Thanksgiving and shortly after...

Life has felt so crazy busy lately!! I don't know if it's the holidays or what but if feels like it's been nuts!! So to recap the last little bit of our lives...today we had the kid's well child checks, Sam's now 30lbs and 4oz! Finally gaining some weight and height, in the 50th percentile for weight and 70th for height!! She's behind in knowing her colors, but way advanced in reading/counting her numbers! I have a feeling she will be excel in math and science like the Chamberlin side of the family (my dad and his dad are both extremely intelligent in math/science!!)! She's talking better and apparently is right on track there too. We started potty training, well we've kind of been easing into it I guess you could say. Today she made it to the potty chair four different times and had no accidents after her diaper was off...yay there may be hope that my kid's potty trained before the age of ten!! She's still singing "happy birthday" to herself and it's been a month since her party :) Her favorite tv show has made a drastic change from Dora and is now Kung Fu Panda since last week...I think that's all we watch!! She's been enjoying helping me wrap everyone's Christmas presents lately and always tells me "good job Mom, give me five" whenever I cut the wrapping paper :) (that's what I tell her when she goes potty lol). Tonight we made a gingerbread house and finished putting up the outside lights, both of which she loved!!

Now onto Elijah...the day before Thanksgiving Eli figured out how to crawl and has been perfecting it since!! Let's just say the gate at our house is always closed!! He got his two top teeth in just before Thanksgiving as well so he's now a four toothed kid who thinks he can eat just about anything :) Today at his check up he weighed less than I would've guessed, only 20lbs 6oz and 28.75in...only 10in less than his sister!! He's started shaking his head no...already...so far only when he doesn't want anymore to eat, but I know it's coming quick for everything else too!! He says num num and da da so far...This lil guy LOVES his daddy!! It's so cute to see him light up whenever Michael's around!! Don't get me wrong, he loves me too, just not like he does his dad :) 

Whew I think that's all there is to update with the kids...Michael and I are both settling into our jobs really well! We have been extremely blessed with the jobs we have up here!! We are still praying our house in Twin will sell but also know that we have not been dealt anymore than we can handle. God has been amazing at providing thus far and I know He will be faithful to continue. So far we've tried out two different churches and will continue to try out more...we're trying to give each church about a month before deciding and would like to try out all that we think we may like before making a decision...which is difficult considering Michael's only had one Sunday off so far!! Ah and onto the fun stuff, the pictures...Here are a few pictures from tonight when we decorated some outside and did a gingerbread house and then further down are from my inlaws house at Thanksgiving...

Samantha's 3rd Birthday...Our 6th Anniversary!!

My baby girl turned 3!!! :o( Time is flying by way too fast!!! This year was so much fun celebrating her birthday because she actually understood what was going on! She spent the whole day before her party through two days after her party singing "happy birthday" to herself!! It was so cute! Sam helped me make her cupcakes the night before her party and thoroughly enjoyed helping me decorate them the morning of her party! We were able to host a small party with family and a few close friends in our new home! It was wonderful to have everyone over in our new place and catch up!! Sam got way too much as usual, I guess that's a perk of being a kid :) She had a blast and is still enjoying playing with all of her new toys she got! Thank you everyone, both near and far, for spoiling my little girl!! Happy birthday Samantha Allison, mommy loves you more than you will ever know!! Daddy and I have been soooo blessed these past three years with you, we couldn't have asked for a better daughter!!!

We had Sam's party in the early afternoon on Michael and my anniversary so we could spend the night out :) My parents were wonderful enough to take the kids overnight at their house so Michael and I could have the whole night to ourselves (except for the fact Michael had to be at work at 6am so we couldn't do much). It sounds so silly, but we cleaned up from the party and got the house in order, went out to dinner at Wolf Lodge (the BEST steakhouse in the world!!) and then came home and went to bed! I guess we really are becoming an "old married couple"! But I do want to take a moment and tell my husband how grateful I am for everything he is and does! He is a wonderful husband and father, he is a great help with housework, cooking, taking care of the kids and so much more!! I love you baby, these last six years have been the best years ever and I look forward to soo many more in the coming years!! Happy anniversary!

Halloween 2011

Halloween was exceptionally fun this year because it was the first year that Sam really understood what was going on and was able to actually say "trick or treat" at each door :) It also was the first year we've been near family for Halloween night! Another wonderful thing about Halloween this year is that it was Michael's first day as a Post Falls Police Officer :) YAY!! Something he has wished for for a very long time! So back to Halloween... I let Sam pick what she wanted to dress up like and the night we began talking about it we were in walmart and found a trick or treating bag with Dora the Explorer on it dressed up like a black cat...needless to say that was it, Sam wanted to be a kitty just like Dora :) I found this to be a grand idea because not only was it an easy costume to come up with, but it was cheap! I found myself a cheap pair of leopard ears/tail and we found Eli a really cute tiger outfit at Costco for cheap :) This move kind of put us on a tight budget and all since we are still paying two house payments and are not really sure how long this will go on for :( 

So Halloween night we had the grandparents, and a few of my siblings plus the kids' cousin all over for chili and trick or treating. The chili was my grandpa's recipe and was a huge hit and the trick or treating was priceless! I went door to door with Sam and Makayla (because my husband is really a big stick in the mud about Halloween...it's his least favorite holiday and he would be happy hiding in the house with the lights out so he didn't have to give any candy away)...and at least we were able to con Michael into walking with us :) The cute part of this story was watching Sam after each house...she would go up to the door and ever so softly say "trick or treat" then "thank you" when they gave her candy, then she would proceed to run back to the road yelling "daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, I got candy" :) She didn't just do this once or twice...but at EVERY house we went to in the two blocks we covered! It was really quite cute! So needless to say Halloween was a huge hit this year and I'm sure will only get more and more fun in the coming years!s