Happy Birthday, Jesus!!

What a great Christmas 2009!!!

Rachel wanted to know if she could blow out the candles at Jesus' birthday party because He wouldn't be there! And Eric strolled through Wal-Mart shouting "Ho-Ho-Ho, Merry Christmas!" to everyone who would look at him!! The kids really got into the Christmas spirit this year and it was fun!! This year will definitely be remembered as the year of the big blizzard. And it changed much of our celebration plans. But, we still managed to see everyone at some point throughout the weekend and managed to have a wonderfully joyous celebration with lots of family!!

What a great time of year!!

Rachel, Cooper and Eric on Christmas morning!

All the McMullan cousins!

They had so much fun playing together!!

L-R: Eric (2.5), Halle (5), Jake (5), Austin (1),

Rachel (5), Cooper (3m)

Daddy, Mommy and Cooper!!

Daddy, Mommy, Rachel and Eric at Nana and Papa's for Christmas on the 26th! We finally made it out there!!

Then Rachel and Eric sitting all cute waiting to open presents!!

Silly Papa with Rachel!

Some post-Christmas fun out in the snow!! Daddy made a snowman (who, by the way, is sitting down)!!!

The kids loved it!!

Nana and Papa rockin' it in their winter gear!!! Wa-hoo!!

Christmas Eve Blizzard!!

Let it snow!!! Let it snow!!! Let it snow!!!

What do you get when you have a blizzard

on Christmas Eve??

One little girl, entertaining herself (and cleaning up EVERY mess in site so Santa will come to a clean house)!

One little man swing in his swing!

And...one VERY active toddler-boy who shows all the signs of cabin-fever!!! Running, jumping, screaming, dancing, crawling, playing, eating...oh my!!!

The interstates are all closed. The city mall is closed. Church services are all cancelled. The airport is shut-down! Massive multi-car pile-ups are everywhere! I have friend whose brother and family are stranded on I-35 and were just told that everyone will have to stay the night

in their cars!! Unbelievable!

It started off as sleet and by 1pm, it changed over to blowing snow with 49+ mile an hour winds!! The airport has recorded 10 inches of snow! The last snow fall record on Christmas Eve was back in 1914 at a whopping 1.4 inches!! Whew-hew!!

The kids are loving the fact that they get to have

a White Christmas!!

Happy 5th Birthday, Rachel!

Five years ago tonight, Brooks and I were finishing packing our bags for the short trek to the hospital, knowing that in the morning, our lives would be changed forever. We were going to be first-time parents. When we were pregnant with Rachel, we didn't know if we were having a boy or girl, so we had names picked out for each gender. A boy would be Austin (after Brooks' grandmother - her maiden name) Allan (my dad's middle name). But, for the life of us, we couldn't come up with a girl name. We had decided on Madeline Moret (my middle name) for a time but then knew that wasn't right. So, one morning during church I was thumbing through the Bible and I pointed to "Rachel" and Brooks said, "hum...it's okay." That same afternoon Brooks went running while I took a nap. After his run, he literally jumped on the bed and woke me up..."If it's a girl her name HAS to be Rachel...I was running and the sun parted between the clouds and I saw a beautiful ray of sunshine...she would be MY ray of sunshine."

I should have known in that moment that she was going to be a girl! :)
So, the 16th of December 2004 came and we were blessed with the most beautiful little girl in all the world. How does half a decade slip away so quickly? Our sweet little lamb is now a beautiful and thriving five year old. She goes to school, rides a bus, teaches her brothers new things, plays dress-up, sings and dances all the time. Rachel is the most amazing blessing and we are SO grateful that God thought us worthy enough to be her parents here on Earth! What an honor!
So, to our little ray of sunshine, Happy 5th birthday, sweetheart! We love you with every fiber of our being. We are proud of you and think you are the most amazing girl ever! We love all your pieces!!! Happy birthday, Punky!!

December 16, 2004! Welcome to the world, Rachel Moret!

Rachel's 1st Birthday...she wasn't so crazy about the cake!

Rachel, 2 years old! This is one of my all-time favorite pictures with Rachel!

Rachel, 3 years old. Standing next to her pink birthday tree that we put in her room!

Rachel's 4th birthday...daddy was the clown for her circus party!

For Rachel's 5th birthday, we did a craft party!!

Three Months!!

Our little Cooper-Man is already THREE months old!! He is weighing in at 13.6 pounds and is appropriately now fitting into his 3-6 month clothes!! He is a cutie and a sweetheart!!!

Dear Cooper, I hope you always find so much joy in seeing your mommy and daddy's faces!!!

Are My Friends Up Yet??

This past Saturday we celebrated Rachel's 5th birthday with some of her friends. The girls made cute rhinestone headbands and the boys made doorknob hangers. Then we decorated cupcakes and got the best sugar high!! I just know the moms all love me for that!

So, what's up with the title of this blog?? Well, Friday night Rachel was SO excited about her party and had the hardest time falling asleep. She finally did...but, Saturday morning, she woke up at 5am!!! Ugh...Brooks went in to check on her and her first question after, "can I get up" was, "are my friends up yet?" Then she proceeded with, "is my cake ready yet?" Too cute!! And such innocence in her excitement. Priceless...

Rachel in front of all her presents! She is so blessed!!

Our big girl!! Five, really?? Wow!!!

All the kids hard at work!!

Aunt Gloria and Rachel decorating a cupcake!! What a great team!

Eric got into the decorating as well!!! Look at the concentration there!!

Thanks to everyone who came...you are all so dear to us and especially in Rachel's life. You each hold a special spot in our hearts!

Twelve Weeks!

Where does the time go? Our sweet Cooper is already twelve weeks old. He is sleeping through the night like a pro. He laughs and squeals. He is a big smiler. Cooper is awesome! He is such a huge blessing for our family!!

Look Mom, I so preddy!

Eric loves to play with his big sis. Well, last night, Eric comes into the living room and says, "Look Mom, I so preddy!" Why, yes Buddy you are! "Thanks, Mom!"

So, of course I had to take a picture. And, at his request, I made sure to get the shoes in the pictures!! So here he is...Dorsey (aka Dorothy from Wizard of Oz). Needless to say, Daddy was NOT impressed and is NOT happy that I'm posting this picture! :)

Just a quick picture of our Cooper-Man! He is so SWEET!! He is sleeping through the night now and is just a great kid!!! And, as you can see...in these tough economic times, he's already figured out a way to earn a few bucks!! Kisses...25 cents!!

That's a bargain, if you ask me!