Happy 5th Birthday to Jaxon- Dec. 20th 2011

It is so hard for me to believe that my Jaxon is 5! Birthdays are always a fun time for me to reflect back on the years I've shared with my children. It's a time to recognize their unique traits and the things they contribute to our family. So first a little about his birthday and then a little about him :)

Jaxon is our almost Christmas baby, so he gets a double dose of presents during the Holidays. We were heading to Idaho for Christmas just a couple of days after his birthday. We had just our own little family here to celebrate our Jaxon. He wanted a Thomas the Train cake (surprise, right?) and had asked for a Ripstik- and he got just what he wanted!

Anyone who knows Jaxon knows that the adventure level in our lives went up about 100 fold when he joined our family. Jaxon was due just after the new year. From my mid-pregnancy ultrasound on, I was told to be prepared- this was a BIG baby! I already knew that. It was as though he didn't even fit in there! Sure enough, on December 20th, 2006, exactly 2 weeks before his due date, our 9 lb whopper came into the world. He looked like a 4 month old baby. He had an afro of wild hair. By 4 months he had several teeth. By 7 months, he was cruising the furniture. When he was 18 months to the day, his little brother joined our family. By this point, Jaxon was the craziest, most mischievous toddler I had ever seen. Every day was an adventure. I never knew what was next. I just knew that each day, my goal was to keep him alive. And I succeeded :)

I have so many stories about Jaxon and his antics! It was like, in this little (although perfectly sturdy and solid) body, a giant person was waiting to get out. Jaxon has always been so very charismatic and lovable. His smile can melt the world. His laugh is so contagious. You can't help but love this one. He is life, love and laughter, all shaken up in one crazy little boy. He is coordinated and playful and fearless. He is his father's son. I look forward to every single day we get to share with our Jaxon. Our family would be so incomplete without the joy and adventure he brings to us. Jaxon, we love you with all our hearts. Thank you for being YOU!

Sweet Jayden turns 3 :)

On June 20th, 2011, our sweet baby boy, Jayden, turned 3. It's hard to believe that time has flown by so quickly since this beautiful spirit joined our family.

We had just relocated to Utah in the weeks prior to his birthday, and we hardly knew anyone. We were living in a tiny little condo and it was hardly the place to throw a party- so as usual, we headed to Grandma's in Idaho :) At the time of our move to Utah, Mason was the end of orthodontic treatment. It had been paid for in full and in order to complete his treatment, we had to come back to Idaho once a month until he got his braces off. So it worked out well to plan his appointment close to Jayden's birthday so that we could celebrate in Idaho with our family.

We had a little get together at Grandma Miller's, where we had cake and ice cream and Jayden opened his presents. He got a plethora of Lightning McQueen and Thomas the train stuff. In usual Jayden fashion, he had his big, shy grin on his face the entire time.

To celebrate Jayden, I want to talk about his sweet personality a little: Jayden is the baby of our family in every way. He is adored by all of us. He is shy and quiet and loves to snuggle more than any of the other kids. While Jaxon is fiercely independent and doesnt want anything done for him, Jayden wants his hand held through every task- not because he isnt capable, but because he wants someone loving him and caring for him every second of the day. And everyone in this family is happy to do that for our sweet boy.

Jayden has the most captivating smile. When someone he doesnt know talks to him, he gets that shy grin on his face, you see his darling dimples and he runs and hides, usually behind my legs. He lets Jaxon do most of the talking for him to people he doesn't know well.

Jayden spends a lot of his time following Jaxon's lead. Jaxon decides what they are playing and how, and Jayden complies. They are the best buddies. I'm either listening to them giggling or fighting all day- and which one depends on the moment :)

Jayden loves trains, Cars, wrestling with Daddy and snuggle time. If you ask him who he loves, he will tell you MASON every time. He worships Mason and cries sometimes when Mason goes to school. He waits anxiously for Mason to get home from school so they can play. At night, he would prefer to sleep with Mason than anyone else.

Not a day goes by that I am not thankful that we were blessed with this sweet little boy. He has been an angel in our family. I look forward to each and every day we get to share with him. Jayden, we love you baby boy!!

Jaxon is 4!!!

Can you believe it's been 4 years since our lovable hurricane joined our family? I can't either! Our almost Christmas baby turned the big 4 on the 20th of December. We had a family party for him. I made a Thomas the train cake (I dont do cakes) for him. It took me hours and it was, eh, not so pretty. But he was thrilled, so hey. Savannah said "Im just surprised mom made a cake!" I always buy them to save time ;) So before I post a few pictures, here are just a few things I want to say about my wittle boy!

- Jaxon came to us 2 weeks early, weighing in at 9 lbs, and was almost born in the car on the way to the hospital. He was so big when I was pregnant that he broke my sternum (which is still very crooked, thank you). Every ultrasound I had, they kept saying this baby was gonna be big. Thank heavens he didn't cook 2 more weeks!

-Jax was a happy little baby, until he hit about 13 months old...then he morphed into the busiest toddler you have ever seen. He could climb things that should have been impossible, and get into things I thought were safe. He still has not outgrown this.

- Jax is very outgoing and has a lot to say. He isn't shy at all, and he'll talk your ear off. He loves attention and will get it any way he can- good or bad ;) He loves to make people laugh and has an adorable sense of humor. He is so smart, and always has been. He's also very coordinated and rather aggressive, which makes his Daddy very proud. He has high hopes for this one!

-Jaxon loves trains, especially Thomas, more than just about anything. He plays with his trains day and night and gets excited when we see trains or even tracks when driving in the car.

- Jax, I am so thankful to have you in our family. You are such a light, and so full of life. We are all entertained by you. I love your amazing smile and your little laugh. Love you forever (even though you won't let me call you baby!)!!!

Mason's 10th Birthday- October 30th 2009

10 years ago, my life became so much fuller and greater than ever before. After a long road, a few doctors, some pills, some shots, 1 miracle and a positive pregnancy test (not to mention 9 months of puking 10-15 times every single day), Mason Wade Miller made his debut, 3 weeks early. He weighed 6 lbs 15 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. He was healthy as could be and insanely beautiful!

Mason was a light in my life from the very beginning. Our lives were pretty crazy and difficult at that time and he was the thing that made each day worth whatever struggles life brought. He was a very fussy baby, but since he was my first, I could afford to sit and hold him, cuddle him and love on him for hours on end. By the time he hit about 8 or 10 months, he had outgrown that and he bacame the most good natured child you've ever seen. To this day, he still is :)

He was smart from the start- at 2 years old, he would identify, "trapezoid, hexagon, pentagon..." One day when he was 2, I went out in the dining room in our apartment and he had a stray cat. He had gone outside, caught it, brought it inside, gotten the milk out of the fridge and a bowl out of the cupboard and poured a bowl of milk for the cat without spilling a drop. I still dont know how he knew cats liked milk (we hadnt ever had a cat since he was born) or how he poured the milk by himself. I took pictures since I thought it was so cute.

Mason was painfully shy when he was little. He preferred spending time with Grandma Miller (who he called Grandma Digger at the time since she had "diggers" out in front of her house) to just about anything else. Grandma watched him while I worked and Daddy went to college. They got lots of quality time together and he loved it.

I still remember "sha-show-yos" (marshmallows), one of my favorite words he used. He loved his little blankey, his kitty kitty and his ducky and watching Barney. He will kill me someday for posting that.

In school, he has always done very well. He loves science and math. He enjoys history now too. He gets great grades and all his teachers enjoy him.

At home, Mason is such a light in our house. He loves helping with the littler kids. He thinks Jaxon is hilarious and loves to play with him. Often when I go to put Jayden down for a nap, he will say, "No! I want to see him! I havent had enough time with him!" Mason and Savannah are best friends and closer than I ever would have expected. They are pretty inseparable and do almost everything together.

Mason is a huge help to me. He is sensitive and sweet. He is funny. I love his laugh and his jokes.

He love playing chess, especially with Grandpa Scott (my dad). He loves baseball, basketball and golf and is excited to start basketball again in January.

Mason had his 10th birthday this year. It's hard for me to realize he is over halfway grown! He is amazing. I am so grateful that he was sent to our family. I couldnt ask for a better son. Here are a few pictures from his birthday party at Leo's place.

Mason, I love you with all my heart and consider you such an incredible blessing to me and this family!

Love, Mom

It's my Berfday :)

Daniel is hiking. The older 2 are in school. Me and the babes are home.

So what am I gonna do on my berfday:

I'm gonna start off by going to the bathroom-alone.
Im going to tickle the baby's toes and listen to him giggle without rushing onto the next task.
I'm going to have lunch with the best group of friend's I could ask for.
I'm going to pretend Im not in my 30's yet.
I'm going to eat something I shouldn't-bag that- Im gonna eat EVERYTHING I shouldn't- and not feel guilty at all.
I'm going to walk a little slower, because I can.
I'm going to thank my Heavenly Father for a million blessings- big and small- mostly wrapped up in the packages I call friends, family and home.

Jayden's cake smash

These photos are from Jayden's first birthday. We did a cake smash. He had no qualms (unlike Savannah when she turned 1) about getting in there and getting dirty. The trickiest part was getting Jaxon to stay out of the photos, and the cake. He kept saying, "Jayden steal my cake!" It really was a fun thing to shoot. I can't believe my baby is already 1!