Merry Christmas 2009

* the front and back of our '09 Christmas card.

FOUR months

It's hard to believe that my baby is a third of the way to one year old. She's no longer an infant anymore and basically runs the show. At four months Jilli is weighing in at 13 lbs. 9.5 oz. (5oth percentile), she is 26 inches long (90th percentile), and her head is in the 50th percentile as well. Even though she's not much of a napper and she only takes about three 15 minute naps all day long, she does sleep great at night, so I'll count my blessings. We gave Jilli-V rice cereal for the first time today and she gobbled up two servings -- the girl was wide-mouthed and could barely control herself the entire time. Jillian seems to attract admirers everywhere we go, but honestly, who couldn't love that face. We are so grateful for this sweet girl and so thankful for her sweet presence in our family.

fabulous & F O U R

Jaxton James turned 4 on Monday. We celebrated by taking 9 buddies to Chick-fil-a for some lunch, army guy cupcakes, ice cream, gifts and playing. As we were leaving the restaurant Jax said, "That party was AWESOME!" -- I'm pretty sure he enjoyed himself.

I took him to the doctor today and as we walked in the office he announced loudly, "Now I am NOT here for a flu shot!" and that was probably my 5th reminder for the day and he continued to give that same reminder to any nurse or doctor that he came in contact with. The poor guy had apparantly had it with shots between the seasonal flu shot and two doses of the H1N1 -- he was not going to let any of us forget. Jaxton weighs 42 lbs. (90th percentile) and is 41 inches tall (75th percentile). He is definitely our big, sweet, sensitive guy.

While Jaxton loves everyone in the family, I have luckily found a very special place in Jaxton's heart. He is so sweet to me and always says such nice things. The other day I was telling him that I had just bought some new pants for me. He replied saying, "Mom, can I see them so that I can say they're beautiful and that you're special?" I think this little guy is going to make one girl very very happy in the future.

Jaxton got to choose what he wanted for his birthday dinner. After much thought he decided on popcorn, hotdogs, and ramen noodles. Birthday wish granted, eat up, big guy!

We are so thankful for our Jaxton and can't wait to see all the wonderful things he accomplishes during his lifetime -- he's oozing with potential to do so much good! We love you Jax -- happy 4th!

Two and a Half

If you ask Beckam how old he is, he'll usually tell you either "5 1/2" or "3 1/2." But, Beckam actually turned 2 1/2 on Tuesday -- totally bittersweet! While on one hand it's sad to see my baby boy grow up, on the other hand he's so fun to watch as he experiences life and learns knew things. He talks and talks all the time and can say anything, but there was a while where his favorite words were "momma," "daddy," "pee pee," & "bum bum" -- put it all together and it doesn't make a very good combo. What's worse is that Beckam would go around chanting these four words over and over and over as loud as he could. When we were in public and he'd start doing it, I'd try to cover it up by saying things like, "No, Beckam, mommy and daddy don't need any PUMPKINS!" People would usually just smile, but I always had to wonder what they were really thinking. Beckam prayed for the first time all by himself a few months back. It was a very lovely prayer that went, "Heny Faer, momma daddy, baby sick, AAAAAAA-men!"

We love our sweet and sassy Beckam and think he's basically the coolest 2 1/2 year old around -- we're pretty sure we'll keep him around and just keep on lovin' on him!