Christmas lights and flu

Well not a lot fun to report here! Got a call from Chandlers daycare that she was running a fever Thursday and after a trip to the Dr it was confirmed as the flu!! Boo! Of course I got it too which made it double the fun. Luckily we snuggled a lot and slept and Chandler is a champ at being sic! So needless to say we have done a bunch of nothing the highlight was seeing if Chandler fit in her bumbo seat ( which she does) and putting on Pjs and getting ice cream and driving around looking at Christmas lights!!! We all hope to feel better tomorrow!

CHURCH SWAGGER

Swagg: Style, Coolness, Confidence

Swagga: Style or Personality

Swagger: A person's style

TMS: Too much Swag(ger)

I feel especially old when my co-workers talk about Swag or Swagger. :) Simply put, I have none. Thankfully I work in a hilarious atmosphere where we have "swagger Thursdays". This idea was originated from the 17 and 18 year old co-op guys who have now been at our office for 3 months. So, on Thursdays everyone where's their best "swagger" and we rock it out and see who wins Swagger Thursday. For those of you who know me I have no swagg, my "uniform" is a black turtle neck and jeans. I did manage to win Swagger Thursday one time only because my Gap Dress had zippers on the side and apparently this was "swagga".

Little did I know that when I became a mom that my kiddos would grow up with Swagger! Annie and Palmer both have Swagger (for reals, as Ann Mason would say!) Sunday mornings have now turned into a swagg contest. The focus is still on Jesus but my kids want to be swagg for Jesus! haha! I seriously don't even know how we get out of the house with so much swagger :)

PS these are terrible pics but you get the point...

Palmer in his swagger and new fav obsession fedora's? WTH? You're 5!

Ann Mason: Note both hands on her hips. Her swagger is usually in something sparkly, sequins type outfit but this Sunday she let me dress her appropriately for a 3 year old but the swagger was in her hair. We curled, fluffed, sprayed and added a headband with bling!

This girl just has swagga written all over her! haha! I can't imagine when I have two big girls that want their hair done, sparkly everything and hands on their hips :)

I am getting a little more swagger with my straight leg pants :) Tex is the one we need to work one! He is lacking in the swagger department. I plan to do a 2013 makeover on him, he just doesn't know it yet!

Speaking of someone with swagger I LOVE this girls blog, she has the best outfits ever. Check her out.

http://hello-gorgeous-blog.blogspot.com/

Lately...

Every time I think about my little blog I get totally sad. I don't think I have ever neglected it quite as much as I have lately. I hate that I haven't written more about Chandler (poor 3rd child) or that I haven't taken more pics and I definitely haven't kept up with the posts. I would like to say it is the time of year but maybe it is just the season of my life but I can't keep up with everything :)

I have great intentions but there just aren't enough hours in the day. We are all doing great! Busy as ever but everyone is happy and healthy. The laundry pile is still never ending, the house is never clean enough, I always have a million things on my to do list but in the end none of it truly matters as long as I have my family and our health!

Speaking of my family... We got our family pics back and I am in love... All I was hoping for was just ONE picture where we were all looking at the camera and these totally exceeded my expectations. I can't wait to get them all printed and framed (another thing on my to do list) Here are just a few of my favs.

I think I am almost cried when I saw this! I was so excited that everyone was looking!! That is all any mom at this point can really ask for!

This picture melts my heart. My daughters (plural it is still surreal to me at the oddest times that I am A. a mother but B. a mother to a boy and two girls!)

This boy does no wrong in mommy's eyes! haha He is always my buddy, my constantt, my companion, my sweet, sweet boy.

Awe Annie. We still haven't quite figured out how the best way to parent this independent, free spirit with more energy than 9 kids combined. :) She is such a huge personality and she makes me laugh when she is not throwing me into fits! haha I am hoping at least some of it is being 3!

I have also been super busy with my Initial Outfitters business! I was so worried after getting back from my non paid maternity leave how we would manage Christmas and all the extra expenses this time of year. This literally was an opportunity that fell into my lap and I am SO blessed that I got to be a part of it. I was not only able to help out financially for Christmas but I met some amazing people, had wonderful parties and scored lots and lots of free goodies! This is my very fav, my generation necklace. Thank you so much to everyone who supported my new endeavor I appreciate it greatly! :)

I hope to be updating more we have lots of holiday events, breakfast with Santa, Christmas plays, etc... coming up so things will be busy but fun! I know I will be sad one day when my house isn't filled with screaming kids, piles of laundry, full calendars so I try and embrace the chaos!

Random Things...

Don't you love how I randomly post now? I don't! I want so bad to be more consistent and I am trying but things have been busy! I know I always say that so it is not that great of an excuse but finding time to blog has been hard! So here are some random things The Templeton's have been up to to get you caught up!

1. We (my sister and I) pulled off my mom's surprise 60th this past weekend. A whole post will be dedicated to that but it was AWESOME! We had really worked on it for a few months and it was so fun to see it all come together and see how much she had and how surprised she was. I can't wait to share the pics!

2. We got our annual family Christmas pics taken AND they weren't a complete disaster :) haha I haven't seen them so not sure how they turned out but I can tell you that no one left there in tears including me, which is impressive! Here is my sassy pants posing with her "skinny" arm in her picture outfit. This girl has us running in circles!

3. We have all been on antibiotics! It is pretty much just sinuses and the weather change funk but it still stinks so we made a trip to the urgent care this past Monday! No fevers so that is good, just stuffy noses and dry coughs!

3. My baby girl turned 11 weeks! She is getting SO big. I just can't tell you what a perfect angel she is! I told my friend Sarah to remind me I keep saying this when she is mobile and throwing fits :) She is perfect and is so spoiled by everyone in the family it is ridiculous, I love it!

4. This may not sound like a big deal but it is a HUGE deal. I was able to go shopping this past weekend thanks to my mom and some early Christmas presents and I got all "straight leg" and "skinny" pants!!! I have been living light years behind with all of my boot cut pants! haha I had SO much fun shopping, it is definitely a major luxury these days to get to do that and it was awesome! I LOVE my straight leg pants SO much!! I don't think I can ever go back :)

5. As if I don't have enough going on I decided to become a consultant for an awesome new company called Initial Outfitters! It literally has the cutest stuff and it is all right up my alley with monograms and personalizing! this is definitely not going to replace my regular job but it will give me the opportunity to make some extra money and be able to meet women in town too! I had my first holiday market this past week and this was my display table! So fun! You can't help but like the products :) Check out the website at http://www.initialoutfitters.net/BLAKETEMPLETON

So, needless to say my plate has been super full! All with really great and fun things but I am worn out! I have my first launch party this weekend at my house for my new business and then the rest of the weekend is going to be pretty free! I can't believe next week is Thanksgiving but I am definitely looking forward to a slow paced week filled with family and time together! I will post more soon...

Do They?

I have been wanting to do this for a while! We always wonder "What will my baby look like" will she/he look like the mom/dad/brother/sister. Well, at just two months old I think Chandler looks a lot like.... Palmer! But then I see Ann Mason and then I see myself so maybe she is just one big great combo of us all. What do you think???

Chandler at 2 months...

Ann Mason at 2-3 months (I see a lot of Chandler in this pic too!)

Chandler at 2 months...

Palmer at 2 months... there is something about their little mouths that are so much the same!

I love looking back at old pics of the kiddos, it makes me happy and nostalgic! We had a good time trick or treating last night... Halloween pics to come I took a lot!

I love FALL!

I love FALL! Everything about it.... the cool weather, the leaves, the fall festivals, carnivals, pumpkin parties, Halloween, hayrides, you name it! It is by far my favorite time of the year. We had such a great weekend. One of those unexpected wonderful weekends where everything just came together and everyone had fun!!!

Friday night we had Palmer's Fall Festival at school! It sounds crazy even saying it that he is old enough to have fall festivals at school! It was a great event and I love every chance I get, to see Palmer in his element or see him interacting with his little friends. I have to admit big crowds make me a little crazy and I did walk out thinking to myself what in the heck just happened? but I am pretty sure fun was had by all :) At least I know there was no meltdowns and that was a win for us at this point! I went to take a picture that night and realized my cameras batteries were dead, go figure...

Saturday was the carnival! Palmer's school put on their first ever carnival complete with real carnival rides (you know the ones that scare you to death because they look like they could fall apart at any moment) and funnel cakes! ( I ate two this weekend!) It was SO fun!

Since it was sunny but cold Chandler got to wear her bear outfit that her BFF Sophia let her borrow, thank goodness because we didn't have anything to warm for her to wear. I might be bias but I think she is the cutest darn bear in the whole wide world!

It is so fun having family that goes to the same school... it pretty much guarantees that the kids get to see their cousins at all of the events and my kids think Ethan and Katelyn hung the moon! Katelyn is so sweet to Ann Mason and at almost 10 years old she is so nice and lets Annie tag along with her, no questions asked! This is the girls before they went on the Ferris wheel. Yes, Ann Mason rode the big Ferris wheel sans parents!

This is Ethan, Palmer and Dallas on the Ferris wheel. I love my Palmer but I was pretty sure he was going to make it to the top, scream like a girl and make them stop the ride. I stopped from being the crazy mom and let him go anyway despite my feeling of impending doom :) and guess what... he did AWESOME!~ Like, hands up, leaning OVER the side and waving kind of awesome!

I also talked Palmer into going on the "hurricane" and holy cow that was a bad move! I was the one screaming and came close to having them stop the ride. Palmer just kept saying, "I'm closing my eyes mom, I'm closing my eyes!" We both got off of the ride about 10 shades paler :)

Sunday we did church, lunch and decided at the last minute to take everyone to a trunk or treat. I got the girls costumes together in record time :) Since we didn't want anyone to get their real costumes dirty we improvised. Annie and KK were 80's punk rock chics. They were so cute and Ann Mason thought she was SO cool and I think both girls loved the fact that I put make up on them!

Chandler went as Miss Kentucky which will also make it's debut on Halloween night but I was pretty sure she wasn't going to get it dirty. She is the cutest little beauty queen ever! haha

Boys will be boys when it comes to Halloween. Gone are the days when I could talk Palmer into being something cute or something that would match his sister. Him and Ethan were ninjas and played the role well! We sword fought our way thru the crowds!

I loved this weekend and was so sad when it was over. I forgot how chaotic and not fun Monday mornings are :) We've got Halloween plans for Wednesday and another fun weekend planned so I am sure the week will fly by!

Back To Reality

Well, I am back from my 3rd and probably final maternity leave. It is so bittersweet. I think I have definitely learned a lot about myself over this maternity leave. I was telling my friend last night that when I grew up all I wanted to be was a stay at home mom and after three babies I have figured out that it doesn't work for me. That was a hard realization, not that I don't LOVE every minute I spend with my children but I need a routine. I need structure and I know that most stay at home moms I know have both of these and do an AMAZING job but I just don't do so well. I just felt "off" for some reason and a little anxious. This is probably because me with extra time on my hands is a recipe for disaster. I tend to think and obsess a little too much and this does nothing for my crazy anxiety. 

Although, I felt a little crazier than normal I would never have traded these last 10 weeks for anything in the world! I literally held Chandler, slept when she slept and just basically loved on her.  This little sweet pea has been the light of my life (along with her brother and sister) for the past almost 10 weeks!

After 5-6 weeks of A LOT of screaming, acid reflux, etc... this little pumpkin decided to turn it around :) and this is pretty much how she is all of the time now... happy, smiley, content and wonderful!

Everyone LOVES Chandler! It's kind of crazy, we may be creating a monster! Annie and Palmer can't get enough of her and neither can Tex or I. I mean who doesn't love a precious baby?

This is her at her 2 month dr appointment!!! She weighs 10 lbs 15 oz (50%) and is 23 inches long (75%) she is perfect and healthy aside from a clogged tear duct and newborn congestion which are both completely normal! She passed with flying colors!

Here she is with Aunt TT, I can't believe my big girl is already 2 months old it feels like she has been a part of me forever!

This is my favorite part of the day which happens a lot now. Watching this sweet baby smile, I don't know if there is anything better!

We have lots of exciting things coming up with birthdays, Halloween, school activities and the start of sports we are going to be one busy crew! I can't wait to get back to blogging. I have missed it but I just couldn't get it together at home. Already at work today I have done more "computer/blogging/paperwork" stuff that I have been needing to do in all of the 10 weeks that I was home!

So glad to have the first day back to work jitters out of the way and can't wait for the excitement I will have when I see her today in a few hours!