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Sharing The Love Christmas

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Random Things

The kids change so much so quickly, especially Claire, so I thought I would post some more pics. Our kids are so fun and energetic. And this next week Grandma and Papa are coming and they have been so excited for them!!! It is so much fun!


Also, they do school a little differently here in Texas and instead of having quarters, they have 5 six week increments. And for kindergarten they do not do the typical A,B,C..... so on, they do D for developing, M for mastery, C for concern, and one more I don't know what it is. Also, in Kindergarten you don't get a report card your first six weeks, but Brooke just finished her second and she got all D's and M's (who would have ever thought I'd be ok with a D, LOL)!

J.D. and I are so proud of Brooke! She works hard at school and does her very best! She is an amazing student and very smart and kind! So as a reward for her good grades she was able to get "Spirit Sleeves." I describe them as leg warmers for your arms. She came running of the bus with them on yesterday to show me. They are so cute! I'll have to take a picture of them!


Claire is probably the most smiley baby we've had! She is so happy and content and that is pretty important being number three and having all the things and JD and I are doing right now!

Nixon is a hoot! He makes me laugh so much and I love him for that! He is so much fun and LOVES the camera, if you couldn't tell. Anytime the camera comes out, he's smiling saying "CHEESE!" He is getting to big for my liking! I miss my baby boy, but it is fun to watch him grow from a baby to to little boy.

Maybe we are mean parents, but Claire lets us make her have funny faces! She's so cute.


Oh and... HAPPY BIRTHDAY to JD!! The big 2-9!! Love you sweetheart! I'm so glad you are a part of my life!

This is JD at the Sacred Grove earlier this year when he had to opportunity to go!

Claire's Blessing

I can't believe Claire is already three months old!! How time flies by! We blessed her over Labor Day weekend and Keith and Jessie and their family and my mom were able to come out for it.


Miraculously, it cooled off that weekend so we had pleasant weather when they came. JD gave a wonder blessing to our sweet little girl and we are so happy to have her!! We got some pictures before church, which is amazing because we are rarely that early!

But we made sure we were ready pretty early because we wanted to be early to church and it takes between 20 and 30 minutes to get to our building, something we have gotten used to, but maybe not Mom and Keith and Jessie who live across the street from their building. :) And of course we didn't get any pictures of Claire with JD or even any as a family!!


I guess we weren't really thinking to much of that. But at one point before Claire was born I was looking for blessing dresses and Brooke asked if that was for the baby and I said yes. Then she said to me, "Why doesn't she just wear mine?" I asked would you want to share it and she was so excited that she could share something of her's with her baby sister. Brooke is a sweet girl and going to be a wonderful example to Claire!


Then there is my fun, wild and crazy Nixon, who loves Claire so much and is already so protective of her. He wants to hold her a lot, and doesn't want help. But he isn't quite careful enough to do that by himself yet!


JD and I have been blessed with three amazing children! And we love them so much!

Brooke's First Day of School!!

I know I am so late with getting this posted, just like I have been for the past I don't know how long, but we have had a lot going on at our house! I'm not only trying to get used to a new baby and three kids, and Brooke starting school, but I have been called as the Bear den leader! :) So we sure know how to stay busy at our house!!!

BUT... We were so excited for Brooke to start school! The Friday before school started we went to Meet the Teacher. It was so fun to get to go see her school, which is brand new, and meet Mrs. Hoffpauir. She is super nice and has been teaching Kindergarten for 26 years!! Brooke was so excited!!


So the first day of school came, August 23, and Brooke is a bus rider, but we thought we would drive her to school that day. (we've only missed the bus once, which is another story in and of itself, but Brooke would much rather ride the bus than get a ride) She was a brave girl and didn't shed a tear. Me on the other hand, well lets just say it was a tough day for Mom. But she has made so many new friends and is doing so well in her class!! It's amazing to me all the things she has already learned!! We are so glad that she is LOVING school and hopes that continues!


Nixon actually tried to get on the bus with her one day. It was so cute and sad at the same time. He really wanted to and was so mad that he couldn't. He had his shoes and backpack on!! And of course Brooke always posing for the camera!

Claire Jane

Well, I've been slacking on the blogging a lot lately and we've had a lot to post. First I need to post pictures from Nixon's birthday!

Then 11 days later we welcomed a new member into our family, Claire Jane! She was born July 25th at about 8:55 in the morning. I say about because no one bothered to look at the clock to take the time of birth, except for JD who says it was 8:52, but nonetheless she is her! She was 7lbs. 11oz. 20.5 inches long and I remember thinking she was so big, she was the biggest of our three. Claire is a beautiful healthy baby, that LOVES to sleep! I can't complain because she lets me get a lot of sleep.bored out of their mind at the hospital

She is happy and big sister and big brother love having her here!! They are the best big helpers a mom could ask for! We are still adjusting to having three, and going to the store by myself with all three is quite an experience. The first time I went to Walmart with all three, I had all the groceries in all the kids in and before I got all the doors shut a bee flew into the car. I had to get all the kids out while I got the bee out. Let's just hope that never happens again!! We are so happy that Claire is part of our family and in the words of Brooke we are now a five family! :)

Nixon's Birthday

I know I'm late, but what is new!?! Nixon's birthday was last week and we had so much fun celebrating it as a family. JD was up and out of the house early that day, so when the kids woke up we went to get donuts for breakfast. We came home lit some candles and sang happy birthday to Nixon. Then we played all day and Dad was able to come home early so we got to play with him too!

Then that night we went to McDonald's for dinner, good for the kids and me! :) After dinner we came home and opened Nixon's presents. AND of course... The camera was having some issues so we didn't get a whole lot of pictures, but Nixon loved his presents! He got little plastic golf clubs, which he is still learning the art of using them, but for now swings them like they are a baseball bats. He got a Woody and a Buzz toy or action figure, one from Brooke. Finally he got a little T-ball set, that we played for FHE last night and a baseball glove and ball! We then moved on to birthday cake, which he liked the singing and blowing out the candle the best. He took maybe two bites of cake and then was off to play with his toys! He was so cute! He is so fun and getting so big!

I can't believe how time flies! My baby boy is already 2!! And he's not so little anymore! He has grown like a weed, probably because he's eaten like a horse, over the past two years! It's so fun to watch him grow up and hear him begin to talk more! He's adorable! One of my favorite things he says is "Oh yeah." He asks what I'm doing and I'll tell him and then he says, "Oh yeah." Like he knew all along that was what I was doing. He has a cute little personality that makes JD and me laugh everyday! We are so grateful to have our little Nixon be a part of our family! He is so much fun and good little brother for Brooke, and he'll be a great big brother in a few days! We love you buddy!

Ok, now I am ridiculously late!! I know I have a lot to post and especially pictures, I will get to that soon!! Life has been very busy and chaotic trying to adjust to three and getting Brooke in school! I have pictures of Claire and Nixon's birthday and Brooke's first day of school posted soon.

Brooke's First Lost Tooth

I've been bad about adding new posts, so this was a while ago.

Brooke came to me one day and showed me she had a loose tooth! That was very exciting, JD was going to be out of town for a few more days so I figured we'd have plenty of time for him to get home before her tooth actually came out. The very next day she came crying to me while I was in the middle of my prayers and I couldn't get her to calm down until I realized she had lost her tooth! She was holding it in her hand trying to show me! I told her it wasn't anything to be sad about, but that it was so exciting, the tooth fairy would be coming, it was good. Then she told me, "but it's bleeding!" It made me chuckle, I guess I forgot how traumatic it can be. So we immediately went to the sink so she could get her mouth all washed up. The worst part was I didn't have my camera! I was with JD on his trip. All I had was my cell phone, which won't let me upload anything to the computer. And of course while JD was home I didn't think to take pictures of Brooke. But she lost her first tooth on April 23rd! She was so excited to put it under her pillow and wait for the tooth fairy to come. She came and left some money and a note along with her tooth explaining that she left the tooth this time so she could show her daddy since he wasn't home.

It's fun to watch Brooke grow up and have lots of new experiences! I'll have to remember when JD gets home next week to take pictures so I can post them!

And yes Kevin the tooth fairy told her to brush her teeth really well so she wouldn't lose her permanent teeth.

Brooke's Hair Cut

A few weeks ago Brooke asked me to cut her hair and I have been forgetting that I needed to do that. This morning she reminded me once again, so we did it before JD went to work. I had her sit on a stool in the bathroom and I was brushing through her hair when she said, "Mom, I want you to cut it short, like yours." I could not believe it! First, she never wants me to trim her hair. Second, every time I do she freaks out that I'm going to cut more than an inch off!! So I had to call JD into the bathroom so she could tell him that herself, he wouldn't believe it coming from me. She told him and he told her not today, but on another day. We did cut her hair, about 2-3 inches off. I was worried for a bit that I may have cut all the curls out, but she is JD's daughter. I don't think she will ever go without curls! It's hard to get used to seeing her hair be so much shorter than it was, but it's cute. Brooke gets worried that when she wakes up her hair won't be the same length as it is now. I've told her several times that her hair will be fine, and that it take a while for it to grow back. It's so fun to watch Brooke grow up and she her brain working and her personality coming out more and more. I'll have to post pictures soon of her hair!

Spring is here, sort of...

We've been waiting for a while for nice warm spring weather. This is my first official winter, where it has lasted more than what seemed like only a month. So last week we were enjoying weather in the 60s and 70s, in fact the temperature on Friday was a pleasant 75 degrees. Then on Saturday, the day Spring arrives, the weather turns bitterly cold and we have rain on and off all day. By nightfall it was snowing very lightly, but still sticking. We were expecting a light dusting to an inch. To my surprise and my children's joy we woke up to 6 inches of snow and more still falling!!! Luckily for me, with my first experience driving in snow... (JD's out of town, and we had to go to church) the streets were clear or just slushy, so we made there and back alive. To my surprise as we were leaving church the snow was already melting and quite quickly!! So we got home and out of our church clothes bundled up in our warm ones and went to play for a little bit in what snow was left. Today we are again enjoying spring weather! You never know what you'll get in good ol' Texas!

Snow Days

A couple weeks ago we had a big snow storm blow through. This made our third one of the season, which I guess is highly unusual for this area, I didn't think that much would amount from it because the past two we had a total of maybe a 1/2 inch to an inch of snow combined! But this time it snowed A LOT for two days!! And by the time we were done we had at least 6 inches of snow at our house!! We had so much fun!! On Thursday before JD got home the kids and I started playing out in the snow. We went out a couple times and tried to make a snow man, using a baby carrot for the nose and blueberries for the eyes. He wasn't that big and we knocked him down! When JD got home from work he built a larger one with the kids because we had even more snow to play in when he got home!! Luckily, JD had Friday off work and we had a ton of fun that day!!!! We had to run some errands and then after that we had a huge snowball fight where Brooke and I surprised attacked JD and then Brooke became a traitor to me and fought against me on JD's side. We all got little colds from playing out in snow without proper snow gear, but what else could I expect for living somewhere that I thought it never snowed!

Brooke and Nixon out playing for the first time in the snow. Nixon was so funny when he'd through a snowball he'd say, "Ow!"


Brooke worked a lot on perfecting her snowball!

Nixon loved the snow! He tromped all over in it! And loved picking it up and throwing it at whatever he could.

This is the pitiful little snowman that I helped Brooke make while JD was at work that fell apart after more snow came, so that none of it was left by the time JD got home.


The kids helping JD build their snowman.


The finished product. We didn't have enough branches on your tree to break off and use as arms so we used black hangers.


The view from our front door on Friday morning.
(I know this might not seem like much to those who have lived or live in places where it snows, but it was pretty amazing to me!)


The view of our house.


Looking east from our house. This picture does not do it justice!! It was so incredibly beautiful!

And our poor snowman lost his arms during the night. Good thing they were just buried under the snow.

It is the kind of snow that JD and I like, comes for a few days and then is gone! We had so much fun and made so many fun memories!

And The Verdict is....

Today I had my ultrasound to find out whether we were having a girl or a boy. I have never had such a long ultrasound, and I've had my fair share of them, but we checked out just about every body part there is to check out without checking for the sex of the baby. Finally at the end the technician was looking to see, and it was a little difficult because the baby was laying on their tummy and had it's legs pretty tight together. But he said he was 80% sure that it is a girl!! So Brooke was super excited for a little baby sister, and I'm sure Nixon will think why have I been stuck with all these girls. I may have cursed him with the opposite of what I had. He'll survive! We are really excited though! Now it's time to decide on a name. :)

Brooke's tutu and Nixon's hair cut

Last week at Hobby Lobby they had tulle on sale for 77 cents a yard, so I decided that to make a tutu for Brooke. She was so excited and wanted to help me. Yesterday we cut the tulle, sewed the elastic and tied the tulle onto the elastic.

She LOVES it! She put it on and ran to find her fairy wings that just happen to match and wanted to find her wand. She was so excited that she could be a fairy, and we decided that she could use that as her Halloween costume and it all cost less than $5!

Last Saturday JD and I gave Nixon a hair cut. I should have taken a before picture to compare, but I didn't. He hates getting his hair cut. Last time we did it his hair did not turn out so well, but this time we got it all even. We just you the clippers to cut his hair. He has to sit on JD's lap while I buzz. The poor little boy cried the entire time and he loves to suck on his fingers, so he would try to do that to soothe himself, but he couldn't even do that because he would get hair in his mouth. But he survived and his little curls in the back had to go. He looks so big when he gets his hair cut. He's turning into my little boy, so that I don't have a baby anymore.

Nixon loves to get his picture taken and all I have to do is get the camera out and he comes running. I tell him to say cheese and he does, it's so cute. He's pretty much yelling "CHEESE!" in this picture.

The Cardinals Win!!

So, of course it's playoff time and for the second year in a row the Cardinals have made the playoffs. We watched to game today and it came down to the end of the game and overtime. JD and I were on the edge of our seats. Brooke went a put her cheerleader outfit on with her pom poms and was cheering for the Cardinals near the end of the game it was so cute. But all throughout the game any time there was a high five, Brooke and Nixon were right there to give one! At the end of the game when the Cardinals recovered a fumble and ran it into the end zone for a touchdown to end the game we were all up on our feet cheering. Nixon even had some pom poms and was cheering and hooting and hollering along with the rest of us. It was so fun to just see the kids dancing around and being loud! It made for a fun evening!

This is Brooke and Nixon sort of celebrating after the game. We couldn't find the camera really quick while the were being really loud, but it was so fun and cute!!

Christmastime

Well we were busy this month, but we had a lot of fun and a wonderful Christmas. The kids had so much fun getting all the decorations out and decorating the house for Christmas. Brooke will be sad to see it all come down this weekend. I mostly am going to post a ton of pictures from over the past month (more like the past couple of weeks).

I love having the kids help decorate the Christmas tree because we wind up with bunches of the same ornament in the same spot! But it never fails every year Brooke gets the urge to add her own decorations to the tree. We never know when she's going to do it. One year it was after we had opened all the presents and we found hangers and stockings and anything that you could find. That year she even put the car keys in a hanging container and hung it on a tree, that was a problem when it was time to drive over to Grandma's! But this year we go ALL her wonderful play jewerly on the tree. She put on her necklaces and bracelets. And was very proud of how the tree looked in the end.

A couple days before Christmas, JD had the day off and so we took the kids down to the mall to see Santa. That was such a fun experience! It was Nixon's first time seeing Santa and he did great. He just sat there, but didn't cry. Brooke was so excited to see him and let him know what she wanted. One of the best parts of the experience was when we were waiting in line there were three other families around us with little kids. All three families had sweet little girls around Nixon's age and he made fast friends with two of them, definitely flirting with them. Another little girl saw this and came right up to Nixon and just started hugging him. Nixon wasn't to sure about her. It was fun for all of us in line and kept us a little entertained.

One very fun and unexpected surprise was that we got a snow storm on Christmas Eve! It was so beautiful to watch the snow fall. We all bundled up and played in the snow while it was falling. We are all kids at heart so we had a ton of fun!

Nixon after we were out in the snow.

This is what our car looked like on Christmas Eve night when we went out to give some goodies to our neighbors and grab a pizza for dinner. I don't have much experience with snow, so I had never had my car doors frozen together. I told JD that I couldn't get the doors open and one of them he had to push on the inside while I pulled on the outside! Oh the fun things you learn!

Christmas morning coming down the hall!! We had to wake Brooke up because Nixon woke up first and we were pretty sure he wouldn't wait for Brooke.

Nixon with his new beanie and banana from his stocking. He LOVES bananas. I think that is honestly an understatement!! He wouldn't wait for his banana so that was the first thing he did.

Nixon's backpack from Noah, that he loves!

Santa brought us a new Wii game and it has been so much fun! I think I'll have very strong arms in a couple of months, it's a good work out. JD gets frustrated because we can all (excluding Nixon) beat him in ping pong.

Brooke with one of her favorite presents, a barbie fairy from Grandma Burns. Her other favorite gift was a robe and slippers. I love when they are so easy to please!

When we went to Arizona for Thanksgiving, Nixon found Noah's Handy Manny toolbox and the tools bounce up and down in it and it plays music! He loved it and played with it a lot and would dance to it, so Santa brought him one of his own. It was been fun to watch him dance to it. Him and Brooke also love chasing his cars that you shake and then they go on their own.

We're all bundled up and ready to go play in our little amount of snow.

Brooke throwing her first snowball. She had to ask how to make one! It was so fun. The snow was so powdery that it had a hard time sticking together and would fall apart as we threw it.

Nixon watching Brooke and mom have a snow fight and not sure if he wants to join or not.

Running around the yard trying to avoid the snowballs. The sidewalk was icy so we had to be careful and after Nixon slipped twice on it we went inside to have hot chocolate and get warmed up. It was a wonderful month spending time together as a family, spending time with friends celebrating the season, and most importantly remembering the birth of our Savior.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and a wonderful New year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S!!