Happy New Year...

We celebrated the end of 2011 with none other than the First Annual Alcorn Silly String War! Safe to say that Ky was the clear winner. She played with the stuff for an hour, long after all the cans were empty. Beck disliked every minute of it since the string comes out wet and sticks to you. He basically hid on the side of the room and watched... I love starting new traditions, however, next year we'll try and move this party outdoors. It was a beautiful sunny day at 70 degrees but for some reason we battled inside. Needless to say, I'm still cleaning up silly string from various parts of the house! I don't remember it being that messy as a kid, but then again, I was a kid, what did I care.....

Happy New Year from Stratton!

Ky tried to give J some "hair" by covering his head with silly string...

The champion...
Us right before the battle began. J tried to get an action shot. Ended up spraying me right in the eye, and didn't even get the shot. My eye was watering for the rest of the day...way to go honey...

The floor of the living room after the chaos...

Beck diggin' the noise makers...

Goodbye 2011...

Today is new years eve. The cusp of new beginnings for many people, hope for a new start, and a chance to right old wrongs. As I look back at the last year a few thoughts pop into my head...

Warp Speed: This time last year I was 7 months pregnant, physically miserable, mentally exhausted, and uncertain of how our family would handle the addition of #3. Today I am thankful for Stratton, the biggest of surprises that has turned out to be one of the most amazing blessings. But man oh man, how time flies by! In no time at all that baby boy will be turning one. And for the first time in a long time, our house will be empty of baby bottles, formula, and such. I can't go so far as to say that I'll miss it, but I will look back upon it with more of a faint, reminisent smile than I originally thought I would.

Appreciation: I have the most amazing husband. And if there's one thing I hope to do better at in the new year, it is to make more of an attempt to show him how much he means to me and to our family. He is my rock, and he should know how much he is loved and appreciated.

Blessings: We made it through the year relatively healthy all things considered. Stratton's birth, Ky's eyes, J's kidneys...the list could go on, we're not exactly what you would call a healthy family. But 2011 was good to us. It was the break we'd been looking for and desperately needing since before Beck's birth. In 2011, we breathed...usually with one kid on our hip, one pulling on our leg and the other calling for us from across the house, but still, we breathed. I LOVE the chaos that is our life. And I wouldn't change it for anything.

Heading into the new year I hope for more of what we already have. A house filled with laughter, a family filled with love, and a life filled with the Lord's blessings.

I have a feeling that 2012 will bring with it change for our family. And that's alright, we've been waiting for some of it. And even the unexpected change that is yet unknown, we'll dive in with our hearts strong, our heads clear, and our family close.

I hope the new year is good to you and yours, and I pray that you get everything your heart desires...and if you already have it (like I do) my wish for you is even simpler, I hope for continued satisfaction that fills your heart with joy and peace.

Cheers to 2011, and Welcome 2012

Merry Christmas

Jason and I were up fairly late on Christmas Eve getting ready for the morning festivities. We had to pull all the gifts down from the attic, fill stockings, and put together Ky's barbie house (which turned out to be one of J's worst nightmares). We got an early start to Christmas morning when Stratton was up and ready to get going at 5 am. By the time the other two woke up, he was ready to nap, which actually worked out nice because we were able to focus on the kids that understood what was going on, but as a result, he missed any pics that were taken (which wasn't much)...

proof that santa came! yeah, they're green grinch cookies...pretty yummy too...

Santa wanted to make sure the kid's didn't peek, so he wrapped their bedroom doors. Ky was so confused when she woke up. She ended up army crawling under it because she didn't know what else to do...
Final shot before heading to bed Christmas Eve...I know I have some pretty good kids....but I'm not sure they deserved ALL they got =)

Our attempt at getting the Christmas pj shot we take every year. Not very successful....as is evidenced by Stratton screaming...

We started the morning by praying and talking about why we celebrate Christmas, and then we sang happy birthday Jesus. After that, it was game faces on as opening began!

Ky ripping into her doll house..

Beck checking out the dump truck Uncle Keith and family got him...

Kylie very happy to pose with her new "I can be: Bride barbie set"

Cars backpack, what a BIG BOY!

Christmas Eve...

Christmas Eve started off with an early dinner at La Hacienda and then over to my parents for opening gifts. Both the boys are still on antibiotics, but it seems to really be giving Stratton stomach problems. He was a mess the entire day and my parents house was no exception. After trying to put him down to nap twice, we gave up and took turns holding him while he whimpered and watched. Here's the before shot of my parent's pool table upstairs. It was swimming in a sea of presents....

Dampa helping Beck open his hockey stick.

Family Shot. The boys were wearing adorable matching tie tshirts that my friend Jess made and shipped. They looked so handsome....

Strattone trying to enjoy his first Christmas, even though he was feeling a bit yucky...

A brief glimpse of the chaos once the ''one at a time'' approach ended due to lack of time. The kids just tore in...

Ky and I.

Saying Thank You....

I wanted to get together with our two favorite girls, Kenz and Ash, over Christmas break and do something fun..with a little help from Steph, we picked baking and decorating cookies we could take to the fire department. At the last minute, Stephanie ended up doing it all, and watching Ky on top of her already full house, while I took the boys to the doctor and then quarantined them at our house. Oh well, it's the thought that counts, right? The girls all made very cute thank you cards and decorated some sugar cookies as well as reindeer peanut butter cookies. Here's a shot of Kenz, Ky, and Beck outside the fire department. Ash wasn't in the mood for a picture. My favorite part of the event (not that I was around for it) was driving in the car when Ashlyn decided to share with me that she was going to have 12 babies when she grew up. When I asked why, she responded "So I can have 12 beds and 12 high chairs and we can all eat pizza every night and Kenz can come over and visit." That girl is such a hoot....

Daily Rantings with yours truly...

I read an article this morning stating that Christmas time is a wonderful time to buy your children designer clothes at a great discount. The mom went on to say that she only purchases designer clothes for her three children. Her reasoning went something like this: Well dressed people get farther in life. They marry up, get the promotions at work, and generally gain more respect from people than those without designer labels. She concluded her article by saying that wait staff and strangers have more compassion and patience with difficult and tantrum filled children that are well dressed. She doesn't leave the house without her children being done up head to toe.

Really? The nerve of some people.... I kept reading because I was waiting for the clear haha sarcastic comment, alas, there wasn't one. She was being completely serious. Made me think of those V8 commercials when someone walks by and hits the junk-food eating person on the head knocking some sense into them. I just wanted to say "Here's an idea, how about you teach your children how to behave instead of covering up their brattiness and lack of respect with button downs and loafers? I would pin my kiddos (snot nosed, stained t's, and shoeless) against your well dressed brats any day.

And we wonder why children grow up with so many problems. We blame a materialistic world? Wake up moms, you shape your children's world with what you say and what you do. Our children are beautiful regardless of what they're wearing. You teach a child to give respect and they'll learn that in return, they will gain the respect of others. You teach a child the value of Prada and she will grow up to...well, lets just say it reminds me of a little girl whose birthday we attended a few years ago. Upon walking into the house the birthday girl came running up and the first words out of her mouth were, "ooohhh, how much did you spend on my gift?"......she was turning 4 by the way.....

ok. that's it. i'm done. talk about getting under my skin....

Stratton turns 10 months...

At ten months you:

-devour food like you haven't eaten in days

-can't stand to loose sight of your mom for any amount of time

-have created some serious aversion to the church nursery

-love to clap and say, "yay" over and over and over

-like the sound of music and the sight of Beck and Ky dancing

-LOVE to chew on paper: books, Kleenex, boxes....anything you shouldn't have in your mouth

-are fearful of your brother's new interest in playing with you. (I would be too if someone was throwing a ball in my face multiple times a day).

-are finally crawling!

-Got your first non baby hair cut (see below) in hopes that we could tame the craziness we like to call your hair. (p.s....it didn't really work, you're still a hot mess)

These two are gong to cause me MANY grey hairs...I already know it...