:06:00.003+10:00

We took the girls to an indoor pool called Waves this past Saturday and they loved it!
Because it's cold here in Melbourne most of the year, we're really glad to have this huge indoor water center close to our home.

Ava trying to grab a handful of water and eat it
Haylee also loved the fountains

Grace is our little fishy....just like her daddy!

Ahhhh, I love this!!!

Oh, this baby is cute!

Clapping!

Haylee is actually quite afraid of the water, but did well. We were very proud of her!

How cute of a bum is this?!?!

9 months

2010-07-04T18:48:00.003+10:00

Ava is such a sweet baby. She's so, so good and so easy...and we are very glad for that! I am amazed at how smart she is and how big she's getting. She loves, loves, loves her big sisters and is already starting to try to copy things they do and noises they make. What I love most is that she giggles and laughs when Haylee & Grace do - it's just adorable!

Ava loves kiwi. She wasn't sure about it at first, but then decided it was yummy. She even decided to save some kiwi for later on her forehead :) She doesn't really like to be fed food - she'd much rather me put pieces of food in front of her and then she finger-feeds herself. Miss Ava also loves to drink water out of a big girl cup. What a cutie!

tiny dancer

2010-06-22T18:17:00.002+10:00

Grace is our tiny dancer. She loves ballet. I mean, she loves it and she's quite good at it, too. Very coordinated for a three year old.

Ballet is a class that all girls - from the preschool program up to year 12 - have to take every year at the school. (She goes to an all-girls private Catholic school.) There is a beautiful ballet studio on campus, but it's being remodeled at the moment, so they have class in a multi-purpose room. Grace tells me she likes her ballet room better because it has mirrors everywhere and she can stare at herself. I guess she'll have to just push through using the multi-purpose room. What a hard life.

The parents were invited to an open class a couple weeks ago. It was so adorable I didn't stop smiling the entire hour. I had a good laugh at how serious Grace took it all - she was telling other little girls when they were off-step or when they needed to stop dancing. What a bossy little ballerina :)

This would be such a great picture if it wasn't blurry. I was using my crummy point-and-shoot camera. Bleh.

Tell me those little feet in first position aren't the cutest?!

sisters

2010-06-21T08:43:00.000+10:00

i love these girls! just one more reason i'm ready to move back to america...i miss them!!

Texas

2010-06-20T12:41:00.005+10:00

Ava and I took a little trip, just the two of us, back home to Houston. Most of my family (and none of my friends) had met Ava, so it was a really great time. Bruce stayed back in Aussie with Haylee & Grace and the three of them had a blast....and ate at McDonald's for every meal for 10 days, I'm fairly certain :)

It felt so good to be back in America - back at home with family, friends, and familiar surroundings. I didn't get to see nearly as many friends as I would have liked to, but 1 week goes by so quickly. I miss all of my friends.

It's been good for us to live here in Australia, but we are very ready to get back home.

Playing at Mimi and Papa's house with Aunt Janelle and her weiner dog, Sophie. Ava was completely smitten by that dog! She loved her!
Giving Aunt Janelle some loves.

Bruce's sister, Katie, and her kiddies got into town just about 2 hours before we had to fly out of town. It was really great to see them. Ava was loving her cousins!

Playing with Papa and Sophie the weiner.

I love this!

Ava eating her first donut. She made a huge mess, but loved it, so it was worth the clean up.

Bath time in the sink!

Isn't my mom pretty?!

Ava was such a little trooper. My mom, sisters, and I drug her everywhere with us that week: shopping, going out to eat, more shopping, .....she's such a good, good baby.

We did play with Aunt Keisha, Uncle Kyle (my youngest bro and sis) and also Gradma Marilyn (Bruce's mom), but I never got and pics. Dang. But what really matters it that we had a really great time with them!!

bunny rug

2010-06-16T08:00:00.005+10:00

Australian's call a bundled up baby a 'bunny rug'. So here's our ever-adorable bunny rug!

We are into Winter full-force here....it's freezing, but my girls look so cute in their winter gear :)

potato

2010-05-28T16:58:00.005+10:00

Last week Haylee threw a potato and it hit Grace right in the mouth. It, of course, did some decent damage - as a large potato would hitting your face straight on.
I was getting potatoes out to cook last night and Grace said to me, "Mommy, please don't throw potatoes at my mouth. It hurts. It makes me bleed. Please, please Mommy, don't throw a potato at me."
I said to her, (trying really hard not to laugh) "Gracie, Mommy would never, ever throw potatoes at you."
To which she responded, "Well, Haylee did and it hurt. Please don't throw it at me, okay, Mommy?"
Poor little girl! She's completely traumatized by potatoes.

Bright

2010-05-16T14:46:00.002+10:00

Last week we took a vacation up to Bright. It's a beautiful, quaint little mountain town and because we are going into Autumn, the weather and scenery were gorgeous. We had a really great time together! It's about a 3.5 hour drive and all three girls did so well in the car - we were so proud of them. Anyhow, here's our week in photos. Enjoy!

Just oustide the log cabin we rented for the week.

The family room of our log cabin. We loved, loved the wood fire place. It was so cozy during the cold nights!

We took a family drive to the very top of the mountains. We hiked around and the girls loved all of the nature and getting dirty :)

Haylee was so adorable. She said to me, "Mommy, I take off my shoes. My feet wanna feel the rock." Okay Haylee.

It was COLD up there and her little tosies were little pieces of ice. She didn't even notice.

Playing in the town square.

After we showed Gracie & Haylee what fun a pile of leaves can be, they didn't stop!

Our home for the week. Oh, it was beautiful! The river ran along just off to the side of it. Perfect for fishing.

The girls getting their fishin' poles ready for a good fish in the river....they were SO excited.

Ready for the big catch.....

.....YAY! Way to go Gracie & Haylee!! (or daddy, but who's really keeping track??)

Happy Mother's Day Mandy

2010-05-09T22:09:00.004+10:00

Happy Mother's Day Mandy. You are teaching our girls so much and they love you for it. You make us happy. Haylee's face says it all. We couldn't do this without you. I hope you enjoyed your special day and your nice gifts too (especially your cool new bike). We love you.

Happy Mother's Day - Mom

2010-05-09T21:30:00.003+10:00

Happy Mother's Day mom. I love you. Thank you for your example and all of your sacrifice. You are one incredible mom to have raised all 5 of us. You did it and even stayed sane...mostly. :)

oh.my.heck...this KILLS me!

2010-05-06T15:01:00.002+10:00

46 seconds of funny. real funny.

happy birthday, lover boy

2010-04-26T15:55:00.003+10:00

Today is Bruce's 28th birthday! Hooray for Bruce! Because today belongs to him (oh, and my bestest friend, Emily {happy birthday, em!!}) I thought I'd list 28 things about Bruce you may not know.....here we go:

1. He snores....LOUD.

2. He never fails to find the most boring program on TV and watches the entire thing...whether it's about dinosaurs, knitting, growing basil - you name it, he'll watch it.

3. He makes the best mashed potatoes ever.

4. When he was a teenager, he would sneak out in the wee hours of the morning....and never got caught.

5. While doing the above mentioned, he and his buddy would steal golf carts from the golf course and go riding around the course...and never got caught.

6. He bathes all three girls every night. He loves it and so do they.

7. I overheard him singing Madonna's 'Like A Virgin' to them tonight during bathtime. Nice.

8. He crinkles his nose when he laughs. All three girls do the same. I love this.

9. He always eats breakfast.

10. He likes the movie, "Barbie: A Mermaid Tale" and is more than happy to sit and watch it with the little girls.

11. He is fluent in Spanish.
12. Bruce doesn't so much care to eat candy.

13. It doesn't bother him if he hasn't showered for a few days.

14. It doesn't bother him if he wears already-worn-and-not-washed-yet undies.

15. He loves to BBQ and is great at it.

16. He sometimes pretends he is an interpretive dancer and makes us giggle at his super great dance moves.

17. He loves the mountains.

18. He is in incredible shape.

19. He's a hottie-with-a-body as a result of number 18.

20. He reads his scriptures in Spanish.
21. When he was a teenager, he went around smashing people's Halloween pumpkins.

22. Bruce is an extremely loyal friend.

23. He loves to cycle. He rides his bike to and from work everyday (it's not close). In fact, he got hit by a car on his bike a couple months ago and still loves cycling.

24. He is a fish. Loves the water.

25. Bruce takes the older two girls out almost every Saturday morning for a date.

26. Goes above-and-beyond as the Young Men's President at church. He loves those boys and works hard for them.

27. Bruce is a fantastic Daddy.

28. He doesn't brush his teeth first thing in the morning.

We love you, Bruce/Daddy! You are the best in the world!

You make us so happy.

bleh

2010-04-18T09:13:00.003+10:00

I haven't done much blogging lately because I just feel so....bleh. Does anyone else get in a funk of just everything? Maybe I'm the only one. For the past few weeks I feel like I'm swimming upstream - so busy, so tired...but still always something that needs to be done. And to add to the pile, Ava is not sleeping anymore. Seriously, not sleeping. Not sleeping during the day or the night. She took a 5 minute nap yesterday. Yep. Five whole minutes all day long. She's waking up between 4 - 7 times during the night. It's honestly killing me. Does anyone have any suggestions?? Help! The irony of it all is that Ava is such a calm and placid baby....she just doesn't sleep.

In other news....Grace is loving school and doing so well. She's making new friends and already knows songs in Italian and French. She loves, loves her ballet class and shows us new ballet moves all the time :)

It's been really nice having some time with just Haylee & Ava while Grace is in school three days a week. Haylee and I read a lot - she is our reader! I try to do an art or craft with her as well - she loves having school with mommy and Ava!

Haylee & Ava playing together in their favorite spot....the pack n play :)

Our really great triple stroller....I don't think this passes safety standards
I try to take them for a walk first thing in the morning (which is why they are in pj's), but now that it's getting cold, we'll have to go in the afternoon.
Grace is such a big help to me! Who knew a 3 year old could offer so much help?? She gets diapers, wipes, binkies, lovies....whatever I need and brings it to me. She will hold Ava and make her happy when she cries - it's really sweet.

6 months big!

2010-04-05T10:22:00.004+10:00

Ava Ruby is already 6 months big! I can't believe how fast time is going by. I feel especially mushy over my baby getting big because she's most likely going to be our last.

Ava is such a happy baby - always smiling and cooing. She weighed 14 pounds at her check-up, which puts her in the 50th percentile. We are so grateful that she is a happy & healthy baby.

She adores Grace & Haylee and giggles anytime they are around. It's so sweet. Ava loves her binky and her brown lovie. She has started sucking on her bottom lip, her fingers, and her cutie little toesies. She has the most beautiful lips and eyes - strangers even comment on her beautiful features. We love Ava Ruby sooooooo much and feel incredibly blessed she was sent to us!!!!

haylee's new word

2010-03-30T09:53:00.003+11:00

Haylee seriously cracks us up with her vocabulary. She is quite advanced in her speech and it's so dang cute!

Her new word is: "shaget" = jacket.

It's hilarious to hear her yell, "Mommy!! I need my shaget! I too cold!!!!!!"

a very happy birthday

2010-03-22T13:14:00.004+11:00

I had a fantastic 30th birthday! (I still can't believe I'm 30...) I woke up to my sweet baby Ava just cooing and giggling in her crib - which is the best sound ever. Then I came into the family room and opened my birthday presents.....well, Grace & Haylee opened my birthday presents :) We then ate McDonald's for breakfast, Bruce took the girls to the park for the morning, and when they got back, I went out shopping all by myself! It was perfect!

We had cheese, strawberries & crackers for our lunch and then my yummy cookie cake!

Bruce got our regular babysitter, Michelle, to watch the girls while he took me out for dinner at this beautiful place right on the ocean at sunset....little did I know.....

.....he had planned a surprise party for me!!!!!!!!!!!! How great is he??!?!?! We had such a great night and I was VERY surprised. Bruce is so wonderful!!!!!!

I was so glad our new - and great - friends, Jim and Kristen, came. They recently moved here from Tasmania and go to church with us. Their little baby, Levi, is going to marry Ava we've decided :) They also have a little girl who is Haylee's age and the two of them adore each other. We love them!

little sickie

2010-03-18T07:59:00.004+11:00

Miss Ava has been our little sickie this past week. She had bronchitis which turned into a systemic bacterial infection. Bruce and I felt just terrible for her. It's such an awful feeling to see your baby so sick!

Anyhow, she is much better now and I'm so grateful for good hospitals and doctors and modern medicine.

I just had to post these pics because like my sister-in-law, Angie, said, "Ava looks pathetically cute!"

The doctor had to give her a "boxing glove" on her other hand because she kept trying to take out her IV. Poor baby!

Mama Mia!

2010-03-12T21:14:00.004+11:00

For an early birthday present, Bruce surprised me with tickets to Mama Mia! How great is he?! We went last night and it was fantastic. We both loved it! The costumes and the music were amazing.

I had never been to a Broadway production, so it was super exciting for me.

Whaaaa!!!!

2010-03-10T20:20:00.007+11:00

I'm turning 30 in ten days. I might as well go book myself a room at the aged care facility....

Good-bye 20's....it's been good knowing you. *pout*

We LOVE Fiji

2010-03-08T07:13:00.004+11:00

We're back! We're sun-kissed, golden brown and feeling like our trip to Fiji was more like a dream than real life! It was, to say the least, the perfect first family vacation. We were so glad Bruce's mom was able to come with us. She was great company and fantastic help....and she made it possible for Bruce & I to sneak off by ourselves!

We stayed on Yunaca Island at the Shangri La Resort and it was amazing. Our rooms were literally steps from the ocean. The food was absolutely fantastic and the Fijians were so friendly there. They loved our little fair skin, blonde girls and were always kissing on them. In fact, one time a Fijian woman came over to Ava, took her out of the stroller and kissed all over her!

Fiji was the most beautiful place I've ever seen. I couldn't begin to take in all of the beauty - and neither could photos, but here's a small preview.....enjoy!

The view we enjoyed every morning while we ate breakfast

Grace straightening Haylee's necklace before the luau began

Ava dreamt about Fiji most of the week

The water was incredible!

Playing on the beach during an afternoon rain

Oh, Grace and Haylee were in love with the "hula dancing girls" - as they called them :)

The firedancing was insane. We loved it! Grace & Haylee kept saying "too hot, too hot!"

Hula girl Gracie

We were surprized at how large the Fijians were...like tree trunks! They were very tall and quite built. The kindest and most genuine people I've ever met - and they loved, loved our little girls!

Our room was just to the left...we strolled down to this beach every morning in our pj's....it was maybe 20 feet from our door to the sand.

The breakfast entertainment. So much fun!

Much more to come.....

forever a wedgie

2010-02-22T11:26:00.004+11:00

I can't get enough of this picture...I think it's so funny. Haylee always has a wedgie. It's hilarious! It doesn't seem to bother her in the least bit. I've decided that one bum cheek must be smaller than the other because the girl is always showing off that cutie little behind :)

In other news.....I haven't blogged lately because we've just been so busy. The past month has been a whirlwind....good, but super busy. My house is a disaster, I have mountains of both clean and dirty laundry piled everywhere, sheets need to be changed, groceries need to be put away, bathrooms need to be scrubbed,......

...but most important: I need to start packing our bags because we leave for Fiji in 6 days!!!!!!!!!! WhooHoo!!!!!

happy australia day

2010-02-03T08:52:00.006+11:00

To celebrate Australia Day this year we went to a park and had a picnic with our church. It was a really fun day and the weather was perfect! Everyone loved that we had our little American girls dressed in Aussie clothes :)

our little school girl

2010-01-29T14:39:00.007+11:00

Today was Grace's first day of school! The school system here starts at age 3, so we thought we'd enroll her, but only 2 days a week. Thanks to ExxonMobil, she gets to attend a fantastic private girls school and her studies will include: classical ballet lessons, Italian, German, & Chinese language classes, art, pottery, music, horticulture, PE, and yoga.

She had a great first day and was as sweet and friendly as could be!

She also has a PE uniform. I'll post pics of her in that next week. It's super cute, too :)

Prince William & The Australian Open

2010-01-23T11:49:00.005+11:00

Bruce and I got to go on a fantastic date last night. Thanks to ExxonMobil & its affiliates, we got corporate tickets to The Australian Open and got to watch the world tennis champion, Roger Federer play! How fun is that?! Also, as if the night wasn't already exciting enough, mid-way thru the match in walks Prince William and his Royal Entourage....talk about bringing the house down! I've never heard so much applause in my entire life. It was very exciting - especially because Prince William sat only two sections away from us.

Very, very cool!

Our seats were amazing! Only 4 rows from the court.

Prince William (front row, second from the left of the woman in the orange jacket) and the Royal Entourage all around and behind him.

Roger Federer after his win taking off his sweatband and throwing it into the crowd.

big changes for little girls

2010-01-17T21:03:00.000+11:00

Today was a big day for Gracie and Haylee....Grace went to Sunbeams and Haylee braved going to nursery without her big sis. Grace did fantastic in Sunbeams and Haylee did okay without Grace. Her nursery leader said she kept circling the room saying, "Where Grace?" I'm sure she'll be fine within the next couple weeks of church.

Here's us right before I took them into Primary:

Gracie the Sunbeam! I asked her after church if she had fun in her class and she said, "Sure! I had fun and I not pee pee in my undies!" What a big girl :)

gets me every time...

2010-01-14T16:47:00.004+11:00

We've lived here almost two years now and I still get a good laugh at the sale prices:

grace's birthday party

2010-01-08T22:47:00.003+11:00

i still can't believe my baby gracie is 3!! we had a really fun birthday party for her at our friends, the stewart's, house. we had a yummy bbq dinner, a choo-choo train cake, and lots of swimming in their pool! i love my big 3 year old!

i love that miss haylee is helping blow out the candles

opening presents...haylee got some, too :)

ava was such a happy little party girl! she's such a good baby

i love this! what's so sweet about it is that grace put her arm around bruce before i took the picture. what a sweetie!!!

her most favorite present...her first jewlery box! she loves it so much. it's a wind-up music box and the little ballerina dances to swan lake. grace thinks the ballerina is amazing! very cute.

Happy Birthday, Grace Kathryn!

2009-12-30T21:14:00.001+11:00

Wow! Can my first baby already be three?! I can't believe it! If feels like Bruce and I just brought her home from the hospital as a tiny little newborn days ago. How fast three years has gone by! Sometimes I wish I could stop time because I love my little Gracie and don't want her to grow up!

Grace is such a special little girl. She has the most tender heart. She has an enormous amount of love to give. We are so blessed to have her sweet, tender spirit in our home. Grace is happy and giggly all the time and always has something to say. She's our little chatter box and I love it when she comes to me and just chats it up...she's adorable!

We love you, sweet baby Grace! Happy birthday to you.

the story of us....

2009-12-22T15:37:00.006+11:00

5 1/2 years ago we got engaged...

....and 4 years ago today we got married!

then, a year later we had a baby, and.....

...then the next year we had another baby, and...

...then another baby!

and now we're a really happy family.

i'd say that's a pretty good little story.

happy anniversary, bruce! i love you more every day. thank you for being my best friend.

cutie

2009-12-21T10:59:00.002+11:00

grace is just the sweetest, funniest little thing. i'm really enjoying her age. don't get me wrong, she's a total diva and sass-a-frass, but still so funny. her latest funny is that she pronounces the word 'hungry' as 'honky'.

she said to me this morning: "mommy, i honky for water and cupcakes."

okay :)

family time

2009-12-18T15:24:00.004+11:00

we walked down to our beach this past saturday morning and had our usual muffins and juice at the bakery. oh, we love this place! we miss home back in houston, but we are really starting to love it here and feel more at home....we will really miss our saturday mornings at the beach when it comes time to move back to america. how many times in your life can you live blocks away from a gorgeous australian beach?!

chasing seagulls

haylee loves her hi-5's

the seagulls coming to check out our food stash

collecting seashells - the girls love this

It's official.....

2009-12-14T16:56:00.006+11:00

....Ava is an American citizen!! Yay! Bruce and I were finally able to take Miss Ava to the United States Embassy to apply for her American citizenship and passport. We had to take HEAPS of documents....everything short of a urine sample. Anyhow, I was all excited and geared up to take photos of her becoming a citizen with the U.S. Consulate General, but silly me, of course cameras aren't allowed inside the Embassy. We had to go through airport-like security and then we were escorted by a security officer up to the Consulate General's floor. It was a shame because the inside was a beautiful building and I would've loved some pictures. Oh well. The closest we could get with the camera was outside:

It was exciting for us to see the American flag waving in the middle of Melbourne!

We love that Ava is our little Australian souvenir :)

Guess what??....

2009-12-09T13:39:00.007+11:00

...we're going to FIJI!!!!! We booked a family vacation for the first week of March to the island of Nadi, Fiji. It's only a 4 hour flight from here, so we thought, 'Why not?!' WooHoo!!!!!!

baby love

2009-12-05T09:46:00.003+11:00

firsts & favorites

2009-11-29T21:45:00.001+11:00

Grace is officially potty trained! She's gone 3 weeks now with zero accidents. I am so proud of her! I'm also so proud of myself for potty training for the first time without losing my mind. I was really sick of mopping up pee off the floor 15 times a day. So, with that said....now it's about time to start potty training Haylee! Here's Gracie showing of her undies... Cutie pie!

Grace's favorite thing right now is the "fishie game". She's really good at it, too! Haylee will also sit down and play, but she cheats by just picking up the fishies and then Grace gets upset. Grace takes playing the game very seriously. :)

haylee's party

2009-11-29T21:42:00.002+11:00

we had miss haylee's birthday party last saturday. it was a 'tinkerbell' party because haylee is in love with tinkerbell at the moment. we invited some of our good friends, had a bbq, pink and green tinkerbell cupcakes, and enjoyed a really fun evening!

I'm so grateful

2009-11-28T21:37:00.004+11:00

Whenever I hear the song of a bird or look at the blue, blue sky,

Whenever I feel the rain on my face or the wind as it rushes by,

Whenever I touch a velvet rose or walk by a lilac tree,

I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world

Heavenly Father created for me.

He gave me my eyes that I might see the color of butterfly wings,

He gave me my ears that I might hear the magical sound of things,

He gave me my life, my mind, my heart; I thank Him reverently

For all His creations of which I'm a part.

Yes, I know Heavenly Father loves me.

This time of year is a bit hard for Bruce and I living so, so far away from our families. However, it's really good for our marriage and has made it stronger because we've learned to rely on each other completely. We do everything as just the 5 of us. Just our little family.

This morning we walked down to the bakery at the beach and had muffins and juice. It was a gorgeous spring day. As the little girls played on the beach playground, I looked out over the sparkling blue ocean at the beautiful sailboats, I took a deep breath of the ocean breeze, closed my eyes and said a prayer of thanks. How blessed I am. How grateful I am for my dearest friend who is also my husband. How grateful I am for my beautiful, healthy little girls.

With the world in such turmoil, it's so comforting to know of the love of our Father in Heaven.

Healsville Mountains

2009-11-24T14:39:00.013+11:00

While Janelle was here, we went to Healsville animal sanctuary. It's a very cool place because it's an open range sanctuary, so you get very up-close-and-personal with native Aussie animals. We were lucky to enjoy beautiful spring weather!

We had a really fun day....well, until Haylee lifted up the rope between us and the kangaroos and literally ran into their play area! Holy smokes! I about lost my lunch! Bruce had to go run in after her! We had joked earlier that day that we would just leave the girls in a kangaroo pouch....Haylee must have heard us talking :)

This is the rope Haylee ran under and darted towards the kangaroos behind us:

A Tasmanian Devil (pictured both above & below ;) )

first horse ride

2009-11-22T21:18:00.007+11:00

Grace had her first horse ride at our ward BBQ / cricket match. It was so cute! Half way through it the horse decided to take a bathroom break. She liked the horse ride but she loved telling people about how the horsie went "koo koo" (poo poo) while she was riding.

so great

2009-11-21T17:52:00.002+11:00

This is miss Ava Ruby with "our" doctor, Dr. Matthews, at my 6 week post-natal checkup. He was such a great doctor and I feel so blessed that I was able to find him. Out of the sea of doctors in a city I am so unfamiliar with, I really feel like the Lord led me to Dr. Matthews. May sound silly, but as most of you know, I haven't had the best track record when it comes to carrying & birthing babies. He took fantastic care of me and baby Ava....kinda makes me want to go back for another while we're here in Australia.... :)

endorphins

2009-11-21T17:24:00.003+11:00

I got the go-ahead from my doctor at my 6 week post-natal checkup to start running again. Yippeeee!! I haven't run since last Novemeber. Yuck. I was so ready to get back on the wagon. So, Bruce documented with this not-so-attractive photo.

I cranked up "You know you want me" by Pitbull (which is a HOT song to run to, by the way) and ran 5 miles. For not any running in a year, I was feeling all impressed with myself....until today. It's now 2 days later and I'm D-Y-I-N-G!! Bruce gave me a little love squeeze on my thigh today and I about cried!!

really?!

2009-11-18T10:43:00.002+11:00

This is my current washer (the one on the left :) ). I love it because it's an LG washer/dryer combo. Anyhow, the main control board has gone out in it. An electrition came out this morning to look at it and said he'll order a new control board but it could take up to 6 weeks to come in....REALLY?!??! How nice for me.

So, in the mean time....looks like I'll be using the washer on the right....

happy birthday, haylee amanda!

2009-11-16T15:42:00.001+11:00

Can my little baby Haylee be 2 already??!!? I can't believe it! Oh, Haylee is such a sweetheart! She has such a kind and gentle personality and is always concerned about others - especially her baby sister, Ava. We've nicknamed Haylee "Nugget" because she is such a tiny little thing - she easily still fits into size 12 months. Haylee is quite witty for a 2 year old and knows when she's being silly. She makes us laugh with the things she comes up with. Her new word is helicopter - pronounced: "heck-a-ka-ka". So dang cute! Haylee is our quiet child. She likes to keep to herself and entertains herself wonderfully. She has a quiet confidence.

We love you more than we can say, Nugget! How blessed we are that you were sent to our family! **kisses & cuddles**

we love auntie janelle

2009-11-15T16:50:00.002+11:00

Aunt Janelle came and stayaed two weeks with us after I had baby Ava. She was the biggest help! The girls loved having her here...but I loved having her here more :)

Thanks a million for all of your help, Janelle!!!! We love you and miss you!

Oh, Haylee!

2009-11-01T21:14:00.003+11:00

I was sitting down feeding Ava today when Haylee came to me with a a big pump bottle of Purell hand sanitzer. Before I could get up to take it away, she pumped a huge blob of it into her mouth and swallowed. She then looked at me with a smile and said, "Mmmmm! Spicy!"

happy halloween!

2009-10-31T10:53:00.000+11:00

Halloween isn't celebrated here in Australia, but we couldn't let the day go without some trick-or-treating! We dressed up Gracie, Haylee, & Ava and took them over to our good friends, the Stewart's, house. (We go to church with the Stewart's and they are also from Houston.) The girls had a lot of fun and thought it was great to get candy in their "punkins"!

naps

2009-10-30T21:35:00.000+11:00

After laying Gracie & Haylee down for their naps today, (they are fantastic nap-takers!) I walked into our bedroom and saw this....

I love it!

big girl!!

2009-10-30T14:48:00.000+11:00

Miss Ava is 1 month old! I can't believe it! She is such a sweet baby. She's very calm and content to just take everything in. We are just so in love with her!!

I took her for her 1 month check-up today and these are her big girl stats:
she weighs 8 lbs 10 oz and is 20 inches big

a special day

2009-10-25T20:07:00.001+11:00

Today I realized that I have everything I've ever wanted. It just hit me while I was sitting in church. Today was Ava's baby blessing. It was just beautiful. Ava looked like an angel. I love that all three of my sweet girls have been blessed by their daddy in the same dress. I am so grateful for my wonderful husband and I feel so blessed to have him and our sweet, sweet little girls.

We are lucky enough to have my sister, Janelle, here; it made the day even more special!

breastfeeding advice

2009-10-20T21:08:00.001+11:00

To all of the other breastfeeding moms out there: don't eat spicy Portugese food. Your baby won't like it. Holy smokes....!

ava ruby

2009-10-12T14:58:00.000+11:00

I finally got around to putting a slide show together. Hopefully it captures the beauty of the four women I'm in love with. So here are the highlights of the past ten days of our new family of five.
Enjoy,

motherhood

2009-10-11T20:11:00.000+11:00

I have been missing my mom terribly since having little Ava. I was so spoiled having her and my mother-in-law living only minutes away when I had Grace & Haylee. It's been really hard not having that this third time.

I have so much appreciation for my mom, my grandma Ruby, and my mother-in-law, Marilyn. They have all been (and still are) such wonderful mothers. They have spent years of their lives giving selflessly; always giving and never taking. They are such good examples to me of what a mom should be.

I am so blessed having these women in my life.

Grandma Ruby, Haylee, me, my mom, & Grace, July 2008

Marilyn & Grace, Easter 2007

my favorite

2009-10-08T16:15:00.002+11:00

I love this picture. It's my favorite. It was taken just minutes after Ava was born and every time I look at it I smile. It's one of those pictures that captured the emotions of the moment. I love being a mommy.

She's here!!

2009-09-30T15:36:00.011+10:00

Our sweet baby is here!
Ava Ruby arrived at 8:37 this morning -September 30th- and is just perfectly beautiful! She weighs 7lbs. 6oz. and is 19 inches long. Haylee & Grace were very excited to see "baby sis" and gave her sweet little kisses.
All is well and we are so happy she's here!!
More to come....

they make me happy

2009-09-27T15:19:00.002+10:00

39 weeks

2009-09-26T10:49:00.005+10:00

I am so ready to have this baby! I feel like an elephant. Actually, I feel like Gus the mouse on Cinderella. Grace & Haylee were watching that movie yesterday and I just happened to catch the part where Cinderella puts the little shirt on Gus and it pops up over his big belly. Yeah, that's me. Nothing fits. Not even my big maternity clothes! I'm just ready to have this little baby! Only a few days now....

(and, no, we still haven't decided on a name....)

Let's hear it for the boy

2009-09-24T12:17:00.004+10:00

Bruce has worked so hard the past few weekends on our house. He's done hours of landscaping, he put together a beautiful iron/canvas gazebo, he put down some outdoor carpet for the girls to play on (we only have concrete in our back yard...yuck!), organized the garage, and helped me pot flowers. He's been GREAT! There's so many more things we'd like to do to this house, (like paint over the ugly outside blue...) but we can't because it's a company rental. Oh, well! It's fine for us for the time we'll be living here in Australia - quite small - but fine.

We got a wide-angle lens for the camera and Bruce was trying it out....