Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was spent at my parent’s house this year.  It was a full house this year!  The only ones that weren’t able to be there were my sister Emily and her family.  We missed them terribly, but know that they thouroughly enjoyed their White Christmas in Maine.

That is one full table!

The kids had the HARDEST time containing themselves from ripping open all of these presents.  They thought dinner should have been the last portion of the evening.

This was Brooke’s first Christmas which necessitated a super cute outfit and a mini photo shoot. ; ) I had the hardest time finding a first Christmas outfit that was feminine (not usually a problem). So, I found a cute onesie.  I paired it with some tights and a handmade tu-tu and voila…..super cute Christmas outfit!

This is my favorite picture of my three kids.  It just shows each of their little personalities so well.

Brooke hanging out with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa.  I feel so blessed that they have been able to know each of my children and interact with them often.

I had a hard time finding matching Christmas jammies for the kids.  I was able to find some for Gavin and Kayla, but none for Brooke.  So, I took matters into my own hands and made them matching jammie pants.  I was so pleased with how they turned out and I may have to make this a yearly tradition.  I may add in pants for Jeremy and I next year!

My big girl is 7!!

Seriously, how did this ……

(don’t mind her labor battle wound)

Turn in to this so dang fast!

My  big, sweet girl turned 7 this year.  I can still so vividly remember the day that she was born.  I can honestly say that is one of the absolute best days of my life.  She made my dream of being a mother come true.  I love her so much and am so grateful for her.

Her birthday fell on a school day, so, as you can see from her picture, we made sure that everyone at school new it was her special day.

I had lunch with at school and we shared some treats with her class.  I really think she just loved being the center of attention.

Later that night we got together with our friends the Kreugers, Their son Matthew is Mikayla’s best friend, and according to Mikayla, her future husband. : )  We took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese – that was quite the adventure.  Mikayla had a great time, and that is all that matters, right?

It was a fun night!

The next day, we got together for a little family party at my parent’s house.  Mikayla is such a lucky little girl to have so many people that love her!

I don’t have pictures right now from her family party (my little sis did all of the picture taking and I haven’t had a chance to get them from her yet).  I will update this post once I do, though!

Mikayla is growing up so fast and is really turning into a sweet and thoughtful young girl.  She is a WONDERFUL big sister!  I love just spending time with her and hearing all of the fun stuff that is on her very imaginative mind.   I love her so much!

Merry Christmas to our family and friends!

I had full intention of mailing out Christmas card this year.  I had pictures taken, I begged my sister to design a fabulous card for us, and I even had them printed.  They were delivered two days ago and the printing came out totally wrong.  They were printed in a new “digital” format that apparently cuts 1/2 inch off of your photo, which was a good portion of Brooke’s head.   So, once again, I decided to send them out in digital form.  That’s better than not sending them at all, right?

This has been a fabulous year for our family.

Jeremy is still employed at The Mattress Firm.  We are so grateful that he has a stable and steady job right now, especially when so many have so much uncertainty with their own employment.  He spends most of his free time being an awesome father to our children and working out at the gym.  He inspires me to be active!

I continue to work in the ER at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.  It’s a great place to work and I work with some really amazing people.  My favorite job is still the one I do at home.  I feel so blessed to be an active participant in the life of my children.  They are wonderful little people and make me smile each and every day. 

Mikayla started first grade this year.  She is a very good student!  She does most of her math homework in her head and is reading chapter books now.  She is growing up to be such a sweet and caring little girl.  She is a wonderful big sister and is always looking out for her brother and sister. 

Gavin is in preschool this year.  He LOVES school!  He loves telling me about all of the adventures he has with his friends and his teachers.  He is my cuddly little boy…I can always count on him to crawl in bed with me in the morning and just lay with me.   He is a wonderful brother to his two sisters and always tries to make them happy.

Miss Brooke was born on June 27th.  She is such a joyful little girl.  She is my best sleeper (started sleeping through most nights at around 10 weeks old) and is a very laid back baby.  For the most part, she only cries when she is tired or hungry.  She loves watching the crazy antics of her older siblings.  She has brought so much joy and happiness into our home.  I just can’t imagine life without her!

I hope and pray that each of you are having a wonderful Christmas season with your families.  There is NOTHING better than being able to just spend time with those that you love.

My hope is that each of you will feel the blessings of our Savior during the upcoming year.  May the Lord bless each of your lives.   We are grateful for His blessings in ours!

Merry Christmas and  a Happy New Year to each and everyone of you.

Love,

Jeremy, Rachel, Mikayla, Gavin and Brooke

Random November Pics

November was a pretty low key month, but I thought I would share some pictures of the kiddos.  I just love them.

Gavin’s Thanksgiving Program

Gavin’s school always puts on such cute little programs.  This year our little Indian did a great job.  I love watching him in these things.  He really gets into each of the songs – he loves to perform!  Such a difference from Mikayla who would usually just sit there and stare out at the audience. : )

Brooke patiently waiting for the program to start.

Gavin performing one of the songs…..

The little Indian at the Thanksgiving Feast.  Nothing better than chicken nuggets at 10:30 in the morning!

Happy Halloween!

 

We had a great Halloween this year!  This big kids were out of school, so we were just able to relax throughout the day and get ready to have our families over for some Trick-or-Treating fun.

My Halloween girls…Gavin was more interested in wearing a myriad of old costumes in preparation instead of his Halloween shirt for a picture. 

Yes, she IS the cutest pumpkin in the patch. : )

Spider Man and Spider Girl showing off some of their moves.

My little ladybug. : )

The little Trick-or-Treaters.  We went to so may houses this year.  Brooke fell asleep half way through and Gavin got tired  towards the end, so he went back to the house with Brooke and I.  Jeremy and Kayla finished up the street and then brought back their very impressive candy load. 

My parents, Jeremy’s parents, my youngest sister and her hubby and my sister in law came to our house for some baked potatoes and chili and to see the kids in their costumes.  It was a fun night spent with everyone. 

I also just wanted to share a pic of our pumpkins.  We carved the big one in the shape of a skeleton.  We used some Mr. Potato “Pumpkin”  Head kits that picked up.  These were great because the kids were able to easily decorate their own pumpkins.

Pumpkin Patch Fun

Shortly before  Halloween, we made our annual trip to Kinsey Family Farm to get our pumpkins and to go on a hay ride.  We look forward to this family outing every year.  The kids had a blast and Jeremy and I had a good time with them as well. 

We tried a couple of times to get that perfect fall picture of all three kids together.  As you can see, that was a bit of a challenge.   I need be better at getting Brooke to pay attention! ; ) 

We did get a pretty good pic of Brooke by herself.  This was on her four month birthday and since I forgot to post that day, I wanted to make sure to post a pic of her on that day. 

We picked out three pumpkins….can’t wait for you to see the carving results.

Gavin is four!

I can’t believe that this sweet baby….

…is FOUR!  He is such a sweet and animated little boy.  He is very set in his ways and it isn’t easy to change his mind when it is set.  However, he is also the sweetest, most loving little boy.  He gives lots of hugs and kisses and is always saying “I love you” for no reason at all.  I just love him so much.

His birthday fell on a Saturday this year, so we were able to have his birthday party on his actual birthday.  We held it at a local park and had SUCH a great time.  It was wonderful to just relax and spend time together.  The kids could run around and I didn’t have to clean my house, so it was the perfect party.

He got some great presents this year.  We are so fortunate to have so many people that love our little people.

My mom made the cupcakes and Gavin actually ate one with frosting  - this is a new thing for him.  (we weren’t sure, so you will notice that the top cupcake is unfrosted). 

Me and my sweet boy.

Brooke past out during the party – she was such a good girl and got tons of good Nana cuddles.

It was a wonderful day.  I really love spending time with our families and am so glad that we live close by them.  Such a blessing!