Basically Dixon

Halloween 2011

2012-01-11T17:11:00.007-05:00

We had a fun little Halloween here at our house and neighborhood. Earlier in the week we tried to carve pumpkins but for whatever reason (me being pregnant, unmotivated, tired, Ryan was gone) I didn't want to make a mess by myself with 3 kids and then clean that up. So we made a different kind of mess and I let the kids tape all sorts of different craft stuff on their pumpkins to make faces. They had fun and could do that all themselves (with a little help) and the mess was much easier for me to clean up, so I think it was a win, win.

Here's our Spiderman and Captain America

and our little China Doll (this was my Halloween costume when I was Hadley's age. It was actually some pjs that some friends of my parents brought back with them from China. I think?)

The Loot.

(Thankfully not all was consumed, but unfortunately it was mostly consumed by me :o(

August 2011 - Caleb's first day day of Kindergarten

2012-01-11T14:02:00.005-05:00

After we got back from our fun vacation, we had two weeks to rest and recoup before Caleb started all day Kindergarten. I'm so glad he was able to go to pre-school even if it was only for a couple months because he loved it and had such a great experience with it, that all summer he talked about going to Kindergarten and really looked forward to it. Me on the other hand had mixed emotions about letting my baby go, but we both did just fine and Caleb is still doing great and loving Kindergarten. And yes Caleb's school has a uniform he has to wear but it does make it nice getting ready in the morning.

July Part III - Disneyland!

2012-01-11T13:12:00.012-05:00

After leaving Utah and spending a few days in Las Vegas we continued on down to California with Ryan's parents to go to Disneyland for 2 days. We wanted to surprise our kids so we didn't tell them we were going to Disneyland and we didn't even tell them that daddy was going to fly back and meet up with us at the Hotel. So our hopes of them waking up, finding daddy there and us telling them "we're going to Disneyland!" was going to get a huge surprise happy reaction out of them, but to our dismay it did not. They were excited to see dad for sure but when we told them we were going to Disneyland they just sat there looking at us dumb founded. Oh well, maybe when they get a little older. But we had a BLAST! Caleb was also tall enough this time around that he could ride all the big rides, but he was a little scared of soem of them so we didn't take him on everything. We took a ton of photos although I still look back and think, we missed this and that and why didn't we get a picture of that, but at least we have what we do. And here is just a few of them.

Sitting on the Peter Pan ride.

She didn't want to get out of the elephant. Poor Hadley.

Tea cups, I can't go on these things, they make me so sick. But the boys love them!

It's a small world after all. It's always nice to go on this just for the sake of sitting in a cool dark place and taking a rest.

Eating some lunch while the boys watched the Jedi training show. They LOVED it, but didn't want to volunteer to go up, after words though they said next time they would :o)

Parade!

Getting ready to watch some fireworks.

And the end of our 2nd day getting ready to drive back to Vegas.

The next day after getting back from Disneyland it was time for all of us to pack up and head back home to Georgia. We had a nice family breakfast before we left and Ryan's Grandparents were able to come and say hi and bye to us. We sure miss our family a TON and wished we lived closer but we are SO blessed to be able to at least see them once a year if not more when they come out to see us.

July - part II

2011-10-26T10:45:00.024-04:00

Warning Picture Over Load! After we left the cabin with Ryan's family we drove up to Salt Lake to see my family. Ryan only got to stay for a few days and then had to fly back to GA for work. So I think between not taking very many photos at the cabin and because Ryan wasn't going to be seeing his kids for the next week and a half I ended up taking a ton of pictures to make up for it.

To start out the week my mom and I drove up to Logan, UT to see my grandparents. (Let me just say that after this vacation was over I didn't want to drive in a car again for a very long time). My grandpa is in his 90's but played and entertained my kids the whole time we were there. I hope when I'm that age I'll still have that much energy (actually I wish I had that much energy now, that man is amazing).

Later on in the week we took the kids to the Hogle Zoo. It was a beautiful hot and sunny day, except for the crazy storm cloud that blew in for 10 mins and poured rain on us. The kids had a great time running around and looking at all the cool animals, riding in the little train and getting to play on the play ground before we left. I don't know about them but I was pretty pooped when we left.

They had a whole bunch of dinosaurs around the zoo that the kids liked finding, one even sprayed water on them.

Random rooster running freely, Caleb thought he could catch it.

This is about the time the rain started coming down,

and we took shelter near by and watched the elephants until it stopped.

feeling the elephant skin.

This picture makes me laugh, it is so Hadley. That tongue is always sticking out, in fact when she was born it was sticking out. And it's sooooo long and pointy, I have no idea were she gets it from but I'm trying to teach her to touch her nose with it.

One afternoon I took the kids over to a friends house and they got to run around and play in their sprinklers. After wards we had a little cook out with hot dogs and fresh yummy corn and cherries. First time Caleb had fresh cherries and he loved them. I had to make sure he didn't eat to many though.

My friend Cassandra's little boy Oliver. Isn't he a cutie, he's so funny to. He kept giving me all these serious looks but he's really just silly.

Here are the kids waiting for the train to take us downtown Salt Lake to see Temple Square. We should have just driven down there ourselves, because we got on the wrong train coming home and had to get off and then get back on the right one and it took for ever to get home. But the kids loved riding it, so it made it all worth it.

Inside the visitors center.

I'm so glad we made it to the outside of the temple. We got a late start in the morning leaving so after we made it through the visitors center the kids were hungry. We walked across the street and ate at this really yummy cafe/restaurant called Blue Lemon. While there Caleb wouldn't eat anything and just looked miserable so we were going to leave after that. But we made a "quick" stop at Deseret Books which of course turned into a longer stay than planned and Caleb fell asleep in one of the chairs in the store. When I woke him up he was running a fever, so I walked the kids down the street to a Rite Aid and got him some tylenol. Once we made it out of the store I gave Caleb some medicine, it didn't last cause it all came up, all over the sidewalk. Poor guy, but then after that he felt great! So we stayed a little bit longer and made it around to the reflection pool and took some more pictures. Always an adventure.

My brother Jeremy got a new motorcycle and the boys thought it was really cool, especially when he let them sit on it.

At their cousin Kai's birthday party. The next morning we packed it up and headed back to Vegas for one more week of fun.

July - part I

2011-10-20T21:12:00.006-04:00

July started out our vacation month, well my vacation month, Ryan only had a week off from work. We flew to Las Vegas early on July 3 which happened to also be Sawyer's birthday. Once we got there we jumped into a car and drove 3 hours up to Brain Head to be with Ryan's family for the week and a sweet cabin they were renting. While we drove up there grandma and grandpa and all the aunts, uncles, and cousins made this super cute choo choo train cake and decorated the cabin for Sawyer. He was so excited about his cake and he still talks about how he wants another choo choo train cake for his birthday next year. We had such a fun week at the cabin hanging out with family, going fishing with our kids and Sawyer catching his first fish (actually quiet a few fish), enjoying a small town 4th of July parade, learning the ChaCha, and playing minute to win it. I wish we took more pictures of everything but these are all we got.

Happy Birthday Sawyer!!!!! You are such a joy to have in our family. You keep us laughing with your crazy, silly, happy personality. What would we do with out our Sawyer boy! Love you to the moon and back!!!!!

Everyone but our Elder Hayden, we miss you!

Jedi Knights in training.

Trying to get all the girls to sit for one picture.

not happening

just a pretty picture we took on our way back to the cabin after a day of fishing.

May & June Summaries

2011-10-19T14:11:00.013-04:00

I'm trying to come out of my blogging hiatus and catch up on the last 6 months. I know I'm not going to blog everything but I'd like to summarize somethings we've done and post some pictures or lots of pictures actually so that I have a record of it.

In the middle of May Caleb graduated from preschool. He was so cute and so proud of himself. He actually only went for half the year but he loved preschool and I was so glad he got to go for that short amount of time because it really got him ready and excited for Kindergarten.

Next came Caleb's 5th Birthday!!! I can't believe he turned 5, he shouldn't be allowed to be that old yet. We love Caleb so much! He is such a great big brother and watches out for his younger brother and sister all the time. He loves to be a helper around the house and is always asking for things he can do to help. Caleb, mom and dad love you so much and you were worth the 2 1/2 years we had to wait to get you here. XOXOXOXO!

At the last minute Caleb wanted a Star Wars birthday cake so this was the simplest idea I had.

I don't remember when we took these of Hadley, it wasn't during Caleb's birthday but I wanted them up here just cause she's so cute :o) Do I really need any other reason?

Ryan took the boys camping with our good friends the Bennion's who happen to have 2 boys and a girl just like us (and now another boy) and their boys and our boys are all just a year apart. 6,5,4,3. Peter and Ryan also went to law school together and now happen to work at the same law firm. We're so glad that they do to cause they have become great friends and we'd hate to lose them.

This was just some random day that it rained and was warm outside so I let the kids go play while I snapped some shots.

Sawyer! I love this kid, he is one character that's for sure :o)

and at the end of June we told our kids that we would be adding another little one to the mix in January. Another BOY!

Sawyer wanted to see the baby right then.

I Love to See the Temple

2011-04-11T17:15:00.002-04:00

The Atlanta Temple is finally done being renovated after 2 years and is now open to the public for it's open house April 9- and then the dedication will be on May 1. So on the 9th, the first day of the open house the youth had schedule a trip to go up there and tour it and all families were invited to come along. It was a beautiful day and the temple is exquisite! I'm so excited to have our temple open again.

Caleb's Preschool Field Trip to Elliot Farms

2011-04-08T13:41:00.002-04:00

Today Caleb had a field trip with his preschool class to Elliot Farms to pick strawberries. This isn't the first time we've been there, in fact I think we go there every spring to pick strawberries but it was fun to go as a group, and Caleb loved having his classmates there to run around and play with. Hadley was so good being strapped in the stroller but once I let her out there was no way she wanted to get back in, she wanted to play with all the big kids too, and so did Sawyer. I think I was the only parent there that had other children with me so Sawyer got to be apart of the class for the day, which he loved. But I think he loved most of all that he just got to hang out with Caleb, he loves and looks up to his big brother so much.

This picture makes me laugh, it's such a classic Sawyer smiley face.

don't you love the drool bomb

homemade strawberry pie tonight!

Can't take my eyes off of him for two secs cause this happens

Mmmm, ending the day with fresh strawberry ice cream.

The Puppet Show

2011-03-06T14:57:00.000-05:00

Stef mentioned something in the last post about the puppet show we did with the kids. Well, here it is. Caleb and Sawyer crack me up in the beginning, especially Caleb's face when I tell him to smile for the camera. Enjoy! (Sorry about the low quality video. To upload something in better quality would have taken forever.)

The Best Day Ever

2011-02-19T22:10:00.003-05:00

Are the days you get to spend with your family! We rarely get a whole day together as a family and today was no exception. Ryan had a church thing to go to at 4 and he was going to be gone until late, late, late. So when we woke up this morning we hurried and got the kids dressed and drove over to Lake Tobesofkee (which is only about a 10 min drive) to catch the sun rise and take some pictures. The weather has been so beautiful here lately and our little mini beach was gorgeous this morning. We let the kids play in the little play ground area for awhile as well and didn't realize it was all wet, so the kids ended up wet as well but they had a good time.

When we were headed out, a firetruck pulled up so the firemen could run laps. We walked over to let the kids look at it and one of the firemen came over and let the boys inside. They thought that was pretty cool. When we finally left we headed over to IHOP for some breakfast (a late breakfast) and then came home and put on a puppet show. We got it on film so hopefully we'll get that posted next, it's pretty cute if you ask me :o). By the time we finished our puppet show and cleaned everything up it was time for naps and then our daddy had to leave but we sure did have a great morning!

Hadley didn't want to get out of the swing. Don't worry we put her back in :o)

New Banner

2011-02-13T15:18:00.002-05:00

It has been a really long time since I have posted anything on the blog. In fact, the last time was probably when the banner was last changed. A little over a year ago, we had our blog printed into a book. The book has been quite the treasure. However, when the book imports everything from the blog, it does not include the banners that we put up. So I thought I would post the banner as a picture in its own blog post. That way, it will be included in the next volume of the blog book.

The coat

2011-02-01T21:05:00.002-05:00

For Christmas in our families we usually draw names, in Ryan's family we weren't there to actually draw a name but were told we had his parents. Now I'm not saying it's rigged, but 3 years now or maybe more I've stopped counting we've gotten Ryan's parents, just saying ;o) Not complaining thought, I love being able to do something special for them since they have always done so much for us. This year I wanted to making something so I went to the fabric store and flipped through all the books and fell in love with this coat. I didn't start it right away since I seemed to be making a lot of gifts this year and ran out of time. But I was determined to still make it. My mom came to visit the middle of January for Hadley's birthday and since we really didn't have anything planed I asked if she wanted to help me with the coat. So in 3 days, I kid you not we made the coat. I would sew while my mom pinned the next step of the patterned together for me and we just flew through it. I had a great time making this with my mom and now I can't wait to make mine. Although now I've got tons of stuff going on and by the time I sit down to sew mine it'll be to warm to wear a coat, but maybe I'll have it ready for next year. And Dad I haven't forgotten about you, I'm still working on yours, just don't expect a coat :o).

This is how it really is

2011-02-01T20:59:00.003-05:00

People always say, oh your kids probably take the best pictures cause you're a photographer and take their pictures all the time. No, no let me show you how it really is.

This is what normally goes on

and after hours we barley get this

Hadley's 1st Birthday!!!

2011-02-01T20:35:00.009-05:00

I can't believe my baby girl is 1 already. The years keep going by faster and faster and faster. Can't I just make them stop for awhile? Hadley is such a sweet happy little girl, but she's got a little feisty in her as well. When her brothers are wrestling and jumping around she gets so excited and wants to join in. You'll hear her squeal in delight and start to charge right at them. Once (or maybe twice or more) Sawyer thought Hadley was big enough to wrestler with too and charged right at her and flatten her out. Ya she's going to be a tough one with Sawyer as an older brother :o). But on the other hand she already likes to wear necklaces (or really anything) around her neck and she got a couple purses for her birthday that she tots around the house, it's pretty cute. We're so glad this sweet girl came to our family she brings such joy to us all.

Ok, now for picture overload!

(Hadley's wearing the same dress I wore when I turned 1)

Christmas 2010

2011-01-06T08:37:00.012-05:00

We had a great Christmas this year and a great year. Hadley joined our family in Jan, Ryan graduated law school, passed the bar and got a great job! I'm still about to stay home with our wonderful children and have found lots of side projects to keep me busy. We have wonderful friends here in Macon that have become our family and we cherish them deeply. We feel truly blessed by how much we have especially with our wonderful extended family whom we wish we got to see more of.

This Christmas wasn't anything big and fancy, we stayed home all day in our PJ's and it was great! Even after cooking a nice big dinner, you'd think we would have changed but no we sat around eating in our pajamas still. Here are some pics through out our day.

I woke up around 5:30 am and got breakfast started, jumped in the shower around 7:30am and Ryan had to wake the boys up at almost 8:00 so we could start our Christmas. Here are the sleep head boys. :o)

Wake up it's Christmas!!!!!!

What could it be?

Notice something missing in the back ground, no tv, we haven't had one in over a month. Wonder it Santa will bring us a new TV? ;)

I love this face!!!!!!!

Oh look Santa did bring us a new TV!

Breakfast! Egg Sausage Casserole and Cinnamon Rolls! Yumm

Dinner? DINNER!!!!!!!! :o)

Hope everyone had as wonderful a Christmas as we had!!!!!!!

The Big Ear

2010-11-28T21:58:00.003-05:00

We woke up the day after Thanksgiving not to go shopping but to Sawyer complaining about his ear hurting. He climbed into bed with Ryan and I and of course we both were still half asleep and as I touched his ear he didn't seem like it hurt him so I didn't think anything of it until a little bit later when we finally dragged ourselves out of bed and I looked at him and could visable see his right ear was red and swollen. He had two little bug bits on his hands that didn't look bad but I figured whatever bug got him really enjoyed his ear. I called the doctor and they said just to watch it and if it got worse to bring him in. Well by evening time it was worse and got a little oozy so off to the doctors we went. I had to laugh cause after the nurse practitioner saw him and came to the conclusion of what to do for him she asked us to stay here just so the doctor could come and "take a look" to make sure it was the right medication. The funny thing is she just wanted the doctor to look at his big ear, cause it was so big. The medication seemed to kick in pretty quickly and the next morning his ear had reduced significantly in size. It's almost back to normal now, still a little red but I'm glad it's getting better so quickly. This child is so accident pron, since Halloween he fell off a two man merry go round and got a black eye, the week after that he jumped off the bed and smashed his head into the dresser and had to go to the ER, now the bug bite on his ear and today he pulled on the Christmas stocking and the weight the was holding it fell onto his check and lip. He's got a nice line down his face and just a little split lip. Oh what am I going to do with this child! :o)

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-27T08:45:00.005-05:00

Thanksgiving 2010 was a success and wonderful, although we did miss celebrating with our family we got to spend it with our wonderful friends (the McCroans) here in Macon who we consider our family. Tuesday night Heather and I went shopping and got all the goods and then spent Wed preparing our feast. Heather had invited a couple families and I had invited a family so we were plaining for lots and lots of people, we definitely had a good turn out but a couple families didn't make it so we had quiet a bit of food left over (which is a good thing since I'm still enjoying it :o) The kids just played and played and played some more and didn't want to stop to eat (even though we sat them down with a plate full of food) so when we got home they were starving. I didn't take a ton of pics ( I was a little to full to move) but I got a couple before the feast began. Thanks again Heather we had a blast! Let's do it again next year ;o)

The turkey brine

That empty spot is where the rolls went, they were just about to come out of the oven.

Pecan pie, apple pie, pumpkin cream pie, and a white chocolate pumpkin cheese cake

Flying Kites

2010-11-23T15:20:00.005-05:00

Today is such a beautiful day here in GA! It's sunny and 78 degrees and it's November! I've been reading about how everyone back west is getting snow and it's cold and that kind of weather definitely gets me in the holiday mood but I was just relishing in the warm sunshine today. I was watching a friend's kids today as well and they came up with the cutest idea for kites, and how easy was this, tie a string to a grocery sack and walla. They had so much fun with this and I just sat there enjoying warmth. Ahh, I love GA

Aren't these two so cute! Haha, it totally looks like an engagement pic.

No more monkeys jumping on the ....

2010-11-08T20:07:00.004-05:00

Caleb and Sawyer were jumping on my bed while I was getting ready this morning and they threw all the pillows off the bed onto the ground in between the bed and the dresser (you see where this is going) so they thought it would be fun to then jump off the bed onto the pillows. Sawyer landed on the pillows but then kept going forward and smashed his head into the dressers handle. I took him to the ER and thankfully it wasn't to deep so he didn't get stitches, they just glued it together and it's suppose to flake off in 7 to 10 days. Although they told me when it starts to flake don't let him pull it off and don't get it wet in the bath. Umm he's 2 you think I'm going to be able to stop him from doing that, oh well. And don't think this will stop him from jumping on beds cause while in the hospital room waiting for the doctor Sawyer got up on the bed and started jumping, well he got half a jump in until I grabed him and made him sit down.

Swearing in

2010-11-07T20:46:00.000-05:00

Thursday marked the end of one chapter in life and the beginning of another. After many many years of schooling, many months of grueling studying for the bar exam, and many months of waiting for the results of the bar exam, I was sworn in as an official lawyer. The local Superior Court held a mass swearing in for all those in the area that had recently passed the bar exam. I was one of about 20-25 that participated. The ceremony was quite nice. Much was said by each of the judges about the importance of being good lawyers but also good counselors. After being sworn in, we signed the oath and then signed the log book, which contains signatures of every lawyer that has been sworn into this court for hundreds of years. Someday it would be interesting to go look through the book to see who else is in the book. All in all, it is a big relief to have this chapter behind me. For posterity's sake, let me say that if you work hard enough, you really can do anything. I have gone through college, while working full time. I have balanced having a family while succeeding in law school and studying for the bar exam. And even though there were times that I didn't think I could do it, I DID IT. However, with that said, I couldn't have done any of this without such an amazing wife to counsel me and support me in everything. Thanks sweetie!

My New Cupcake

2010-11-06T21:47:00.006-04:00

So I'm entering this competition and I'm very excited about it. Not that I think I'll win (although that would be nice, very nice) but after I went to Time Out For Women, it was all on hope and they asked us to write down our hopes, and at the time I didn't even know about this competition so I wasn't thinking, man I hope I win that cupcake competition but I'm just really excited about it. The first speaker at TOFW spoke on hoping and what's the worst that could happen if we let our selves hope, and sometimes that fear of disappointment or fear of what's the worst that could happen takes over letting us hope. So after listening to her and really feeling inspired I'm going to let my self hope and be excited and happy in that hope because really what's the worst that could happen, umm I don't win, ok no big deal and I still created a cupcake that's pretty dang good. What's the best that could happen, I win! So I encourage you all to think about all the things you hope for and then actually let your self hope.

Spicy Chocolate Cake with Butter Cream Cheese Marshmallow Fluff Frosting topped with Toffee Bits.

Carving Pumpkins, GA Aquarium, and Halloween

2010-11-06T21:27:00.015-04:00

We had a very fun and eventful week last week with it being Halloween and all, but also Ryan's bar results came out last Friday so his work told him to take the day off and we took advantage of that and went and played up in Atlanta at the aquarium (he passed by the way, yay!!!) The aquarium was having a fun little deal where if your kids wore their halloween costume they got in free, so we couldn't pass that up. Then our neighborhood and really I think all neighborhoods here in Macon decided to celebrate Halloween on Saturday so we took the kids out trick-or-treating and I was very happy to find our big bowl of candy we left on the front porch was gone when we go home (last year I still had half the bowl still full of candy). We had a great time and the best part was just being all together as a family (although Ryan would say the best part was finding out he passed the bar :o)

(sorry now you get picture over load)

Going Well

2010-10-21T14:29:00.005-04:00

Things are going really well out here in GA. Nothing amazing or anything is happening but life is just good and we're all happy and healthy, so really can you ask for anything else? Ryan really likes his job (yay!) and he works with great people who are so nice and friendly and helpful plus he's already impressed his boss with his work so much so that his boss bragged about him to his Secretary and about how impressed he was with Ryan's work. So that definitely made me happy and Ryan also of course. So life is good.

Caleb's getting so big I can not even believe it, he's so ready for school and so am I but then again no. I still love having him all to myself all day long and I'll never have that again when he starts Kindergarten next year. Most of my days consists of just holding it together with 3 kids at home and trying to get everything done and keep them entertained so I know I don't offer him as much learning at home as he needs and I wish I could or did. For those that home school and have other kids at home, all I have to say is you are AMAZING, I wish I could do that but I know my limits. So off to kindergarten he goes next year all day everyday, sob. Caleb had a doctors appt on Tues to check his tubes and yay the finally fell out! But already he's getting more fluid build-up behind his ears again and if we can't get that under control the end result will be him getting tubes put in again. So he's on claritin every night and a nasal spray every morning to help with all his allergies and stuffiness that he has 99.9% of the time which causes him to get ear infections and have fluid build-up.

Sawyer is the MENIS. Oh that child gets into anything and everything. Even when he knows he's not suppose to. Especially when he knows he's not suppose to! Oh but does he keep us laughing (only cause if I don't I'll cry :o) He loves to color and he doesn't care what he colors on, the floor, the wall, the table, under the table, the toys, the mattress that's in the toy room, and some how even when we put the crayons away and hid them he still finds them. Luckily they are the washable crayons so it comes out really easily but still I'd like for him to just not color on everything. He also had this thing lately where as soon as he goes outside he strips down naked and poos all over the drive way, ahhhhhh! It's funny I know, but not so much while I'm living through it. One morning after I got out of the shower I came down stairs to find Sawyer hiding behind the furniture, I walked up to him and asked him what he was hiding. He slowly pulled out and un-opend package of hotdogs that he was taking big bites into and trying to eat. As to took them from him and proceeded to place them back into the refridgerator I noticed the bag of cheese had been opened but the cheese was still inside. I picked it up to re-seal it and this is what I find.

You'd think I starve this kid or something, but that's all he does is eat all day long.

Hadley, sweet Hadley what can I say about her but she is such a happy, lovable, sweet baby. She's crawling all over the place, trying to keep up with her brothers, she's feeding herself and eating table food now and even drinks out of a straw sippy cup. She just turning 9 months on Tuesday and I'm amazed at how fast time is flying with her, I want it to slow down. All I have to do is look at her and smile and she lights up and smiles right back at me and makes these sweet little awww sounds, oh she melts my heart. She has her moments like the other night when she decided to wake up at 1am and not go back to sleep till 5am but that's extremely rare, she usually sleeps very well from 7pm-7am.

I went to the park the other day, and although we had some great family photos taken of us while we were in Vegas, I haven't practiced and taken any photos in awhile so I grabed my camera and off we went. Hadley of course was so adorable to whole time, Sawyer couldn't hold still for more than .00000000001 secs and I think Caleb looks like he's 10 years old.

Family Photo's by the wonderful Talented Jeanna Hayes

2010-10-04T14:32:00.011-04:00

While we were in Vegas we had some more pictures done with our family by Ryan's cousin Jeanna (click here to see how amazingly, wonderfully, talented she is) and I just love how they all turned out. Thanks Jeanna!!!!!!!! I can't wait to get them hung up on my wall, and yes these are all the ones I'm going to hang on my wall :o)

We're alive and still here

2010-10-04T13:21:00.004-04:00

Although you wouldn't know it from our extreme lack of posts. We had a great time out in Las Vegas and in Salt Lake visiting with family and we felt so blessed by everyone's love and support for us in Ryan's search for a job. He was finally offered a position at a great firm which we were hoping to get and I'll let Ryan tell you the whole story about that, but we are so grateful he has it. We were pretty much gone the whole month of Aug and now it's the beginning of Oct so some of my memories are already going, sad but true, so I'm just going to try and jot down a summary and get some pictures up in a couple days since they are all on Ryan's computer.

We flew into Las Vegas and pretty much just hung out at Ryan's parent's house the whole time we were there. I was training for a marathon up in Park City, UT so I would get up at 4 am to run most days and then I would bandage my toes up for the rest of the day because my running shoes were to small and they were causing me to get blisters and lose toe nails. I know gross huh but I'm happy to say that I now have properly fitting shoes and all my toes are on the mend. While we were there or really the whole reason we were there is because Grandma and Grandpa Waite wanted a family picture of everyone, kids, grand kids, great grand kids and amazingly it happened. I forget how many people there were but I think 60, it was large. We also had the opportunity to attend the Temple while Ryan's brother Hayden received his endowments. It was so wonderful to not only attend the Temple (since the Atlanta is closed and has been for over a year now for renovations) but to be there with the whole family minus Cameron who had class but we were thinking of him. I love going to the Temple, there is so much peace that you feel there and Ryan I and were lucky to be able to go back again by ourselves later on in the week.

The second week were were there Caleb and Sawyer has a chance to take swim lessons. My boys love to swim and Sawyer is a bit fearless when it comes to pools so I have to make sure his floaties are on all the time. Caleb loves to swim too but he's a little afraid of the water so he won't go in without his floaties. After the first day I think Sawyer learned to have a little bit more respect for the pool as he learned really quickly he sinks, but he's really good at holding his breath and he'll swim under water if I give him a little push to the stairs. By the end of the week Caleb was really getting the concept of kicking his legs and stroking with his arms all at the same time. He would still sink down if you moved your hand away from his stomach but I think if he would have had another week of swim lessons he would have gotten it. He even missed a day of swim lessons to go fishing with his dad and his papa. They drove up to Panguitch Lake in the morning and fished all day and then came home that night. They had a great day of catching fish and believe it or not Caleb caught the biggest fish of the day with a 21-22 inch trout! And we ate for dinner later on in the week, and it was GOOD! :o) That's pretty much all we did was eat, and eat, and eat, and eat some more I'm still trying to get motivated to get back on my diet after all that eatting, but I throughly enjoyed every bite I took.

Ryan's mom let us take her nice new Toyota Sequia up to Salt Lake and it was quite a nice ride with the kids since she had a DVD player in there. We did stop in Cedar City for an hour or so at a park to let the kids run around and the funniest thing of all was my friend Crystal from our old ward in Vegas was there with the Laurels (who all use to be my beehives when I was there) for an activity. It was so great to see these girls and the women that they are becoming, they are so beautiful and it just made my whole day, pretty much my whole trip to see them.

While we were in Salt Lake we stayed at my moms house and the boys got to sleep in their uncle Jeremy's tent that was set up in the room with us and my mom bought them both Toy Story sleeping bags so they had a blast with that, and we had a fun cook out in my moms fire pit with the biggest marshmallows you've ever seen.

We were able to drive up to Logan and see my grandparents and we also got to see some really good friends of ours Ryan and Cassandra Judd (who by the way set Ryan and I up and a blind date and well, the rest is history :o) We continued to eat and eat and eat while were there and I realized how nice it was to have a back yard that's fenced in and has a play set that the boys could just go out and play whenever they wanted. It was wonderful, I can't wait for the day that I have a backyard with a slide and a swing and even a trampoline, man my kids would be entertained all day. Ok who am I kidding maybe not all day but at least for a couple hours. Oh what sweet quiet I would have in my home and maybe get stuff done around the house.

We also had a fun time going up to Thanksgiving Point, although it was insanely crowed the boys had a good time and we got them to go on a pony ride, which neither one of them wanted to but after wards Caleb was all smiles taking about how he rode the horse and was a cowboy like woody.

So the day before we left to drive back to Vegas one of my best friends from High School Annie, drove down from Idaho to run the Park City Marathon with me. I know we're crazy but she's even crazier since this was her 3rd or 4th for the summer. It was a grueling race. From the start to mile 7 was all up hill then flat for a while then up hill some more, then flat for a while, then up hill some more. When you finally hit mile 7 it was all up the mountain until mile 16. Oh man I thought I was going to die. Not only was it all up for 9 straight miles but in those 9 miles we climb from like 6,000 elevation to 7,000 and I wanted to puke when I got to the top, but I didn't and kept pushing. By the last 6-7 miles my knee joints were killing me to run but my hip joints were killing me to walk so I pretty much alternated walking and running for the last bit until I had a mile and a half left and then I just made myself run so I could finish. So over all my time was 4 hours 40 mins. Not the best, not what I was hoping for but neither was this race. It was insane and I'm so glad I did it. People ask me if I'll do it again and I my answer is yes I'll run another marathon but just not the Park City one :o).

The next day we drove back down to Vegas, recouped for a day and then flew back home to Georgia. What a great time we had, it's good to be home, I love my home and I love my friends here they are wonderful, but I'm already missing my family. So anytime you want to visit please come :o).

When Daddy's away the kids will play

2010-07-28T16:50:00.003-04:00

or more like do things they're not suppose to like jumping around and hanging off the crib and then I'm stuck taking all 3 kids to the doctor's at bedtime. Luckily the doctor's said they don't do stitches on the in side of the lip cause it heals pretty quick so we got home rather quickly and then since it was past bed time and the kids hadn't taken naps all day they all past out as soon as we got home.

Just a Day in Our Life

2010-07-12T22:21:00.005-04:00

This is what love looks like.

Playing in the rain

Caleb didn't want to get wet.

found a bug

checking the mail

Playing in her little car, the boys still like to play with it when Hadley's not in it.

this kid cracks me up, the faces he makes and the things that must be going through his mind, such a mischievous little boy.

Mummm, making chocolate chip cookies

Oh What Do You Do In the Summertime...

2010-07-09T09:02:00.005-04:00

when it's to hot to go outside and play? Well we turn our stairs into a slide. :o)

Happy Birthday Sawyer!

2010-07-06T22:22:00.006-04:00

He's two, he's two I can't believe he's two already. We had I might say the most perfect birthday ever. No stress lots of fun and just being together as a family celebrating the day Sawyer joined our family and we are so glad he did. He definitely makes us laugh everyday and keeps us on our toes, I couldn't imagine life without him. He's such a happy boy all the time and makes you want to be happy all the time as well. He loves his big brother Caleb and always wants to do everything he does and he's so fascinated with his little sister Hadley and always wants to give her hugs and kisses and hold her (although he's not always very gentle, he's getting better :o).

The day started out opening presents, then playing with play dough. After we all got ready for the day I took the boys to Monkey Joe's (a big indoor bounce house play arena) then home for naps. Ryan came home after naps and we went to the pool for a couple hours then had dinner and a fun family movie night watching UP and eating a yummy chocolate Elmo birthday cake. The perfect day. Happy Birthday Sawyer we love you to pieces!

Oprah's next TV Network Star

2010-06-17T14:52:00.001-04:00

My friend Heather put together an audition tape for Oprah's next TV Network Star. Follow the link and vote for her! Plus you'll get to see me in it and what a nerd I am. :o) You can vote as many times as you want too so keep voting.

Heather's Audition Video

Caleb's 4!

2010-06-13T13:55:00.012-04:00

Can't believe my first born is 4 all ready. Where does the time go? Caleb turned 4 on the 7th and we had his birthday party yesterday at the park with some great friends. Last year he had a Lighting McQueen birthday cake and this year he wanted a Buzz Lightyear cake so we ended up doing a whole space ranger Buzz Lightyear party and had a blast! I made the kids Buzz belts out of green craft foam and they all got space ranger name tags as well. After they were issued their belts we had a little space ranger training camp. There were 3 tasks the kids had to complete to earn their buzz badges, 1st they had to run through and obstacle course (the playground), 2nd they broke up into teams to save all the hidden toys around the playground, and 3rd a water balloon toss (which didn't work out so well but they had fun any ways). After they completed their training they were issued a squirt gun and had to go squirt down the evil Emperor Zurg who had stolen all their goodie bags. After all the fun and games were over we sat down to a yummy lunch, grilled hotdogs for the kids and pulled pork slaw sandwiches for the adults with potato salad and watermelon (yum) and then I had to salvage Caleb's poor birthday cake (with the help of my friend Carol) which was dropped on the ground thanks to a little rascal named Sawyer, but everything turn out fine in the end and the cake still tasted yummy. After cake Caleb got to open up all his present. It was a super hot and humid day but thankfully nice shade trees were available and everyone had a great time. Thanks everyone for coming out and making Caleb's 4th birthday party a great one, I know he felt really special and loved and that's what it's all about.

(here's just a few pics, I didn't get a ton since I was running around with the kids the whole time and Ryan was grilling up the food, oops)

(See how hot and sweaty Caleb is already this was at 10am before the party started, gotta love the south)

(The finished cake)

(the dropped cake)

(the salvaged cake)

(Caleb was so silly every time we'd sing happy birthday he'd hide his face)

(Sawyer the little candy thief :o) he ate his whole bag of candy and wanted more)

(Don't you just LOVE this little kids apron? I do! My friend Heather made this, she asked what Caleb wanted and he loves to cook with me and I've been trying to find a cute one for him, so she made this. She has a little store over at etsy where she makes tutu skirts and twirl skirts so go check her out, Goodie Tutus. And if you let her know you LOVE her kids aprons I'm sure she'd start making them also to sell.)

Celebrations - part 6

2010-06-08T22:10:00.000-04:00

Oh the week of fun continues, we woke up early Monday morning and headed out to Tybee Island (which is next to Savannah) to go play at the beach. Oh how we love the beach! This is one thing we love about living in Georgia - being so close to the beach that we can make a day trip out of it. We packed some lunches, our kite, and picked up a new boogie board and we were good to go. The forecast kept saying it was going to rain but lucky for us it didn't hit until we were all packed up and headed home. It was a perfect beach day.

Then next day everyone left. We were all sad to see them go, we miss our family terribly when they're not with us, but always have so much fun while they are here. We love you all so much and can't express our gratitude enough for everything you've done to help us make it through these last 3 years. You've given us so much love, support, and encouragement and we hope one day we can be as good as parents to our children as you are to us. We love you!

Celebrations - part 5

2010-06-08T22:03:00.000-04:00

Hadley's big day! We waited to bless Hadley until May so that our parents would get to be here with us when we did it. It was so nice to have them here too. Ryan's gave a beautiful blessing like he always does and Hadley was happy and quiet during it. So far we are 3 for 3 with good babies during their blessing (knock on wood). Hadley looked absolutely beautiful in her blessing dress. Ryan's mom cut up her wedding dress and made each of her 5 boys and blessing dress for their daughters (so far all 3 of her sons that are married have had a daughter and all this year! :o) My mom had found my blessing dress and brought it out but I was a little older than Hadley when I was blessed so it was a little big. My mom did make the beautiful flower bow that Hadley wore with her dress, I asked her to make it big and fancy cause that's what she does best. What a great day it was! We're so happy that Hadley joined our family, we can even remember what it was like without her. She's got the sweetest spirit and is always so happy and smiley. We love our Hadel-Bug.

Celebrations - part 4

2010-06-08T21:49:00.003-04:00

The BIG DAY! Yay Ryan finally graduated! We're all so proud of him and how hard he's worked these last 3 years. The ceremony was very nice, the only complaint I have is the guest speaker got on a little tangent about stuff only the law students could understand and it all seemed a little pointless. But none the less he finished, Ryan was hooded and he received his law degree.

Caleb thought it would be more fitting to "knight" his daddy.

We didn't go out to celebrate cause Macon is kind of a small place and all the restaurants were going to be packed and we didn't want to bother with the fuss. Instead I made dinner and then Ryan's mom and I ran a 5K that night. It was quite the experience because they changed the course on us a few time while we were standing at the starting line and then we didn't get start until half and hour after it was suppose to start. But we had a good time and I ended up taking first in my age group. Fun little story, when we crossed the finish line we were handed a card and was asked to write our name, age, and gender. Ryan's mom thought they said name, number (as in the bib #) and gender. Her number was 24 (I think, it was 20 something) so that's what she wrote down and then ended up getting a 3rd place metal for her time in that age group! We just laughed about that one, so mom you'll always be 24 to us! :o) My mom was gracious enough to keep all 3 kids and get them down for bed so we could run our race and thank goodness too because we didn't get home until 10:00pm,(the race was suppose to start at 8:00pm) and those babies would have been cranky if we had brought them with us.

Celebrations - part 3

2010-06-08T21:11:00.000-04:00

So we're falling behind on our post and need to finish up on Ryan's graduation and the parents visiting so we can start blogging about stuff that's happening now instead of over a month ago. Friday after the parents came Ryan had school lunch/meetings to go to so the rest of us pack up the car and headed up to Dauset Trails. It's a great little out door wild life walk about place. In one area there are farm animals, and on the main trail there are wild life animals such as otters, bears, cougars, fox, eagles, owls, etc. They also have a reptile room but it was closed when we tried to go in, so we ended up just skipping that part. It's free and just a fun place for the kids to run around and look at all the animals.

Later that day after the kids got up from naps and Ryan was home we headed out to the movies to see "How to Train Your Dragon". The showing we went to was only in 3D and the boys didn't like that very much, so they watch the whole thing without the glasses. I must say it was a good movie, better than I though it would be. There were some very loud and intense spots, but very good. Caleb loved it (of course) and talks about it all the time still. He's such a movie lover, even at an early age he loved movies. Sawyer could really care less. He likes them for about 10 mins then wants to run around and play, but stick a tub of popcorn in front of him and he's a happy camper.

Xterra GA Deep South 15K Trail Run 2010

2010-06-07T15:07:00.008-04:00

Saturday was a day of firsts for me, I ran my first 15K and my first trail run all in the same race. And all I can say is what and incredible experience that was! It was so hard but SO much FUN! I swear as soon as we got into the woods and onto the trail it was like I was suddenly transported into some mountains in UT. It was all up hill or down hill, roots and sticks all over the trail, muddy and slippery, and most of the trail was just and single lane trail you couldn't pass anyone on. The trail twisted and turned in all sorts of crazy ways, ran along side a beautiful little lake at one moment and cliff edges the next. Oh what a great race it was. I was doing awesome too until the last mile and a half when I started dying going up and extremely long steep hill. I was running at about an 8 min mile pace but by the time I finished it was 9 in a half min mile pace. But not bad for my first trail race and I did take 2nd place in my age group.

Before the 15K started they had a little kids fun run that was a little over a mile and Caleb decided he wanted to run it. After the first turn the older kids got to far ahead of him and he was sad so he stopped and walked back to the start. They made 2 loops so when they came back around to start their 2nd loop Caleb and I jumped back into the race to finish it together. All the kids that participated got a medal and a t-shirt. It was a good day and a lot of fun. To top the day of fun off when Ryan got home from his Bar prep class we hit up our community pool and relaxed. I love summer! :o)

(This is my friend Emmilee's boy Logan, they came out to support me and watch the kids while I ran)

We interrupt this program to bring you a special report

2010-05-28T19:37:00.003-04:00

Ok not really. We still have 5 more post to do about Ryan graduating and all the fun we had with family and I thought we'd take a quick break from that and get this next one down while it's still fresh in my mind.

Q: So what happens 10 mins after you let your boys play in the back yard with their squirt guns?

A: You find your 22 month old pant-less and diaper-less pooing in the street!

don't believe me? don't worry I have proof.

Now back to your regular scheduled program.

Celebrations - Part 2

2010-05-24T20:45:00.000-04:00

Picking fresh strawberries is always fun. But eating them later on top of some Homemade Vanilla Blue-Bell ice cream, or eating some freshly made strawberry ice cream from the local grower is SO much better. While everyone was here for graduation, we went out to Lane Orchards and picked some fresh strawberries. Caleb and Sawyer always have a blast, especially when we get to eat the farm's own homemade strawberry and peach ice cream. Here are a few pics from the trip out there.

HAHA - I don't know what was going on in this picture, but Sawyer's face is worth a thousand words!

Celebrations - Part 1

2010-05-22T11:32:00.009-04:00

Time sure has been flying by lately. I can't believe that June will be here in a little over a week from now. So much has happened in the last month that I feel bad about falling behind on the blog. The beginning of May was full of celebrations. I graduated from law school on May 1st. Hadley was blessed in Church. Stefanie ran in her first 5K in a long time. And Dad came to visit us in Georgia for the first time since we first moved here. Needless to say, we had a great time visiting with family and eating good food.

We were lucky enough to have my parents and Stef's mom come into town for graduation. They all flew into Atlanta on April 28th and stayed till May 4th. Caleb and Sawyer were SOOO excited to see their grandparents. And let me say, they had good reason to be excited because the first thing Grandma Dixon did when she walked in the house was open a suitcase that was filled with toys! And when I say filled, I mean there was no room for anything else in that thing. There were cars, trucks, beach clothes, etc., etc. The kids went nuts! My dad had these wooden car-puzzels specially made for the boys. It was a set of three wooden cars that fit together on a truck. They are kind of hard to describe, but you can see the cars on the floor in this picture. If I find time, I'll take a few pics of them close up.

After the "mini-Christmas" was over, we had dinner, took a little walk around the neighborhood, and put the kids down for bed.

The next morning we got up and went to the Ocmulgee Indian Mounds. It is one of those free things to do in Macon, and the weather was beautiful for a nice walk through the trails. Here are a few pics:

This next picture is one of those times I wished that I clicked a few seconds earlier. Sawyer was trying to blow the seeds off of a dandelion, but when he inhaled, he sucked a few seeds in his mouth. I wish I would have caught his face when he realized what had happened. This picture is shortly after that moment when he was trying to spit it all out. HAHA.

On the walk, Sawyer followed his grandpa everywhere he went and always wanted to hold his hand. Sawyer definitely loves his grandpa. He still asks where grandpa (or as he says it - "papa") is about 3-4 times a day.

After spending the morning at the Indian mounds we headed home for lunch and put the kids down for naps. After naps, we went to pick fresh strawberries at the Lane Farms. See Part Two for that.

Easter

2010-04-14T13:35:00.003-04:00

We had a great Easter weekend, hope everyone else did as well. It was so nice that it was also conference weekend so we got to enjoy both at once. We started our Easter off with of course the kids Easter baskets. They got some starburst jelly beans, mini cadbury eggs, a small chocolate bunny and peeps (not to much candy cause the Easter bunny knows who's really going to be eating all that candy.) They also got some fun stickers, lightening McQueen socks and a small bat and ball. I'd say the Easter bunny was pretty good to them. After all of that fun we had some friends over to enjoy our Dixon tradition of conference scones. LOVE THEM! It was really fun to have friends over especially when we can't be with our family so thanks all who came and enjoyed. Then we just had a nice relaxing Sunday watching conference which was WONDERFUL! I just hope I can hold onto the motivation to do and be better. We ended the day with a yummy ham dinner with cheesy potatoes and green beans and of course lots of candy for mom and dad :o).

We took some Easter pics last Sunday with everyone in their Easter outfits. We don't have a tripod so we didn't get one of us all together, and all the boys wanted to do was run around and play. So this is what we ended up with, not the best but at least we have something of us together.

I know that my Redeemer lives

2010-04-06T09:47:00.006-04:00

Everyone always asks the question is 3 kids harder than 2? And people who have 3 kids or more always say that the 3rd kid is always the hardest, once you get pasted the 3rd the rest are easy. My answer is yes of course 3 is more work and more time consuming but I find that with each child my heart expands to capacities I never knew I had and with that expanded love I find that I become less selfish and that my priorities and desires change. I find I don't sweat the small stuff so much and I have more patience. Now that's not to say I never get frustrated or overwhelmed or lonely when my husband is gone for extended periods of time. But because of this expanded love and most importantly the knowledge I have of our Heavenly Fathers plan for us and knowing the Savior and his sacrifice for me, my life is FULL of joy. So much so that my cup runneth over. I enjoy being with my children, taking care of them, waking up in the middle of the night and giving them comfort that only a mother can give. My heart melts when my little girl stops eating looks up at me with eyes that beam and smiles, letting me know how much she loves me, how much she's thankful for me that I take such good care of her. Even at 3 or 4 in the morning when I don't want to be up, I still have an overwhelming feeling of love and joy and there's no other place on Earth I'd rather be at that moment.

I am reminded this morning as well how thankfully I am that I am sealed to my wonderful husband and that our 3 beautiful children our sealed to us as well. How could I live in a world with the thought that once we die everything I love so dearly would be taken from me. I had a friend who was married for a couple of years and had a beautiful little boy about 6 months old when Ryan and I were about to be married. Tragically she was in a car accident and was thrown from the car and passed away. She was one of the sweetest kindest women I've ever known and thankfully she had the gospel in her life. She was a righteous woman and was able to be married and sealed in the temple, therefore she is not lost forever to her husband and son. About a year later her husband was able to remarry in the Temple and be sealed to another beautiful and righteous woman. Together they have had 3 children. Sadly today I received the news that this husband has passed away. My heart breaks for the wife and 4 children he has left behind and my prayers go out to them. I know the Savior is watching over them. But I REJOICE in our Heavenly Fathers great plan of happiness. That a Savior has been provided for us our Savior Jesus Christ. That he lived a perfect life and was able to atone and take upon him all our imperfections and sins. He provided us a way to return and live again. Because he lives! And he's standing there with his arms stretched out to us ready to lighten our burdens and our sorrows if we but let him.

I know that my Redeemer lives, what comfort this sweet sentence gives, he live, he lives who once was dead, I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES!!!!!!

Funny's from Caleb

2010-03-28T21:14:00.006-04:00

- While sitting in church the speaker mentioned something about a dollar, Caleb heard this and turns to Ryan and says, "5 dollars?" then proceeds to sing "5 dollars, 5 dollars" (as in subways 5 dollar foot long song)

- One night while Caleb was finishing up his dinner I went and sat down on the couch to feed Hadley, a couple mins later Caleb starts sighing and then says, "mom, I've had a hard day" I said oh really what made your day so hard? His reply, "Cause I can't finish my dinner"

- While sitting on the toilet Caleb tells me he can't poo, knowing he really does need to go I tell him to just sit there for a little bit longer and relax. A min later he yells, "mom I did it, it just popped out!"

- Sorry another toilet one, while yet again sitting on the toilet having a poo, Caleb starts yelling out, "Dad, I had a Lighting poo"

- I went for a walk the other day and Caleb road his bike next to me. His helmet is a little big and falls into his eyes sometimes so we have to stop and fix it. One time he says, "hey mom, stop, stop, stop" I stop and look at him and asked why we stopped since his helmet was just fine, his reply, "I gotta pick my nose"

- Caleb loves the Princess and the Frog movie, we watch it every day, he even asks to watch it twice a day. One time after watching it he starts talking about having a princess and the frog birthday. I asked, "would you rather have a Princess and the Frog birthday over a Chick (from CARS) birthday? He says ya. So then I ask, so you want a froggy birthday cake and he says, "no I want a Princess cake" while pointing to the front cover of the moving case. hahahaha I just had this flash of making him one of those barbie cakes. (by the way that's never going to happen)

- On St Patrick's Day we told Caleb if you don't wear green someone might pinch you. So during our morning family prayers Caleb was saying it and he said, "bless daddy to be safe and not get pinched"

Jealous?

2010-03-24T15:12:00.005-04:00

Ya, me too. Funny thing is he tries to pull them out all the time. We call them his fuzzy caterpillars. Thankfully Hadley is getting some fuzzy caterpillars too. :o)

Boys and Cheerleaders

2010-03-07T14:12:00.002-05:00

Last night was the Atlantic Sun Basketball Championship down at the University Center on Mercer's main campus. Mercer had advanced to the finals and so there was a lot of hype around town about the game. I decided that it would be fun to take Caleb to the game. Just me and him. It was his first basketball game ever. I told him earlier in the day that I was going to take him and he seemed to be pretty excited.

Since I'm a Mercer Student, I was able to get into the game free and Caleb was still young enough not to need a ticket. So it worked out great. Once we got there, Caleb saw the popcorn machine and immediately asked if he could have some. We picked some up and found our seats. He was content eating the popcorn and watching the players warm up.

But about three minutes into the game (read "after the popcorn was gone"), he turned to me and said, "Dad, I'm ready to go home." I kind of laughed because I knew he wouldn't last long. I tried to change the subject and ask if he wanted any Sprite, but before he answered me he saw the cheerleaders come out on the floor during a time out. He stopped talking to me and was mesmerized by them. Seriously, he did not break his concentration until they were done with the routine.

I couldn't stop laughing. This boy is almost four and he already thinks the cheerleaders were the best part of the game. HAHA. What is even funnier is that right after the routine was done, he turned to me and said "Dad, where's my Sprite?" HAHAHA!!!

We ended up staying until there were just a few minutes left in the game (pretty much until I was sure we would lose). Caleb kept himself busy by playing on the railing in the aisle - that is until the cheerleaders came back out. All in all, we had a good time at the game together.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T15:13:00.003-05:00

Hadley was everyone's valentine today. So we thought we'd share her with all of you.

Some more Hadley Pics and updates on life

2010-02-04T12:49:00.008-05:00

So I took these the other day to use for Hadley's birth announcement but thought I'd share them here as well. Things are going really well, my mom was here for 2.5 weeks and she went home on Tuesday. I was a little nervous to have all 3 kids by my self, I guess nervous might not be the right word, I was a little worried the boys would drive me crazy all day long while I had to sit and feed Hadley but things have been going very well being all alone. Although the real test is this weekend when Ryan has to leave me too for his moot court competition. But after that it'll be over and he'll have more time to spend with us! :o) We're all looking forward to this weekend being over with.

Hadley is doing well. She's eating well and back up to her birth weight. I'm doing much better nursing this time around than with my boys but that's probably because she doesn't eat as much as they did. But she better start putting some meat on her body fast cause she'll need it to survive in our house with footballs flying through the air almost hitting her in the head and Sawyer always trying to pull her out of the swing to hold her and give her kisses (which is sweet but he's not gentle at all). Mentally and physically I've recovered faster than with my boys although I don't like that it's winter and cold outside and I can't get out and play plus I haven't been able to run because of the cold, lack of sleep, and the fact that I don't have a jogging stroller to put all 3 of my kids in. But I'm hoping by next month Hadley will be sleeping better at night (although she does pretty good now) and the weather will be warmer which will hopefully get me motivated to get out early in the morning and run.

Ryan got some great news the other day, he has been selected for an award for outstanding knowledge in bankruptcy, or something like that. Basically it means he's been invited to a conference up in Atlanta where he gets to meet tons of bankruptcy firms, be recognized and pass out as many resumes as possible and hope we get a job out of it. This isn't the field Ryan wants to be practicing in but at this point we need a job and this award/conference I think will open up some great doors and opportunities for Ryan. We're very excited about it.

So now that I've rambled on and on, here's some pics of the cutest baby in the world :o)