Family Pictures 2011

My wonderful sister, April, took these awesome photos:). I'm in LOVE to say the least and can't stop looking at them.

It's Christmas time!!!

I LOVE this time of year:) I am especially excited about this year because the girls (well 2 out of 3) really know what's going on. We've done all sorts of fun things like decorating the tree, welcoming Frisbee baby (our elf on the shelf) back to our home, watching the Christmas tree lighting in downtown Greensboro, making reindeer "noses" and other treats for friends and family, and driving around town looking at Christmas lights!

Although all these things truly excite me about Christmas time, me and my family also remember the true meaning behind Christmas. This is the time of year we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He loved us enough to die for us and we remember him always. Merry Christmas!

Singin' Diva's 2!!!

SD was NOT having it at her party! She loved all of her gifts (thanks friends) and played with them all after everyone left. However, I think there was too much attention on her and she wasn't sure of it all. None the less, she's 2 now and she LOVED her yummy cookies that Aunt Nicole made for her party. We had a blast and we love seeing this new stage for SD:). Enjoy the pics!

Dancin' Diva's Birthday

This was a simple, but AWESOME birthday if I do say so myself. DD got to have some friends and cousins (yipee) over for her third birthday. They danced, played with dolls, danced some more, played with instruments, and did I mention they danced...ha!

Enjoy!

First Day...Take Two

So the two big girls are doing a pre-school with a friend of mine once a week too so we had two first day of school events. I hear that DD was shy and that SD stayed involved more than expected and that sounds about right:).

On our way with our "pack packs."

A pic with the little sis. She had a play date with baby Hunter while the big girls were at pre-school.

I love this. Those backpacks on their little bodies just make me happy:).

The class:)

The siblings (minus baby Aagard)

A New Adventure

We started homeschool today!!! I have gone through several emotions since Jeremy and I decided to homeschool. I have been nervous, excited, nervous again, and back around to excited several times:). At any rate, we are ready and this homeschool train is taking off! Wish us luck!

Here are some pictures from our first day!

School Pictures

School work

Shapes and colors for SD since she's new at this school thing:)

She LOVES cutting!

Lacing:)

Don't let her face fool you. She would use these Do-A-Dot markers ALL day if I would let her.

SD loves them too

A shout out goes to this blog for all the Letter of the Week printouts. She is amazing with all the things she does and she gives me great ideas too! She's got a pretty great name too, just spelled with a "c." :)

FHE tonight...

Bedtime routine together as a family! It may seem lame and yes it was not planned, but we haven't been able to do this TOGETHER since the baby was born. So even though it was one of those nights where there wasn't a perfect lesson, I was pleased:)

The Cat in the Hat

(one of the favorites in this house)

Snuggle time with two of my girlies:)

Free food!!!

Chic-fil-A had Cow Appreciation Day on July 8 and if it killed me we were participating this year! The sky "opened up" as we were preparing to get everyone dressed and Jeremy was a bit skeptical , but I would not be defeated...especially when we're talking FREE Chic-fil-A meals for the entire family!!! Do you know how much money a family of four (eating members) spends at Chic-fil-A??? A lot! So from now on this will be on my family's schedule. It was a ton of fun and the food was great as usual!

EAT MORE CHIKIN!!!

Mooooooo!!!

Bigger mooooooooooooooo!!! Ha!

Hot Tots

So I work at a cheer gym and normally I do a tumble tots program during the day and my kids participate. Well today they got their first taste of having a tumble class where mommy was not the teacher. They were too cute and I wanted to share some pictures...Enjoy!

Girl in the Middle

It's amazing how many friendships I have made in the past five years. We are all so different, yet we have so much in common and it's a cool thing to see us all come together. However, the observer in me can see how our differences pull us in different small groups, which fine...totally...I promise! The interesting thing I notice is how I am always the same girl in the "big" group that I have been all of my life. I am always the girl who can hold a conversation with anyone no matter their walk of life and I LOVE this quality about myself (I hope that doesn't sound weird...me loving myself and all...ha!). I just mean that I'm glad I am comfortable meeting new people and being in diverse groups. I think it opens me up more, it allows me to understand the differences in people, and quite often it allows me to help bring people together who would have otherwise never even spoken to one another.

It's hard sometimes because I don't feel as though I "fit" anywhere in particular, but I think it's better than not having any friends at all:)

I love you all, no matter if we talk all the time or once a month. Know that you are loved for all that you are!!! I embrace the differences in you and me because otherwise this world we live in would be really boring!

That is all...ha!

Sincerely,

Erika

Number 3 is here!!!

Lil' Diva's journey into this world was so enjoyable! I was induced, which made me nervous, but it was a grand experience after all. When I arrived at the hospital there was girl there, "in labor," getting checked in and I felt like hiding from her because I was just "strolling" in. I waited about 10 minutes and my nurse was ready to take me to my room. It was glorious! Just because I'm no "writer" I will bullet the rest of the time frame so that I can just get to the cute pictures:)

*7:30am Check in

*Midwife checks me and I'm a 5/6! I guess my contractions were doing some work even though I was still sleeping like a baby through

the night:)

*8:40 Water was was broken and now we wait to see what my body will do without pitocin

*11:41 HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOO epidural! Oh how I love thee...ha! I will say though that the nurse had to keep asking if I wanted it because by her standards my contractions were pretty strong

*2:40pm Pitocin

*3:50 Ready to push, but midwife has to leave the room real quick for something else so we wait

*4:00 Started pushing

*4:19 Lil' Diva arrived!!!

I have loved all of my experiences with labor and delivery. I will say though, this was the easiest and for me I believe it was the control that I was able to have this time. I am always a calm laborer, but I was barely being stopped by contractions right up until getting the epidural, I was very verbal about what was comfortable for me even when it went against my nurses advice, and I was very alert when it came time to push because I refused any additional medicine. Recovery has been amazing too! The best one yet!

We are so happy that Lil' Diva is here and that we are both safe and healthy. DD and SD absolutely adore her and smother her with kisses every chance they get:)

Easter 2011

We had so much fun with our Easter festivities this past weekend. SD was a pro at finding eggs for it being her first time. DD was such a big 2 and a half year old and took off to find her eggs:) We didn't get the best pictures with them in their dresses on Sunday, but it's hard getting DD to stop twirling and honestly her twirling is just too cute to make her stop!

I hope everyone had a great Easter too!