Jax turned 7!!

Yesterday was Jacksons 7th birthday. Yay and Boo!! I LOVE birthdays but I CAN'T believe he is already 7. I swear it was not that long ago he was just learning to walk. Now he thinks he knows it all. Jax is such a sweet boy and truly has a loving heart. I could never ask for a better oldest child. He is THE BEST. I have said this before, but he really is one of my best friends and I am already dreading the day he leaves our house. I miss him when he is at school and I get just as excited as Shade and Ayns when he comes home.
We didn't do a lot for his day because the poor boy was sick. He was going to have a friend over but we thought we would postpone that a few days. He was a good sport though. He requested Steak and Green beans for his birthday dinner and a Pikachu cake. We had a good time as a little family celebrating Jax.

Opening his cards from everyone

He got a couple Ben 10 Lego sets, The Diary of a Whimpy kid book and Duke
G I Joe dude from us.

Lego race car from Grandpa and Grandma Leak

and Pirates Legos. Thanks guys!!

He got star wars and helicopter legos from Grandpa and Grandma Stewart. Thank you!

Blowing out his birthday cake

This is the Pikachu (Pokemon) cake I made for him. He asked me for this about 2 weeks ago and I didn't sleep after that. I would dream of ideas of how to make this little dude and I think I did ok. I just drew it on with frosting and it actually worked. He was pretty excited and that is all that matters.

Mostly Blaze and a couple other things...

This month has been a big one for Mr. Blaze (that's what Shade calls him). He has hit a lot of milestones. Believe it or not, I took some pictures to document them. Yay for us!!! Here we go....

My mom sent some Valentine suckers for the kids and Blaze grabbed one and I (a completely different mom for each baby) thought we would like it. Like is an understatement. This boy LOVED it. His cheeks show you how much this boy loves food and suckers are no exception.

When looking at this picture you would think this was a day of dress up. Well no, this is just how they were when I got out of the shower. They were just watching tv like this. It is always interesting to see their moods each day. This day was a western day.

Even Blaze got in on it. (don't mind the puke on his shirt).

The hat was a little large

Big day in our house, Blaze rolled over!! This is him working at it. He gets so frustrated when he is so close and just can't get it.

Then he is SO HAPPY when he does. You should see his smile. I couldn't get a smile picture but this is just a cute one of him for fun.

Another big day was that Zach got selected for a promotion to Major. Woot Woot!!! I am so proud of him. We had a surprise party for him and I made him a cheesecake.

The yummy caramel apple cheesecake. His favorite.

Another big day was when Blaze started on cereal. He liked it at first and now just gets frustrated because I can't shovel it in fast enough. I am happy because he won't take a bottle at all and this helps a little to fill him up as a substitute if I need.

A happy boy with a full tummy of cereal the first day.

(Sorry Jax there are no pictures of you this time. You were at school when I took all of these. Next post will be full of Jax pictures. He will be 7 on Wed!!!!)

Shaving already?

Just a quick update of last week. The boys found some plastic knives and had a great idea of learning to shave with them. They put on some of Zachs shaving cream and "shaved" their faces. It was cute to see, but a little sad at the same time realizing that there are only a few short years until this is a true picture. My kids are growing up so fast.

Shade making sure he gets the chin carefully

Serious business

Ayns thought she needed some cream but was still to little to shave.

This is Aynslees "mermaid hair". She loves being a mermaid in the tub. (Just a bonus picture, nothing to do with the rest of the post).

It's been so long!!

For all of my blog followers I apologize for being such a slacker. I haven't even posted about Christmas yet and it is almost a month later. I guess it could be that I have had sick kids, family visiting or just the fact that I am a busy mother of four kids six and under. I guess I could use any of those as an excuse but when it comes time for me to publish this years book I will be pretty mad at myself when I only have 5 pages in it. So, here are a ton of pictures to make up for my slacking. Enjoy!!

Our Christmas tree with gifts from our fabulous family

This is what Santa brought the kids

Helping Blaze and Ayns open their presents

The boys got guns from grandpa and grandma stewart

This is what Jax made with his remote controlled car and Army men

Do you remember slap bracelets? Well now the "cool" thing is silly bands. The kids got a ton of them in their stockings. Even Blaze sports them.

Here is Jax with his.

Last week school was canceled for a snow day. This is what we got. The kids were in heaven playing in it for about 2 hours. My southern baby girl only lasted 20 minutes though. She was cold!!

They were bored one day so Shade made a Taco Bell hat. His words not mine.

My sweet chunk. How do you not smile when you look at his sweet happy boy? LOVE HIM!

I finally broke down and bought a Bumbo chair. I know, it is only my fourth kid, I should have bought one sooner. He loves it though. He just laughs the whole time in it.

Chillin' in his chair

Decorating and blessings

Last Sunday was a great day. Zach gave Blaze a beautiful blessing at church and then we decorated our Christmas tree that night. We had a great time as a family and it really finished off a special day. Blaze was a great boy and didn't cry or make a peep the whole blessing even though he was awake through the entire thing. I was a proud mama. I am glad to have a husband to be able to give my children blessings when they need them. The tree decorating was fun and we got to put on a couple new ornaments this year. See the pictures below:

It was cold outside so I put this blanket on Blaze while I watched Zach put up our Christmas lights. I thought it was cute that he looked like a shepherd at Christmas time.

Aynslee letting us all know where we should put things on the tree

Adding my new ornament. A close up picture down below.

Decorating

Zach got me this Kasey Kahne (nascar) ornament last year for Christmas. I had mentioned that I thought he was cute and so he gave me this to have on the tree. I think it was a joke but I put it on anyway!

We took our family picture. We only had to take 3 this year. I couldn't believe we were all (almost minus Blaze but babys don't count) looking at the same time.

Blaze in his ugly blessing outfit. I have hated this outfit since I got it for Jax. They don't have anything down here for blessings so I found this one almost 7 years ago and used it for all 3 boys. I couldn't buy Blaze a new one when the other boys used it. I am all about equality even if it was ugly.

Our family picture before the blessing. I love how Aynslee is throwing a fit and Zach looks like "why even try?" The 3 boys are good with whatever and I just laugh thinking "it WILL get better eventually" It truly shows our family right now!

Blaze at 2 months

Two posts in one week. I know, I am out of control. I took Blaze to his 2 month appointment on Monday and got his 2 month pictures taken today so I thought I would dedicate this post to him. Blaze at 2 months:
Still loves to eat!
Still does not sleep longer than 3 hours in the night and 1 hour at a time in the day (I still love him though)
Has THE CUTEST smile ever
Hates his bath
Smells SO GOOD
Loves his "chair"
Hates his bed
LOVES his brothers and sister
Loves to be held ALL the time
Is loved SO MUCH by his family

STATS:
13 lbs
22 inches long
He is quite the chunk and we love it. I can't tell you how many people ask to touch his cheeks and are amazed at his hair. For some reason all my babies have crazy hair. I love it and I love him. He is a sweet baby. I love looking in his eyes and having him smile at me. There is nothing like having your baby tell you he loves you through his eyes and smile. Almost as good as hearing them say it the first time. He is growing up so fast. I wish I could keep him small and cuddle him forever. I am also excited to see what the next few months bring. The JOYS of being a mother. LOVE you Blaze!! Happy 2 months

My Thankful Post

This post is a little late but I can't let this one go and not let you all know the things I have been thankful for this past month. I have decided to let you all know by a long picture post.

All the great family we had come to our home for Thanksgiving. Zach's parents are on a mission only 3 hours from us so they got to come. My sister Courtney and her family are living in Missouri while Dan is in Medical School. They made the long 10+ hour drive. Thanks guys. We had tons of fun with all of you.

I love cousins. They all had a great time together.

Finally Aynslee got to play with a girl cousin. There are not many girls on either side of the family so this was extra special to have Ryanne sleep over.

My sweet husband for taking care of Blaze while I made Thanksgiving dinner.
Love you Zach

I love Blaze after his bath. How cute is he? I can smell how good he smells by just looking at this picture.

I love that my kids love each other. I found them like this one morning watching cartoons before Jax had to go to school.

Aynslee is really into getting her own outfits. Most days she is really good and has great fashion sense. This day, not so much.

As overwhelming as it can be, I LOVE my four babies. I love that they are all such great kids. They are far better then I deserve as a mother. I am thankful that I get to be a mom and that I can stay home with them and watch all the great things they do and say everyday and not miss out on that. I LOVE MY BABIES!

At first I didn't like this, but now I love that my kids love to sleep together. Almost every night you will find two of my kids sleeping together. Sweet.

Our Thanksgiving crowd. Thanks for sharing that day with us.

I love Thanksgiving and all the great food. I love that I can eat as much as I want and it is ok. Great day!