We're building a house!!

Our lot. Love the view from our backyard. There will never be anymore construction, so the view's there to stay!

Six years and three kids later, we have most certainly grown out of our little house. Time for bigger things. After looking into and touring some resale homes we (surprisingly) decided that buying a brand new home built just for us would end up being being the best choice for us. Thus, our journey of building our new home began. We signed our contract the very beginning of March, Easter weekend they began preparing our lot, and since then there have been changes each week. It has been so exciting to watch the process and it is crazy how quickly they get the projects done.

So happy to have an extra bedroom, extra living space, a MUCH bigger kitchen, and one of this biggest things for me: a larger master bath. Anyone who has been in the "master bath" in my house knows why this is so exciting for me. Room to breathe. Room for the kids to play. We are also pretty excited for the decently sized backyard, plenty of room for Sadie and the kids to run and play.

First full family photo at the new house!

It took quite a bit of back and forth about moving to a new city/county, but for now, it's our best option. It's only 15 minutes away from where we are now, but it's hard to make a leap like that (don't know how you people moving to new states and countries do it lol). Another fun thing, Addi will be zoned for the school I used to teach at! It will be great to be "back" at the school and get to see everyone again. It's also refreshing to know she will be in good hands.

We are beyond excited and anxiously awaiting our closing in about a month in a half. However, not exciting about the actual moving of our things, ha! We've never moved an entire house before. Last time we moved it was Doug moving all his things out of his bedroom and me moving all of my things out of my bedroom! Now we have a whole house of stuff and three extra little people! Needless to say, I'm sure we will be taking recruits with payment of food and beer. Well, only beer if the painting is done. No one's gonna be drinking and painting ;)

Now, how about an abbreviated photo timeline!

Some walls are up.

Working on the roof

Roof and outside walls done, this was actually the same day as the picture just above!

Getting the front ready for stucco.

Tub and shower in the master bath.

Studding and electric done. The kitchen area looking into the living room and out the front.

Insulation is up. Family room looking through the back sliding glass door.

Stucco!

Walls! Dining room looking towards the kitchen.

Part of our backyard. It goes all the way down past the black construction fencing to the far left corner.

Getting close to finishing up! Excited to see when they start adding all the fun innards! 

My little big girl turns 1!

Can you believe that sweet little Ella has hit the big one year?!?! It seems like just yesterday we were meeting her for the first time. Now she's crawling, laughing, creeping, clapping, and saying words. It truly is some sort of miracle how babies grow in the rate that they do. Their little brains and bodies are working non stop.

The preschool's parade float

We've been pretty busy around here. Getting ready for Christmas and Ella's birthday. Thanksgiving weekend we got our tree and decorated it along with the rest of the house. The girls enjoyed going through all their ornaments and hanging them on the trees. The bottom of our tree is bare though so that Ella's little hands don't become too tempted to rip things off. Addi and Alyse had their Christmas pageant at the preschool. Alyse was a shepard and Addi was Mary. Then, we also had the Christmas parade with the preschool and the girls were beyond thrilled to get to ride on the float and throw out candy. I love that the two older girls are really starting to truly understand Christmas and all that the season brings.

Quick lunch for Ella before everyone else arrived!

I made a month by month banner. Picture isn't great, but I thought the concept was adorable :)

Loving the icing

Such a tidy little eater for having such a messy cake!

She's a good sharer!

She did pretty well opening her gifts too!

We had Ella's birthday party this past weekend. I prepared a lasagna lunch and had all the family over. It's was pretty low key, but nice to have everyone there to celebrate out little girl. I also made her smash cake along with a larger cake and some cupcakes for the guests. She was pretty excited to finally get her very first taste of cake. She wasn't in love with the cake but her eyes began to sparkle at the icing. She was pretty tame and didn't make a big mess at all. She did try sharing some of her icing with mommy, nanny, and her sisters. Very cute.

She had her 12 month checkup as well. She's growing and healthy, and is running on the small side like Addi. She got three shots (including the second half of her flu shot) and just cried just long enough to slap some bandaids on and her shirt. No worries. The rest of the day she's been up and playing as if she never even got pricked. We did got back to the lab the next day to have her CBC workup and the tests did come back with her being anemic. It should be an easy fix though, we've started her on an iron supplement and will do a follow up appointment with the doctor and the lab in January. Addisyn had the same issues at this age so I'm not worried.

There is one more small concern, and the first is going to most likely shock you. She's short. How she's short, I don't know, but she's in the 10% for her height. Addi and Alyse were always in the 80's-90's percentage-wise for their heights and Doug and I are both tall, along with tall extended familys. Of course, each child is their own person so I'm sure little miss is just perfect. Hoping she gains a bit more length between now and her 15 month checkup though! Everything else is a keep doing what we're doing kinda thing.

Here are her stats:
17lbs 6.5oz (20%)
28 inches tall (10%)
18" head circumference (75%)

And, to compare with her big sisters':
Addi: 16lbs 11oz, 29.25 inches tall
Alyse: 20lbs 10oz, 30.5 inches tall

11 months and she's mobile

Almost time for school!

It's time... little baby Ella is on the move. It's a third crawl, third scoot, and third I-don't-know-what. But! She's going. She can efficiently move from one spot in the room to the other and is just now discovering that she can chase after me when I mysteriously slip out of the living room and into the kitchen. She's so proud of herself too. It's quite funny when she really gets moving and she will start with the squealing too because she's just so excited.

Ella with her ribeye and fresh green beans. I couldn't cut the steak fast enough!

Not only is she on the move, she's also really starting to get this whole baby talk down. When she wakes up in the morning I find her sitting up in her crib yelling "mommmma, mommmmma, mommmmma" over and over again. She will sometimes say dada, bye-bye, hi, and all done. Of course they don't come out sounding just like that, but we know it's what she's saying. We can see those wheel in her head spinning all the time. She's also eating like a big girl. Essentially, no more purees. It got to be where it was more of a mess to offer baby purees to her than what was getting in her mouth. So I was able to convince her enough to eat the left over foods I had made in the freezer and that was it. Now, she's on table foods. Basically, anything we are eating she's eating. Her absolute favorite is green beans. She will also gobble up corn, peas, bananas, grapes, and strawberries. I also give her meats like chicken, steak, and cold cuts from the deli. She's just like her sisters were when they were babies and loves her food!


One of the things I love most of this little baby is her personality. She can go from snuggle muffin, to jokester, to cranky pants in just one day. She still loves her momma and would rather be attached to my hip than on her own (or with anyone else) and I'm ok with that. Others may be annoyed by it, but not me. She's only a babe once and I'm going to take all that I can get.

Fresh catches!

We also spent a weekend in Hudson this past month. The girls had fun, and then boys were finally able to catch some fish. Even Addi and Alyse caught fish. At first the were both so excited to go fish, but once Alyse got her line out that first time she quit and said she was done. Once she saw Addi bring a fish in though she was ready to go again. Little miss competitive. Then, it was off, and it almost seemed as if they were taking turns catching them even though they each had their own poles.


Halloween was fun. We walked Grandma's neighborhood and both of the girls filled their pumpkins with candy. We even found a house that was handing out toothbrushes (one of the local dentists, lol) and another house that had jell-o shots for the grownups. All in all, a good night for everyone.

Our Sofia, Rapunzel, and Snow White! Sweet, sweet princesses!

Just call us the Crouppenthalers

Poor Lysie-poo napping off being sick!

Well, this family has whatever nasty bug that's going around everywhere. Alyse started first, last weekend. After scaring me half to death Friday night, I took her to the pediatrician first thing Saturday morning, and right away the doctor diagnosed her with croup. She needed a round of steroids, a few days of rest, and then deal with the lingering cough. Luckily, that first night was the worst and the following nights she was able to sleep straight through the night. Sunday night, Addi spiked a fever, but  we were lucky again because it never returned. Then, this past Friday, little Ella began to run a fever. The thing stayed all weekend, and still today, Wednesday, she's feeling crummy, coughing, and still running a temperature. Her little nose is running and she has a nasty cough, which is also croup (took her to the doctor on Monday because she started vomiting along with the fever/cough). All around, it's just been a yucky week and a half. And all three of my girls are just coughing away like there's no tomorrow. I'm hoping that over the weekend we can all find our way back to the healthy way of life :)

Ella's escaped toe ;)

Ella hit the 10 month mark. I didn't even realize it until today. Two months away from a year old. Wow. Aside from her being sick, she is such a happy little thing. Her smiles and her squeals are precious, and I love her "baby talk." She's a little goofball and loves making other people laugh at her. If we ask her "how big is Ella?" She will put her arms up, and sometimes she'll even say "so big!" Not that it comes out in those exact words, but when she's copying us and says it only when she's asked, we definitely know that's what she's saying.

Doug finally made his trip into the attic to get the 6-9 month clothes for Ella. Poor thing went to bed one night with her piggies all covered up, and then when she woke up in the morning her big ol'toe had popped its way though, haha! This was finally a convincing enough picture for Doug to muster up the strength to go up there.

Last Thursday, we went on the preschool field trip to Green Meadows Farm. The girls loved all the animals, Doug came too since he had fun at it last year (I had the flu and couldn't go), and I was my normal paranoid self with all the nasty animal germs and sanitizing those girls just about every 2 minutes. They loved the hay ride and train ride, milking the cow, catching the ducks and chickens, and looking at all the other animals. Finally, I can't forget about picking out our own pumpkins!

Addi and Alyse are loving school. I love how much they love school. As much as they love it though, it certainly wipes them out. Addi generally comes home and will nap until 4:30/5 o'clock. The days she naps the longest are the days she complains about having to take a nap
. That's how I know she's really tired, haha! They both have their well checkups tomorrow at the doctor. Addisyn is particularly nervous that she will have to get a shot. I'm not sure if its time for a booster for her or not so we'll have to see. Luckily for them, I believe they can both get the flu mist instead of the shot. I was planning on having Ella get hers tomorrow too, since the office did not have them yet at her 9 month checkup, but with her being sick now, she's going to have to wait a bit.

The closest I could get to getting all 3!

The Month of Birthdays!

September is here (and almost gone) and that means birthdays for the two oldest Dupp girls! I can hardly believe that Addi is 5 years old and Alyse is 3. Insane. 5 for Addi means that she finally hit the milestone to chew gum. Years ago, I told her she had to be 5 to have gum, and like the little elephant she is, she didn't forget. The day of her birthday, all I heard about was wanting to try gum because she was finally five. So, that night Doug brought home a pack of gum, and she got her first piece. She smacked that gum like no tomorrow and the smirk on her face was priceless.

haha, orbit commercial pose ;)

For their birthdays, we took them to the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party. We've gone the past three years and have always had an awesome experience. There are hardly any wait times. In fact, most things are walk on. There's an awesome parade and firework display, AND it's in the evening so the weather is [generally] comfortable. Plus, trick or treating and getting tons of "good candy"; aka, chocolate!

The last time we went to Disney, the girls knew over a month in advance that we were planning a trip. That was a month of torture listening to the whines of wanting to go to Disney THEN instead of the time we had planned. So, this time around, we kept it a secret until the night before. That night before, we gave them their early birthday gifts of costumes. Rapunzel for Addi and Princess Sofia for Alyse. They were so excited. Then, I showed them the Disney tickets. They were ecstatic. The smiles and their shrieks made every single cent we spent on those tickets and costumes worth it. They could barely contain their excitement, and of course, they were ready to go!! Unfortunately for them, they had to wait until the next evening and suffer through a day of school knowing what was waiting for them. They survived though!

Another part of their gift was that mom and dad got us a family suite for us all to stay out at the Art of Animation hotel. That part, they did not know ahead of time. So the next afternoon after I loaded up the car, we went to go pick up mom. The girls were so ready to change into the costumes but we were still going to have a couple hours before the party started. We told them we were going to go ask Mickey for a place for them to use to change. Once we got all the way to the room and inside, mom told them that we were going to be sleeping there for the whole weekend. They weren't quite sure what to think in the beginning, but evenutally got excited.

Next, we went out to the park for the Halloween party. The girls got to do all their rides. It was Ella's first trip out to Disney as well, she loved all the people watching. She also LOVED Dumbo. She started crying when we had to get out and wouldn't let go of the seat belt, lol. Alyse zonked out (Ella too!) around 10/10:30. She did wake up just before midnight though and was able to ride the Magic Carpets before the park closed.

Ella as Snow White

Alyse and Addi :)

Saturday, we spent the whole day at the pools at the hotel. The Rohrs and Golds came out to swim, and then the Rohrs stayed for pizza and cupcakes. We even had a tattoo parlor set up in the room and EVERYONE (except lil miss) received a Minnie Mouse tattoo. I was surprised at how good a sport everyone was, the men included!

And, now for some of my favorites from the weekend, and I can't get the stupid blogger to format how I want so sorry it's going to be a bunch of scrolling.

Teacups! Alyse was cracking up on this!

Ella LOVED Dumbo!

Addi's first time of Thunder Mountain. She said she didn't like it, but she was screaming and laughing the whole time!

You know Alyse had a good weekend, she's smiling for a picture!!

At our hotel!

The Nemo pool at the hotel

Happy Birthday, Addi and Alyse!

This is the section of the hotel we stayed in, Lion King.

Cars!

It was a pretty awesome weekend, and I know the girls both had an excellent celebration. This upcoming weekend we're having a small cake and ice cream party at the house so that they can celebrate with everyone else since we were away on their actual birthdays! These are some pretty lucky girls :)

We've got a 9 month old!!

Ella's first night in her crib!

Not-so-little-anymore-Ella is 9 months old. Hard to believe she's been in our lives for 9 whole months! Even harder to believe, she will be a year old in less than three months!

So, here's her little update. She has moved into her own room and into her own crib. It was virtually a seamless transition, aside from the second week into it, when she got a bit of a cold. As soon as she was feeling better though, it was back to sleeping through most nights. She is wanting to crawl so badly, but hasn't figured it out just yet. She will go from a sitting position to almost down to her tummy. Mostly, she scoots. She scoots around on her bottom all over the place! Some of the places she scoots into are quite funny. She also gets close to being on all fours and then will rock back in forth like she's wanting to crawl. I'm sure it won't be too long and we will have a babe on the move!

Ella's first time eating scrambled eggs!

She's still loving her foods. Sometimes she gets some finger foods like puffs, rice rusks, and bananas. She loves bananas and will start squealing and waving her arms whenever she sees one of those things! She's even had some eggs!

She's also been in school the past few weeks while I've been working at the preschool. I was very worried over how she would do, but after a couple rough days, I am happy to report she LoVeS it. She gets excited every morning walking into the classroom because she knows where we are going. She loves her teacher and will even reach for her and try to suck in her face. With this, she's even gotten better outside of school in terms of letting others hold and interact with her. It is a nice relief to get to hand her off for a few every once in awhile. Last week, she even stayed at home with Doug for the evening while I went with Lisa to take the older two to an ice skating show. Progress, and I'm loving it!

Sisterly Love <3

She is such a happy smiley baby, and I love it! I love the little smirks she will give out of the corner of her mouth and the sweet mischievous glare she will give with her eyes. She loves clapping and can even do pat-a-cake whenever someone sings it to her. Her giggles are contagious and she's super ticklish on her tummy and at the back of her neck. Biggest news! She says momma! In context! Love it! She will also say "more" when she wants more food and we are working on getting her to use the sign language sign for "more" also. I wouldn't be surprised if she starts using it any day now.

She had her doctor's appointment today! Tipping the scales at a whopping 16lbs and half and ounce, haha! I was sorta shocked at how small she was! I think I was most surprised at how "short" she is, especially because she seems so long to me. Here are her stats:

16lbs .5oz (25th%)

27" tall (30th%)

17.5" head circumference (75th%)

And for compasrison's sake her big sisters' stats at 9 months:

Addisyn- 14lbs 10oz and 27.5" tall

Alyse- 19lbs .5oz and 28.5" tall

Ella at her checkup and finishing up a leftover bottle from school :)