Trying to get a good picture with my girls

Well you would think that would be easy enough but it is very rare that everyone cooperates..

Let me show you one of our recent tries to illustrate my point.

Okay lets try to take a picture first thing int he morning while the girls are still in their jammies...

Sam isn't sure she wants to so is doing that well not quite sure shoulder shrug...

Then next shot Alex is looking at Sam while she squirms around...Okay next...

Then Chewy hears all the commotion and jumps in the mix and that goes over really well when she tries to lick Sam....

I finally give up on taking a good picture and snuggle in with my girls and just for good measure Dan tries one more time....

Oh well maybe next time....

Mini anniversary trip

So in February Dan and I were able to take a long weekend away kid free for a little early anniversary trip. We will be married 5 years this May and enjoyed every minute of it but of course missed our girls. They were in great hands with Grandma and Grandpa getting spoiled of course...

We went to Fredericksburg and Austin Texas...It was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed the road trip.

Here we are relaxing on this huge patio at a winery overlooking the "hills" of Hill Country. WE had a lot of fun and enjoyed a few glasses of wine with some new friends.. Those chairs were so comfy..

The view from our chairs...A little foggy but just gorgeous..

On our way out of Fredericksburg we stopped at Enchanted Rock Park. We had no idea what to expect and Dan thought it would just be a drive by thing. Oh no it was a gorgeous state park and we happened to have our sneakers on so we thought lets go for a quick hike before we hit Austin.

You wanna go where? Yup up there...It says it is an easier hike....I will admit it was gorgeous on top but at one point I felt like I was walking straight up a wall...

Here we are about halfway....Wow gorgeous views but really windy up there..

We went to Austin and did some shopping and then ate at our favorite BBQ place County Line...Yummy and this location happened to be on a river so we ate inside but then sat outside to enjoy our margaritas...Fun times!!!

Shannons baby shower

My dear friend and sorority sister Shannon was prego and we had a baby shower for her. I say was as I write this she is a proud new momma to Nicholas James (aka Nick)... HE was born last Friday. Sam and I got to go see him Friday night and what a cutie. We were on our way home from Grandma and Grandpas house and Sam loves Miss Shannon so while Dan and Alex waited in the car Sam came in to the hospital with me. She did great and loved little Nick from afar of course.

Here are a few pictures from Shannon's shower that was just beautiful and the co hostess's had a blast putting it together.....

Backyard Project

Well after living in our house 4 years we thought it was time to finally do something with our backyard as we never go out there.. So totally useable space that we were not using..

Here is the before pictures:

The muddy square by the door is the teeny tiny little cement patio we used to have. It was the builder special at the time. We just had them rip it out and start from scratch.

And here are the after pictures I finally got Dan to send me:

We absolutely love it and use it quite a bit. We also finally got a table (still no chairs) and some barstools. So it is the place to be in the morning or later evenings...Way to hot in the early evenings with the sun right in your face but we love it....Margarita on the patio anyone???

Sam the fish...

So Sam has been taking swim lessons since she was one years old and this year she has improved soooo much. I had to take a quick video of her jumping in all by herself...Huge accomplishment!!

Snow Days

The first week of February I was home 4 days with the kids for snow days..It was crazy...

This has never happened since I have lived here. So much fun to be home with the kids but trying to work some too was definitely challenging...

Here are the 3 girls first day. Alex didn't come out but Sam and Papa John and I did.

Sam playing in the snow and ice.

Our improvised sled!!!

Sam taking her second trip down the driveway. She thought it was fun...But wayyyyy too cold!

I happened to buy a snow suit for Alex and funny enough we used it a lot this week...

Mommy and Alex playing in the snow...

4 months old...

It is crazy how time flies. Alex is already 4 months old on January 23rd...Can you believe it.

Weight 16 pounds 15 ounces 100%

Height 25 1/2 inches 95%

Head 16.8 90%

Here are a few pictures from her 4 months birthday.

Happy 2011!!!

Well here are a few pics from the first week or so of 2011!!!

Alex started getting into her exersaucer. She was still small so we put in a blanket behind her to keep her propped up...She learned pretty fast how to work it and loves it....

Sisters first thing in the morning.... So cute how they sit together...

Mommy and Alex right after her bath at night...Look how happy she is..And the picture was taken by Sam. She is doing much better trying to get us into the frame of the picture...ahhaha

Alex napping on Mommy and Daddy's bed and Sam pretending to nap..

Zoo - take two

So a few days later since the zoo was so fun we went with Dan's family and had a blast. It was much warmer so we took Alex too and I think she loved it too.

I love that Alex is helpign me feed the giraffe...hehehe

Tried to take a family picture but Sam was having none of it and Alex was getting fussy so this is what that looked like.

Sam was much braver this trip to the zoo and went with Grandpa to feed the giraffe.
Sam and Grandpa towards the end of the zoo trip. Sam had such a good time...

The Zoo

So after the holidays we decided to take a trip with my whole side of the family to the zoo. It was a pretty chilly day so we all met for lunch then Dan took baby Alex back home to the warm house. So it was just me and Sam with the crew. And we had a lot of fun....

This is my mom and Dad (aka GG and PiPi) and my Uncle Neil and Aunt Carol visiting us from New Jersey.

At one of the new exhibits at the zoo you can actually feed the giraffes..How cool is that? So we bought some food and fed them. So fun and what a neat experience.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the whole day. This is my dad who the girls affetionately call PiPi bit he would like to be called Papa John holding Sam during the griaffe feeding part.
Here is Sam after we are done feeding them and the moved back some she got way more brave and got up real close. Look how cute she looks!!!

Christmas Day

We had our traditional "Christmas Brunch" over at Aunt Steph's house. She had it set up soooo nice. I love our Christmas Brunch tradition...

Here is my mom (GG) and Uncle Erik with 3 of the 4 girls. From left Aly, Kendall, and Alex. Sam was not wanting to participate.

Here is Kendall.. I love those big blue eyes she has....Such a cutie pie!!

Me with my brother Erik (Uncle Erik) and baby Alex...

So this one cracks me up all the kids were being taken care of by a grandparent so Dan and I were relaxing by the fireplace enjoying the peace for a minute and they wanted to snap a picture of us. Well Aly just jumped right in and I love it...She totally hams it up for the camera..

There is the same picture the second time around.

Christmas was a lot of fun this year. I can't wait til next year!!!!

Christmas Morning - Santa Arrives

Christmas Morning was pretty darn cute at our house...Sam kept chanting before she went to bed that Santa was coming in the morning...Then when Sam woke up we went upstairs to get her and she went right by the tree into our bedroom (her normal morning routine) and layed in bed with us for about 30 minutes before she remembered Santa came with presents...

We had a lot of fun opening up Santa's presents. Alex even smiled a lot too. Sam got a fun scooter and a treasure chest full of dress up dresses and lots of shoes..She was thrilled...Alex got a big purple bunny and several other smaller things...Very cute and fun. Sam loved helping Alex open her presents...

Sam showing you her happiness about her Tinkerbell scooter...Isn't she cute!!!

A big princess coloring book. A huge hit at our house...
And Alex chilling out on the boppy pillow snuggling up to her new purple bunny....