We had a great time trick or treating with the girls. In addition to visiting family and friends, we did our first real up and down the street trick-or-treating. Haddie didn't want to stop until her bucket was full, but her sisters (and her mom and dad) got cold a little earlier. Nevertheless, we managed to come home with a ton of candy. The girls had fun trick or treating but since we had only visited family and friends before, I had to remind them several times that we don't walk into everyone's houses. They are just too friendly for their own good sometimes!

Best Friends

I am having such a good time these days just watching the girls. They each have such unique personalities.



Haddie is my little go getter. She is always ready to tackle anything new and throws herself wholeheartedly into everything she does. Most recently, she has begun gymnastics lessons and is has been a joy to watch her. She absolutely loves having an outlet for all of her energy, flexibility and creativity. We have also been having "school time" each afternoon while her sisters nap, and Haddie just soaks up everything I tell her like a sponge. She is so enthusiastic and will remind me that it is school time each day. Of course I am her mother, so I am biased, but I am very impressed with how quickly she is learning to write letters, learning their sounds, and sounding out short words. She loves hearing new Spanish words and often asks me how to say things (yikes, I need a dictionary!) Her thirst for knowledge is such a neat thing to watch. She is also becoming very responsible and loves to help around the house and often surprises me with her compassion and caring for her sisters (not all of the time, of course :)



Sierra is little miss independent right now. I am impressed with her patience and determination. Although sometimes things take longer, she rarely gives up until she can accomplish something herself. Sometimes I get impatient and I have to remind myself that this is a really wonderful thing, even if I need to adjust my schedule. She has a natural charm that just makes me laugh. With a giggle, smile or a silly question, she can engage the most aloof person we meet. She doesn't know a stranger, and of course we are talking about this, but I love the spirit behind it.



What can I say about Brooklyn. From the moment of her surprising entry into the world, nothing about her has been as I expected. We are so thankful that she is happy and healthy after everything she has been through. She has been my clingiest baby as well as the child that has stayed a baby the longest. She began walking at 16 months and still is not talking beyond babbling mama and baba. This may sound frustrating, but to be honest I am really enjoying her. Knowing that she is my third and that I did not have the early time with her when she was in the hospital, I have loved every minute of her "babyhood." She is pretty busy but her favorite place to be is sitting on my lap with a favorite toy and whenever I pull out her special blanket her fingers go in her mouth and her head immediately rests against my shoulder. It makes my heart melt every time. I think maybe God is restoring lost time to us by giving me this extra time with her as a baby. Having said all that, the doctors think that she is doing great and is right where she should be as a preemie, on the slow end of normal for most developmental milestones.

Each of these precious girls is such a blessing to me and I just wanted to share with friends and family some of the joys we have in our life right now. Thanks for listening to my ramblings...

Lady Antebellum

So the girls' favorite song right now is this one that their aunt Reatha taught them. I don't love that they sing it, but it is cute.

On vacation last week, we had our own church service and everyone shared something. Haddie wanted to share this song. She even promised to put something about God into it:) Thankfully, she ended up sharing some of her Awana verses and the Cubbies song instead.

Branson #1

Gone Fishin'

Haddie went fishing with her daddy on Saturday. She caught a fish on her first cast and then was very frustrated not to get another bite the entire time we were out. Our little fisherwoman!

Portraits 2010

We headed over to Portrait Innovations to update the girls' pictures. I decided that it is too hard to keep up with 3 different times to go in, so we will just continue do to them all at the same time. It worked pretty well and I was able to do some group shots as well. They just didn't fit into the collage. I'll share some soon.

Preschool and organizing closets

So, what have the Ulrichs been up to lately? Well, I have begun the massive task of changing seasons/sizes for my 3 girls. Brooklyn was a big help here holding down the tubs. She loves standing up and attention!! She cried when I went away to get my camera.

As you can see from the top of this picture, I have an assortment of sizes out for Brooklyn at the moment. I just hate to miss out on cute winter clothes, so I got some stuff out of my 6 and 9 month boxes just in case she could wear it. At first I was trying things on her to see if they fit, but that didn't last too long. The sleeper she is wearing her is 0-3 and still fits fine. Crazy girl!

Haddie also started Preschool on Monday! She is having such a great time and we are doing it with some of her friends from last year which is great for her and me (I get to reconnect with some moms I haven't seen in a while). We are doing the MTHS preschool, so her teachers are high school students learning more about early education. It is a great program. There are as many teachers as kids so she gets a lot of personal attention and we get some babysitter ideas, too. Plus it is super cheap ($20 for the entire semester, 4 days a week!)

An Introduction to the Ice

We spent a few days this week down in Saint Louis with my parents, and it was a much needed change of scenery for all of us! One of the hilights was spending a day at the St. Louis Mills Mall. It has great outlet stores like Carters, Gymboree, Children's Place, Gap and Old Navy, a movie theater, and best of all, a skating rink. Brendon took each of the girls out for their first spin on the ice, and they both loved it. We are looking forward to coming back and trying it again when the girls aren't so tired.

Sierra posing with the smallest skates they made. We were lucky they fit. Childrens size 8.

Haddie did a great job holding her skates steady. Here dad is demonstrating the finer points. Maybe he should give me lessons, too. I stayed firmly on the ground with the camera this time.

Sierra was a little more wobbly but she still had a great time.

Smiling with daddy. You can't see it but I am taking pictures from the penalty box :) This was a practice arena for the St. Louis Blues.

And when the girls got tired, Brendon gave them each a ride around the rink. We were fortunate to have the whole place to ourselves. Thanks for a great trip, mom and dad!