Finally a smile picture!

Sisterly love

 
 Kate just loves holding her sister. We are still working on the concept of being soft....she seems to think that everyone is as tough as she is! I love to look on Abby's face here------------------------>
It's the look of "ummm mom... are you sure about this??"

More Czuba Traditions

The Czuba family has another Thanksgiving tradition that we joined in on this year (and if I have my say this will continue!). The men take the kids camping the Friday after Thanksgiving to give the women a girls night. SUCH a great idea! Jon and Kate had a great time with the Czubas. Kate slept like a pro--opposed to the last time we took her camping. And I got to go shopping and have some down time with Abby and a good book.

The only bad thing about the trip was that when Kate got home we found a tick on her. Jon pulled it off, but the head got stuck. We then had to dig it out with a needle. But out brave girl just sat there and hardly even flinched. She is SUCH a tough kid. Seriously, Jon and I kept looking at each other saying with our eyes "man that one hurt" but she didn't seem too worried. She just kept repeating that she had an owie we had to fix so it wouldn't come back (how else do you explain tick bites to an almost 3 year old!?). We also did some singing of her favorite songs. I was so proud of my brave girl. The ironic thing about her toughness is that while a needle doesn't make her cry, telling her no will put her on the ground crying. Oh the adventures of a toddler!

Thanksgiving Day

The rest of the Beaumont Walters went out of town for Thanksgiving, so Jon and I were free agents! Our dear friends the Czubas invited us to join them. It was perfect! Kate absolutely adores their family. She was also quick to adopt Leslie's parents...she spent the entire evening calling them Grandma/Grandpa and not being a stranger! Avery and Kate decided to go to 'sleep' in the living room before bed. They kept taking turns tucking each other in. We are so blessed to have such amazing friends who feel like family!

Thankful

With this Thanksgiving holiday I find myself feeling extremely thankful! This year has been full of so much joy, love and happiness! It had a few speed bumps along the way, but ironically just yesterday we were officially told that most of the things causing me stress are over for now! This wonderful news adds to my thankful heart and I feel I should take the time to write down my feelings.  Excuse me if they are slightly jumbled. I just want to get it out!
So to start off, I am so thankful for my family. My amazing husband, who I truly treasure. Not only is he handsome, handy, goofy, athletic, and hard working, he is an outstanding father. From helping change diapers to singing lullabies he never ceases to amaze me. My beautiful, sweet girls who teach me so much every day. Being a mom has been the greatest challenge in my life, but at the same time the greatest blessing. I'm not sure how else to describe it! These girls are helping me grow and stretch in ways I never thought possible.

My parents are the best parents a girl could ask for. Not only are they always there for me no matter what, they are a very active part of my girl's lives. Kate usually has a phone chat with my mom at least once a day! I seriously don't know what I would do without the love and support of my awesome parents. They made me who I am, and continue to help make me a better me.
My extended family is another huge part of who I am. My loving Grandparents. I am lucky to be so close to them. We share so many precious memories, and love....so much love. In my life the word family means love. I have the greatest aunts, uncles, cousins, sister/brother-in-laws. I am surrounded by a network of so many I can always turn to for help, advice, or just a good laugh! And right there with my family is my sweet dog. He is basically my first kid. I love my fun loving dog, even if he barks and sheds!

I am also truly grateful for my husbands job. He works so hard for us every day, and is being rewarded for his dedication! Because of his hard work we just found out that we don't have to move yet! We know that eventually we will most likely need to move, but for now we get to stay here!! Oh sweet blessing! I get to stay in the city that I now call home!

This leads me to my next point, my friends. I know that NO ONE else in the world has better friends than me! I have friends all over the country who have all blessed me entirely more than I deserve. I often wonder how I ended up with so many outstanding friends. Family is stuck with me, but friends have a choice! I will never be able to pay all of my friends back for all of the love, support, strength, and good times they have given me.

I am thankful for technology *Cue Napoleon Dynamite song*. It baffles me how quickly it is advancing, but I love it! It helps me stay in touch with my sweet family and friends. It lets me keep our family record. It helps me find information. And it entertains my daughter:

 I am thankful for my house! I shed so many tears over the thought of selling it! I didn't used to think I was worldly, but alas I am! I am so lucky to have such a comfortable place to call my own. It contains more than possessions for me, it houses priceless memories.

I'm also grateful for my physical body. I recently started trying to get back in shape, and although I have a long way to go I am humbled to have the ability to improve and move and stretch and grow(even the ability to be pregnant, however much I dislike the sickness that comes with it). Our bodies are such a testimony to me of our loving Heavenly Father. They are miraculous. And mine, with its' flaws is fully functional and truly astounding.
I am thankful for my family's health also. We have had a few medical challenges in our days, but all in all it could have been MUCH worse. We hardly ever need to go to a doctor. And look, Abs is starting to chunk up!

I am thankful for a sense of humor. Being able to laugh and find the joy in simple things really does make life so much more sweet.

I am grateful for music. With all its varieties it has something for every occasion! I love not only listening to it, but preforming it. Being a part of it. I am NO musician, but I appreciate it!

Last but not at all least I am so thankful for my faith. My Heavenly Father has given me ALL I have. His blessings are so numerous and grand that I will never be worthy of them all. And because of that simple fact, I am grateful for my Savior who died to atone for all my shortcomings and sins. He makes it possible for me to attain ALL my Father has. Listing and thinking of all my blessings makes me feel so small and undeserving. May I find the strength to continue to try to be worthy of all I have been given, and will be given, is my continual prayer.

3 months young

 Guess who is 3 months already!! Sometimes it feels like this 3 months has flown by, but most of the time it feels like its been forever! The weeks of no sleeping seem like they went on forever. But alas, just in time for turning 3 months Abby seems to have decided she likes to sleep after all! For almost a full week she has slept from around 11pm to 6am. Or on a special occasion like this morning she slept from 10:30 to 7!
 At 3 months Abigail seems to be so much wiser than I remember Kate.  I think that is mostly because I am more aware when it comes to babies. Abigial is a really clingy baby. She will literally search for your hands while you are holding her so she can hold your fingers. It is quite sweet. She is also more sensitive than Kate was. Abs will cry and fuss MUCH more readily. Most of the time I think it is gas related. Makes me wonder if she will be more girly/sissy than Kate.

 Abby also smiles and coos alot now. She seems to like to chat lots. Maybe she is just so used to hearing her sister talk constantly that she thinks she needs to join in. However, she is camera stingy. When she is smiling really big I try to pull out my camera and get a shot, and almost always she stops smiling immediatly. So frusterating!!! These pictures are of my trying to get her smiling this morning...and this is as close as I can get!

Shaving Cream Round 2

 Tonight while we had the Dillers over for dinner we were hanging out doing nothing. So we decided to do some shaving cream painting again. It started out simple enough, Jon and Kate were having a good ol' time. Then Nikki joined in, and that escalated to this:

As you can see we had quite a great time! I must say this time was much harder to clean up than the first time! I even got shaving cream on me as Kate used me as her towel. So much fun! How I LOVE our friends!

This is what Greg and Abby were doing while we all got messy.  Too sweet.

Shaving Cream Painting

 Thanks to Pintrest I found this idea to let your kid 'paint' on a window with shaving cream. I thought it sounded like fun, as I have a deep love of shaving cream wars. We spent quite some time writing letters and drawing rainbows (totally Kates idea....she is becoming more independent in her thinking!)

 The mess was really easy to clean up.....but Chance smells a little more manly tonight....Kate chased him with her messy hands to get him a part of the fun.

 And later this evening Kate and Chance were playing in her room (very common occurrence). Kate then ran out to get my phone to take a picture of Chance, so I followed with my camera. She had multiple blankets on him. He's a pretty good sport.

First Bumbo Sitting

 Abigail sat in the bumbo for the first time yesterday! She wouldn't look at me for anything so I could get a good picture of her face. But she is getting bigger already! (and I have to admit that makes me excited....my favorite age for Kate was more like 6-12 months! I'm ready to not have a newborn anymore!) She is so cute though....sometimes it makes me want to just squeeze her!