We are THREE! YIPPEE!!!

YEAH! We made it pass the terrible twos. I have to say though, the threes seem pretty rough so far. HA! But I say that laughing because I absolutely love this age! Its the best! They are so funny. They can remember and understand so much that it surprises me sometimes.. I love that they have each other. I love that they are the most wonderful part of my day. I just feel like I could explode with happiness some days. And of course I find myself wanting to run away from home other days. HA! I think (hope) most moms feel that way SOMETIMES. They are still in their cribs, which I am actually sort of proud of.. and we still have 2 hour naps 98 percent of the time. They love nursery at church and that has been a huge blessing moving to this ward.

 The three things that I am now fearing and facing and dreading since they were born are 1. potty training (AGH!) 2. transferring to toddler beds and 3. ditching naps. They honestly should be potty trained by now. They are all ready and use toilet at least once a day. I just am having a hard time wanting to commit fully. Knowing that there will be accidents and messes, ect... Diapers just seem easier right now, more expensive but easier. I know I know... LAME! Im gonna do it! I promise. And toddler beds, well don't even get me started on that. Cribs still work perfectly fine and Since they share a room, yeah cribs will be just fine for a little while. Some days I think naps are a life savor! Who lives without naps?! Other days I think naps ruined the entire day. Its tricky but I can see naps fading in my future and Im sick to my stomach about it. Those two hours are a high commodity to me. It will be a sad day when they are over...

A little bit of info on each of my three very different girlies.

Abigail- My "gooey center" girl. She is absolute gold in her heart which is a killer combo with her amazing good looks! She loves to wear her princess dress and have me call her Princess Abigail. She is a creature of habit or repetition. It makes her feel secure and safe much more than the other two. She LOVES to read. I mean LOVES it. She memorizes the stories I tell her over and over and I find her telling herself the story sometimes by herself in her room. She is still a 100 percent daddy's girl. He can get her to eat anything with his Jedi mind tricks. Its amazing. She is still really shy around people she isn't familiar with. She just needs more confidence in herself. Something Im working on a lot lately. She says "I can't do it, I'm too little" too much for my liking. Got to get her out of that.

Charlotte- She is my adventure  girl. She is curious about everything and loves being outside. She loves helping poppy pick vegetables in the garden or playing with bugs or getting into dirt, no matter how hot it is. Nothing scares her. I mean fearless! Except, of course, when I have to clean out her latest scratch with peroxide. Then you would think I was cutting her leg off. She can be a bit dramatic about it. She loves to jump into the pool, dive or splash and will literally try ANYTHING I ask her too. I love her curiosity and independence. I love her nature to be outside doing something rather than being entertained. She has a tender heart too. Just a bit more wild than my other girls. Right now she is in a screaming phase. Like just bloody murder screaming, more so during naptime since she isn't asleep as quickly as the other ones. Makes for a frustrated momma. We are working on it.

Mia- My fairy princess. My girlie girl. She freaks out if she has dirt or anything foreign on her hands. She loves to dress up like Tinker Bell or a princess and make us call her "princess Mia" or "tinker bell Mia" She is a wonderful mother to the other two. If someone is crying she will say "You okay sweetie?" She is mostly over her biting phase (thank goodness). She has the funniest sense of humor. We have like a million inside jokes and we can just laugh and laugh with each other about them. She's acts like she is 3 going on 14.  She is my most picky eater, especially meat. She loves to help me clean. I will give her a wet wipe and that girl will go to town wiping down toys, the floor, the windows, anything. HA! Gotta say I love my clean freak girl!

Right now we are having more temper tantrums lately. But honestly, its not that bad. We will go DAYS without anyone being in time out. And then one day it will be just Mia in timeout all day long. HA! We are working through it. I love my girls and cant believe its been three whole years with them in my life. I will post a photo post and I am working on our birthday interviews which we started this year. Just asking them questions on their birthday each year to see how different their answers are as they grow. Should be fun to keep up with! Happy Birthday my Angels!!!

Twinkly Megaphones

This video was taken just yesterday. They are getting so big! Im a bit nostalgic about it really. They have grown into gorgeous little toddlers. Sad its gone so quickly. But thats life right.... 

Dancing

More dancing moves going on. Too cute NOT to post!

I wanna party

These girls are OBSESSED with the Rio Soundtrack lately. They have to put their dresses on and will put on a show! Abbi calls it her "big bow dress". She loves it and WILL NOT share! They do have some pretty good moves though! ha They crack me up! 

Easter Hunt

Our Easter was rained out so we had to hide our eggs inside. It turned out pretty fun and the girls loved it.

Highlights 2

 On the way to Alabama we stopped and met up with the grandparents. Nana and Papaw Tommy.

The girls still ask to go see Nana and Tummy. HA!

 

 Mamaw Veda was able to come visit us even though she had just gotten out of surgery. Love her so much!

 

 Of course we love and miss our Mamaw Peg and Papa Skip!

 Our Easter Photo. I love this one of Mia in the yellow sweater. She's pushing up her glasses with her nose but it is priceless! HA! Love it!

 

 Movie date with daddy and sleeping bags. So sweet!

 

 Charli bean AKA Queen Sheba. haha So prim and proper!

 

 Mia enjoying the rain and her new umbrella!

 

 Abbi is so beautiful. Love her smile!

 

 Charli strutting her umbrella!

 

 This was not a good day. Abbi is crying at the door for "daddy!" She misses him all the time and its just heart breaking.

 

 Our new puddle jumpers. We love these things! Highly recommend them!

 

 Charlotte is fearless in the water! She loves to float.

 

 Abbi and Mia sharing a float. Love these girls.

 

 I just love this goofy drawing Mia drew. I was so impressed! You can see the eyes and eye brows and eye lashes. She even colored the eyes orange and nose blue.

 

 Disney on Ice was so much fun!

Mia, Abbi, Charli

 

 Just this past weekend I was able to take Mia on a one on one date. It was awesome! Man, one kid.... CAKE!! We went shopping and then lunch and then ice cream. It was amazing!

 

I also was able to take Abbi out on a date. We went to the mall and had lunch. She is such a doll. It really is so wonderful to have individual time with my girls. It was a New Years Resolution of mine to do this and Im grateful for my parents making it possible for me. Charlotte will be next. Love my girls!

 

Videos to come soon.

Highlights Part 1

I know Ive been M.I.A. lately. Ive just been struggling finding the desire to keep up with this thing. But I really dont want to get too far behind where I miss something. Some of these pictures are actually from Texas before we left. The girls have adjusted to being in Alabama fairly well. Charli loves it; playing in Poppy's garden and running in the huge yard. Mia loves her Mimi and Poppy and all the extra attention she gets. Abbi still struggles sometimes. When she is sick or feeling overwhelmed she will say she misses the "white house"(our townhome in Texas). And they all talk about Miss Karlee and Kent and Boston and Hudson (our sweet friends and neighbors in Texas).

 

Scout Pest Control is doing really well. We just recently celebrated our 100th customer. HA! I know that doesnt seem like alot but we are all so proud of Jared and all he is accomplishing. Its hard on the family though since he is so busy. But thankfully my parents are a huge help for me.

 

Im not uploading all the photos Ive taken in the last few months. Just the highlights.

 

 

 

 Sisterly love is always good to document. Especially with the toddler tantrums that throw down around here. 

 Abbi has been sick a couple of times lately. She just got over an ear infection. My very first ear infection. She caught it from this cold in the picture. It was awful. Jared was gone overnight camping with the young men and she was running such a high fever. I was completely overwhelmed. Abbi is still in her Ï only want daddy phase." So she didnt want this momma for anything. It was awful. Luckily, the antibiotics cured this angel.

 Our Easter dresses were so cute this year courtesy of Mimi. Here is Abbi in her purple dress.

 Mia Bia hiding in her pink dress.

 

 Charli did NOT want her picture taken. But giving mommy love is worth a photo shot. She had a beautiful blue dress.

 

 Our poor little Charlotte got bit by our neighbor's dog. I wasnt there to see it but I can almost guarentee little Bean probably pulled the tail or something to provoke her. It got so close to her eye but thankfully just missed it. Charli was pretty scared but she handled it like a champ. She learned to be more easy around dogs and I learned to never leave her side.... (just kidding, sorta).

 Still has a smile on her face! Love that girl.

 

My mom, our sweet neighbor Äunt Jeannie" and I were able to take the girls to Disney on Ice recently. The girls loved it. I have better pictures on my phone so once I upload those I will post them. It was a fun outting for us all.

 

Happy Birthday Bubba

My sweet Nathan has been on my mind so much today. It's his birthday. He would have been 9 years old. I love and miss him so very much. Life isn't fair and its much too short for some. If it wasn't for the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life, I can't imagine enduring this loss. It's a physical pain sometimes.   But thankfully the relief from the peace the gospel brings usually follows. It's still heart wrenching to think about the void in our family and the unthinkable rift that followed Nathan's passing. Endurance with faith is all I got left in me. And some days not even that.
I love my bubba. I hurt for his loss. But I'm grateful that he is now our family's driving force. We HAVE to do extra well so we can be with that sweet boy again. Happy birthday Nathan Garrett Dennis!

Still here

Im still here. Ive honestly had ZERO desire to mess with this blog lately. Im just not in a "blogging" state of mind. We are in Alabama. The move went very smoothly. The girls are adjusting more and more everyday and Jared is busy as a bee setting everything up for the business. Scout Pest Control is up and running and should have customers in a very short time. Its very exciting and nerve racking all at once. So with all this going on Ive had zero to no time for this blog. Sorry. Things should calm down soon and Ill be able to upload adorable pictures and videos of my girlies. By the way, the terrible twos are kicking my butt! But thats for a different post.

Photo Bomb

We have had a crazy past few weeks. Not in a good way either. So much drama going on with family and then getting ready for this move to Alabama..... it has taken its toll. So Im sorry Im not doing very good with keeping this blog up to date. But 2013 has not started out to be a good year and Im just trying to not break down. Ive been thinking about having triplets lately, comparing the stage they are in now versus when they were little. At this point, I would perfer little babies over toddlers I have to say. Its more physically exhausting as babies but its more emotionally exhausting as toddlers. It has just been a hard year for this momma.... and Im super nervous about jared starting this new business and what that will mean for him being so busy all the time. Its depressing. Seriously.

So thats my sad story for now. We leave the end of February for Alabama and the only thing keeping me going is knowing I will be super close to my mom and dad. They are (as usual) my lifeline. Here are some adorable pictures of my gorgeous, exhausting, precious, tantrum filled toddlers. Enjoy.

 Charli's favorite thing to do lately is color. And she is quite good at it.

 Sweet Abbi

 Say Cheese Mia!

 Charlotte not much into the camera lately.

 Charli being girlie. Had to get a pic of that!

Charli holding Mia Bia's hand.

 She loves to hold hands with a sister and run around.

 Abbi in blue.

 Abbi singing me a song. I dont remember which one though.

 Gorgeous Abbi.

 This child is so photogenic.

 Mia and Charli. So much alike and yet so different.

 But best of friends!!

 Beautiful Charli Bean

 Look at those huge blue eyes! Gorgeous. She loves being Princess Mia.

Abbi was feeling a little sad so Charlotte started snuggling her saying "Its ok Abbi."She's such a sweet big sister.

 Love love it. I hope they always stay this close. It is my mission in life to keep this girls tight together. Sisters are so important.

 Took this picture even though I look horrifying! HA! I actually dont care. The beautiful toddlers in there make it gorgeous enough! Me and the Bean!

 Abbi and the momma!

Momma Mia and Momma

 Abbi not liking something. HA!

 Charlotte loves getting the colorful dominoes out and playing with them. Me, not so much cause then I have to count 55 dominoes to make sure one isnt missing.

 Mia just tinkering with something but in her princess outfit, of course.

 Abbi loves little holes or spaces she can hide out in. The toy boxes seem to be a big hit.

 Mia... hahaha love her face in this picture. haha she's a ghost.

 So I was trying to take a picture of Abigail and take one I got her eyes closed.

 Take two and three I got her eyes closed again. So I told her to try to keep her eyes wide.

And this is the photo I got. HAHAHA! I died laughing. Poor girl... she tried to do what momma said! Love this baby (even though she loves her daddy much more than her momma.....)

When they were little I would write about all the awesome milestones that they would hit. Now they are just so brillant and talented I sometimes forget or just dont know what they should be doing anyway at this age. They know their alphabet backwards and forwards. They recognize every letter and know every sound. They can count past 20. Charlotte is a great colorer. Abbi has the most amazing attention span. Mia is an amazing drawer. She can draw a full face all by herself. I just cant brag enough about how super smart these girlies are. They love love to read books, especially with mommy and daddy so they can learn even more by asking a million questions. I love it! 

Just this morning at breakfast Charlotte said "Mommy, panda bears are black and white and eat bamboo." haha Why yes Charli, that's right! How random and how right she was! I just get things like that all day and those moments make the tantrums and throw downs and biting and time outs and screaming and pushing and hitting semi bearable. Normally, more than bearable but like I said, I'm having a rough few weeks.... It will be better in Alabama, I hope.