Today we took advantage of the beautiful weather to take some pictures at a nearby park. I thought it would be interesting to see how much my girls have changed from when we took similar pictures at the same park two years ago. Enjoy!
The Girls - 2011
The Girls - 2013
Sophia - 2011
Sophia - 2013
Piper - 2011
Piper - 2013
Riley - 2011
Riley - 2013
The Girls - 2011
The Girls - 2013
I love these girls so much and am amazed at how quickly they are growing up. They are such good little girls. Sure, they argue sometimes, but they are best friends and love playing together. They love their mom and dad, are grateful for all that Jesus has done for them, and have generous, caring hearts. They are smart, athletic, and full of life. As much as I'd love them to stay little girls forever, I am also so proud of them and ever thankful I am their momma. I get to watch them continue to grow in this incredible life God has planned for our family.
This is just a quick post for my friends and family (and anyone else who is interested) to see pictures of us from today, Mother's Day.
We attend an incredible church, Church on the Move. They created adorable backdrops for family photo ops at church today. They also gave moms chocolate, shoulder massages, and foo foo coffee drinks. I love my church.
When Piper and Riley turned one, I made these pillowcase dresses for all three girls. I love how they can wear them for years as the dress becomes a top as they grow.
Judd snapped this picture of Piper and I just before we headed off to church.
Judd took us out to eat at the Cheesecake Factory. The girls had never been there. Instead of eating lunch, I saved up my calories to split the chocolate Blackout Cake with Sophie. It was so rich, we were able to take half of it home. I think I hear it calling my name from the fridge.
Riley looks like she's being stubborn in this picture, but actually, she's just trying to pose like a model. Riley keeps us laughing all the time.
I am Mommy to our three precious girls and couldn't be more thankful.
Alaina is an adorable barista I befriended at the nearby Rocket Brothers Coffee spot. Alaina also is a photographer. A few weeks ago she simply volunteered to photograph my family. How amazing is that?!
Alaina took us to a very old abandoned shop whose layers of chipped paint revealed transformations long forgotten. Time left its mark on this textured building, and so this location was perfect.
Here are just a few of my favorite shots Alaina took.
Visit Alaina's site for more examples of her beautiful work.
This autumn Piper and Riley are old enough to enjoy fall festivities like their older sister Sophie. Their Grandma Cole joined us at the local pumpkin patch to capture the experience.
Grandma took over 200 pictures. Many of them look something like this...Riley being silly, falling off a pumpkin.
But Grandma just kept snapping away knowing that she just might catch this...
One of the many great things about the two-day-a-week preschool Sophie attends is the way they include family members in special ways. Tonight Sophie and Judd went on a special date together at the preschool. Sophie adores her daddy and daily asks him to marry her (which means they dress up as a prince and princess and dance together). She carefully picked out her outfit tonight, made sure her teeth were sparkling clean (princesses want fresh breath and clean teeth), put on her lip gloss (ChapStick) and brushed her hair a million times. She even wore Mommy's best perfume too.
At school tonight they ate football shaped cookies, gave tours of the classroom, and completed some fun activities. Sophie's teacher sat down with her to have her answers questions like:
How tall is your daddy? - 3 feet
How old is your daddy? - 12
... and so forth. All her answers were written on a little keepsake certificate for her scrapbook.
Daddy and daughter both had a wonderful evening. I know Judd continues to set the dating bar very high for any future boys who want to date Sophie (years and years from now). And that's one more reason I love him!
My girls love to wear dresses. I like the look of a dress over leggings. Target had some adorable clothes we had to pick up. Piper and Riley have matching chocolate and cream striped leggings with coordinating dresses. Sophie's dress is not from Target. It is a welcomed hand-me-down from our neighbor and one of Sophie's favorite dresses.
The sizing is a bit off. Riley and Piper are two. They wear 2T or 24 months in almost everything. They wear 18 month skirts since they tend to run big. The leggings from Target are 3T but the dresses are 2T. Riley's dress is huge on her. It is the same brand and size as Piper's dress (which fits perfectly). The sizing really doesn't make any sense, but I adore these outfits. I appreciate the embroidered floral detail on the pants which match the details on both dresses.
And my plans this summer include helping Riley and Piper quit sucking their fingers, become potty trained, and give up their "lovey" taggie blankets I made them which they tote around everywhere. Wish me luck and feel free to give me any suggestions -- especially about breaking the finger sucking or potty training multiples! Sophie was fairly easy to train. I'm just not sure how to keep up with TWO during the potty training period.
This past weekend we traveled by car up to Nebraska and South Dakota to attend our niece's wedding. Sophie, Piper, and Riley were great travelers. Before we had kids, our trek to Nebraska took only one long 13.5 hour-day. Now that we have three little kids, we break the trip into two days and stay overnight at a hotel. The girls enjoyed eating complementary cookies in bed while watching a movie. (free cookies and DVD rentals are wonderful hotel bonuses).
The wedding was held at a beautiful outdoor chapel in the pine covered hills of Rapid City, South Dakota. During some free time, Judd took us to Dinosaur Park atop one of the tallest hills. Judd used to visit this park as a child. This particular dinosaur sits at the very top of the hill and on lookers in the town below see his silhouette against the sky.
The girls had to sit on Dino's tail for a cute photo op. The Black Hills are visible in the background.
Sophie wanted to keep hugging the dinosaurs and wished she could take the big guy home with her -- or out to lunch. Riley maneuvered well and handled the long steep stairs back to the ground level just fine.
Leah and Jarrod were married on Saturday and Sophie was their flower girl. Sophie's dress was so pretty and she did a great job walking down the path and throwing petals.
The reason I particularly love this shot of Riley and Sophie at the reception hall is because my late Grandma Etta Cole used to stand just like they are, with her hands behind her back. Riley recently started copying everything Sophie does because she adores her big sister.
Jarrod and Leah make an adorable couple. Leah looked stunning in her exquisite gown and her hair was beautiful.
The Mother and Father of the Bride were so gracious and hospitable.
Sophie and Andrew (the ring bearer) really hit it off. They were inseparable. They danced together for a long time and Andrew even asked Judd for Sophie's phone number -- Sophie is 4 years old! (I'm not ready for this.) I changed Sophie out of that gorgeous dress and into this one so she wouldn't spill food on it. She is going to be a flower girl in my friend's wedding in a few weeks and needs the flower girl dress to look pristine. Check out Sophie and Andrew as they dance. I think they thought they were on Dancing With the Stars. Andrew was so sweet and really wanted to show off for Sophie. At the 1 minute and 34 second marker, he even shows her his 'Risky Business' moves.
Not to be left out, Riley joined in the reception fun by twirling hundreds of times to the DJ's music.
Back in Gordon, Nebraska, no trip to Grandma and Grandpa's would be complete without a walk around the farm to see the cows, cats, barns, and equipment.
Riley is intrigued by the cows.
"Cow says, 'Moo!'" repeats Piper.
Shortly after we started our drive back home, we had to stop the car for the cowgirls and cowboys who were relocating a herd of cattle to another pasture down the road.
We had a great trip and enjoyed seeing friends and family. Cheers to Leah and Jarrod!
I am living the life of my dreams in spite of a few interruptions. I am happily married and a stay at home mommy to our three little girls. I enjoy decorating my home, cooking, and sewing.
