Fastest Growing Baby Name . . .

Eleven years ago, I had never heard the name, Cullen. When we brought *baby boy* home from the hospital, July 20, 1999, we had to come up with a name . . . and fast. It actually took us a few days because we couldn't agree on a name. Give us a break, we didn't even know we were getting *baby boy* until about 3 hours before we brought him home, so we didn't have the normal preparation of pouring over baby name books that most people get.

Anyway, after a few days of deliberation, we both FINALLY agreed on a name . . . CULLEN. It is of Irish~Gaelic decent and means, Handsome.

Fast forward to the present:

ShareThe new statistics for baby names are in this year, and guess what the fastest-rising boy’s name is? “Cullen,” now the 485th most popular in the country.

Thanks to those dang vampires, Cullen is now becoming a popular name.

Just for the record . . . my son was NOT named for a vampire!!!

Mother's Day

I think the BEST part of Mother's Day

is the cute presents the kids make.

They are sooo proud of them and in this case,

they couldn't even wait until

Mother's Day to give them to me.

Landon's soda-pop bottle vase.

And some cute pictures of himself.

Laci's note: Most of which I can't read :)

And the accompanying flower.
Cullen made me some bath salts
Which, I'll be honest, I was a little worried to use ...
wondering if my skin would turn blue.
But, luckily for me, IT DIDN"T!!!
And a coupon for 10 babysitting nights
(the BEST gift!)
The coupon originally said one, but was changed to 10.
I don't know if I should thank his teacher for the
suggestion to increase his number,
or if it was his idea :)
And Cady's flower pot with flower seeds.
Joshie gave me a new outfit, new jammies,
an extra long nap, and an awesome
mix CD made especially for me.
Made me cry.
Being a mom is soooo dang hard!
Mother's Day is not always the Best Day.


But I wouldn't trade my kids for anything (most days)

Each of them means so much to me!

Each of them came to me under such
different and special circumstances.


I love my kids!
So, I guess I love being a mom!

Landon Got Baptized!

Landon got Baptized May 8th
He was soooo excited and proud!
He was so dang cute!

He got a set of scriptures from Grandpa Bott and here he is, reading them in the back of the van :)

Race for the Cure

Here we are at

Race for the Cure

Josh and I were gonna run it this year,

but last minute we decided it was

more important to do this one as

a family to help honor Josh's mom, Kris.

It was awesome, as usual.

Breath-taking to see the thousands of people

there who are affected by this horrible disease.

Laci has a great sense of style.

Those are jeans under her pink shorts :)

Cady hitches a ride. Not sure how she got so lucky.

Probably has something to do with the

fact that she's just so dang cute!

The Bott Five: Josh, Jason, Jessica, Kristy & Ammon

Our Brood: Cady, Jen, Josh, Laci, Landon, & Cullen

It was such a beautiful day to be out

honoring those who have fought,

or are currently fighting this nasty disease.

Let's kick cancer in the ARSE!!

We Love you Kris!

Laci Starts T-Ball

Laci started playing T-Ball!

I know I'm a little biased,

but I think she's gotta be

the cutest t-ball player EVER!!!

She's one of two girls on her team

and she can hit/catch/doggie pile

with the best of 'em.

And of course, she's gotta strike a pose!

Happy Birthday Kris

Today is Kristine Tolman Bott's birthday

She was an amazing woman.

She was an amazing daughter.

She was an amazing wife.

She was an amazing mother.

She was an amazing mother-in-law.

She was an amazing grandmother.

She was an amazing friend.

She was an amazing example.

She was AMAZING ...

We miss you sooooo much...

EVERYDAY!!

Sending balloons to Grandma in heaven ...

Nephew, Alex's birthday too.

He passed away same year, 2005, at 6 years old.

Pics to follow.

Happy Birthday Alex.

Eight Years Ago . . .

Eight years ago today, we brought

Landon home from the hospital.

He was 2 1/2 weeks old and still sooo teeny.

He weighed 4 lbs and looked like a wrinkly old man.

Proud big brother, Cullen Happy Gotcha Day, Landon!