Beautiful eyes...

A quick update and pics of the girls.  They had their 3rd birthday this past month.  We just did a quiet party at home.  I can't believe they are three already!  Carly had eye surgery to straighten out her eyes in April and she looks so much better.  I couldn't get the best pic of her so thus the holding her face for a closeup with the camera.

Carly

Carly after eye surgery

 The girls started going to preschool for a couple days in May before the school year ended and they are so excited to start again next fall.  Especially to ride a school bus!  They loved it and it made a huge difference in their speech.  They came home saying words I hadn't heard them say before.

Madison

 Mckenna's botox eye treatment has pretty much worn off so hopefully her eyes stay where they are.  The doc thinks that if they stay as they are now then she doesn't have to have botox again.  So hooray!  Her eyes look so much better as well.  But notice that her pupils are still two different sizes, a side effect of the botox that should have worn off but hasn't so she might always look like that.  Might be a problem if she ever has to go in the emergency room, that should freak the nurses out.

Mckenna

We just love these girls and all their excitement for life!

Big Ol' Post

Hey all, Wow, I've got to be more consistent so I don't have to put up such large posts!  That just makes me further procrastinate and then the posts just keep getting bigger...  We have had a very busy last couple months.  We have redone the girls room, they are now in a big girl bed (sleeping in a queen all together).  I did a lot of the painting and remaking myself so it took a lot of time to get it put together.  Redecorating seems to take forever here, I have three little major distractions.  We also seemed to have a million doctor's appointments in the last couple months.  The girls have been quite healthy (cold and flu-wise, a few cold here and there but no life flight to the hospital episodes so far).  Mckenna had eye surgery in January and we have had a lot of follow up appointments for her.  Carly is also getting ready for eye surgery the first of April so things won't be slowing down anytime soon.

Here's Carly!  Carly is Miss Life of the Party these days.  Always ready to have fun and be loud and crazy!  So happy when she wakes up in the morning, she has a definite yellow little personality.  I think she might be our little TomBoy as well, she loves trucks and cars and is really into the sports-type activities, throwing a ball, kicking a ball, running, etc.  She, like Maddy, never stops moving!

Maddy has been giving us a run for a money lately.  Oh, she loves pushing the boundaries as far as she can to see what she will get away with.  So much fun for Mommy.  Please say the 3's are better than the 2's.  Maddy (for right now) has taken on the boss roll.  Carly is just along for the fun but Maddy is kind of the bully and forces everyone into the path she wants them to take.  She's also pretty sure she is always right.  Example:  "Maddy, let's put on your pants now."  No, it's a skirt."  (Not really, it's technically pants) "No, these are pants that we are putting on."  "No, it's a skirt!!!"  Me, "Fine, it's a skirt...."   Some battles just aren't worth fighting.  Oh, I also found out the other day, according to Maddy, that the picture of the temple I have in my bedroom has eyebrows.  We went through the no, honey, it's just a building, they don't have eyebrows, only to have her get very matter of fact with me that "No Mommy, temple has eyebrows!"  Oh, what fun times we have!  Here's Maddy with Lamby.  Have I ever talked about Lamby?  She has had her little stuffed lamb since she was little and rarely does she let it out of her site.  They are best buds.  It's going to be a sad day when we have to put an end to Lamby because his insides are falling out.  Which we are getting closer and closer to everyday.

Kenners.... if Mckenna was physically strong as her sisters, I think there's no question she would be the boss.  She likes to have control of all household proceedings.  Maybe one of these days Maddy will have to give up the boss crown to Mckenna.  Mckenna loves the camera.  She is such a little poser.  She will hold this smile forever while I take my time snapping away...

 These girls are so in love with their stuffed animals.  They really haven't gotten into the princesses yet.  Maybe down the road.  Right now it is all about the animals.  They love The Lion King and sometimes Bambi.  Tangled, they could take it or leave it right now.  It's okay with me.  Stuffed animals are a whole lot cheaper than all the Disney empire paraphernalia so I can take my time on them wanting that stuff.

Like I said, Mckenna had Botox eye surgery in January (didn't want to do the traditional eye surgery-which Carly will have in April- due to worry that she would react wrong to it).  Botox on eyes it kinda new here in the U.S. but is done all the time in Europe.  It takes about 3 months for the Botox to completely wear off before we will know if it worked or not.  She looked crazy at first with her eyes going in all directions but right now her eyes look soo straight.  Now that they are straight, I can see how crossed they were before.  Hopefully they stay in this position and don't continue to go in as the Botox wears off.  If not, then she will have to go back in for another injection.  She is also doing so well on learning to walk.  She's finally starting to stand without holding some one's hand for a few seconds so hopefully we will get to walking sooner than later.  My goal is by this fall but I have made goals for her walking and passed by them many times so I am trying to stay realistic.

 Oh, she is so good at the innocent face... she was posing so well this day that I just kept on taking them of her.

 All the crazy maniacs together.  Carly, always looks like she's ready for mischief at all times!

They are truly the best of friends and then, quite quickly, the worst of enemies.  And the cycle goes round and round and round.

"I've called this meeting together..."

L to R: Madison, Carly, Mckenna

So here are some pics of the girls room.  I decided two things after looking at these pictures: 1.  I need a wide angle lens!  Interior rooms just look so much better when taken with them.  Kyle, honey?  Pretty please?  and 2. My camera man needs to be fired (that would be me).  I really need to take lessons, I have this fancy DSLR camera and I don't even use it like I should.  So, at some point, I have got to get into a Photography class.

Anyways, here's the girls new bed.  Our friend Ryan built it for us.  I know, crazy huh?  He is uber talented and came in with a bunch of boards and turned it into this.  I wanted a picket fence headboard and foot board and he figured out how to do it.  It also has 6 drawers underneath, three on each side.  The girls LOVE it!  They were so excited to go to a big bed.  Carly said over and over the day it was being built, "Sleep together, sleep together, sleep together!"  In her most excited voice.  They only fell off a couple times, and had a hard time sleeping for about 1-2 weeks but now they are adjusted and even still take naps.  I was pretty sure I was going to lose their naps but they still manage to fall asleep.  We sleep them long ways so they have plenty of room to spread out.  I made curtains and big loungey pillows.  Oh, and I had to do a gallery wall of vintage paper dolls on their wall.  I have a weakness with everything vintage.  Hopefully you can click on the picture to see them close up.

On their toybox I painted silver letters to say "Play" and glued them on (toybox also courtesy of Ryan's talents).  And the yellow high boy adds the perfect fancy to their room (before and after below).  Also painted and hung the blue shelf and put their Cinderella and Snow White pics on (bought them way back before I was married from a friend who now designs for Disney).  Also painted the little black and white night stand (pic below).  Also, over in the corner is the girls hairbow holder.  It keeps all the bows so nice and organized.  And you can't really tell in the pic but I spent way too many hours cutting out fabric and tissue paper and glueing it on those paper lanterns in the top right corner and hung them from the ceiling.  My friend put twinkle lights in hers she made for her little girl, and now I want twinkle lights!  So maybe down the road I will add to it.  And speaking of lights...

Do you see in both these pics my new light fixture?  I lovingly call it my "Victorian Jellyfish."  My mom found it for free in all it's brassy loveliness and I spray painted it white, glazed it and added crystals to it.  It's one of my favorite additions.  I love the green globe on the top.  I was going to have to spend over a hundred dollars for the crystal chandelier I wanted but when my mom found it, she knew it was perfect for their space.  And free, people!  Whoo hooo!  Kyle's still warming up to it.  He doesn't love girly things, hmmmm I wonder why?

So I feel pretty great about the room! I didn't want to paint the walls a color and worried that it wouldn't be colorful enough (without painting the walls and I wanted to make sure it was a happy cheerful litle girls room.  I feel like I accomplished that without overdoing.  The only thing that makes me crazy is that aluminum foiled half window.  I wanted to take the curtains all the way to the ceiling but it's too sloped so it wouldn't work.  I'll just have to wait until we can save up the dough to put one of those crazy expensive half window shade things in.

So here's the before of the high boy dresser...

And the after!  I know it's not everyone's thing to paint over good wood but hey, it's completely my thing!

Not the best pic of it but here is that cute little nightstand I painted as well.  Love the stripes mixed with the diamond pattern.  I actually had to use math to figure out the diamonds which is a scary thing for me.  It will be a lot cuter when I can put an adorable lamp and accessories on it but for now those things are not feasible in my 2 year olds' bedroom.

 Next up, (hopefully sometime this early summer- depends on how these eye surgeries go) we are redoing our master bathroom.  Just minor but we are going to try to DIY tile!  Crazy!

Love, love, love...

via Kate Daisy on Etsy

Happy Valentines Day to everyone!

Here Comes Santa Claus...

We went to our Ward Christmas Party last night.  The girls were so excited when Santa came in to visit!  Maddy was perma grin the entire time screaming "Santa, Santa!"  But I didn't know what would happen when he became reality (sitting on his lap).  I guess the pictures speak for themselves...

Triplet Catch up...

Wow, I feel like time just keeps on moving faster and faster!  The girls are also growing up so quick.  I was looking at our family pictures lately and I noticed one the other night that I looked at and thought it was taken two years ago.  So I looked it up and discovered it was taken in January 2011!  It's amazing looking back and seeing how rapidly the girls change at this age.  Carly actually has some hair now!

They are starting to really get into the talking.  There was a lot of crying and whining before and now they're screaming words!  Not sure which is better?  They are truly in the throes of a two year old.  I hear a lot of "no want it!" these days that I am now dreaming about that phrase.  These days they don't like the clothes I pick out for them, they want to choose their own combinations, and such lovely combinations they choose.  On the flip side of that, they are starting to undress themselves, and dress (parts of their clothing-shoes, socks, pants) themselves which is really nice!  I feel like I am ready to go cry in a corner and yell "UNCLE!" at one moment and the next I think they are pretty great and more enjoyable to be around than they were as babies.  So I not only have my good and bad days with them, it seems to change more on an hourly basis.  I almost feel like my emotions can sometimes cycle on the same plane as a two year old.  Must be what happens when you are with them all day long... Although I know Kyle can agree with me on that.  But when they are sweet, they are so sweet.  So it makes up for it.

Mckenna has such a great memory, she always remembers where she put something or where her sister's put something--or who's turn it is to have momma time next.  She has been the one kid that has always preferred me.  She's very much a momma's girl.  She also thinks I'm hilarious which is really good for my ego.  But she doesn't forget things which I believe will end up being tricky for me in a lot of ways.

Madison is still always always on the move.  I think the only time she actually stops to take a breather, she usually falls asleep, whether that is in bed or not.  And when she is asleep, she is out!  The whole herd of elephants thing...  She is also still the most sensitive to what her sister's need, a hug, a kiss, their stuffed animal (or toy).  She is so extremely observant of everything around her.

Carly is still the most obedient child and loves to please momma and dada.  She is always so quick to clean up toys and mess.  She has finally discovered a way to get back at Maddy for all the bullying Maddy as done to her for this last year.  She knows she is stronger than Maddy and if she can steal away one of her toys, then she can fend off Maddy from getting it.  It's quite a frustrating discovery for Maddy and now Carly has become the new bully in town.  I guess everyone has to take their turns.

They are excited for Christmas this year.  I still don't think they really understand it all that well but they definitely know who Santa is, a snowman, Rudolph, presents, stockings and others Christmas things.  I'm just not sure they understand the purpose of all of them yet.  And they LOVE music, Christmas or otherwise.  The girls have been so blessed this year with continual developmental growth that we are so thankful for.  We know we are still not out of the woods (on their developmental catch up) and there is still a lot of things we worry and pray for for the girls especially with possibilities of big surgeries coming up this next year, (oh wait, I guess worrying about your kids happens to everyone at every age!) but we continue to try and remember that we are far outweighed with blessings than trials.  Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and you are able to spend it with the ones you love!  We look forward to the new year and starting new adventures!  And as Maddy would say, "We Loffff You!"

More furniture makeovers

So since I have missed posting for a month and a half  I am going to post 3 posts in one day!  Then you are all caught up with me.  My mil stayed with us for all of October and November and so I was able to get a few paint projects done.  I wanted to get them done now because we are going to be redoing the girls room in Februaryish and I didn't want to be painting in that month.  It was cold enough in November as it was.  And when it's that cold, technically the cans say you aren't supposed to paint, but I still do, it just takes 2-3 times as long to dry.  Okay, first up:  I bought this coffee table (I think it was $30 at Goodwill) and I repainted the legs and put in chalk paint on the top so the girls can use it as their table and write with chalk all over it!  They love it, but they have eaten the chalk a few too many times.  Yuck, that can't taste that great.

Before

After!

 Next: This cedar chest was given to me by my parents when I was like 12 or 13?  Somewhere in there.  And as great as it is for a little girl, we already have a toy box that our friend made for us.  Soooo... I repainted it red and put a cute number on it, and now it resides in our bedroom!  Number five is our family size, the month the girls were born, the month and year we were married.  Lots of fives in our lives so that's why I chose it.

Before

After!

After from above

 This is just a random pic, but this corner you see below is where the girls are put (on their time out chair) when they misbehave and are naughty.  The other day I came around the corner and look who was in time out!  Shame on you Elmo!  They also change Elmo's diaper and numerous other things that happen in their daily lives.  It's funny how they like to act out the same things momma does.

Lastly:  Now I don't have a picture of the after yet.  It is done but it's sitting in that same position in the garage and I would really like it all set up in the room before I take a good pic of it.

Before

But here is what my inspiration was for after, it it looks very similar to this.

Cassie of Hi Sugarplum!

The main differences I made are that I painted my pulls (very similar to theirs) black instead of brass and put in two knobs that have clocks on them, super cute.  I also distressed and glazed mine.  I find that just plain pain is too boring for me.  I need some texture and depth.  Oh, and you can't see it very well, but their is a cute two step stool that also came with it that I fixed up as well.

So it will be awhile but can't wait to get the room finished in a few months and show you the final result!

Holiday Christmas Party 2011

So, once again it's been awhile.  Just wanted to share that Kyle and I got together with friends for our annual Christmas Party.  I helped my friend plan the decor and had to document and get some pics of the full set up and great night!  Thanks Lisa for letting me run wild (with my creativity) in your home!

Look at the amazing cake made by our friend Ashley!  Wowza! I should have taken a pic of the inside because  it was beautiful with three or four layers of peppermint white and chocolate cake.

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season!