We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

The time has come for family pictures to be taken and the Christmas cards to be mailed and it just hasn't happened yet again! So here is my attempt at this years Christmas card in all of it's Christmasy cuteness! (My kids are just adorable aren't they!! Haha!!)

We hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

Thankful for my Little People!

Just thought I would share a couple of new pictures of my favorite little people. They are just too cute! I am so thankful that I get to be their Mom-Mom(that's what Mya calls me.) My heart is so full of love for them it sometimes feels like it just might burst. Ever since Mya was a baby I would always tell her she was "my best girl." And when she was old enough to talk I would ask her if she was "my best girl" and she would always say "yes I am!" Now she will come up to me and give me a big hug and say "Mom-Mom, I'm your best girl EVER!" And she is!! And now I have my "best boy EVER" too! I'm such a lucky Mom-Mom!

Isn't he just so HANDSOME! I love that I get to smother his sweet face with kisses every single day!

LOVE this one! He looks so grown up and studious!! Such a little man. :)

I was lovin' Mya's hair today! She looked so cute and sweet. Love the 2 mini side buns ala Princess Leia. We even got lots of "extra" comments while out shopping at Costco.

This is my "sweet" Mya!

And this is Mya with a little SASS!!

See, I told you I was a lucky Mom-mom!!

Playing Catch Up...AGAIN!!

So much has been going on lately and I'm sooooooo far behind on blogging about all of it. So, I will do my best to do an update - a very LONG update!

Pumpkin Patch

Mya really got into the Halloween spirit this year and loved every minute of the month of October - from decorating the house, going to a pumpkin patch, playing dress up in her new costume, and of course trick-or-treating.

We tried to go to the local farm where they grow pumpkins this year but just like last year there were slim pickins' by the time we got there so we headed on down to the pumpkin patch ala a parking lot with bails of hay and lots and lots of pumpkins.

Mya found 2 really cute and tiny pumpkins. She liked the tiniest ones the best!

Tummy time, Smiling & Cooing

Liam has been loving tummy time lately. He is a very strong boy and holds his head up like a champ and LOVES to stand up too. He is also smiling a lot and cooing and talking up a storm. I just can't get enough of this little guy! He is so much fun!

Halloween

Halloween was so much fun this year! Mya dressed up as Snow White and made a very beautiful princess. She LOVES this costume and wears it daily! My Mom and Dad came for Liam's blessing and just happened to be here for all the fun Halloween festivities. Mya thought trick-or-treating was pretty neat and came home with lots of candy!

Our Princess "Snow White" Mya

Liam Alexander Bartlett's Blessing Day

On November 1st (his 2 month birthday) Liam received a name and a blessing. Brandon gave Liam a very sweet and beautiful blessing. I am so thankful for the Priesthood and I feel so blessed to have it in our home. And we are so thankful for our families and want to thank my Mom and Dad, Brandon's Mom, his sister Tiffany her husband Ben and their kids for coming to share this special day with us.

Daddy and Liam

Our family

Mya's 3 year Birthday Party

Since we had family in town we decided to also celebrate Mya's 3rd birthday! I still can't believe my baby girl is 3 years old. (**sniff**sniff**) She had so much fun with Nana & Papa Fox, Grandma Bartlett, Aunt Tiff and Uncle Ben and her cousins. Brandon smoked a pork shoulder and a brisket and it was sooooo yummy!

Getting everything ready!

Mya and her cousin Landon. They were having a blast playing in the rocks. They are 2 months apart in age and have a loving/not-so-loving relationship! One minute they are hugging and being so sweet the next they are fighting! But it's so cute! It will be fun to watch these 2 grow up together!

Makenna, Chandler and Cole enjoying the yummy food!

Mya patiently waits to open her presents!

Totally ecstatic about getting the new Tinkerbell movie! I love her expression in this picture!

Waiting to blow out the candles on her birthday cake. I made a giant cupcake this year. It turned out pretty cute and it tasted so good!

So happy!

Blowing out the candles!

On Mya's actual birthday she wanted to go to the Disney Store and to Hot Dog on a Stick! What more could a 3 year old want? :)

Mya's 3 year old stats:

Height: 39.25 inches (90th percentile)

Weight: 32 pounds (50th percentile)

Loves: chocolate milk, playing dress up, singing and dancing, Princesses, watching movies & cartoons, being silly, playing with her baby brother & helping mommy, coloring, when Daddy comes home, playing Candyland and hide & go seek

Doesn't love so much: using her potty (Oh well, we will get there eventually!)

We love our Mya-girl so much and are so thankful that she is part of our family! She brings us so much joy. We love you Mya and hope you had a FANTASTIC 3rd Birthday!!

Liam is 2 months old!

WOW! Time is just flying by. My baby boy is 2 months old already. He is such a great baby and is so happy pretty much ALL of the time. He loves to be sung to especially by his big sister. We just love this little guy so very much. He is mommy's little cuddle bug! I could just eat him up!

Liam's 2 month stats:

Height: 22 3/4 inches (50th percentile)

Weight: 10 pounds 2 ounces (25th percentile)

Head Circumference: 39 1/2 cm (50th percentile)

Loves: his swing, sitting in Daddy's lap, snuggling with Mommy and playing with Mya

This is one of my very favorite pictures! Isn't he just the cutest!!

Nana & Papa Fox holding Liam

Check this out!

My friend Amy needed some models for a photo shoot so I signed Mya up. And I'm so glad I did! Amy just put up a "sneak peak" on her photography blog. You must check it out! She is a fabulous photographer and I am so happy with the pics. I can't wait to see the rest! Thanks Amy!!

Click HERE to view the pictures of Mya!

We love LA.....WE LOVE IT!!

We ♥ the Dodgers at our house! They just swept the Cards! SHAAAAZAAAAAM!! Only 1 more series to go then it's on to the World Series!!

Isn't this little guy just the cutest! FYI - his middle name was ALMOST Dodger (for real, I'm not joking!!)

We really ♥ this little guy!!

Liam's Birth Story

So this is how the story goes...

It all started on Monday night August 31. I started having contractions while relaxing and watching tv. They weren't consistant but they were somewhat painful but not enough for me to think anything of it. I went to bed around 10:00PM. I woke up several times from contractions. They were becoming more painful. I tried to stay in bed but it just wasn't comfortable. So, I decided to walked around upstairs for awhile. When I got tired of that I decided to go downstairs (I finally got to look at a clock and it was 1:30AM) and do some research online about distinguishing between false labor and real labor. I also tried to time my contractions - they were very sparatic ranging from 3 mins to 5 mins apart and becoming more and more painful. I still wasn't sure if it was "real labor". I think I was trying to make myself think it was false labor because I just wasn't prepared and there were still so many things I wanted to get done before the baby showed up. Next I decided to drink some water (internet said drinking water could help settle false labor so I thought I would give it a shot) and I ate a banana because I knew if it was real labor then I wouldn't be able to drink or eat after I got to the hospital and I was already hungry! :) After not really knowing if I was in real labor or not I again decided to go back upstairs to try and lie down and rest but that didn't last long. The pain was too intense to lay down - it was better when I was walking around. I paced around my dark bedroom for the billionth time. But this time I had to stop moving with each contraction. I could now feel them in my stomach, back and down in my legs. (When I was downstairs on the internet I had read that if you were having contractions in your stomach that moved to your back and into your legs it meant that you were in REAL LABOR!) So, finally I convinced myself that this was probably the real deal. I still didn't want to wake Brandon just yet. I think I lasted another hour or so until I couldn't take it anymore - I believe I was in tears by this time. I decided that I should wake up Brandon. We tried to time the contractions but that didn't work too well. I decided we should just go to the hospital - I was done with the pain!! We got dressed, I finished packing my hospital bag and Brandon got Mya up and ready to go. By 5:30AM we were out the door on our way to the hospital to have our baby boy. We got to the hospital and Brandon dropped me off at the door but I couldn't walk because of the contractions so I had to wait for Brandon to park, get Mya out and go into the hospital to get a wheelchair. Once we got up to the maternity ward they put us in a triage room to monitor my contractions and the baby's heart rate and check my cervix. I was dialated to a 4. The nurse called my doctor to see if he wanted them to admit me or send me home. Thankfully he chose to admit me. YAY! That meant that I could get an epidural!! I finally got settled in the delivery room, answered a long list of questions and got hooked up to several machines. The Anesthesiologist gave me the epidural and I was finally able to relax. I even got to take a couple of short naps. My doctor had 2 surgeries to do that morning so he told my nurse to hold off on getting me at a more advanced labor until 9:30 AM. So at 9:30 the nurse came in and broke my water. She said that before she broke my water I was still a 4 and after she broke my water I immediately became a 6. A little while later they started me on a very low dose of petocin to help keep my contractions more consistant. By 12:30 I was ready and I could feel the pressure become more intense. The nurse called my doctor to tell him I was ready to deliver. Once the doctor got there and the nurses got me ready to go I pushed once and the head came out. I gave 1 more push and baby Liam was born at 1:15 PM. Dr. Groom and the nurses were amazed that he came out in just 2 pushes! It didn't even seem real to me. Liam was here and decided to come 9 days early (little stinker!!) It all happened so fast but I was relieved and so happy to be holding my healthy baby boy! It was a wonderful experience and I feel so blessed that it went so smoothly. I did tear a little bit and it was at a weird angle so my recovery was more painful and took a bit longer but I feel great now!

We really really LOVE our new little guy! He is so cute and sweet and really is a great baby - I couldn't ask for a better baby. He eats good and sleeps good and really never fusses or cries - just on occasion. Mya is loving him too. She loves to hold him and kiss him and she's been a very big helper and great big sister. I truly am in LOVE with Liam and I LOVE my new little family!

Here are a few pictures. We didn't get very many after the birth. Brandon was videoing and like I said it happened so fast that he forgot to take pictures. But we got great video and a few good shots.

Relaxing after my epidural!!

Liam just minutes old.

Mya meeting Liam for the first time! This is one of my favs!! So cute!

He's here!

Liam is finally here! We are doing well and love having a new baby in our home. He is so very sweet and a wonderful baby! We are so blessed! More to come on birth and name. :)