Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

 November and December were a busier months than usual. Paul and I have been doing a vinyl business (we sell vinyl lettering for the home) and it has been insane. Our sales tripled in November and more than doubled in December.  It was good for us but made it so we had no time to do anything but the stickers! Since I use my blog as sort of a journal and I haven't updated since October, this is going to be a long one. Sorry!

In the end of October, Jaxon and I flew to California unexpectedly for a funeral. Most people that know me, know that one of my best friends in the world, Allison, and I have been friends since we were three. Her father passed away and I had to go, he was like a second father to me. It was nice to see old friends, though I wish it was under better circumstances.  Since I was gone the last week of October, my kids missed out on carving pumpkins. They had to settle for vinyl on pumpkins in November. They turned out pretty good and I think we may do it again next year. Kade's is a traditional pumpkin, Bailey's is a baby, and Kylie's is a dog. The whole thing only took us about 20 minutes and no mess!

I just got a new camera and couldn't figure it out, hence the blurriness.

Jaxon this month has become mobile! He scoots all over the place very quickly! He also has started pulling himself up onto everything. We used the Christmas tree box to block him in the front room. This was supposed to keep him from attacking the Christmas Tree. He would use it to stand up and kept falling in it. It was hilarious. He never cried once just grinned and thought he was so funny.

 These pics were going to be on my Christmas Card that I never had time to make.  I love them and still wanted to share so Merry Christmas! From the Chalmers

School Christmas programs are so much fun. This year Kade had one too! They were all on Friday so it made for a busy but fun day. I took the day off and in between the programs did my Christmas shopping! It was great!

Kade did a great job! You could tell when he got bored but it was adorable to watch.

The girls sang with their choir and did great too!!

My mom, dad, sister, aunt Carol and cousin Jackie all came down for Christmas and we had lots of fun!

We visited Santa and told him just what we wanted. My sister, Amanda, takes the best pictures! She took these of the kids visiting Santa.

It snowed and snowed so Aunt Amanda took the kids outside to build a snowman and this is what they got (obviously it didn't snow a ton (: )

Jaxon is such a cutie! This being his first Christmas, we took lots of pictures! Here are a few in a Santa Hat.

On Christmas Eve, Paul's sister and her family (the Myers) came over and we had an awesome time eating and playing. We even sang Christmas Carols thanks to Jason's guitar playing! After everyone left, we did our own traditions: the kids opened 2 gifts, one from their sibling (we picked names this year) and their new jammies.  Then they put their reindeer food on the lawn (so the reindeer will see our house), set out cookies they make with Nana and some milk for Santa and read our stories. We had a great Christmas Eve!

Christmas morning was even better. The kids slept until 8! We opened gifts and all the normal Christmas stuff. It was a great day!

My fantastic sister informed us all while we were bowling on the Wii that she had never been bowling before in all her 24 years. She'd been to bowling alleys but never threw the ball. Can you believe that?? I sure couldn't. So of course the day after Christmas while everyone in the world was shopping, we went bowling and it was a blast. We took a family pic to record this momentous day for her but unfortunatley its super blurry. Oh well, I'm posting it anyways!

And some random pictures...

And this ends this super long post and the end of 2009.  

Happy New Year!

Jaxon is 7 months

Jaxon is now 7 months (almost 8 by the time I post this!). He is still the happiest baby and is so active. He scoots all over the house doing his "Army Crawl" He's been doing this for a while. We keep thinking, he's going to finally crawl but not so much! He loves to eat and is our big eater. His brother and sisters were not such fans of the solid foods but Jaxon just can't get enough. He actually prefers it to his bottle. He loves the rice cereal, I'm guessing because it fills his belly so well! He laughs, smiles, says mama and dada, and is not a cuddler. He loves his brother and sisters and always lights up when they come to see him. He has his two bottom teeth and shows them off frequently. We love our little Jaxon and can't wait to see how he grows!

Happy Halloween

October has been such a busy month! This last week was no exception. We went to the pumpkin patch to choose our pumpkins. The kids (minus little Jaxon) each chose their favorite. It was horribly cold, rainy and gross outside but they were troopers and had fun.

My mom made their costumes this year. Kade and Jaxon were batman and Robin, Bailey was Rapunzel ad Kylie was a Bride. Nana makes the best costumes! Aren't they adorable. This is from before our church Halloween Party.

Even Robin needs his beauty sleep.

Kade's Preschool Program. He's so different from the girls. He's always in the front of the class and so outgoing. He's a funny kid. I enjoyed watching all the silly faces he made.

Kylie and Bailey are in their school choir and are really enjoying it. Some weeks I have to "encourage" them to go to practice but all in all they love it. They had thier first performance.

After

Halloween night... we always go to the church for a "Trunk or Treat" then over to the Baron's (our friends and neighbors) for chilli and then trick or treating.

All the kids...

Batman and Robin

A bride and Rapunzel

Luckily it was pretty warm so the kids didn't need coats the whole time.  Living in Utah, we're always grateful when its not freezing and/or snowing on Halloween. We had a great time hanging out and having fun.

Jaxon Eating Solids

I have such a love/hate relationship with my babies starting to eat solids. Its such a pain, its messy but they just love it. Jaxon is our little eater. I swear he never wants to stop. He's lovin it so far.

He loves just being at the table with everyone.

The bib's on.

and go...

Jaxon is 5 months

Jaxon is now 5 months old. He is smiling and babbling. He scoots all over the place, the child cannot hold still (just like his dad and brother). He gets up on his hands and knees but hasn't started crawling yet. It won't be long. He also starting holding his own bottle.

New Haircut

Last weekend, Paul surprised me with a trip to California for my birthday. We dropped the kids off at my mom and dad's and headed to San Diego for a couple of nights. This is where Paul got the grand idea to shave his head. As many of you know, Paul has had Alopecia since he was a kid. When he was in Junior high he had this exact same haircut.

August-September Catch Up

I have not been so great with the blogging. We've had a big month so I'm just going to go over some of the highlights...

Kade turns 3

Kade is a little boy that just can't wait to grow up no matter how much I ask him not to. He loves all things boy, cars and legos and bugs and frogs. He is rough (a little too much for the girls in this family) and can take a serious spill and not shed a tear. He is friendly and generally just a happy child. He loves to be the center of attention and wants to be all the time. For his birthday, Nana and Poppy were visiting and he only wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese and to have his favorite cousin Natalie come to his party. Since Natalie lives a bit far (in Florida), he had to settle with just Chuck-E-Cheese.

Kylie and Bailey Start Kindergarten

Can you believe my little babies are in kindergarten?? August 25th, my little girls started kindergarten. I cannot believe how grown up it has made them. They go everyday, come home, do their homework then want to go outside and play with friends. They're suchgreat girls and I'm so excited for them to be in school. They love it and are doing very well. I'm so glad we decided to wait a year to start them.

This is their class where their teacher read them a story before all the parents left.

There are a ton of kids from our church in their class. This is a picture of the neighborhood kids. I think they might just make up half the class.

Bailey lost her first tooth

A month and a half ago Kylie lost her first tooth. Bailey has been waiting anxiously to lose hers (more like dying to lose it!). Paul finally pulled it out. Doesn't she look cute with a missing tooth!

Ooops the tooth fairy forgot the tooth.

But she did leave $3 for that first tooth.

Kade Starts Preschool

Kade is a smart boy. He knows his shapes, even a hexagon, his colors and some of his letters! He loves to learn and is so excited about being in school. I was a little nervous for him, he had a hard time going to nursury at church and seemed a little anxious his first day but after he started, he never looked back. He's lovin' it!

After Preschool

This is how much he loved it. I turned around for 10 minutes and this is what I found!

Jaxon is the happiest boy!

Knowing Jaxon is our last, I think I've appreciated him more than I did with my others. He is the sweetest baby (I think I might be a little biased but really he is!). He's so happy, and just goes with the flow. He loves his sibblings and lights up whenever they pay him any attention. He's a great kid and such a cutie!

Jaxon is 3 months

Jaxon is 3 months old now. This month we were so busy and he's just such a trooper. He went everywhere we needed to go and was the best baby. Jaxon is so mellow and happy. He is always smiling, and rarely cries (for a baby that is). His sisters love playing with him and taking care of him. They change his diapers and hold him all the time. Kade just can't wait until he's big enough to play with.

Nana and Poppy visit

Nana and Poppy had a scentsy convention last week in Salt Lake so we got to see them! It was a lot of fun and we always love it when they are around.  My dad loves taking pictures and got a ton of great ones... we finally have a semi decent one of our family.

Chalmers Reunion

Paul's parents have been serving a mission for our church for the last two years in Argentina. They finally came home in July. The kids made some signs for the airport (we're missing several cousins in this pic who hadn't gotten here yet. )

AFterwards, we planned a family reunion. It was so much fun to see everyone and we had a great time. My kids adored playing with cousins. There are 22 cousins ranging from 6 weeks to 17 years old. Luckily they all have kids around their ages. Kade and Natalie (Paul's brother Larry's little girl) were inseparable. They bonded over their mutual love for candy. It was very sweet . 

We had a blast and can't wait to see everyone again in 3 years!