Easter 2011

Easter 2011 started off with a BANG! Decorating Easter eggs is always a favorite of my princesses! Daddy took charge and helped them color the eggs while I took pictures. 

 So focused on making those eggs look beautiful!

Mady looks so excited to be coloring her eggs!

 Elyse having a great time coloring eggs!

 Good Morning Sunshine! Happy Easter. She had lots of fun with what the Easter Bunny brought her.

Mady enjoyed playing with the Hula Hoop the Easter Bunny brought her.

All in all it was a FABULOUS Easter Sunday! I don't have any pictures of Pearce. My guess would be that he was still asleep. Since he was only 5 months old I didn't wake him. 

Easter Sunday Photo Op!

I sure LOVE my beautiful little girls! They make my HEART melt! What a lovely day!

I LOVE this picture! What a great Easter picture of my 3 DARLING children! 

Isn't he adorable? I LOVED this Easter outfit. I think this may have been another of the few outfits I purchased for Pearce the first year of his life. He is my handsome little man!

Easter is probably my FAVORITE holiday. I feel so peaceful during this time of the year. It is probably because the weather is beautiful, especially in Texas! The meaning of Easter is so important to me that it makes me so HAPPY inside. I LOVE my Savior, Jesus Christ, more than anything on this Earth! I LOVE what he has done for me. I am so thankful for his example that he set on Earth for me to follow. I know that I don't always follow his example as I should, but I am trying on a daily basis! I am so thankful for his death and resurrection. Because of his selflessness to give up his life I can live with him and my Heavenly Father once again. I am in awe that he would do that for me. He must LOVE me more than I will ever understand to willingly give up his life. I want my children to know how much I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is what keeps me going when times are rough. I often have terrible days, but because of my knowledge of the gospel and the plan that has been set up for me I keep on going. I know that things will be made right after we leave this life. Until then I will continue to do what is asked of me even if I am kicking and dragging my feet! I love my children. They bring such joy and happiness into my life. They make my gray days turn in bursts of sunshine! I love being a mother to these sweet adorable kids!

April Birthday Girls 2011

Elyse and Madyson celebrated their 6th and 4th birthdays in April 2011. I remember it being a great time for them!

Elyse had a Pajama Party with some friends from church and school!

This is a picture that was taken while I was painting their toe nails! Elyse looks so happy it makes my heart melt. In the picture is Clarissa, a friend she went to school with at San Jacinto; Macy, a friend from school; Elyse,and Madyson. I LOVE watching my children interact with their friends. So precious!

The girls jumping on the trampoline in their pajamas! I LOVE Texas weather! This was at the beginning of April mind you! In this picture are Elyse's friends, Liesl, Meg, Madyson, and Macy. 

Here are more friends playing on the swing set! 

I am so thankful for Elyse Bryanne! She accomplished so much between her 5th and 6th year of life! She made such great friends. She had a wonderful year in Kindergarten. I am so proud and honored to call her my daughter!

Madyson had a Princess Party for her 4th birthday. It was very low key with only a few friends from church. 

In this picture is Kate (on left behind Mady) and Emily (on the right behind Mady). I love watching children open presents. It is especially fun to watch the kids who brought presents. They are always so excited to see what is in the packages!!

 We had a pinata for the birthday girl! That was a lot of fun!!!

 Mady and her balloons. This picture captures her sweet and fun personality!

I LOVE this picture! This right here is Madyson Lee! She is so fun and her personality is truly a light to those around her. I am so proud to call this little girl my daughter! 

I love both of my daughters very much! I pray that I will be able to raise them correctly with the right values so that they will choose the right way to live as they become older! They are my lights in this world. I would be lost and incomplete without them in my life. 

Happy Birthday my precious April babies! I will love you FOREVER and ALWAYS!

Pearce at 4 months

I have strep throat. :( Although I did luck out this time. My throat didn't really ever hurt uncontrollably. I really just have a headache that won't go away. Anyway, this gives me a great excuse to lay in bed and blog!

Back to 2 years ago...

4 months was a great age for our little man! He was such a sweet boy.

 This is Pearce eating his first solids! This was taken one day after he was 4 months.  We started him off eating rice cereal! He loved it!!! I enjoyed feeding it to him. He hardly ever spit it out. AND it stayed in his mouth!

  Pearce can sit up!!! It was so fun getting him to sit up! He has a pretty strong upper body. He started sitting up at about 4 1/2 months! Notice the drool? I think he started teething about then as well!

 This picture was taken at about 4 1/2 months! I think that was a picture that was taken on Mady's birthday. Clay looks so happy to have a son! What precious memories we have!

All in all Pearce's 4th month of life shaped up to be a pretty good one! Lots of different accomplishments!

Pearce's First 3 Months

I know this is going to seem crazy, but I am going to officially introduce Pearce. There is a two year gap in my blog; therefore, Pearce is not found here! Luckily I have Facebook to thank to help me remember important events that have happened the past few years. Bear with me. I can't focus on this blog unless it is up to date. So REWIND to 2 years ago! Enjoy the Blast From the PAST!!!

Pearce is about 2 months in this picture. We went to El Paso shortly after Christmas. He met his Great Grandma Ayub and his Aunt Denise. We had a wonderful time visiting our family!

See...this is what I get for procrastinating my blog because I honestly don't remember much!!! :)

 I LOVED Pearce in this outfit! Isn't it cute?!?!? This was one of the only outfits that I purchased for him and I loved him in it. He is about 2 months in this picture. We used to call Pearce a Pirate because he would give us this one eyed look. Oddly enough he NOW loves Jake and the Neverland Pirates on the Disney Channel.

 The girls LOVE their little brother. We called the girls Operation "Mother" and "Smother!" As much as they love their brother they are constantly mothering and smothering. Even now he gets upset when they want to hug him constantly. I love this picture because it shows that they have the "mothering" instinct. Madyson looks happy, but Elyse looks a bit unnerved. She couldn't get him to stop crying even with his pacifier!!!

Pearce sitting in his Bumbo for the first time. He looks like he is about ready to fall over, doesn't he? 

Madson loves her little brother! How could she not? Isn't he cute??? She always enjoys taking pictures with him. Well, she enjoys taking pictures all the time!

As I have looked at the pictures from two years ago I regret not documenting all these pictures when they happened. It is so hard to remember what was going on. It looks like I had better hurry and get caught up so that I can actually remember what is happening in our present lives! This is it for now. It is something, right? 

Christmas 2010

Pearce's First Christmas! He had a really cute little Christmas outfit, but I forgot to get a picture of him in this.

Elyse showing off one of her dolls.

Madyson in her Tinkerbell dress up outfit. This was a big hit!!

Elyse and Madyson with their toys from Santa. Elyse asked for an America Girl Doll. She must have been a really really good girl this year. Madyson asked for a train set. She loves it! She loves putting it together and taking it apart.

I can't believe that another Christmas has come and gone. The girls had a great Christmas this year. Next year I would like to make it a little more simpler if that is even possible. Since we did not spend Christmas with any family the girls seemed to have a lot more gifts to open on Christmas day. They are so loved from their grandparents, aunts and uncles, and of course Santa Claus (wink wink.)

On Christmas Eve we spent the day making goodies and then that night we took the goodies around to our neighbors and friends in the ward. The girls had a lot of fun taking turns delivering the goodies. Madyson fell asleep really early (she did not get a nap that day). So unfortunately the other festivities I had planned for after goodie delivering did not happen. I let Elyse open her pajamas and Madyson opened hers first thing in the morning before opening their presents.

Blessing Day-Pearce at 6 weeks

Pearce and Grandma having some one on one time!

Isn't he the CUTEST little guy ever?!?! I think so!

At 6 weeks Pearce was given a name and a blessing at church. I found this little outfit with the suspenders to have him blessed in. He looked so cute! My Mom and Dad and brother Eric came to be there for the blessing. It was so nice to have my family come to be here with us on such a special day!

Clayton "Pearce" Hooten

Mommy and Pearce! How I LOVE this little man! He nestles his little head on my chest and I am in HEAVEN! I love that he does this and has done it since the day he was born.

Elyse holding her newest young sibling. She loves being a big sister. And quite honestly she is very good at it. She is at a perfect age now to have a younger baby brother. She is a big help and was from the day he was born!


Now this is the proudest Daddy I have ever seen! He loves his little boy! It is so fun to watch him with this little man of ours! Clay has waited a long time for this day!

Proud Big sister Mady!!!

Our First Family of 5 photo!

Proud and excited Grandma!

My mom came and was there that day. She spent all day

at the hospital with me. I am so thankful that my mom could be there
for me. She means the world to me.

Pearce's official weigh in!

I never finished my blogging from last year. The only thing I can do is move on and do better this year! That is my goal.

I have never officially introduced the newest addition to our family. He truly has made me the happiest mommy. My girls made me a happy mommy (and still do), but there is nothing like the look a little boy gives his mommy. I LOVE it! Pearce is very special to me. When we first found out we were having a boy we also learned that I had an amniotic band inside my uterus. Apparently if the band attaches itself to the baby then there could be a loss of limbs and so forth. I was very scared when I found out this news. I called Clay just crying ( I told him he could leave the doctor's office after the sonogram and go back to work). I was really scared. That weekend we had a friend come over and Clay and Rob administered a blessing to me. In the blessing Clay told me that the baby I carried would be fine. I felt so much peace after this blessing. This little boy truly is what I need at this time in my life.

Clayton "Pearce" Hooten was born on November 1, 2010. I labored 15 hours with him. By far the biggest of any of my children. Around 7 pm. The doctor decided it was time to go ahead and have a C-section. I was so scared. It was an AWFUL experience. Having experienced both natural and a C-section. By far having a baby natural is the NATURAL thing to do. It was much more enjoyable with the girls. I was in a lot of pain for about 3 weeks. After that I felt normal again and could pretty much do what I had done before. I will say it was worth it though for the BEAUTIFUL baby BOY I was given!

Pearce weighed 8 lbs and 2 oz. He was 21 inches long! He had a head full of dark hair. He is my biggest baby so far, but not by much. Mady was only 3 oz less.