I'm in Love...

With this little guy.

It's taken a long time to post more pictures because I have just tried to enjoy this time I have with Brody. Babies grow so fast and I have made a conscientious effort to not worry about all the little things that normally take up so much of my time (like house work & blogging). I start teaching preschool again on Monday, so I have tried to enjoy this time before "real life" starts again. 

It's amazing how much love I can feel for someone that has been here such a short amount of time.

The proud Papa

Our family of 5! (and the other guys that I am in love with, also)

Porter & Hudson have been super good big brothers. Hudson has actually wanted to hold Brody more than Porter, which surprises me. They are both very gentle with him and give him kisses all day long. It's neat to see my rough-n-tumble boys' soft side.

 Brody turned 2 weeks old yesterday. I was trying to get to this post yesterday so I could post these pictures on his 2 week old birthday, but that didn't happen. Things have been crazy around here with 3 small kids & we are all  still adjusting to the changes!

Brody is an ounce shy of being back to his birth weight. I am glad about that, because he wasn't gaining enough weight at first and I had to take him to several Dr. appts. just so they could weigh him. I guess now the Dr. believes me that I am feeding him! :)

Here are his 2 wk stats:

8 lbs. 6.5 oz. - 50%

21 in. - 75%

He still is hanging onto his umbilical cord.

He's got hair! My other babies just had blonde peach fuzz, so I was surprised to see how much hair Brody has & how dark it is. (even with his dark hair, I think he will still turn out to be a blonde, but we'll see!)

Brody's trying to keep up with his brothers. They have all been able to hold their heads up from day one. So strong!

Brody with Grandma Perry. She is always soooooo much help when I have a baby & I wish she lived closer.

Did I mention he is a good baby? He is, thank goodness! I wake him up one time during the night to eat. He is a good sleeper, hardly ever cries, and is getting the hang of nursing (we were struggling with that one for awhile). What more could a mama ask for?

Now to the birth story:
My due date came and went and I was still pregnant. My Dr. said he had no reason to induce me early and I really wanted to go into labor on my own, but finally I decided to be induced on Jan. 13th. I went in at 7:30am to start the whole process. I got all hooked up to the pitocin and was ready to start laboring. With Porter and Hudson, it didn't take very long for the pitocin to kick in and start labor. With Brody, it was very different. I waited and waited and waited for something to happen, and for 6 hours nothing did! My Dr. came in at 1:45pm and broke my water. That got things going quick! My contractions went from barely there to "I can't take this any more!" I wasn't planning on getting an epidural, because I didn't have one with my other two, but for some reason, these contractions seemed so much more unbearable. It wasn't long before I was yelling for an epidural! The anesthesiologist came in and slowly described the procedure and all the risks, all the while I was in agony and wanting to punch him in the face! He then said it would take 20 min. to get the epidural in. By this time I was feeling the urge to push. My nurse said go ahead, but then said to stop & urgently  called my Dr. in. He pretty much got there just in time to catch Brody! (10 min. after the anesthesiologist left. I'm glad I didn't get the epidural b/c it wouldn't have kicked in until after I had Brody!) He was born at 3:27pm. My labor was less than 2 hours long! I'm pretty sure that's why it was so intense. Let's just say I'm glad he's finally here!

Meet Brody Steven

We are so glad to finally have Brody here with us! He was born on Jan. 13th at 3:27pm. 8 lbs. 7 1/2 oz. 20 in. He is perfect in every way!

More pictures and the birth story to come!

Baby Update

This little guy has been way too comfortable! I think if he had his choice he would just stay in my womb forever! Because of this, I decided to be induced... tomorrow! I am so excited to finally have him here and to be able to hold him in my arms! I will post pictures and the birth story (you don't have to read it unless you want to) as soon as I can.

Blogger Challenged

I don't know why for the life of me I can't figure out how to change the colors of my text. I used to be able to, but things have changed so much on the blog that now I can't figure it out!!! It's driving me crazy! Normally I can play with things and eventually figure it out. I've been wanting to change my colors for a long time now. If anyone knows how, please help!

Oh, & by the way, if you hadn't guessed yet, I haven't had my baby yet. My due date is tomorrow and I am hoping to go into labor on my own, but we'll see!

Sunbeam in da House!

We have a shining Sunbeam at our house now! Porter was so excited this morning that he was going to Primary today. Well, that excitement wore off and half way through Sacrament Meeting he told me he wanted to go to Nursery. By the time Sacrament Meeting was over he was crying and I was literally dragging him to Primary. This guy loved his Nursery! The funny thing is , he almost got a whole extra year in Nursery because his b-day is in January. So he is just starting Sunbeams, but will be 4 in a couple weeks. There are 3 other boys with b-days within a week for Porter's that are in his class, so I know he is going to have a ton of fun, eventually!

Once he was in Primary he was fine (I get to spy on him b/c I'm in the Primary Presidency). I guess we will see how next week goes! I was worried that Hudson might be sad without Porter in Nursery, but I talked to our Nursery leader and she said he was just fine.

And notice our door windows in the picture. Yes, it was dark outside when I took this picture and it was right before we left for church! This year our ward meets at 8am! A big change from 1pm! But I will take 8am church over 1pm church any day! I was home by noon today, and I even had a meeting after church. That meant we had lunch on time and naps on time! It was super great! I'm only nervous about how I'm going to do it when I add a newborn into the mix. Getting 3 kids ready and to church by 8:00 all by myself will be a challenge. And poor Brandon, he has to leave our house at 5:45am!!!! for meetings! This will definitely be an interesting year!

Christmas 2010

We had a simple, relaxing Christmas this year. My family came up again this year since I am in no condition to travel. My boys were sick leading up to Christmas, and I have been lacking in energy so we didn't get to do some of the things we wanted to do, like zoo lights, but oh well, there's always next year!

Porter and Hudson decorated cookies for Santa.I think they managed to use a whole bottle of sprinkles on the handful of cookies they decorated:) It's a good thing Santa loves sugar!

Along with the cookies, Porter wrote a cute letter to Santa and even drew him a map so he could make his way back to the North Pole! So cute!

They opened a gift on Christmas Eve. (pj's of course!)

Then we watched Joy to the World (the short movie the church made about the Nativity) and off to bed! Like I said, I kept Christmas simple & I'm glad I did! My little guys enjoyed spending time with their Grandma & Grandpa that they don't get to see very much. I realized that I didn't get any pics of  "the uncles" but Porter just LOVES, LOVES, LOVES his uncles & he had a blast playing with them!

Look at that face! Priceless! What every parent wants to see on Christmas morning when their kids discover what Santa left them!

Hudson got the train set, but both of them have played with it non-stop! It was definitely the toy of the year! Good job Santa!

Look at that intense concentration!

*As for me, I am still very pregnant. I was secretly hoping this little guy would make his debut in December, but that didn't happen. I am definitely ready for this baby to come. I am very uncomfortable, but I know I can make it a few more days (9 to be exact). The good thing is my Dr. said he wouldn't let me go over my due date, so I know I will have this baby sometime within the next 9 days!

Christmas Activities

Family Night with Friends

The Grimmett's invited us over for a Gingerbread House Family Night again this year. First we acted out the nativity. Maisey was the cutest Mary, Porter was Joseph, & Peyton was a Shepherd.

The daddy's were the wise men.

Then onto decorating gingerbread houses. Last year, the Grimmett's had the disaster house, and this year...

WE DID! We couldn't get it to stay up for the life of us! I don't think Porter minded because he got to eat it right away! All right, Maughan's, it's your turn next year to have the disaster gingerbread house:)

Candy Cane Party

My friend Laura put together the cutest Christmas Party for kids! The theme was Candy Canes. Hudson enjoyed decorating and then eating a Candy Cane cookie. (Notice the drool covering the front of his shirt. I thought I was waaaaay over the drooling phase, but Hudson is getting his 2 yr old molars & it has been super painful for him. Poor guy!)

Porter painting a Candy Cane Ornament.

Showing off their Reindeer Candy Canes they made. Thanks Laura, for a super fun party!

Gymnastics Performance

Porter has been enjoying gymnastics again this year. He LOVES to show me his "tricks"!

Bear Crawl- but for Porter, it's more like the Bear Sprint! He is so stinkin fast!

Speaking of fast, I had a hard time getting any pictures because he was so fast doing all of his "tricks"! He has no fear and does not hesitate at all... and he always says he wants to do it himself. Mr. Independent!

Happy Turkey Day!

We had a GREAT Thanksgiving 2010! I have so so so much to be thankful for, especially these little turkeys!

We made the paper turkey's at preschool and then we made cute cupcake turkeys for everyone on Thanksgiving.

Look at that concentration! (from both of them!)

Such cute turkeys! My little guys ate theirs for dessert after our Thanksgiving feast, & everyone else was able to take theirs home.

We had Thanksgiving at our house this year. Here's Brandon's fam. minus Mike, Jen, Morgan, Jordyn, Kelsey, & Ryan. Brandon & I made the turkey's this year for the first time. I roasted mine in the oven & I was pleasantly surprised how good it was! But, Brandon's took the cake (or turkey). He smoked it and it was the. best. turkey. ever! Good job, honey! That will be a tradition every year now!

It was a great Thanksgiving this year! The only thing that would have made it better would be to have my family there, but I am grateful we live close to at least one of our families! Hosting Thanksgiving wasn't as hard or stressful as I thought it would be & would LOVE to do it again!

P.S. Brandon wanted me to add that he participated in the craziness called Black Friday shopping this year (that's totally unheard of. He usually HATES shopping). He got his game face on, became crazy like all the other shoppers (he said the women were the most aggressive & pushy) and scored us a 40" t.v. for under $300! (he got the 3rd to the last one!) Good job! I think maybe, just maybe my love of shopping might be rubbing off on him?.... well, probably not, but he did a good job early, early this morning!

Gilbert House

We didn't have preschool this week, so we ventured to the Gilbert House with a couple of Porter & Hudson's friends. This was our first time to explore the several houses.

Doing some Grocery Shoppin'

Bubble Poppin'

Cow milkin'

and Feedin'

Game Playin'

Dressin' Up

Train Watchin'

and Slidin'!

Let It Snow???

Anytime it snows here, we try to take advantage of it because it doesn't happen very often. Well, this "snow storm" had been talked about for days & this is what we got:

My kiddos were still excited and wanted to go play in it, so we got in all our snow clothes that we don't get to wear very often & headed outside.

They had tons of fun playing in the "snow"! :)

Maybe, just maybe we will get a real snow storm this year!

Our Hudson

It's hard to believe that our little Hudson is 2 years old! He's supposed to be our baby, but he is sure wanting to be a big boy. He is talking like crazy & keeps up with everything his big brother is doing. He LOVES Porter and looks up to him. They are best friends.

Hudson's 2 yr old stats:
Height: 35 in.- 90%
Weight: 28 lbs- 70%

He is just so cute I just want to squeeze him sometimes! He came to me like this while playing outside with a football saying "Hemet, hemet!" (helmet) Brandon was really proud of him for that!

Speaking of squeezing him, sometimes I want to squeeze him not in a good way! For some reason, he has not been sleeping very well. Depending on the day, he will take HOURS to fall asleep for nap & bedtime!!! This is driving me crazy. Sometimes he doesn't even fall asleep at all for nap. I am definitely not ready for a non-napping child! He's barely 2 for heavens sake! When he finally does fall asleep, it's usually not on his bed. Can you find him among all the stuffed animals?

He gets so tired that when he finally does fall asleep, he just crashes where he is. Silly kid! I'm hoping this is just a phase. I guess I've been spoiled with Porter taking very good naps, even still!

Nap or no nap, we still love this little guy! He keeps things interesting in our family:)