Lil' Miss

Lydia is now 3 months old, man where has the time gone?  We are finding that she is a momma's girl, which I have a love/hate relationship.  I love it because she is always happy with me and we have that bond but whenever she goes to someone else, even Jordan, she has a hard time.  She is such a sweet baby, smiles all the time, I love her little coo's but man is she a fighter when it's time to go to bed!  Even naps it takes her a little while before she gives it up.  Bedtime is fantastic I have to say.  She is a great sleeper, which we have worked on. She is ready to go to bed around 8:30pm and will sleep until 5:30-6am, eat, and then go back to bed for 3 more hours.  I 100% believe in training a baby to sleep through the night when they reach the 12 pound mark.  It has worked for all 3 of my kids and Drake is still a fabulous sleeper! It's not fun hearing them cry for a little bit but it is so worth it in the end.  

We have loved having this little girl in our home.  We have loved having 2 children in our home.  Time has been my biggest adjustment but other than that these past 3 months have been wonderful.  

Mr. Drake

Drakers, Drakers, Drakers. What a little ham you are, and always has been.  This little boy keeps me on my toes but as his vocabulary grows he gets funnier and funnier.  He will often say "oh my goodness" very dramatically when he sees something great, or his newest one "you've got to be kidding me" or he will say "I promise" when it doesn't even make sense.  He cracks me up.  Drake is now potty trained, at least for the most part.  During naps and nighttime he is still in a diaper but other than that he does perfectly at home and has an occasional accident when we are out and about.  It was about a 2 month process of up and downs but I am loving where we are at and week by week he progressively gets better.  His baby blues and blond curly hair gets many onlookers attention, which he loves and hams it up.  I just smile.  He is a lover, especially to Lydia.  Every time it melts my heart.  He can be rough and tough and crazy 99% of the day but when it comes to Lydia he is a lover, gives her kisses, always tells her hi and I love you, his favorite thing is to take her soft hand and rub it against his lips.  He has done it since she was born.  I hope he stays so loving toward her as they grow up together and become best buds.  Drake is learning his shapes and loves any kind of attention he can get.  He loves to pretend, he loves movies, he loves to get one of my many gift bags and fill it with his treasures, put on his cowboy hat and walk around like he is going somewhere important.  

 Drake started a little gymnastics class last week and observed a lot which surprised me a little.  He would stand back and watch as each activity began and then he would slowly join in.  I know he will love it as the weeks go by and gets a little more acquainted with his classmates. 

 Again with the loves.

 Drake loves his friend Brynlee.  When we got back from Vegas they had a little play date and Drake loved it as you can see.  We are so happy that they are in our ward now!  It makes nursery even that more fun.

 Drake can find something to do anywhere we go, and has a hard time listening to me in public...we are working on that.  But this was when Jordan had something to take back to the mall and while we were waiting for him to try on stuff I was having a hard time keeping track of Drake, progressively getting more and more frustrated because he wouldn't stay by me and after the 18th time of looking for him, I turned around to find him like this.  He found 2 hangers, pretending they were his guns, and put on this hat that he found (you can see the rack in the background) and just smiled at me when I looked at him.  Oh Drake, you keep me on my toes that is for sure.

Christmas in Vegas

We left the 22nd of December, Jordan returned home on the 26th for work while I stayed in Vegas with the kids, he returned back to Vegas on New Year's eve and we ended our Christmas vacation on January 4th and it was wonderful!  It was the first time for Micah and Landry to spend Christmas with the fam and it was awesome and we missed Tyler and Alisha's family!  The holidays are what I look forward to every year, there is nothing better than to just have an open schedule with your family to go and do whatever.

The day before Christmas Eve we got a sitter and all went to the Michael Jackson Cirque Du Soleil show.  It was a great show overall, I definately liked some parts more than others, but you can't go wrong with a little MJ! 

One of the highlights of the night was all 8 of going through "employee only" entrances and seeing the back lots of Mandalay Bay trying to find where my Dad parked the car.  Quite hilarious.

Christmas Eve

We had a lot of fun on Christmas Eve.  Some went to a movie, my awesome Mom cooked all day, Aunt Brittney made fake snow and had a snow ball fight, the annual puzzle was out,  and dinner was sooo fantastic (again thanks to my Mom!).  We ended the night playing pipe bells that my handy Dad made (unfortunately no pics), sang some Christmas carols while Micah played the guitar, and as tradition we opened sibling gifts, Christmas pjs and our read our Christmas books altogether.  

Christmas

Christmas morning was so much fun with Drake.  Jordan and I were so excited to play Santa Christmas Eve and even more excited to see Drake's face when he saw all the presents.  It was awesome, so memorable.  We had a great Christmas morning opening gifts altogether and then got ready for church.  It seemed like Christmas day went by so much faster than normal but I loved every bit of it being with family and having Drake to see through a children's eyes again.  

The next week and half we had a lot of fun shopping, going to the children's museum, movies, playing games, eating, eating and more eating!

Britt had a couple of eyelash appointments and while she was setting up Drake hopped up on the bed and wanted to be worked on.  He closed his eyes, crossed his leg and breathed heavily as she rubbed and tickled him.  We were dying.

 New Year's Eve

We headed to the bowling alley New Year's Eve day.  It was Drake's first time bowling and he loved it!   That evening we all went to dinner and my Mom was kind enough to take Drake home while the rest of us went and saw New Year's Eve (how fitting right?).  

 After the movie we had a pretty mellow time bringing in the new year.  Brandy and Landry were brave and went down to the strip but the rest of us stayed home and watched the craziness on tv.  

Such a fun time in Vegas, we loved every bit! Happy 2012!

Christmas With Mimi & Papa

Since we were headed to Las Vegas for Christmas we had an early Christmas via Skype with Mimi and Papa and to say the least, Drake could not wait!  From the moment we got the big box of presents in the mail and under the tree, Drake could not stop talking about opening them.  He was so excited.  I am so thankful for Skype, for the ability to do things like this on a regular basis since we live so far from family.  It worked out perfectly.  Drake was so excited for everything he got, but instead of taking time to really look at what he just opened he would be on to the next one to rip open. Now with it all said and done he plays with everything on a daily basis!  Thank you Mimi and Papa!

Santa

Just like last year, Drake was sooo excited to see Santa.  This year though, he understood why.  He said he was going to ask for a choo-choo train and a scooter and a treat...too cute.  And that's exactly what he said, except he asked for the treat first!  I guess he saw the big bowl of candy canes by Santa. 

I tried to get some pics before we went but as you can see it wasn't really a success!  I love the look on Drake's face like "uh Mom don't you see that she is crying? but I will try to smile and hold her hand anyways."

The second Jordan put Drake down he ran up to Santa.