The Fighter's

I took the girls with me to the gym tonight and came home to this! Doug whipped up dinner for me and the girls...chopped salad with an amazing Greek dressing, mini hamburgers and shoe string french fries. He got the girls blue frosted cookies (as you can see from Kate's face). I love my hubby! And these sort of surprises totally make my day! I'm a lucky girl:-)

Kate, Olivia and I have started going to story hour at our local library while Ava is at preschool. It's geared towards children Kate's age...and she absolutely loves it (and so do I)! Every story hour has a theme (we had Halloween, frogs, babies, etc.)...the librarian reads different stories, we sing songs, they sometimes play a short movie...and sometimes we do a craft. Well Kate absolutely loves it and I think it makes her feel like a "big kid". She raves about story hour for the rest of the day...telling her big sis Ava all about it when we pick her up from pre-school, sings the songs...and often reminisces very matter of factly about it with Doug and I. Today the theme was frogs. For the craft they decorated a frog with stickers. When we left, Kate held onto a row of dot stickers. We went to pick Ava up from preschool and when I opened the van door to let Ava in, Kate started laughing hysterically. We looked up and she had put the dot stickers all over her face....

So...Ava smuggled her lady bug jar to preschool today. She loves bugs. And she loves her new lady bug jar that Doug made for her out of a pickle jar yesterday. The same jar that she carried throughout her Aunt Carly's shower and places on her dresser when it's time to sleep. When we got up this morning she brought her lady bug jar down for breakfast and placed it in her book bag...without me knowing. When I picked her up from school that day, her teacher Miss Karen came out and said..."we loved the lady bugs today". I was at first confused, then looked in Ava's book bag and...there was her lady bug jar. Surprise! She had a smirk on her face and I think she though she was in trouble. Miss Karen said she loved it and they actually turned it into a lesson for the kids:-) I couldn't help but laugh...but did explain to her that the lady bugs needed to stay home while she was at school. From now on I will be checking her book bag for smuggled objects. Here ...

So there are many reasons I love ALL my girls so, so much. Here are a few things that they did today that melted my heartstrings... We had Aunt Carly's baby shower today at church and I brought all 3 girls with me. While we ate and "showered" Aunt Carly & Uncle Rob, the kids who came played in the church nursery and had fun running and playing tag up and down the hall. Their squeals, laughs and smiles were endless. After the shower Doug came to help where needed, but Ava stole him and Kate down to the sanctuary and led them through a "whole" church service. They prayed at the alter...quoting Ava "thank you Jesus for loving us" and sang Jesus Loves Me and Deep and Wide. Ava even snuck in communion. This melted my heartstrings for two reasons: The first...it warms my heart watching the girls play in church. My parents always had us at church. Whether for Sunday School, service, spaghetti or Maggie and Jig's dinner's, cleaning days, leaf rakin...

Ava and Kate could barely stand the anticipation of trick or treat! Ava actually put herself down for her nap because we told her that after naps - it was trick or treat time. We ordered pizza, put on costumes, grandma and grandpa came over to pass out candy (and watch Olivia), and then we set out on our trick or treat mission. Ava dressed as Ariel from the Little Mermaid (her favorite!) and Katelyn as Sleeping Beauty (aka Seepin' booty in Katelyn language). They both did great - Ava went to about 20 houses...Kate only lasted through about 10 (it was cold and the masks/ghosts were a bit scary for her - she gave many people the "stink eye"). But all in all a success. They were so excited to go through their trick or treat baskets when we got home. Katleyn kept opening things, taking a lick...then saying "I no like it" and moving onto the next. I think the "I no like it" was a way for her to sample her smorgasbord of candy! After we put the girls to be...

Ava's preschool class had their Halloween celebration today. I can't tell you how much fun it was to visit her class (Kate & Olivia in tow). Doug even got to come for the parade!! The kids marched through the school in their costumes and collected candy. Kate even got in on some of the action:-) Ava & her classmates were as cute as could be in their costumes! Kate, Olivia and I stayed along with a few other moms for the rest of the day. It was so much fun to watch them go through their routine. A few Halloween songs, books and games. Kate sat next ot her big sis and participated (with the help of Miss Karen, Ava's teacher). They both had a ball and Ava seemed so proud to have her little sister by her side:-) Olivia slept the whole time (thankfully!). Ava's teachers Miss Laraine and Miss Karen are excellent. The control they have over 15 three and four year olds amazes me! We have been so happy with her preschool and Ava just absolutely loves going! H...

Major bed head!

And all through the Fighter house, strange things were happening to Kim and her spouse. Katelyn was wearing a pumpkin on her head, while her parents turned their sweats into a witch dress and nerd threads. Ava danced around curling her toungue, and grandpa made silly faces, the girls thought he was so fun! After some pictures and kissing the girls good night, the witch and the nerd headed next door for a party full of fright. We had a great time and came home to grandparents in tact, we love our nutty family...and that is a fact!

So with the arrival of Olivia my 30th birthday was sort of overshadowed (which I didn't mind one bit:-)). She was the BEST birthday present ever!! But some of my greatest girlfriends, my mom, sis in law and family friends took me out for a delayed birthday dinner this week at PF Changs. We had such a great time...chatting, eating great food, a few glass of vino and Eston's cake (yum!). I can't believe I'm 30! My twenties were fantastic...very busy. Graduated college, first job, met Doug, got married, bought a house, second job, had Ava, third job, had Katelyn, sold our house, moved north, bought another house, had Olivia! Phew! I think in my 30's Doug and I are going to slow down, relax and enjoy some of the major life events that came to light in our 20's!! I am so very thankful for the many blessings we've been given and pray that in my 30's I can do with these blessings what God wants me to do.

Olivia Ann had her 1 month appointment today and is growing great. Here are her stats: Weight: 9 pounds, 1 ounce (up 1 pound, 5 ounces since her last visit 2 weeks ago!) - 50th percentile Height: 20.5 inches - 50th percentile Head: 14 inches - 50th percentile She is doing great, usually a very docile and content baby (unless she has gas or is hungry!). She is still doing 3 to 4 hours stretches at night (usually waking at 2:30AM and 6AM to eat), but just this week has had two 7 hour stretches (10:30 to 5:30)...YIPEE! We're hoping these become more frequent:-) During the day she has mastered the art of sleeping during all sorts of noise (thanks to her big sisters). One of my favorite things about Olivia - she is so curious! When she is awake...her eyes (right now dark blue) are wide open and she cranks and lifts her head to look around at everything she can! She is also cooing quite a bit (trying to get a word in with her sisters). We love our Olivia so very much!

The girls and I headed to the park for a hike/bike ride, checking out the animals in the nature window and fun on the playground. Fall is in full swing and the leaves are beautiful! This is my absolute favorite time of the year:-) I will admit - hauling 3 kids to the park (2 in the double stroller) is a lot harder than I thought. But totally worth it (and made for good afternoon naps!). My favorite pics are the ones of Ava leading Kate and the girls holding hands. I love my munchkins!