My new living room......

We still aren't quite finished but thought I would put up a few pics.......I love it!!

I can't believe it's OVER

Wow......I can't believe Christmas is already over. It was just last week I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get presents at the last minute(as usual). I finally finished up last Tuesday night at 10. When I got home, Brad and I had our annual conversation of me telling him... please do not let me do this next year but no matter how many times I tell myself I'm not going to do it....I always do, I must enjoy the STRESS because that is exactly what it was. So I started wrapping presents about 11pm and finished up at 1am. We got up Wednesday morning and packed while Brad was at work. We headed to Booneville at 1 and got there just in time for Christmas dinner at Brad's parents house with Maw Denson, Justin and Marli. We had everything you could imagine and it was so good....turkey, ham, dressing, vegetable casserole, cranberry salad, green beans, cowboy crock pot beans, hashbrown casserole, sweet potato casserole and of course rolls. Oh and let's not forget the SWEETS... pecan pie, coconut cake, fudge, peanut brittle, and a honey bun cake (no its not made out of honey buns). After we all were stuffed we opened presents and played our Christmas edition of Deal or No Deal for some CASH(we do this every year and it is so much fun)!! The kids got so much stuff..toys, books and clothes. As if that wasn't enough......Santa brought more. The kids got a Wii and i-pod shuffles!! Its like having twins even though there is a 4yr age difference--whatever one gets the other has to have. It's pretty easy though to just buy 2 of everything but what does a 5yr old do with an i-pod...whatever his sister does, I guess. Zander got toys and a walker.
After playing the Wii all morning we went and visited the Byrd Family(Arthur,Euvon,Sharon,Stevie,Beth,Laura,Michael and Steven) for a little bit--it was so good to see them!! Friday, we packed everything that we could possibly pack into the Buick La Sabre with 3 kids and headed home--needless to say everything did not make it back!! On the way out we saw Ann, Dustin, Ashley and Brandon. It is so hard to see everyone when you only have a few days. What time we do have is always rushed. To top it off we have been home now for 2 days and I still haven't unpacked everything....Brad and I have been fighting a stomach virus, YUCK!! I think we are finally over it so I can spend the next few days unpacking, washing clothes and cleaning getting ready for the new year.
I can't believe this year is almost over, its been a wonderful year for our family especially with the new addition of little Zander, we have been so blessed and are so grateful for everything that we have.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Sorry, I haven't posted in a while so you get 2 blogs today!!
Our Christmas Tree has been up for 2 weeks, this is the first year that we have had a "real" tree. I have always done the fake, pre-lit tree where the lights are already perfectly placed on the tree because that's the part I hate the most is putting the lights on. This year we decided to do a real tree---the kids love it and so do I, Brad says its the prettiest tree we've ever had.
Well, the tree is up.....now I need to get some presents to go under it!! I still have a week left, right(hahaha)??

Its time for an....UPGRADE!!

For the past year I have been ragging Brad about wanting a new(bigger) house..... I finally realized that its not going to happen at least not in the next year so I decided to compromise. Here is the deal...I wait on a new house in exchange for some upgrades to this one. Don't get me wrong I love my "little house" but with 3 kids 1500sq feet isn't big enough. I'm not wanting a "huge" house just one with a little more room.

So, 2 weeks ago we went and bought new furniture, it was not in stock so they had to order it! It is suppose to be here the end of this week. We are having the living rm and hallway painted on Wednesday and Brad's wonderful parents are coming down Friday to help lay the wood floor just in time for our new furniture!! Yay...I am so excited and can't wait for my new living room! I told Brad he is spoiling me.....it's so fun to go into a store and pick out whatever I want. I am enjoying it.......maybe a litte too much(hahaha)!!
I can definately see how redecorating can be addictive, I am already thinking of what I want to do next..."the kitchen".

Future President

Ok, I have to share this because I think its the sweetest thing ever! Tori brought home an assignment they did at school today.....it was a writing assigment called "Future President". They were asked to draw a picture of a person and tell why they think they would make a good president, here is what Tori wrote: My Dad would make a good president, he is smart, kind and he helps people too. He would make a good president because he is a great Dad. Nothing compares to the love between a father and a daughter and seeing him through her eyes is so special.

Family Update....continued

Everything went as planned, Zander was born at 4:30 pm weighing 7lbs 9oz and was 20 3/4 inches long. My gall bladder surgery was a success and I had a beautiful baby boy. It was a very emotional day for me --just like the births of my other children but this one was bittersweet because this was the last time that I would ever have this experience. You moms know what I am talking about--the wonderful feeling of bringing a child into this world. This was not a decision we took lightly and after alot of prayer, we knew for sure that little Zander would complete our family. We feel so blessed to have 3 healthy beautiful children that bring so much joy into our lives!!
It has been 6 months and Zander is getting so big...he is rolling, sitting up, holding his bottle and smiles and giggles all the time. We love him so much!!

Family Update

I thought this would be a good way to keep everyone updated on our family. I have always gotten newsletters from our friends at Christmas keeping us updated on what's going on in their lives and I always tell myself ..." I am going to do that next year" and then for some reason it never gets done, its much easier to take a picture and mail it. Since I am all about EASY I am going to give this blogging thing a try......guess we will see how easy it is if I can keep it up(hahaha)!

Its so crazy how time flies....Brad and I will celebrate our 11yr anniversary this December. You would think after being with someone for 15yrs(we dated for 4) it would seem like such along time but it doesn't. I am so thankful that I have him to share the joys/happiness and the not so great moments that life brings to us all...I can't imagine sharing it with anyone else. We have lived in Madison, MS for the last 4yrs, we love it here and have some great friends. Brad works for Frito Lay, Inc. he just passed his 6yr mark(yayyy), he is the ZBM(zone business manager) for the Jackson Zone. So, needless to say...we are never without chips in our house.
I am a stay at home MOM.......the greatest job in the world!

We are the proud parents of 3 beautiful children:

Victoria Paige (Tori) just celebrated her 9th birthday in September. She is in the 3rd grade and loves it! She is such a great example to her friends and her brother, we are so proud of her. Tori loves sports--definitely not a girlie girl. When she was little I had her in ballet/gymnastics but she out grew that pretty quickly. No more tutu's and cartwheels......its cleats and softballs. This past summer she played on a traveling team....kept us busy but it was fun!!

Then there is Zakary Shane (Zak), he turned 5 in June. Zak is 100% all BOY, he loves playing outside looking for lizards and any other bugs or insects he can find. He started kindergarten this year...he loves to draw and make up stories, he has a wild imagination and loves to look at books, he is fascinated with snakes and dinosaurs. He loves playing with his brother and sister.

April 22, 2008 we completed our little family with baby#3 Zander Hayes Denson. I had Zander 3 weeks early thanks to my gall bladder. I will never forget that day...Zak was in Booneville with Brad's parents and Me,Brad and Tori went out to eat at our favorite pizza place "Soul Shine" but I didn't eat pizza, which was unusual for me-I ate a salad instead and I ate a few cheese sticks. As we were waiting to get our check I started feeling this horrible pain in the top of my abdomen. I went to the car and by the time Brad and Tori got there I was in so much pain, I was crying and having trouble breathing so we went straight to the hospital. They admitted me and hooked me up to all the monitors--I was contracting but after several hours they came to the conclusion that my pain was not related to the pregnancy. I was having a gall bladder attack--the Dr told me there was a good chance that I would have to have an emergency c-section and they would have to remove my gall bladder. My biggest fear was that my Mom(who lives in Utah) wouldn't be there for the birth of my last child. My other fear was that I wouldn't be awake to see Zander when he was born or hear his first cry but the Dr on call reassured me that they could do the c-section with me awake and then put me to sleep for the gall bladder surgery. So I was happy and content with that. Brad called my mom and told her what was happening. My Mom flew out the next morning. Brad was suppose to pick her up at 4. I hadn't seen or heard from my Dr all day so I had no idea what the plan was. She came in at 3 and told me that I was going to have a baby in 1 1/2 hrs. She also informed me that the anesthesiologist wanted to put me to sleep. As soon as she left the room, I lost it! I have never been put to sleep before I was so scared and upset....I called Brad and was finally able to calm down after talking to him--he assured me that everything was going to be ok. So as soon as they(Brad-Mom-Tori) got there, they prepped me for surgery and off we went.