Favorite People

Do you have favorite people? Sure you do...cousins, friends, favorite Aunt or Uncle.

These two are some:

Bennett loves Nana so very much. He adores her because she adores him. When I watch them interact I think how very good it is for both. He talks about Nana daily and cheers when we see her. He can be asleep in his carseat and the moment we pull into her driveway he pops up and says, "Yay Nana!" and then marches into her house to inform her of the past happenings. 

How very blest we are to have Nana close and that my children know her so well. What a treasure family is.

Nana is also one of  George's favorite people and when he was 5 he would ask all the time if Nana could have a sleep over with us. 

Friday Photo Favorites

What an honor. How blessed our children are having a Fruncle on each side.

At the end of May we witnessed Fr. Stephen Blaxton's ordination. How very, very blessed to be rearing our children in the midst of faith lived daily. 

I remember so keenly my older sister coming and staying with me the first eight days after being initiated into motherhood. Her gift of self was overwhelming and not fully recognized to the actual degree until later. She sat with me as I learned to navigate the ends and outs of early motherhood. Her sitting across from me as we both nursed our little ones was so very much like her bestowing her blessing on me, saying, "you can do this, it will be the hardest thing you will ever do, but you can do this. We traveled this road before and it will be traveled again, come along you are not alone in your vocation." 

As my brother is not Fr. Stephen's brother biologically, they are part of a bigger, deeper brotherhood of Christ. There have been priest before and there will be priest after these two, and they all will travel the vocational road all the same, and they are not alone. 

Friday Photo Favorites

Summer time and the living's easy.

Friday Photo Favorites

First picture of all seven.

We welcomed Benedict 'Bennett' Philip on Sunday. 

Contrary to the picture Annie really is thrilled to have Bennett here and was the first to hold him. The hospital was just a bit overwhelming and seeing her Momma in an atypical state really caught the littles off guard. 

We are enjoying Bennett and the joy he brings.

Family Expansion By the Numbers

Oh I like numbers and patterns. So it should come as no surprise that this new little one has me a bit confused...we were even 3 girls, 3 boys. And we had a little pattern or sandwich of sorts with the birth order. 

So Little TB will just have to have a new set of numbers...

In April we will hold 7 babies, 

that have been born with 6 different home addresses,

in 5 different towns,

in 3 different states.

to 2 parents,

and 1 amazing family. 

Friday Photo Favorites

Our Michigan Family.

Truly one of the biggest blessings to moving is being closer to family...well most family, this family.

We are blest to truly build relationships with our nieces and nephew and watch as Uncle Stephen marches deeper into his vocation. And my goodness look at that tall handsome man on the left...He's mine!

This may be my new favorite thing...

forget about all the other jobs I should be doing. 

These are just too much fun!

Friday Photo Favorites

Raining Day Cowboy.

Friday Photo Favorites

Front Porch

Last time on our front porch.

This was a few days before...lots of scraping and prepping before we said good-bye.

Plus some super cute Mardi Gras mask on even cuter kids.

Friday Photo Favorites

Merry Christmas

A lovely day

Sunday was such a lovely day. We went to Mass, had brunch with my beautiful Momma and hers then honored Our Mother with a May Crowning. As I stood outside with our two year during the Mother blessing (and most of Mass) I thought this is what Motherhood is about. It's not standing in the front to be acknowledged, no, it's shhhing the baby and rocking in the quiet corner. Motherhood is never about praising self (though you will not hear a louder voice than a Momma cheering on a cub), I learned that the moment my first was born...18 hours of labor and really, really hard work physically, mentally and spiritually became a complete afterthought once my boy was born. There was no medal waiting for me, no instead the entire ordeal was meant to give me the confidence to venture on into the most rewarding, challenging and amazing gift-motherhood. Oh yes, we mothers are bonded together with shared knowledge that we are doing some of the most menial and meaningful work daily and most of us are just winging it. We too often criticize one another, however I think this a lack of confidence in our self, but when one of us is criticized by an outsider only the bonds between mother and child are thicker. We understand what it is like to be running on a few hours sleep, dirty clothes and leftovers. We know and have been through those tough weeks. We get it. So as I stood there on Sunday holding my protesting two year old and caught the "I'm sorry" glance from Philip, I felt more than blest. My arms were full, our pew was full, my heart was full.

And I was not alone as the other Momma with a little one stood beside me in solidarity. 

Alleliua!

He Is Risen!

Friday Photo Favorites

The Boys!

The Girls! 

Merry Christmas!

From Our Family to Yours!

The Reveal!

The was a whole lot of whacking involved with this reveal.

And watching.

And waiting.

Whack.

Watch.

Wait.

Cheers to one more brother!

And to being the one and only, for now!

And this is how Philip wanted to announce our news.

The Blaxton Gender Reveal Blog Party!

Welcome Friends and Family to our Blog Party!

What's a Blog Party?
Well it's a fun way to reach out and connect with all our family and friends that live way too far away. 

Why a Blog Party?
Well, why not? We are celebrating and preparing for our fourth child and in a way to include our big kiddos we wanted to do some sort of "reveal" and thought, "why not invited you guys to join in on the fun." Plus I don't have to clean my house to have it!

How?
Most of you will be receiving "ballots" in the mail. We want to see your vote. Mustache for a boy and lips for a girl. You can email me your picture-vote and we'll have a grand old time posting them and seeing who is sporting what look!

If you have not received your ballot, let me know we'll resend one asap! 

You can also vote in the box on the side of the blog.

When is the Party?
Now until we bust out the big news, within the next two weeks.

So cast your vote!

 

Then eat your ballot!

Yup, that's right eat your ballot.

 

Or two! If you can't decide!

Then wait for all the funny votes to be posted!

And enjoy our reveal in a couple of weeks!

Friday Photo Favorites

Here is the H.E.B.I. Clan!

(Please keep Matthew and Mom and Dad in prayer right now. Matthew collapsed yesterday while playing basketball on a retreat and was admitted to the hospital and is being kept for observations. Mom and Dad left last night and will be there around noon today to be with him. Pray for safety on the road and wisdom for all. Thank you.)

(Update: Matthew did indeed have a seizure yesterday, which the Doctor ruled a body temp induced benign seizure? He and Mom and Dad were more than encouraged to find another neurologist for a second look and to be under the care of for awhile. Matthew seems to being doing well. Thank you for all your prayers.)

Canyon Expedition

With Spring in the air, we decided to spend a Saturday in Palo Duro Canyon. We had such a blast that we decided that we need to make regular trips to the second largest canyon in North America and that we needed to share some fun pictures with you. The boys were as excited to be in the canyon themselves as they were to wish Papa was there with them.



The first thing PT did on the trail was to grab some rocks to take to Papa so he could have some.

PT and his rocks.

Avery was the only one who wanted to climb the embankment.

Colette traveled in luxury for the just under 1 mile round trip.

Very green...compared to last year, anyway.

Gypsum deposits for Papa!

 

 

 

 

Notice PT's dusty, red shoe? Earlier on the hike, he tried to kick a rock into the flowing stream at the bottom of the canyon. His shoe flew much farther than the rock into the fast-flowing stream and Daddy had to chase it about 50 yards to fish it out. One wet shoe won't stop him, though.

Can't wait to return, maybe for a camping trip!