FOR REAL?!!

So I went to my 6wk post partum appointment yesterday. And yeah I did go two weeks late. Braden is 8wks old today! So insane! Anyway, at my appointment, I received devastating news. Due to the genetics of my body, and some complications related to those genes, I have been strongly cautioned to stop eating the one thing that I eat more than any other food in the world. The one thing that sustains me. The one food that I love more than any other. I was told that if I didnt cut it out of my diet, the results could end up badly, and it would just be much easier on my body if I cut this particular thing out. I mean there was a list of like 20 different things that I should stop consuming or not consume, most of which were medications, but really the foods that I should cut out of my diet, what normal human lives without these things?!

So the very first thing my dr. told me that I should go without was....

CHOCOLATE!!

Really?! REALLY?!! Its a true story. Naturally, I feel like my love for all things delicious is ruined. I can hardly believe it. I am pretty sure that I eat chocolate honestly, at least once a day. I might as well just cut sugar all together because if a girl can't have chocolate then what can she have? Basically what it comes down to is caffeine I guess. Apparently chocolate just has too much caffeine for me. Normally I would probably just shrug it off, but one of my aunts was having the same problems I am, and once she cut the caffeine, things started looking up. Naturally I dont want things to get worse, but my entire existence got worse upon hearing that news. At first I was feeling powerful. I mean come on, I had a baby. I can cut chocolate from my diet. Not even 6 ours after my appointment, my visiting teachers came over and they were bearing gifts. What did they bring? Naturally the brought chocolate chip cookies. Good grief. Of course I at some. Thank goodness for Devin who has a tremendous sweet tooth and I knew I could count on him to eat most of them. So far, I am 0 for 3. And of course we have chocolate just lying around our kitchen.

1/2 a pack of Double Stuff Oreos

1 box Triple Chocolate Brownies

1 box gourmet Chocolate cupcake mix

3 bags of Chocolate Chips
So goodbye to my love affair with chocolate. Our days are numbered. I dont really think I can just quite cold turkey. I think I am going to have to take my time and do it slowly. Thinking of all that I have to give up breaks my heart. Hopefully there will come a day, when like my Aunt, I dont even have a desire to eat it anymore. But until then I will suffer. And not in silence. This will be a challenge, and a struggle, but I am a woman(which is probably the biggest problem) and I am strong. I can do this! Right?!

Alright Y'all

This has been quite the summer, and its basically over. I remember when I was a kid summer seemed to last forever, but somehow, when you are older, it just flys by. Not that summer is much different from spring or fall here considering that there are no breaks from school or work for us. But summer is more of a feeling now and I can feel it drifting away. So much has happened this summer that I want to document so take a peek and see what our family has enjoyed!!

JUNE

My first pregnancy ended on June 4, 2009

complete with mega stretch marks, swollen ankles, and an extra 32 lbs.

Out of that long, emotional, hot 9 months, our Father in Heaven blessed us with our little Braden. At 6:33am June 4, he arrived in all his glory weighing 8lbs 7oz and measuring 20.25in!

My sister Lauren (Warren, Lo, Lo-Lo Fo Sho, Lilo, Little Lu-Lu etc.) graduated from Roseville High school on June 12! We were happy to be in attendance despite the wind and the dripping sky! She is headed off to BYU in a few weeks and I am so very excited for her, but I am really going to miss her. Despite the age gap (6 years), we have grown very close over the past few years. As a funny side note, my Dad kept yelling Lo-Lo Fo Sho so that she would know where we were or something. It was great. Crazy old Bruce, always good for a laugh.

My brother Chad came from Utah to visit for a few days and we sucked the marrow out of life while he was here. Sometimes our plans got a little disturbed, but we had so much fun and I was so glad that he got to come meet Braden and participate in Bradens blessing. Chad and Braden enjoyed one anothers company discussing Chads future in law school and Bradens future in Pre-School. Chad got a good laugh out of Braden and I am sure Braden thought Chad was funny too!

Devin gave Braden a name and a blessing on his very first fathers day, June 21. It was a very special day for our family. Devin gave Braden a beautiful blessing and I was so proud mother!

Daniel, Sadie and Tumnus (Thomas) paid us a visit on my birthday. They came all the way from Rexburg just for a two day visit and made time to see us. We had such a great time with them going to the fountains, Lincoln Chinese and doing whatever else we did. We miss them so much!

June was a wild and busy month. We had so much fun though and it was so great to have our life as parents begin. I am still trying to figure out how to be a mom and a wife, but everyone tells me that I will figure it out. For now, I am just enjoying every minute with Braden, and every minute I can get things done when Devin comes home from work. Currently Braden is sleeping, making this post possible. So Thank You my sweet child.

JULY

On July 1 I was itching to take a trip for the weekend. I looked at flights to every destination that I had in mind, only to discover that I wasn't about to spend $700+ to get the three of us anywhere that wasn't Hawaii, Europe, or some other place fancy so my hopes where dashed. Luckily Devin is a spontaneous and insane husband. He called me honestly at 12:00 on Thursday and said "Lets drive to Seattle. its a 13 hour drive. I will be ready to go at 3:00. You get us packed, and go get the oil changed, then come get me." Yeah talk about insane. Mind you we have a 4wk old baby at this point. But I was craving a vacation so I said lets do it. I was in a frenzy trying to get everything done, and forgot a few things, which apparently were critical in the eyes of others, but we made it to Everett, WA at 5:30am on Friday morning to surprise Devins sister Chalonn and her two kids, Mckay and London. It was the best. Chalonn called when we were on our way and we totally thought she knew exactly what was going on based upon the questions she was asking, but truly she had no idea. It was such a great surprise when we showed up in Chalonns bedroom when she was half asleep. We got to spend 4 days in Everett and had the time of our lives with the Redds during the hottest weekend of the year in Seattle! Thanks for letting us come play guys!

FRI: drove about 20 minutes to downtown Seattle; saw the space needle; played at this ginormous UFO splashpark; went to Pikes market; saw the man of my dreams; enjoyed the much needed vacation time

SAT: took a ferry across the bay to Kingston, where Hebers parents live to see the parade the kids and Heber got to be in; enjoyed a small craft fair and the included garb; celebrated Bradens 1mo birthday; watched the most amazing at home fireworks show I have ever seen thanks to Devin and Heber and their ability to burn money, but it was 100% worth it; (It was comparible to any small town fireworks show right on the street. So amazing! Somehow, Braden slept through the whole thing, which lasted about 3 hrs!)

Notice the patriotic clothing choices?! Love the shirt Heeb! (It is from last years Hawaiian theme at the parade, or so he says!)

SUN: enjoyed 1pm church; a delish bbq; coloring; family time; a walk to the basketball park while the girls talked and the boys putted around on the grass

MON: took a trip to the Seattle temple; a visit to the mall; enjoyed one last day with each other; had some yummy food; packed up and got ready to leave the next morning.

July 7: While we were in Seattle, there was a hint of a smile on Bradens face, and the first day we were back, his cute little smile showed itself. He has a little dimple, so it makes his gummy smile even more adorable! Braden smiles the day away and just gets us even more wrapped around his long little finger!

This month it has been extremely hot so we have taken several trips to the pool with Braden in tow. He has really enjoyed being in the water and sometimes gets so relaxed I think he is about ready to fall asleep. Next summer he will definitely be a little water baby!!

WHY?!!!

What am I thinking? Really?! Its 12:45 and I told myself that I would go to bed 75 minutes ago, but here I am sucked into the blogging world and starring at the goings on of those I love most. The boys are asleep and I am enjoying the peace. Plus if we had a video camera I would record Devin in his sleep. He is a wild sleeper. I am honestly surprised that I sleep right through his shenanigans. In fact the other night I found him sleeping sitting up in bed. I did not disturb him and when I asked him why he had been sleeping like that, he had no clue. He is such a deep sleeper, rumor has it he sleep walks. Glad I haven't seen it. It would freak me out. Anyway, I am going to tuck in. Just wanted to get that out. Also, I just got my passport in the mail and just want you all to know that now the world is mine. YAHOO! I can go anywhere I want now! Guate we are well on our way! But even before that big family outing, we get to have seperate vacations which will be fabulous!! Cant wait!

Braden, braden, BRADEN

We are so so in love with our little guy. Our lives changed in an instant. It was so crazy. I could have never imagined how much he would bring to our family, but the first morning when he was only a few hours old, I was trying to nap in the hospital and I coudlnt sleep. I just wanted to be with him. It was the craziest feeling. After 6 weeks with him we are learning to get our lives in control and we are figuring our how to manage our own lives in the midst of all the Braden time we put into our day. "Its the best!" (Nacho Libre) He is such a fun little guy and we just laugh and love him all the time. Even when he wakes up to eat at 5:30 in the morning and we are half asleep he manages to get a laugh or two out of us.

He has already grown so much in the past month, especially his hair. We cant believe how much hair he has. It floats in the bathtub! Mom C said he needs a missionary hair cut, but we have a friend who suggested growing it out until he is 8. What should we do? We think he is terribly handsome and we both think he looks like Grandpa "I.C." He is starting to hold his head up and has started smiling! He likes to dance and walk when Dad holds him up. He is sleeping 7-8 hours in between his late night and early morning feeding which we are loving. He loves being outside, which is sometimes a burden since it is over 100 every day. It is so hot that we usually are forced to stay inside unless we are at the pool. He loves the water and we have taken him into the pool a few times. He is always so calm whenever he hears, or gets in water.

He is very alert and loves being able to look around at everything the world has to offer. He likes to either be looking over our shoulder, or facing forward so he can see everything. Forget about cradling him. He is not interested. We went to get his passport the other day and my sister Sarah was holding him. This lady who worked their was telling Sarah that she was supposed to cradle him instead of holding him face out the way she was. After about 5 times of this woman saying that, Sarah cradled him and then the lady said "Oh it looks like he is going to cry." Well no duh lady. He doesnt like being held like that! It is so interesting being his parents and being the people who know the most about him and his likes and dislikes. Trying to figure him out can always be a challenge, but we love having him around.

At his 1 month well check, we discovered that he weighs 10 lb 5 oz and is 22" long. Although he weighs over 10 lbs he is so skinny and long! I did not expect to keep him in newborn diapers for this long. I keep having to go buy more newborn dipeys because every time I run out and try to use up my stash of size 1, they end up drowning him. He clearly has his daddys body. The doc is very pleased with his growth and got a good laugh watching Braden chow down. He really is such a great eater. We love watching him grow and learn and can hardly believe that six weeks has already gone by! We are so blessed to have our little Braden in our home and as a part of our family. I tried to find a couple of great pics of our cute guy.

His poor head was humongous after our long labor!

He always seems to have his hands up by his face, especially when he is sleeping.

Check out his tremendously long fingers!

He loves sitting in the corners of the couch so he can see whats going on!

Whenever Devin holds Braden, it makes Braden look so much smaller!

Sponge baths in the sink were a favorite with the water running by his head.

One day we were at the grocery store and Devin comes over and shows me the contraption he came up with so that he could feed Braden and grab things at the same time. Genius!

Check out this kids cleavage! Hello!

4th of July/ 1 month picture

Relaxing the day away!

The face that melts my heart!

Happy Birthday To Me

So I have the best husband ever. He really tricked me this time. I wont lie, I thought Devin was going to forget about my birthday. I mean I forgot about it, so how could he remember? Little did I know, he remembered long before I did. What a dreamboat right?! So anyway, there were three things that I really wanted for my birthday. All of which were absolutely unrealistic.
1) a HOUSE
2) a CAR
3) a COMPUTER
So when Devo asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I really had no clue what to ask for, and had absolutely no idea what Devin was going to get me. I really had the best birthday ever! I got to take the longest nap I have taken since Braden came around. Devin made me a beautiful dinner, we went to see STAR TREK, which was great by the way, and he gave me the most thoughtful gifts ever. He bought me the Reef flip flops I have been wanting for at least 3 years, and then the grand prize, a new computer. It was the biggest birthday surprise ever. He had me convinced that I didnt need a new computer at least for a while, and although I felt lost without the famouse world wide web, I found other things to do with my time. But I cant lie. I am so happy to have a computer again, and even happier to be able to put pics of my little Braden on my beloved blog. :)