Happy New Year

I am in awe over the fact that this is the last day of 2007. I have to say this has been one of the best years of our lives. We had Maddox, our little angel baby, we graduated from dental school, we got our first "real" job, we lived in Chicago, one of the greatest cities on earth, we moved home to our families, we bought our very first ever own home, umm, yeah I am pretty sure this qualifies for one of the best years ever. We sure are grateful for a year of good things, happiness and health and hope 2008 brings the same fortune.

turning 2

i am not sure where the last two years have gone. seriously someone tell me. i am puzzled. confused. amazed. is time supposed to go this fast. i would like to slow things down a bit, please. my babies turned two and we partied it up in good fashion. they sure received a lot of fun things. too many fun things we think. especially so close to Christmas. they got a grow with me kitchen, and bunch of fun little people castle and barn, clothes, shopping carts, horsies, movies, books and the list goes on. andy and i have always gotten our children one gift for their birthday. every year i think maybe we should step it up and then every year i am grateful we didn't because our families just seem to go all out. it was a fun celebration and jadeyn and cortland had a great time.

these shoes were a huge hit

cortland really tore into his presents and would give the perfect reaction like everything he opend was the best gift he had ever been given

jj was very paticular they way she opened her gifts

the cakes. i really actually enjoyed making them this year. they were not exactly what i was planning on, but plan b ended up being pretty cute. certainly not aunt saraih worthy, but ok for me.

party guests

grandma and grandpa b

grandma and grandpa w

grandma and grandpa g

aunt nan

victoria and cody

kyle and sarah

mom and dad, and brothers

grandma and grandpa e

michelle, marc and nani

party time

so the big party that i have talked about before for andys work was a blast. S to the uper fancy. it was a great weekend. i ended up leaving the kiddos. i was super worried about it. and now after a great weekend away i realize that is something i need to do quite often. or at least every six months or so. it was great. my plan was to sleep most of the weekend. that didn't happen. my internal clock was up at 6:00 and did NOT want to snooze at all. i went shopping all by myself, ate breakfast by myself, ate lunch by myself and had one of the best sandwiches of my life, enjoyed my time at the hilton and all their decorations, got ready by myself, took a shower uninterrupted,watched tv by myself, enjoyed a book, enjoyed andy, and just had an all around great time. i did miss my little apprentices, but i was better for it.

the party was just what you see in the movies. the house that is was at was incredible. unbelievable. beautiful. the food was divine, the company was spectacular and my dress, shoes, jewels and hair ended up coming through for me. i regret that we did not get more pictures of us. but they did have a professionally photographer there and we had our picture taken so i will sure to share that one when we get it.

{their house? can you consider this a house?}

i had such a wonderful time. i loved being with andy and just remember how it

all started. just him and i. and how grateful we are for each other and how much we love our children. it was for sure a night that will never be forgoten.

{the picture above with the home plate was one of the world series home plates...there was only four...so of course we had to get a picture of it}

{a cool car according to andy}

{a cool girls room according to terica}

{beautiful decor at the hilton}

a first

so our little sweet maddox, had his first haircut. decemeber 9th was the big day. the baby has been blessed with long thick curly hair. the curl on top of his head was getting a little long and around his ears. andy came home to maddox with a blue {at least i made it blue} clip in his hair. at that point daddy demanded a haircut. so we did it. every time i cut my child's hair for the first time it is hard. they don't look as babyish as i would like. they all of a sudden grow a few years older it seems. i am used to it now and only 3 weeks later it looks as if haircut number two is approaching us.




before







during

after

naughty or nice

we had a great time visiting santa a few times this year. i was expecting at least one of the children to be a little concerned sitting upon santa's lap, but they were all pretty comfortable.

you can see in the pictures the twins were in kind of a

sitverystillandmaybehewon'ttalktme mode. bennett was struggling to come up with things for the big guy to bring him and little maddox, just sweet as ever.

all four of our little ones were able to report to Santa

that they were sure all nice.

Bring on the pictures...

so apparently my camera and or computer are finally cooperating so i can finally post some pictures...
get ready to be pictured out!

tender heart

Me: "Hey Bennett, whatcha doing in there?"
Bennett: "Watching a commerical about childs that do not have homes."
Me: "Are you crying?"
Bennett: "It's just really really sad."
Me: "Bennett you are so sweet."
Bennett: "I'm not sweet I am really really sad."

How sweet. He is a tender heart through and through. We have had several conversations since about what we can do to help other children that are not as fortunate as us. Bennett has asked repeatedly if we can have some children live with us. It is an idea...

a warm welcome

welcome into the world
julia.

we already love you. you are so sweet.
you are beautiful.

you are reason 1,356,246,578,386,445 why we are happy to live "home".
you sure were nice to your mommy. (she barely looked pregnant. seriously)

you are my niece and we are honored to have you in our
family.

Merry Christmas from our Family to Yours

We are so grateful this Christmastime. What a wonderful Christmas this is. We are having so much fun together as a family. I am just as eager as the kids to wake up tomorrow morning and see all the fun gifts under the tree and hear the oohs and the ahs, hear the thank yous and your welcomes, see the excitement on the face of a child who is just so darn excited. It will be fun.

I delievered 20 platters of cookies today. I baked over 900 cookies...what was I thinking? Andy said next year I am buying oreos and throwing them on a paper plate, bah-humbug, right? None the less it was a fun little project and the kiddos loved helping out.

We hope you all have a very wonderful merry Christmas.

anyone???

I have been meaning to download some pictures from the twins birthday and our party and a few other things and for some reason I cannot get them to download. My camera keeps blinking BUSY...any ideas anyone???

Two Years Ago Today...

my babies were born. After waiting a very long time, I met my little Jadeyn Caroline and Cortland Kimball on this day. Three years and 9 months to be exact. It was a long and hard road at times, but I tell ya I would do it all over again to be given these two. I knew the whole time it was all about timing and I think that was what made it all ok during these years, and I like to think that I was given two very special babies to make up for it.

These past two years have been quite the whirlwind. They certainly keep us entertained. I could not ask for anything more.

When I think back to this day two years ago the joy I felt can not be explained. Funny enough my smallest babies born the earliest were the ones I got to see and hold right away, they never left my sight. When I heard little Jadeyn cry when she had first came out I remember thinking that was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. And then little Cortland followed and I felt the same. Andy walked the two over to me one in each arm and I honestly felt as if my heart was going to pop out of my chest, because I was filled with such great joy. They were perfect. They were what I had been waiting for. Perfection from head to toe.

Now two years later I could not agree more. I have been able to see them grow and learn and share a bond with each other that is unexplainable. I am so grateful for that. They are both sweet and loving, funny and cute.

Thank you little J and little C for making this mommy feel like the luckiest mommy on earth, honestly.


Jadeyn at birth / Now
5 pounds / 25.5 pounds
golden brown hair / light blond hair
dark eyes / sky blue eyes
tiny and frail and precious / not so tiny or frail, still precious
as could be

Cortland at birth / Now
7 pounds / 25.5 pounds
dark brown hair / dark blond hair
dark eyes / crystal clear blue eyes
adorable / ADORABLE

*I am not quite sure on their height, but Cortland is about 2 inches taller. I did not think they could weigh the exact same, he is such a string bean, but I guess this makes up for it.

*When I am back in town I will be sure to add pictures to this post!

???

So Andy's big party is coming up right? Well I am getting a little nervous about one thing. Formal wear is required. I found a few dresses just last night actually, but I am afraid they may not qualify as formal wear. Andy says not to worry about it, but hey he is going to look good in his newly purchased tuxedo I do not want to stick out like the crazy lady who is dressed way down. So I know that there are many people out there that have attended these type of events and I want you to tell my what qualifies. Does the dress have to be really glitzy or floor length? I am confused and really hoping what I have will work, but I am doubting it. HELP.

too cute

bennett came home today with another phone number.
he comes home almost everyday with a new number.
i think it is so cute.
they are always girls' phone numbers.
i ask him whose phone number is this and he answers, grace or ashley or whoevers number it is.
i know he is totally oblivious to why they keep giving him their numbers...i would like it to stay that way too. too cute if you ask me, i guess this means he is a nice boy.

Today is totally one of those days where I realize I have so much to be grateful for. I really do and the things that I am so grateful for are THE only things that matter...my husband, my children, my family our health, the gospel...I am a lucky woman I tell ya.

Post number 5 for the night, drum roll please

HOUSE PICTURES FINALLY! Only of three rooms, but it is time to finally get these up here. I was waiting for the kitchen hardware to be installed and mr. do it all Andy has just finished so here are photos of the family room, dining room, and kitchen. The bathroom and living room are not included. They are not much fun.

The family room looking from the kitchen. This room looks really small for some reason on these photos. It is actually a pretty good size, just not apparently to the camera.

Looking in from the foyer

angle shot?

Dining room off the foyer

Dining room. I am not sure why this pumpkin is the centerpiece here. And the platter should be in the hutch, oh well. I wish I would have taken a picture of my great grandmothers china. I love it. And I especially love I have a place to display it.

Looking from the front door. The stairs go up from the front door and from the kitchen. They meet in the middle and go to the upstairs from there.

View from Family room to front door.

Kitchen view from the family room.

Kitchen view from the stairs.

View from back doors in kitchen.

Our knobs and pulls...I love it!

Stay tuned for Living room photos, powder bath photos, and the whole upstairs and basement. That will be awhile I am sure. Now I am excited to start decorating, not just painting...watch out PB here I come!

Update...

So after my very long and quite horrible day the other day I finished the afternoon walking to the front door to find this. She is such a scaredy cat, why she did this is beyond me. Notice her hair in her face and one foot dangling and arm hanging off. What the? And she was saying over and over, funny sigh scary... So what do I do, order

Bennett to get the camera fast!

Things started looking up though. I still have no wash machine, but they are looking into getting me a new one hopefully in about two weeks. They did not find my camera, but they did get me a new one. Andy came home right in time for dinner. And as far as the cable situation goes I am thinking the DISH is sounding better and better everyday. Good news, I will have pictures now of the house.

St. Nick

Growing up we always celebrated St. Nick day. I loved it. I am pretty sure it is a Catholic tradition, but I say hey if it gets you gifts let's incorporate it. Bennett loves it. Every year since he was born the night of the fifth St. Nick comes. You put your stocking on your bedroom door and he comes and puts all kinds of treats and small gifts inside. The kids loved it this year. I love that Bennett still believes in all this. Today he told me his friends brother doesn't believe. I said you know if you don't believe you don't receive right? He said I will never ever stop believing in Santa. Who wouldn't want to believe in someone who is so good? Exactly Bennett you are so right.

I couldn't really get any good shots of the whole event because they were all way to excited and busy eating the treats to settle down for any pictures. It was fun though. I love these traditions.

Random

I was looking in my November file and found some random cute pictures I wanted to point out.

Maddox looks cute with a clip right? Just don't show Andy. He needs a cut I know. This picture doesn't really look like him, but the clip is so cute.She is so funny. I love this girl.Picture it, two mothers, eight children. We both have a set of twins. The picture is missing my oldest and her youngest. Eight kids under six. Sounds fun, right? My moms best friend who we happened to live by the entire time I was growing up had three girls. Carrie the mother to these sweeties was the youngest and we have always been good friends too. She is an amazing mom. Her kids are so lucky to have her as their mom. My parents and my kids and I went to see her and had such a great time catching up. Her oldest is four. She has four kids. Amazing. Carrie, you are amazing!Can we say Merry Christmas to me? Love it! I love this girl. She is so fun to have around. We are so lucky. She is a great Aunt.