Oakland Zoo

Way back in February we went with my mom, and local siblings to the Oakland Zoo. It had been a while since Braden had been to the zoo and it was nice to enjoy the outside air and the beautiful zoo grounds. Not to mention it is great exercise. Every exhibit is up one hill and down another. It was great. We also made a stop at Fentons where we got to chow down on insane amounts of ice cream until we were sick. It was a blast. No need to talk about the amount of crying Traegan did on the way home. Poor kid. 

The Easters

We had a fun Easter. Braden and I play egg hunt for a few weeks before Easter and by the time the real thing came around he was ready to go and new exactly how to look for them. Braden got a new bike helmet since his old one from two summers ago is now way too small, and the Easter bunny forgot to bring the bike to go with it. Lucky Daddy got that one all figured out and the bike came a few days later.

I made the boys these super simple matching bow-ties. Devin didn't want in on the action. Im not sure why.

A Fish Named Water

We have gotten our first family pet. A goldfish. He was a gift to Braden from a friend. Braden was super excited. He even gets to help feed his fish sometimes when he is being extra good. It was a few days before Braden could come up with a name that he liked for his little fishy. He named it Water. Great right? Such a funny guy. Water has added a great vibe to our kitchen counter.

Whose kid is that?!

A while back I think in March we had some friends over for a swim in the "hot pool". It was way too warm that day and none of us lasted long out there. But Rozzi and Braden had a blast. 

 As we got ready to leave the pool, Bradens attire quickly went from this, 

 to this, as we arrived home. Oh well. He is three right? Why do boys love taking their clothes off? I keep finding Braden shirtless here and there with the claim that he is hot. He has started taking his shoes and socks off at church and has even been caught trying to unbutton his shirt during sacrament meeting. Whose kid is this?

Braden and his buddy Ryder shirtless at the park because they got their shirts "wet". Right!!

Workin at the Car Wash

For Devins birthday he got a carwash kit, complete with a hose. He has talked for a long time about how he hates when I pay someone else to wash our car and that he wants to wash our cars every Saturday. Did  I say cars? Yes I did. After 4.5 years of being a one car family, we got ourselves a family car. Having two  cars is the best, although having a car payment after 3.5 years of having our trusty '98 Accord paid off may not be. However, I am loving the free carwash I get every Saturday. And Braden loves it too! So Braden does the fun part of spraying the cars down, and then lets Dad do the dirty work. Funny boy. And yes Braden does sing the carwash song as he goes along which he learned from a movie called Shark Tale, that I told him is broken cuz he started wanting to watch it every day.

Mr T

Well almost four months in and I have not posted any of T Moneys month to month shots. Whoops. So here are a few for your enjoyment Lilo. (a nickname for my sis in Ghana). I'd say Traegan is a delight, but sometimes he isn't. Ha ha. He is way more difficult than Braden and I am sure all of my babies will be. Braden was sooooo easy. The poor guy has colic bad, and acid reflux, and he HATES being in the car unless my little sister Emily is in the back seat with him. He could care less if I try to sit back with him. He cry anyway. No fun for him and for us. Things are beginning to look up. I tried to ween him off the special formula he takes (I don't breastfeed because of the seizure medicine I take), and the Colic prescription, but after about a week and a half when he was around 13 weeks old, we realized he probably still wasn't ready. The poor little guy is having digestion problems up the wazoo. Luckily for the time being, everything appears to be normal with him, other than the infant digestion issues. He is super alert and loves being able to see the world around. Just like Braden, he doesn't really want to be cradled unless he is really tired. He wants to be in on the action. Thank goodness he is strong and I can carry him around in the Bjorn. He is super adorable when he is feeling good and is talking and being responsive to us like crazy and we are eating it up. Braden loves it when he can make Trae, as Braden has started to love making Traegan, smile. Braden is a great big brother and loves his baby so very much. Traegans favorite spots are his swing, when he is tired, his bed tucked in between two fluffy pillows on his side with binky in tow, or tucked in between my arm and armpit. We will have to get a pic of that one. Its the surefire way for him to fall asleep fast, if he doesn't have a tummy ache. Its about two seconds all snuggled in and he is out. He is definitely a snuggler when he is tired. He also loves being outside. If he isn't feeling good even if we are outside, he will grin and bear it. We take lots of walks now. We love this little one with all our hearts and are really enjoying watching him grow along side Big Brother Braden!

 Look at this little angel. These were the days. I enjoyed waking up with him in the middle of the night, thinking it wouldn't last long and that he would follow in big brothers footsteps and start sleeping through the night on his own. I was wrong.

 This is the furrowed brow we have come to know and love. From the beginning little mister has had a fairly serious demeanor. It will be interesting to see how these serious faces play out as we watch his personality develop.

The first time Traegan smiled was the best ever. With these serious faces he is always making, nothing beats a smile from him. He has the funniest smiles too. I guess he just has animated facial expressions. My siblings are always getting a good laugh just watching the faces he makes. :) He is a funny character. You'll notice he is not wearing a matching 3 mo onesie. It didn't fit at all. Oh well. I guess I will scrap the cute onesie idea and just do these diapered pics. They are cuter anyway right?

Masks, Hats and Helmets OH MY

First off. THANK YOU BLOG SPOT for finally becoming user friendly. After 5 years of blogging and hating the process, it finally isn't all that bad. And just in time, because with my little Sis Lauren in Ghana for the summer, I promised her I would update my blog since we can't Skype or send picture messages anymore. So plan on seeing this little ol blog updated once a week. Thank you Lauren. And who knows, maybe I will start liking blogging since the format makes sense now. THANK YOU BLOGGER!!!

 Braden has a helmet and mask obsession. Every time we go to Target we make a pit stop at the toy section, and a helmet or a mask gets put on and then brought with us around the store and then after Braden puts it on the belt to "pay it" I just tell the checker that we aren't getting it and they are super sneaky and they put it away. Its the best. He is so happy at the store and lots of times, he will just forget about it afterward, until we go to Target again and he knows exactly where the masks and helmets are. He really wanted this helmet when we were helmet shopping for him, but he has such a giant noggin, that we decided it wasn't the best fit since it isn't adjustable.

 Does anyone know where these goggles came from? Braden always gets them off the shelf in the garage, one of his favorite places to find new toys, and wears them around for a little while until he gets sick of pushing them back up on his nose.

 My very own Handy Manny. Braden loves going to work these days and thanks to a Bob the builder tool belt someone gave us, construction hat from Devins work, and tools from someone else, he gets to work in style. Lucky kid.

 This is a fan favorite this week. We have taken this mask pretty much everywhere we have gone, and if we don't take it with us, he looks for it the second we get home. Its not even ours. We are borrowing it from some big boys down the street. The best part about the Star Wars mask is that he can't really see out of those tiny eye slits so when he walks around he just flips it up on his head like a welding mask and does whatever he needs to do. Then when he is ready for some more Star Wars action, he flips it down again. I think I see a mask in this boys future. Also Braden is standing on his skateboard/ snowboard/ surfboard, whatever he sees fit for it to be at the time, a pad from a bench in our bedroom. I think it makes it onto the floor at least once a day.

 Braden and his best buddy Zack had a blast at the store the other day. Guess which one Braden is?! Oh did you guess the one in the pink hat? You are right!

Ay ay ay!! My little muchacho riding away into the sunset!

Braden and Ryder snacking in helmets. Everyones doing it!

 And if all else fails, Braden always has paper bags to make hats and masks out of. This kid just has it made.

Long Day

We had a huge play week. Having friends every day this week except for Friday. Needless to say Braden has been worn out every day. On an especially long day, after we walked our friends home, both of his friends, Tess and Taylor, climbed into bed almost as soon as we got there and Braden played for a little while longer while their Mom and I visited. I knew that Braden would crash as soon as we got home. So even though it was already 3:30 I knew he probably needed a little nap. We walked in the door and I turned on a movie so I could get Traegan fed and put down and before I knew it, Braden was out. I let him stay like that for a few minutes thinking he would wake up, but after he didn't I decided I should lay him down so his legs wouldn't fall asleep.

Play Group

This week Braden and I hosted playgroup at our house. The weather was already amazing at 9am when the kids started to arrive so at 10 we headed straight outside for a nature walk and picnic snack. It was my first playgroup not being big and pregnant so it was just delightful! All of the kids were so excited to get out and play. First we headed to the mail box and the hook ups for firehoses. The boys were in heaven. They took of down the street so so fast. The oldest little boy, Matthew, tried to keep it together for a while and started telling the younger boys, Braden and Ryder to stop running and stay close, but very quickly, he took off right with them. Cute little Rozzi held my hand the entire time. Oh the differences between boys and girls were 100% apparent the entire time. It was such a blast! I don't know why it took me two years to figure that one out. I cant wait to do it again on the next warm day.During the middle leg of our walk, we were lucky enough to spot a snail, a huge butterfly that stuck around long enough for all the kids to see, and a shy roly poly bug. I was surprised that Rozzi wasn't the one saying 'ewww' but that it was the apparently not so tough Ryder!

Tender Mercies

I had a very sweet moment the other day and just wanted to record it so I would be able to look back and remind myself of just how sweet my life really is. It was Wednesday afternoon and I was just finished feeding Traegan. The afternoon lull had kicked in and a movie was on. Braden was snuggled up on the couch by my side and Traegan was in my arms. I was sending an email on my phone when I realized the amazing moment that was occurring. Braden was quiet and calm, Traegan was happy, cooing, and falling asleep in my arms.

My life was exactly what I dreamt it would be for that one moment. I was reminded in a flash exactly why I have chosen this path for my life. These boys, including Devin, mean more to me than anything I could have imagined and as many of you know, a mothers love can't really be described. My perfect life was right before my eyes. My Heavenly Father granted me a glimpse into my own life. Life as a stay at home mom can be crazy. There are always chores to be done, meals to be fixed, diapers to be changed, and happiness to be conjured up out of thin air. It is so easy to get caught up in the hustle of life and forget what we have.

One of my dearest friends and I used to laugh saying during crazy moments something along the lines of "This wasn't what I dreamed it would be!" speaking of motherhood. And in all honestly many times it isn't. Catching a load of poop in my hand mid-diaper change, cleaning up spilled milk for the 10th time in one day, putting Braden on timeout in his room, hearing him scream and throw his toys is certainly not my idea of a good time.

However, when Bradens little voice tells me that he loves me out of the blue, or when he says okay Mom when I ask him to do something; When Traegan sweet little blue eyes stare up into mine and the somber look on his face wipes away for a brief moment and he lovingly smiles at me, those are the moments I would pay anything to have! In that quiet moment with my sweet boys in my arms, my Heavenly Father confirmed to me exactly why I chose this path for myself. These sweet little boys are my world and although it is wild and fast paced and crazy sometimes, there is no other life that could be more fulfilling for me.

"But behold, I Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance." (1 Nephi 1:20)

This scripture has never had so much meaning in my life as it does now. The Lord has truly shown me a tender mercy in my life, at a time when I was able to recognize it. I am so thankful for the scriptures, for a loving Heavenly Father who knows me and my needs, for a sweet and loving family who help me learn and grow in ways that I do not know. I love being a mother and being able to stay home with my boys. Deep down this is exactly the life I had always dreamt of as a girl and there is no other way I would want my life to be than the way it is at this very moment. I am blessed beyond measure.