JB the Elf

One last thing about Christmas, I promise. This year my boys were visited about a week and a half before Christmas by JB Elf (stands for Jaxon, Beckham:)). He left this cute gift on the porch and rung the doorbell. He drew my kids pictures, and the box even had their last name on it!! My brother and sis-in-law did this for my kids, and they LOVED it! They took JB's visit VERY seriously, and all I had to do was remind them JB was watching and they were great kids until Christmas:). They also were constantly looking out the windows trying to get a sneak peek of JB! Thanks Jarod and Jess. You guys are the best!

Christmas in February

Well, hello blogging world. Long time no see:). Sadly I haven't had much interest in blogging lately. It really is sad because this is my journal of our lives, and it's not a good sign when almost six months go undocumented. At some point I'll try and go back and post about my little sis' wedding, etc., but not today. Today is reserved for two Halloween pics, then a little Christmas. We are FINALLY in our new house, and loving it! We love our new area, and all of the new friends we have made;).
Jax had actually decided to be a magician for Halloween, so we bought him a costume. He wore it to the trunk-or-treat, and then decided the hat with a rabbit on it was too funny to wear. Instead he became a ninja, for the second year in a row:).Isn't this the cutest skunk?!! He is kind of smelly though...seriously:).
Every Christmas eve we head to my Grandma Warren's house for a family party. This is my kids' only chance to sit on Santa's lap, since most of the time I'm too worried about germs to take them to Santa at the mall (they have been, it just skeeves me out:)).This is as close as we could get to Beckham sitting on Santa's lap. He's my most shy and timid child by far. Check out his face! Krew's first time sitting on Santa's lap. At least he didn't cry:) Next we headed home and got ready for Santa to visit us. We set out milk and cookies, and Jax wrote him a note:Krew's Christmas:It was an Imaginext Christmas at our house. My boys are OBSESSED with anything Imaginext. We now have almost complete sets of almost all of the Imaginext toy lines. Jaxon and Beckham got these from Santa...and these wrapped presents from Mom and Dad (almost all Imaginext of course):

I should have taken pictures after they opened all of their presents, but I was too busy with the camcorder. They were spoiled, and even more so at the end of the day! When asked, we clued everyone in to their love of superheroes, etc.

***Can I tell you how cute Beckham is right now?!! I will post pictures later, but he is COMPLETELY obsessed with superheroes. He goes throughout the day with the following in his pockets: Batman, Robin, Green Lantern, Joker, Two Face, Spiderman, Riddler, and Penguin. He even sleeps in his jeans because he has a meltdown if we even think of parting any superheroes from him. Once in a while, the superheroes are changed out for Wolverine, Ironman, etc, but he mostly sticks to the same ones. He also wears a Robin mask all day EVERY day, and even makes me call him "Robin" half of the time. I love it!!!

I'll TRY to post again soon...

Catch-Up #1 JaXoN is FiVe!!!

Yeah, back on SEPT 8 my little baby Jax turned five. I can write "my little baby" on here since he can't read...he has officially banned me from calling him that:)! It was a little bit of a crazy time for us since my sis was getting married and it was a pre-wedding rush of to-do projects, but I wanted to make sure Jaxon had a special day. He wanted a Sponge Bob birthday, complete with the pinata and all. He got it! Thanks family for helping us to make his day so special~!

Jax getting ready to smack the pinata. My camera died right after this picture so I don't have one of any other kids and the pinata:).

Jax also had an "under the sea" treasure hunt! Ryan made sure all the kids had their pirate hooks ready to begin. Then he gave the kids hints and had them running all over the park. The booty was next to the pepsi machine, and eventually they found it. They each got a Sponge Bob party bag full of prizes, and then Ryan distributed the gold pieces. Jax got about a billion presents for his birthday, and loved our little family party. I told him before that he could have a friend party, but there just wasn't time for it. Instead, he got a family party with games he would have played at a friend party. It worked:). Pictures of cake and presents to come:). That's all my time for now (after bedtime and baby screaming in the background)!

Then and Now

I remember being a teenager and looking at people my age now and thinking they were so OLD. I never thought I would reach the ripe old age of 28, let alone 29. Then came college, and my plans for my future evolved. I made career-oriented goals. I was going to become a lawyer, and maybe move back East somewhere. I stuck to this goal pretty much through college, only changing my mind at the end when I met Ryan.

Once I met Ryan, my plans changed again. I loved being a couple, loved being married. We constantly went on newly wed dates. There was a time when we had seen every movie worth seeing at the theater (this sounds corny but it amazes me now since we're lucky if we see a movie every few months). A few years after getting married my plans expanded and I wanted to be a mom, to have a family. I started out thinking only one or two kids, and Ryan's plans were three or four (he won obviously:)). I could only see the fun part of having kids, where you got to dress them and play with them. I didn't really believe people when they talked about how hard kids were, the lack of sleep, etc. Wow, was I in for a surprise:)!

Now, I am a mom of three boys, and a wife to an amazing person. I am busy constantly with building our house, and just the everyday stuff being a stay-at-home-mom entails. Back in the day I never knew how hard life could be, but also how great life would be. With trials come rewards. This is especially true with my kids. They are the hardest thing in my life, but by far the most rewarding.

I love this season in my life, even if it is so different from where I saw my future going when I was younger. I'm turning 29 tomorrow, and apparently feeling a little nostalgic by the tone of this post:). Plans change, dreams change, but life just keeps getting better!

Dirty Dash

I have so much blogging to do, but I figure this is a great place to start. September 25 my whole family (9 of us) ran the Dirty Dash. AWESOME! If you love to run, love to get dirty, or love a challenge, this race is for you! 6.2 miles of running through tires, jumping over walls, jumping over hay bales, running through a bogg, getting hit with snow machines, running up muddy hills, trail running, sliding down a huge slide being squirted by fire hoses, and crawling through a giant mud pool...GREAT! We all had so much fun, and will for sure be going back every year! Just don't wear anything you care about, and you'll end up donating your shoes because you'll never be able to get them clean yourself! We SERIOUSLY had an awesome time. Loved gettin' dirty! The second picture is me after my first fall, but still relatively clean from the front. The first picture is just after the finish line. Ry finished with my older brother Jarod, and I finished with my little bro and sis, and my shiny brand new brother-in-law. Good times:)

First Day of School

Jax had his first day of preschool today. He was so excited! He is going to school with our soon-to-be next-door-neighbor (a lot of hyphens:)) Peyton! Here are a few pic's of school, ending with random fun pictures from the garage last night:)!

Love 'Em To Pieces

Can I tell you how much I LOVE these faces?!!! Even though as I'm typing I have one crying because he's tired, one crying because he wants to nurse NOW, and one getting mad at me because HE wants to play on the computer, not me! Being a mom of three is definitely challenging at times, but I feel so blessed that heavenly father gave these boys into my care. I wouldn't trade them for anything!!!
If you can't tell, Krew got a haircut (it's not done in these pic's, but neither is Jax's or Becks'). We cut about an inch and a half off. It was traumatic for me (tears and all). Krew is keeping his darker hair, and his eyes are blue at the edges and brown in the middle. I love that he's a little different-looking than the other two. He is always grinning at me, (except in these pictures apparently).
Well, gotta go now. Beckham and Jax are now trying to punch each others' lights out...(IT NEVER ENDS:))