Okay, it has been soooooo long since I have posted last. And of course I am posting a billion pictures. These were just taken in March by my good friend Kim Greenfield (http://agreenfieldphotography.com/blog/). She did such a fantastic job. She is very talented and we have always loved her photography. After the shoot, Chris and I hoped we would have just one picture that would be good. Our kids were running around the whole time, we could hardly keep them still for 2 seconds to take the picture.

Like everybody else, life has been very busy. Many of you know some of the things we have been up to...We started an addition to our home a little bit after Brookx was born. So the summer was completely crazy. I visited my parents in August and when I came back the whole back of the house was gone!! It was a couple of weeks before we had it enclosed and I felt safe again! We added about 300 square feet onto our family room/kitchen area. Chris did a lot of the work himself with the help of many great friends. The crazy summer turned into the crazy fall and then not so crazy winter. December things were very hectic with the laying the wood floors, refinishing the wood floors, painting, and putting in new carpet throughout the house. In addition we managed to get the stomach flu that we passed through each family member and then to my mom and dad who came to visit for Christmas. FINALLY, things are winding to an end. There are just a few more things to complete but the house is liveable again. I will post before and afters when it is completely finished - we just have the decks and the finish work inside (trim and baseboards).

The kids have been great. Nixon has adjusted well to kindergarten, although he still asks me why I can't home school him. He is such a homebody. Madyx is wishing she could be in school, but I opted not to do pre-school this year because of all the driving back and forth I would be doing. And Brookx has continued to be an angel baby - good natured, happy, and a GREAT sleeper. And all of us mothers know how important that last one is!!!

We have snowboarded as much as possible this winter. Nixon is awesome and goes down any run we go on now. Maddy is still learning, but is great for a 3 year old. She is able to stop on her own without sitting or falling down. She has great balance. We will have to post some video...

I have finally started running again, finally up to 10 miles on the weekends. I am looking forward to a few half-marathons this summer, and hopefully a marathon in the fall!

I think that about wraps up the last 8 months. Now that I am more caught up on everything in our little world of craziness, I hope to keep up on this blog a little better.

Nixon's "official" Little League picture. Baseball is over. Now we have to wait another year.
We've been pretty busy during Brookx's first month of life! The week after she was born, Chris, Nixon, and Grandpa went on the Father-son campout. They had such a great time. Nixon loves this yearly tradition.
While I was busy with Brookx, Chris was watching the kids jump on the trampoline with the sprinklers under it - NOT! I went out to check on the kids when I realized Chris was not outside, and I wasn't happy to find Maddy had ruined her 2nd swim suit in the mud. This was too funny. The kids had taken the sprinkler off the hose and made their own "mud slide" down the side of our hill. They had made quite a trench to slide down by the time they were done.



This is Brookx at 3 weeks old - she is about 7 1/2 lbs. She is pretty alert and always wants to see what is going on.
Maddy loves her new "tutu" dress and her rain boots. What a great combination for hot weather walking!

Chris can get Brookx to smile like no one else can. He was the first to get her to smile at about 3 weeks old. It was the sweetest thing to see. She now is smiling all the time, as long as she is happy (which means fed and napped).

It has been fun these past few weeks. Brookx is sleeping better and crying less (now that she is on liquid Zantac to help with reflux and indigestion). Nixon had his 5th birthday at a park, which I hate to admit that we have NO pictures! We were both so busy with all the people there and getting things organized that we forgot to take pictures. Nixon had a blast having a ton of friends there and playing hard. He said it was his best birthday ever and wanted to start talking about the planning of next years birthday. I told him we had 365 days to think about it, so maybe we should wait until it got a little bit closer. I kept telling him he was finally 5 years old and he said, "Really? Am I really 5?" I told him yes and he said as he looked in the mirror, "But I look EXACTLY the same as when I was 4." Apparently he is supposed to magically change into a "BIGGER" boy with each birthday.

A few days after Nixon's birthday he went on an eleven day trip with his cousins (and my brother and sis-in-law) to our annual family camping trip 1000 miles away. We decided last minute to not go for various reasons. He has had a blast and is coming back tonight. We heard he has been a very good boy and can't wait to see him! We have missed him. Maddy has survived without him, as she has now been more the center of our attention.

Yes, I finally had Brookx, 7 days overdue, at 11:51 p.m. She was 6 lbs 14 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long. I started contractions around 5:30 p.m., and Chris was ready to drive me straight to the hospital. Of course, I thought I was possibly having some false labor, so I wouldn't go. Finally around 8:30 p.m. I decided to go to the hospital and was there for a little more than 3 hours before I had her. I sure was tired! We didn't get moved into a room until 3 a.m. and then I woke up at 5 a.m.with the worst cramps ever. I didn't realize the pain with your uterus shrinking gets more painful with each child! They lasted on and off for 2 hours. Brookx was such a angel that I decided to go home early and left the hospital less than 24 hours after having her. What a mistake! That night was the worst night EVER!! I was in more pain and she cried all night long without ever sleeping!Anyway, I have not gotten a lot of sleep with her. She is not quite as good as Maddy was who was a power nurser (5 minutes total) and would go right back to sleep. Brookx loves to take her sweet time and then wants to stay up for 1 or 2 hours to see what is going on. Anyway, we all love her. The kids adore her. They haven't shown a hint of jealousy. They kiss her and hold her all day long. They really like to help me out- grabbing diapers, wipes, blankets, etc. It is very sweet.

Proud Dad holding Brookx at the hospital.

Nixon loving his sister.

Maddy and Nixon meet Brookx for the first time!

Proud grandparents!


Brookx first day home!


Maddy LOVES her baby sister.


More proud grandparents who were here for 2 weeks awaiting the birth of Brookx.

Nixon really loves his new baby sister. He told me he wanted me to have more babies that are just like Brookx. I told him that each baby will always be different. And he said, "But I love baby Brookx! I want more." I reminded him that was exactly what he had said about Madyx when she was a baby.

This is what happens when I have no free hands and am stuck in a chair nursing! Maddy got into lip gloss and made quite a mess!

Nixon was able to go fishing with his cousins and grandpa. He was so excited and so proud that he caught these fish. He hasn't been this excited about something for a long time. He was up until 10 p.m. helping clean the fish and talking about catching them.

Okay, so what have we been up to the past few months??? Life has been busy. I am 38 weeks along in this pregnancy with only 2 more weeks to go.It has been a great pregnancy, the best one I have had. No morning sickness, not too many problems sleeping, not too much swelling. I am starting to get a little bit uncomfortable though. I think that because I have been so busy and the pregnancy has gone so well, I have not really thought too much about this 3rd baby! My kids have kept me busy, I have been working, and I have something scheduled for every day I am not working (like dr. appointments, speech therapy, etc.). So I think in 2 weeks this baby might be a bit of a shocker. I am not actually RUNNING or even jogging at this point, but I do a fast walk on my treadmill for 2.5 miles each day. I think this has helped a lot. So all in all things are great.

Nixon is in t-ball which is so fun and so hilarious to watch. They have a game at least once a week, sometimes even twice. Madyx wishes she was old enough to play too.
This is Grandpa, Nixon, and Chris on Nixon's first game day. How exciting!
Nixon giving us the heavy metal sign??!!! What? That is what you get when you have a dad who teaches high school. You should hear some of the things Nixon picks up on from the things his dad picks up on at school.
Stare down as well as a little head smashing on second base. We asked Nixon later what he was doing out there with this kid, and he said they were playing a head bonking game??
We have taken one trip to the coast. The kids love the beach. We played on the sand and then ran in the water, until they both got soaked. Maddy ate it big time in the freezing cold water, and that was the end!
We also enjoyed visiting the sheep barns. As usual, the kids loved it. They even got to pet a lamb (which was a first).


Well, a lot more has gone on, but we haven't taken as many pictures. We are having fun looking forward to baby BROOKX (we think). Weird spelling, but we HAVE to get the X in there, right? At least that is what Chris says. Well, wish me luck in 2 weeks! Hopefully no earlier or later!