New Year, New Goals, New Word!

Hello 2016! 2015, you just flew by like so many of the past years. A new year brings opportunity for a fresh start and new beginnings...a time to look forward and set new goals! What is it that you are looking to improve? What does your life look like when you get there? How are you going to get there?

I have decided that for this year, I am going to pick a word that means something to me and keeps me focused on my goal...my dream! My word for 2016 did not come easy, I went back and forth on a few words and finally decided on "purpose".  The definition of purpose: an intended or desired result; end; aim; goal.  I have big goals that I want to see happen in 2016, and if I am not focused and living my life with intention, I will not see these goals and dreams come to fruition.

 So, as I close out 2015 and march into the New Year, I do so with excitement for the possibility of what can be. I will take small steps and break down my goals and conquer them one at a time! Good luck to all of you conquering your 2016 goals and dreams. I believe in you and know that you can get there!

School Bus Calling...

So it begins...the twins first bus ride to school! They get to take the little school bus with seat-belts and  an aid on the bus to travel the few miles to their pre-school. Their driver aid is very sweet and even helped Belle name her favorite doll...Jazzabelle!

Heath's First Day of School

Now there are Churches and there are Cathedrals...and this is a Cathedral! The first time that Drew and I walked in here, it blew us away! We decided, this is where our daughter will get married...when she is 42 of course!

Daddy and Heath on the first day of school.

Mommy and Heath on the first day of school...showing their kissing hands!

Heath had a pretty good first day. He was a brave little boy. He was one of the only kiddos who did not know anybody else there and he was very sad to not have his old buddies Kevin and Kolby by his side, but he did great!

McD's in Monument!

The boys building their towers! They loved the McDonald's in Monument...and really, what was not to love? It was a great place for them to go play and burn off some energy.
Heath climbing around in the tubes.
Mitchie starting off his journey...he finally made it all the way up to the BIG slide. I was not there, but I am so proud of him. Grammie said it took him some time, but he did it a few times!
Isabelle made it down the medium slide and loved it. It was nice for her to have some fun times too through all of her appointments.

When we went down for all of her appointments, the boys stayed with Grammie and Papa. They made projects and played and had a blast. They really had a great time and it was so fabulous to have them so close for us!

Happy Easter!

Well, Easter was a true blessing in this house. We woke up and got the kiddos ready for church and went to a wonderful mass. When we arrived back home, Grandma and Nana were waiting here for us. We said our hellos, put the ham in the oven and went downstairs for the easter egg hunt. The boys had a blast looking for eggs and Isabelle was quite content with two! The boys found her princess eggs and kindly put them in her basket for her...and a few others. After our wonderful brunch of macadamia nut belgian waffles, ham, ciabatta, cheeses, raspberry & sherry trifle, deviled eggs and a wonderful tangerine pecan salad, we were all ready to relax and take it easy for the afternoon!

We were looking at google maps on the computer and showed Heath the front of the house that I grew up in and said that is the house Mommy grew up in...to which he responded, well I grew up in Mommy's tummy! We all just giggled, it is funny what a four year old says! We had a good laugh!!! I will post Easter egg hunt pics later.

Isabelle at National Jewish

Isabelle coloring at our first appointment. She was still in pretty good spirits before any testing was done!
This was the night before the ph probe was placed in her nose...and she would not go to sleep, even though I kept trying to tell her how early I was going to wake her up because she had to be done eating by 6 in the morning. She was in a good mood at 10 that night!
She adjusted well after the probe was in, but it was not that fun placing it...for the 4 of us that were helping, especially Mom! Isabelle was actually a trooper for all that she had already been through and was pretty good.
This was the little angel right after. She would not leave my side for the first few hours.
We still have not heard back on all of the test results, but we have a definitive diagnosis of asthma and a treatment plan. She now has a daily steroid inhaler twice a day and an action plan we can start to implement at home in case she starts to get sick. Hopefully we can keep her from getting pneumonia again, or at least keep her out of the hospital. She is now getting adjusted to her meds after a few trial runs on the best way to get a 3 year old to swish and spit after inhaling the steroid. We are praying that this will be the answer we have been searching for to help out our sweet angel!

Dawn's 40th B-day night

Drew and I went out for dinner on my Birthday to a wonderful Italian dinner to our newest restaurant (Luciano's) downtown and then met our friends, Casey and Shannon for a few drinks. BIG thank you to Grandma for watching all three kiddos for the night!!! This was the only picture taken at a cute little bar downtown, First Street Tavern. We had a lot of fun and it was great to have a night on the town!

Funny line!

It is always funny the stuff that comes out of little kids mouths and where they got it from. So the other day, Drew and I were sitting at the table finishing up our dinner, and Heath and Isabelle are running from Mitchie...as they quite often are! Heath grabs Isabelle and yells "come on Isabelle, run for your life!" Where in the world do they learn this stuff? Drew and I just cracked up. Mitch roars and growls, but run for your life...really, it is not quite that dramatic Heath! Too funny! At least it was clean and gave us a laugh!!!

A shot at a family photo...

This is a very hard task for us...we do not have a lot of time to try and pose for a family photo, and so we do not have many! Here is the best shot we took of the three musketeers.
One of the two best shots we got of the entire family, although the twins both had things in front of their faces.
The next best picture...although not fabulous of Mitchell as he is trying to leap forward out of Mommy's arms. Very tough to try and get these pics! We must make cookies or something and have them ready and in sight if they participate and stay still and smile ;-)

Twin's Ice Cream Party

Mitch lovin' him some ice cream. I think he had the most toppings; swedish fish, gummy bears, rasberries, strawberries, chocolate, caramel, m & m's and whipped cream!
Heath got to have some of Mommy's whip cream on his nose!
Isabelle loves ice cream...really, she loves anything with sugar!
Isabelle trying to block Heath's throw to Daddy.

Twin's 3rd Birthday

Casey brought balloons over for the kiddos! They loved getting their surprise balloons...and shared a balloon each with their brother!

Isabelle looking like she may float away with her balloons, but trust me, she can hold her own with only 3 balloons!

Isabelle got a new (antique...so, really, I guess it is old) little armoire for her dress up clothes that she absolutely loves. She has all of her dresses in it and picks daily what she wants to wear for the day ;-)
Mitch got a Cars slot race car set that he and Heath...and Daddy love to play. It is a little tricky and the boys (yes, I mean all three of them!) frequently send the cars flying into the air...but they all have a great time!
Isabelle having some love for her Daddy after he dresses her in one of her many princess dresses after opening presents.
Heath was a big help opening presents and showing the kiddos what they got!

Isabelle loves her scrapbook that Nana made her. She loved to see the princesses on the pages and all of the embellishments. I think we might have a little scrapbooker on our hands! I know where she will have fun when she gets bigger!

Twin's Birthday at Corona

Isabelle was LOVING the sombrero! She loved when they put it on her head and really was hoping that we could take it home with us! She really didn't even want to take it off... Daddy was really sympathetic too!
My man Mitchie didn't care, he was fine with it on. Mitch's motto...bring it on, just keep bringing me the salsa!
Well, Isabelle calmed down once the sombrero left her immediate vicinity. She even made up with Daddy for continuing to clap and enjoy himself while she was traumatized ;-)
Mitchie even found something to eat without salsa...ice cream sundae!

Birthday Mr Biggs trip!

Heath got to ride in the car with Daddy!!! Can you tell that he was excited? Grammie caught the perfect look on Heath's face! This was great, he loved it!

Isabelle found the princess dresses and loved her ripped dress as she walked around the entire place thinking she was Cinderella with pink cowboy boots on! It was fun when Daddy got to tear the dress off when it was time to leave too! ;-)

Heath and Mommy smiling for a picture. Where does he get his "Hammy"ness from???

Mitch and Heath playing Dr. with the baby...is this not the cutest?

Valentine's Day

Drew and I got to go out on a date down in Colorado Springs! We left the kiddos with Drew's parents (Grammie and Papa a/k/a the Fun Patrol!) We went to The Melting Pot and had a fabulous dinner and then went to see Avitar...again, but this time at an IMAX theater.

We lucked out at dinner and got one of the four private little rooms for dinner. It was very nice and romantic. It even had this adorable little rose-petaled wreath on the wall. It was lovely!

Dinner was truly amazing and so special to have time with just Drew and I not interrupted. Happy Valentine's Day everyone...hope that you all had a lovely time!

Spinning Belle

Isabelle spun herself dizzy! She loves to spin and dance...all day long! She also loves to dress like a princess every day if we let her. She was busy dancing to one of her favorite songs from Cinderella and she is somewhat of a little drama queen (you would know that if you spent any amount of time around her!) and she collapsed to the floor and stayed just like this for a few minutes. It was as if she was telling me, "Mommy, I am just so exhausted and dizzy, I just couldn't possibly move...at all, not even for anything...except for chocolate!"