Merry Christmas late!

We hope that everyone had a Very Merry Christmas filled with family and love. I hope that we all remebered the true meaning of Christmas as we celebrated. I am so thankful for this time of year and the joy it brings to all of us.

We had a wonderful Christmas and here are a few pictures from that fun morning! They are in the wrong order, but I am too lazy to fix them.

Here is Steve having more fun with the toys than the kids. Steve has always loved Nerf guns.

Another of Steve with the Nerf gun. You wouldn't know that it is actually Andrew's present.

Alex eating wrapping paper. Yum!

Andrew with his new Hot Wheels set.

Malea with her Cabbage Patch kid. Lilly Paula is her name. I think she is very cute.

Alex wasn't too sure about the whole unwrapping presents thing, but he remained happy and loves his new toys.

Malea's new dollhouse. Andrew likes it as much as she does, and they have been playing with it non-stop.

Before the chaos began.

Elf Yourself Merry Christmas

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Christmas Pictures

This morning I decided that I needed to get pictures done for our Christmas cards. It was definitely interesting. Andrew and Alex were sick all weekend, Andrew with the stomach flu and Alex with croupe. Needless to say, it was not a fun weekend and today they were both still a little bit grumpy and not feelin 100%. I got them all bathed and dressed and told them they just had to be cute for a couple of pictures. This is some of what I got. I do think they turned out pretty cute, even if they are not perfect, and of course at least one of them looks goofy in each one. That's kids for you. I've also learned that the more kids you add, the less likely you're going to get a really great shot.

Thanksgiving thoughts

I am feeling very sentimental right now and very thankful for all of my many blessings. I have way too many blessings to be able to name them all, but I will put down a few.



I am so very thankful for a wonderful loving husband who supports our family and is the amazing patriarch of our home. I am thankful for my three beautiful children who have so many talents and wonderful things that they bring to our home. I am thankful for the joy that they all bring to my life. I am thankful that we are all strong and healthy.



I am thankful for my sisters and my parents. I am thankful for the love and support that they give to me. I am thankful that my sisters are truely my best friends and that they are always there when I need them. I am thankful that my parents raised me to know right from wrong and to stand up for my beliefs. I think they did a wonderful job at raising us.



I am thankful for wonderful in-laws who are truely my family. I love them all and am grateful for their love and support.



I am thankful for all of my extended family who I am so close to. I feel sorry for people who do not get to know their grandparents, Aunts/Uncles, and cousins as well as I do. I love you all and am thankful for your love and support.



I am thankful for amazing friends who also love and support me. I love you all dearly. Although I don't get to see all of them as much as I'd like to, I want you all to know how much you mean to me.



Heavenly Father has blessed me in so many ways. I will never be able to express my immense grattitude toward him. I know that he loves me and will continue to bless me and my family. I love the gospel so much and am so thankful that he sent his son to die for me and each of us.



Sorry for the sappy post, but I felt that during this season of Thanksgiving that it was important to share my gratefulness. I love you all and hope that you have a fabulous holiday!

Photo tag

My friend Karyn tagged me in this game of photo tag. Here are the rules:

1. Go to your pictures file.

2. Go to the 4th file.

3. Go to the 4th picture.

4. Post it and tell the story.

5. Tag 4 more people.

This is Malea still in her pajamas one morning. Steve wanted more recent pictures of Andrew and Malea to put on his myspace, so he grabbed the camera. There is no fun or exciting story, but I like this picture. It captures the silly side of Malea. These are also her favorite pajamas with Ariel on them. Sorry it wasn't more exciting.

I will tag:

Amy - All about the Caldwell's

Adrienne - Ballantyne Bunch

Jalaine - The Gibson's Ark

Denise Wilkes - Wilkes Family

I hope you have fun with this and I can't wait to see what you post.

Halloween

So I realize that I am behind, but I wanted to post some pictures from Halloween. We had a wonderful day and the kids were adorable.

This is Malea as a ballerina, doing her favorite "trick!"

Alex was a cute little penguin, however, he only wore the costume for a couple of pictures, and then had had enough! It was also too warm for him.

Andrew was Spiderman for the second year in a row. I tried to convince him to be something else, but he would not hear of it. Luckily the costume from last year still fit him and I got to save money.
Here are my silly little trick-or-treaters together.

This is Malea's pumpkin that she picked. My friend Rebecca grows pumpkins every year, and she let Malea and her school friends pick out a pumpkin. Thank you Rebecca!

Here are all of the pre-school friends together with their pumpkins. They are all such sweet kids, and I am glad that Malea can have great friends.

Overall, we had a great week filled with fun parties and family. Malea and Andrew both had parties at school and Andrew had a costume parade. We went to lots of family members homes to show of their costumes, and we attended the Trunk-or-Treat at the Blaine St. Church. It was a wonderful and fun holiday!

My real name.

The other morning Malea came running in and said to me, "Your nick name is Andrea, and your real name is Mommy." I thought it was so cute that I just had to share. Most days it does feel like my real name is Mommy, but it is a name that I wouldn't trade for anything. I love being the mommy to my three sweet and wonderful children. I am very blessed.

Alex is 4 months old!

As of yesterday, Alex is 4 months old. The time is going by way too fast. He is such a sweet and fun baby. He really is so easy and cheerful. This is my favorite baby age when they play, but are not yet able to get around. I am so very thankful for this beautiful baby boy that Heavenly Father has sent to our family!

Alex went to his first hockey game to celebrate him being 4 months old! Okay, we would have gone anyway, but it sounds good. He was wonderful the whole time and the Ducks won. He is wearing his brothers new beanie hat that is way too big, but it looked cute anyways.

Alex was all tuckered out by the end of the game. Aunt Cathy was in heaven holding the cuddly sleepy boy!

Alex loves to play with his little floor play gym, but he doesn't stay on it anymore.

Here is a picture of Alex right after he rolled over.

Alex is also getting good at sitting up. He is still a little bit wobbly and folds mostly in half, but we're getting there.

Here is a small video of Alex laughing. He is very ticklish, and before I pulled out the camera he was laughing histerically. I still caught a small laugh. I love the sound of laughing babies!

Alex is rolling over

Alex has finally figured out how to roll from his back to his tummy. He has been rolling from is tummy to back for a while, but now he can do both. He has been so close for a long time, but he is very content to be on his side, so he never really tried that hard. This morning he figured out how to do it and now every time I put him down, he immediately rolls onto his tummy. He is very funny, because he can lift his head up very well, but he also wants to be on his knees. He hasn't figured out how to do both at the same time, so his poor little face gets smashed into the floor. He goes back and forth between lifting his head and pushing up to his knees. He eventually gets fed up and just wants to be held. It is amazing how quickly they learn to do things. He is already growing up too fast. I want him to stay my baby. I love all of the first year milestones though.

Andrew the baby magnet

Kids and especially babies have always loved Andrew. For some reason he always makes them laugh. We can be anywhere and he will see a baby and make the baby laugh. It doesn't matter if we know them or not. My neice Madelyn especially thinks he is funny. He just has to be around her and she will start laughing histerically.

Tonight it was especially cute when Andrew was playing with Alex. Alex was laughing harder than I have ever heard him laugh before. We all couldn't help but laugh along. Laughter is definitely contagious, and there is no better sound than the laughter of your children. I love when my kids are so happy.

I hope that Andrew continues to have this effect on babies his whole life. I think it is adorable.

Big vs. Little

So Malea lately has been telling us how big she is. When she wants to do something on her own she says "no my do it cause I'm big." Yesterday however, it was a very different story.

She will not sleep in her own bed and always ends up in bed with Andrew, because we will not let her in our bed. Poor Andrew. We told her that she is a big girl now and needs to start sleeping in her own bed. She said "no my not big, my little." That was the end of that.

Later, Steve and I were talking about how she hasn't been taking naps lately, and by 5:00 in the evening she is horrendous because she is so tired. Steve said "Malea you need to take naps, that is what little girls do." She said "no, my big!" Steve said, "If you're big than you need to sleep in your own bed." Her reply was, "no my a little girl who doesn't take naps!" There is no fooling Malea.

She is one of the most stubborn children on the planet. She keeps me on my toes.

Daniels' Dictionary

So I am totally stealing this idea from my friend Adrienne Ballantyne, but I thought that it was cute and a great idea. These are some of the silly words that my kids use and their definitions. Kids always come up with some of the funniest words and I wanted to be able to remember them.



Bumper Beds= Bunk Beds

Puter= Computer

my= I

noodles with orange sauce= Macaroni and cheese



Malea always ads an "ed" to the ends of her words. For example, insted of saying "I cried," she says "I cry-ed." Actually it would be "my cry-ed" because for some reason she says "my" instead of "I."

I just love kids language. These are just a few that I could think of off the top of my head, but I will try to update the list as I remember or hear more.

Fun In The Sun

On Friday the 22nd we went to the Diamond Valley Aquatic Center for some good old fun in the sun. The kids had a blast. Andrew loved playing with all of the fun water features, and going down the slides. Malea was happy to just swim around like a mermaid. Alex was happy to hang out in the shade with Mammaw and Mommy. We had such a fun day. This is a great place to take your little ones during the summer!

Andrew Started Kindergarten

On Monday Andrew started kindergarten at Alcott Elementary School. He was so cute in his new backpack, and he was not scared at all. His teacher is Mrs. Young and she seems very nice. I can't believe he is big enough to go to school already. Where did the last 5 years go?

He had a really great day. He was dissapointed that he has to go five days a week though. Preschool was only three days a week. He will get used to it very soon. Malea thinks she should get to go to school too. She will be in kindergarten before I know it.

Alex's blessing day

On Sunday August 3rd, Alex was given a baby blessing in church. It was a wonderful day and his daddy gave him a beautiful blessing. He was a wonderful baby (thank you Uncle Joe) and looked oh so cute in his special outfit that I picked out before he was born for this special day. After church it was wonderful to have all of our family over for a special gathering and yummy muffins and juice. We missed those that are out of town, but it was still a wonderful and special day. We are so thankful that Alex has joined our family. I don't know how we got along without him.

New Pictures

Today we got new pictures taken of the kids. I am very pleased at how they turned out. I hope that you enjoy them!

Alex was such a good boy!

He way very tired by the time we took this one

Such a happy boy!


3 sweet kids. They were all so good.

My big boy with missing teeth. So cute!

My sweet angel girl. She's really good at fooling you.

I think that they turned out wonderfully. They were all very well behaved and we got some beautiful shots of all of them.

Alex is 2 months old tommorrow

Alex will be 2 months old tommorrow. The reason I am posting this today is because we just went to his well baby check up and I wanted to let everyone know how big and healthy he is. He now weighs 13.5 lbs and is 23 inches long. He is growing very well. I must have pure cream for him to eat. I just love all of his adorable baby rolls.

Our cute 3

This is my favorite picture that has all three of the kids in it. Malea and Andrew love to take turns holding Alex. Alex likes it for a short time and then gets overwhelmed by them pawing him. Alex is going to have to be a tough little boy.

My first blog

I am not very big on blogging, but I decided that I needed a good way to post pictures of my kids and keep my family and friends updated. A couple of people have told me lately that I should start a blog so here you go. I can't promise to have anything great to say or that I will always keep things current, but I will try my best. Mostly I will try to keep up with current pictures. I hope you enjoy!