My Big Sister & my little Niecie : )

My sister, Emily & my sweet little niecie Maya are here visiting us from Germany for two weeks. We are having SO much fun together! Our girls are loving it too ~ I think they anticipated Auntie & Maya coming as much as I did! : ) We have had lots of time just to hang out, play & shop. We have a double stroller so we have been using it for Ava & Maya & they look like little twins! They are only 7 weeks apart, ~ Maya is 17 months & Ava is 15 months. They are both petitie & they look very much alike with blue eyes & blond hair. They are both doing & saying the same things so it's really fun to watch them together. They play very well together aside from the occasional & very to-be-expected moments of grabbing toys from each other & then squealing back at each other! Even though we know it is sinful (& of course we are helping them), it's really cute watching them interact & "work through" their little baby issues ~ so sweet! I love to see them hug & love on each other! Since our big girls love their little Ava & are so good at taking care of her, they have done great with loving Maya too & have brought her right into their little girl club! I tell you, there are a buncha little girlies over here ~ I LOVE IT! I just really love having my sister around! So fun to sit & talk while drinking our morning coffee & watching our little ones play, walking (even aimlessly) around Target or Walmart & just BEING together! We are going tomorrow to have a pedicure together for my birthday & then on Sunday we are going to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra Christmas concert together then Randal & our girls will meet us for dinner. My kind & very awesome Hubby is going to watch all 5 of our precious little girlies for our pedicure & the orchestra ~ what an awesome man I have! : ) Emily is my only sister & we are very close. I am already fighting back tears as I think of her leaving for Germany for another 3 years next week! Hopefully God will allow us to be together again before too long! We still have plans for lots more shopping this weekend & next week. Since Emily & her family have been in Germany for a year, she hasn't been able to go to Target, Walmart, Old Navy & the Mall in what seems like forever to her! : ) She is very happy about being able to do all of her Christmas shopping while in the States! My little girls are AWESOME shoppers & they love being Mommy's & Auntie's little helpers so they are having so much fun too! They help us shop but they spend most of their time playing with, entertaining & "taking care of" the babies ~ which, of course, they absolutely LOVE! My Hubby has the next few days off so we can all do some fun things together, we are all very excited about Daddy being around with us too! My sister is a wonderful wife & mommy ~ it has been fun watching her "mommy" her little girl up close since we've been apart for the past 15 years! She is the kind of person you just want to be with, I look up to, love & respect my big sister! We have already taken LOTS of pictures so I will be posting some very soon ~ hopefully tomorrow! I just can't keep my camera off of my little cutie pies + 1 !

Abby's Big Girl Date with Daddy!

Daddy & Abby went on a special "big girl" date on Saturday! They both wanted to wear light blue & denim to match ~ so cute! She was so happy & felt so special going on a date with Daddy all by herself! Abby got to ride in Daddy's car (which is a very special treat!), get a snack while they were out, go look at toys at Target & go pick out a movie to rent! Very exciting to a precious little 4 year old! Abby was also very excited that "Mommy let me NOT wear bows in my hair!" : ) (also, VERY exciting!) She loved holding hands with Daddy as they walked through Target. : ) (How sweet is that!) Abby's little face was just glowing & she had a sweet sparkle in her eyes when they got home! What is cuter than a Daddy out with his little girlie ~ so precious! We love our sweet little Abby Kate! : )

Our Girlies at the Pumpkin Patch!

Our girls had so much fun at the pumpkin patch & Mommy loved watching them! They were so cute & worked really hard to find our "family" pumpkins! God has been so good to us ~ we love our 4 little pumpkins so much! : )

Our little dancing Ava!

One day my girls & I were watching a little show & Ava LOVED the song they were singing about dancing! She was getting all excited, dancing & stomping her little feet ~ it was so stinkin cute! Ava had just turned 1 year old in this video. You go Girl! : ) (Notice that Ava is still in her cute little jammies ~ it was kinda early in the morning! Also notice all the Cheerios on the floor?!)

Abby & Mommy's MIDNIGHT, candlelight, coloring & ice cream sundae party!

I thought it would be sweet & a lot of fun for just Abby & Mommy to spend some special time together. With Daddy's busy work & school schedule it is nearly impossible to have individual "dates" with my girlies during the week. So, one night last week I got the ice cream sundae stuff & the coloring books & crayons out & lit some candles. I woke up my little sleepy head & carried Abby down the stairs into the kitchen. (My girls have a fascination with midnight! They "know" that only BIG girls stay up til midnight!) So, I told Abby we were having a special time for just us & that it was MIDNIGHT! She was so cute & super happy! We made our yummy ice cream sundaes (Abby made Mommy's too!) & then we colored together. (I LOVE coloring (so do my girls!)! There is something "therapeutic" about sitting down with a box of sharp crayons & a coloring book ~ so relaxing! ) It was absolutely precious to talk to Abby, hear what's going on in her sweet little heart, tell her how much I love her, giggle together & just hear her talk in all her 4 year old CUTENESS! : ) When I saw how happy Abby was it made me realize how special it is to our girls when they are able to spend a little special individual time with us. They LOVE their sissies & they are all best little girlfriends, but they do love being with just Daddy & Mommy too! I can't believe my Abby Kate "Cakes" will be 5 in January ~ she is becoming such a big girl! I thank God for my sweet little Abby! : )