Christmas Day

This was the best Christmas yet!  I love my family so much!  I had so much joy seeing everyone together for Christmas.  I was missing my childhood Christmas's so we decided to stay overnight at my mom's on Christmas Eve.  The adults stayed up until 2 am playing games.  Everyone was laughing so hard I am surprised we did not wake up the whole house. 

Aiden woke up at 1:30 am ready for presents.  He and I talked for a while, which was so special.  It was not anything important, but I love the one-on-one time we have together.  Taylor slept in Nana's room and eventually kicked Nana out of bed and took her spot.  Austin slept on the floor with Thad and actually did pretty well. Aiden and I had the bed.  Aiden asked Dad if he would not move him once he fell asleep.

Finally at 7:30 am we woke up the kids.  Thad tried all sorts of things to wake up Aiden, but all we had to say was presents and he was wide awake.  Taylor was so tired I had to carry her downstairs.  Austin is so easy going he woke up happy as can be when we picked him up.

The kids loved their stockings and Santa presents.  Both Aiden and Taylor received DS Lite and games from Santa.  We only did a few presents from us.  Aiden received mostly Lego's.  Taylor got an American Girl that looks like her an clothes.  Austin got a lot of teething toys.  He is so excited as well.  Christmas is so much better with kids.

I got come cupcake books a magazine subscription and a purse from the kids. Thad received a Lego online game, hat and something else that I can not remember. My mom got both of us an IPad.  I am really excited to get it set up.

After a fun filled at my moms.  We went to Thad's parents and had even more presents and dinner.  It was a long day, the kids were exhausted.

Christmas Eve

We had an amazing Christmas this year! We went to Rachel and Alan's for Christmas Eve. It was filled with family, friends, food and fun. Santa made an appearance and gave everyone jammies, even Jasmin.

Aiden was so excited to see Santa. He absolutely loved it. I love seeing the Christmas magic through his eyes, it is even better than when I was little. Taylor was petrified of Santa and would not go near him. I had to get the present and give it to her.

Austin had a great time trying to eat Alexander's hat and he liked sitting on Santa's lap as well. The red suit was mesmerizing for Austin.

Taylor loves Austin so much. She is the best big sister in the world!!

Christmas Programs

We have had some adorable Christmas programs for the kids this last week. Taylor had a Teddy Bears Picnic program at preschool. She was so good at practicing her songs at home. However, as soon as the parents showed up at school she got scared and refused to sing any of the songs.

Aiden had his very first piano recital. He played Jolly Old Saint Nicholas. He has only been playing the piano for 3 months. I am so proud of him getting up in front of so many people and playing. He was a little nervous, but did so amazing. I can not believe how big he is getting. He won't let me call him Baby Boo anymore.

I'm A Little Tea Pot

Winter Worderland

This is new for me, but I absolutely love winter. Plus, I feel like a vampire burning in the sun ever since I had skin cancer.

Lately, I look forward to every snow storm. Christmas just brings so many fun memories from my childhood.

Aiden and Taylor have been having fun in the snow too. Taylor has even managed to figure out how to be a princess in the snow wearing a skirt over her snow clothes.

This Christmas we are starting some new family traditions to help make Christmas more memorable for the kids.

1. Elf on a shelf: I am sure everyone has heard about this now, but we love it. We named our adopted Elf "Scout". The kids have so much fun looking for him every morning. It is also great motivation for the kids to remember to be nice.

2. Temple Square: We took the kids to Temple Square for the first lighting. We had a lot of fun until Taylor got sick. She was such a trooper. She did not even tell anyone she got sick as she did not want to ruin the lights for everyone else. Poor girl.

3. Wishes: Every Christmas Eve we are going to place our wish for the next year in a glass jar on the Christmas Tree. The next Christmas we will read our wishes and see if they came true. I liked this as we could make lasting wishes not just for toys.

4. Movie Night: This is something that will take place year round. Every Sunday night is Movie Night. Everyone in the family is required to be there. The kids switch off on picking a movie, my only requirement is no Scooby Doo, or else that is all we would watch. We make popcorn and treats and spend 2 hours as a family having a fun evening with no other interuptions. I hope to keep this going until the kids are all grown.

If anyone else has some fun ideas for famly traditions I would love to hear them. I don't think the kids will remember their presents but they will remember the fun things we do as a family.

Austin James

It has been crazy around our house for the last few months. We had a wonderful new addition to our family in July.

Introducing Austin James Roy

Austin made his debut appearance a week early. It was so much fun. We had decided not to find out if he was a boy or girl while I was pregnant. We had all our friends and family guessing. I think Megan was the only one who consistently said I was having a boy.

On July 21st, I had the crazy experience of having my water break at work while I just started training a customer service representative. This happened about 1:30 pm and I was not expecting this, but as soon as my water broke I had an idea that my baby was a boy. My water broke with Aiden as well, but in a grocery store. Taylor was more of a "normal" contractions.

When we got to the hospital, the nurse was so cute. She was so excited about us not knowing the sex of the baby. She made sure everyone who entered the room knew so they would not give the secret away.

Since my water had broken but I was not having contractions, I was put on pitocin to help things along. The pitocin worked very well, they expected Austin to arrive after midnight, but he was in a hurry. Around 10 pm I was feeling very uncomfortable. They thought my epidural was wearing off. Due to some complications the anesthesiologist spent the entire delivery in my room. I actually received four separate injections of the epidural to help with pain and to try and slow down the delivery. Now, my OB doctor almost did not make it in time. The on-call physician was there as well. My mom and sister arrived just after he was born, well they were running down the hall as they heard his first cry.

At 11:05 pm Austin arrived. It was such a fun experience to hear "It's a Boy!" Definitely worth the 9 months of guessing. He was a healthy 7 pounds 11 ounces and 21 inches long. Holding him for the first time was heaven, love at first sight!!

The one draw back of not know if we were having a boy or girl was deciding on a name. We had plenty of options for a boy. Here are a few we were discussing.

Austin

Dylan

Noah

Jacob

Ethan

The day we left the hospital we decided on Austin. It just felt right. His middle name is James. This is Papa Cordell's middle name and Grandpa Jim's name.

He had the cord wrapped around his neck twice. Luckily there were not complications with this. However, I had some complications with my epidural. I spent the next two weeks in bed with the most extreme headaches I have ever had. I have to look at this as a blessing in disguise. I spent two weeks in bed with Austin by my side with no other distractions. Thad was lucky enough to be able to take 2 weeks off to watch the other kids for me.

Aiden and Taylor visited Austin at the hospital the next day. They absolutely adore their little brother. I was worried Taylor might have been upset as she wanted a little sister, but she loves him so much. She never even mentioned wanting a little sister after he was born. She turned into a little mother. Both Aiden and Taylor have helped me so much. They would get me diapers and even fight over who gets to throw the dirty diaper away. I am truly blessed to have such an amazing family.

We are so excited to have Austin apart of our family. WE LOVE YOU!!!!