Oh Hayden!

Hayden is more than halfway through his kindergarten year. He can count to 100 and he is learning how to read. Hayden is doing so well, his teachers love him and he has many friends in the class. He came home from school the other day and said, "Mom, I sure hope you have something special planned for my birthday party because I just invited my whole class and they all said they could come!" What am I going to do with 22 five year olds?!? Hayden is also a great big brother. He and Ace are best friends, frick and frack, they are always coming up with something fun to play. When Ace was born, Hayden couldn't say baby so he called him "B." To this day he still calls him that, I think that even when they are teenagers he will refer to him as "B." Hayden also loves basketball. Danny and Brandon are huge Jazz fans and they have recruited Hayden. Hayden tries to watch every Jazz game. The 8:30 tip offs are harder, we have actually caught him pinching his arm to stay awake for these games. He knows all the players very well. We were in the car the other day and Derron Williams was giving an interview, I went to change the station and Hayden said "Mom don't change it, that is D Will." My parents bought the boys a basketball hoop for Christmas, and Hayden spends the better part of his free time playing. Sometimes he will play one on one with Ace, or he will play by himself and even do his own commentary. "Hayden takes it to the hoop," "Hayden gets the basket and the foul," are just a couple things I hear when he is playing by himself. Hayden is my most proper/organized child, he reminds me in many ways of my dad. He has a morning hygene routine which includes a breath test (where he blows in my face to make sure his breath doesn't stink), gel and hairspray in his hair, and some of Daddy's cologne. He likes his sandwich cut in squares, and he brings home the crumbs from the table in his sandwich container because he doesn't think someone he doesn't know should have to clean up his mess. He even lines his matchbox cars up in short, straight lines. "Just like a car dealership mom," he says. I love Hayden so much, there is something very special about your first born.

Ace of hearts!!

Ace is 3 1/2 now, he is growing up so fast. This past weekend, I enrolled him in preschool for the upcoming school year. He will be attending the Cross of Hope Preschool, which is a nationally accredited preschool. He will go every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for two and half hours each day. I am so happy with this school, I think it will be so good for him. I have really enjoyed having one on one time with Ace this year, since Hayden has been in school. Ace is a natural born athlete. He can throw a football, hit a baseball, shoot hoops, and even do somersaults. In addition to sports, Ace is crazy about Monster trucks. We took the boys to see Monster Jam last weekend and he thought that was the coolest thing in the world, he stayed standing the entire two and half hours so he wouldn't miss anything. Now even being a total boy's boy, Ace does have a softer side. He loves to help me in the kitchen. I can not cook a meal without Ace being involved. It makes cooking more fun for me and it's also a fun way to incorporate counting. Ace will be totally involved in a project and all of sudden stop in his tracks and say "I love you mom!" Ace I love you too, you are one special boy who has stolen a piece of my heart!

Mama's Little Helper!

It has been so long since I have added a post, but believe it or not these boys keep me pretty busy. I have decided to do three posts this weekend, one for each of the boys. I will start with Colton. Late Sunday night and early Monday morning, Danny and I took turns pacing the floor with Colton because he would just not go to sleep. He was grumpy and mad, we couldn't do anything to get him to settle down. Around 6:00 (the time we all start our day) he finally fell asleep. He woke up a few hours later with his first tooth!!! It is on the bottom and just pokes through a little bit, and he won't let anyone near his mouth to feel it. Every time I go to feel his mouth he sticks out his tongue. Despite having only one tooth, he eats everything. His favorites are chicken nuggets, crackers, bananas, and minute rice. He eats a better variety of food than Hayden and Ace combined! Colton has started to talk a little bit. Right now he can only say gaga, which I hope doesn't mean he has an infatuation with Lady Gaga because she freaks me out!!! He is very close to saying Dadda and Mama, so Danny and I have a bet going on to see which one he says first. I know Dadda is easier than Mama to say, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that Mama wins out. If I win Danny has to fold and put away clothes for two weeks ( this is my most hated household chore). If Danny wins then I have to scoop up dog poop for two weeks. C'mon Colton, make Mama proud! Colton has also become very mobile, not only can he crawl very fast on flat surfaces and even upstairs, but he can walk with the help of furniture or the wall. Because of his mobility, he has become quite the helper. While I am putting clothes in the washer, he pulls them out again. I fold the kitchen towels and put them away, he crawls over and one by one puts them on the floor. I load the dishwasher and again he pulls the dirty dishes out and puts them on the floor. Now even though he undoes a lot of the hard work I do, he is still such a lovable kid. He has learned how to give kisses by placing his wide open slobery mouth on your cheeck. He will also laugh and smile at anyone who gives him even the slightest bit of attention. Living in Albuquerque, having three blue eyed blond haired boys with me everywhere I go, gets me a lot of attention. Everywhere we go I have people stop and comment on the boys, we are definatley the minority here. I love Colton so much, I can't believe he turns 1 next month. Everytime I look at him I remember those emotional days and nights spent in the NICU and I thank the Lord that my boy is absolutley perfect. Keep looking at our blog for updates the other two boys.

Happy Birthday Grandma!!!!

Since we couldn't celebrate Christmas in Utah, my mom and I thought it would be fun if the boys and I went to Arizona for the week between Christmas and New Year's. The boys and I left late Sunday morning and got to my parents' house just before dinner. We had a nice dinner then opened presents. The boys thought it was fun to have a second Christmas, they were so exicted about the gifts that Grandpa and Grandma picked out for them. After we opened presents, we decided to make a gingerbread house, Ace and Hayden thought this was so much fun!!! Colton, however, had a lot more fun playing with Grandpa!!! We spent the next couple days going out to eat, shopping, and playing at arcades, but the best part of our trip was yet to come. On December 29, 2009 my mom turned the big 5-0. Now no one could tell by looking at her, in fact most people would say they thought she was turning 40!!! I love my mom more than anyone will ever know! She has been the best mom ever, I still remember when I used to walk to the bus stop in the mornings and she would stand by the picture window in her bath robe and wave to me until she couldn't see me anymore. I can only hope that when my boys are grown that they will feel as close to me as I feel to my mom today. For my mom's birthday, we went to see the new Chipmunks movie and then as a surprise the boys and I made her a homemade birthday cake. It is so cute to watch the boys with my parents. they are total heroes in their eyes. Early on New Year's Eve the boys and I took of for home, despite a few tears. No matter how many times I visit my parents, I always find it hard to leave. Thanks Mom and Dad for a wonderful second Christmas and a fun break. Love You!

Merry Christmas!

I am a little slow on blogging, but things around here have been pretty crazy. I have a lot to catch you all up on, so here it goes. This Christmas was a special one, because it was our first Christmas with just the six of us. Ususally we take part in a lot of different family get togethers, so this year was special but hard at the same time. It seemed like the perfect time to start new traditions. On Christmas Eve, we all got to open our new Christmas pajama's. For those of you who know me, know that I love to have the boys match. Well this year I was able to find camo pajama pants and white under shirts for all the boys, even Danny and Brandon. I was the only one who didn't match, but I was okay with that. For dinner we had chinese takeout, then watched two timeless christmas classics as family. It definately wasn't Grandma Sorensen's Christmas Eve, but it turned out well. Who do you think woke up first on Christmas morning? Brandon, our 15 year old, was the early riser! He woke up at 5, but kindly waited until 7 to wake the rest of us up. All the boys (including Trigger) must have been good because Santa brought them a lot of fun things. I think the best present a parent gets at Christmas is watching how excited their kids get. I hope all you had a wonderful Christmas and know how much we missed not being a part of things this year.

NoT JuSt AnY MoNdAy!

So yesterday, I woke up, made the boys breakfast, got the boys dressed, straightened the house, took Hayden to school, then I flew to Vegas to meet my mom and sisters for some Christmas shopping! That's right, we flew to Vegas just to go shopping. Last month, Southwest was offering $25 dollar flights to Vegas, so my mom and Ashley thought it would be cool if we all flew there for the day and went Christmas shopping. My mom called it "doing something spontaneous", and with husbands, kids, and jobs, planning six weeks in advance is as spontaneous as it gets. After landing in Vegas, Colton and I met up with my mom and my sisters, and we were off!!! We started our adventure at the New York, New York where Ash, Court, and I rode the roller coaster. It was quite a rush, I don't remember the last time I rode a roller coaster. After that we all went to lunch at the Studio Cafe in MGM. It was very good, we all had burgers and sandwiches that we could barely get our mouths around. From there we decided to go to an outdoor mall that Ashley had found on her last trip to Vegas. All I can say is that we spent two hours going from store to store and we barely tapped the mall. We had a lot of fun picking out things for us and our husbands. Christmas shopping done, we headed to the strip. We drove up and down the strip (somewhat blindly thanks to Mom) where we saw everything from the fountains at the Bellagio going off to Christmas music to a re-incarnated Michael Jackson wanna be. This was the funnest day I have had in a long time. We laughed A LOT and really enjoyed our time together. I love my mom and sisters so much, they are my greatest friends and even better examples. As I flew home, I thought about how lucky I was to not only have flown to Vegas for the day to go shopping, but how lucky I was to have such an amazing mom and loving sisters. By the way, for all of you who don't know, every year since I can remember my dad gives each of us girls a special present to open on Christmas Eve. This gift is just from him and he spends a lot of time and thought picking it out. Well ,yesterday as we got in our rental cars, we were each handed a special card with a visa gift card in it, so that we could find ourselves something special. I love my dad so much and I love this tradition, I was feeling really sad that I wouldn't be in Utah to to open my Christmas Eve present with my mom, dad, and my sisters there, so getting it yesterday was very special for me. Thanks Mom (and Dad) and my sisters for such a spectactular day. Love you all!

Thanksgiving 2009!

For Thanksgiving, we were lucky enough to make the short drive to Arizona to spend the holiday with my parents. We were also very excited that Ashley and her family were there, and we were very sad that at the last minute, Courtney and Brady couldn't make it. Being with my family for Thanksgiving meant so much to me, because we sill be spending Christmas in Albuquerque just the six of us. We got to my parents house around 1:00 Thanksgiving morning. After a quick nights sleep we woke up and the boys headed off to the park with Grandpa, Berkley, and Todd, and the girls took to the kitchen. We made turkey, homemade rolls, seven layer dip, chex mix, mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetables, and two pies. Last year, I made Thanksgiving dinner by myself for my family so I really enjoyed being a part of the team this year. I do have to say that I was really impressed with my little sister Ashley, this was the most I have ever seen her cook and she did a great job. After thanksgiving dinner, and lots of football (good job green bay) we looked through the ads and made our Black Friday game plan. Mom, Ashley, and I woke up at 4:30 and headed to Target. I have to admit that none of us had any must have items on our list, we really just wanted to be a part of things. We did score a few cool items for the kids, and a new down comforter for danny and me. Friday night, Danny and I took the kids to see Planet 51. It was really cute and was the only hour and half the whole trip that my boys sat in one spot and did not make a peep!!! Saturday morning, as per my mom's request, we attempted the first Dickerson family picture since Danny and I were married!!! I say attempted because with six people the shots that have all of you looking at the camera and smiling with eyes open are few and far between!!! We ended up with a few good ones, thanks to my photographer Ashley! Maybe we will try again in 6 more years, just kidding. After the family pics, my dad watched the boys so that Danny, Brandon and I could go see the Blind Side with my mom. I absolutley loved it, it was the best show I have seen all year. Even if you don't like football, this movie will melt your heart. After some tearful goodbyes, we drove back to Albuquerque Sunday morning. I am so so so greatful for my family. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, the only thing that could have made it better would have been to have Court and Brady there.