Jessa & girly things!

Jessa's getting so big these days. She's about 2 1/2 months now and so much fun! We especially love when she smiles or coos for us - it makes having a baby even more enjoyable.
With summer pretty much over and Jessa rapidly growing out of anything labeled 0-3 months, I threw her in this outfit one more time the other day. I thought a little comparison showing how she's grown would be fun to share. Isn't she such a cutie?

One of my favorite things about having a little girl is all of the "girly" things that come along with it. We especially love headbands, bows, and flowers! I've been trying my hand in bow making (got a little carried away with the flowers so far) and have had a ton of fun. Thanks to my sister, Rachelle, for this great idea for storing hairbows - I've now made a home for all of these girly things. It coordinates with our bathroom fish theme and we love it. Hope you enjoy!
Gotta love the frills!

Another first . . .

You'd think all of these "firsts" would be of Jessa, but amazingly here's another one about Brigham.

Our little guy loves to color pictures and is really good at drawing circles. Beyond circles, I really didn't know that he could draw anything else until the other day when he was coloring by my side I looked over to see the following:

He was pointing at his picture and saying "Brigham smiling - right there." I couldn't believe my eyes. What a good little artist. He has continued to draw similar pictures since then and identifies them as pumpkins or as of today "a happy".

I love this new stage and am so proud of this smart little guy!

Another first for Brigham . . .

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I am a HUGE waterskiing addict. As a result, Brigham's new "first" has made me a very proud Mommy!

Brigham and I had the chance to go out boating on Poppy's boat on September 1st. When I asked Brigham if he wanted to go out on Poppy's boat his response was, "waterski?" (Back in mid July Brigham was introduced to the idea that he could try to water ski when our neighbor put him on their little skis on the backyard lawn and pulled him around the yard.)

Brigham has never really been afraid of the water and he was so excited that warm September afternoon when it was finally his turn to get in the water. I really wasn't sure what he'd do when we actually got in the water with the awkward skis on his feet, but I was thrilled to see what a courageous boy that he was.

I got in the water with Brig and helped to steady him and get him going.Brigham got up on his first try and stayed up (in a sitting fashion) long enough for my dad to make a big loop and bring him back to where I was. At that point they stopped the boat right where I could catch him.
Brigham only got up that one time that day, but I was so proud of my little two year old for getting up on waterskis. (Remember, he only turned two at the end of May so this was really cool for us.)

Thanks, Dad for the day out boating and for letting Brigham get in and give it a try! We love you!I'm so pleased with my little boy for being excited to try new things and for doing so well!

You're the BEST, Brig!

1 month

Our sweet little Jessa Rose is now 1 month old. We can't believe how fast time flies and yet how it seems like she's always been a part of our family.

We feel so blessed to have two wonderful little ones and although every day isn't a cake walk we love them with all our hearts!

Jessa's second week

Jessa is almost two weeks old now. She's a pretty predictable baby - she sleeps a lot, eats a lots, and . . . (well, you know). ;)

Brigham loves "baby Jessa" and is excited to help give her binkies and stroke her hair. He's been pretty gentle so far. Knock on wood!

Here are some of cute pics of Jessa from this last week. Isn't she a beauty?

We're so lucky to have two AWESOME kiddos in our home!

Baby Jessa's here!

We're really excited to announce that we have a new addition to our family.

Baby Jessa Rose was born Wednesday night weighing in at 8 lbs 14 oz and being 21 inches long. She is a beauty and has tons of dark hair.

After three longs days, we were so relieved to have tonight come. Placement happened at LDS Family Services office and was a wonderful experience!
We're so grateful to Jessa's birth mother for her strength and determination. She is wonderful!

Welcome home, baby Jessa! We love you!

Brigham's Summer Fun So Far

Brig's summer has been lots of fun so far. Here's just a few of the fun things he's been up to.

• Boating at Lake Mead

First time knee-boarding at Lake Mead. Thanks for helping me, Daddy!

And fun swimming there with cousin, Bridger.

• "Mom & Me" Swim Class - Brigham LOVES, LOVES, LOVES the water!

Hi There!Practicing on TummyJumping In!

• Camping in the backyard. Well, at least the sleeping part!


• Homemade sand box in the kitchen - using Cream of Wheat! :)

And there's still another month of summer left! Hooray!

Brigham's 2!

Brigham just celebrated his second birthday! I can't believe how fast time flies and how much fun (and craziness) we enjoy with him in our family. What a sweet boy - we love you, Brig!

Brigham loved his turtle cake and enjoyed blowing out the candles multiple times. He talked about his cake all day long and would walk up to people telling them "two" while holding up both index fingers.

Brigham enjoyed having both sets of grandparents over for his party and some of his cousins too. He totally scored with presents and has loved playing with his new things.

Happy Birthday, handsome boy!

Akumal vacation - Ahhh, Relaxation!

I know that I'm pathetically late to be doing this post, but better late than never, right?

We took a family vacation in April down to Akumal, Mexico. It's a small town about an hour south of Cancun and it was a wonderful trip!

We were thrilled to have Mom & Dad and Rachelle, Ira, Bridger, & Avery come with us. The water was so nice and the beaches were perfect! Brigham loved his time with Nanny & Poppi and cousin, Bridger!

Look at these two handsome men - Two of my favorites!
We stayed at an all-inclusive resort down there. It was such a nice place and we loved the variety of food that was available (especially traveling with little ones).

Look at my mom - doesn't she look great!

Jared was the best husband and sent us to get our toen ails painted before the trip. I love to have cute toe nails! I had mine painted blue to coordinate with one of my swimsuits - plus, doing something different sounded fun. We loved the special pampering! Thanks, Baby!
(Chelle's toes, Allyson's toes, Mom's toes)

We went and saw ruins at Coba and Tulum. We really enjoyed both sites, but did think that the visit to Coba was INCREDIBLY HOT! Still, it was a great site to see and a great time with family!

We spent a lot of time at the beaches and swimming pools. Brigham thought the sand was fun to throw, dig in, etc. Doesn't he look like a little muscle-man in his vest? What a handsome boy!

The resort had kayaks that we were able to take out. It was a lot of fun (besides my getting motion sick - surprise, surprise!). Look at Brighams smile - he's been squinting with a huge smile lately when we ask him to say "cheese". :)

We also did quite a bit of snorkeling. There were colorful fish, but my favorite part were the sea turtles. What amazing creatures and I love how tame they are and that you can swim along with them without bothering them.

We really had a wonderful time and feel so blessed that we were able to take such an awesome vacation with wonderful people. We love you guys!

Yikes!

This morning I went outside for a couple of minutes to measure our window wells so that I could order covers for them. I left Brigham inside because it's super cold and I new that I'd only be a couple of minutes. Brigham seemed content to watch through the windows and I didn't see any harm in this idea. (Those of you who have been moms longer than I have are probably smiling right now knowing what can happen when you leave an almost two-year old alone even for just a couple of minutes.)

Anyway, I was really fast in my measuring and quickly returned to my back door. Unfortunately and to my dismay, when I turned the knob I found that I had been locked out of the house. (Didn't know Brig knew how to do that one yet.) I knew that all of the other doors were locked and wasn't sure that Brigham would know what to do when I started asking him to unlock the door. I saw three options at the time: Try to break in (this didn't sound like a good one to me); Call Daddy to come home from work with his house key; Plead and hope that Brig would be capable of unlocking the door - which he's never done before.

I decided that the third option was the best one to start with especially since Brigham was still right there at the door. Thankfully, after lots of gestures, pointing, and talking through the glass door Brigham started trying the lock again and after a few attempts the lock turned back open and I was able to open the door. Hooray!

I couldn't be mad seeing that Brig had know idea that what he had done was naughty, so I just applauded him for obeying Mommy and gave him a treat as a reward.

Phew! What an ordeal!

In the snow he melted...

As noted in our last post, Brigham & I built a VERY HEALTHY -round & plump - snowman last month. Brigham was thrilled with it and checked it out multiple times each day. He would enthusiastically ask "no-me?" to inquire on his precious snowman.



To Brigham's dismay and mom's thrill the days have finally consistenly started to warm up and . . . well, we all know what that means for Mr. "No-Mee".

The initial building of our snowman - see how round he is!

Brigham re-inserting the snowman's buttons after some meltage - can you tell that the sun shines on the snowman's backside?

Hmmm?

(The meltage from picture #2 to picture #3 happened in 24 hours)

I'm thrilled that the majority of the snow in our yard has now melted. Brigham still asks about "No-Me" everytime we head outside. Immediately after comes singing of the snowman song and how he melts. Brigham seems content with that for the time being. I guess we'll be building another snowman if the snow falls and sticks to the ground again this year before spring and summer actually hit.

Gotta love it!

8 week review.....

Crazy how time flies, isn't it? This last eight weeks has been a crazy, wonderful whirlwind. I don't post very regularly, as most of you have already gathered. If I try to force myself to do much more I may never end up getting these posted, so hopefully you don't mind the crazy synopsis. Here goes . . .

Christmas was wonderful this year! We love the holidays at our home and had a great season filled with tons of family and friends. Brigham loved Santa and was so excited to open his presents which made parties and especially Christmas morning memory making moments. Christmas really is SOOO much more fun with kids!

We were thrilled to go with Jared's family to the Draper Temple open house the evening of January 7th. The temple was beautiful and we loved taking Brigham along. He was so enthusiastic during our tour and loved seeing pictures of Jesus and seeing the "cows" in the baptistry. ;)

(Sorry that the picture is such low quality - our camera doesn't take very good night shots.)

Brigham and I had an AWESOME trip out to visit my best friend, Lexie, who lives in Virginia. Brigham did fairly well on the flights (at least that's what everyone else said - I was feeling the heat of the moments, so I was a little flustered off and on). We loved spending time with Todd, Lexie, Lydia, Kastyn, & Luke.

We took a few field trips while we were there including a ride on the Trolly and trip to the library . . .

Brigham LOVED the Merry-Go-Round!

. . . excursion to the Thomas Jefferson themed play place . . .
. . . and visit to Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello! (Thanks Todd for watching the kids that day so Lex and I could go on our own - it was awesome!)

I loved seeing Lexie in her own environment. She is such a good mother, homemaker, and friend. I feel so blessed to be able to still be so close to her.

Grandma & Grandpa C took all of the grandchildren (and their parents) to the Classic Fun Center as a Christmas present. I wasn't sure how much Brigham would be able to do, but was very pleasantly surprised to find that he could participate in a lot of the things and especially loved the blow up slides. (I felt like I'd had a workout after hauling him up to the top over and over again, but it was definitely worth it.) Thanks, Mom & Dad!!!

Brigham and Andrew playing in the balls - we LOVE cousins!

And last but not least, the building of Brigham's FIRST snowman. We've intended to do this before now, but the snow has either been unpackable or we've waited too long and it's gotten crusty. Anyway, Brigham loves being outside and it was fun to work together on the snowman.

Good job, Buddy!Well, that's all for now. Until next time . . .