February Recap, Part 1

I'm so bad at blogging, so I'm doing monthly recaps now. Whoops...

February started off with a bang! We welcomed our new niece/cousin into the family on the first. She was born in Nashville, so once we got the call that she was on her way, we threw our things together and drove that way. The boys (plus Rilynn) thought it was a grand adventure to stay in a hotel!

super excited about our suite!

we put the kiddos in their pjs, since we arrived around 9

The next day, we were able to go the zoo while we were waiting for baby C to make her appearance. The Nashville zoo is amazing! They have an enormous playground that we spent a lot of time on before even looking at the animals.

You can pet kangaroos! They are surprisingly very soft. 

We were excited!

Baby Kyle Jade Connell finally made her appearance! Unfortunately, we only got to see her for a few minutes, and the boys didn't get to meet her at all, because she ended up having to go the NICU for a few days. But, she's tiny and beautiful and so perfect!

My sleeping buddy. He hogged the entire bed. I don't see how people bedshare with their kiddos. I can't stand it! The snuggles were great until about 2 AM.

We celebrated Valentine's Day at school. I was able to go back and forth between both the older boys' classes while B stayed with YaYa.

He thinks he's so cool!

Fire Museum, Outside Fun, and Other Random Things

We went to the Fire Museum downtown a few weeks ago for a birthday party for our friend, Brady. We had never been before and the boys loved it! They had a lot of fun dressing up, "driving" the fire engine, and putting out fires. 

cheesin' so hard 

this lift actually works and raises into the air-so fun!

putting out a fire 

he could barely walk because the coat was so heavy ha

my three favorite boys!

IKEA date! I will not take all 3 boys in there for a very long time, but I handle taking one at a time haha

Stylish while napping in the car after jumping all morning at Jump n Jamz

pouting because I made him go outside. He was also very tired.

trampoline fun!

more trampoline fun while B was napping 

can you tell he loves holding Rilynn?!

snuggling with our sweet baby girl cousin 

bless it. We've cut out naps because it makes bedtime go soooo much smoother, but on some days we struggle. 

January in Review

It's hard to believe that it's almost February already! Crazy to think about time passing so quickly. Here are some pictures from our month!

Baby loves to dress up!

my Lego master-this was a brick crusher that he made

new trick-nose picking!

helping make banana chocolate chip bread-it was so good!

snow day!

the best picture I got of all of them ha

making ramps for his monster trucks

Daddy got to come home from work early and play outside with us!

eating snow 

another Lego creation!

B with our new dog, Penny. She's a rescue and so very sweet and patient with the boys 

the boys are really into board games lately. They got several for Christmas and we love to play them (especially when B is asleep ha)

car line selfie

B didn't understand why I was wearing someone other than just him! I got to babysit my sweet niece Rilynn while Jamie ran to the store 

baby in a shopping cart! He never ever does this so he thought he was so big!

Christmas, Part Two and

After we celebrated Christmas at our house, it was time to pack up and head to my parent's for our family Christmas. 

Yaya and Pops and all their grandbabies! One more baby girl coming in February!

B has just started loving books. "boo boo" and climbs in your lap; it's so sweet. 

the boys are such good helpers when it comes to opening gifts ha 

they love their new monster trucks

riding on their scooters 

He was so thrilled about his new game! I promise he said at least 5 times, "Look! I got Connect 4!"

All the big boys got big wheels! 

and Merry Christmas from this wild and crazy crew!

Christmas, Part One

These first pictures aren't Christmas related, but oh well. We went to Shelby Farms the week before Christmas with our friend, Brooks, who is also our neighbor. It was so nice to be outside and have a change of scenery!

On Christmas Eve, we made cookies for Santa. The boys decided on chocolate chip cookies. We had so much fun measuring out our ingredients and mixing them up! Baker was on my back, so he was involved, too. And they ended up tasting pretty good!

I had to work for a few hours on Christmas Eve. I wasn't able to get my whole shift covered, but I only had to work 7-11. So we had plenty of time to have a late lunch with our family and head to our candlelight service at church. After that, I went to work, and Daddy and the boys headed back to my grandparent's house for Christmas with our extended family.

Christmas morning! The boys got a trampoline. I try to loosely follow the "something they  want, need, wear, read" idea for Christmas presents so I don't go overboard. It's helped guide my purchases, and I focus on scaling back each year. Stockings are for socks/undies/playdough/bowls. The older two boys each got legos and a new board game. All three boys got new rain boots, which they have already worn a lot! Books are always present, and B got a little push mower that he loves, plus some new outfits for next summer.

My Christmas gift! I am so excited about them and can't wait to find the perfect spot to hang them.

family Christmas selfie