Alicia & Ben » Blog

The last few years Jax’s birthdays haven’t gone as we had hoped or planned – colds and morning sickness made the celebrations a little lack luster. This year I decided to try to make it as special as possible for the little guy who always seems to get the short end of the stick.  Then I found out that Ben was going to be gone for Scout Camp on his birthday. Poor kid. So I decided to REALLY go all out so he would feel special!

We arrived home late, 10:30pm, the night before his birthday because I had a photoshoot and Mimi and Grampie watched the kids since Ben was gone.   I wanted to go to bed so bad but I stayed up late (1am) decorating the house with balloons, steamers, and quotes from family members of things they loved about Jax.

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I planned a scavenger hunt with his birthday presents which took him all around the house including outdoors.

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His favorite gift was a MP3 player which I loaded with all his favorite songs.  He loves that thing so much!  His favorite pastime is riding his scooter in circles around the house and singing along to the music in his ears.

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I decorated the car with chalk paint “Birthday boy on board!”  “Honk and waive!”  “Jax turns 7!”

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We went out to breakfast and bought donuts.

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Then we packed up and headed to Legoland!

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Ben met us there mid-afternoon.

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Turns out Legoland has a waterpark so went there for a little bit in the afternoon.  The kids had so much fun!!!!!  McKay had a major breakthrough and let his face get wet.  Huge deal for him!

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Jax had some birthday money to spend and he found a big ball which was a game reward and not for purchase.  So Ben had to win it for him.  Took us $20 but we finally got it. He had a little money still left over so we headed to the toy store at the end of the day.

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The kids had SOOOO much fun!  All day they told me, “Wow, you planned a really good birthday.”  “This is the best birthday you’ve ever planned, Mommy!”  McKay said, “I can’t wait to see what you plan for me!”  🙂

We finished the day by eating pizza and more donuts.

It was a long day but I think he felt really loved and that’s what I worked so hard for and wanted for him.  He’s such a special little guy and we all love him so, so much!

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  • July 8, 2017 - 3:10 am

    desiree - Way to go Momma!! Best Birthday ever!!ReplyCancel

 

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We had a lovely Easter! The kids didn’t pull an all nighter like last year, thankfully.  Well, the newbie was up a few times but that’s nothing out of the ordinary so I won’t count it 🙂

We had a few celebrations: neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt, Ward Easter Egg Hunt, our family’s Easter Egg coloring, Easter Morning with an Easter Egg Hunt, and Easter afternoon with the family and….you guessed it….another Easter Egg Hunt.

I had what I think is a brilliant idea – in an effort to reduce candy consumption (so many hunts!) we got each of the kids a Lego set and put the lego pieces in the Easter eggs instead of candy. We put an initial on each of the eggs and the kids were only allowed to gather the eggs with their name’s initial. It was a hit!

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Ward Easter Egg fun:

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Dying eggs at home:

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Easter Morning:  DSC_7484 DSC_7488 DSC_7495 DSC_7498 DSC_7517 DSC_7525 DSC_7533 DSC_7564 DSC_7580 DSC_7587 DSC_7601 DSC_7605 DSC_7837

 

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Afternoon Easter Fun with the family: DSC_7866 DSC_7880 DSC_7886

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Baby Andi got blessed April 9th, 2017. She wore the same dress given to us by Bonnie Cox when Sadie was born.  I love that dress!  She looked so cute!

Ben did a wonderful job! Very calm and sweet. He’s a great dad.

Andi was crying pretty hard during the blessing but about half way through she stopped and looked up at Joseph and silently starred at him intently for the rest of the blessing time.

In the circle: Michael, Joseph, Ben, my dad, David Barnhill, and Bishop Hodges.

This is the audio:

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My mom sent me this sweet email after the blessing and I remember having similar feelings and thoughts so I thought I would share:

“Thank you for this wonderful day of blessing our precious little Andi. As they called Ben up to bless her and I watched Ben holding her and dad and Michael and Joseph and David walking up to the front, it was so hard for me to keep it together. I was so grateful for our little family that is now not so little. I was so grateful for the power of the priesthood and the men in our family who hold that priesthood worthily and honor it. I was reminded of a time sitting in Sacrament Meeting many years ago when all of you were little and watching other families who, when they had a special occasion like today, would have family members travel from far away to be there to show love and support to that child, and I remember sitting there thinking, someday that will be our family! Someday it won’t be just dad and I there to show the love and support we feel for each child on their special day, whether it be a baby’s blessing, a baptism, a mission farewell or homecoming, a first time attending the temple, or a temple marriage. That day has come. When I saw how many rows we filled up in the chapel today, all to show our love and support for our precious little Andi and for you and Ben and your sweet, wonderful, amazing family, my heart overflowed with joy and it came out my eyes, even as it is now as I type this. And for Cliffie and Natalie to come all the way from Utah to show their love and support meant so, so much to me personally. I love you and Ben and Sadie and Jax and McKay and Andi with every fiber of my being, to the very depths of my soul and not one single day goes by that I don’t thank my Heavenly Father for each of you.”

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  • July 8, 2017 - 4:01 am

    Desiree - Way to go Joseph distracting Andi with that Uncle face!! Very sweet to get to hear the blessing. I’m so very very glad so many family members got to be there with you to support. What a tender celebrationReplyCancel

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Sweet little Sadie celebrated her birthday at Mimi and Grampie’s house since we were still in the hospital with her new baby sister.  She mentioned she loved getting to sleep in Mimi’s room on her little sofa…..

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She woke up at the morning and opened presents from Mimi and Grampie, ate Hootenanny pancakes, and worked on crafts.

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Around lunchtime they visited us in the hospital.

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Then they picked up her birthday cake from Publix which they had chosen the day before. It was an Ariel cake and Sadie loved it so much!

We were lucky enough to get the news we’d be discharged around 5pm.  So, the original plan was to have her birthday party at the hospital but we were able to do it at the Homestead instead.

Ben left the hospital late afternoon to pick up her wrapped presents from our house and decorate so it would be festive when we arrived home that evening.  That child loves decorations!

We arrived to the Homestead that evening for the party.  My parents were great to throw this together last minute!  The food was the kids’ favorites – Chick Fil A and pizza.

It was a bit of an odd birthday, but Sadie, selfless child that she is, didn’t mind sharing the spotlight one bit!

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A few interesting things about Sadie at 9…

She loves mermaids, princesses, Legos, Shopkins, Barbies, swimming, and dolls.

She’s very maternal and loves babies and toddlers – especially girls!

She has become quite social, friendly, and talkative.  Quite the change from when she was younger.  Lately she strikes up a conversation wherever we go – in the check out line, with a waitress, friends of parents, etc.  Everyone at school knows and loves her – kids of all ages, genders, ethnicity, and personalities.  She’s gets along with everyone and never discriminates.

There’s not an angry bone in her body.  Usually she’ll ignore something if it bothers her and if it really bothers her she’ll break down crying. She never gets angry.

She’s a girly girl but gets along great with boys, too.

She has a high tolerance for pain and rarely complains.  I’ve watched her endure some rough things – illnesses, orthodontic procedures that I knew were hurting her, injuries – but she bears all things in quiet patience.  I’m always amazed by her strength.  Unfortunately, the one thing she can’t handle is having her hair brushed?!?!

She has the sweetest little singing voice.  She sounds like a sweet little angel from heaven.

She’s selfless, patient, and forgiving.  I’m in awe of her goodness and kindness.

She’s so brave!  The boys often tell her that, too.  “Wow, you’re so brave Sadie!”

She’s very confident in who she is and doesn’t compare herself to others.  I’m so thankful and I sure hope that continues into the teen years and beyond.  I don’t think she understand jealousy.  She’s blissfully unaware of a lot of negative things like that.

We know she’s so special and we feel so blessed that God gave us such a sweet, adorable little girl!!!

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  • March 28, 2017 - 7:32 pm

    Shannon Johnson - Sadie is darling. I love these pictures of her. She and Derek have the same brace face smile. He just got braces on this top teeth a couple weeks ago.ReplyCancel

  • July 8, 2017 - 4:05 am

    desiree - This is so sweet to read about Sadie. I didn’t know she was turning more social. So fun to see how they continue to grow and develop. Looks like she had a fabulous birthday!ReplyCancel

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