Aubrey learns to ski.

February 2010

It's 55 degrees...in January.

Little did we know what was coming in just a few short weeks.

Guess whose getting the shot?

Your probably wrong.

Happy New Years!

Washing off 2009!

For New Years we had the LaGarde boys for the night. It was awesome! The night was non-stop. We did anything we could to keep two 2 year olds and two 4 year olds entertained until they passed out in their beds. This included the ultimate kid entertainment....bath time.

Why is it that kids can stay in tubs for hours and not care at all if the prune up, if the water gets cold?

In any event we had found something that kept them all entertained and all in one place.

But best of all....future embarrassment and blackmail for all parties involved. HA!

That's my girl!

Christmas Eve coffee break.
It's bigger then her head!

2009 Christmas Portrait

I think that digital cameras were created for one reason, and one reason only. Holiday photo shoots. More specifically holiday photo shoots with children. Thankfully, April LaGarde has the patience of a saint and was able to capture some special moment for our family. Of course after all that work...did I ever send them out? Nope. Consider this your Christmas card.

Merry Christmas 2009!
Love, Matt, Missy, Aubrey and Leah

...and we're spent.

December Birthday Bash!

Oh, the joy of having two birthdays... ONE DAY APART! Aubrey and Leah are exactly one year and 364 days apart. The things that we heard about having one in December must not have deterred us because, we did it again. Leah made her appearance the day before Aubrey's 2nd birthday. Last year we didn't really do much for their birthdays and the mom guilt had started to sink in. So we decided that this year that we would celebrate their birthdays together.

16 kids (most under the age of 5) and their folks helped us celebrate in style. We dressed up, we made cookies....we ate PIZZA! The girls had a blast and we did too. Although I'm thinking for future events. Separate parties... 3 kids each.... max. At least until their are like 12.

Who knows.

Thanks everyone who came and made our girls feel so special!

Snowflakes

Winter Wonderland

have you ever wondered how much time it takes to get kids into those snow suits? it's really quite ridiculous if you ask me. i don't remember how many times that i put leah's mittens on.... she kept taking them off again and again. finally after what felt like an hour of work we were all ready to go out. stomping around in the snow. making snow angels. throwing snow at the dog (that was fun). we even slid down the slide on our swing set. i'm not sure how long we were out. it was cold! when we had our fill we headed inside. dropped our wet clothes at the back door and warmed ourselves up with a cup of hot chocolate.

a day of cozy blankets, a warm fire, christmas movies and family.
we had a wonderful day!

the much debated over tree.

fraser fir

i never thought that christmas tree shopping would turn into a debate. i mean, i vaguely remember shopping for them with my family when i was younger. putting a mitten on this one to save it, a hat on that one...but i never remember it being an "argument" per say.

matt and i had to get our tree a little early, black friday to be exact. we were having my family for the girls birthdays and wanted a chance to decorate our tree together. we headed over to bethany farm, a dairy farm not to far from our house. it was freezing (and a little rainy) but we ventured out anyway.


the girls had a great time running between the trees, while mommy and daddy began their debate.

i like this one... no, i like this one...

Me - i like the soft tree with the long needles, i like them really bushy, when you can't see through them.

Matt - i like this one....the fraser fir, sturdy, doesn't drop needles as much, good for ornaments, blah, blah, blah (it's my story i get to tell it how i like).

standing in the freezing cold....poor Mr. Messner looking from Matt to me and back to Matt again. so, which one? the fraser fir. the one that will hold ornaments better, won't drop needles, is more likely NOT to catch on fire. (thank you Mr. Messner for siding with my husband).

i lost.

we loaded it up, brought it home and guess what... i really like our tree.

when i grow up...

the other night it was just aubrey and i. leah was asleep and matt was out. we were curled up by the fire and talking about when she grows up. we started to have a conversation about where she would live, who she would marry...

me: where are you going to live when you grow up aubrey?
aubrey: in a different house.
me: not here with me.
aubrey: no
me: can i come visit?
aubrey: yeah

me: are you going to get married?
aubrey: yeah
me: who are you going to marry?
aubrey: logan
me: oh, are you going to have any babies?
aubrey: yes
me: how many?
aubrey: four
me: well, what are you going to name your babies?
aubrey: um, logan....sally....RUDOLPH (obviously we are watching to many Christmas movies).... and grayson.

it took everything in me not to laugh out loud.
RUDOLPH!

my first baby girl

you hold a special place in your heart for your first little baby. as i looked back over my journals i found the prayer i wrote when aubrey was born. i wanted to share it with you.

you will never understand how much your God loves you... how amazing His grace is... how much you need His strength to get through the next moment until you look into the face of your child.

Aubrey is here.... and i am in love. i am overwhelmed with the desire to nurture & protect her. is this how God feels about us? so much love your heart could break. i wish i could give my daughter even just a portion of the love & grace that my God has given me.

Father God, i am overwhelmed. this is all so new to me & i am scared to death. i don't have a clue how to take care of this little girl. how to lead her to your throne... i want so much for her not just to be fed & loved... i want her to know & love you. to have a heart for this world... that she would have a desire to lead people to you.

my sweet leah

Just two (wow, two?) short years ago this little precious girl was placed in my arms. She captured me then....and hasn't let go. Every morning I see her sweet face looking up at me from her bed...her big blue eyes, her wide smile...I feel so lucky that I get to be her mommy. She has such a sweet personality, loves to do anything her big sis is doing, loves to cuddle, likes to make herself heard. She fills our day with shrieks and giggles (oh the joys of being a mom to girls!).

Tonight we made cupcakes after dinner to celebrate her big day. She sang "Happy to YOU" over and over again. Shushing us if we tried to sing with her. Asking me to light her candle again and again. What a precious memory!

I thank God for blessing us with Leah each day....but especially today.

We love you little girl! Happy 2nd Birthday!

so much to be thankful for!

God is so good
God is so good
God is so good
He's so good to me

He answers prayer
He answers prayer
He answers prayer
He's so good to me

I sing that song to Leah every night before bed...and every night it serves as a reminder that God is in fact SO good to us. He has provided for us in ways we could never understand or imagine. He has his hands in everything that happens to us. He has blessed us with so many good gifts, our home, our friends and our beautiful little girls. I cannot imagine life without my precious little ones. They both bring such joy to our home.

To those who are close to us... you know that this year has been a crazy one at that.... We want to thank you for everything that you have done for us. God has been amazing and he has allowed you all to be his hands and feet in our lives. Every prayer, every kind word, every listening ear has been such a blessing to us. We are thankful for you.

Happy Thanksgiving 2009

best buddies

aubrey and logan, best buddies

trick or treating. are we crazy?

our traditional small group shot. there are 11 little rugrats between the four couples. we may be crazy but for the past few years we have managed to take our growing families for one night of chaos. the kids did exceptionally well despite the rain.

some day my prince will come

happy halloween. this year we had two snow whites. i had intentions of making leah a ladybug but once she tried on this snow white costume (just like her big sister), i had to give in. she loves to do anything aubrey does. daddy spent the moments before trick-or-treating sewing them into their costumes (what a good dad!). the night was rainy but that wound up working out well for us. there weren't many trick-or-treaters. we were told to take as much as we wanted, which aubrey took as a go ahead to sweep about 5 full size candy bars into her bag. lucky us. i had snickers for a week.

october

We got Aubrey in her tradional October shot. I cannot believe how fast the years are flying by. I've tried to get Leah to do the same shot, but every year I usually get one of her crying or walking away...she is not to happy with the camera. I did manage to get one of the two of them together on a trip to Longwood Gardens. I love these moments in our lives where we get to enjoy time together as a family.

highland orchards

Just a few short weeks ago my family came down to visit and pick pumpkins. What a great opportunity for the cousins to run around and enjoy the fall weather. I cannot believe that the little girls that seemed like babies just a few short years ago are now 4, 3 & 2 years old (well, almost 2). Kelsey, Aubrey and Brooke are independant with minds of their own and Mackenzie and Leah try to keep up with their older sisters.

We spent our time petting the animals at the petting area, running around the hay maze and playing in the playground.

What should have taken a moment, their fall pumpkin picture, took about 20 shots and I still didn't have them all looking at me.

We picked out or pumpkins and got our cider doughnuts. All and all a perfect day.