Day 3 -- Doing Much Better & Baking Cookies!

Brayden's leg is about 90% back to normal! Back to walking 100% of the time on it, had a couple times where I noticed a limp today that didn't really phase him at all. We relaxed at home and made a special treat for Dada! He had a lot of fun helping make cookies and I had a lot of fun with my camera... :)

Getting started! First lesson = don't eat the butter!

Reading the Recipe! We picked Oatmeal Chocolate Chip!

Stirring in the Oats...

"This is hard work, taking a break for a snack..."

Silly boy doesn't normally get a WHOLE apple. He just grabbed it out of the fruit basket and being that he was such a hard worker, I let him have the whole thing...

And there GOOD! :)

Busy Baby

March 19th goes in the books as the first recognizable baby kick!

It was funny because I was concerned that I hadn't felt a clear "kick" at my doctor's appointment that morning. The doctor assured me that it was much too early to expect to feel something. Later that evening Brett and I were in bed. I "thought" I felt the baby move, as I had many times before, but was unsure because I couldn't feel it on the outside of my tummy. That night I felt the kick, inside and out! The baby was busy because he/she even gave Brett a kick that he could feel too!

We felt this baby at 16 weeks. The first time we felt Brayden was at 17 1/2 weeks. Does this mean we have an even more active baby than Brayden?!? :)

This pregnancy is definitely different than Brayden. By 13 - 14 weeks I was over being sick with Brayden. Still having trouble keeping that morning cereal down, even today... But we are seeing over improvements with feeling yucky.

Tough Day & Happy Boy

Well, we made it almost a year and a half without and unscheduled doctor visit. Yesterday went something like this.

• 9:30am - House is clean, laundry is done
• 9:45am - Head upstairs to get ready for the day. Toys out for Brayden and vacuum is in the hallway ready to go downstairs.
• 9:50am - I go into the bathroom, hear the vacuum fall and come out. Brayden is sitting there with a guilty look on his face after pushing the vacuum down. I put it on the other side of the baby gate and Brayden cries about losing "his" toy.
• 9:55am - I notice that Bray only takes a few steps before falling and crying. Did the vacuum fall onto him?!?!
• 10am - Call our personal Nurse Hotline (aka Grammy); Call Dr. office = both say go see Doctor and don't let him walk.

*Keep in mind, Brayden doesn't know the meaning of "sit still". He would much rather take a few steps and crash out of pain and cry, repeat, etc. than sit still. How do I get out of my cleaning clothes and get ready for the doctor? Grammy 911! Luckily she was in the area and they sat and watched some morning shows together...

• 11:30pm - Arrive at Doctor's. Try to entertain Brayden so he doesn't walk... for an hour and half! Lucky that we had some back up from a nurse with markers and paper for coloring... Sent for X-Rays.
• 1:30pm - Arrive at Radiologist for X-Rays.
• 2pm - X-Ray's done waiting for our copy to take home.
• 3pm - Head home for a overdue nap (for both of us!)
• 4:15pm - Results are in, no fracture! No break! Doctor just said, "Keep his leg iced and elevated... errr.. or just try to keep him from walking on it."

So when Brett got home from work we took Bray out for Pizza and then we went SWIMMING! Had to get all that energy out without putting weight on the leg, seemed like the only thing to do! Brayden laughed and smiled and splashed the whole time.

Actually, he was happy the whole day yesterday and today! He loved sitting in the waiting room and saying "Hi!"with a big smile and waiving to EVERYONE. He especially loved to attention from the nurses.

Today we kept with the theme of "activities that keep Brayden from walking" so we went and had lunch with Dada at the office. What a fun bonus that Bebo, Grammy and Auntie Juju were all there too! And we ran about a million errands, one of them happened to be the pet store. We looked at all the animals and he really loved the fish or as he would say, "dish!" So of course we came home with two goldfish too. :)

He is walking much better today, slightly limping, still falling, but not crying about it so I would assume there is not as much pain...

On our way to PIZZA! Then it was pool time...

At the pet store looking at the kitties.

He pointed at each individual one and said, "kitty, kitty"...

Where's Brayden?

Brayden runs behind the couch and peaks out at me with a mischievous grin... Then quickly hides, and waits for me to say, "Where's Brayden?" then he pops out as if I had no idea he was there and we exclaim "There he is!" and laugh together!

Ah, I have the best job in the world...

Hello Spring!

What a beautiful day to start spring!

Today I had my 16 week check up. Heartbeat sounds fantastic, measuring just on schedule, etc.!

While I went to my appointment, Brayden went to play at Bebo and Grammy's house. When I got back to pick him up I heard Bebo laughing loudly on the side of the house. I walked over and there were Bebo and Grammy zipping Brayden up in his little life jacket! Which used to be my life jacket! Dad exclaimed, "I am taking him for a canoe ride! This will make the blog, huh?!" and off they went!

Brayden thought it was pretty cool. He kept saying "Oh fish!" and "basketball! basketball!"... Apparently there is some confusion between the floating round orange buoy and a basketball... :)

SPRING BREAK!!!

Here are a few (of many) pictures from our trip to sunny Arizona! We had an absolute blast! I have never left Bray for more than one night (Brett has left for a week before on a golf trip), but we were so busy and I know that he loves to spend time with his Grammy and Bebo, so that made me feel okay about it. It also helped that everyday we did something so fun!

We got in on Wednesday and Thursday we were at the Mariners Spring Training Game, then IN AND OUT (which is one of the only places a REALLY wanted to visit!).

Friday we packed up and headed to Flagstaff for the night. On the way we stopped in Sedona for a hike! Let me just say I was not prepared for this, it was so steep in some areas and so narrow in others. Sometimes it was impossible to walk we would all slide down on our butts! We all made it to the top! Once I was safely back down at the car, I could breathe and really enjoy what we just did. No falls and me and the baby bump made it just fine. All three of us girls packed these really cute dresses and planned on a night on the town for Quincy's birthday. Yeah, when we got there and saw about FOUR FEET of snow, we opted for different clothes. We had a blast celebrating Quincy and the stayed the night in Flagstaff (3.5 hours from Scottsdale).

Saturday morning we woke up, realized that the Ramada's "free breakfast" was disgusting and headed to starbucks. Then, on the road again! Just over an hour and we were there, the Grand Canyon! I could hardly soak in the scenery, felt like you were looking at a picture! We walked along the rim, stopped at viewpoints and soaked it all in. Grabbed a bite to eat and then headed back "home" (about four hours away). Lots of good quality road trip time to bond. :) Totally worth it!

Sunday we slept in and then went for a fun boat ride/BBQ! Our hosts Max and Kristin showed us the lake that they go to on their boat. Looks similar to Eastern Washington, but with cactus everywhere! Then Max showed the boys some more of his toys and they went dirt bike riding/rhino riding/quad riding trip! The boys came back and you could tell by how dirty they were that they had a good time! That night we went out to the BEST italian restaurant I have ever been to (tied with C&O's in Venice Beach).

Monday we went for another, more tame, hike at a park called Pinnacle Peak! After that we went to Nordstrom Last Chance store, which was quite and experience!

And now we are home! Brayden still remembers us and we were so excited to see him! He had a vacation of his own busy a fun and busy time with Grammy and Bebo, which included his first trip to the zoo!

Kristina, myself and Quincy at the Mariner's Game. Not quite sure who they played and what the score was, but we had a good time chatting and soaking up some rays...

Jake, Brett, Michael and Steve

Cozying up back at the house!

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About a third of the way up! See the two peaks on the left? We hiked to that spot right in between them.

Mama and her baby belly made it the whole way!

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Birthday Girl Quincy! At the Grand Canyon on her special day!

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Girl Group Picture!

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Jake on the dirt bike, Max on the quad and Michael and Brett in the Rhino!

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Halfway up Pinnacle Peak!

Brett's Ski Weekend

Ever since I can remember, my dad has gone a on a ski trip with about a dozen other guys once a year. Ever since Brett heard about his group, he has attempted to invite himself along! Well this year was finally his year! The "Dad's" stayed a week in Leavenworth and on the weekend all the sons headed over.

Brett said it was a HUGE house with a GORGEOUS view. They all had a blast!

View from the deck

The men's bible study

A few of the guys, their last day on the mountain!

Crazy Aunties!

Brayden is never really lacking attention! He has so many "Aunties" that love him so much and come over to visit. He has put up with a lot of "girl time" in his life, I bet he is hoping for a little brother to tag along with us too... :)

Some of his favorites, Auntie Kiki, Auntie Q and Auntie Jen!

Welcome Sun! A family walk...

A couple weekends ago we started to feel like spring is right around the corner. We went on one of our favorite walks, through our neighborhood to Chambers Elementary School (where I went to 1st - 4th grade), then onto the Chambers Bay loop! It's a nice stop at the school because then Bray gets to run off some of his energy before sitting in the stroller for a while. After, both boys were quite tuckered out! We got back and Brett went to put Bray down for a nap and they both fell asleep! Although, Brett woke up shortly after the bright flash of my camera. :)

Baby # 2 Pictures!

On Feb. 22nd we got to take a peak at our little growing baby!

I have to say the highlight was watching Brett's face. Our first ultrasound with Brayden was when I was six weeks along. We just saw a little speck on a screen. Brett was expecting to only see that, but what he saw was a little baby wiggling around and already over 12 weeks along! At first baby was really busy and moving all around, then when it was time to take a few pictures he/she fell asleep with back towards the ultrasound tech! We were able to still get a few good shots.

~ Picture of baby's profile ~

~ Picture of baby kicking foot up ~

~ Picture of baby rubbing tired eyes ~