Happy Thanksgiving!

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving this year at mom and dad's house. We met up with the Tates for a fabulous dinner as mom does best. We loved and stuffed and laughed at the kids. Our newest member was a big hit and we were very Thankful for her on this special day together.

just a pretty tree and pretty day!

I just love this time of year and all the colors, smells and food! Especially this year I'm especially looking forward to wrapping it up and enjoying our holidays as a family. This has been one wild year and we are happily settling into our new home and enjoying our new little girl. Two kids are a blast. Life can be sooooo noisy at times but Brian and I just smile across the room at each other over the madness and know it won't last forever so we just roll with it...and laugh as the cats scatter in fear to get away from the chaos. We take turns w/ who deals with who, lovingly referring to the girls as the 'screaming thing' and the 'wild one'. Somehow all those years speaking Tuggle language our family members all have these very strange nicknames we lovingly refer to each other with. Those are our crazy hours. Other times we pour each other a glass of hot cider and just pick who gets to snuggle with who. Both the girls are such cuddlers and we take full advantage of the years we can get our fill as parents and squeeze them as much as our parental hearts desire. Again, knowing it won't last forever and one day we'll be wishing we could just sit on a lazy Saturday evening watching holiday movies and enjoying each others company. The holidays are going to be a blast and we can't wait! I'm sure Abigail will dance wildly for us with our Christmas music. She frequently spins and sings for us to keep us entertained. "It's time for the show" she'll declare then dance about in song in what ever too-too she's decided to parade around in for the day. The girl is quite the performer in the family. Chloe has no idea what craziness she's been born into. We'll have to wait and see if she'll be the type to join in and dance along w/ the Bit or will she sit back and wonder where in the heck does all that energy come from like her daddy and I do! :)

Today we took the opportunity to grab some shots under my new favorite tree in our back yard. My beautiful Japanese maple was the last to turn this year and just when everything else had dropped and dried up it turned a flaming shade of red. We are thankful for all our blessings this year, God's been so good to us! And we look forward to wrapping up 2009 with lots of good family moments and good pictures to share w/ them all.

Our handy helper

ok couldn't post about a family work day w/o showing how Chloe bird did her share today to earn her keep

more hard labor from our insanely lazy girl

here's our very non-lazy child doing her share

see told ya she helped,... isn't it amazing how some things you just don't have to teach children!?

this is her "really mommy, pictures again?" face

Today was just beautiful and we had a great family work day(....well most of us) together in the 70 degree sunshine. A little more then what it appeared. The leaves seemed to multiply as we raked but we had a good time being outdoors anyway. I love fall, especially now that I'm no longer pregnant! Let me just say , planting tulips is sooooo much easier w/o a 7 lb baby in your uterus!! :)

Happy Halloween!!

proof that we have been spending way too much time in the Belle dress!!! I know I didn't put her down for a nap in that thing, she got it out of her closet during rest time. This is how we found her.

sleepy mommy ventured out just a week after Chloe was born for the big fall party at her preschool. Wouldn't have missed it!!

Abigail and her good buddy (also a princess!) Katie

This is her 3 yr old preschool class heading out to trick or treat at the church



We had a fun Halloween this year, especially with the addition of our new little pumpkin to play with!! We went to Deana and Greg's house whose neighborhood really goes all out for the holiday. The street was absolutely beautifully peppered w/ the fall leaves, it was warm at close to 70 degrees after sunset and their were kids and parents all up and down her well decorated block. All her neighbors had their houses all done up, several w/ fog machines and spooky sounds coming into the front lawns. Abigail got a good first taste of true trick or treating this year. We are a little sick of the Belle dress. She wears it non stop and every surface of our house looks like it's been attacked by Tinkerbell and her pixie dust with the gold glitter that has dropped off of it over the past week. Even poor Chloe has it all in her shiny black hair. Oh well it's a memory for the year. And the Bit absolutely has loved prancing around in it. Good times for the fam here in 2009!

hanging out at home...

Abigail playing peek-a-boo w/ Chloe!

Doing some sunbathing to get rid of some jaundice early on, we got rid of those nasty mellow yellows though!

Brian set up a web cam so Aunti D could check in with her sweet neices on a lazy Sunday morning. :)

The Bit got a big ole kick out of Chloe's first bath. Chloe however was not that into it.

Happiness is Grammie and her girls, what a face!

One pooped out daddy just enjoying our little muffin

Meeting her Aunt Amy, ...."sounds like mommy's voice but that's not my mommy??" :)







A new way to wake up the Bit, plop Chloe into bed with her and she's a lot nicer about getting up.