Cartee Chaos

Julia Cartee

New Years Eve PARTY 2012!

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New Years Eve
Party 2012! 
We had hats!
We had noise makers!
(besides the kids)
We had friends and family!
We had yummy food!
We had
karaoke!
These two pretty much 
dominated the karaoke!
We had video games!
We had a
 Dance Party!!
We had makeovers!
We had a 
countdown!
We had a 
balloon drop!
WE HAD A
BLAST!!!!
We loved starting the new year
off right with friends and family!
Cartee Kids Year in Review
Nixon’s favorite thing
she did in 2012- 
 Open up presents!
Nixon’s favorite food- 
Ice-cream with cherries on top!
Nixon’s favorite toy-
Barbies
Nixon’s favorite book-
The Night Before Christmas
Other fun things Nixon did
in 2012- 
Sing karaoke!
Isla’s favorite thing
she did in 2012- 
 Santa coming to visit! 
Isla’s favorite food- 
Shrimp!
Isla’s favorite toy-
Doc McStuffins doll
Isla’s favorite book-
Narnia

Other fun things Isla did
in 2012- 
Ballet 

Roman’s favorite thing
he did in 2012- 
Batman!
Roman’s favorite food- 
Pizza!
Roman’s favorite toy-
Batman!
Roman’s favorite book-
Batman!
Other fun things Roman did
in 2012- 
Batman
Obviously in 2012
Roman had a slight 
obsession with Batman! 

Nixon Grace Turns 6!

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On December 15th
Nixon Grace turned 6 years old! 
We celebrated 6 wonderful years
with our prissy, sweet, 
stylish, sometimes shy
but VERY talkative juicy baby! 
She had been planning for months 
her perfect Hello Kitty
roller skating party with her best
friends Libby, Ava, 
Maggie, Hadley, and Braden. 
But since we moved the month before
we had a fun family day with the cousins
complete with all things
Hello Kitty and roller skating!

It was a crazy weekend!
Many of the details were changed 
last minute but we had a 
fabulous time! 
Jane Madelynn was
put in the hospital so Nixon
got to have a slumber 
party the night before 
with her cousins!
We ate yummy pink doughnuts
from our favorite doughnut shop!
The littles ones ate 
Christmas doughnuts.
(there wasn’t enough pink to go around)

After breakfast the older
kids and I headed out to go roller skating!!
They had such a great time!
Nixon and Julianna held on 
to the wall for the 1st hour or so.
But they got the hang of it!
Isla didn’t care too much
for skating at first but she 
had fun watching!
Johnna Katherine was 
a trooper! She fell A LOT!
Isla finally gave it a try
on the carpet!
A day at the skating rink
isn’t complete without 
the Hokey Pokey…
and a game of Limbo!
We were so proud of Julianna
for being the youngest to skate in the race!!!
The girls ate pizza and drank coke!
After lunch they 
skated a little more!
Isla and Johnna Katherine 
preferred skating on the carpet! 
I think we learned why they keep it so dark at 
the skating rink, so we can’t
see how disgusting the floor is! 
After skating we went home to 
open up gifts and meet up with Nixon’s
friend Lorelei! Nixon was
excited to have a friend join in on
her birthday fun!
I love the excitement Nixon
expresses while opening up gifts!
(and yes, she got red lipstick
for her birthday!)
All the girls!
After gifts we headed to Chic-Fil-A 
for dinner and cake!
Nina flew in to help Jessica
while Jane Madelynn was
in the hospital. It was a special 
treat to us to have Nina
 here for Nixon’s birthday!
Nixon’s new friend from church Nathan
and his family met us at 
Chic-Fil-A to celebrate with us!
And Jared got off work in time to
come eat dinner with us!
I don’t really remember the 
details but I do know somehow 
a drink was poured all over
Lottie and so she was 
naked the entire dinner!
From the smiles in the pictures
it didn’t bother her!
And from the pictures I can see she 
got PLENTY to eat!
The kids really loved the
cake pops!
Time to blow out candles!!!
(I’m not sure who handed
Nix the knife??)
Again, I love catching
all of Nixon’s expressions
on camera. It really shows 
her personality!
The kids ate cake and 
played together 
on the playground!
Nixon ended her big day 
with a bath and 
her new Hello Kitty towel!
Nixon said it was a great birthday.
She received all the gifts
 she wanted and more!
(well, besides a puppy) 
She had a fun day with 
new friends and family! 
It’s hard to believe it’s been 6 years since
our life forever changed. It
seems like yesterday Jared and I were at the 
movies in Troy celebrating our last 
night of “freedom”! 🙂 
We love you Nix and we look 
forward to many more years watching you
grow, learn, play, laugh, sing, dance,
play Barbies, read, play teacher, tell your sisters 
and brother what to do,
 care for your baby sister,
put on fashion shows, 
swim, skate, draw, and become the
special girl we trust that God is developing you into! 
This Year’s Prayer for Nixon Grace
We pray that Nixon’s identity 
will be firmly rooted and 
established in Christ’s
love and she will grasp
how wide and long, and high
 and deep is the love of Christ.
“so that Christ may dwell in your hearts
 through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 
18 may have strength to comprehend with all 
the saints what is the breadth and length and 
height and depth,19 and to know the love of Christ 
that surpasses knowledge, that you may
 be filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3: 17-19

Lottie’s Winter ONEderland!

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On December 6th 
our little Charlotte Rose
“Lottie” had her
very 1st birthday! 
We had been in Texas for about 3 months
so we had a small celebration
with Jessica and her kids. 
We missed our other cousins and 
grandparents but we had a fabulous
day celebrating! 
Doesn’t she look like she’s
having a fabulous time? haha!
We planned to go on a picnic
to for lunch at the 
Dallas Arboretum 
but the weather did not cooperate so 
we headed to the Galleria
so the older kids could go ice skating! 
(which went along with the
whole Winter “ONE“derland theme)
Unfortunately, Isla started vomiting 
so our visit to the Galleria was cut short.
I had so much fun making 
 Lottie’s Winter ONEderland
special!

I had purchased 
an antique high chair earlier
this year primarily
so I could have it for Lottie’s
1st birthday but it was left in Alabama.
So I had nothing but a big ugly
plastic highchair for Lottie to sit
 in while eating her cake.
(after two children 
using a “pretty” wooden highchair daily
I finally caved and admitted the big ugly 
plastic ones are way more functional) 
Knowing that our highchair would
 not make very cute pictures 
I was a little disappointed. 
But Jared came to the rescue!
My creative husband surprised me with
 the antique sleigh below. 
He thought it’d be great for 
Lottie to sit on
while eating her 
Winter ONEderland cake! 
I wish I had made a backdrop 
for pictures but 
I did all I could during this chaotic time! 
The food was so much fun
and even better it was VERY easy!!!
I ordered Lottie’s
cake from a lady here in Forney.
They were delicious!
Lottie’s smash cake!
SNOWMEN
chocolate covered nutterbutter cookies
ICE CUBES
for building igloos
Candy dipped marshmallows with snowflake sprinkles
ICE RINKS
for winter skating
blue jello
SNOWY TRAIL MIX
I’m not sure, Jessica brought this!
SNOWFLAKES
chocolate covered pretzels (store bought)
HOTDOGS
for a cold day!
Chilli
for a chilly day!
HOT CHOCOLATE
A dose of warm & happy!
This was a favorite! I got an incredible 
recipe offline for crock-pot
hot chocolate! It was amazing!
MELTED SNOWFLAKES
Water
As Nixon reminds me often,
no party is complete without
GAMES!
The cousins played 
“Snowman Snowman 
Where’s My Snowflake?”
(Doggy Doggy Where’s 
my Bone?)
Simple games keep them 
entertained!
Even Lottie tried joining in
on the fun!
We also hid snowflakes around 
the house and had a hunt!
The kids played
“Musical Snowflakes”
with Christmas music.
(musical chairs) 
After game time it
was time to eat!
Lottie had her 1st hotdog and
it’s now her favorite!
Poor Isla could only eat
jello but she
didn’t mind!
Jane Madeline
enjoyed her dinner!
I can’t really
say what Lottie
liked the most. 
She ate ALOT! 
I don’t think Lottie 
knew what to think about 
her party!
She looked so cute in the 
shirt Gue sent her! I made her 
a matching tutu!
She definitely 
wasn’t in a picture taking
mood unless it involved food!
I tried snapping a picture 
of everyone on the 
sleigh!
Big sister Nixon!
Big sister Isla!
Cousin Julianna
Cousin Johnna Katherine
Cousin JohnMark
Baby cousin 
Jane Madelynn
Roman and 
JennaLeigh LOVED
the sleigh!
They stayed on it
most of the party!
Our kids now think every
party should have 
games and crafts!
So I thought long and hard 
about what to do for Lottie’s
birthday. 
I hate doing things just to do them. 
I was so excited when I 
saw these paintable 
snowflakes at 
Hobby Lobby!
I wrote the poem to go along with the
the theme and created the
perfect craft!
I know we are going to love
decorating Lottie’s 
birthday Christmas 
tree each year with the
snowflake ornaments!
Everyone at the party painted
two snowflakes.
One to keep and one to 
hang on Lottie’s tree. 
Even Jane Madelynn
had a snowflake painted for Lottie’s tree!
I think her tree turned 
out adorable!
I love the memories it will
 bring each year!
After paint time it was cake time!
The 1st pics were a little blurry
and we forgot the bib. 
But Lottie did not mind!!!
After I dropped the 
cake on the floor
we finally admitted the sleigh
wasn’t very practical 
either and stuck her in the ugly 
highchair!
Lottie enjoyed her cake
in the chair ALOT!
While Lottie finished her
cake the kids had one more craft. 
We made snow globes!
Shakin’ their globes!
It was then time to open up gifts!
Lottie received many fun 
new toys!!
Cell phones and babies 
are a couple of
her favorite!
We tried snapping a 
family birthday photo.
This was the best we got! 
We ended 
Winter ONEderland with 
a snowball fight! 
We used marshmallows and flour!
I don’t think I have to 
explain how much fun the kids had!
Aunt Jessi and 
Lottie just 
watched on the sidelines!
So did daddy until…

I’m pretty sure it’s
safe to say the 
snowball fight was the 
hit of the party!!!
By the end of the evening 
we were TIRED!
Although things didn’t go exactly as planned
we had a wonderful day celebrating
Lottie’s 1st year of life.
She has brought so much joy 
to us during this past year.
She has had a different
1st year than most babies. 
Due to my accident when
she was only 2 months old and my surgery 
when she was 8 months
 she has been cared for by
friends, cousins, aunts, 
and grandmothers for several
months. 
I completely blame them 
for her diva complex! haha!
She loves being held! 
She refuses to walk much less 
stand!
 (I am writing this when she is 
14 months old and nothing has changed!) 
She will willingly come to 
me, her daddy, her grandparents, and Haley. 
If your not on that list she doesn’t really 
want to have anything to do with you.
(Please note Aunt Jessi is not on that list!) 
She will not drink anything 
but almond and soy milk!
She HATES bows, bathes
and sippy cups!
Nixon finally taught her to hold her own
bottle a couple of weeks
ago! A task most 6m olds will do!
She does love to eat!
Her favorite foods are
oatmeal, hotdogs, peaches, and
hamburger meat!
She loves feeding her
babies a bottle, climbing up stairs
 and playing with
her sisters and brother. 
But most of all,
she LOVES to dance!
From Mumford & Sons to 
Justin Beiber, she
will bounce to any beat! 
She does talk a bit. 
She says momma,
dadda, bye bye,
baba (bottle), and Roll Tide!
She knows what’s 
important and sticks with
those words! 
She is in my arms 
or on my hips at least 12 hours of 
the day! I don’t really get much of anything
done. But I know the day is coming soon 
that I will have to ask her to come sit 
in my lap or let me rock her to sleep
so I’m trying to enjoy every minute of it. 
Some would say she’s spoiled rotten. 
But I just say she’s had a lot of extra lovin’ this
1st year! And who can complain about that? 
Happy 1st Birthday
to our 
Lottie Rose! 
We are looking forward 
to another fun 
adventurous year with you!

Happy 3rd Birthday Roman!!!

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December 16, 2012
Roman turned 3 years old!! 
He had been talking about 
a Spiderman party
for months!
Since we had just moved to Dallas
and his birthday was on a Sunday
we decided to spend the
afternoon at the Dallas Zoo.
We woke up before church to open presents!
He loved his new
Spiderman shoes!!!
He had lots of
helpers opening gifts!
Gue made him a Spiderman 
shirt to wear!
After church we headed to the
Dallas Zoo!
We started the celebration with
 lunch and cupcakes!
I forgot the candles in the
car so he blew out
pretend candles!
I don’t think he even noticed!
The cupcakes were YUMMY!
Because we just moved to
Dallas we didn’t have 
any kids to invite but
with so many siblings
and cousins Roman didn’t even notice!!
Unfortunately, Jessica and Mark
were at the hospital with Jane Madelynn. 
We missed having them with us
to celebrate Roman’s big 
day! 
But we did have….

Big Sister Nixon
Big Sister Isla
Baby Sister Lottie
Cousin JohnMark
Cousin Julianna Marie
Cousin Johnna Katherine
Cousin/ Best Friend
 JennaLeigh
We were happy 
our cousin’s cousins 
got to come celebrate with us! 
(Mark’s sister Jennifer 
and brother-in-law
Matt)
Lorelei
Landon
Our new friends Eric and Caroline
also joined us for the celebration!
They had asked us to go to lunch 
but since we had plans we invited them to
go to the zoo. 
I don’t think when they said yes they
realized what they 
were signing up for!!! haha!

The kids automatically 
fell in love with them! 
They were a great help!
After lunch and cupcakes we 
opened up presents!

We had so much fun 
walking/riding around looking at the animals!
They loved the Koalas!
And the kangaroos!
Roman said his favorite 
animals were the penguins!
The kids also had fun
climbing on the turtle!

Roman and Landon
were happy just 
playing in the leaves!
We tried getting a group picture of
all the kids but it did not
work out!
(please notice Julianna pouting
in the background! haha!)
Roman wasn’t feeling 
a picture either!

We did manage to
 get a decent family picture. 
The group’s favorite 
animals were definitely
the giraffes!
Lottie didn’t know what to think!
Because it was Sunday the
zoo closed early so we 
did not get to see all the animals!
(Kids were slowly crashing
so it was probably for the best) 
We had a wonderful time!
I LOVE this picture
of my sweet girls!
We ended the afternoon
with a ride on the carousel!
While everyone loaded the car
I took Roman into
the gift shop to
pick out whatever 
he wanted!
He found a gator and of
course a “Roll Tide”
he HAD to have! 

Our past 3 years have 
been made even better
 because of our little boy! 
Although surrounded by girls,
 he is the toughest 
roughest boy I know!
He is afraid of NOTHING!
He jumps off of everything.
I even found him hanging 
off the ledge from our second story!
How he has not broken anything is a miracle!
Thankfully he has recently stopped biting and
started talking! 
(two things that make my life much easier)
He loves all things Batman, Spiderman…
really anything that has to do with 
superheroes!
He loves to play with his 
sisters even when it involves Barbies and
makeup!
When he says a prayer
he always thanks God for his family,
food, and football! 
(We have no idea where he learned that!)
He could live off
chocolate milk and white doughnuts,
if I let him!
He would watch 
Jake and the Neverland Pirates and
Yo Gabba Gabba all day 
if he got to choose!
We love him more and more 
each day!
I look forward to seeing the
young man he is
going to become in years to come. 
But until then I am enjoying 
spending my days
chasing after him and
snuggling and holding him
when he slows down
those few moments each day!

HAPPY 3RD 
BIRTHDAY 
ROMAN!

WE LOVE
YOU!

Thanksgiving 2012

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We were so excited this Thanksgiving!
It was our 1st holiday here in Texas.
We went to Jessica’s house
 the day before to cook 
and do crafts with the kids!
We started the morning off 
with yummy doughnuts. 
Forney has the most wonderfully
 unique doughnut shop!
The kids colored and played
while Jessica and I cooked and baked
getting ready for the next day!
(Jessica did most of the cooking) 
Lottie discovered the stairs!
We made turkeys out
of apples, fruit loops, and 
marshmallows!
The kids loved this craft!
Lottie just liked eating the 
marshmallows and fruit loops!
The turkeys turned out
very cute!
Roman caught Lottie eating her turkey! 
Thanksgiving Day we went to Jessica’s
house for lunch and
family time. This was the 1st Thanksgiving 
since Jared
and I have been married we haven’t been 
in Leroy or Butler. 
We missed our tradition and the Cartees but
are thankful to have family in town 
for the 1st time ever to celebrate 
holidays with!
Lottie’s 1st Thanksgiving! 
She just wanted to crawl around
everywhere!
Isla and Nixon
Silly Cousins
Roman refused to smile
for a picture! 
But I caught him a few
times by surprise!
Julianna was giving 
makeovers and spa treatments!
Even though mom and father
were unable to join us
we talked to mom plenty on the phone
to get recipes and tips!
We had a lot 
of helpers in the kitchen!
Jared kept kids entertained
while the girls
were in the kitchen!
We threw together a kiddie
table to help entertain the kids!
(anything to help adults
eat a meal in peace)
I wish I had gotten a picture
of all the kids answers!
Our 1st Thanksgiving 
together in years!
We had sooo much food!
It was all delicious!
Below are just a few of my favorites!
Papaw’s dressing!
Sweet Potato Casserole

Fried Turkey!

Mark fried squash and zucchini!
I attempted to make
a pumpkin roll like my 
Aunt Rita. 
It wasn’t really a success!
We enjoyed a fabulous Thanksgiving lunch. 
Lottie slept all afternoon but finally 
woke up to enjoy 
her 1st Thanksgiving meal!
Jane Madelynn 
enjoyed her 1st Thanksgiving too!
We got a few pictures
of the girls to remember their
1st Thanksgiving!
JohnMark jumped into one
with the girls!
We ended the afternoon
with Jessica reading
the kids a story about 
the 1st Thanksgiving and Squanto.
After the story we tried
making pilgrim hats
out of cookies and reese cups.
I must say the people on Pinterest 
made them look much better and a lot
less messy!
But they still tasted good!
I was very thankful for so much 
this Thanksgiving season. 
God has blessed us with more
blessings than we can count. 
Most of all, I am thankful for my family.
My 4 healthy wonderful children. 
And for the new adventure 
we have begun here in Texas. 
We are thankful to have family in town 
for the first time in our marriage. 
“Enter His gates with
 thanksgiving, 
and His courts
with praise. Give 
thanks to Him;
bless His name.”
Pslam 100:4