Thankful for the family

Cousins Rhea and Brielle
Anyone up for clogging?

Our eternal igloo! (Or at least all spring)

This past weekend we had the oppertunity to visit Mark's family for Thanksgiving. It was great to see almost everyone. With parents on their mission to New York, a brother in California and another brother in Nevada, we were fortunate to get the rest of the group together. Here Brielle meets her cousin Rhea for the first time.

For Christmas we will stay in our home where it's nice and cozy.

It's hard to believe Brielle is already 3 months old. I put on this new dress and I could swear she started to move her legs like she was clogging! She has been so much fun. So we had this incredible snow storm come though Sunday night and the boys (K&C) couldn't wait to start working on thier annual igloo in the backyard. Last year we had the mound of snow until May!

Yoda, really?

Several cute names come to mind when I think of our new little girl. When we're cuddling or I'm getting her dressed in the morning, we visit and I call her "pookie", "cutie pie", "cuddle-bug" or "Bri". But never, do I refer to her as "Yoda"! However, My husband seems to think it's funny that she somehow resembles the little green jedi knight! While looking at her, he'll use his best Yoda impression and say..."Cute, I am". (I can imagine my brother Andrew, who is an obsessed Star Wars fan coming up with this.) I just don't see it!

My only question is... whose side of the family is this look suppose to be from? On a side note, I tried to obtain a picture of the real yoda for a comparrison shot, but the picture was copyrighted.

Here's hoping all your children are living free of any sad nicknames!

Regression?

I know it seems odd to even ask, because there has been nothing but warm fuzzy feelings since Brielle joined our family, but I wonder, can her siblings still regress? Case in point, Kevin loves to play with her floor toy. It's all well and good, for now. I just hope he doesn't fight her for it later.

Parent teacher conferences were yesterday and for the most part all the boys are doing really well. Skyler brought home another straight A report card and he's in the thick of swim team season. His first meet was also yesterday which he came in first (out of 6) in the 50 meter freestyle. What can I say, I'm a proud mama. He's the swimmer at the top of the video that I zoom in on.

Mark had his cast removed and stitches taken out but is still on crutches, so while I am running around trying to meet teachers and vidotape Skyler swim meet, he's home with Brielle. I am grateful for that.

My infant and my invalid

My scouts
Scouts helping a little lady
sweet pea
my infant
my invalid

AS you can see from the pictures, Mark is "down for the count!" Last Thursday the boys were asked to attend the church dodgeball tournament.(Which, BTW, I have never heard of church dodogeball) Mark decided to take them and watch along the sidelines. After the tournament was over, the referees said the adults could join in the fun and play dodgeball with the kids. Mark said he had barely started to run when he felt a pain in the back of his leg. He said it felt like someone had hit him with a baseball bat! He said the floor started to move, like he was going to passout, and he hobbled over to the stage to sit down. A friend in the ward who is a nurse looked at Mark's ankle and said it seemed like he had torn his achellies tendon. After coming home with the kids, he drove to the E.R. and was told he had indeed torn his Achellies tendon and he would need surgery. He came home that night and went in to surgery on Monday. (To redeem myself as a good wife, the reason I didn't take Mark to the E.R. is becasue I didn't want to take Brielle into the germy hospital and I wasn't sure how long Mark would be there. Plus, Mark injured his left ankle so he could still drive. Mark is in a cast for 4 weeks and has his laptop here so he can still get work done. It has been a crazy week!

Brielle is a month old today and has been so much fun. It has been interesting to see her grow and adapt to our crazy family. The boys are very helpful as they like to pick out her outfits and put bows in her hair. We took her to the court of honor last Wednesday where Kevin and Caleb earned their "Life" and Skyler earned his first palm. We still haven't taken Brielle to church as we are trying to keep her healthy and away from anyone having the flu. We will take her to church for her blessing on Oct. 10th. I guess I could say I am grateful that Mark is an invalid right now as he can watch her while I run errands. Life is full of surprises. Not all of them are good, but we can choose to look at the positive.

Here she is!!

Ok, for all you mothers out there who want to know the details of Brielle's birth, read on; Aug. 31st was a typical day. For dinner we had cheese ravioli with spinich sauce and a salad. We did homework. Then, by 8pm the Braxton hicks I had been feeling all month were replaced with stronger more consistant pains. Mark took Skyler driving (that's all Skyer wants to do these days) and the twins went with them. They got back around 8:30 and we had our scripture study time. By 9:00 i was timing these contractions which were 5-7 minutes apart and mentioned to Mark we should get the boys to bed on time. 10:00 and everyone is in bed except Mark. I told him not to bother getting ready for bed because I need to call the hospital to see if I should go in. I called Labor & Delivery and said, "I think I am in labor". The nurse said, just come in and well check you. Good thing the hospital is only 8 minutes away. Once we got to the hospital they checked me into a birthing room and called my Dr. I was at a 4 and 75% effaced. They said it was good I came in. My Dr. arrived shortly after 11pm and broke my water. I had the epidural put in around 12 and was finally getting relief from the aweful conrtations that were right on top of each other. The Dr. would come in and check on me every 30 minutes and by 2am said, "we should see this little girl in about half an hour." Sure enough, 30 minutes later, I had given birth to our sweet little girl, Brielle. (My apologies to Andrew and Toshia, who so kindly called me only 7 minutes after Reagan was born, I didn't think anyone wanted us to call at 2:30 am!!)
Brielle weighed 6 lbs. 12 oz and barely cried at all. They said she was still spitting up a lot of fluid, but should be fine. Mark went home around 4am to get a couple hours of sleep then told the boys, when they woke up to get ready for school at 6:30am, that they were going to the hospital to meet their new baby sister. Mark said he had never seen Kevin and Caleb jump out of bed so fast in their lives! Caleb didn't even want to eat breakfast. The boys got to the hospital around 7am. They put on hopital gowns and took turns holding her. Then Mark took them to school.
She is now 11 days old and the boys are still taking turns holding her. I am waiting for that day in a few months from now, when I hear; "she stinks, it's your turn to hold her." Or.. "Mom, she is crying again". But for now, I'll enjoy the moments when I can get a few things done while the boys pass her around.

First day of school

I will be the first to admit that I am not a crafty person. However, about 6 years ago I saw this idea for edible crayons and made them for the boys first day of school. Now they are a tradition. They are so easy and fun to make. Just take the 3" thick twisty pretzel sticks, (I find mine at walmart) and buy a bag of white chocolate chips or candy melts. Divide up the white chocolate into separate containers, melt for 30 sec in the microwave until desired consistancy and add food coloring. I like to stay with 5 or 6 colors. But use as many as you want. Dip each end of the pretzel into the colored chocolate and put on a wax paper lined cookie sheet. Then put all the Crayons in the fridge over night. I think they set up better. Then I use colored construction paper to make the wrappers. Just tape the wrappers around the crayons with clear tape and you're done. I am usually able to make about 80 crayons with one bag of white chips. I can send enough to school for the boys to share with some friends.

Normally, I would take the boys to school on their first day, but I didn't today because#1) After a month of hot summer weather, it was actually cold and raining this morning and #2) I am due any day, so I didn't want to get out for pictures. I can take them on another day and have a better picture experience. I don't think my teenage boys want me embarrasing them anyway!

Ta Da!!

Here it is, the picture you've all been waiting for! I know lavendar seems like a bold color, but it is a fun change. We put a chair rail up and painted the bottom half white, but with all the furniture you can't even see it. Now we just need to stock up on diapers and wait for the big day.

Last weekend we had the priveledge of attending the Bradley family reunion. Mom and Dad organized it this year and centered the reunion around our family history! It was great as we walked around the town of Moroni looking at places that Mark's great-great-great grandfather, George Washington Bradley either lived or farmed. Mom even organized a penny candy stop at a local store. She gave everyone 10 pennies and had them go into a an old store where they could pick from a variety of candies. This was a favorite place to go for the kids. We also went to an old ice cream store that is no longer in business, that Dad and Mark's brother's helped serve ice cream. This was a great historical adventure that will always be remembered.

Just in time!

Grandma's Quilt
Before
During
After
SLC Temple
Baby Quilt from Becky
Go carts
Bumper Boats
Tool set

The first of the 3 projects worked on this past month was Grandma's quilt. It's finished and I am so happy with it! The baby's room is also done, but I thought I'd wait to take a picture once the crib is up. And finally, a week ago yesterday we had the electrian install the final piece to our new kitchen, the oven! To make sure it worked, Mark bought a Papa Murphy's pizza. It has been 2 months since we sank our teeth into our favorite pie, and it did not disappoint. The oven worked beautifully! Just in time for my cousin, Becky who arrived the very next morning! We had a great week as we explored temple square in SLC, shopping in Ogden, lunch with Aunt Candy in Logan, and a memorable day in Brigham City as we watched the groundbreaking of the new Brigham City Temple! Thank you for the baby gift, Becky! A handmade baby blanket is priceless!

Last week was also Kevin and Caleb's 13th birthday! We celebrated by going to Boondocks, a family fun center that just opened in Kaysville.(a 40 minute drive) Becky and I played miniture golf with the boys and then watched them race around the speedway in go carts and splash each other in bumper boats. It was a good way to spend a birthday. Because of the resent work in the kicthen, the boys have been interested in tools more than ever. So we gave them each a tool box full of the basic tools. They also recieved new watches and Skyler gave them a girt card for Walmart. Skyler was at camp during their birthday, but Mark picked him up Friday night so he could be with us for the groundbreaking.

I can't help but be envious of my 2 SIL, Toshia and Danielle who have both given birth to their beautiful daughters this past week. Danielle's baby was born on the 21st and Toshia's on the 28th! I am so happy things went well for them and am looking forward to the many family get togethers with these girl cousins!

It has been 3 weeks since Skyler started his new job. For those who weren't aware, Skyler applied for and got a job working as a camp counselor at the Bear Lake Aquadic Base at Bear Lake ( a 2 hour drive). He is teaching scout troops the swimming merit badge, along with other responsibilites. He stays up at camp all week long. A bus brings kids (the staff) back down to Brigham city and SLC every Saturday around noon. Then we take Skyler back to the bus every Sunday at 5:30pm. It gives him just enough time to do his laundry, visit with friends and go to church. He says he has been having a great time and his goal is to start school "tan, buff and blond". That's a 15year old for you! As nice as it would be to have his help on the kitchen, I am glad he is enjoying his experince, not to mention making a little spending money. He is being paid $125/week plus all his meals are provided. Not bad for a summer job!

Last Saturday, the 3rd, Skyler came home and within the hour was dressed in his scout uniform and ready for another 2 hour drive to Provo! We had the oppertunity to go to the Stadium of Fire at the Lavell Edwards Stadium. Mark's bro-in-law was able to reserve tickets for family members. Mark's parents, all 3 sisters a brother and their families were able to go. Carrie Underwood was the performer, which we all enjoy her music. But even cooler than that, the Stadium of Fire was recognizing the 100th anniversary of scouting by putting on the worlds largest Eagle's nest. Any scout who had recieved his eagle during the months of Jan. 2010 and June 2010 were able to apply online to participate. Skyler qualified and was accepted. It was a really great experince for him. They also had everyone in the audience who had recieved their Eagle, to stand. (Mark and Skyler are on stage in the front row, bottom left hand side of picture.)

After getting home at 1am, Skyler went to church, packed his stuff and went back to camp. That is one busy kid. We went up to visit him and took picutes of him at camp.

Nesting gone too far????

Grandma's Quilt
Caleb & kevin helping tie Grandma's quilt
Baby's new room
Skyler's old wallpaper
Old kitchen
Having fun destroying kitchen
tearing down old kitchen


For any of you who have been expecting a new baby, you know what I mean when I say nesting. But I wonder, is there a limit to this pregnancy phenom, or is it a free for all frenzy that can be chalked up to the condition at hand? I mention this because these pictures I am about to post will give you an idea of what I have been delving onto my family. Granted, these were some projects we were considering before we found out we were even expecting a baby, but doing them all at once was not the plan.

This first project is actually 18 years in the making. When my Grandma Stott died in 1991, I was honored to inherit a quilt top she was in the process of working on. Thinking I would finish this quilt in a year or two was ambitious. Now here it is 18 years later and I am finally getting it done. I hope she is smiling in heaven. I think she'd be happy to know even her great-grandsons were happy to help tie the quilt.

Our 2nd project is a little more intense as we are decorating the baby's room. This room used to be Skyler's. He hasn't minded the dated pink and blue wall paper for the last 1 1/2 years, but we wanted to take it down. Now he is in Kevin's old room and the twins are together. This wallpaper was very fickle and hard to take off. Once it was down, we puttied the holes and primed and now the painting is done. (when I say we I actually mean my husband and 3 strong boys, because I shouldn't be around paint right now) We are putting up 3 feet of beadboard on the bottom half of this room, so we only painted the top. I am thrilled with this color. I have a crib set; blanket, bumper pads, diaper stacker and dust ruffle that have this lavendar color in it, so it will match nicely.

Our 3rd and largest project is the kitcen remodel. I am grateful for a working kitchen, however the house is 24 years old, hence it has origninal appiances and tile. We didn't realize what a pain the tiled countertops would be until we moved in. And with the drop ceiling and cupboards it was like walking into a cave. Mark and the boys have really busted their backs demolishing the tile and taking down cupboards. I feel bad I can't be of more help, but to see the boys having so much fun with a sledgehammer and crowbar, I get to ignore the guilty pangs! What a crew! They love to help and it is good for them to be involved. I am excited to have a new kitchen, but I worry about our timing. The boys are out of school which is nice not to deal with homework & bedtimes, but my cousin Becky is coming to visit at the end of July. I am really excited to see her and take her around our area, but I'm hoping our kitchen is done by then!

So I ask you, does nesting syndrome have a limit, because I can think of a few more things to add.

Court of Honor

Schuyler's Court Of Honor was last weekend. We are so proud of him earning his Eagle. Thanks to all those who came to support! The night was a big success. Since another boy in our ward was also earing his Eagle, I had help pulling this night together. The veterans came and presented flags to the boys. Kevin and Caleb's troop were able to participate as the color guard.
For Schuyler's birthday we had him invite 2 friends over. Mark took them to see Ironman 2 and then they stayed up all night playing games and listening to music. The next morning the boys all had their last soccer games at 9am! Schuyler is one of the youngest on his team because they throw all the high school aged kids together. It didn't prevent him from scoring an awesome goal, though. Kevin and Caleb were on a team that didn't do so well this year, in fact they didn't win a single game. But as Kevin puts it, "I just go to get the treat." The rest of the day we spent scraping off wallpaper from the baby's room. We moved Schuyler into Kevin's room and Kevin and Caleb are now in the same room. I will post before and after pictures of the room when we get it all finished. It will be nice to have it done.

Ahhh, isn't she cute?

Ok, so what if I am getting a little excited. I had my big "healthy baby" ultrasound yesterday with the technitian. I love this picture the best, where she has her arm up to her head and she's facing down. She said everything looks great and when it comes to telling the gender, she doesn't guess. She is certain it is a girl. I know the dr. told us last month, but I only took that as a guess. Now that were sure, I can start painting. We will move rooms around next month.
Thanks to all who put in their comments on names. We are really leaning towards Brielle. There is a 4 year old girl in our ward with that name, but I asked her mom and she fine if we wanted to use it, too.
Tommorrow is a typical Saturday for us with all the hussell of raising kids. Soccer games for all 3 at 9am, piano recital at 4pm, and pictures with Skyler in his scout uniform, for the court of honor, at 5. Not to mention that Kevin and Caleb want to start a garden. Life is good when were happily involved in a good cause!

An Eagle in our midst

Schuyler is officially an Eagle Scout!! We are so proud of him. He will share his court of honor with friends and family on May 15th, (3 days before his 15th birthday) He has worked so hard and has had some great leaders help him along the way. For his eagle scout project he took picture of headstones at the Brigham city cemetary and downloaded them on to a CD where the city will now put them on the internet for others to look up their ancestors. You'd think after getting your Eagle you can relax and enjoy a few moments, but Schuyler is a doer. He is putting up posters today in fact for the sophomore class officer elections. Then he is studing for his learners permit next month, and this summer he has been hired as a camp counselor at the Bear Lake Scout Camp to assist in the aquadic department, helping scouts to recieve their swimming merit badge. He will be at camp for 9 weeks, coming home for the weekends (to do laundy and go to church). He is very excited to do that, especially with a few of his friends from school.

I am now 19 weeks along and finally looking more pregnant than fat. So lately we've been throwing around a lot of girl names. Since Mark has 15 nieces and I have 7, plus 2 more niecs born this summer, we have our work cut out for us. Mark is great at making lists then handing them to me so I can scratch out the ones I don't like. Here are a few we actually agree on. Give input:

Katherine
Summer
Paige
Brielle
Abigail

Bring on the Pink!!!

I had an ultrasound last week and ......It's a girl. At least we're 90% sure. The Dr. said to keep our recipts on stuff we buy, but he also said he is rarely wrong when he gives such a high percentage rate. We are excited. I bought a pink blanket to put in a bag, which the boys opened later that night. They were so thrilled. They all said they wanted a little sister, so no disappointed faces. Now we just have to come up with a name. Toshia and Danielle also found out they are having girls this summer, so we will have girl cousins, yeah!! I am feeling better these days, but sometimes, without warning I will still get sick. Mark and the boys have been wonderful to help around the house and do extra jobs.
I am still doing water aerobics, which helps the sciatic nerve problem! Plus being in the water helps me feel lighter.

Other important news, soccer has offically started. All the boys had games this past Saturday. It's good that K&C are on the same team so Mark and I can split up when Skyler's games are at the same time. This will be a busy spring. Can't wait to sit and enjoy General Conference!

Happy St. Patty's day!

Kevin
Skyler

Most of the time I can be a creative and fun mom. But lately I haven't felt well enough to celebrate holidays, especially with my boys getting so old. Do they really care? Well yesterday, Mark convinced me to do something fun for St. Patrick's Day. So I got up and made green eggs and ham. I think they thought it was fun. Can't wait until Easter...

Guess What?!

binoculars from Grandma & Grandpa Bradley

Cousins: Kyle, Skyler, Brooke, Nicole & Karlissa


Cousins playing DS games!



It's amazing how time can get away from you during the holidays. Especially when you're not feeling well. Of course, when you find out you're expecting it makes it all worth while! I thought it was from eating so much good food. I am now 10 weeks along and we are excited to have a new little one join our family the first week of September. The boys are also excited and are hoping we have a little girl! Caleb tells Mark the other day," I am so excited, I feel like I believe in Santa Claus again!" Then the other day I asked one of the boys how school was and they said, "Great, I came up with a new list of baby names!" Oh brother! So far, the morning sickness hasn't been too bad. I feel tons better than I did with the boys. We are thrilled to join the pregnancy ranks of 2 sis-in-laws. Andrew's wife Toshia and Mark's sister Danielle are both due at the end of July. How fun.

Now for the rest of you who want to know what we did for Christmas, I will insert a few pictures. We opened gifts at home and by noon we left and joined the Bradley family in Moroni. I love that Skyler, Kevin and Caleb have cousins their ages. I went looking for the twins while we were there and found all these cousins hanging out all playing on their Nintendo DS games! It was funny! For New Years we had some friends come over and played games.

Skyler is done with the swimming. The season is over and he had a great time. He is now going to go out for HS Baseball. The twins will start soccer next month. Then we will be busy. So, if you don't hear from me in a couple more months, you'll know why!