Holiday Happenings!

We spent the holidays getting to know our latest addition. She is such a blessing to our family. Here is my mom hovering over her while she plays. My mom stayed for 2 weeks and took care of us all. I know she missing us, but not the interrupted sleep!
Here are Jamie and I with our little girls. We were so honored to have her bring her kids and spend Christmas Eve and day with us. She is giving me all the scoop on having a girl.
Can you believe that no one has taken a picture of Jason and I with our daughter? This is the first one! I guess it got overlooked at the hospital and I was too out of it to remember.
My neighbor, Katie, offered me this sling. I had not used one with the boys, so I told her I would try it. She told me it was one thing she could not live without. Now, I believe her! It has been a lifesaver and my dad even loved wearing it. Hands free!!
We had to get out and go see the ICE exhibit at the Gaylord. Everyone went in and Brooke and I strolled around the Gaylord and got some hot chocolate. She was a perfect companion and I got some practice with the new stroller. Since it was our first outing with her, we had not used the stroller yet. There we were, in the parking lot for 10 minutes and could not get the stroller open!! We were all pulling, pushing, pressing everything until finally my dad did something to it and it opened. After the ordeal, Jackson said "That was pretty embarassing." I agreed and a good lesson to read the manual before you go out in public :)

The Teeny Queenie....

The teeny queenie has begun her reign!! She has been home for a week now and we are all in love with her :) Here she is hanging out with her big brothers this afternoon (not really, I put her there for the photo op.:))
Leaving the hospital. I couldn't believe my time was already up and I was coming home to reality! Luckily, my mom fills in for those wonderful nurses and has helped me so much. She has Brooke at night and then brings her to me when it is time for her to nurse. It's like my own private night nanny :)
Here is Grandma Maupin snuggling with Brooke on her first day home. They will be coming back after Christmas and I bet they will think she has already grown so much.
After her first bath she looked so happy and content. I'm serious---the girl loved lotion being rubbed on her. She just quieted down and relaxed. I'm thinking...spa days ahead!
The boys have been so gentle and so fun to watch with her. They adore her. They are also quite entertained when she has an explosive sounding diaper...they think that's great. I'm sure she will be happy to know that she is entertaining them that way.....

We're home!

OK, we have TONS of pictures to post, so I'm starting with these. I didn't see Jason in any of these...he must have been taking a lot of these. I assure you that he was there! So, after a 2 hour, un-intentional "natural" labor, Brooke Noelle Maupin was born!!
She weighed 6 lbs., 13 oz. and is so beautiful!
Grandpa Maupin and the boys hanging with Brooke.
Papa and the boys checking her out thru the glass while she's getting all cleaned up. They were amazed and in awe of her.
Here are the boys the first time they saw her. Apparently, they were walking thru the door when the nurse was bringing her to the nursery and they ran into each other. So, the nurse just plopped her down in the arms. I'm glad I wasn't there because just looking at the picture makes me nervous!!
Here is Nana unwrapping her this morning so the boys could check her out.
Here is my dad, Papa. His first grand-daughter. He had 2 daughters and he was the best dad for girls, so he'll know just what to do! He is the best at killing bugs, fixing hair, and learning new dance moves and cheers....I'm sure his granddaughter will have him dancing soon.
And, the two proud brothers...I was a little surprised at the interest they have taken to her. They are so sweet and everytime they come into the room, they ask, "Where's Brooke?" They've just got to check on her wherabouts.
I had so many pictures to choose from.......I have some of Grandma Maupin with her granddaughter and tons of others that we will post soon! So.....who does she look like?

The end is near.........

This picture was taken on Thanksgiving day, so I'm probably even bigger now!!! Yes, this Friday, we will induce at 9 a.m. and wait for this little girl to enter the world! We are getting excited around here and everything seems to be in order for her arrival. We'll let you know when we decide on a name (we still can't decide!!), but she cannot leave the hospital without a name, so we will know soon!! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers as this day approaches :)

5 years of fun!!

Drew turned 5 years old on Friday!! I can't believe it. We started out the weekend celebration by going to his school and bringing cupcakes that Drew and I had made. He got to do the birthday dance with his teacher and was so happy that Nana and Papa were able to come as well!
Then, on to his party at Going Bonkers.....not exactly the place I would choose, but he was insistent, so we braved the craziness and had fun. He had a Clone Wars birthday cake.
Here's the whole group of kids!
Last night, Drew wanted to go to the Great Wolf Lodge for dinner. I have to say...they have a great buffet and we met our cousins and Auntie Paula there for dinner. Here they are with Nana and Papa.
Finally, they love their little cousin, Kyle. He is almost a year old and loads of fun. Drew says he is the "cutest baby he's ever seen!"
Drew is such a joy and a blessing to our family. He always has something to say and keeps us laughing. Happy Birthday Drew!

Turkey Time

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Grandma and Grandpa Maupin, Uncle Josh, and Great Grandma and Grandpa Burns from Idaho!! G-pa arrived with gifts in tow for the boys for their great soccer and baseball seasons. Here is Drew beaming with his special soccer ball that G-pa wrote a not to him on. He quickly placed it in his room with his other special things.
Jackson got this cool little bat with a special message from G-pa on it. We had to instruct him that it was not to be used for actual hitting.....you can tell he just wants to hit something with it!!
Here are the boys on Thanksgiving...they each had made special turkey hats to wear for the big meal.
Of course, a little exercise around the house. Grandpa and Uncle Josh were good sports and ran thru the house with the boys on their shoulders chasing each other. The next day, Josh was a little sore---sorry Uncle Josh, but it was worth it!!
Here are the boys with Great Grandpa and Grandma. It's always fun to visit with them and have them here to spend time with us. We don't see them often since they live in Idaho, so we appreciated the trip that they made to Dallas.
It was a great Thanksgiving!!

Bible Story??

Today Drew and I were driving by Texas Stadium........

Me: Drew, do you know why there's a hole in the roof of Texas Stadium?

Drew: No, why?

ME: So God can watch his favorite team play.

Drew: Is that what it says in the bible?

Me: Well, no, it's just something silly that people say.

Drew: Well, mom, it's probably true because God is American and he loves America's team!!

The Road to Recovery.....

The road to recovery is tough.....
It involves playing "war" with your new Star Wars legos......
..enjoying cookies and cupcakes that your friends Katie and Will brought.....
...enjoying a visit from your friend Pierson who brought you an activity kit......
...a visit from Nick who brought balloons and a cool Superman sticker book....
...and doing fun crafts with your Nana.
Drew is definitely on the mend and his ears are looking wonderful!!

A New Experience

This morning, Drew had surgery on his ears. Since he was born, his ears have "cupped" and we have thrown around the idea of having them "clipped back" A few months ago, Drew came to us and said that he couldn't wear science goggles or sunglasses because they kept slipping down his nose. We also had the experience during baseball season of the helmet not fitting on his head because it was difficult to get over his ears. After much prayer and consideration, we decided to have it done and today was the big day!
You would have thought it was Christmas morning. Drew was so excited...the children's hospital is so wonderful and we met with some specialists beforehand who went over the whole thing with Drew and explained how he might feel, look, etc........Here is Drew after drinking "goofy juice." I have to say...it was pretty funny. He started singing Ten Little Monkeys and was smiling and laughing. Jason and I were cracking up.
The surgery went wonderful and here he is after surgery helping the nurse take out his IV and all the tubes. He got a popsicle and a new stuffed animal. He was so happy!
He thought is was pretty cool to be wheeled out in a wheelchair. That was the first thing he told Jackson when he came home from school
When we got home, there were the cutest dog cookies and balloons for Drew to enjoy from Grandma and Grandpa!! I enjoyed them too! My parents came to help with Jackson and my mom is the BEST nurse. She had a special pallet set up for Drew when he got home, a brand new webkinz for Drew, and lots of good food for us!
I will say that our experience this morning was humbling. Our healthy child was there to basically have plastic surgery and there were many other families where that was not the case. There were some obvious problems and other families were so experienced with surgeries that the doctors and nurses all knew them. I am so thankful for our health and was really struck by how much we take it for granted. It was a good day for all :)

SWEET and SCARY!!

My SWEET friends from my bible study threw a shower for me this week after bible study. They each brought something delicious to eat and we celebrated!!
I have loved getting to know these women this semester as we have studied David's life. Next semester, we will study Esther together.
I received many wonderful things that I will use. I even had two of the ladies knit a blanket and some little bonnets for me....that will be so special to have my daughter wear those homeade things!
Here are some more pictures from my SCARY sons!! They thoroughly enjoyed Halloween night as you can see......
Jason took them while I handed out candy at home and they were gone a long time. Jason said they never lost steam and ran from house to house...so fun to be a kid!

Halloween Fun!

Not sure what happened her......the pictures came up out of order....try to match the words with the pictures!! Every year, my friend Kari hosts a Halloween party for the kids. My kids started asking about it the minute we got our pumpkins out. Everyone looks forward to it and she does a wonderful job!
We started off with a scavenger hunt all over the yard. Here are Katie and Jackson checking out their loot.
Then, on to the mummy wrap. The kids loved this.
Here's a picture of all the kids! Jackson is one of the "twin" power rangers and Drew is in the front in the yellow. He is a Transformer...Bumblebee.
And here are Kari's boys, Pierson and Powell. We closed down the party, but had to get one last picture before we headed out the door!