Mama's Boy

I volunteered in Brady's classroom on Friday and he was so excited to have me there.  There was no embarrassment over PDA's, he hugged me, sat on my lap and held my hand while walking in the hall.  I enjoyed every second!  That night we had a movie night at the school, the feature presentation was Kung Fu Panda, at one point during the movie, Brady moved close and snuggled against me because it was a scary part and he didn't want me to be scared.  Then he leaned over and whispered "Don't worry Mom, it's just a movie, it's not really real."  I'm so thankful for my boy and his soft heart, I pray that he will continue to have that heart as he gets older.

Coping and Cuteness

So I'm actually managing through the winter, I still don't like the weather, the extra clothing, the extra time to put on the extra clothing, but I am managing.  We've gone sledding a few times now, and we've even sent Nicoley down the hill on her own a few times.  She really likes it, she gets to the bottom, claps her hands and says "One more time!"  Mark bought the kids a GT Snowracer and that's been fun for them!  (I think he's sad that he can't ride it... crazy weight restrictions!)  Jayme and Brady also enjoy trying to snowboard down the hill, and of course they all enjoy the warm up hot chocolate after the trip!

Nicoley has been amazing us with her incredible intelligence... she's barely just turned 2 and she can count to 10, usually without missing any numbers... she can recognize 10 of the 26 letters... and she is talking so much and we laugh so much at the cute and funny things she says.  My favorite one lately is that when she sees anyone of us without out clothes (we're still a pretty open family) she says "Nakedbaby" (all one word)  When she says something, she expects us to repeat it back to her, just to make sure she's understood.  If we aren't paying attention, or just answer with an umm hmm, she will continue to repeat it until we say it back.  She has also been heard telling us "I funny" so she knows she is still the star of the show around here.

A look back...

My sweet little baby, she was so cute as a newborn and even cuter as a 2 year old!  Even Jayme and Brady look so little in these pics.  Where did these 2 years go?!!  

Happy Birthday Baby

Now that Nicole is two, do I have to stop calling her the baby?

We had a fun party with her little friends 

this morning 

and a house full of 8 

babies 3 and under, plus 

mommies was very 

overwhelming for a new 2

 year old.  There were kids all over the place, playing 

with Coco's toys and

  eating her snacks.  She did however like blowing out the candles and opening the presents.  She got some princess dress up stuff and she loved all the pretty clothes and jewelery.  By the end, when I decided to take a group shot, she wanted nothing to do with it!  "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!"

Christmas 2008

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas with our family.  Christmas morning is such a special time for us, I just love the whole feel of it!  I loved it as a kid and now I love it even more with my kids.  I thought it was funny that Jayme said she woke up every hour or so the night before because she was so excited... I was the same way as a kid!  The big thrill for us this year was a Wii.  I think the kids were surprised, and boy were they pumped!  We played right away Christmas morning (We set it up the night before and they opened the empty box!)

I was surprised to find one to purchase so easily a week before Christmas.  I walked into the Walmart electronics department a week before Christmas and there it was!  No line ups, no wait!  I was shocked after all the horror stories I heard about lining up in -40, or getting up at 7:00am to be the first at a store.  Brady was even with me when I bought it but was oblivious to the purchase,  oblivious as I hid it under the stroller and even oblivious when the man behind us in line loudly said "Oh!  Someone's getting a Wii for Christmas eh? "

After we celebrated with the five of us, we had Papa and Nana over for breakfast, then we spent the rest of the day at Grandma and Grandpa's and were blessed like crazy! 

Dancing Star

This is our star enjoying her new Dora mat.