A Little About Them

Braxton- He just started primary and is officially our little sunbeam! He was nervous in our new ward the first week but now he is loving it. He just learned how to undress himself, and he loves to punch his arm into his coat while putting it on. The other day after Madison was babbling he asked, "Mom, did she just say something in Spanish?" Too funny! After he does daring things, which is a lot lately, he looks at me and says, "I'm okay." Really sweet. Brady and he were watching a NBA game and he asked, "Dad, why do those guys color on themselves every time they play basketball? They do it every time!" Soo funny!

Madison- She claps anytime she hears someone say "Yah!". I just got her her first Hello Kitty shirt (picture coming soon!). She loves waving especially to other kids. She started saying, "Uh Oh!" It's so cute because she says it every time she drops something, which is often for a baby. She also loves to hang her arm off the edge of things while holding something and say "uh oh" before she drops it. Little trickster. She is still working on moving. The pediatrician said that if she doesn't get a move on it next month she will have to join a therapy group:( Maybe she is just too smart because if there is a toy out of reach she just pulls the blanket closer to her to reach it!

Christmas Vacation

We spent Christmas with the Bybee's this year but we also got to see some of my family since they live here. I just realized after choosing the pictures to post that I really stink at getting pictures of the whole crew. I left a lot of people out, SORRY! I will definitely get better at being the annoying designated picture taker.
We went sledding with my sister and her family. It was great! Very cold, but the kids were digging it! Braxton even was going down all by himself, which was surprising. We even got a visit from good old Travis White. A mission friend of Brady's. Always good to have you Travis!

Climbing up to go again
Brax's typical picture attitude.

the trouble makers

Braxton and Travis

I must not have blogged for longer than I thought. I obviously messed up the picture order along with my story. Oh well. Our Christmas news and moving report are at the bottom! Hopefully everyone had a merry Christmas too!

My new camera! Yippee!!

Now he can shave, like Daddy

Bath tea set, so appropriate

Brax hugged all of his gifts

Santa sent binkies, he's one smart cookie

Thanks Mimi and Pops

our annual Sheepherder's Breakfast

Brady's ultimate gift. Roger Federer tennis racket.

On our way to church, around the block

Brax and Maycee drawing away

Matt and Justin deciphering their color codes

Shannon making use of her lighted mirror

Happily Overwhelmed

I just love them!
CHEESE!

Tough Guys

Sandwich kisses

Merry Christmas

After reading many other blogs and realizing that there are others that are overwhelmed with the Christmas post I feel much better that I've waited this long. Hopefully I can get it all done today because Wednesday I am off for another long adventure. I am taking Braxton and Madison to Louisiana to visit my parents for 2 weeks. Although I am really bummed that Brady can't make it, I still can't wait!!

So the week before Christmas Braxton decided that the camera wouldn't work so he hit it and then it really didn't work. Brady just so happened to win a Best Buy gift card at work so it ended up working out. I got tons of pictures (thank you Brady, again) so here they are. We also moved officially to our new home the 26th of December. We actually moved in really slowly for about a week and a half. I painted the downstairs and cleaned the entire house. It really sucked, but it is so nice to see some color finally. We are planning to do the upstairs room by room. Thanks to everyone who helped us get in here, be it watching our kids, lending us supplies, helping paint, or just coming over to talk. We are sooo happy and loving every minute. I have been really busy because of our upcoming trip so when I get back it's going to be weird. I haven't not had plans for months now. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, moving, and Louisiana. This time of year flies by doesn't it? Good thing I got a new camera to capture our memories (thanks Brady)!

Us

I feel like I don't post enough about Brady. No, he is never here but it's only because he works his tail off for us. He is loving his job, both his jobs actually, and he is just as excited as me to get our own place. We went on a date last week to see "Blindside". It was amazing, and not just the show. Madison is getting old enough to where I can leave her for more than 2 hours. It felt wonderful to go somewhere with him and relax that much longer and know that our kids were getting the royal treatment (from Grandma and Grandpa of course). Thank you so much for everything Brady, I Love You.
I already mentioned what I have been up to. Running here, going there and being so busy that I can't make it to the gym. This is weighing on my mind because I am going home in January to be a bridesmaid in my friends wedding. I've got to move, and whip my house and myself into shape before that. No wonder these headaches won't go away. Why do I have to be such a perfectionist? I have to keep reminding myself that I will have all gloomy winter to stay inside and do what I need to do. I should write that down and hang it on the fridge...

Madi Mads

Little Madi is going to be 9 months on the 18th. I don't think I'll have time to blog later so here's some about her. She is still tiny (she can wear her 3-6 month onesies still). She is totally content with either laying down or just sitting there. I mean I can't remember the last time the girl rolled over. She loves to touch everything. Brax calls her a "little grabber girl". She is also totally content sitting on my lap all day or just eating all day. The girl can eat 20 bucks in baby food a week, not counting the expensive little baby snacks. She is limited to what she can eat too because she is still toothless. She is definitely an ANGEL. I love watching So You Think You Can Dance with her and I actually let her touch my make up. It's fun to do girl things with her. Hopefully we will always do them together. I love having a boy and a girl. It's the best of both worlds!

Brax says:

Braxton is slightly observant:
--There is a huge picture on the Downeast Home building of a girl walking across a street. As we were walking into the doors last time Braxton says, "Huh! Grandma has those shoes." I looked up and sure enough the same exact shoes, only in a different color. Wow...okay.
--We play our bean bag toss game in my room together while I get ready (what can I say, I am a multi-tasker). Brax left the room and while he was gone I sprayed my perfume on. He came back in, took a deep breath and said, "Mom, you smell gorgeous!" My heart melted.
--We went to visit a friend and he asked where Santa gets in because they don't have a chimney.
Right now he loves:
--Laying down by Madison and pretending it hurts when she pulls his hair or slaps him.
--"Scooby Dooby Doo"-That's what he calls it every time
--Waking up, going upstairs, playing computer games without me noticing until 8:00
--Coming into our room to sleep on the floor. Sometimes I don't even know he's there and I've almost stepped on him. * Just for the record we don't love this
I am loving:
--Eating a lunchable with him while we grocery shop
--When he pauses the t.v. just to say, "I love you Mom"

These are busy times

Wow I haven't blogged in a while. This time of year is just so busy and the more kids you have the busier it gets--or maybe it's just because we are moving...yeah you read right, we closed on OUR house TODAY!! Okay that sounds weird still.
We are moving back to Pleasant Grove pretty much right where we used to live. Kind of a bad time to be moving but oh well! We are so excited and can't wait. I mean I literally can't go to sleep at night. My mind just races with thoughts only a wife could imagine; such as, what color to paint the walls, how to arrange each room, what decorations would look best with the style I want...Think that's pathetic? Ever since we have been looking for a house I have been buying magazines, shopping around, and spending anything extra on house stuff. Who can blame me? We don't know exactly what day we will be moving in so I just wanted to catch up with probably one last post for a while. Farewell, I will return as a homeowner :)

Giving Thanks

This was the first year we had our own Thanksgiving. Meaning we were the adults (too weird). My sister Anne and my sister-in-law Kayla and I took on the cooking together while the boys entertained the kids outside(thanks!). I did the rolls, drink, dessert, green beans, and stuffing....whew! That was a handful. We were cooking all day together and it was really fun, wow did I just say that? YES! The food came out great; no, not all of it was warm when we finally were done, but who cares, we did it! We continued traditions with going around the table and reading quotes and each saying 3 things we were thankful for. Brax: "bowling and nothing else"(wow, what a surprise), and Brady and I said the exact things: "each other, his job, and our new house" (what can I say, we are of one heart and one mind:). Well it's not our house yet, but we are closing on a town home at this very moment and hopefully everything will work out! We visited a nearby nursing home together after we ate, we should make that a tradition too. I am so thankful that I had some family to share and celebrate with.

Lately...

Braxton and I were getting pretty couped up this month. We painted these together for some fun. He enjoyed painting his car blue, then covering it with black, and he finished with green. How creative--here's why we were home-stuck.

These four items have been everywhere in our house lately!! Braxton first got pink eye, then a terrible cold, and wrapped it up with a great flu, which Brady also had to endure. Gladly, oh so gladly, he didn't pass anything on to Madi but the cold! And even better, I managed to stay away from everything (knock on wood). Maybe because I was literally washing my hands about every 15 minutes. All of these things lasted about 2 weeks! Let me just say I was so sick of cleaning up "you know what" and wiping up "you know what else" that I am sooo glad that it's over. Hopefully we got our sickness out of us for the season (fingers crossed)!

My Little Brother

My little, well younger, brother Joseph's basketball team played in Price Saturday night. All of our family that lives in Utah came to watch. I'm so glad everyone made it. U.E.U. is a top 15 basketball team in the nation and Joe's team, Western Nebraska beat them! It was a great game too! Here are some memories. It was good to see him. We love you Joe, keep up the good work! My little sister, well she's just younger too, Kathryn also goes to Western Nebraska and plays volleyball. Her team just became Number 1 in the nation last night! Good Luck at Nationals Kat, love you too!

Hanging out at the hotel watching the LSU game
Waiting for the game to start

They kept getting cut out of all the pictures-this is for them!

Madi loved watching the game!

The two pranksters

Joe in action

Me and my little bro

Halloween

Someone e-mailed me these pictures and I just had to post them.

Carving our pumpkin (yeah, well we never finished)!
a rare moment of Brax looking at the camera

Daddy and Madi

Brady's Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRADY! November 2ND was Brady's birthday. We celebrated with a dinner at Tepanyaki with the family and then hit up some shopping together. He is 27 years old, so weird! Thanks to Brady for everything he does for us, including having two jobs! We can never see you enough!

Madi just waiting for our table
My little twins

Brax during the fire parts

Brady and I

Blowing out his candle on one yummy cupcake!