Back to School!

Natalee went back to "school" August 28, 2014. This year she has speech twice a week for thirty minutes, Monday and Thursday. She loves "school" and I am so glad she is eager to learn!

Sisters were all excited too!

A few weeks into the year, Natalee started riding the school bus to school! It is so nice to have her picked up from the bus stop! :) She absolutely LOVES riding the school bus! I must admit the first day was really hard on me...I've only let them ride with family members, and very few at that, so a complete stranger, phew, it was a tear-jerker for me! My little tiny baby is getting SO big!

Seriously, I don't think I could love her anymore than I do!!!! 

This was just a few weeks ago, waiting at the bus stop with baby Brooke too! 

Madelynn, Claire and Natalee: You are THREE!

I cannot believe that my babies are THREE years old! Ah! Where has the time gone?! It seems it was only yesterday that I was sitting on the OR table getting ready to meet them! I want to give an update on what the girls have been up to and what they are into since I last updated on them, which was forever ago! That will be a separate post coming soon!

On their actual birthday, Monday, December 23rd, we just had a low-key day. The girls were still recovering from their super-fun filled weekend of their birthday party and seeing Santa. We had pizza for dinner (their favorite!) and then of course sang happy birthday to them and had cake. If you notice in the photos, when the candles are all lite, we were all singing to them. Then Natalee blew her candles out in one second and it took Maddy and Claire like forever to blow them out. By the last photos, Natalee was getting impatient, and it looks like she was thinking, come on, just blow them out already!!!!!! Her expressions are so funny!

Natalee: Yay!!!

Here let me help you blow them out, since it's taking you forever!

Now this is just getting ridiculous, I want to eat my cake already!!

I snapped a million some photos of them and they opened their presents from Mommy and Daddy. We got them light-up Minnie Mouse watches. They love clocks and so I knew they would love having their very own big-girl watch. I was right, too, they sure love them and wear them all the time. Between their birthday party and Christmas, these girls were SPOILED rotten! All of their friends who came to their party we so very generous in their wonderful gifts!!

My big-girl twinsies!

 Natalee WOULD NOT stand next to her sisters. I tried a million times and bribed her with a million things...nope wasn't going to happen!

Claire

Every time Maddy would open a gift, she would say what it was and then scream, "whahooooo". EVERY.TIME! So this photo was her saying, "minnie mouse...whahooooooo!"

Probably the best photo out of the 300 I took in five minutes!

Madelynn, Claire and Natalee: Minnie Mouse 3rd Birthday Party!

On Saturday, December 21st, we had the girl's Minnie Mouse Birthday Party! I was SO SO SO busy preparing for it and up until midnight finishing their dresses the night before. Phew, was I glad when it was time for the party to begin and we could all just enjoy ourselves. 

We had a lot of people. Around 50 or so. We have big families and lots of friends, and I don't like to exclude anyone, so the more the merrier!

Papa and Annabelle

Auntie Megan, Uncle Nathan and soon-to-be Aunt Emily and Baby Ally

Two of our best NICU Nurses! So blessed to know these ladies and have them in our life!

My sweet Emily, almost two years old!

I baked some Minnie Mouse cookies and all the kids had a blast decorating them! Who doesn't love icing and sprinkles!?! It was a little messy but all the little ones did really well!

And then it was time for cake! There was no shortage of sugar here at this party! ;)

Pure Joy! (C)

And then of course presents! These girls get SO spoiled! I am so thankful for so many of my friends and family which really treat the girls as individuals. I was shocked at some of their gifts, so much thought and preparation to give three little girls each their own gift! And of course they got quite a few big things to share too! All in all they are very, very blessed and we are so thankful to all that love them!

Her dreams come true...a camera! (M)

Out of all the new toys and clothes, the highlight toys were the little cameras (seen above) that they each got and probably the tinker bell fairy set with 6 tinker bells...both from the same person!