our summer fun

Seriously, how can I start slowing down time? These little gems are growing up so fast. All 3 of them! I had this idea to have a little photo shoot for part of Nate's Father's Day gift. I thought, how hard can it be to take a few pics of all three together? Turns out it was hard, actually, it was really hard! Lesson learned.
Drew- 7 months
Reid- 7 months
Chase- 3 years
Every Father's Day weekend there is a hot air balloon festival about 10 minutes away in Quechee. When we arrived there weren't ANY hot air balloons. But thankfully, there was a train, and bouncy house obstacle course. He was super lucky and got to ride the train 3 times. They did eventually set one hot air balloon up that was tethered to the ground. Chase was so into the train, that he really didn't care much.
He is a little daredevil. And a heat box! He is always the kid with the bright red face. I love that boy. We only seem to remember our camera about 1/4 of the time, we went back a second day to watch all of the beautiful balloons take off for the evening ride and it was so much fun! Chase was able to stand below each one as they took off, seriously cool! But...we don't have any pictures to show for it...so you'll have to use your imagination :)
We were able to go to Cape Cod of the 4th of July weekend. I LOVE it there! Everything about it is perfect. We had such a great time with our friends and hanging out at the beach. The babies really could have cared less about all the the fun the beach had to offer, which made it kind hard to keep them entertained. Maybe next year?! Wow, that will be an adventure...3 mobile little people. Yikes.

After a great day swimming and building sand castles, the ice cream truck was waiting for us in the parking lot. It was a perfect way to end a perfect day!
There is the most amazing bouncy house place on the Cape. It was HUGE. Chase went on every slide, even the biggest one he wasn't supposed to go on. He only missed the cutoff by 10 inches...oops.

Mommy & Drew

Turns out, Nate isn't allowed to put sunscreen on the kiddos anymore. The pictures doesn't show how red he was under his eyes and across his nose. Sad.
xo

bar harbor

I love living back here. We're hitting our one year mark until we're done. We have worked really hard to get to this time for...well...a long time. Now that we are closing in on Nate completing residency, I'm not ready. I'm not ready to be done with this chapter, and I don't really want to start a 'new' chapter. We're happy, really happy, and I don't want to mess with a good thing.

Last weekend did not help the situation. I love all that living on the east coast has to offer. It is so different than Utah, and sometimes different is just good. Our family along with 3 other of our very favorite families headed 6 hours north to Bar Harbor and had a perfect weekend.
Eating lobster
Checking out the 'view'...dang fog....
and playing at the beach. Despite the rain and fog, Chase still played in the ocean. He felt it necessary to return every rock back into the ocean.
The sun did eventually come out, and we had a great day at the beach.

And it was wonderful!


We were able to ride on a lobster boat...like a real lobstering boat! Chase LOVED it. He was even able to steer for a couple of minutes. He is still talking about it.
These 2 little men were troopers, up until we had the crazy idea that 6 month olds would be ok with wearing a life vest. They did eventually just give into the fact that they weren't coming off, and they both took a snooze as we enjoyed the view. And the view was amazing.

This little gem turned 3 years old last month! He is my best buddy, a true little angel. I love him from his head to his cute little toes. Happy Birthday, Chase!
Chase got his first bike, or 'mike' as he often says. He thinks he's one cool cat having a bike like his favorite person in the world...nope it's not his mommy...his daddy. They have the most perfect relationship. My boys have no idea how lucky they are!

Happy Easter! Chase was super lucky this year. Instead of a 'boring' (as Nate would say) basket, he got a wheelbarrow with his name in it! He loves pushing it around just like his Bop.

Reid

Drew

Dear makers of the Jumperoo....bless you!

These two little handsome devils are now 5 months old! I know everyone says it, but the time is flying by. I'm not going to lie, it's still really hard. Not sleeping is hard. I feel like I've tried every trick, read every book on getting your babies to sleep through the night, and I'm still failing. It's just not that easy when there are 2. But easy or not, it's so worth it. I have had A LOT of people say, 'I don't know how you do it' And I never really know what to say. The other day I heard the perfect response- 'I don't know how, I just know why'- I really don't know how I've gotten through any of the days, but when I look at these 3 little miracles, I just know why.

xo

Our littlest loves were blessed on March 6th. We had such a special and I'm sure you can imagine crazy day. We were so thankful to all of our friends and family who came and shared in our special day-especially my mom and dad who flew all the way from Utah! After the babies blessing my lucky little Chase got to fly home with my parents where he was completely spoiled for a week until we made the CRAZY trip out with the twins. 1/3 of my heart went with him, and it was sooo hard...but during our flight I was so grateful he was already in Utah! We were quite a sight, but not half as much as we were on the flight home with 3 little ones in tow. When we finally arrived back home at the Manchester airport at 11:05 pm, we were getting looks from everyone that were either saying...'oh you poor things', or 'you guys are crazy'-I agreed with all of them, we were crazy!
Seeing my Gumpa made the craziness of our trip worth it! He is my Grandpa, who I simply adore. He has changed a lot since I last saw him in July, he thought I was my sister, and he was very confused. He wasn't his normal smiley self...until I brought the twins to meet him. He lit right up, just how I remember him. I am so grateful he was able to meet them, and I have the memory of seeing him smile.
This beauty was the reason we made the trek across the country. Michelle is Nate's baby sister, and as far as I'm concerned my baby sister too. I love this lady! Her new hubby, Austin (sorry I don't have a pic of you) is one lucky fella.
Brrrr.....
handsome little man

three months

I don't know how it has happened so quickly, but these 2 little cuties are already 3 months old. What an adventure the last 3 months have been. I think it has gotten easier...although after last night I'm not so sure :)
They love to eat, be swaddled when they are sleepy, they like to snooze in their swings, they go to bed every night by 7, but we still get to party 2-3 times a night...hopefully that will change soon? They love lying next to each other, they love their big brother, and boy does he love them. They love it when there daddy is home. Nate has a hard time getting anything else done because he just sits and loves on his little ones. He is simply the best. The twins love a lot of things, but I have to say, I think they love their mommy the most :) and I am perfectly ok with it.
Having twins has been...well...hard! I would be lying if I said there weren't moments I wasn't sure if I can go on another minute with the demands of 2 newborns. But all the other minutes of the day I cannot imagine going a minute without them. I love you, my angels.

Drew is my little smiley boy. He has no idea how it melts my heart...or maybe he does! He has big blue eyes that are already so full of life. He is an easy, happy baby, but he still is a little firecracker-I just love that about him. He loves his bedtime, but he wakes up the most, and has a harder time going back to sleep. Every morning at 4am, like clockwork, he's up...and not happy about it. During the day he loves to kick and coo, and he loves to play peek-a-boo. When he gets sleepy he loves to be swaddled and snuggled.

Reid. How I love my little Reid. He is serious, and calm. He does have a little reflux which leads to a bit of fussiness, but nothing we can't handle. He has beautiful blue eyes that when you get to look into you feel like he's looking into your soul. He loves to be snuggled tight, especially in his mommies arms. He loves to sleep, look at the fan, listen to music, and he LOVES to kick his little leggies.

Thank you for letting us be your parents! We love you our little ones.

xo

Another month has passed, and I haven't found a minute to blog. Today is yet another snow day...boo...so I decided to just stay in our pj's (not that this doesn't happen often) and update our blog! We love our family! Steph and Andrew are not only our sister and brother-in-law, they are some of our very closest friends. They made the trek east to meet the babies! We weren't able to go out much with them, but we did go to the outlets! We made it there with everything we needed...except shoes for Chase. So our first stop was Nike. Thanks for all of the fun!
When they left...well...it was just really hard. It was the first time I was alone since September. That was a really long time ago. It took a couple of really rough days to adjust, and a lot of tears...from all of us. But we are making it! I still have a lot of days when I cry, others I am too tired to cry, and then those days where I just laugh at our crazy life!

These 2 little gems are growing...A LOT! They both weigh over 11 pounds! Drew is my little ham, I think he knows when I just need a smile to get by, like at 3am! I love it. Reid is much more serious. I love my grumpy little man. And boy does he love his mama. They have such different personalities, and they are both completely perfect.

This is why babies have mommies...

We have had so much snow this winter. We are all done with it, but apparently it's not done with us. We getting another foot today. sad. This sweet boy loves to help do everything we are doing. He helped Nate snowblow for 2 hours!

The one good thing February has to offer us here in this winter wonderland is the Dartmouth Winter Carnival. We were able to leave the babies with a baby-sitter and go out with just Chase. It was just what we all needed.

That would be my little one waaay up at the top of this long hill covered in ice...he flew down with a big grin every time. I couldn't get any pictures at the bottom because I had to stop him from slidding all the way across the pond.

Nate had a good idea to send the 3 kids down together....

it didn't go as planned, but they all came down laughing.

Then we got the stomach flu...all of us....yuck. I was 'lucky' enough to get it over night, so Nate was here to take care of the babies. But the following morning, he left for work and was on call. That day was one of those I was too tired/sick to cry days. But the amazing Kim saved the day yet again. She came and helped me the entire day. I cannot begin to praise Kim enough for all that she has done. I have amazing friends out here...you know who you are :) xo

They couldn't stop looking at the stripes on their crib set. This keeps them occupied for a long time...thank you stripes.

This little duo...love them

This was us, after church...we were really tired.

My boys! I still don't believe I have so many of them, but I am so thankful I do! xo