Christmas '09

Christmas came and went so fast this year, but I just accepted the fact that it would and tried to make the most out of every day. It was so fun watching Braxton kind of understand what was going on. He knows who Santa is and learned some fun Christmas songs and kept saying "Santa?Presents?" all the time. I tried explaining to him the real reason for the season and why we celebrate this special day, but I think he is still a bit young to fully understand. It was so fun watching him open presents Christmas morning and get all excited about what each box held. Some of his favorites were some heavy duty CAT trucks he can play outside with, a tent-like car from Grandma Bebe, and his present from Santa Claus, a trampoline! Wahoo! Bella got a sea horse that glows and plays music and a big stuffed giraffe and blanket also from Gma Bebe, Justin got a Iso-cool pillow that is supposed to stay cold all night long (we are still trying to determine if it really works) and I got the best present of all! Ready?? Drum roll please.............................................................................................................................................

A DYSON VACUUM!!! Wahoo!! Justin brought it in after we were all done opening presents, a beautifully wrapped big box that I had seen the night before at my parents house. I just thought it was something for my mom or something. (He is sneaky!) I wasn't expecting one, (but secretly hoping) so I was way stoked to open it try it out. My dogs shed like crazy and I am so tired of having their hair everywhere and never wanting to put Bella down on the ground or play on the floor with my kids cause of all the junk down there, and I know my old vacuum picks up squat. One turn around the room with my dyson and the bin was full already!! This beautiful piece of machinery looks and works and feels like a dream. I LOVE IT! THANKS SANTA BABY!! :)

Opening presents Christmas morning. Gotta love the Berenstein Bears!

This was so funny. He loved his candy necklace he found in his stocking, and he wouldn't stop eating it to open presents. It was too cute.

Helping Sister open her presents. He is such a good big brother.

Bella's toy from Gma Bebe. She loves it! Thanks Mom!

This toy car from Gma Bebe is AWESOME. The kids love playing in the back, and it is perfect for containing Bella if I need to put her down for a minute while I get something done. Braxton sits back here while he watches movies, eats his Christmas candy, plays with his cars...everything! And it was a huge hit with all the grandkids last night when everyone came over for dinner. Definitely a great Christmas present. Thanks again Mom!

Here it is...the big gift from Santa...the trampoline!!! The face he made when we brought him out and showed it to him was classic. He was so excited! And this is definitely one of the best investments we have ever made by far.... Braxton spends half the day out here on this thing, and best part is I can zip him up and he is nice and safe and contained and I can go do other stuff while he plays! We got an AWESOME deal on it. Gotta love Black Friday!

Hope everyone had a safe and happy Christmas. Happy Holidays!

My Kiddos

I love my children. Yes they can be frustrating and messy and cranky and lots and lots of work and many sleepless nights, but they are worth every second of it.

Braxton is such a good big brother. He loves to makes Bella laugh and has started to just go up to her and give her kisses. He gives her toys and talks to her when she is crying and has only tried to sit on her twice now. :) He thinks it is so funny when she touches him. I don't know why, but its a crack up to watch.

This is the first time I put her in his lap, and he wouldn't stop laughing! She had no idea what was going on, but I was laughing pretty hard just watching B-rax. He cracks me up.


Just within the past month, he has started to tell me he loves me. I say " I love you baby," and he will respond with "I wuv too, momma." The first time he said it I about cried, and everytime since then it still makes my heart do a little flip to hear him say it. I don't know why, but there sure is something special about hearing your child tell you they love you.
He is talking up a storm and making his sentences longer and saying more words now. He is such a smart boy - he can count to twelve already and is startin to learn his colors and some letters.

Bella, as always, is a joy. She has been having some rough nights and keeping momma awake for hours at a time, but despite that I can never stay frustrated with her long. One look at her precious face and a wet slobbery kiss on the lips or cheek and I am putty in her hands. She is almost sitting up all by herself now, and she will be crawling soon at the rate she is going. I love snuggling with her fluffy little body. I have tried to start her on solids, but so far she isn't having it. She gags everytime I feed her rice cereal, no matter what I mix it with or how I make it. Today, though, I actually fed her frozen yogurt and she ate it happily and wanted more. Thats my girl! :)

Bella Rose, my beautiful flower! How I love her!

I Love Fall!

Thanksgiving, Braxton's Birthday '09

Its amazing to me how fast the holidays come each year. As soon as October hits, Halloween is here, then you barely have time to get ready for Thanksgiving before it comes and goes, and then you blink and its Christmas! I wish this time of year could just slow down a bit so we could actually enjoy every minute of that beautiful feeling that surrounds this time of year. Its sad that it goes by so fast.

Thanksgiving was wonderful. We had it at my parents house, of course, and the food was divine. I love spending time with my fam and just sitting around and talking and relaxing. It was ESPECIALLY NICE this year to only have to drive a few minutes to get to my parents, and then be able to actually come home to put the kids down for naps in the afternoon. Living 45 min away the past couple years has made for long holidays and late nights anytime we came into town. I LOVE our new home! :) Later in the evening we met the Nobles at a big field near my aunt's house and played games and ate pie and just enjoyed being together. The weather was beautiful, too, so it was nice being outside and enjoying that while we can. Braxton loved being able to just run around and kick balls all night.

Me and Bella, Thanksgiving night, enjoying the nice cool breeze outside while watching the guys and kids play flag football

For Braxton's birthday, we took him to the zoo. He has been there before, but its been awhile and he was so excited to go see all the animals. I think he might have even had more fun just chasing all the birds around on the ground and trying to make them fly away. He wouldn't sit in a stroller the whole time we were there and insisted on running everywhere we went. Where does this kid get his energy?!?! I had so much fun just watching him enjoy himself, though. It made me happy to see him so happy and carefree.

On the bridge before going into the zoo

Anytime he saw water, he HAD to stop and find a rock to throw in it

I think the monkey kingdom was his favorite cause they were so close and almost in your face. He threw a fit when we left. (The only time the whole time we were there...a miracle!)

Waiting to ride the carasoul...this was his other favorite part of the day. He wouldn't stop smiling the whole time he was on it.

You gotta love this face....

Cake and present time! I said "say cheese" and he would say it but not smile, so I said "show me your teeth!" to try and get him to smile. This is what I got. :)

Happy Birthday my son! I love you like chocolate fudge cake loves milk!!

Halloween '09

So I know this is a little late, but better late than never, right? Halloween this year was so much fun now that Brax is old enough to actually kinda know what is going on. He loved wearing his pirate outfit, but the silly goose wouldn't wear the cool hat that went with it. Ironic, since the kid puts everything he can find on his head, but of course he wouldn't wear a hat when he was actually supposed to. I snapped one picture just before he ripped it off again!

My handsome little boy. He didn't quite get the whole concept of "trick-or-treating"...he would knock on the door then try to walk into every house when they opened the door. He was confused every time until he got the candy then he happily left and went on his way. It was fun watching him and seeing how he reacted to everything. Here he is dancing around in his costume before we left to trick-or-treat.

Bella, my little pumpkin. She was so adorable, and such a good girl. I put her in the baby carrier and she was just a happy little baby all night long. She is so sweet.

My brother and his wife just love Halloween and go all out every year with decorating their yard and making it fun for trick-or-treaters. They always have the coolest outfits, too. We went over there after some trick-or-treating to watch them scare all the people that came by and just hang out for awhile.

My sister-in-law, the classic witch

Matching cousins! Bella and her cousin Audin, who is just a few months older, both were little pumpkins. We had to get a pic, of course.

Here is their spooky graveyard. My little bro Joe dressed up as a freaky scarecrow and pretended to be a stuffed doll until the people came by...He got some pretty good screams out of alot of them.

FREAKY

My bro, the werewolf. He always has the coolest masks and outfits.

I can't wait for next year. I just love watching my children grow and enjoying all these new experiences. Happy Holidays!

Bear Flats Camping Trip

My Speakman family all took a trip to Bear Flats and camped out for a couple days together. This was the first time we have all been camping together since us kids started getting married, so it was fun to be able to all be up there and spend some quality family time together. The weather was a little warmer than we would have liked until night came, then of course it was FREEZING. Luckily I came prepared and pulled out the piles of blankets so the kiddos could stay warm. It was nice and relaxing and we all had a good time. The highlight was probably the Quads that we rented to have up there, minus the small accident Shaliah had on one of them.

Here is pics of random family members just chillaxin'...


You can't see this pic very well but Johnathan of course had to show off his manly prowess and climbed up this insanely high rock and was doing Tarzan calls. He cracks me up. If you look closely he is right in the middle of the pic posing for the camera...

Jaron, cooling off in the cold river. Thats one way to do it I guess.

My little man, enjoying the random hats he would find and put on. I think his favorite part about the quad rides was that he got to wear a helmet the whole time! Silly boy.

My beautiful Bella

Dad Speakman, enjoying being in nature and letting out the good ol' cowboy stored up inside.

Mom and Bella

Father and Son. Dont you just love all the smiles B-rax was giving the camera on this trip? He was like anti-smile anytime a camera came around him.

Bouncy B-rax

My sister watched some of our nieces and nephews while their parents were out of town last weekend, so we took all the kids to one of those cool bounce house party places to let them play for awhile. Sadly, the age limit was 14, or me and my sis would have been all over that right along with the kiddos, but alas we had to stand and watch them have all the fun. There were at least 8 different bouncy balloon obstacle course thingies and they all looked like a blast. Braxton was terrified at first and just had fun running around the arena, but I forced him to go down some with Shaliah and then he of course loved it and didn't want to stop. They all had so much fun. I was jealous!