Pirate Party!

Jax decided he wanted a pirate birthday party this year. For his friend party, I found little treasure chests for each of the kids to decorate with all kinds of pirate stickers and pirate jewels. They all turned out really cute! We had "pirate pigs in a blanket" and green pirate juice that they all drank out of goblets. We had pirate cupcakes and played pirate games. The kids all had eye patches and hats they got to wear and take home, along with their treasure chests they made. It was a wild, crazy party and I was exhausted when it was over. Thank goodness I had my Mom and Sister here to help me. But, Jax had a blast and he loved his party! Last Sunday we had a family party for him and he got spoiled once again and loved it!! He was sad when all the pirate decorations had to come down, but at least we got pictures of his fun parties!

                        The darling treasure chest cake my best friend, Janelle made!!!! Thanks Janelle!

Jaxson's 7th Birthday

On January 20th, Jax turned 7! Where has time gone and how did he grow up so fast? I remember the day he was born like it was yesterday. When they laid him on my chest for the first time, I couldn't believe that this perfect, precious little angel was mine! He was more beautiful than I could have dreamed and I was so so proud and thrilled that I got to be the one to give birth to him, and to raise him. The night he was born, I hardly slept at all, I just kept watching him sleep in the hospital bassinet next to me. I couldn't quit looking at him. After we were home from the hospital, my Mom was holding him and she said, "Remember how tiny these hands are, because they will never be this small again." Boy was she right! I sat there that night holding his small, soft little hand as he slept peacefully in my arms, and I tried to soak it all in. The smell of his sweet baby breath, the peaceful look he had on his face when he was sleeping, the shape of his lips, everything. When he would wake up in the middle of the night, no matter how tired I was, I couldn't wait to hold him. In the mornings, when I was so tired I could barely walk, and he had been up half the night, as soon as I would hold him in my arms, I would forget how tired I was because I just couldn't wait to spend the day with him. And now my precious little boy is 7 and becoming such a little man. That little baby boy is in first grade and reading, quite well I might add, and growing up more and more each day. He has such a cute little personality.
When I drop him off at school, and watch him walk into class, my heart aches a little bit because he is growing up so fast, meeting new friends and learning new things everyday. I love seeing the big smile he has on his face after school as he walks to the car. He grins at me and waves and I absolutely love it.
When he does his homework at night, and I see how well he is reading, and how much he is learning, I am so proud I could cry. He loves his little sister and she loves him. I couldn't be more proud of the person he has become and the person he will be. Both of my babies, and little Noah in my tummy, are the reason I wake up every morning and I love that Nick and I get to be the ones to raise them and love them with all of our hearts!

Happy Birthday my sweet boy! Mommy, Daddy, Ella, and Baby Noah love you more than you will ever know!!

Fetal Fotos

We went to Fetal Fotos yesterday to see if Mini Martin is a girl or a boy. I checked Jax out of school early because I wanted both kids to be there.

I love going to Fetal Fotos because it's such a fun experience, much different from just the 20 week ultrasound you have at the doctor's office. They have a big TV up on the wall where you watch the ultrasound, plus, you get to find out 5 weeks earlier! The baby was curled up in a little a little ball, the ultrasound tech had to poke my stomach, have me lay on my side for a few minutes, and then poke my stomach some more just to get the little stinker to move so we could see if it was a boy or girl! Finally she got the "bum" shot she needed and we could clearly see that it's a baby BOY!!!!! After we got him to move, we saw several more "boy" shots! We saw his cute little profile, arms, legs, and a nice healthy heart beating! He held his hand up to show us he has all his fingers and even wiggled his toes for us! Pretty cute little toes too!

When she told us it was a boy, Jax stood up and said "YES!!!!!!" He was SO excited!! He said he would have been excited for another sister, but, he is especially excited for a baby brother! Nick and I are thrilled! We didn't have a preference, just a healthy baby, but I have had a feeling that it's a boy. We are going to name him Noah, not totally sure on the middle name yet, but he is definitely going to be a Noah! We can't wait for him to get here in June!

Baby number 3!!!

Jax and Ella are going to have a new little brother or sister the beginning of June! We are all very excited! Jax says he wants a brother and Ella says she wants a sister...go figure! Mommy and Daddy don't care if it's a boy or girl, just as long as we have a healthy baby...and I wouldn't mind it if this nausea and constant sleepiness would go away, but it's well worth it. Hopefully we will find out what we are having in about 3 weeks!

San Francisco

Last weekend I went to San Francisco with my dad, brother, and sister, we left on saturday morning and came back on monday afternoon, it was just a quick trip, but it was great to spend time with them. The main reason we went was to go to a 49ers game. Last year we went to Seattle to a Seahawks game and we had a blast, Colby didn't come with us last year, but he did this year and i was glad he came so I could spend time with him too. On saturday, after arriving in San Francisco and, after finally finding our hotel, we went on a boat out to Alcatraz and  got a tour of the island and inside the prison. It was really neat and creepy at the same time. The prison had a dark, depressing feeling to it, which you would expect, for part of the tour, you had your own headphones and voices of some of the correctional officers and inmates narrated the tour. So it was kind of like you were on your own little tour, which I thought was really neat. You got to see all the cells, which were tiny, some of them had the cots and some blankets and props in there. We got so see where the solitary confinement was. One of the guards let Dani and i go into the cell and the guard shut the door so we could see what it was like to be in solitary confinement...it was pitch black and after about 10 seconds i started getting claustrophobic and wanted out! I can't imagine being in there 24 hours a day. We saw the cafeteria, warden's office, other cells, the library, where the guards would go to have their breaks and the control room. We saw the outside of the apartments where the guards and their families lived, it was hard to believe that children lived on the island too! I wouldn't want my babies living there, but, apparently they felt safe because of all the guards and the belief that the prison was "inescapable". It was really neat and I hope to be able to go back there some day with Nick.

The 49ers game the next day was a lot of fun, our seats were on the 3rd row on the 50 yard line, so we could see everything up close. Colby and Dani got field passes and got to walk around on the field before the game started, Colby even got to have his picture taken with two of the cheerleaders, which made his day! After the game we did a little souvenir shopping for the kids and had some dinner. The weekend went by fast but we had a lot of fun.

Halloween

My mom had her traditional, fantastic halloween party again this year, and again, we had a blast! Her house was totally decorated, we had yummy food, and the kids had a blast. Jax was 'war machine' from Iron Man 2, Ella was a beautiful ladybug, and Nick dressed up as a deer and I was the hunter...he had a target on his chest (with real bullet holes in it) and I had a fake gun. Colby dressed up as Michael Jackson, he looked so much like him I couldn't believe it, my mom was Captain Jack Sparrow, and Dani was a hot dog and Derek was a bottle of beer. All of the costumes were hilarious, and, yes, dressing up is mandatory at the party. We played a few games, watched a Shrek halloween movie and had yummy cupcakes that Dani had decorated to look like witch hats (i know, im shocked too).

On halloween night, we went back up to my mom's house and took the kids trick-or-treating with my cousin and her kids.