Baby's 1st Christmas

Part of what made Christmas so fun and special this year was the fact that it was Audrey's 1st Christmas. She is such a fun and sweet little girl. I really don't think that I could have asked for a better daughter. We all just love her so much and she still has her brothers wrapped around her little finger. She has a great personality and is genuinely a happy little person. She still gets up a little more often during the night then I would like, but I love her too much to be too bothered by it :) When I walk into the room and if someone is holding her, she just about jumps out of their arms to try and get to me. She has also discovered food and I must say, she really enjoys it. The week before Christmas 3 more teeth popped through, this time on the top. My 7 month old baby now has 5 teeth!!!!! But anyways, back to Christmas.

Here she is reaching out and getting that lovely green thing with the fun lights. She didn't really start going after the tree to much until the week before Christmas and even then it wasn't too bad.

She was so excited when she got a hold of this present. She liked the stars that were wrapped around it.

Bradyn took this picture for us on Christmas Eve. Audrey was so excited to go to bed and wait for Santa to come :)

"Man, my brothers totally woke me up this morning!!!!!" I think that this picture is so cute, doesn't it look like she is still so tired? I think that she was really excited to look through her pretty pink stocking :)

Gimme that present!!!!! I want to eat it. In her defense, it does look like a big piece of candy.

Ok, the pictures are really started to pick up a theme here :) But hey what can I say, she is 7 months old and loves to put just about anything she finds into her mouth. Which really helps mommy to keep very vacuumed floors.

She really loves the shirt that Grandma got for her. Isn't she doing such a great job sitting up all by herself?

All and all, Baby's 1st Christmas was really wonderful. I think her face says it all, CHRISTMAS WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas Day

Surprisingly, Christmas morning didn't start too early. Well, except for when I had to tell Parker it wasn't time yet at about 4:30am. The boys got up around 7am, but the rest of us except for Les didn't get up until like 8am. I couldn't believe that the kids had no problem sitting there that long waiting, actually I didn't know that they were waiting that long because I didn't know that they had gotten up at 7. I have such wonderful little boys. I think that they are usually such zombies in the morning (since they insist on getting up early even though I know that they are still tired) that it takes them a little while of sitting on the couch to actually wake up.

The stockings were all hung and waiting for the kids!!!!!

The lights were blazing on the tree and looking oh so pretty.

Bradyn really wanted a rubix cube and thankfully Santa put one in his stocking.

Santa brought Logan his own little art supply kit. There are times that Logan would just sit and color for quite awhile.

Grandpa and Grandma got Bradyn a really cool remote control race car track. Can't you just see the absolute excitement on his face?

Santa brought Parker a scooter!!!!!

Also, Santa brought Bradyn this really cool remote control helicopter. Now he just needs to learn how to land it without having it slam into the floor.

Not exactly a flattering picture of me, but I wanted to show what the kids got me. I absolutely love this because it has been a while since I have gotten any framed pictures of my kids and so, I just LOVE looking at all their beautiful little faces!!!! I can't wait to hang it up in our bedroom and when we finally buy our own place to hang it in the living or family room.

Whoa!!!!!!! The present looks twice the size of our little Audrey.

Les has been wanting an Ipod for quite some time so, he was pretty excited that my parents gave him one this year.

We had such a great day today. My brother and his family came over for a nice brunch and the cousins had so much fun playing with their new toys together. (Also Parker was feeling much better then yesterday and never complained once that he didn't feel well) In the afternoon we all (except for my mom because she didn't feel well) headed to the movies to see Bedtime Stories. It was pretty funny and the kids seemed to enjoy it because we didn't have any problems. Les and I had to take turns standing up with Audrey, but that is to be expected.

Before Jason and his family headed home my mom and the kids put on a little Christmas Nativity. It was so cute, but I didn't take any pictures because I was to busy taping it. There were more roles then kids so, a few of them had to do some costumes changes throughout. They all looked so adorable and it was so wonderful to end our Christmas day remembering the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. What a wonderful blessing it was to be able to celebrate his birth together as a family. I hope that everyone was able to have as great of a day as my family and I were.

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve with Les' family this year and had a great time. It was extra special because Les' dad and sister were able to come back into town. Les' dad has been living in W. Virginia since getting a new job there (his mom will be joining him as soon as possible) and his sister is out at BYU and wasn't sure if she was going to be able to make it home. The siblings were able to pool our money to help pay for her ticket as a present to Les' mom. Of course I forgot my camera so, I don't have any pictures of our time there. But, take my word for it and know that it was a really nice afternoon. ALL the cousins and siblings were able to be together and it was nice to see them all (the kids I mean) play so great together.

When we got home from Les' brother Charlie's house it was only 7pm so, we had some time to relax before going to bed. It was nice not to get home too late. So, we all snuggled around the TV and watched the last hour of a good Christmas movie.

Parker hadn't been feeling very good all afternoon. In fact, as soon as we pulled into Charlie's driveway he started crying and said that he had to throw up. Les was able to whip the door open and get Parker out in time to throw up on the grass. (Aren't you glad that I shared that with you?) I am just glad that it didn't hit him until after we were done driving.

Logan with the plate of cookies for Santa.

What a handsome boy!!!!! He did such a good job delivering the cookies to the fireplace.

For the most part the kids went to bed pretty good. Since Parker wasn't feeling good he passed out really fast. Logan fell asleep on the way home from Charlie's so, he had a harding time going to sleep and I think that Bradyn was just too excited for the morning. In fact, he got up multiple times throughout the night wondering if it was time to open presents yet :)

SNOW DAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Today was the first snow day of the school year. HORRAY!!!!!! Being the wife of a teacher I get just as excited for snow days as students do. The kids were so excited to have all this snow outside they wanted to get out there as soon as they could and start shoveling.

Here is Logan ready to go. Only a real man could be comfortable with a pink scarf. He had actually already been outside for a little while before I saw the scarf inside, but he looked so cold so I had him come in so I could put it on.

The shoveler's fearless leader. Of course he said that there was no way he was going to shovel all this snow so, he is determined to get the snow blower working.

Logan was not part of the shoveling team. Instead he had a great time rolling around in the snow. The kids don't have snow pants so, they had MULTIPLE layers of pants on. Getting some snow pants is definitely on my list.

Can you see how deep the snow is?

Whoa Parker!!!!! He has one major load of snow here.

Bradyn was a dedicated shoveler. It was all business for him.

Parker did some pretty hard core shoveling too!!!! They both did a really great job.

This is one happy boy!!!!! Logan loves eating snow even if I keep telling him not too. Especially when he doesn't seem to care where the snow is.

I just wanted to get a shot of the neighborhood so that everyone can see all the snow.

Logan was the first one that had enough. After we got all his snowy clothes off and into the dryer he went to the couch and snuggled with a blanket. Can you see his pink pink cheeks?

All and all, it was a great snow day!!!!!

Bradyn and the Gingerbread House

Last week I was able to go to Bradyn's class and help with their Gingerbread houses. I was so excited to be able to go because I haven't been able to help in his classroom before. It is hard to go in with the other kids at home, especially Audrey because it is not as easy to leave her with someone. Thankfully, my sister in law Crystal didn't have to work that day and she was able to come and be with the kids. Parker and Logan were so excited to have her come over and play, it was pretty cute. It worked out great because I laid Audrey down about 2 minutes before Crystal came over and she didn't wake up until after I got back home. It is so nice that she doesn't have to eat as often as she used too.

Can you see the concentration? This was very serious business!!!!!

All the kids were really into it and they all worked really hard.

We were suppose to send in some small candies and a can of frosting. I knew the size that the house was going to be so, I didn't send in a ton of candy. Trust me, he had more than enough, but man you should have seen the amount that some of the kids had. I almost felt bad that I actually portioned Bradyn's out.

Here is a pretty happy builder with his final project. I think he did a pretty great job!!!!

This is a better view of the final project. Do you see the green clusters? He said that those were bushes that were on the side of the house. The M&Ms in the front are his walkway and the candy cane on top is the chimney. His creativity always amazes me.

Audrey Dr. Appointment

Well, Audrey had her 6 month appointment today and she is doing just fabulous!!!! She is weighing in at 17 lbs and 9.7 oz and I think that they said she was 26 inches maybe 27, I can't remember exactly. It is funny because this is the first time that I have had a 6 month old baby under 20 lbs. She was so cute during her appointment because she was just sooooooo happy!!!! She was grabbing all of the Dr.'s instruments and just plain having a great time. Les was able to come home straight from work and so I was able to go with just Audrey and it was heaven. It was so nice not to have to worry about telling the boys to chill out and stop touching things :) Horray for my healthy baby girl!!!!!!!!!

Also today, Parker, Logan, Audrey and I were able to go over to my aunts house and see my cousin Becky and her kids. Becky is in town from Brazil visiting and I was soooooooooo EXCITED to see her. It has been about a year since I have seen her and we have both had babies since then. As kids Becky and I were beyond close and of course I still love her dearly. I am so glad that she is here for a few weeks and we will be able to spend some more time together.

Audrey 6 months

Audrey is 6 months old today, where has the time gone? Seriously, I can't believe how big she is getting and she is so fun. She has the best little personality. Everytime one of her brothers is being loud, she likes to join right in with her own yelling. She gives just about anyone her award winning smiles and practically jumps out of Les' arms if I walk into a room. She isn't exactly sleeping as great as she used too. For a while there, she was sleeping like 8 hours before getting up to eat. Well, not anymore!!!! Now I am lucky if she goes 5 hours. On the other hand, she has been doing really good with taking naps in her crib for reasonable amounts of time. I love that because then I can actually get some stuff done (when I feel like it). Not to mention, I can put her in her crib awake and she puts herself to sleep. I am not sure any of my others kids did that this early. She is such a doll and we are so blessed to have her part of our family.

This past week, I finally decided that it was time to give her some rice cereal. She grabs at everything and always wants what other people have so, I thought that she would really like getting some food.

I know it doesn't look like she was enjoying herself, but I think she was. One time when I let her hold the spoon, she of course tried to shove it down her throat.

Just letting it swirl around in her mouth a little bit. YUM!!!!

"What is this pastie looking stuff you are giving me" she says.

Something else that she been doing is trying to crawl. I am not sure I am ready for this I mean, wasn't she just born :) She likes to get up on all fours and really start rocking. She doesn't quite know how to actually crawl, but I think that she will be there soon. Right now she kind of pushes off of her kneels and will pull herself with her arms if she wants something that is too far away bad enough. This morning my dad placed a little car out of her reach and she pretty much leaped toward it.

The face of a beautiful angel. Seriously, isn't she just the most pretty baby?!?!?!

At last Twilight the movie!!!!

OK, so most know that I LOVE the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. So, on Thursday night a group of my friends and I made a night of it and went to dinner and then the midnight show. Personally, I thought that it was GREAT!!!!! I really enjoyed the movie and had a fabulous time with my friends. I know that there are many people out there that could find fault in it, but I will not be one of them. I am feeling only love for the movie right now :)

Of course, with all books that are made into a movie, you just can't put everything in. The movie would be at least 5 hours long (not that I would complain if it was with this movie :)). Would I have liked to see some of things that didn't make it in, of course I would. However, I am very happy with how it turned out.

My friend Melissa wasn't able to come with us on Thursday, but she really wanted to see it. So, being the great friend that I am (wink wink) I told her that I would go with her again on Friday (not exactly a sacrifice for me :)) I actually think that I almost liked it even better the second time. I already knew the stuff that didn't make it into the film so, I was able to just sit there and enjoy it.

As my sister and I were talking about this morning, the only thing we are dreading is the wait we are going to have to endure for the 2nd movie. Come on Summit, start making NEW MOON!!!!

Parker Q & A

After I did the Q and A with Bradyn (scroll down to see) Parker said that he wanted me to ask him too)

1. What is something mom always says to you? "Clean up your bedroom"

2. What makes mom happy? "No pickles on her hamburger" (This is true)

3. What makes mom sad? "When we don't listen to her"

4. How does your mom make you laugh? "By making us silly"

5. What was your mom like as a child? "She liked her costumes" (Not really sure what he is talking about here :))

6. How old is your mom? "27"

7. How tall is your mom? "Like this tall" (He held his hand up to my forehead as he said that)

8. What is her favorite thing to do? "Playing with your kids"

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? "Clean the house"

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? "Because you would be their mom or their friend"

11. What is your mom really good at? "Playing my candy land game"

12. What is your mom not very good at? "Fixing pants"

13. What does your mom do for her job? "Helping your kids play with Audrey"

14. What is your mom's favorite food? "cereal and milk and banana" (I do really love cereal)

15. What makes you proud of your mom? "When she wins all the time" (Ha ha)

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? "Spongebob"

17. What do you and your mom do together? "I mess with you" (probably because I always tell him that he better not mess with me)

18. How are you and your mom the same? "I don't know"

19. How are you and your mom different? "I'm tall and your short." (these are his words)

20. How do you know your mom loves you? "Because she hugs me" (I try to hug my kids as much as possible)

Now I tag Lisa H. (with Brooklyn), Senta (with Nolan) and Faith (with Hope)

Q & A with Bradyn

My friend Penny tagged me to do a Q & A session with Bradyn so, here it is.


1. What is something mom always says to you? "Stop" (Nice!!!!)

2. What makes mom happy? "Me listening" (That is true)

3. What makes mom sad? "onions" (I really do not like onions one bit)

4. How does your mom make you laugh? "By tickling me"

5. What was your mom like as a child? "a girl"
(Because apparently I no longer am :)

6. How old is your mom? "27"

7. How tall is your mom? "17 inches"

8. What is her favorite thing to do? "Riding bikes" (I am not sure if Bradyn has ever seen me ride a bike before)

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? "cleaning, sleeping and watching TV." ( everything but the sleeping part, I have to wait until Les gets home for that one, Does watching Dora count for the TV part?)

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? "By having a lot of money" (I wish!!!!)

11. What is your mom really good at? "Folding the clothes"

12. What is your mom not very good at? "Driving a plane"

13. What does your mom do for her job? "Helping the baby"

14. What is your mom's favorite food? "Rice" (When I was pregnant with Audrey, I couldn't get enought rice however, I don't love it as much as I did now)

15. What makes you proud of your mom? "That I love you" (Such a little sweety pie)

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? "Katara the water bender from Avatar"

17. What do you and your mom do together? "Stay home"

18. How are you and your mom the same? "We have the same skin"

19. How are you and your mom different? "We have different eyes."

20. How do you know your mom loves you? "Because I was your baby" (I always tell him that no matter how big he gets, he will always be my baby)

I tag Lisa (with Genna), Becky W. (with Nathan) and Beth A. (with Lindsey) and anyone else that wants to do it.

Silly Parker

Parker can be so crazy sometimes. Today he had preschool and a lot of times my friend Lisa will bring him out to the car for me (her daughter is in Parker's little class) so that I don't have to unload my little ones. Aren't I so lucky to have a friend like her :) Well anyways, apparently when she was picking them up one of the teachers told her that during preschool Parker told her that he wasn't going to talk today. And I guess he held true to that promise. When Lisa told me this I asked him if he talked in preschool today and he told me, "No". I asked him why and he said that he didn't want to dance. I guess they were dancing today he apparently didn't want to so, he decided that he wasn't going to talk. He can be so funny sometimes. When he says that he is going to do something, he does it. He is such a smart little boy and truely amazes me a lot of the time. I just love my little Parker. I just hope that his teachers find him endearing and not difficult.

Halloween Night

On Halloween the weather was awesome. Last year we were in Texas so of course the weather was great, but 2 years ago here in Michigan the weather was FREEZING on Halloween. So, I was really worried that it would be cold this year too. Because who wants to be freezing while trick or treating, I know I don't. So, it was so nice to be able to take the kids without having to cover up their costumes with coats and hats. We didn't even have to put sweatshirts on under their costumes. This year we went trick or treating the boys friends Ty and Gage. They just loving playing together so it was fun to go with them.

Here are the boys all decked out. I thought that this picture was funny because it looks like Logan is in a Spider-Man pose. (I think that he was actually just hanging out)

All my little kiddos!!!! They are such a joy to me, I just can't get over it :)

The boys with their friend Ty. I don't think that Ty's little brother Gage wanted to get in the picture.

Ready to head out. Logan has already taken his mask off and the other two followed shortly. This is one of the reasons that I don't like masks, the kids never keep them on.

Trick or treating was very tiring!!! This is how Audrey enjoyed her evening. Hey, I am not complaining because it worked out really well. (Notice her holding on to one of the petals)