3 Months

Mia hit the 3 month mark the day before Ellie turned 5. Time is flying by! She is the sweetest little baby. She is constantly smiling and has been "talking" more and more each day. She is continually enthralled with her sisters and they adore her. They always want to help with her and hold her. She seems to be growing well and is a great sleeper and eater. Tummy time is not her favorite but her swing is a must. She is sleeping through the night pretty much and only fusses when she is tired, hungry or wants her Momma. We are so thankful to have this healthy little girl as part of our family! Her smile is one that brightens a room any day of the week and when she giggles the day becomes so much better. We love her so much and are excited to watch her grow in the next month!

 Gotta love that peacock hair growing in! :) Our girls can grow some interesting hairstyles!

 What a smile!

My Favorite Space

Sweet Mia got her first room once we moved. Even though she never stayed in the nursery Ben created for our girls, this is one of my favorite places in our new home. I am looking forward to when we can create a space all her own, but for now this space works great. It has complimentary colors and art that go with her monkey theme and is the one room that has the most items that are our own. With a combination of items already here and items that we brought with us this space is the one space that is most like us. It is a space that I know Mia enjoys and I enjoy spending time with her in.

Sweet Mees asleep in her swing!

A Whole Hand

Someone special turned a whole hand in our house on November 11th! Sweet Ellie is growing fast and we can't believe it! We tell her all the time to stop growing but she lets us know that she can not do that. We are so honored to be her parents. She is a super sweet sister to Quinn and Mia. They both adore her and Quinn desires to do whatever Ellie does. She is helpful and smart. She is beautiful and each day desires to be more and more independent. She has a style all her own and a memory like a steel trap. She is curious and imaginative. She is immensely excited about starting school next year and is learning to read so she will be well prepared. She blesses and challenges us daily as parents and as people and we would have it no other way.

This year Ellie requested a Little Mermaid party, which is extremely ironic since it snowed the day before her birthday. She started the day with breakfast with Daddy, we then had a special mermaid lunch that I made her and then we went for pizza for dinner (her favorite, besides noodles) and ended the evening with presents and cake. We always do something fun for their birthdays and so to go with her theme we went to the SeaLife Aquarium , which they had in Charlotte and we have season passes to. We were so excited when we found out they have one here too and it is the largest underground aquarium in the US, maybe even the world, as it is at the Mall of America. The following week we also took her ice skating as for her birthday we got her ice skates since we live in a cold weather climate we wanted to get her something she could enjoy now as opposed to when it warms up. When I agreed to the idea of ice skates I did not realize that Ben would not be doing any skating. I have not skated in probably 11  years, but it was like riding a bike and it came back to me quick. Ellie did awesome! She did not fall once and had a great attitude while trying something new. Ben said he was very proud of us! :) We are going to get him out there one day to give it a whirl! ;)

 Unfortunately a few bins and boxes did not make it to the townhome and are in storage, the birthday bin was one of them! :( I bought Ellie a banner for her theme instead of being able to hang her traditional one up that I made her. It will make it's appearance again next year.

 Helping make big sister lunch!

 A sea star sandwich, goldfish, and green grape seaweed!

 I made her cake with inspiration from many images of cakes with her theme. She requested a pink cake this year, so it was strawberry in the inside.

 Our traditional birthday photos!

 Traditional Birthday Book Reading

 Aquarium

 Ice Skating

Exploring Downtown

A couple of Fridays ago we set out one morning to explore some of downtown. There is so much to explore here and we are looking forward to many adventures. This time we went to the Sculpture Garden right downtown and took a bridge across to a cute little park and playground. We then ate lunch downtown at a great little place, explored the library and then visited the Chain of Lakes, which we can't wait to visit again especially when the girls are of bike riding age. The city has wonderful outdoor activities, amazing museums, a phenomenal theater district, second only to Broadway, and all the major league sports that Ben could ever dream of seeing. We are looking forward to some sporting events next year and I can't wait to take the girls to some plays and explore the museums and zoos. Here is a little taste from our recent explorations!

 First Stop: The Sculpture Garden

 Meesy needed a picture with the Snow Woman too!

 Running for the Leaves

 Had to wake up and see these sculptures for herself!

 Bridge across the highway to another park. There is a poem on the bridge that is apparently the longest poem in the world.

 Chain of Lakes 

There are lakes everywhere here! This is a group of them that have walking and biking trails all around them. People were everywhere out enjoying the weather and exercising. This is a very active city and the quality of life here is amazing.

 Swing With A View

 Our Little Monkey

Our New Home, Part 2

Here are the last images of the inside of our new home at the request of family. :) (I have posted images from Ellie and Quinn's room previously.) We are settled in and though it poses challenges sometimes to live in a smaller space with most items that are not our own, we are extremely grateful and blessed to have the opportunity to live here as we settle in a new city and wait for our home to sell. This home is helping us to adjust and is providing us with what we need for our family.

 The Laundry

 

 Master Bedroom

 Family Bath (The shower is on the left and the tub on the right. All 5 of us use this bath. This is the only bath tub in the house so all 3 girls bathe in here and until recently the bath downstairs needed a little repair, so the lower level bath will become the place the girls brush their teeth and do their hair as well as provide another bathroom to use for us and guests.)

 Living Room

 Front Door (We live in a split level right now so the top of the stairs has the kitchen, living, dining, master, family bath and Mia's room and the lower level has the playroom, girls' room, office nook, laundry, bath and garage.)

 Coming up the stairs you view the kitchen.

 Dining Space

 Upper Level Screened In Porch (We had lunch out there a couple times, but the cold temps have arrived so we will not be back out there until spring.)

 Kitchen (A little tight, but gets the job done!)

 Other View of Living Room

 Office Nook. Ben and I share this space. It is all unpacked now! :)

 Lower Living Space, which we use as a playroom.

 Morning Cartoons While Mom is Cleaning