Santa's Big Present!

Well we have some very exciting, but very shocking news.....we are having a baby! Yes, a baby! Braden asked Santa for a baby brother for Christmas and well....apparently his wish came true! Last week the kids received a letter from Santa that stated that there is a baby in Momma's tummy and although Braden asked for a brother that is up to God! As you can see from the pics, the kids were VERY excited! Kaylee's first response was "where the heck is this thing going to sleep?" and Braden just kept saying "Really??" Then he decided if it was a girl he would just ask for a brother again next year....I think Daddy and I are going to get a better handle on Santa next year!!
Well, even though we are very surprised, we know that God has a plan and He knew this was going to happen all along....just sort of wish he would have clued us in a lil! :) Even though we have alot of plans to change, they will all be worth it in the long run! We all 4 are hoping to enjoy this new arrival to the fullest and look forward to watching our older 2 children grow and learn by loving a new member of our family! I know they both will be great help and will be a GREAT big brother and sister.

Getting the letter from Santa opened

Braden reading very carefully!

Their initial reactions!!
We will see how long the excitement lasts when they have been woke up in the middle of the night by a crying baby!

Kaylee's Birthday Trip!

This year for Kaylee's 9th birthday, she chose to go to Texas and spend the day at the American Girl Boutique and Bistro! The kids and I headed to Texas on Friday and spent some enjoyable time with my sister and her family. On Sunday, Kaylee, Macie, Meagan, Emily, my mom and I went to spend the day at the American Doll store! We started off by letting Kaylee pick out her doll. We figured this would take Kaylee forever to do, but she took all of about 10 minutes! Then we had to pick out Lanie's accessories and a lil furniture for her. After that she was able to get Lanie's ears pierced and Macie got her doll, Julie's, hair done.
After all that my Dad was there to pick up Braden for "man time" and we had a few hours to waste so we went over to the Galleria mall and walked around. At 3:00 we had reservations to eat at the American Girl Bistro. This was a great experience! I have posted some pics below and I will tell more w/ each one.

Braden, Meagan, Kaylee and Macie outside the store

Kaylee and Macie (w/ Julie) standing next to Lanie's display

The CHOICE!!

Kaylee and her new BFF!

Paying for all her new goodies!

Julie getting her hair fixed (they think of everything in this place!)

Lanie after she got her ears pierced!

Doe-Doe and all the kids

Our girls and their girls!

Eating @ the Bistro. This place was absolutely adorable! They have lil chairs for the dolls to sit in!! The girls enjoyed Strawberry smoothies, cheese dip and bread, and pizza!!

Emily and Macie

My girl and I!

Much to Kaylee's dismay, they brought her a muffin and sang to her! (She does NOT like anyone paying attention to her!)

Helping Lanie go down the escalator...too cute!

Sisters!!

Our BEAUTIFUL girls!!

When we came home on Monday, Kaylee's friends Baylee (L) and Kaitlyn (R) had made her a cake and Amber had cooked a special dinner for the birthday girl!!

Her cookie from her party @ school!

Mullins Christmas

We spent Sunday with my Mom's side of the family at my Uncle Don's house. As usual, we had a great time and my Aunt Rene completely outdid herself!

The special table for the girls!

Uncle Don and Aunt Rene always know exactly what he is going to want....complete with the Marshmallow guns!

He loves his Aunt Rene

Kaylee with my Grandparents

Christmas Day Celebrations

Christmas Day we spent opening presents from Doe-Doe (my sister) and then off to my Dad's sisters house for the Lawson family celebration.

Cute hat from Doe-Doe

My sister gets the kids an ornament every year just from her. This is her and Braden with his

And Kaylee and Doe-Doe with hers

The girls on the Lawson side (minus Meagan)

Our girls

Opening presents from Poppy....He failed to see the importance of name tags so Braden had opened Meagan's make-up!

Hugs and thank-yous for Poppy!

The babies of the families!

Snuggies from Aunt HoneyThe girls got a diaper bag FULL of real baby goodies...complete with this bib that says "Mommy says I'm a Doll!" LOL!It had been a long day, but his new snuggie and Aunt Honey's bed made it all better!

Santa Came!!

Santa was very good to the kids this year! They all seemed to get just exactly what they wanted!

Kaylee's pile

Braden's pile

"It's time to come out!" Notice Macie is the only one that is really awake

And there off!!

What was Santa thinking?

Santa wasn't quite as nice to Meagan! He hid this laptop under a pile of clothes!! Sneaky!

Loves his new bike!!

Her pink Mongoose!

He just realized Poppy was there

Her very own hairdryer

Macie got a lot of new furniture for her American Girl doll....that stuff is precious!

Christmas Eve

This year we spent Christmas in Texas. We alternate where we are for Christmas Day every year and this was the year to be in Texas. I have lots of pics so I am going to have to post them in sections! We spent Christmas Eve with my Mom and had a good time watching the kids getting ready for Santa. We love spending the holidays with my sister and her family, the kids have a great time making memories.

They "posed" this pic themselves!

Getting ready to open presents from Mimi

Our kids are definitely broken into 2 catagories. Kaylee and Meagan are both much calmer and have pretty mellow personalities.....and then we have Macie and Braden...well needless to say they aren't so mellow!

Emily printed one of the many awesome pics she took of the kids @ Thanksgiving and we gave them to all the family.

Brother-in-Laws being silly!

We took this picture for the first time 4 years ago and have taken one every year since. It only took 8 this time to get a decent one! But they had a great time taking all the "bad" ones!

My Beautiful nieces!

Having a good time

Dale reading the story of Jesus' birth to the kids before bed.

Cookies and milk for Santa. Then it was putting out the carrots for the reindeer and then off to bed!