Brody Update...

So I know all of you who are aware Brody was born early is anxious to know how he is doing and see recent photos. I have just the update in store for you! Brody is doing just great! He is still in NICU to finish his round of antibiotics which will probably go until Friday or Saturday. On top of finishing those he must be gaining weight, holding his temperature and eating exclusively from the nipple whether nursing or bottle. So far, he is off the oxygen as you can tell by pictures and he is nursing twice a day and I might add, he won't starve. He is a wonderful eater and he knows what to do better than Brylie did. We are very encouraged by these accomplishments and anticipate him to succeed at the others shortly. We thank you for your concern, love and support! The rest of the family is doing as well as can be expected away from our little guy. It's amazing how quickly you can love and recognize the absence of a new addition. We definitely miss our Brody and can't wait for the chance to bring him home.

Happy Happy Birthday!!!

Well, I would be a terrible wife if I let this day go without mentioning the it's
BRAD's BIRTHDAY!!! And what better way to celebrate than by posting a giant announcement on a public blog!!! And to prove our love for our Brad, we have chosen to display one of our most favorite pictures of him. We hope that he has the most excellent birthday for he is very deserving!!! We love you, Dad!!

He's here...and he's early!

Well, Saturday night brought us quite the surprise when Brody decided to be born! My water broke around 6:45 pm so instead of us babysitting our nephew Jonas, Shay and Chelsea ended up staying at our house and babysitting Brylie while we went to the hospital. Everything went very fast and at 2:52 am, Brody was born. He had a little trouble breathing due to how early he was and so they kept him at the hospital to get a round of antibiotic and help his lungs figure things out a little bit better. We are so grateful for modern day medicine and the miracles fasting and prayer bring. We know that all of the prayers and fasting on our behalf have been heard and answered. Thank you to all our family and friends who have been so supportive! If all goes as planned, we should be bringing Brody home on Wednesday. Here are some pictures of him.

Getting behind...

Sometimes I feel like I'm totally with it when it comes to housework and motherhood. The house looks good and I would feel semi-comfy if I caught Brylie licking off the kitchen floor, the laundry is done with only a day or so of clothes to be done, or I can feel comfortable when someone drops by unexpectedly because I vacuumed the day before or even that day. It's amazing how closely my self-esteem is tied to these little ridiculous things. For instance, this weekend, Brylie was not feeling well. She had no symptoms but a fever probably due to her recent vaccinations but the whole weekend, all she wanted was to be held in a blanket. And I was very glad to do this because she is almost never cuddly so this was prime opportunity for me to get my fix of baby cuddling with my not-so-cuddly little girl. However, I wasn't able to get my list of chores done that I typically do on a daily basis. I have quite an easy routine that allows me to do everything to keep the house spic and span without doing housework all day long. I rather pride myself on it if you want to know the truth. But I found it very interesting how not vacuuming or dusting or sweeping the kitchen floor made me feel a little depressed. And it's not that Brad didn't do anything to help either. He is very good at picking up the pieces when I'm not able to do it so our house doesn't look like a pigsty at all, but just the fact that I didn't do those things myself made me feel a little down and sluggish. Hopefully Brylie's fever will go away completely and she'll start feeling and acting like herself so that we can get back into the swing of things just in time to let it all go again when the baby brother is born. I've decided that that is what life is like; finally catching up so that you can get behind again. What a roller coaster ride! And I rather enjoy it!!

Look who's 1!!!

I can't believe I am the mother of a one year old!!! The time has flown by so quickly! One funny thing Brad said to me this morning is, "Hey, we made it. Our kids are at least one year apart. The future can only be predicted by the past." That is the ongoing joke at our house that fourteen months after this baby is born, we'll have our third and it will be twins!?! You never know what Heavenly Father has in store for us...I've probably jinxed us. I'm glad to already have 2 kids (more or less) though. And if they are all as delightful as the girl, I would be happy with 12 (jinxed myself again). So on to the festivities. At our little shindig for Brylie, we had many family members attend! Thanks to all who came. It was quite the party! And I can't believe how many gifts she received. Thanks for those also! She is a spoiled little girl! Here is a little video we took of her eating her cake...I am surprised how uninterested she was in it because she is such a good eater (like her mother!!). Mostly I think she just wasn't used to feeding herself cuz I am paranoid she'll choke and I'll panic, blah, blah, blah (anxiety much?) so I feed her most of the time unless I have broken the food up into minuscule pieces therefore not giving her the chance to practice chewing. What else can I do to mess up her life? I think I taught her that face!! Well, on to the video. This one's for you Mom! Thanks again for all the gifts and excitement!! We missed those who couldn't make it and we love you all!!