CHRISTmas 2013

right this very second as i document our christmas 2013 

a miracle of enormous proportions is going down at the echols house!....

it is the middle of the day and ALL 3 BOYS are SLEEPING!! 

now let me get on with it before the circus commences...

christmas tradition states:

 first: you may open one present christmas eve. 

it will be pajamas, 

they may or may not fit no matter what the tag says. 

you will look adorable....regaurdless. 

second: your elf on the shelf, lou lou, will be watching your every move to bring a nightly report as to which list your name should reside!

however she herself is not held to the same standards 

she peer pressured our neighbors elf leroy into making snow angels before heading off to report....

 then she strong armed buzz, woody and jessie into setting up a zip line right in the middle of our living room. 

I'm not sure this elf has the moral compass to judge the naughtiness or niceness of any little boys or girls.

{at our house the boys can give lou lou a kiss and hug good-bye because santa is coming to pick her up so she doesn't need magic to fly home}

and despite what i'm sure quite a few of lou lou's nightly reports were...

SANTA still came! 

and may i just say...

these 3 littles hit the jack pot.

and just like all of us after a day filled with so much excitement and wonder, food and family, toys and treats. 

its time to fat dog it on your new love sac with your fuzzy blanket and milk of some variety.

and then when there is nothing else left to do.. just be awesome!

cuz they've mastered that. 

i love christmas

i love spending time with family, i love shopping, and wrapping, and eating  

and eating while wrapping.

 i love the spirit of the season and the time set aside to celebrate the birth of our Savior!

there are so many things that i love about this time of year.

trying to get the perfect Christmas pajama picture is not one of them. 

luckily... we nailed it!

* MERRY CHRISTMAS *

Its beginning...

we are running out of space to store brown boxes from the north pole aka amazon

the tree has been trimmed and re-trimmed and re-trimmed

and the little munchkins are on a constant sugar high from goodies delivered to the door step. 

so i guess that means christmas is just around the corner. 

HOOOORAY!

I HEART CHRISTMAS

the magic of christmas is real

so i'm hoping that the combined 14 years of bad luck that was risked while taking this picture

is twinkled away somehow. 

because since the addition of numero tres

 we really don't need the universe or superstition breaking karma or anything else working against us.

we are doing just fine on our own,

we've got the up hill battle thing covered around here. 

and even as i reflect on the rat race of a day its been

i can't help but feel gratitude for the 3 little boys that are mine,

that i get to spend christmas with every year

and every other day of the year.

and as cliche as it sounds, they really are the best little gifts i could have ever hoped for... 

...although their tree decorating skills are not quiet up to snuff.

luckily i've refined mine over the last 30 or "so" years

since my own mom had to play the role of 

magic tree fixing fairy in the wee hours of the night. 

here's to hoping that it doesn't come down on top of one of them 

while they attempt to rearrange it for the 73rd time. 

CHEERS!

HAPPY holidays

To say i have a lot to be grateful for this HOLIDAY SEASON would be an understatement. 

and although the list is never ending and ever growing, 

these 4 are at the very tip top.

{ i can say 4 because thats arron dressed up in the jolly mans red suit }

props to fotofly for this GENIUS idea for the littles who wouldn't get within 10 feet of the real deal. 

and to put it simply

i am thankful for the birth of our Savior and His Plan of Happiness.

because that is why we are here

 to be happy.

life is hard and life is crazy

 but with these 4 life is happy.

wishing YOU ALL a very HAPPY holiday season!

with Love:

Arron, Lisa, Gabe, Mac & Pax

Pax Timothy Echols

Pax Timothy Echols

November 4, 2013

8:35 am

7 lbs 13 oz.

20 inches

100% awesome

i was so excited when i was woken from my last possible full nights sleep at 2 am to the most gut wrenching contraction known to man or should i say woman kind!

because i knew it meant that this little guy was finally on his way into this big ol world

and his big brothers, daddy and I couldn't wait another second!!!

i love this part!!

introducing Big and Middle to Little.
having those first few moments with my family.
knowing we are a family of FIVE for eternity, no matter what!
yes this is one of my favorite things.
  

gabe was instantly in LOVE!!

mac was just as i thought he would be 

cautious, curious and little confused.

gabe got to help with Pax mans first bath and he was elated! 

he was asking the CNA a million questions about what she was doing

and why she was doing it. 

and when pax would cry he would whisper

"its okay paxy dont cry, i'm here" 

i thought i could die it was so cute!

after 2 glorious nights in hotel  a'la hospital

where the awesome nurses took care of the babe at night between feedings

so i could get some much needed sleep

we packed up and headed out to start our next adventure....

being outnumbered!

mac is warming up to his new little brother and filling the role of big brother like a pro.

{which means he is not trusted to be alone with him in fear he will lovingly gouge one of his eyeballs out}

the newness hasn't worn off for the big guy, 

he's a seasoned veteran at welcoming new little humans to the family

although he does ask no less then 37 times a day if pax can play with him yet,

and when the answer is still "no" he says can i kiss him and hug him then.

its down right adorable, the first 36 times but i'm sure pax likes his personal space as much as the next guy, and he's not getting much of that. 

we are so glad you came to our family. 

i can promise you that its going to be crazy town around here.

i can promise that you probably WONT get much personal space.

 i can promise that you will be adored, loved, hugged, kissed and cared for. 

 i promise to do the very best that i know how at being your mommy.

and i promise i'll try to protect you from your brothers until you are big enough to fight back. 

please remember that when the three of you are conspiring against me some day!!

the middle

 i was rocking my "little" 16 month old baby tonight.

tomorrow we get to meet the newest member of our family

and i couldn't be more ecstatic

however tonight, for one last night 

mac is the baby.

 i'm crazy in love with this little man!

he has so much personality contained in such a tiny person its sorta miraculous! 

he has the deepest little belly laugh

and the sweetest smile

his eyelashes go on forever

and just like his big brother he can have an entire conversation 

using just his eyebrows.

 i just LOVE him!

 and i'm a litte sad that he doesn't get to be the baby for a bit longer

because he's really good at it,

but like it or not

he has to grow up a little bit tomorrow.

he'll be a big brother after all!

and although he's lucky and gets to be both a big brother and a little brother

he doesn't get to be the baby.

his little world is about to turn upside down.

and i know that him and the littlest little will be besties in no time

still, its gonna be a rough adjustment for my little sidekick.

i hope that he will always know how much i love him 

and that the amount of love is not measured by the amount of time i can devote to him.

my heart just grows exponentially to hold more love for another little person.

with out losing a drop for the others!

one could argue that a moms heart is the strongest thing on the planet,

 the fact that it doesn't explode is a miracle.

i mean think of those crazy's out there that have like.... 4 or more whole kids.

its pretty much mind boggling that they don't just combust right?

so little mac, i love you buddy

but...

buckle up

theres gonna be a new baby in town.