Hello Holidays!

Today is December 1st, and I can't believe just HOW quickly this year has come and gone!! We just spent a few days in NY for thanksgiving and had a great time visiting my in-laws. The girls went non-stop the entire time, so this week we've been trying to catch up on sleep and get back in the routine of naps... it's been quite a week re-adjusting, but I'm so grateful for the time we spent there. We don't visit nearly as often as we used to simply because it's a really, really looong trip with two little ones..... so the time we do get to spend there is special. I'm hoping at some point God chooses to shorten the distance between us but for now, we do what we can to make it work! Here are a few pictures us, of the girls in their glory at nana's house, and the curtains I made for my mother in law :) 

It's Novemeber!

Yes, it's November now! Which obviously means yesterday was halloween and the Aldrich girls had a blast! Maddie is a candy lover, and that seems pretty normal given she's a kid but she is a serious lover of all things sweet. So you know, halloween is just the perfect holiday for her as long as all things scary stay quite a distance away. Kyleigh was still too young to really understand why she was being forced to wear a silly red and black frilly outfit (which she protested quite a bit....absolutely refusing to wear her ladybug wings and actually broke her red antenna headband). But all was well once we loaded her up in the radio flyer wagon and candy suddenly appeared in her bucket. Madison was such a good sister, making sure to ask each house for extra candy for her sister. Too precious for me but I'm sure there were quite a few skeptics who assumed she was adding the "extra" to her stash. Honestly, I've never been a big fan of halloween but having kids makes all the holidays (even made up ones) so much more enjoyable! I'm hoping to upload pictures soon but my camera has been dropped in water too many times and is currently being uncooperative. Soon though! :)

words galore!

My sweet little Kyleigh is talking SO much! Just a few weeks ago, I was wondering why she doesn't seem to have as wide of a vocabulary as Maddie did at this age. (I know... comparing your kids is mommy no-no #1, but I'll shamefully admit I catch myself doing it from time to time). But my goodness, I've forgotten how quickly their vocabulary develops. It's like she has learned dozens of words in the past couple weeks! I need to be a little better about reading to her because I know that has a huge influence on how quickly they learn new words. But I'm just be completely honest, most days I barely have enough time to accomplish the lengthy list of "to-do's" I've assigned to myself. And yeah, I'm working on letting some of those less important things go so I can do the things I really want to do. Last wednesday night, the four of us were in the car coming home from church and Kyleigh had all of us laughing hysterically! Dan was telling her "It's time to go home" and for the first time ever Kyleigh says "whhyy"which totally caught us off guard. We talk to her sometimes like she actually cares or understands what we're saying so to hear her respond with "why" was too funny. So Dan of course begins to explain we're going home to go to bed and  with every statement Kyleigh responded with a "why". I most have heard her say it at least a dozen times. I wish I could have recorded the entire conversation because retelling what happened doesn't seem nearly as funny as it was then. Regardless, it still makes me smile to think about how she's growing and learning and changing everyday even when I don't realize it. Remembering these funny little moments with my kids also makes me so thankful for them! I think about all the times throughout the day that I smile or laugh with them and think sometimes I take for granted the pure and genuine happiness they bring to my life. God, thank you so very much for my sweet precious girls!!

Girls get a haircut

Thursday night I took the girls to get a haircut. They've both had trims before but this was their first "real" hair cut. I picked this super cute kid friendly place (aka snipits) in birkdale thinking the girls would love it. Madison didn't cry, thank God, but she wouldn't give even the tiniest smile while sitting in the chair. But overall, she did great. I'll take no tears as a sign of success! Kyleigh on the other hand, was NOT happy about sitting in the chair. I actually felt pretty bad because she was so scared that she was shaking. Luckily the lady cutting her hair was quick and when it was over she got a lollipop.

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Anniversary Getaway

Sunday night Dan and I went to the mountains for a short stay to celebrate our FIVE year anniversary. ( Just need to add a HUGE thank you to my mother in law for staying with the girls while we were gone!!) I realize five years isn't a lifetime or even that long compared to some of you married folks out there, but for us it was a milestone. I'd venture to say quite a bit marriages end before they hit the five year marker so it's kind of a big deal (at least to us it was). It was such a great trip for us. We never leave the girls with anyone for an overnighter, so we were due for some alone time. And it was wonderful! We had a great drive there, checked into our sweet little room, took a walk through downtown blowing rock, and dinner at Bistro Roca which was oh so yummy! Surprisingly we went to bed fairly early and got up pretty early too. That's the result of having two little early risers who've gotten our bodies in the routine of waking up at the crack of dawn even if we have the rare opportunity to sleep in. One of the many joys of parenthood :) Monday morning we have a good breakfast, took a walk through blowing rock again, and then made our way to the outlets. I will say they were less than impressing which says a lot considering I could go shopping just about anywhere anytime. We wanted to be back before it got too late so we took a short drive through the parkway (which was beautiful)! Last stop was at Storie Street Grille for lunch before heading home. Here are a few pics from our trip!

Maddie is FOUR

Yep! It's been a while since I've been here to update our lives....we've been busy, busy, busy! I'll give a little more info later, but for now I've got to just post a few things that are fresh on my mind. This past Saturday, we celebrated my sweet girl Madison's 4th birthday! Hard to believe my first born beauty is already 4, gosh, where to the years go? I spend quite a bit of time planning this little birthday bash, and even more time worrying that it wouldn't be as perfect as I wanted it to be. I literally spent hours the night before awake in bed stressing over a bunch of nonsense. I prayed (hard!) that her sweet little friends from preschool would show up, and most of them did. It was such a great day for her, and I'm so thankful for all the special people in our lives who love her enough to come make her day amazing. We are so blessed! I'm going to post a few pics as soon as I get them from my dear friend (check out her amazing blog here). But here are a one my mom took!

Hanging upside down, just enjoying have the entire gym to herself!

last night of vacation....

so it's friday night and i'm taking a break from packing up all our stuff to head home! what a beautiful week it's been here in n. myrtle beach. it feels really strange to say i'm kind of sad to leave... (normally when we travel i'm excited to come back home) we've made some really precious memories here. kyleigh had never been to the beach and madison only once before for my brother's wedding, which she was too young to remember. it made me smile each day as i watched madison play with a giant grin on her face. she loves building "drip" sandcastles, and chase the seagulls, and roll around in sand as the tide rolls into shore. and as i sit here typing i here dan explaining to her we're going back to our house tomorrow. i don't think she really gets it, because apparently this house is prettier and she thought we were staying here. oh goodness, she's a silly girl! and kyleigh... well this week i discovered she like sand. a lot. so much that she wouldn't stop eating it by the handfuls. and no, i'm not kidding. gross, huh? but she was so cute, storming the beach  smiling and talking (i'd love to know what all that jibber jabber meant!) i think she really enjoyed being unconfined and free to run around boundary-less.  i really can't even express into words what this week has meant to me. all i can say is how good and gracious the Lord is. beyond words, beyond expression, beyond imagination.....and I can say that because i know it's true. and this week was a blessing from God. James 1:17 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above....."


 pictures to come :)