Guess we'll see

I did it. I'm done. I went back to school and graduated with 2 small kids and a husband in graduate school. Hard? Yes. Exhausting? Absolutely. Do I have a few more gray hairs, dark circles, and stress wrinkles? Without doubt. But I did it, I did the thing that I never thought I could do and actually I enjoyed parts of it. I love to learn, I love to sit in a classroom and gain more knowledge about things that intrigue me. I could do without the papers and studying and tests, but the learning I enjoy.

For now, I am done. I might go back again someday to learn some more. Someday... not now.

For now I will concentrate on being a better mom to my kids who were probably more neglected the past while then I would like to admit. For now I will work on getting ready to make our little family of 4 a family of 5 ( yes that is an announcement, 12 weeks... guess we'll see who actually reads this) For now I will try to take my zofran and not reject every morsel that enters my body. For now I will enjoy the calm and predictability of life because in July.... things at our house will get a little bit crazier.

Family Pics

While we were all together we did family pictures. Family pictures with a large group is hard, especially with a 2 year old who HATES sitting still and refuses to do anything but whine. However, with the exception of Taycee we ended up with some good group shots.

I hope he never ever loses those dimples. The very first thing I remember them saying when Kaden was born was, "look at those huge dimples!" They show when he laughs or frowns, or pretty much makes any movement with his face. I love them. I love him.

Is it boastful to say that I have the most wonderful husband in the world? Because I do. Seriously, I do. He is the most kind, giving, generous, dedicated man that I know. And I love him more every single day. Getting to spend time with him always solidifies one thing to me. CHRIS IS THE BEST DECISION I EVER MADE. Period.

My beautiful baby.

I love this look. It is such a typical Taycee look. Whenever she wants something or is concerned this is the look I get.

So grateful for this little family.

Christmas

Christmas Eve the Clayton family has a tradition to go out to eat at whatever restaurant is open and tip the waitress and cooks good money for having to work. This year it was I-hop.

Chris and Kaden in their new matching pjs... ha, can you tell Chris's were about 6 inches short and 6 inches too wide. We all got a good laugh before he took them off and we returned them. :)

This was Christmas eve in our new matching PJ's. We are missing 4 of the kids in this pic but they were with other families.

You haven't really seen present overload til you have done Christmas at the Clayton home. I don't even think this picture does justice to the MOUNTAIN of presents under the tree Christmas morning. Kaden literally called it a mountain when he came downstairs. I believe his words were "WOAH mom, is that my mountain?" Needless to say we were all very spoiled. It was a fun morning filled with lots of laughs and excitement. Having 13 people unwrapping presents at the same time makes for a little bit of crazy and a lot of fun.

It was all he talked about, and all he asked for. It was also one of the first things he found in his stocking... Thomas the Train. He was over the top thrilled about it. :) Ah the simple joys of being a child.

Tacyee enjoyed opening presents until she got to the present with all the baby things ( stroller, crib, swing) at that point she just layed on top of that present refusing to move. Maybe she though if she kept opening someone would steal it.

I think the most exciting thing for Taycee was all the candy she got in her stocking. She asked for another piece about every 10 seconds. Needless to say it didn't last too long.

Can you just feel the excitement from this picture. He had to have this game opened the moment it was unwrapped. The best part about Christmas with Kaden is that he was this excited about everything... seriously... everything. It didn't matter if it was a miniature candy bar, a tie, shoes, or the huge train tracks he got with each new reveal he squealed with joy and excitement. It made us all smile and feel pretty good.

This was the after.... it always makes me a little sad to see it all unwrapped and over.

We hope you all had a WONDERFUL Christmas.

SNOW!

We finally got enough snow to go play outside in our yard. Chris had been waiting for weeks for this to happen. Every time it snowed it was either too dark outside or a Sunday or the snow had melted by the time he got home from work. So when we woke up on a Saturday to a few inches and nothing planned he jumped on the opportunity. I am not sure who was more excited about tubing down our own little hill, Chris or the kids. All thoroughly enjoyed it.

Chris and Kaden decided to make a snow man. Chris thought it was a great idea to start the snowball at the top of the hill and push it down so it could collect snow on its own. It worked well... too well. Chris wanted the snowman to be in front of the house and by the time he rolled it around to the front it was too heavy to push.
Taycee loved playing outside. She took a few face plants in the snow and didn't even flinch.
This is the beaut of a snowman we ended with, it looked more like a frog and as you can see took up most of the snow in our yard. Our fun neighbors came over to join in the festivities, my kids are obsessed with Stella and ask for her almost daily.

I think our day in the snow was a success. It was followed by hot chocolate gingerbread men and Pinocchio.

December

December was a full month for us. Every day seemed to be filled with errands to run and places to be. I tried to catch some of the fun moments along the way.
We decorated for Christmas at the beginning of the month and the kids thought it was pretty great. Kaden loved hanging ornaments on the tree but didn't quite catch the concept that they all needed to be on a different branch. Many of our ornaments were piled up in 4's or 5's on one branch. Taycee is obsessed with "babies" she got this stroller and baby for her birthday and had to have it with her every second of the day. If she was watching a show the baby needed to be right next to her in the stroller.

We had a Christmas party with some friends in the ward. We started out the festivities with gingerbread houses. Our is the smallest simplest house on the right. We won 3rd place. Notice the incredible architecture of the house next to ours, garage and all...

Kaden got to see Santa several times this year. This was at our ward Christmas party. All he asked for was a "Thomas the Train" and he stuck to that one wish all month long. I wish his requests would always stay this simple.