Thanksgiving weekend

Below are some pictures from Thanksgiving. Somehow we missed getting a picture of Zoe on her first Thanksgiving. Opps, I just didn't think about it because she was sleeping.

Tyler and Maeley

Derek's favorite picture

I love this picture. Maeley trying to pull Chase out of the water. If you look closely Maeley has a red mustache from drinking to much Hawaiian punch.

Wednesday night my brother Tyler came down and stayed with us until this morning. It's always nice having him come and spend some time with us. We all enjoy the company. I think Maeley likes having someone else to play with.

Thursday we watched part of the Macy's Day parade before heading to my Aunt Cherri's house only about 10 minutes from our house. My family has Thanksgiving every other year there, and the other is at my parents house. It was really nice not having to travel this weekend. All my mom's siblings were there but my Aunt Diane from Utah. My grandpa was also there and some cousins. Derek and I had a great time but I think Maeley and Chase had an even better time. They have a really cool water fall feature in the backyard. It's actually two with a little stream connecting them. I made the mistake of showing Maeley that one of the fish had died. She ended up taking almost all the adults one by one by the hand to show them the dead fish. It was really cute. Anytime we took our eyes off Chase he was headed straight for the water. It made me nervous the whole time. Zoe pretty much slept the entire day. She normally doesn't sleep that much.

Friday we did a little shopping. Then in the afternoon we finally put the Christmas tree up. Last Sunday Derek got out the Christmas decorations and it took awhile to decide where we were going to put the huge tree in our small house. The dining room is where it ended up. Not normal I know, but there really wasn't any other place. This weekend has gone way too fast.

Derek's photography

Derek has enjoyed taking pictures lately and has taken some really great pictures of the kids. Here are some of them.

Life with 3 kids...3 and under

I feel like I haven't blogged in awhile, but I think it's really because so much has happened since the last post. Maeley and Chase came home Sunday afternoon after a week in Gilbert. We missed them like crazy, it's so good to be together again. My mom stayed and just left earlier today. (Thanks mom for all your help!) Maeley is really good with Zoe and when she cries gives me an explanation as to why she thinks she's crying. Chase is so sweet and always needs to know where she's at. He also rubs her head a lot. My dad thinks it's because everyone rubs his shaved head. Chase hasn't been giving anybody hugs and kisses the past few days. He must be saving them all for Zoe because she gets plenty from him. Maeley gives Zoe tons of hugs and kiss too. Chase is having a harder time adjusting to the change, just as I suspected. After all he's only 16 months. He is more emotional than usual and pouts more. Chase seems huge to us now. I know its simply because we are comparing him to Zoe, but he is rock solid. Maeley doesn't seem bigger to us, just older. She's a great little mommy.

I'm doing great after my c-section. I honestly don't feel like it happened a week and a half ago. I just have to restrain myself from my regular duties. They told me I can't sweep, mop or vacuum for 6 weeks. That is going to drive me crazy! I normally vacuum 3 times a week. The house just seems cleaner when its vacuumed. And of course they tell you not to pick up anything heavier than your new baby. What about my other baby? Chase still needs help getting into his booster chair so that restriction has already been thrown out.

Zoe has been doing really well. Her doctor at her 1 week checkup was pleased that she already past her birth weight. I've just got to get her onto a schedule. I live by schedules with my kids. I always start by setting a bedtime and it has worked itself out from there. Maybe we will be lucky and by 2 weeks she'll start sleeping 8 hours at night just like Chase did. (I'm keeping my fingers crossed.) She honestly doesn't cry much. Wahoo! She also will look around the room for awhile and not fuss one bit. We truly feel blessed to have such a sweet, good baby. There is a feeling of peace about her. We love her so much!

Our two girls

Maeley "feeding" Zoe
Zoe is actually in Maeley's lap as she pretends to feed Zoe just like mom

Maeley and Chase holding Zoe right when they came home

Our Little Pumpkin

I just had to dress Zoe up for her first Halloween. What a cute little pumpkin she was.

I don't have any pictures of Maeley or Chase all dressed up as they are still in Gilbert with our parents. They come back today finally! I miss those kiddos like crazy. Apparently Chase wanted nothing to do with his Mickey Mouse costume. Last week when we tried it on him he looked pretty darn cute. I wish I had taken a picture then. Maeley was Tinker Bell. That was the costume from last year that she wanted nothing to do with and she ended up being Lady from Lady and the Tramp. Man, I've got a couple of stubburn kids. Oh well, I love them anyways.