Christmas

Sporting their new robes and pj's

Edward with his gifts

Benson getting ready to open another present

Britton tearing a present open

Opening one present on Christmas Eve (they get new pj's every year and I let them open them on Christmas Eve so they can sleep in them)

The boys writing a letter to Santa on Christmas Eve telling him how good they have been and to look in his bag for a Wii and maybe a few games

Edward in his Reindeer pj's (Christmas Eve)

The boys setting up the tree as Mario and Luigi

Benson with Santa

Britton with Santa

We had a small Christmas this year with just myself and the boys. We were going to go to Richmond to spend it with Dan's family but taking that 10 hour drive (round trip) was just a lot. So we decided to stay here and have our own little Christmas. I am so glad we did! We had a blast. The boys were SO HAPPY with everything they received and Edward just laughed and giggled at everything. The boys favorite gift was their Wii followed closely by their new flannel pj's: Benson got Spider Man pj's and Britton got Buzz Lightyear. They wear them EVERY night!!!
It was hard with Dan being gone. It really is the Holiday that you want to be with your loved ones sharing joy and love. I know we may have more Christmas's apart but I pray that it is a while down the road.
I have LOVED having Benson home from School (he has a two week break and will go back the 4Th of January). Britton just needs him so much and Benson needs Britton just as much. We have mainly stayed home and just enjoyed each other (and the Wii).
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and will have a Happy New Year!

Edward At One Month

GOODNESS! Edward is a growing boy!
The Military sent out a Nurse to our house for Edward's one month check up. He measured at 20 and a quarter inches and weighs 9 pounds 9 ounces. WOW! The nurse said he is a pound over where she expects babies to be so he is doing GREAT!
He does have some night colic going on which is a bit hard to handle, but it becomes easier every night because I know what to expect. He sleeps wonderful though (once he does go to sleep). He is in bed no later than 7 p.m. then he sleeps for about six hours, wakes up for 20 min to pound down a 4 ounce bottle and then he is back to sleep for another 5 or 6 hours! He loves to get kisses on his mouth and every time I give them to him he opens up his mouth really wide and smiles and giggles. He LOVES Benson and Britton and will let them hold him as long as they want. He is already taking a bath with his older brothers and he loves to watch them play with their toys, he will splash his hands in the bubbles and laugh with them. Plus the boys love to help wash his hair and pour water on his tummy. VERY CUTE!
He is still a grunter and if he ever gets upset about something he will grunt at me until I make it better. He wants to be held all the time, but I have FINALLY got him to sit in his Bumbo and relax while we are home! YEAH! I am still trying to turn him into a Binki Baby but it is not the easiest... my babies just don't like the binki!
We are just adoring having a new baby and loving to get to know this sweet little spirit.

Dan is Deployed

Things have been so busy lately, but I thought I would let everyone know that Dan deployed on December 9th. One month (to the day) after Edward was born. It was SO GREAT that he was here for the birth and that he was able to be here for a month afterwards. When he gets back Edward will be over six months old, depending on the deployment he could even be eight months old. WOW!

I have come up with a strict schedule that we will be on while he is gone, but I need to get a bit more organized first so I can get done everything I need to. Including updating my blog!

:)

Britton turned FIVE!!!

November 20Th Britton had his FIFTH Birthday! We actually celebrated it in October when all of his cousins came, so he has thought he was five for a month before he actually turned five. He was so excited at all of his new gifts and every time he opened a present his face would show the most amazed reaction of surprise and delight followed by a gasp of air. Opening presents to Britton is the absolute funnest thing in his world. It ended up that his FAVORITE gift was actually a Sponge Bob card that Steve sent and it sang a Special Happy Birthday song (Sponge Bob style). He walked around the house with it for days, we finally had to tell him he could only listen to it outside (we were losing our sanity).
He is so excited to go to school next year, and to start playing sports. He REALLY wants to play Tball with Benson and should be able to in the spring. Even though he is loud and proud at home when he gets around others he is quiet and reserved and does not want anything to do with the spotlight. He constantly says things to crack us up. Like today he was watching Benson play a game on his game boy and Benson was fighting a "bad guy" all of the sudden Britton breaks out with, "Focus.... Focus... Focus.... YOU DID IT!" As he said this his arms went into the air and he was so happy for Benson.
Right now Britton's favorite game is Go Fish and we play it EVERYDAY multiple times. He is doing so well in preschool (we do it at home). His favorite thing is numbers and he LOVES addition. He loves to sing and actually has a great ear for music. Dan will put on a cd and only let it play a few notes before he pauses it and then Dan will ask Britton what music it is to and Britton 99% of the time will know exactly what music it is. His favorite movie is ALL of the Indiana Jones movies and Indiana Jones is also his favorite character to dress up as (we have the costume). My hair is still his "blankie," he has played with it since he was born and still when he is to sad he will come and hold it until he calms down. His favorite food is ANYTHING pasta (just like his mommy). He loves that he is a new big brother and still loves being a kid brother to Benson.
Happy Birthday my Britton Boo, I love you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much. God knew I needed you when you came and I will be forever grateful to have you as my child!

NOVEMBER NINTH!!!!!!!!

Mommy and Edward:


Daddy is SO PROUD to have a Junior:


After they cleaned him all up:


Baby Edward came into this world on November 9Th, 2009 at 10:30 a.m. (right on the button) weighing 6 pounds 14 ounces and was 19 inches long!
This labor was different than my other two MAINLY for the fact that I went into pre labor the Tuesday before I had him. YOWZERS! The contractions would pretty much start every night and last all night long. No sleep for me that last week! So on Sunday night when the contractions were coming a lot closer together and a lot more intense I thought this may be the real deal and SURE ENOUGH it was!!!
I am so thankful Dan was able to be there for the birth. I am so thankful I had a GREAT nurse and a great doctor, and I am so thankful for the epidural! The doctor that delivered him was actually a Family Prac Doctor, but she wanted to deliver a baby. So the OBGYN and the Family Prac Doctor delivered him together. It was actually neat to have a doctor that was making sure she did EVERYTHING right!

Dan trying to help teach Edward how to latch on:


Mommy and Edward ready to come home from the hospital:


Giving Little Man kisses:


Showing off my Baby!


Sr. and Jr. tuckered out:


We absolutely LOVE having him with us. He already has his days and nights right and even though some nights he does not go to bed until after 9 p.m. (our regular bedtime here is 7 p.m. for the boys and about 8 p.m. for me) he sleeps about six (sometimes eight) hours, wakes up for a feeding and then falls back to sleep for another six hours.
He actually rolled over by himself at four days old, has been able to hold his head up since he was born, and loves his tummy time where he "tries" to move around by himself... and sometimes he does! He has such a sweet little spirit, I love just to hold him and feel the absolute perfectness of this amazing little baby. He does so many things that he did in the womb, like: sleep with his hands on his face, hickups galore, and he still kicks his legs out all the time. He LOVES to be held and we all love to hold him, even Benson and Britton. The boys are such loving brothers to him. They always want to feed him, hold him, kiss him and just be good helpers. I am so thankful for that!

Proud brothers:


All of my Angels:


He received his blessing in church today and he was blessed in the same outfit that Benson and Britton were blessed in. I love that all of my boys could use the same one, sentimental value! Everyone at church was so sweet and a lot of help was offered. I am so grateful for a good ward that is willing to help out.

Baby Edwards Baby Blessing Day:


Daddy blessed him, it was a BEAUTIFUL blessing:


Mommy and her Little Man:


Loving Brothers:


My best friend Jessi B is here from Arizona for 18 days but her time is up on Nov 29Th, but then on Nov 29Th my mom will come into town and stay till the 4Th. I have been so lucky that Jessi could come and help for so long. She is doing a SUPERB job of helping us out. I also can't wait to see my MAMA and have her here for almost a FULL week.

Jessi loving on Edward:


So happy Jessi can be here with us during this special time:

Halloween Weekend

We had a BLAST this Halloween weekend! Dan's mom, his sister Louie and all of her kids, and his sister Jennifer and all of her kids came to spend it with us. It was MAINLY to celebrate Thanksgiving early since Daniel MAY NOT be here this year for Thanksgiving.
We had 5 adults and 11 children in our house for three days and we could not have had more fun! All the cousins played and there was NO fighting and it was so fun to have so much adult interaction for so long.
We did two nights of Halloween celebration. The first was on Friday at the church for some Trunk or Treat and the second was Saturday night (Halloween night) and we took all the kids around our neighborhood for tons more candy! Needless to say I don't think I need to buy sweets until the end of next year.
We bought Benson and Britton Mario and Luigi costumes (Mario brothers). Benson was Mario and Britton was Luigi, but Britton only wore his Luigi costume on Friday night and then on Saturday he wanted to wear his Ninja Turtle... he likes variety!
The early Thanksgiving celebration was full of GREAT food and the usual gaining of weight.... but I was a week out from giving birth so.... ENJOY THE PICS!

The boys with some of their cousins


Aunt Louie fishing a crab out of the water for the kids to look at


Benson and Britton on Halloween night


Our young trick or treaters


The adults (minus Louie)


The cousins (minus two)

Benson "THE WALL" Our GREAT Little Soccer Player

Things here have been crazy with everything we have going on, but I at least want to catch up on Benson's soccer playing!
Benson played soccer this fall and HAD A BLAST! I was able to coach (assistant coach), even though towards the end it was hard coaching while being prego. He was SO GOOD and earned the nick name of "THE WALL" because he played defense and NEVER let a ball pass him by. He always got a foot on it somehow and always managed to help save the goalie from getting scored on. It was a non competitive league so everyone was always a winner! There were some kids on the team who had played for a couple of seasons and were really skilled, then there was some who just had fun kicking the ball (Benson was a ball kicker), and then there were a couple that liked to just turn circles on the field as they were off in LA LA LAND. It was always fun though and AS ALWAYS Britton was Benson's BIGGEST fan. Now Britton can not wait to play either.

Benson getting the ball away from his teams goal! Don't mess with "THE WALL":


Benson keeping up with the ball:


Britton bringing Benson some water (he always made sure Benson was well hydrated)!


Benson taking a rest on the bench


Even when it is COLD COLD COLD we are out there PLAYING HARD and supporting our Benson Boo:


Coach Mike with the "FURY (our teams name)" after scoring a GOAL!



Coaching Benson and giving some pointers...


Then at the end of the season we had an AWESOME team party where we went to the bowling alley and had pizza, gave out trophies, bowled and just had a blast as a team. Now Benson's and Britton's favorite thing to do is bowl and he asks if we can do it almost every day. Which is great because us Pearce's love to bowl! YEAH!

Benson, Britton and Casey (a fellow soccer player) awaiting their yummy pizza at the team party:


Benson received his second trophy (Tball being his first) and is so excited to put it on his dresser at home!


Soccer friends at the party:


Britton Bowling at the soccer party:


Benson bowling at the soccer party:

12 DAYS TO GO

Oh my goodness, get this baby OUT OF ME! Up until I hit my third trimester I really thought this was my easiest pregnancy. Turns out this pregnancy has given my other two a REAL run for their money.
Between itching my skin off because my liver is producing too much bile (sp), the end of preggers sickness, and even more disgusting things that I am sure if I shared you would throw up. I can HONESTLY say NO MORE BABIES ARE COMING OUT OF ME!
Now, not that I want to be a total Debbie Downer so I will say that I am so excited for him to decide he wants to make an appearnce. I have talks with Edward every night for him to come on out! Really it is me crying and pleading with him to just come already.
Even though he is doing EVERYTHING he should be doing to get ready to come out, my body is not following suit. I just pray I do not go overdue! I just pray I go right now! STICK A FORK IN ME... I AM DONE!

SO PROUD OF BENSON!!!!!!!!!!

We received a letter in the mail today that Benson had been selected as Dixon Elementary (his school) Student of the Month! I am so PROUD of him!
The beginning of the school year started off pretty good, but then for a good few weeks he just could not come home with a good score for the day. His Kindergarten class is on the Three-scale. How it works is if you get a three for the day then you had a perfect day, if you get a two it means you needed a reminder, if you get a one then it means you had to have LOTS of reminders and you lost privileges and if you get a ZERO.... well you are in big trouble and we as parents would have to go in and meet with the teacher, principle and child. Yikes! Benson has never gotten a zero, but he did get a one once.
Well we decided instead of rewarding him when he came home with a good score with treats and all that jazz we would reward him with something that he could REALLY look forward to. So we told him that if he comes home with a three each day than the following day he could chose if he wanted me to either drive him to school in the morning or pick him up after school so he would not have to take the bus. AND EVER SINCE he has gotten a three every day. He now comes home and says, "Yep mom, another three, pick me up tomorrow, k?" I LOVE IT! Also every day he leaves to school now he gives me the I love you sign followed by him holding up three fingers to show me to expect another three from him for the day.
So not only is he listening and showing he can behave, but his school work is one of the top of the class. He loves to learn and loves concepts. The only thing his teacher said he has a hard time with is remembering the sound of "J." Other than that he is good to go!
We are just so proud of his hard work and dedication and that his teacher has noticed too! He gets to go have lunch with the principle next week (a pizza party) to celebrate being STUDENT OF THE MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!

Happy Birthday to My Sissy

Buffy and Myself last summer:

Buffy's Birthday was October 26Th and she just turned 30! According to People Magazine she only has 3 years to go till she hits the Sexiest Age Alive!
You know there is a corny little phrase that says, "Sisters by chance, friends by choice." It is so true! I really can't explain the connection Buffy and I have other than that it is something that is unbreakable. There is no one in this world I am closer to than my sister and it is not even that we try to make it that way... it just is!
I was so honored when she named her daughter Breck. Breck is my middle name. I wanted to return the favor and name my little girl Eden, but seeing as I am not going to have one... sorry Buff, can't do!
Through every up and down we have had (and you have sisters know what I am saying) we always come out stronger and more in "sister love." There is no doubt in my mind that God let me come after her because he knew I would need someone to lead me around a bit and she has been the perfect person for the job. If I am being crazy she can tell me to "Get A Grip!" If anyone else were to tell me that I would get a grip around their neck.. HA HA that was a joke! But she can put me in my place, talk me through anything, and I never take offense. I think because I know that she is ONE PERSON in this world that would never want to see me hurt, she is my protector.
Beyond just being an amazing person to me she has such a hold on people. I have to admit I was so jealous of her growing up, but I have come to realize that she just has one of those amazing personalities that draws people in and they just want MORE AND MORE. She is smart, beautiful, full of life and the list just goes ON and ON!
I love you Buffy, Happy 30Th!

Church Primary Program

The boys just participated in the Church's Primary program and it was so dang cute. All the kids in the church were just cracking me up as their different personalities showed true today in front of the whole congregation. Some were shy and did not want to do their part, some were loud and ready to belt out their singing and their speaking part, and some just did not have a clue what was going on! Needless to say I laughed and cried!
We worked with the boys pretty hard to make sure they had their parts memorized though. Britton had to say, "When I listen it makes my family happy." Benson had to say, "I like being a big brother. I can set an example by using manners." Well here is how my boys did their parts. Dummdummdumdum............
Benson came across as board as can be as he tilted his head to the side and in a monotone voice repeated the Primary President telling him his part. WHAT?!?!?! All that work for nothing? Then right after that Britton got up to do his part and it came out as "...LISTEN (very loud into the speaker).... (wait a few seconds) I'm Happy!" OH good times. Then they got up to sing their song and did either of them sing it? Oh no, but they sure threw the "I love you" sign to me, so I could not be too sad about it.
I wish we could have recorded it! It was timeless and precious and even though they did not do anything like we practiced I was so proud of both of them!!!
I love my Boo's!!!!!!!!!

My Best Friend, Jessi B

Tomorrow is my Best Friend, Jessica Blanco's, birthday. I have to share my feelings on this amazing girl....
First of all Jessi is one of the few people in this world that is completely a giver in EVERY SENSE of the word. There is NEVER a time that she has put her own wants or needs above anothers. It does not matter who it is; a friend, relative, co worker, child... it just does not matter she puts others needs above her own without a second thought.
In her line of work she sees SO MANY situations that would just tear your heart out and make you want to run and just try to do anything you can to forget about it (she works with children in... we'll just say children that are not in good situations). Jessi, however, takes a different route as she uses what she sees and learns and applies it to every child and situation she works with. I can not imagine a better person in this world to help these children and teens along this life than her. She loves so freely and works so hard to make sure everyone has a chance they need and deserve.
When I moved from AZ it was hard enough leaving my family, but I have never had to leave a best friend either. It has been hard being away from her. Jessi made sure that EVERY week we would get together, her driving over 45 min. in both directions because she knew it was harder for me to come to her. This while working full time, going to school full time, she ALWAYS made sure she made time for me every week. And that service she gave to me is beyond words. I needed it so much and she knew it with out me telling her.
As soon as I told her I was pregnant with Edward she asked me the due date and then said, "OK, I will be there a few days before and I will stay there as long as I can." I did not even have to ask her if she could come, to her it wasn't a question it was an answer. Just like SO MANY times before she once again showed me how unselfish she was and how much she already knew how much I needed her.
Even though it is her birthday tomorrow I just received a box in the mail from her and inside was a "Baby Shower Party!" With everything you can imagine from things for Edward to things for Benson and Britton. She knows I am not especially close to anyone here and she did not want me NOT to have a baby shower so she threw me one from thousands of miles away! COME ON NOW.... SHE IS AMAZING!
I am truly grateful for her in my life. I DO NOT know what I would do with out her. She is someone I can tell anything to (and believe me I do mean anything) and know she won't judge me, frown upon it, or think I am nuts. She just takes the JLCC as it come.
I love you Jessi!