Fabulous News

I just found out today that my little sister, Cynthia is pregnant! Hooray! She's due January 31st. I am so incredibly excited! Isn't this announcement creative? I was impressed!

We went to the farm where Grandma Sybil Smith keeps her horse, Doc. The girls had a great time. There are 2 horses, cats, chickens, squirrels, and owl and all sorts of other fun little creatures. Katie loved the little dogs which were about her size. We really had a great time. I'm sure the girls will be begging to go back down again to visit.

Pioneer Day

Happy Pioneer Day from the Elgan girls. We had fun taking these pictures. Well, Mom and I did anyway :) We got these bonnets in Nauvoo and just had to take advantage of the holiday to take the pics.

Okay, so while I loved Harry Potter, I did not love trying to read with 3 girls demanding my attention. I would get about 10-minute intervals of reading time then take a couple hours off. This is why I don't read anymore. I get selfish and want to read and then get frustrated because I can't. So, I got my book fill for awhile and will stick with Reader's Digest again until Sarah starts to sleep more. it's frustrating because I absolutely LOVE to read!

There are a few pictures of the girls riding bikes together and playing in the playhouse out back as well.

Good News

So I guess maybe in a small way the US Army does care about its service members. Steve found out this week that his R&R leave was extended from 14 to 18 days. I know 4 days doesn't sound like a lot, but when you're comparing it to 15 months apart, those extra 4 days are HUGE! So, we were happy to hear about that.

Sarah reached her 3-month-old mark on Tuesday. I can't believe she's already that old. She has changed so much. She's such a happy baby- smiles and coos and calls out all the time. It's so funny to watch her interact with her sisters. She loves to get their attention and have them talk to her. Katie was never really that way, so this is a lot of fun for all of us. And of course the girls love it. They climbed in her bed the other night and watched the mobile with her. Very cute. Sarah's reaching the end of her 0-3 clothes now. I always thought the sizing was way off- Ellie and Katie were out of 0-3 clothes by at least 2 months. But I guess when you have an average size baby- it actually does work! Go figure ;) Another thing about Sarah is that she has become just as antsy as her little sisters were about being in the car seat. If we're traveling in the car, she is happy as a clam. As soon as we stop, she wants out. I see all these babies at church sitting in that car seat for the whole block just smiling and playing with toys. My kids? Ha! Sarah lasted almost 3 months of being willing to sit for a little while. I guess an active child isn't a terrible thing. There are just some days (Sundays) where it would be really convenient to have her sleep while I'm chasing Katie around! [2 more months until nursery... just 2 more months].

Katie is a crazy climber. If there is something to be climbed, she just can't resist. This includes changing tables, cribs, chairs, tables, window sills, people, jungle gyms... anything and everything. It's absolute insanity. And it's getting worse as she gets older. It's all Steve's fault. And he'll admit it, too. He was always climbing on something.

Ellie is a smart little cookie. She has taken entire rights to the word "why" and uses it nonstop. Especially when she's not being invited to the conversation. She doesn't miss a thing. We have to be careful what we say around her because she remembers everything. When she's exhausted all my answers, I default to, "because that's the way Heavenly Father planned it". Can't argue with that one!

I've been having a lot of fun shopping this week (taking advantage of nap times to escape). All the summer clothes are on clearance, so this is the time I get to go out and pick out clothes for Ellie for next year. I love shopping for the girls! And of course I add to my own wardrobe when possible. I had only 1 church skirt that fit me since having the baby, so I stocked up on church apparel, which was exciting. I actually normally do not enjoy shopping for myself; it's too frustrating. But I had some really good success this week and that felt really great.

I was also able to take an afternoon off and go to lunch and see "Harry Potter" with a new girl in the ward. What a nice break! Sometimes it feels really good to just get away. It was very thoughtful of my parents to let me do that.

This weekend was supposed to be my 10-year high school reunion (yikes!). I was looking forward to seeing a few of my good friends, but unfortunately it was canceled. They couldn't find enough people that were interested in order to afford the venue. Bummer, huh? And the few people I wanted to see decided not to come into town after all. Gives you an idea of how close my senior class was...

I've been terrible about taking pictures the last couple weeks. There are only a few new ones.

She's Mine

I was going through baby pictures the other day... I find this very interesting. I think you'll see the family resemblance. Fun, huh?

First we have Steve and Ellie...













Then there's Katie (we still don't know who she looks like!)...
And finally Tiff and Sarah.












I just think it is so amazing to see how our children take on different characteristics of their parents. Obviously Ellie and Steve were practically identical. But now people think she looks more like me. I just think it's because she's picked up on my mannerisms, but there is a little of the physical as well. Katie is looking a tiny bit like Steve. Someday we might figure out who she looks like :) So, it'll be interesting to see how Sarah changes as she gets older. Anyway- this was fun for me to discover.

I also added an old picture folder to our picture website. It has a link to when Ellie was a baby. You can also get to those picture from the link I added on the right... Steve's Original Picture Website. That has his pictures from childhood through West Point, getting married and having Ellie. Fun to look at :)

Pictures

I finally got some pictures posted. It was just the upload feature I was using that didn't work. I found another one to use instead. Just head here and you can check them out. We've been having fun, that's for sure!

Happy 4th of July Week

This has been another busy week for us. Ellie went over to Sybil's house to feed her kitties, which she's been wanting to do for quite some time. Ellie loves those animals. Then Monday night we went and saw a Civil War Era band play on the ISU quad. The girls really enjoyed that. They like to march and since that's what the band played, they had fun marching around in the grass. And then they found a big rock to play on which kept them amused for quite some time.
Tuesday there was a welcome home party for a friend in the ward. He's stationed at Fort Drum, NY but he was here visiting his mom. His name is Matt Mapes and he just got back from his 15-month tour to Afghanistan about a month ago. He has a daughter that is a little older than Ellie and the two of them really clicked. They had a wonderful time playing together. It was very cute. Katie showed off her climbing skills by attempting (and succeeding- at risk of a heart attack from me) to climb up the rung ladders. She's going to be the child that will keep the ER busy, I know it. It's all Steve's fault- he was the same way when he was little! A bagpipe group showed up during the party and put on a neat performance. We all enjoyed that. It was just fun to talk to another military wife that understands how it is to be away from her husband.

On the 4th we took some really fun pictures. The girls haven't felt like "performing" for the camera lately, and Sarah was the only one that smiled the whole time. Either way we thought it was hilarious and we got a couple good ones out of the bunch. For fireworks we just walked down the road where we could see the show across the corn fields. Ellie thought they were great. To make it even better, there were tons of fireflies lighting up the sky and Mother Nature decided to put on a show as well. We had lots of lightning illuminating the sky behind and around the fireworks display. At times the lightning show was more impressive than the fireworks. It was a perfect night.

Today we decided to take the girls out to the corn to check it out. Again, no one really wanted to smile, but we did our best. We figured that the saying goes... "knee high by the 4th of July" and wanted to show just how wrong they are!The website is still giving me issues. I might have to download the pictures from a different computer. Again, I'll post when they site is back up. So far it's been a busy, but fun week. Lots of late nights and the girls were ready to get to bed on time tonight. Me too!

Busy Week

We had a very busy week this week!

On Wednesday we were fortunate enough to be able to head up to Chicago to visit Erin Tolman and her family. She was up there visiting her grandparents and had her two girls (Emma and Mary) plus her mom and three sisters (and their kids) with her. We were packed up and out of the house by 8:30. Keep in mind- it was only me and the three girls. Quite the undertaking! It took us just over 2 hours to get to Blackberry Farm in Aurora. The girls did great until about 1/2 hour before we got there. The movie they were watching ended and since they were sitting right next to each other (big mistake) they kept poking and scratching and stealing blankets and just harassing each other. It was so great to see Erin again. Her girls are just as cute as ever and Ellie and Emma had a great time playing together. From there we went to the water park across the street and the girls had a blast. Katie splashed in the shallow end while Ellie and Emma ran around playing on the playground and in the water. Erin took some great pictures while we were there. Mary and Sarah slept the whole time. By 3:00 all the kids were exhausted and hungry. We drove to Chuck-E-Cheese where the kids had an awesome time playing and eating pizza. Katie had never been before and it was only Ellie’s second time- they loved it! Ellie and Emma ran around together while I tried to referee Katie and Sarah. Erin’s family was awesome and helped out a ton. I never would have survived without it! Overall it was just an awesome day. Erin’s family is incredible- they took such good care of us. I haven’t met many people as great as them! Amazingly, both girls stayed awake on the ride home. I moved our seating arrangement back to normal and both girls were able to still see the movie (thanks to Corinne’s awesome advice). No complaints on the way home- just the way I like it!

On Thursday I took Katie and Sarah down to the doctor while Mom kept Ellie with her. That was yet again an interesting adventure. Both girls had well-baby appointments with shots. I had at least one crying at a time and both were screaming by the time shots were over. Not fun to do alone! They are both getting bigger. Katie was just over 23 pounds and measured in at 32.5 inches. Sarah weighed 10 ½ pounds and was 21.5 inches. Just as a comparison… Ellie was 2 pounds heavier and 2 ½ inches longer at her 2-month appointment. Sarah’s just the shrimp of the family, I guess. Haha! Both girls were nice enough to sleep on the way home.

The rest of the week we were fortunate to have nice weather, so we spent as much time outside as we could. Dad took the girls to the park and Ellie helped paint the ladder for the playhouse. The girls were sure to coordinate their naps so that they didn't sleep at the same time, so I haven’t had a nap in forever. I know- cry me a river. But I’m tired! Yesterday was a typical Sunday with Katie only getting one nap and having a tough time at church. We were sure to take our evening walk and spent quite a bit of time at the Smith’s house (our typical destination these days).

Overall it was just a very tiring week for me. I heard a little too much crying and whining and am ready to start this week on a happier note! I tried putting up pictures, but the site is down again, so once it's up again I'll get those posted.