buns in the ovens

belly shot at 38 & 27 weeks...we are waiting for you alexa!!

happy carving

we enjoyed a night of pumpkin carving this last week. ella had a great time

scooping the seeds out and sketching on various sheets of paper the perfect

pumpkin face. chloe on the other hand did much better watching. she

was not about to dip her hand into that gooey mess. no thank you she said.

happy halloween!!

the night ended with popcorn and charlie brown great pumpkin...a definite treat.

the patch

we finally made it to the pumpkin patch. i had been hoping to avoid the infamous

"pumpking parking lots" of southern california. we had to make a bit of

a drive, but you can be sure that every mile was worth it. the rain decided

to give us a break for the day...it turned out to be perfect. it felt like a

true fall day (much better compared to last years temps of 90 degrees).

the girls had the best time ever and enjoyed carefully selecting their special pumpkins.

riley got one too. i loved seeing 5 pumpkins stacked up in our wagon.

like always....i went way overboard with the picture taking.

guess who's coming to dinner?

Poppa & Pink Gramma (barth's parents) are down for a visit this weekend.

we thought it would be fun to keep it a secret from the girls...i love surprises.

this morning we went to pick them up from their hotel.  it was easy to keep them

distracted during the drive being that this was barth's first weekend off in 4 weeks.

they were simply happy (4 the time being) to have daddy and their starbucks.

once our surprise visitors were spotted there was no stopping the girls.

♥ ready 4 a fun-filled weekend ♥

26 weeks

a big day

feeling so proud of my hubby this morning. today is his first interview!! hard to believe that

we are actually looking for jobs now. i can still clearly remember

the day when we were dating and he told me he had been

accepted to a medical school....in california. i was so excited, but knew

the road ahead would be a long one. i had my apprehensions for sure. flash forward

over eight years later, it has been a very very long journey and extremely trying in every

aspect imaginable. however, we have all adapted as best as we know how.

we make the most of the moments we have together and take each day one 

at a time. it is still a learning process for me daily, but i am so grateful for 

a husband who works so hard and is truly passionate about helping others. it is a blessing. 

chloe was up bright and early this morning to kiss daddy before his interview

princess potty

"hear ye, hear ye, I need to pee pee"....."yoo hoo, yoo hoo, I need to poo poo"

just a little quote out of a super cute book my mom bought to encourage

the girls to use the big girl potty. well, we read that book over and over

and it looked as though chloe would be happy simply wearing diapers.

i wasn't going to give up, but the thought had crossed my mind.

my goal was to get her out of them before baby came.

we were on our fourth, yes fourth attempt a couple weeks ago.

i don't know what clicked, but she went once and the rest is history!!

she is now the proud princess of her throne. it is such a huge

milestone here in our home and i am super proud and happy for her.

so far we have been successful (with just a couple of wet ones) at

keeping her dry...even through nap and bedtime....yes!!!

i love the things that us mommies get so excited about

dear daddy...we missed you

barth was away at a conference for most of the week and into the weekend. the

girls and i were so grateful to spend some time at boppy's house (aka simone). 

it definitely made the days and nights go by quickly and i was loving the sister

time. it was quite dangerous having two prego girls in one home with 

a conveniently stocked pantry...thank you simone for all the yummy food 

and for your company, i love you so much!!

welcome back daddy. you were missed more than you know.  

waiting so patiently for daddy

the girls sprinted once they spotted barth

the only good part about daddy leaving...surprises!!

3 pEas iN a PoD

♥24 weeks♥

i thought today was a good time for a baby riley update.

i am 24 weeks today. it seems that the time is going by fast.

i guess when you already have two babies..well three if you count barth...

that time is certain to fly. i am feeling really good and seem to have gotten most of my

energy back. i am craving a little exercise time, but it is hard to come by. i try to get

in a few good walks a week, if i am lucky. i don't have any big food cravings, but

i love love carbs...think noodles, rice, pasta, chips...i know, not too

healthy but still good nonetheless. what riley likes, riley gets. that's my excuse.

riley loves to remind me that i am never alone. she is wiggly, but has her quiet

times as well. at my 20-week ultrasound i was told that my placenta was anterior,

which usually means you don't feel the baby's movements as strongly, but i still

feel her throughout most of the day and when i lay down. it is one of my favorite

parts of pregnancy, feelin the movements, and the first thing i miss after they are born.

according to babycenter.com, riley weighs in at just over a pound and is

almost a foot long....about the size of an ear of corn.

skype hype

i ♥ skype

the girls spent a half hour talking to grandpa & grandma today

the best part..my parents are in tel aviv, israel and it was completely free

my tiny dancer

ella is LOVING her ballet class. she asks every week if she can start going

twice a week. it is a lot of fun to see her really enjoying herself. today we had

a special guest come to watch ella's class...daddy!! barth leaves for a conference

to boston tomorrow morning which meant he got to spend his usual "away night" with us girls.

the girls were ecstatic!! we will take all the daddy time we can get these days.  

photo shoot...take one

it is yet another weekend without barth. the girls obviously miss him like crazy.

i do my best to keep them busy, not giving their little minds time to start wondering.....

"when will daddy be home?". today was one of those mornings where their spirits

needed a little lifting. i grabbed my camera and told the girls it was time for a photo

shoot. normally they aren't too excited about mommy and her camera, but they

just couldn't resist a real live photo shoot....featuring themselves!! no posing or

trying to get them in just the right spot, i let them just run with it....

what's so funny girls??

this was their version of "crazy face"

♥love my girls♥

this one is for you grandpa...

little helper

clean and laundry. definitely not two of my favorite things to do, but a necessity nonetheless.

with each week i find these somewhat routine tasks becoming a bit harder to 

accomplish. my growing belly and inability/attempt not too lift items heavier than 

my children make for a less than graceful approach to this duty. 

i had a helper today. no, this is not the first time she has attempted to aid in my day-to-day

mommy duties...no doubt about it, ella loves to clean. i often times find that i have a shadow

throughout the day, in the form of my daughter. she actually likes to do these less 

than entertaining jobs. today was no exception and made me realize that it may be time

to start giving her a few daily chores along with an allowance..maybe teach her a little responsibilty. 

i had just finished two rather large loads of laundry, but was still not finished with

my dusting and vacuuming. so, i threw all the clothes, towels and what-nots on

my bed....i would get to it when i could. i came back into the room to check on the girls...

there sitting on my bed was miss ella in deep concentration attacking the mountain of laundry. 

she sat there for the next hour, refusing any help that i continued to offer, and

folded every last piece. not only did she fold, but she organized everything into piles. each

person or room had it's own section. i think the thing that surprised me the most was the

fact that she had folded every article of laundry exactly as i do. exactly.

there was no need for me to re-fold or re-organize. hmmm, at this rate i may be able

to sit on my bottom all day and eat bon bons. okay so not really, but it does sound nice.

the pile of laundry was behind her...check out that organization

her face looked like this for most of the time