A Blessing and a Trip to Texas

We blessed Dakota on January 4th.
Kevin blessed him to have a special relationship with his Heavenly Father, a love for the scriptures and a desire to choose the right.



Kevin has been really busy working at the bank during the day and repoing at night.  Thank goodness he loves all of it.  Last month he was offered a position with another bank.  They wanted him to come in and set up and manage a collections department.  He ended up turning them down because of the risk involved and he hates collections, so there was that.



On January 31st we celebrated my Grandma Emmy's 80th Birthday with a big party!
I love her so much!  I'm so grateful she lives close by and for all the visits I've been able to have with her.  I've learned so much from her faith in Christ and she gives the best advice.  One of my favorite bits of advice was, "It's okay to live on Peanut Butter and Jelly if it means you are able to be home with your babies".
Pretty impressive posterity.
12 kids, 6 by birth, 6 by marriage
30 grandchildren, 15 boys, 15 girls
10 greats and counting



Uncle Bobby and I took the kids to Texas for a visit.
It was great to be with our sister Tricia and her family.
My brothers and sisters are my best friends.  Rob has been especially good to me and my family.



It's been so nice to visit with Tricia.  I've missed her terribly since she moved last Summer.
We just rock and feed our babies and talk and talk.
Her Haylee is just a few months older than Dakota.



The kids LOVED being with their cousins.



We celebrated Batman's 5th birthday while we were there!
He's such a good boy, and I had no idea how much love and joy a little person could bring to my life.
He's all registered for Kindergarten.  We got him a permit to attend Rosecrest Elementary, so we will need to get a second car since it'll be a daily 20 minute drive round trip.  We've been making due with one car since we got married.



Emmy is a little sweetheart. 
She loves to dance and loves to have people watch her dance. 
She's become a little more demanding since Dakota came along.  She's not quite as independent.  She likes me to do things for her and she often says, "Hold me Mom".
On the other hand, she is starting to potty train on her own, so that has been nice!
Three kids is DEFINITELY so much harder than two. 
I need a third arm.



Dakota is growing like a weed and he loves to be held, which is fine since he'll be big and in college before I know it.  He was a good little traveler.



Dakota also LOVES his big brother and Jackson adores him. 
Jackson never gets tired of talking to him and Dakota just smiles and coos.



At three months old Dakota weighed 13.14
He's well-fed



He loves his Mama Jan!



My PVC's have gotten better, less frequent and intense.  But then in mid-January I started having headaches between and above my eyes every day and numbness in my face.  I wake up fine, but by 11am, I am pretty miserable.  I'm hoping it's just some weird nerve damage that will go away.  If it keeps up I'll go see a dr.  I feel like my body is falling apart since I had Dakota.  He was totally worth it though :).