Merry Christmas

Another Christmas come and gone. So hard to believe. I must say that we had a wonderful past 2 days with our family. The boys could hardly wait for Santa to arrive. After church last night, we came home and made cookies for Santa (not to mention that we indulged in a couple ourselves). On the way home from church, Reid swore that he saw Santa and his reindeer in the sky. "Hurry home," he says. "We don't want to miss Santa and we still need to make his cookies!!" So cute. Total believer, he is.

Bry and I were up till 1am getting everything ready for the big morning. Ok...we got caught up in a Christmas movie. I'm such a sucker for them. I had grand plans to get up at 6am and get showered and dressed for the day. I know...what in the world was I thinking. Bry asked me later in the day: "Honey, what did you do at 6am this morning?" My reply? "I rolled over, turned the alarm off and went back to sleep!" What was I thinking to get up so stinkin' early??

Our boys were up about 6:45am. I could hear them run straight for their bed and to the top of the stairs. "WOW! Look, Santa was here!!" We quickly got up, got the camera, got Ella up and started down the stairs.

Santa was good to our whole family this year. I end this day feeling a bit guilty of just how good he was to us all. More than we need for sure. We have been blessed. And as if that wasn't enough, Gran shows up at the door with a ton more.

We did take this precious time with our family to celebrate the birth of Jesus. In the midst of wrapping paper being ripped apart and thrown all over the place, we never want to lose site as to why we celebrate this holiday. "Unto to us a Child was born in the city of David, a Saviour who is Christ the Lord." A verse that Reid can proudly quote and one that we have talked about for over a month now. He loved us so much that He sent His precious Son into this world to be born and grow up and ultimately take the place of our sins on the cross. He gave His Son for us. We are so undeserving, but oh so grateful. This is what the Christmas season is all about. I know that my children can answer the questions about why we celebrate Christmas, I just pray daily that it will penetrate their hearts as they get older.

I pray you all had a wonderful day celebrating our Lord.

Here are a couple of pictures of the kiddos. I didn't get any good pics of them today. So sad. But they were far too busy to stay still for mom to take pictures. Plus, I was busying helping them unwrap and take toys out of boxes. On a side note...seriously, you would think that each toy is worth a million dollars the way they package those things!

Merry Christmas. Have a wonderful week.



How can you resist this sweet face? I know I can't! I tried to get a picture with his new shiny, red bike (aka..tricyle), but this was what we got. He was willing to give me one posed smile! I took it. He loves his new bike and ALL his Lightning McQueen toys!


This is our Elf Sized little girl riding her pink horse that sings to her with her new Princess shoes. She loved these shoes. She would push the button to make the horse sing and then she would dance. So stinkin' cute.


Here is Reid with his much anticipated Animal Planet house he asked Santa for. You know, he had never even seen one of these before asking for it. I wondered what he thought it may look like and if he would be disappointed if it wasn't what he had in his little head...but let's just say HE LOVES IT!!

Reid's 5yr Picture

So, the aperture was perfect, the lighting was awesome, but what happened? I looked at the pictures when I got home and I didn't see my baby Reid. I saw this 5yr old child. I just can't believe it. How many times do I have to say that?

Anyway, I took Reid's 5yr pictures this afternoon. I only posted one here. You can go to my Photo blog and check out the rest of the pictures! I think they turned out pretty well. Bry's excited that I just saved him a ton of money!! ;-) Now, to decide which one to blow up to put in our house.

Love this child.

Do we love Santa?

I had a friend send me an email of pictures of all the kids sitting in Santa's lap that just LOVED being there....NOT! We should add this to that list. Poor Ella was petrified. Not just crying...SCREAMING. Shaking! I mean, am I a mean mom or what? But seriously, isn't this picture cute???

You know, I sometimes wonder why we force our kids to sit in Santa's lap when they are so scared. I have always struggled with the whole Santa thing actually. I had an elementary teacher convince me that Santa was from Satan. You know...mix the letters around and look what you get. But you know the story of St Nick is a sweet story. And you know, Reid and Cole are convinced that Santa is real and that he's coming down our chimney. They believe this because a friend of mine...well, her husband actually. He told Reid this really long story about Santa coming down the chimney and leaving toys and gifts for him and his siblings. Reid is such a believer that we have to move our fireplace screen the night before Christmas so that Santa doesn't get trapped! I've even tried to convince him that Santa isn't real. He doesn't believe me! Oh well.

Of course one day he'll find out the truth, but for now, there is such an innocence in believing in Santa. For Reid and Cole, it's magical in some way. Maybe we are wrong as parents, but we tend to think it's sweet. Oh, we still take our boys shopping every year and they pick out toys to give to other children that may not have Christmas at all. Reid was so sweet this year. He picked out several toys that he wanted to have for himself. He kept telling me that the kids would love to play with this or that.

And our boys know that we celebrate Christmas for Christ's birth. We give gifts to show how much we love others. We talk about this all the time. We are careful that our children don't lose the meaning of Christmas...the real meaning.

Anyway, I just thought that I would share this picture. I think it's so funny and I love it. I am sure that Ella won't remember and I'm sure that she will forgive me!!!

Mommy/Daughter

I don't know why I love this picture except for the fact that I think she looks like me here. Everyone that sees or knows Ella always has a different opinion of who they think she looks like. When she was first born, I think she looked a lot like Reid (in petite form) and Bry's side of the family. As she is getting older, I think she is a perfect mix between the 2 boys. Still, everyone will say something different. I have friends that are adamant that she looks just like Reid while others think that she looks just like me (ie...Cole). I do think it's fun to think that she looks like her mama! Maybe because she is such a mommy's girl, she is starting to look like me. She is sure starting to act like me! OH me....the pressure.

All I do know is that she is fearfully and wonderfully made...there is no doubt about that. God has a special plan for this little girl and I am thankful that He has given her to me that I may have the honor and privilege to watch His Will unfold in her life.

BTW...total side note. Ella had her 18 month checkup today with her doc. She is now proudly in the 25% in height and weight! Many of you know that that is HUGE progress. She spent the first year of her life not even on the charts. The docs were worried. I never was as I know that she inherited the petite nature of Bry's sister and mom. YEAH Ella for being a whole 22 pounds now and 30.5 inches!!!

Oh...her head circumference? It has always been in the 90%. That's funny to me considering I never thought her head looked big. I just tell the doc that she has a lot of brains in there. I guess since her face is so petite that her head looks small. Who knows how they come up with these percentiles anyway!

Just some random cute pictures....

of some random cute kids! It's been so fun taking pictures of the kids lately. I usually start taking pictures of Ella because the majority of the time, the boys come running and want to take a family picture with their sister! Works like a charm. They both want to take pictures with her that they get a little excited. They want to put their arms around her, but since she is still quite a bit shorter than them, they tend to wrap their arms around her neck. Poor thing. Now to figure out a plan to prevent this. Hey, one step at a time.

I think my kids smile for the camera since I have it in their face all the time. They figure if they want Mommy to stop taking pictures so that they can play and she will play with them, they may as well cooperate and get it done faster!! (OK...I really think that they think they are cute and want everyone else to see just how cute they are!)

BTW...in the pictures of the 3 of them, they are cracking up at their Daddy acting crazy! Or as Reid would say: "There he goes showing off again!" No, he seriously says that.





I think this is the sweetest picture. I have so many sweet pictures of Reid with Ella, but not as many with Cole. This one just melts my heart.

Reid's Party at school

Today was Reid's actual 5th birthday.

He started his morning off by sleeping in (go figure). A boy who NEVER sleeps in, does so on his birthday as well as a school day! But trust me, I let him sleep.

He awoke to mommy letting him have chocolate milk (a rare treat for him) followed by Dad's famous pancakes. We then got ready and rushed off to school.

I took special cookies to his class that looked like lions for him to share with his friends. No, I didn't make them. I had a friend of a friend make them for him.

Reid's teacher gives everyone a special day at school to celebrate their birthday. Reid's was of course today. As you can see, he got to wear a special hat/crown all day long! He was the line leader and made to feel so special all day long. At the end of the day, Mommy got to go to his class while he shared his cookies and juice. He got to sit in the teacher's chair as everyone sang happy birthday to him! You can see from his expression that he was a bit embarrassed, but loved every minute of it. We then passed out the cookies, ate them and then packed up to go home.

I hear that he had 2 girls squabbling over who was going to marry Reid one day. His teacher said that the little girls kind of migrate to him and follow him. It drives him CRAZY. Course his Daddy told him to get used to it. You see, he is like his Daddy and his Daddy told him that that happened to him his whole life. Can you just hear Bry telling him that?? Reid doesn't struggle with self esteem that's for sure.

After school, Justin came over to play. Then we had dinner at Gatti Town. Isn't Ella and her friend Haley so cute together? They had a ball chasing each other and crawling all over the games. It was cute.

I know..where are the pictures of Reid and Cole and Justin at GT? Do you really think that those boys were going to sit still long enough for me to get their picture?? Not a chance. There was way too much fun to be had by all!

Reid's 5th birthday party

I thought I would share some pics from Reid's 5th birthday party. What a fun time he had.

We celebrated his party with his best pal from school, Justin. They thought it was great to have their party together and the moms thought it was great to share the cost of everything!!

We had their party at Pump It Up. I can't say that our party started off all that well, considering I was told to be there at 4:15 and no one showed up with the key to open the place until 4:50. Did I mention that our party was supposed to start at 4:45 which meant that all guests are requested by Pump It Up to arrive at 4:30??? Did I mention that it was cold outside and that all of our guests were there before the key arrived? Ok...moving along.

Once the party got started the boys had a GREAT time. I have to tell you that Justin and Reid truly adore each other. If I could only record their laughing together and send it to you all. It's contagious. They are all boy, but I think that they have a tender spot for each other (in a cool guy kind of a way of course).

Yes, you will see in some of the pictures that Justin has blood in his nose. Bless his heart...he did get a bloody nose at his own party. But don't worry, it didn't stop him from having fun!

And I threw in a picture of Ella in her car checking out the hot babe in the car next to her. Did you know they had these cars at Pump It Up? They only have 2 of them for all 25 kids to fight over! ;-)

Both the boys raked it in on the gifts. They were both on highs all weekend long. And to think that there's more coming for Christmas. Oh me.

I can hardly believe that I'm a parent of a 5 yr old. I don't know whether to cry because I am getting old or go get botox and fight getting old! Just kidding on the last part. But seriously...wow. He will be in Kindergarten next year. I can't take this. Can't he stay 5 forever?

Reid has always been a joy in our lives. He has taught us much about the innocence in life that we all once had and all too quickly lost. He has taught us patience and total reliance on God. He has taught us simple faith. He has such a tender heart all the while still being 100% boy...which means he's loud in all that he does and he's rough in every area. He brings so much laughter to our home in more ways than one. And though he can be a challenge at times, he loves big and he loves deep. Everyone who knows Reid and really knows Reid will know that he loves his family so much. He may fight with his brother, but he always wants to make sure that Cole is taken care of. If he gets a treat bag from a party, his first question is "Did Cole get one?" And he is ALWAYS protecting his sister. He gets truly sad when one of them is hurt. Watching his love for his siblings has taught us much about God's love for us. Little does he know just how much he has taught us and just how he challenges us to draw closer to God.

We love this child from the bottom of our hearts. Whoever is lucky enough to marry him one day (you know, when he's about 35) will be one blessed lady. I am praying for her every single day. I love you my angel!!!

A Princess Party

I thought I should share my little Princess. Ella and I went to her very first (of many, I'm sure) Princess party. Her little friend Jaelyn was turning 2 and she had a party at my friend's Party Palace. I was honestly thinking that little miss wouldn't really enjoy the party as it would be too old for her. But let me just tell you...she had a BLAST! She loved dressing up and pranced all over the place in her little dress. Once we got the crown to stay in her hair, she loved that too. The little girls were sprinkled with Princess fairy dust (glitter), they got to sip on some Princess tea (really sweet lemonade), and enjoy a Princess cake (chocolate cupcake). They walked the runway as the announcer gave some fun facts about them and then they had a dance. Once a Princess, always a Princess because they are fearfully and wonderfully made! Such a fun party. I loved it and so did Ella. I'm so glad she fun. Oh yeah...I forgot...she got her fingernails painted for the first time ever! Ms. Rachel did a great job. Ella sat in my lap and held her little hands so still (I was totally shocked). When we got home, she ran down the hall saying, "Da Da...See?!" She had to show him her nails! So cute! It was a fun mother/daughter moment for sure.

My little Santa helpers.....

Just had to share these adorable pictures of my children.

We were on our way to a Christmas party for my kids and I decided to try to take a few pictures of them before we left. I was honestly expecting a disaster, but was pleasantly surprised. I can't believe just how good these pictures turned out. They are so fun.

All 3 of my children decided to pose for the camera. They were all smiles the whole time. What I love most about these pictures is the fact that their personalities come through very clear. Not only that, but I look at these pictures and think how in the world did they get so big. These are the first pictures in a long time that I have looked at them and thought to myself, they are so big. When did this happen? Why do they have to grow up?

I hope you enjoy the pictures of my 3 little Santa helpers.

All the cousins

Here is a picture of all of the cousins from Bry's side of the family. This is the first time in 7 years that they have all been together. Course 7 years ago, my 3 angels didn't exist. It was quite the challenge to get a picture of all 7 of them in a happy, smiley mood. Actually, is that even possible??? Made for good memories though.

Cousin Bec....

While we were in Kansas for Thanksgiving, I also had the opp to see my cousin Becki. I hadn't seen her since Reid was 9 month old. That's a long time. She was really excited to see Reid and to meet Cole and Ella. Lots of first meetings for my children on this trip.

Becki came over for lunch (prepared by my sister in law) along with her boyfriend Joe. It was fun meeting him. Not sure he will ever want to be a part of her family though after meeting us (well, after meeting Bry that is!). Just kidding Bec. I am sure that meeting Bry would make anyone want to be a part of the family. Lots of laughs for sure.

First meeting with Grandma

I know that I haven't posted in a really long time. Haven't seem to find the time to sit down to do it.

Let me catch you up on a few events in the next couple of posts.

The first thing will take us back to Thanksgiving! Pretty sad, I know, but hey, it's a start.

When we went to Kansas for Thanksgiving, this would mark the very first time that Bry's mom had ever seen Ella. Yelp, this would be their very first meeting. Here is a picture of them together.