Fab 5 for 4 years

it still overwhelmes me to think that God poured out his blessing upon doug and i to become parents to our 3 beautiful children. it was a long and hard process, but in the end so worth it! (refer to last years post for all the details)
it's hard to believe that it has been that long, but at the same time it seems like we have been together forever. i have completely forgotten what life was like with out them a part of it. was there ever life without mcdonald's, a trampoline, a dirty house, unfinished homework, or sleepless nights?becoming a mommy is the one thing that has totally rocked my whole world. you see this is the one title that i have not been able to fulfill with out God's strength in my life on a daily basis. i must admit (unfortunately) i have done a lot of things in my flesh and some how God let me slide, but not this job. this job doesn't work out so well when heather connelly tries it on her own! in my own strength i am totally unworthy of these three amazing kids.
i can remember praying so hard even before i met them that they would bond with doug and i quickly. oh man, did He answer my prayer. i can remember hugging and kissing them for the first time and it just feeling so right. i don't know how to describe it any other way than, "we became family!" my baby girl was a little shy around others the first several months (hard to believe now), and i was just so happy to hold her in my arms for hours. i absolutely loved to just hold all of them, and still do. i absolutely LOVE the fact that they still hug and kiss me good bye every day at school in front of their friends, and even when we meet in the hall. i am so glad that God is still answering my prayers and has allowed us all to be at the same school again. because i missed out on the first few years of their lives i now want to make up for every minute. i rarely leave them with a sitter because i know in a couple of blinks they're going to be off to college.
honestly, from the minute i met my kids something inside of me changed forever. oh yeah, i still have a pretty big selfish streak, but this momma's babies come first! shortly after bringing our kids home our friends all came to meet them. a few of my friends commented that i looked different. i would just answer with, "of course i look different now i am a MOM!"
sometimes i look at other moms with kids at similar ages as mine and i think, "man that woman has it together! what the heck is wrong with me?" that's when i like to fall back on the, "i've only been a mom for 4 years now excuse, and i got three at once." oh yeah, this mom thing is better than i could of ever imagined, but boy is it hard work. i just wish i could put life on slow motion and savor every minute just a little bit more. last night i was doing homework with the twins and was saddened with how well they are reading. it's just not right they are growing up so fast!i never could of imagined that what i thought to be my biggest curse (infertility) could turn out to be my biggest blessing. God truly knew what he was doing when he put the five of us together! so, today I am celebrating the Fab5 for 4 years, and looking forward to the Fab5 for 5! God is so GOOD!

round dos

yes, we have started off november just like october SICK! sore throats, runny noses, fifth's disease, a trip to the e.r., vomiting, and the other stuff i won't mention. thankfully i think everyone is pretty much back to normal!

so, besides our illnesses october turned out to be a great month. despite our crazy schedule we made some great memories as a family. we started out the month w/ a trip to baker. we had a great time hanging out on the ranch, and of course a fun 4-wheeler ride up in the mountains.

the following weekend we were able to go to the pumpkin patch w/ some great friends. the kids had a great time at the petting zoo and pony rides (they were at the pumpkin patch). we brought home some pretty cute pumpkins too! the next day we went to the zoo w/ our home team to see the new africa exhibit. the kids LOVED it!

the next weekend doug was off again so he got up and made everybody breakfast, and then we spent the afternoon hiking at camel's back. of course after all of that exercise we had to make a stop at goody's.

of course october ended w/ halloween week. actually, this was probably the most memorable week of all. the kids had to dress up for AWANA in what they wanted to be when they grow up. it was a given that trev was a cowboy, and chris announced that he was going to be doug. so, that left cassi to be heather. of course trev was the cutest cowboy EVER! and the twins, well that was just priceless! chris wore khakis and a shirt w/ one of doug's ties. (doug wears a tie about 2 times a year, but whatever!) he did his hair just like his dad's, sprayed some of his dad's cologne on, and even carried his messenger bag. he had to finish the doug look off w/ a cup of dutch bros. coffee, because that is what dad always drinks. cassi had to dress like me w/ matching jeans, sweater, boots, and of course makeup, a cell phone, and one of my purses. they were very cute! when we got home from church that night chris said, "hey heather, i'll give you a smooch if you let me stay up later." let me tell you that had me rolling.

halloween was a fun day filled w/ school parties and of course lots of candy. doug and i were both able to attend the kiddos parties. then of course there is the good old trunk or treat. peter pan, wonder woman, and flash collected an obscene amount of candy. it has only been a week and we have already polished off a good portion of it.....hmmm do you think that is why we have been sick? (pictures coming soon-blogger would not let me upload them!)