Freckles

After the red heads were born, I wondered if they would get freckles and when they would get them. I've never seen a baby with freckles, have you? I have freckles and have always wanted them to disappear, but I think they are adorable on little kids. Anyways.

A few months ago, Olivia got her first freckle. And then three. So on and so on. Now she has lots.


See Laney doesn't have any.


Savanna doesn't have any yet. (Remember what I said about Savanna is either crying or dirty in pictures. That speck on her nose is dirt.)


Addy Mae doesn't have any freckles. But she sure is cute! (sorry about the nose crusties, but it impossible to be crusty free.)

Chisel off the ole' hips, baby!

I can't believe I'm doing this! Posting a picture of my hips for the whole world to see. But, I need some accountability to get back on the bandwagon again. I was doing really awesome before Christmas, but am starting all over again. I have been jogging, but I have not been eating well. Anyways.
I thought maybe there were others out there who would want to be my
accountability partners in the weight loss, area. (Kristan, I need you)
My idea is to first post a picture of myself (I'm seriously considering erasing this whole thing right now.) And then share how I am trying to get the weight off. And MAYBE post pictures of the progress I'm making. So if anyone out there wants to do this with me, lets share our food and exercise ideas on our blogs. Are you as excited as I am about this?! (cheesy grin on my face masking the horror of posting my chubby picture)

Things that get me motivated
1. This post and declaration to the world that I'm trying to loose weight.
2. A shopping trip after I'm down a couple of sizes, with no kids or husband for a whole day, maybe two of shopping. (I love my husband, but he is not a patient shopper, and the kids well...I'm sure you can picture what it looks like taking four little girls to the mall)
3. I took a picture of myself naked (don't worry, I won't be posting that one, it's already been erased)
4. I want my girls to have a healthy body image, but I also want to be a good example of health
5. I'm seriously considering buying a dress for this summer that is too small, so I have to fit into it
6. While I'm jogging, I picture my self in a short, knit blue dress on the beach (It helps me push myself while I exercise)

Things I am trying to do, to loose weight
1. Jog at least four times a week, but hopefully five times
2. I have been eating Special K cereal in the morning(the cinnamon pecan one is really good), chicken noodle soup(I got a case of this soup at Costco, my kids like it, too) or salad for lunch, and then I eat whatever the family is eating for dinner, even if it's pizza, just smaller portions
3. I'm trying not to snack,
but if I do snack my foods of choice are a handful of almonds,
carrots, or these yummy fruit sticks if I'm in the mood for sweets.(the kids like those also)
4. Drink more water (I don't like plain old water, so I add crystal light)












My hurdles
1. My mind (mindlessly eating while I am at home)
2. My kids (taking bites of their food or eating what's left on their plate)
3. My husband (he can eat whatever he wants and not gain weight, and he eats dessert every night. These bad boys are gonna be the death of me.
Josh bought them at Costco and I've already eaten two of them)
4. Just plain unwillingness (Just not wanting to eat good or exercise)
5. Dr. Pepper (I can taste it right now)




P.S. I don't weigh myself, I'd rather go by the size I can wear and how I feel. I've always weighed more than I look, so I don't like to judge myself that way. Plus it brings back too many pregnancy memories, at the doctors, when I would have an eight pound weight gain in two weeks.

How to take better pictures of your kids.

I just took these pictures today. I was trying to take Addy's 18 month photos, but she has a slight fever and really didn't want to have her picture taken. But I thought I would share some of my tips on how to take good pictures of your kids and have good time while doing it.

1. Don't worry too much about there apparel. In these pics, my kids where still in there jammies. Some of my favorite pictures of the girls are when they are all messy or naked. Obviously, Savanna had been eating chocolate and hadn't had her hair brushed.

2. To get my kids to want to have their picture taken, I set up some props and their curiosity usually brings them to me. Like in these pictures, I set up this floor mat as a backdrop on their bed and started taking pictures of Addy and they all came and sat down. Try placing baskets in your backyard, where you want them to sit and I'm sure your kids will climb into them or sit on them.

3. Take their pictures while they are playing outside or in their room, have your camera ready and wait till they look at you. I usually take my camera into their bedroom, while they are playing, and sit on the floor.

4. Get to their level. I'm usually sitting or laying down.

5. Take the pictures in black and white or edit them into black and white. Then you don't have to worry about the colors not blending. Here's what these pictures would look like in color.

6. Let them take some pictures with your camera. The picture below of me, Olivia took. (Don't judge my appearance, I hadn't showered yet.)

7. Let them be silly and take the pictures they ask you to. Like the picture below of Laney's foot, she asked if I would take it and then thought it was so funny that I got the really cute picture of her and Olivia right after.
8. Use the light from a window. All of these pictures were taken right in front of window. The light is really flattering and makes black and whites look awesome. I didn't use the flash.

9. Use your zoom, and get in close. Too much background can take away from the kids. You can also trim the photo with the editing software on your computer.

10. I'm trying to make up a tenth tip, just so it's even! I'm blank, but once I figure out how to take a picture of Savanna where she's smiling and not messy, I'll share those with you. Oh, that kid.

The Staples sisters, future rock stars!

Ok, I'll set up the scene for you. I've said this before, but Olivia lives in Barbie princess world. She really believes she is a princess. The newest barbie movie is Barbie and the Diamond castle. It's about two best friends on a journey together and they sing a lot. They also play a guitar. Olivia made a pretend guitar with her book and a headband. She will bring a chair and make me sit and watch her. Then she starts her show, and she expects us to clap for her. She is singing the song from the movie. This has happened several times this week. Yesterday, it finally hit me that I should get it on camera. So she sat and performed her solo perfectly. Laney wanted to get in on the action. She's really awesome at making up her own songs. The next video is of her. I chose this video of Laney and Olivia singing together. I see future stars in the making. I'm gonna be like the Jonas brothers mom! I've always swore that I would not live out my dreams through my kids, but if they love to sing and perform, then go with it! We will be accepting any offers for music contracts! Hehe. By the way the words are supposed to be, "Wherever your here for me, I'm here for you." Laney thinks it says, "Hippo me, instead of here for me!"

Laney says "It's a beautiful day today!"

Laney wakes up when the sun comes up. She's always in a good mood and ready to start her day. She opened the blinds this morning and said, "It's a beautiful day today!" Don't you just love her optimism.

Josh and I just made a new deal where he gets to sleep in on Sunday's and I will get up with the kids and make breakfast. Thursday's are my days to sleep in and he will make breakfast. You have no idea how excited I am for Thursday. Anyways.

Today I made breakfast burritos. I had some frozen pork sausage that the neighbors gave me from a local meat deli. So I browned the meat and then added the eggs and then lots of cheese. I also made potatoes and added brown sugar to them. Josh is famous for his brown sugar potatoes and he informed me that some of the ingredients were missing. (Josh puts salt, pepper, garlic, brown sugar on the potatoes and cooks them in butter.) I made mini burritos for the kids, because they tend to eat more when the food is their size. Then I mixed some ABQ grown salsa with some sour cream, for dipping. They ate most of their breakfast!

Dance, Gymnastics!

Doesn't she look like a ballerina?



Little girls in tap shoes, So cute. If you look closely to the top left hand corner you can see Laney checking her self out in the mirror.




Today we ventured out of the house to try our luck at dance class. In the morning Addy and Savanna and I did a mommy and baby class. We aren't gonna do that again, because they really didn't get that much out of it. And if I'm gonna pay for something like that, I'd really like to have a break while doing it. Laney and Olivia had their class later on in the day. Livi said she wanted to do a dance class and Lane said she wanted to do gymnastics. Olivia loves dance and very badly wants to be a ballerina. This class combines both dance and gymnastics. The girls were awesome. I tried Laney in a dance class when she was three and it was a nightmare. She wouldn't pay attention to the teacher and she was distracting all the other kids by trying to make friends with them. This class was much different this time around. She listened, obeyed and had fun. She loved the gym part. Olivia was very disciplined and wanted to learn as much as she could about the dance movements. Sometimes they would stay together as sisters and sometimes they would go there own way. I really thought Olivia would cling to Laney. These kids are so amazing. Savanna and Addy watched their sisters through the window.

Deals, Deals, Deals!

I just had to share some of the great deals at stores right now. Yesterday, we went shopping and JCPenny had all their clearance stuff BOGO free! I got the girls some new High School Musical Jammies for $3. I also got some good stuff from the Gap. All of there clearance stuff was an extra 25% off. I got the red heads some green polka dot dresses for Easter for $8. They also had a bunch of tank tops for spring for $3-$5. I got two outfits for a friend who's having a baby boy for $11. At Old Nay I got Addy's easter dress for $5 and Laney two spring dresses for $10. She will only wear dresses now. It's like pulling teeth to get that girl to wear pants. I love getting good deals. When you have four little girls you gotta get the good deals. Here's some pictures of the girls new jammies. Addy's are my favorite.

A short trip to Flagstaff!

We just got back from a very short, but fun trip to Flagstaff. Josh had a meeting in Phoenix and he hates flying, hates leaving us at home, and spending the night by himself. I hate when he's gone also. Anyways, we went to Flagstaff to spend the night and day while Josh drove to the meeting with a friend. The girls really missed Mima and Papa and were glad to see them. Mom spent some time with us in the morning, we went to Uncle Brian's work for some free bank suckers, and we went to visit Aunt Chelsea at her work. She works for the justice court. Aunt Chelsea gave us a tour of the court rooms and we even got to meet a judge! That was cool for me and the kids seemed to be entertained. Savanna kept telling everyone her name was two. She's a little confused as to the difference between her name and her age. Then Laney said we were potty training that one. It's so funny the things kids say to strangers. Then we went to the mall for some free cosmetics from Dillard's. Some weird lawsuit were they were required to give away free stuff works for me. Then we had dinner with everyone at Brian and Chelsea's apartment. Then we drove back to Albuquerque with our kids passed out in the back. I'm tired! Lots of fun though. I wish I had taken my camera in the courthouse, it was a cool place.

Zoo pictures

They had several toddler giraffes.


They had Koala bears!


My favorite, the polar bears.


The lion after he finished roaring.



Olivia made a friend, they were speaking to each other through the glass.


A momma and her baby!


Aunt Chelsea.


These birds would come right up to you. You can actually go into this exhibit and the birds fly around you, but it was closed today.



Right after this picture was taken, this orangutan came right up to the girls and put his hand on the glass to say hi. I was in awe so I didn't get a picture.

The zoo (not my house, the real one)

We went to the Albuquerque zoo today. Uncle Brian and Aunt Chelsea are here and we had never been to this zoo before. We had the best time! I am so impressed that such a small zoo can be so cool! All the animals were out and playing. We saw lots of baby animals. I got a video of a snow leopard doing a handstand. We heard the lion actually roar. An orangutan put his hand on the glass and then waved at us. The baby snow leopard wanted to play with us. They had baby giraffes. We even saw polar bears. I can't wait for our cousins to come back so we can take them there. We will be visiting the zoo much more often now. The girls love it also. Olivia says she wants a baby snow leopard for Christmas. I'm always amazed at how almost unreal the animals look. I'm so thankful for zoos, so we can see these glorious creatures in real life.

How's potty training going?

I new Savanna would either resist potty training or accept it. She resisted last week. I knew all I had to do was just get her to go once in the little potty and she would get it. We had no successes last week. She hated the little potty that was passed down from her sisters. Yesterday I took her to the store to pick out her very own potty I helped her decide on a pretty pink potty with a soft cushy seat. One reason she hated the other potty was because it hurt her little bottom to sit on it for a long time. She loves her new potty and since yesterday we have had several good successes and only one accident. Yeah Savanna! Now bring on the poops!

Happy Birthday Logan!

One year ago, Logan McNally was born. For those of you who know the McNally's you know Logan's story. I don't want to dwell on that painful day, week and months after he was born. But I do want to remind everyone that God still performs miracles and of the wonderful things that came out of the worst pain a family has to go through. I witnessed the most amazing faith in Ryan and Kristan that I have ever seen. When God asks you to put your faith in him, when your newborn child is fighting for his life, that is AMAZING faith. And I don't mean faith, like what church you go to, or what your religion is. I mean faith like in Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain and what we do not see." (read the whole chapter, it's good) Ryan and Kristan had faith that God was in control of Logan's life and certain that no matter what happened to Logan, God loved that baby more than they ever could. Sure it was very, very hard on them and everyone that loves them, but God pulled them through. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that God healed that little baby. Logan is a very healthy little boy, he is very sweet and I can't wait to see how God uses him when he's older. A few days after Logan was born, I was talking to Ryan and Kristan and Kristan said, " I know God has a reason for this happening, some lesson that is to be learned, maybe not a lesson for us, but someone else."(probably not word for word, but that was a whole year ago!) This coming from a mother who hadn't been able to hold, or nurse, or care for her baby since the day he was born. I am the first to say that maybe I am the one that needed a lesson on true faith. It's easy to go on with life when your children are healthy and claim the praise that your children are amazing because of you, but I learned and am holding close to my heart every day, that God is in control and loves my kids more than I ever can (and I love them a lot!) Don't let the McNally's story go waste. God is real. Let it be a reminder to all of us that God still performs miracles, and if you give him complete control of your life, he will take you places you have never been. If this true story touched you, than maybe it's time you get on your knees and pray, and open your heart to him. Thank you McNally's for reminding me what true and real faith is. I feel like I'm preaching, but honestly, I'm preaching to myself and hope others can learn from this story as much as I have. Happy Birthday Logan! The Staples family loves you and your family so much. XOXO


A picture of Logan with his cousin, my daughter, Addison.

How do you say envelope?

A video of Olivia and Savanna saying "envelope". I love the way toddlers say things and will treasure these videos when they are in med school!

Photos taken recently that I haven't been able to post

Fascinated with the ducks walking on the ice.


Addison in her new Christmas outfit.


Addison at the aquarium. Looking at the jellyfish.


Cousins at the aquarium.

The grandkids (except Aidan)


The Staples girls with Mima and Papa on Christmas.


Our Christmas card photo.


Another family picture. With the Longhorns hat again!