Charli got her hair cut last weekend, pretty sure Harper gained 2 pounds, and Chad and I had a night out with friends from work! I can't think of a lot of details to write about...but that is the jest of it :-)

Tonight on TV we watched a 20-minute show called "Kid's Living and Surviving Cancer". It was a touching show. It made me remember and realize just how lucky we are...lucky to not be experiencing the same things we did with Charli, with Harper at the same age now- and lucky (in a weird and twisted way) that Charli was so young and didn't have to suffer like older kids do. Having said that...Harper is the same age that Charli was when our world was flipped. Hard to know that a child so young could say so much!! I don't remember Charli at this age, probably blocked out for now, maybe having Harper will help us remember those months that in my mind were just full of drugs, tests, and hospital beds!

taking pictures with two kids is not as easy as it was with just one!! I guess the days of "self portraits" is over :-)

for those of you who know Chad, this picture of Harper in this style of hat should REALLY scare you!

elephant had to be in the picture!!

Charli's new cut - courtesy of Aunt Amanda!

Charli * Braxton * Harper

the boys

When You Thought I Wasn't Looking...

A message every adult should read because children
are watching you and doing as you do, not as you say.

WHEN YOU THOUGHT I WASN'T LOOKING

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you hang my
first painting on the refrigerator, and I immediately
wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you feed a
stray cat, and I learned that it was good to be kind
to animals.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you make my
favorite cake for me, and I learned that the little
things can be the special things in life.

When you thought I wasn't looking I heard you say a
prayer, and I knew that there is a God I could always
talk to, and I learned to trust in Him.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you make a
meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I
learned that we all have to help take care of each other.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you take care
of our house and everyone in it, and I learned we have
to take care of what we are given.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw how you
handled your responsibilities, even when you didn't
feel good, and I learned that I would have to be
responsible when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw tears come
from your eyes, and I learned that sometimes things
hurt, but it's all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw that you
cared, and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn't looking I learned most of
life's lessons that I need to know to be a good and
productive person when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking I looked at you and
wanted to say,'Thanks for all the things I saw when
you thought I wasn't looking.


Each of us (parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, teacher, friend)
influences the life of a child.

How will you touch the life of someone today? Just by
sharing this with someone else, you will probably make
them at least think about their influence on others.
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply.
Speak kindly.
Leave the rest to God

redemption

I would like to say that Charli is redeeming herself daily this week...and all the stress she was causing me days ago is making me laugh now! We have implemented a new token system and I am not going to say it has solved our problem...but the issues we were having have not shown their ugly little heads since!! She is acting like the little girl I know she is!! I am so proud of her and how grown up she has been acting.

Harper was home Monday with a temp of a little over 100. He certainly did not act sick, and probably had one of the best days ever at home with his dad. Chad said he was in heaven being able to roll around and do his own thing which hasn't happened since...well, never :-)

new year...new attitudes!!

The new year is bringing new experiences for all of us! Charli is still closer to 3 than 4, but acting more like 4 than ever before :-) We never really went through the terrible 2's but I would say that they trying 3's are here. With some of the moments and experiences we have had lately, I think I can easily (at this moment) say that up to this point...parenting has been a breeze!!!!!

Having said all of that, Charli has still been a good kid! She is just growing up, which can be stressful but also just a little hard to witness our "baby" growing up. And...is she ever!

I would say that Charli's best friend is still Harper, but Harper is growing extremely close to Wynston and Kasper! Harper's main mode of self-transport is still rolling from one spot to another but we have noticed he has really started to try to shimmy himself around on his tummy. Lucky for us, big sister doesn't give him much room to learn these types of things just yet!

Charli before church this morning...Harper was already tucked in his car seat ready to go...always waiting on the girls!

their first bath together. How lucky, Harper got to use "Dora" soap. He has so much to look forward too!! ;-)

Charli invited Harper to help her color last week. He was so excited to monitor her artistic abilities!!

just chilling after church last week. Charli has mastered big sister-hood pretty well. She can take care of him pretty well and it is making him pretty darn strong in the process!!!

winter wonderland

On Christmas Eve we went to our Christmas children's service...for awhile we thought that would be the extent of our Christmas celebrations! We were in the middle of a blizzard, and most everyone was stuck wherever they were. Thankfully my brother and his family made it up from Arkansas just before the storm really hit. We are grateful that they still tried and succeeded in making it up to see everyone. They truly are dedicated :-)

Our first gathering to be cancelled was for Chad's family. Hopefully we will be able to get together in a few weeks when everyone is free! Our other party to be "postponed" was for my side of the family. I was very sad because I knew that it meant we would not have everyone there when we rescheduled, which ended up being Sunday. Andrew, the oldest of the grandkids, was snow-stuck in Lincoln...and wasn't able to come home until Monday. What a bummer. I know my sister, his mom (Vicki), was very sad to not have all of her kids there. I think he was able to make it back on Monday so she had them all with her :-)

We knew we had the entire day on Christmas to spend as a family so we really spread out the opening of gifts! Of course, Santa gifts were opened right away Christmas morning! But, we waited until after nap to open the rest! Our family was lucky enough to have an "elf on the shelf" this year (highly recommend for parents with young kids!). Charli was sad that our elf "bunny" had to fly back with Santa on Christmas morning...she can't wait to see him again next year!

The highlight of the gifts for Charli is probably her leapster. She got a few things that we haven't really even played with because we forgot! Grandpa Borg got all three little girls a bucket full of fun girly stuff! A bucket which should have stayed at his house for the days when Rachelle and I drop them off for him to watch! It was full of fancy dress up gloves, make up, lip gloss, glitter, shimmer, rings, suckers, chapstick, mirrors, brush, gummy worms and more! They girls thought it was fun! All the kids also got vtech laptops from grandma and grandpa! At one point almost every kid had their back against the couch in a row playing their computer! It was funny! The kids got to play in the snow and had a great time! Then..back to reality!

On a side note - Charli has been acting very "3". She is listening like a 2 year old...and acting like one sometimes too! She is testing her limits for sure! Friday morning she woke up and had the following conversation with her dad. I thought only adults talked about this stuff, but I guess this is our reality now too.
Charli - "the cancers not going to come back daddy"
Chad - "what made you say that Charli?"
Charli - "last night when I was sleeping I went to the doctor, and he told me that. it's not going to come back"
I think Chad was probably floored and didn't know what to say. She has been talking about it more lately, and with some additional strange behaviors and pains I think it makes us a little nervous. But, she is right...it is not going to come back. From her lips to God's ears.

Enjoy the pics! :-)

three amigos!

(I have totally turned into my grandma! She used to cover my face with a scarf just like I did to Charli, and I HATED it! But Grandma was smart...keeps them warm!)

snow angels!

at one point the snow was above Charli's knee, they thought that was pretty neat!

if you stare at this picture long enough it looks like he is scary mad, but he was laughing!

Ryen is such a good sitter! She always wants to hold him and take care of him. I think between her and his big sister I could trust that he would be taken care of! Today I was cleaning the bathroom and Charli was taking care of Harper..she even wiped his nose off :-)

Cabela's girls!

Harper's shirt says "I make dirt look good". I am pretty sure Chad is jealous and would like a shirt like this!

grandma and grandpa with 90% of the grandkids....

(ryen, cohen, derek, colton, macey, charli, grant, bryant, harper)

charli*cohen*macey

ho-ho-ho!

She was excited to get a leapster...but a little confused because she didn't quite grasp that it was hers, and she could play with it!! On a side note - both Santa and her parents got her slippers for home and daycare. She was upset because she did not ask Santa for slippers. Silly Santa, next year only get what is on her list and no extras!!)

her super exciting "backpack" that Harper gave her for Christmas! It was filled with colors, markers, stencils, paper, glue, and some fun hair bows!

as chad pointed out it looks like Charli's legs are coming out of harpers body! I didn't realize her tights and his shirt were so, so similar!

Charli was very good at letting Harper open his own gifts. she helped when needed!

She even let him help her open a few gifts!

out feeding the reindeer on Christmas Eve!

Chad took this picture...I think it is less about Charli and more about showing how tall his truck is. Charli stands 40"+

i am just realizing i didn't post a picture of either of us with Harper in front of the tree...but we took them :)

We hope you enjoyed your Christmas celebrations, even if you were not able to get where you wanted to be! It was fun to have the entire day with just the kids. Probably a luxury we won't experience again for awhile. We love to spend the day with our family, but as OUR family grows it is hard to balance old traditions with new ones so we soaked in the day!