play with me daddy

daddy's little girl
loves when he gets home
would sit forever on his lap
reaches to be picked up
has a smile for him every time he comes in the room
loves to be cuddled
loves her bath time before bed
wants him to rock her to sleep

the dynamic duo

aubrey was trying to help leah with breakfast. needless to say leah appreciated her sister's help. i am starting to realize that i can't leave the two of them alone for very long. yesterday i found aubrey with leah in a head lock. (we are trying to teach her how to be gentle....it's a work in progress.) looking at the two of them together makes me wonder what kind of schemes they will cook up when they are a little bit older.

where in the heck is dushore, pa?

i saw that on a t-shirt in town. one week in the quiet of northern pa. just us... nothing to do. no emails, no phone calls, no work, not even laundry.

just be together. relax and enjoy God's creation. every vacation should be like this.

what i did on vacation...

wake up
drink coffee
read
drink more coffee
go for a walk
catch butterflies
sit on the porch
read some more
drink more coffee
play catch with the dog
read
sit by the fire
go to bed...
do it again.

who remembers this shot?

aubrey elizabeth ~ june 2006

leah angely ~ july 2008

to you its just a laundry basket

oh, but it is so much more.....

a bathtub?

a playpen?

beautiful baby

our beautiful (i can say that i am a parent) blue eyed girl is growing like crazy. she's still pretty small for her age (only in 3 month clothes and she is almost 8 months old). she is now sitting up on her own, rolls both ways and has started scooting on her tummy, a kind of pre-crawl. she skipped baby food all together. wouldn't eat it... would gag and cry, which was upsetting because we were told to put some weight on her. she was totally interested in what we were eating, so we gave up on the mush and just started giving her itty-bitty pieces of whatever we were having. now she is a cheerio eating machine. she loves her big sis and cracks up whenever aubrey is around. she loves banging things together. (i know, that's silly to say, but it's so stinking cute). i think because she is so small, we don't realize what she is capable of, and are always suprised when she does something new.

family caming trip

should have posted this a long time ago. cannot believe how fast the summer is going. couple weekends back matt and i got this great idea... at about 6:00 at night that we wanted to go camping. thankfully we have many campsite options... french creek, hibernia. so we threw everything in the car and headed out to hibernia park. we made it there just in time the park was closing in 15 minutes. we picked out a campsite and matt ran out to go grab things for breakfast in the morning. we spent a little while by the campfire and then crawled into the tent with the kiddos. thankfully aubrey was exhausted and leah was already asleep... so after a couple minutes of singing both kids were out. soon we were out too. the morning was so fun! eggs over the fire.... time by the lake. both kids did so great. cannot wait to do it again. maybe will actually go in the wood next time.

double trouble...again

this sunday i ran the double trouble again. (i ran it the june after aubrey was born). mostly, i ran it so that i had a goal in mind... as i tried to get out of the house a couple times a week to run. believe it or not, two years later it didn't seem as bad as it did before. i don't know if it was the fact that i knew what i was in for, but it really was over before i knew it. mind you, i am a little sore from the crazy rock jumping i had to do. poor legs only got to train on road so the quick stepping (trying not to break an ankle), kind of running i had to do left me a little tender. it was fun though! the BEST part, my parents came out to see me run (or see me finish rather... you can't really see the rest of the run, it's in the woods). it made me so happy to see them waiting at the finish line with aubrey, leah and matt. i am so blessed to have parents who would make a trip all the way out to french creek, just to see me finish.

summer fun

the last thing that i saw before i got hosed down.
you should have seen the next picture of grass.

our big girl

first there was the big girl bed... then came the loss of the paci... NOW (drum roll please!) we are potty trained! i say we because i am also potty trained (trained to ask all the time).

she's so cute... she sits there saying "do you hear the splash?" and then "i getta prize!?" she has gone on the potty consistently since thursday. i am so excited. just think of it. one less set of diapers to buy for. no more diaper butt in pants.

i know the photos aren't really about potty training. but they are about my big girl who also chooses her own music to listen to at barnes and noble. may i say she has good taste?!

uh oh... here comes trouble

i think we are insane. in an attempt for one last "girls time" before baby abbey was born...jen, april and i (and all of the children) headed out to lancaster for a trip to the new olive garden. sitting and having soup, salad and breadsticks would have made the whole crazy trip worth it, but to our dismay, they decided not to open until 4:00 their first week. this left us with only ruby tuesdays as an option. (which we could have done a lot closer to home...and isn't nearly worth the trip that olive garden was.) we had already hit the outlets and the kids were getting punchy. so in a last ditch effort to keep our sanity we let the kids climb under the table and ignored the judging looks from people at other tables. the kids were having a blast, and if you could ignore the screaming and giggling from under the table...it might have actually felt like we were alone.

we are now a group of three moms with 7, yes 7 kids... this means one less hand then child making anything we do together now even more of a production, but completely worth it.

check out the newest addition to our little group, abbey grace mclaughlin.

try not to blink...again

just six months ago we brought little leah home from the hospital. our sweet baby has grown so much these past few months. each day bring new adventures with our little "leah bean".

december 7, 2007


and now....

six years?

where has the time gone? seems like just yesterday we were holding hands on campus and going for long rides in the festiva. seems like just yesterday we were counting stars. seems like just yesterday we were snow covered in the windy city. seems like just yesterday you waited for me at the end of that aisle. seems like just yesterday we drove cross country without a radio. seems like just yesterday we walked the little shops of bar harbor and ate lobster by the sea. seems like just yesterday we brought our little girl home from the hospital. seems like just yesterday we became a family of four. time is moving too fast. it all seems like it was just yesterday.

baby blue eyes

little updates for our beautiful baby girl. leah bean is doing quite well, she is growing like a weed and is finally starting to fill out a little. she has just about turned over from back to belly while reaching for a toy (a feat her sister didn't master until about eight months). she LOVES the jump-a-roo and goes to town when you put her in it... kind of resembles the lord of the dance. she plays piano (i know she's a prodigy) on her excer-saucer...smashing her little fists into the keys and yelling in her loudest voice da-da-da-da-da. she love giving kisses. she'll take your face in both little hands and plant one on you (nice and slimy). adorable!

bathtime in the sink (again)

the middle child

chloe is our "middle child". she likes to get right in on the action all the time. if we happen to be paying attention to our children, she wiggles her little puppy bottom in. she loves jumping up into matt's lap with a toy (something we are trying to stop)... just to say "play with me daddy" it's like we have two toddlers in the house instead of just one. we were amused the other day with our two little ones fighting over.....a stick (log really).

"chloe not have my log"

spring and things

its funny how the time just slips by. it feels like just yesterday matt and i sat here in this very spot with aubrey at about the same age as leah. now our talkative (understatement) toddler entertains us with songs and stories while we bounce her little sister on our knee. saturday mornings we usually have to run to exton for one reason or another... lately we've managed to stop and relax for a few minutes over coffee. by relax, i mean keep aubrey from inspecting every cd on the cd rack at starbucks. as you can see aubrey's pick of the week, james brown. nice taste baby.


feels like just yesterday leah was coming home for the first time.... now she was a whopping 11 lbs 15 oz... tracking right along the 5th percentile, our little peanut. she's a crack up though. she smiles and laughs almost all the time and loves just about anyone who will make eye contact with her. but she does have a soft spot in her heart for her mommy. daddy is trying to break her of waking up in the night and has succeeded to getting her down to sleep from 7:30 pm to 5:30 am (with a small nap until 7:30 am, when mommy and aubrey get up). well, success is maybe not the best word.... it's a work in progress as most parents know. normal is never normal for long.


we have spent most of our days out in the beautiful sunshine. aubrey would rather "garden" then anything else. "mommy lets garden" is her tricky way of getting me outside. i think i am going to have a little helper as she puts on her gloves and kneels down.... it's only seconds before she abandons her spade and is perched up in her swingset asking for me to slide with her. "i thought we were gardening" i say, as i toss off my gloves and abandon my tools as well. needless to say i don't get a lot done.... plant a pansie here, weed a little there.

it's 8:45 and all is quiet in our house. matt ran out to grab a few things and the girls are both in bed. as i sit here still and think about my days with my family, i am reminded how blessed i am that they are mine and i am theirs and this was God's plan for us.... for us to be a family, chosen perfectly to compliment each other.

marsh creek

this is my absolute favorite picture from our adventures at marsh creek a couple of weekends ago. we all came out a little sunburned but it was well worth it. the chance to be outside and together as a family. for some strange reason i cannot keep my child out of marsh creek when we are there. (see post from last may HERE.) matt is chomping at the bit to get out the kayaks (I am too). think we might do a little kayaking on my birthday.... cannot wait. here's hoping the weather is nice enough for it. don't think we will be taking any babies with us this time (and there is NO WAY i am taking the dog kayaking.)

please don't leave valuables in the locker

our gym and swim class has come to a close. i meant to get some photos up sooner but kept forgetting the camera. here is aubrey playing peek-a-boo in the locker area. she totally enjoyed the gym class and now uses everything as a balance beam. she also does this thing where she tiptoes across the floor saying, "balance, balance" then tumbles over saying, "i lost my balance". which is only hilarious because she says it like it's lost....or missing. cracks me up. as for the pool it was a great experience for me (aside from having to wear a bathing suit) i got a lot of good ideas for playing in the pool with aubrey this summer... even learned how to get her to float. it should be interesting this summer.