Christmas decor

i love Christmas

i am so excited for it this year

and every year..

i decorate within a day or two of thanksgiving

this year we wanted a real tree

even though we'd held onto our fake one all year

we're glad we got a real one

it smells so good

 our living room

don't mind the pile of stockings on the far chair yet to be hung

 i found some free printable Christmas art

on here

that is fun and festive

 a little Christmas spirit for our fish 

 above the stove now says

"Christmas time is Family time"

 and last but not least

our gingerbread house

Christmas is so much fun with kids

this year we've decided to have Christmas at home

i can't wait

olive's first bite

in case you were wondering:

she liked it ok

she had to be propped with towels

she never made a grossed out face 

i let michael feed her

and that was a little hard for me

since i've done it for the other two

but we agreed it was his turn

olive was way more interested in smiling at noah

than eating rice cereal

home sweet home

 my mom holding her two newest granddaughters

 michael and hazel

me and my sisters

We cut our trip a little short and came home today. We were supposed to spend the day with Michael's family and shop tomorrow but the forecast had us worried and we didn't want to risk it. It was still a good trip and we got to spend some good time with both sets of grandparents. I had so much fun seeing my sisters. It was great. Michael loved playing ping pong with my dad and brothers in law. Andre`a and I slipped out for a little slurpee date last night. It's tradition, you know. And luckily, Noah has been recovering super well. Our drive home took an extra hour than normal which was way better than we expected. Once we got home I put the kids in the bath and bathed Olive in the kitchen sink. Michael and I showered after the kids were in the bed and I cleaned the kids' bathroom. How is it that there's nothing better than being in your own home? I can't wait to sleep in my own bed tonight!

a little ER visit

Today my sisters and I went out to Azteca and Costco with all our girls. The boys all stayed home with their dads. It was super fun and a good compromise. The only down side was that shortly before us girls got home, Noah fell off of a slightly raised bed that used to be a bunk bed. Michael was kind of worried because he heard Noah cry and then Noah stopped for a while. He was silent. Then after that he wouldn't open his eyes. He wanted to sleep really bad and he was making a weird sad cry. He fell asleep for a while and only woke up to vomit but still wouldn't open his eyes. He wanted to sleep some more. We worried he had a concussion. Michael took him to the ER. They gave us the choice of a cat scan at the risk of radiation. We didn't think it was worth it so we're just supposed to watch him. He's feeling much better now. Apparently it was a mild concussion. Poor boy.

i heart sisters

me, olive and noah on a ferry boat

michael, noah and hazel on the ferry

olive and her cousin anna who is just 11 weeks younger

andre`a

me, michael and olive

andre`a and james

five little monkeys jumping in the crib 

hazel and her cousin halea sharing cheetos

even if none of my brothers will make it for thanksgiving

i'm so happy to have 

sister time

guess who's a thumbsucker

olive is!
maybe she figures less people will say she looks just like noah
if she and hazel are both sucking their thumbs

a little bad luck

cute baby noah

yesterday while i ran a 5k with my friend heather

michael and i locked ourselves out of our car

luckily our friend ashley was there and 

used her AAA to help get us back in

THANK YOU ASHLEY!!!

then we got in the car to visit family

only to discover we left michael's bag of clothes behind

poor guy

and now we've got some unexpected snow

which gave us trouble going up a hill

oh well

tomorrow we're going thrifting for more clothes

and we're happy to be with family

i can't wait to see my siblings!!

it's snowman day!

today brought our first day of snow

noah could not have been happier

and declared it "snowman day"

 right after our special snowman breakfast

(cold cereal)

the kids got dressed up to go play

 they are the cutest

and since michael's a better dad

than i am a mom

he went out with the kids

and made a giant snowman

while i stayed inside

and made everyone hot chocolate

guess who's asleep in a big girl bed

hazel is!

she asked to sleep on the top bunk tonight

(noah prefers the bottom)

and after a little playing

she's asleep!

i haven't cared to make the switch

she can sleep in her crib until she's 5

 if she wants

but if we could get rid of our 2nd crib

that would give them a lot more space

which would be amazing

i love that my little kiddies have each other

i'm sure hazel will have an easier time with changes

because she has a big brother to lead the way

sunday, sunday

this morning olive was sucking her thumb

rather than her usual left pointer finger

we tried to hurry and get the camera

so we could capture both girls sucking their thumbs

but we were too late

instead we just got a picture of our cute girls

 here's olive ready for church

she's so cute

i figured i'd take a picture of each of the kids

noah looked especially handsome

all dressed up for his primary program

but if you look behind him at hazel...

she's being a little busy

 by the time i went to take her picture

it was too late

diaper off

when i asked her what she was doing

she put her arms up and said

i don't know?

silly girl

clip on earrings

Lately Hazel loves to be just like me. 

If I have a ponytail, she needs one.

Any clothes I put on that she likes, she says are hers and wants the same thing.

She recently showed some real interest in earrings.

I don't want to pierce her ears until she actually asks for it.

But I did remember I have a pair of clip-ons. 

I let her try them out.

It was pretty cute.

hi, my name is rachael and i'm a couchaholic

this beauty is being delivered here tonight

can't wait!

ps. i heart craigslist

We're excited

for Christmas!

 We've got Christmas jammies,

 lists of things the kids would like,

and we're working on making gifts for our families.

We love Christmas!

this week we...

went to spokane for kids dentists appointments

all had the flu (not fun)

started watching tv again (don't judge)

pulled noah out of preschool to keep him home for the rest of the year (lots of reasons behind this one)

spent our saturday in lewiston (go costco!)

bought noah and hazel each a goldfish
noah's is named jack in the box (like the toy)
and hazel's is named fruit snacks (like the food she was eating when we asked her to name her fish)

who can blame me?

another olive post

yes, please

plus she is 

four months old

today

here she is 

trying out her new bumbo seat

i think she likes it

our little olive

olive is the cutest baby...

ever

and we just love her

too bad this morning

she decided to join her sister

and vomit lots and lots

so we're on our way to the doctor

poor kiddies

i don't think i'm far behind them