A Great Tribute

I was so touched by this tribute to President Hinckley from Glenn Beck. My brother in law found it on you tube and I was so impressed by the words that were shared for all of the world to hear.
Even in his passing, I am even more amazed and inspired by the character of our prophet. I hope we can all have even a pinch of his character in our own lives. Hope you like the video.

**** OK... so I don't know how to add a you tube video right onto my blog... so just ckick on "A Great Tribute" (the title of this post) and it will connect you to the video that way. wierd.****


hope this works

Who fits better? Avery or Brighton???

It's a little hard to decide who fits better in this swing... Avery- way to big, but Brighton? he fell over the other day and I found him at the base of the swing. I guess he's a little too small. Pretty cute all the same.

Avery has reverted back to a baby and she thinks she's pretty funny!!
She never took a pacifier while she was little, but now she walks around with one in her mouth and giggles. She also loves to sit in Brighton's swing. If she wasn't so darn cute, I would have to get mad at her, but I just can't bring myself to tell her she's too big to sit in it.







This is her newest look. Every time you tell her no to something, or if she's disgusted for some reason she glares at us like this. It makes me laugh everytime! It's like she's trying to prove that she's tough... but just can't quite pull it off.
All I can say is that two year olds always keep you entertained.

Somthing to talk about other than the baby!

So all of the posts I've made in the last two weeks (I know... there haven't been hardly any) have been about the baby. Sooooo... I thought I'd post some fun pictures of us going sledding yesterday. The kids love to get out of the house these days (I can't imagine why - hee, hee)
So we took them sledding for a little while and had a lot of fun. Kaden is becoming quite the "snow a holic" thanks to his dad. Because he goes skiing about every week, he's very comfortable playing in the snow. It was fun to watch him go down on the sled and just laugh when he would tumble out. Avery probably would have had more fun if she wasn't so tired, but we got her to go down a couple times at least.
Hope you all get to go sledding at least once this year... it's a nice way to get out and enjoy the snow!! And from the looks of the weather reports... I think we'll be getting plenty more of the white stuff in the next 2 weeks, so GO OUT AND HAVE FUN!!

These are a few of Favorite Things (I had forgotten about until I had another baby)

* Babies SOFT skin
* How your child holds onto your FINGER while you feed him
* The way they TURN when they hear your voice
* How they form to your BODY when you hold them
* The PEACE and HAPPINESS everyone feels when they are around
* Johnsons & Johnsons BABY LOTION
* Cute PREEMIE diapers
* When they open their eyes and STARE at the lights around them
* Sleeping
* Sleeping on my STOMACH
* Soft CUDDLY Blankets to wrap them in
* Swaddling (they looks so tight and comfy when swaddled)
* Their LITTLE cry
* Their ticked off... feed me now cry (OK.. maybe I'm a bad mom, but it makes me laugh
when he gets so out of control that he's shaking.. just because it's been 2 whole
hours since he ate last)
* PUMPING.... Oh wait... that's on my "not so favorite things list"!
* The FEELING that comes from being a new mom... It makes me want to be BETTER
* New BABY clothes

Big Sister Avery

Avery is a great big sister despite the fact that she is 2 and highly emotional. She loves her little brother, but clings to mom and dad all day long. I feel bad for her because life as she knows it has changed, but thankfully, she adores Brighton and she has done some pretty cute things the last couple weeks as well. Here's just a few:
- "Baby Brite, Brite"
- She will run into the crib and just sit and watch him sleep
- When the baby is asleep, she'll come in and tell me, "brite brite night night. shhhh
(as she puts her finger over her mouth)
- She "gently" points to his various body parts. For ex.. "baby eyes, no, outh, ear,
hands, etc)
- She giggles when he wiggles his legs
- When she wants to hold him she runs to the antibacterial lotion, says "ands" and
washes her hands.
- She holds him for about 5 seconds, kisses him on the head and is off again
- If the baby is in the other room, she will come in and say, "baby go?"
- I found her the other day trying to pick him up from the swing
- Also found her trying to feed him raspberries
- If he is on the floor, she runs over and gets a diaper and baby wipes for him (even
if I'm not changing his diaper)
- If he's crying, she runs and finds a "bean bean" (binky)
- When she's tired of being cooped up in the house, she'll come to me and say "ride"

Big Brother Kaden

So Kaden has been a HUGE help the last two weeks. He loves his brother and wants to make sure he is happy and safe all the time. Some of the cute things he has done so far are as follows:
- He wants to cuddle with his brother
- He runs and tells me to hurry and feed him because he's hungry every time he starts
crying
- He makes sure he always has clean hands before he holds him
- He loves to look at his toes and say, "Oh, you are so cute"
- He'll hold Brighton and say, "You love me don't you?"
- Whenever we have visitors, he says to them, "do you want to see baby brighton?"
- He goes in and checks on him when he wakes up in the morning to make sure he is
still there. He'll say, "Mom.. Brighton's still in his crib"
- He laughs whenever Brighton decides to pee with his diaper off (boys will be boys)
- He's an amazing big brother to Brighton and Avery... he will keep Avery entertained
when I can't
- He let's Brighton hold his rocket ship
- He prays for Brighton every night and Thanks Heavenly Father that his baby brother is
here with us

IT'S A BOY!!!

What a Great Day!!

So as you can see, we had our little baby. What a remarkable day it was! I went into my appointment for my check up and I had progressed a little bit, but the doctor wanted to check the fluids around the baby. To make a long story short... Brighton's fluids were really low, so they decided to induce me on Friday instead of Monday.
We were at the hospital about an hour later. They induced me and I started feeling contractions about 7:30 pm. Harder contractions came by about 8:15, I started pushing at 8:30 and two pushes later, he was here! It was so much fun not knowing what he was going to be. The excitement of hearing "It's a Boy!" was exhilarating!
As with every child, he's already got his funny personality traits. He cry is a high pitch squeal. He sounds more like a kitten than a baby. He only screams for a second and then he's done. He loves to cuddle on my shoulder, and the tighter the swaddle, the better. Once he's out of his blankets, he has a fit!
Kaden is already an amazing big brother. He can't get enough of him. He was positive he was going to have a baby brother and he was right. From the moment he saw him at the hospital he can't get enough of holding him and getting excited every time he wiggles. When my parents left the hospital the night Brighton was born, Kaden said, "Heavenly Father gave me what I wanted". Then I guess he went back to their house and in his prayers thanked and blessed his baby Brighton. What a sweet heart. He is such a tender hearted little kid. Tonight, he kept going in to check on the baby in the bassinet. He'd come back in to tell me he just checked on the baby and "no one took the bassinet". He's one excited big brother! Avery still hasn't quite grasped that it's alive... she thinks he's more like a doll. But she does say "baby brite brite". It's pretty cute. I'm sure I'll have plenty of stories to share in the upcoming weeks about Avery doing something to the baby. It's for sure going to be an interesting adjustment time.
As for Brian and I, we're a little tired, but feel so blessed. So much has happened in our family the last 4 1/2 years. We've spent 1/2 of our married life now with kids and 1/2 of our married life without kids. It's hard to imagine those first almost 5 years we didn't have any of these little guys running around. What did we possible do? I feel so blessed to have 3 healthy kids. (A little overwhelmed... it's a little surreal.... but very blessed) They are all miracles and blow my mind every day with how they grow and learn and especially how they view life. It's those tiny little miracles that bring so much joy into my life. Today is one of those days it's pretty awesome to be a mom!

GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!

So, baby #3 is preparing to show up any time now. As many of you mom's know.. you get pretty ancy by the the few weeks.
Last week I was dilated to almost a 4 and 70% effaced! I was thrilled thinking I'd have the baby any second.
Well..... it's still hasn't come. I wish the doctor never told me I was that far along because now I'm just getting impatient. I think that each moment could be "time". But to no avail. Hopefully I will have better news to post the next time I get on. We'll see how the next few days go. If you see me out jogging in the freezing cold the next little while, you'll know why!
If I do make it through the weekend, I'll be induced on Monday the 14th... so I guess if I have to I can be patient. (grrrrrrr... patience it's over rated)
Wish me luck! Three Kids... Ahhhhh!!!

Snow Gods... Looked Down Upon Us... FINALLY!!!

OK, OK... so I may be a little dramatic about the whole beard thing. At one point a few weeks ago Brian asked me if everyone knew whay he was still growing a beard because he was now starting to get comments from my friends husbands at church about when he was going to shave! Thanks all of you for sharing my blog with your spouses.. I found it quite humorous that he had to explain it to people!
Anyway... after several days of skiing without the "perfect powder" in the beard... Mr Snow God looked down upon us (or maybe it was just me) and gave us a storm that put most powder days to shame. Brian got the icicles in his nostrils, the snow stuck in his beard and that suffocating feeling of the powder in his face that he loves so much. Now I ask you... who's really the dramatic one? He seriously enjoys that!
Anyway... he called from the resort to tell me the beard could come off and he was generous to take a picture for me so I could show all of you the proof!! (What a sweet guy.. he takes a lot from me)
When he got home, he kept his promise... after a little "My name is Earl" action. Then shaved it off. He was instantantly ready to grow the beard back because he thinks he looks like a little kid without it, but I'm happy to have him clean shaven again. It's much easier to kiss. Even Avery is willing to kiss him again!
Thanks Bri for being such a good sport. I love you babe!

Christmas Time

I know I'm delayed in posting, but I'll give a quick recap...
Christmas was wonderful!! We had so much fun this year. The kids were a blast. Kaden was so into the "magic" of Christmas this year that it made it a blast. At my mom's house on Christmas Eve all the kids were "eating" (if you want to call it that) dinner. Since they weren't eating very well, Grandpa called Santa. Santa was put on speaker phone for all to hear. You should have seen those kids eat!!! As the phone call was coming to a close, Santa told them they had to eat at least 10 more bites, then said Merry Christmas and hung up. Well... the other kids must have forgotten the rule and got down from the table and went to play. Soon after, I realized that Kaden was sitting at the table all by himself. This is unusual for him because he's a TERRIBLE eater and he loves to play with his cousins. I told him he could go and play and he said, "But Santa said I have to eat 10 bites and I've only had 1" Oh my gosh!!! My heart melted! It was so cute. So there he was, all alone, trying to swallow down his food even though he really didn't want to. He sat there for a good 20 minutes until he finally got 10 bites down. What a cute kid!! I wish I would have taken a picture of him sitting there.
As for Christmas day... we had a great time as well. Cute Avery... unlike her brother LOVES to eat. I think she was more worried that she hadn't had breakfast than she was about getting presents. I got her a bowl of dry cereal and she would put it on her presents and eat it as she casually opened gifts. It was pretty funny.
The best part of Christmas for me is always our "Love Presents". To make a long story short... it started when I was a kid and my dad was out of work. We didn't have enough money to have a big Christmas so my parents came up with Love Presents. We had to make a hand made gift for each of our family members and then attach a "Love Note" or a letter of appreciation to each person. This has been a tradition we have continued to do for over 20 years now and we have continued it in our own little family. Kaden was so cute about his love gift to his dad. I had taken him to get some rockets that Brian and Kaden could build and blast off together. It was so precious to see Kaden Christmas morning. Here there is a huge spray of presents under the tree and he didn't even care about that. All he wanted to do was give his "Love Present" to his dad. I was so touched that at such a young age you could understand to love of giving.... especially to those you care about. His letter to his dad was simple but so sweet. I treasure it always. My kids continue to teach me about the real purposes of life every day. Their innocence and excitement are more profound than any book of literature that teaches us how to live sucessfully. I am so grateful for them.