Thanksgiving and tree-trimming

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! We went to my cousin's house today (Tyler and Tara) and had a great time. We enjoyed being with family and eating yummy food. Here is a picture of all the kids that were there.

Back Row-Cierra, Kenzie, Brooklyn
Front Row-Tanner, Caden, Ryker, Samson

The kids playing in the front yard after dinner

After we got home, we decorated the Christmas tree. Caden had so much fun hanging the candy canes and eating them, too.



Cierra wanted to put the angel on top of the tree, so she climbed on my shoulders and got to work.



The finished product!

Mackenzie is Eleven!!!

Kenzie's birthday was actually on Monday the 17th, but I got sick and have been really busy, so I haven't had a chance to blog about it until now. Caden actually went to bed on time tonight, so I have a few minutes to use the computer in peace. I had Kenzie young (I won't go into specifics, but I was younger than your average teen mom)and I have to let everyone know how much I appreciate their kind and loving support throughout my pregnancy. It is something I will never forget. My labor with Kenzie lasted for three days. It started on Friday morning (the 14th, which was my due date)and continued on through the day and night. I went into Labor and Delivery Saturday because I was still contracting and was sent home. I went into Labor and Delivery again on Sunday because I was still contracting and was sent home again. I was still contracting steadily Monday morning, so I made an appointment with my midwife because I didn't want to be sent home again. When I got to my appointment, I was dilated to a 5, so they sent me right over to the hospital. I labored throughout the day with an epidural and delivered my beautiful baby girl at 6:50pm on Monday Novemeber 17th, 1997. She weighed 8lbs 4oz and was 21 inches long. She had blue eyes and honey colored hair. She was just perfect. She loved to be held and cuddled and loved being wrapped up in her blanket. Her delivery was attended by quite the crowd. It included my Mom, my Grandma and Grandpa, my sister Ericka, and my Aunt Lisa. I am so grateful that she is my daughter and that I have been given the wonderful oppurtunity to be her mom. Happy Birthday Kenz! Sorry I only have one baby picture, I couldn't get the rest of them to work.

Two months old


And now.....her 5th grade picture

Cierra is Seven!!!

On November 12, 2001, I woke up with a horrible backache at about 5:00am and thought nothing of it. I figured that I had slept wrong and was just uncomfortable from being very pregnant. I had an appointment at the hospital at 9:30am to have a non-stress test done. Erick went to work because I wasn't due for a few days still and I had no idea that I was in early labor. I dropped Kenzie off with my Grandma and headed to the hospital for my test. After my non-stress test, they decided to keep me in a room for a little while to evaluate me. I called Erick and my Mom to come over to the hospital because I thought that they might be keeping me. Through out the morning, my backache continued to get worse, but I still I had no idea that it was early labor. Soon after my Mom and Erick arrived, my water broke. So it was then decided that I would of course be staying put. After laboring most of the day all natural, I finally begged for an epidural. My midwife wanted to check me before I got it because she thought that I was in transition, but I wouldn't let anyone touch me until I had my epidural. So I got my epidural in place and I let my midwife check me and guess what.......I was complete and ready to push! I had Cierra about 20 minutes later before the epidural even had a chance to fully work. She came into the world at 7:31pm and weighed 7lbs 1oz and was 21 inches long. She came out very alert and studied the whole room. She was born with dark brown hair and very dark brown eyes. She was absolutely perfect. Cierra was a great baby and even slept through the night from day one. I am so grateful that she is my daughter and feel blessed that she is a part of our family.

My mother insisted on taking this picture. It was the night before I had Cierra.

In the hospital

A few days old

About a month old

About 3 months old

Her newest school picture

Marshmallows anyone?

While grocery shopping today, Caden decided that we needed to buy some marshmallows. He loves them. I usually just buy the mini ones, but I let him pick today and he picked the jumbo strawberry flavored ones. He could hardly wait to get home and eat them. So, we get home and I open the bag and give him one and he shoves the whole thing in his mouth and promptly gags on it and spits it out all over the floor. He still has some sensory issues with food and he still chokes and gags a lot, so it didn't surprise me. I instructed him to only take small bites and only take one bite at a time. He took my instructions very literally.......LOL. A few minutes later, I walked back in the room and this is what I found. A neat row of marshmallows, all with one bite taken out of them. He is such a funny boy. I love the way he thinks and problem solves.

Erick's Birthday Party

Erick's birthday isn't actually until next week, but since he was leaving, we had a little party for him on Saturday night. We had ice cream cake, the kids made him cards, and we gave him a framed picture of all of us and a CD that he had been wanting. Here are a few pics.....sorry the first one is a little dark.

Darn Snow

Because of the bad weather here, Erick had to head down to New Mexico much sooner than we had anticipated. He was off work most of last week and we couldn't risk another week like that so, he left yesterday afternoon and arrived in Roswell just a few hours ago. He starts work at Hamilton tomorrow morning. We won't see him again until December 23rd. It's going to be a long 6 weeks. We all miss him very much already and can't wait to see him. Good luck honey!

Ohhhhhhh..........so that's where it went.

Last night as Erick, Caden, and I were laying in bed (yep, he still sleeps in our bed), Caden had an epiphany. Out of the blue he said "Monster take Mommy's weenie!" Erick and I laughed so hard. I am so glad that he's talking now, but I am never sure what is going to come out of his mouth next! I'm curious how long he had been thinking about it.......

Trick-or-Treating!

We prepped Caden for weeks before Halloween, so that he wouldn't be stressed out by the whole idea and when it was time for actual trick-or-treating, he did great! He had so much fun knocking on doors and getting candy. After it got dark, Caden and I came home and Erick took Cierra back out for some more trick-or-treating. Kenzie only went with us for a little while and then she wanted to go with her friends.......I can't believe that she is getting to that age already! Here are some pictures from our fun evening. Erick even convinced me to dress up this year!

Caden as "Thomas the Train"


Cierra the pirate


Kenzie as a victorian queen (she looks waaaaaay too old!)


The whole family