Happy 6th Birthday Nash!

Nash celebrated his birthday in true LEGO style this year.  He took his brother and a couple of friends to the LEGO movie the week before his birthday.  It got rave reviews from each of them.  We had a family party the day before his birthday and he chose a Lego Chima theme.  I made a gluten free Chima cookie which turned out to be absolutely delicious if I do say so myself.  He chose tacos for dinner and had a couple of neighbor buddies join us for dessert.

Yes!  The Gorilla Striker!

Nana reading to the littles

Claire and Nyle riding in Style

He finally got his bow!

YUM!

Nash and his buddies waiting for some cookie

Happy birthday Dear Nash, Happy birthday to you!

Nash,
This has been such a fun year for you.  You started kindergarten and you are doing so well.  Daddy and I are so proud of you.  You love legos, movies, the Wii, reading, PE, playing transformers, and Heartshot Ministry.  You are excited about spring soccer and summer tee ball coming up.  You are very social and love spending time with your family and friends.  You have a habit of chewing on the sleeves or neck of your shirts.  (see cookie photo above) We have been trying to break you of this habit but so far, you win.  I know it's just a phase.  But for now, you have very few shirts without stretched out, holy sleeves.  :0)
You are such a bright, sweet boy.  You love learning now things.  Your favorite book right now is "Dinosaur Record Breakers:  Biggest, Fastest, Deadliest."
Daddy taught you a new prayer and you are saying it before meals now:
"Hey God,
Open my eyes, open my ears, open my heart, so I can do your will.  Amen."
It's really hard to believe it's been six years since you surprised us with your early entry into this world.  Daddy and I watched Juno in the theater on February 22.  Not long after going to bed, my water broke and the next afternoon you were born.  You changed our lives forever and we are so happy that God gave us you.  Happy 6th birthday Nash Charles!

Happy New Year!

Fun and games at the Cottons' house this year.  Theme:  Cowboys and Indians

Whitney and I before she heads off to a fancy gathering

Me and my cowboy

The whole gang

3..2..1..Happy New Year!

Goodbye 2013...Looking forward to good things to come in 2014!!!

Merry Christmas to All!

Another fun Christmas season full of fun with friends and family.  This year we got to see TWO of Santa's helpers.  The first one was at a neighborhood party...

Nash

Nolan

Nyle

 Santa passed out little goody bags during his visit.  Nolan was SO disappointed when he opened the goody bag and he didn't get what he had just asked Santa for.  I didn't realize he was expecting it to work so quickly.  Broke my heart.

We visited my hometown again for "There's Snow Place Like Home."  The boys made reindeer food, cookie jars, ornaments, and got to see Santa again.

Nolan with his ornament

Nash being goofy with his reindeer food

making cookie jars with Papa

Nyle

Nolan

Nash

 Family Christmas...

Nolan, Daniele, Claire, and Nyle

Nana and the grandkids checking out the Santa Bag

Claire, Daniele and Will

Jason helping Nash with his rainbow loom 

Uncle Will reading to Nash and Nolan

Christmas PJs: Nyle, Nash, Nolan and Claire

Nash

Grama Jo and Nash

Papa helping Nash put together Lego Chima set

Claire and Nyle racing their new Mickey and Minnie cars

Nash, Jason, Nyle, Grandma Phyl, Nolan and Me

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Noley Bear turns Four!

Nolan chose a Monster Jam birthday party to celebrate four years of barreling through life.  What an adventure!

A new Monster Truck wallet

Nolan and Daddy

Great Grandma Phyliss and Nolan

Nash and Nolan

Happy Birthday Dear Nolan, Happy Birthday to YOU!

Noley, 

It's been fun watching you grow and learn along the way.  You are the sweetest, most sensitive little man much of the time and quite a stubborn, little stinker every once in a while.  But no matter what, we love you to pieces all of the time.  You have such an excitement for life.  You like monster trucks, baby rhinos, dinosaur egg oatmeal, puzzles, ninja turtles, mini muffins, and wrestling with your big brother.  When we say prayers before a meal, you always insist on praying for your toothbrush.  You are a night owl.  Many nights you are up after your brothers are asleep, hanging out with Mom and Dad and sneaking in some alone time.  I do cherish that time with you.  In fact, as I am typing this, you are perched on the armrest next to me talking about blowing kisses and seriously melting my heart.  You have such good manners for a four year old.  Daddy and I are so proud of you Bear.  We are so thankful God gave us you!

Family Pictures

We snuck in some outdoor family pictures.  I think it was the beginning of Nov that we did these.  I waited too long...it was cold!  The smiles lasted about 5 minutes and then things deteriorated from there pretty quickly.  Each time we have pictures I think "there is no way Donna got any good ones out of the debacle."  She even came to our house a few days later to make sure we had a few to hang on the wall or put in the Christmas card.  I think she did quite well and there are even some good ones from the outside photo shoot!

Nyle Steven - 15 months

Our sweet little daredevil turned 15 months old yesterday.  He's changed so much in the last three months.  He has 12 teeth now which explains why he has been a little less than chipper the last few months.  I was starting to think he might need an IV drip of tylenol there for a while.  Poor guy.  A runny nose and cranky temperament is no fun.  The last week or so I have noticed his giggly, goofy personality coming back so I think the teething bit is taking a break.

Nyle, you love going up and down the stairs.  We still have the gates up and you need supervision because you are still learning that you need to stay on your tum tum when coming down.  Occasionally you will try to stand up and take a step into mid-air.  Which brings up my next point.  You have earned yourself a couple of nicknames.  "Crash" for obvious reasons.  And "Goo Goo."  This is pretty much all Nash calls you now.  You have a vocabulary of about 4 words at the moment: "mama," "dada," "gung gung," and "goo goo."  I can tell you are comprehending much more than that but no need to use extra words when you get what you want using the core four.  You are so active and walking all over the place.   You know what sound the elephant, monkey, and dog make.  You wiggle your nose like a bunny.  You usually take a really good morning nap and a short afternoon nap.  You are still in size 5 diapers and wearing 2T clothes.

Things you like: being outside, "brushing" your teeth, cheese, climbing up onto the couch, chasing your brothers, bananas, taking all the books off of the book shelf several times a day, your pacifier
Things you dislike: having your nose wiped, green peas, when someone closes the gate right before you are about to sneak up the stairs, teething
I've noticed an interesting phenomenon.  You can already make the machine gun noise.  I'm convinced boys are born knowing how to do that.  I still haven't really mastered it, not that I really need to.  You point a block or some other toy in front of you and it just naturally rolls from your mouth.  You can mark that skill off your check list!
Nyle Steven, you are such a blessing.  We are so thankful God chose us to be your family.  We love you Goo Goo!