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.