Who They Are Now

My B's are growing up and everyday life seems so much more manageable and my house a little more destroyed. It's life, my crazy, beautiful, dirty laundry, marker on my wall, amazing life. I feel so blessed!


Brinkley Jada—3 years, 9 months






“I love you like a love song, baby!” –How she’ll respond to you if you say, “I love you,” to her with any sort of beat. It’s a pop song that David sings to her and it’s certifiably adorable when she sings it! She is such a crack-up. She loves singing, dancing, dressing up, wearing my shoes and STARING AT HERSELF IN THE MIRROR—by far her
favorite past time. She’s her biggest fan! She changes her clothes so often, I’m not sure why I bother dressing her each morning. We adore her—most of the time. She’s so independent and sassy it’s ridiculous, but the problem is: she’s so incredibly fun, we can’t be mad for too
long. I remember mornings that used to seriously drive me to tears just getting her ready and fed, those days are few, these days. Our struggles come as she forces her independence, causes mischief and forgets to LISTEN. But we’ve seen her come so far and we have such great hope for her as she “grows-up!” She loves, loves, loves, to cook
and bake and is my sous chief for every meal. She asks me nearly every day if we are going to make a “zert” her nickname for dessert. If you ask her what the number one rule to cooking is, she’ll exclaim, “Wash your hands!” She’s so enthusiastic about cooking and baking that even though it takes so much longer, I remind myself to be patient and teach her all of the tricks! She’s going to be a great chief for her family someday! She loves to color and is SO OVER crayons and colored pencils, she demands markers! She loves to pray and says the most tender and sincere prayers. She asked to share her testimony in church
last month and got a little shy when it was time, be she loves sharing her testimony with our family during Family Home Evening. She loves to “mother” Braxton and especially Brady. She goes to sleep SO much
better than she used to and only requires and few hugs, a few kisses and a few reminders of “Get back in bed!!!” before she’s out. Every morning I ask her how she’d like her hair and I “design” a hairstyle to match, a few of her requests have included, “A work-out girl,”—a ponytail and “A flower” –a halo twist, giving the hair-dos names makes the whole process a little easier, she’s a little more invested! I just can’t say it enough, I feel grateful to be her mother, an honor no other woman in on this planet will ever get, she’s mine, an eternal
blessing, forever just doesn’t seem long enough!

Braxton Reese—3 Years, 9 Months



If he punches you, he probably loves you. Every day I remind him to not hit, tackle, punch or karate-chop, he usually doesn’t listen. He loves swords and guns and is a total softie for, wait for it, gloves! Yes, “Mr. Tough Stuff" loves gloves or anything close to a glove; a sock on his hand will work as well. He thinks he’s so cool walking around with them on his hands and I’m totally fine with it, go to town kid! He is our best sleeper, first asleep and last to wake-up—a nap is completely
out of the question, but we’ll take it. He sleeps in underwear under his PJs every night and seldom wakes up wet (our vacation threw him off a little, but I think he’s back on track!) He loves blocks. He loves building things and you guessed it, knocking them down. He has a though time saying the “th” sound and tries so hard to say it. Like the word “thank,” he’ll stick his tongue out so far to get the “th” sound out, he’s such a champ. He loves watching TV and is a major Spiderman fan,
we’re trying to break him of it because of the bad guys, but it’s a big love of his. Jimmy Neutron has become a close second. He has such an innocence about him, he hasn’t developed the “street smarts” Brinkley has. He’s getting better at dressing himself—he used to complain that he couldn’t do it, but now he is so good at getting his clothes on. We wrote letters to Santa last week and he was so funny,
he’d name something and then say “Maybe not mom, you have to be 5 for that.” I loved it, he talked himself out of skates and a rocket ship! He loves saying he’s 3 and he’ll tell anyone who asks and he’ll also tell you how old Brinkley is and Brady. People always then ask if he and Brinkley are twins and he’ll nod his head like, “duh” but he has no idea what a twin is—we don’t talk about it much. Every night before bed he’ll ask you to “Blank my blanket.” He wants you to wave his blanket up in the air and then back down on top of him, you can’t do it two times, you have to do it three times, because he’s 3, duh! He loves showing Brady the “ropes” and teaching him a little mischief. Those two are usually always within an arms reach of each other—but remember, if Braxton punches you, he probably loves you. HE MUST REALLY LOVE BRADY—I’ll leave it at that! He loves making up new “moves” which are an interesting combination of break dancing and rolling around on the ground, it’s very amusing. He is a tag playing fool and I’m a fool for him. He’s such a charmer. He’s very tender and if scolded about something he usually tears-up, he wears his heart on his sleeve. He always tells the truth and if there’s a house mystery, Braxton will reveal the culprit. He’s so precious, a great combination
of equal parts brut and teddy bear, he’s any mama’s dream comes true!

Brady Cameron—2 Years, 3 months



He still has squishy baby chub and I love squeezing it! Oh, my baby is getting bigger and I can hardly believe it. More and more of his baby toys are leaving our house and being replaced with motorcycles and action figures. He loves “waking” me up in the morning (I’m already up, just lying in bed) and I hear the thud as he escapes from his crib, I hear his little feet shuffle across the hallway and through my room and over to my bed where he then taps me and roars. He’s a great morning monster—it’s adorable. He or Brinkley are usually up first and join me in bed until I’m ready to face the day, they watch shows on my
phone while I snuggle up next to them. I love my mornings—even the really early ones. Brady is developing such a funny personality, he’s caught in the middle of being our baby and trying to be a big boy—I
love the combination. He’s a good eater, he doesn’t love TV but will watch some random things, he loves coloring, reading books and karate-chopping. He loves tagging along everywhere Braxton’s goes and he’s toying with the idea of potty training. The other day I watched him, fully clothed, go into the bathroom and lift up the toilet seat and lean in like he was about to pee and I asked what he was doing and his response, “I peeing in my pants.” Well, okay, I guess that’s a start. Brady is a collector. He loves to gather tons of little toys and action figurers and carry them around, in his “purse,” yes, he
calls it a purse! It’s really a felt Halloween bag with bats on it,
but to him it’s a “purse!” He loves taking baths and must have a cup to collect the water and dump it out. He, like Braxton, loves gloves, apparently they give my boys super-powers! He is a huge fan of the pumpkin bread that Brinkley and I love to make…seriously the kid LOVES
pumpkin bread—he can be bribed with it, it falls into the same category as candy! He is a great talker and I understand everything he says, his vocabulary is growing daily and his favorite word is probably,
“Juice.” Speaking of which, he loves apple juice. (No worries, he’s been to the dentist, no cavities!) We tried braking him of his juice addiction and he ended up constipated, so we now let the juice flow! He is so funny and easy-going—for the most part. He's had some tantrums that I have defined as the “Terrible Twos” at work, but for the most part he’s the same loving baby that completed our little family. I simply adore everything about him…not least of all, his baby chub. He’s the closest thing I have to Heaven and I get to hug and kiss him at will—bliss!