Thoughts Today

I haven't posted in such a long time. We have been pretty busy with the events going on lately which I will post about later, but I read my sis-in-law Natalie's blog this morning and it made me really reflect on everything that I have to be grateful for. So here goes my list:
-I am so grateful first of all for my husband. He is amazing in every way possible and is my rock and my strength and I never could have made it through Brogen's surgery without him. This was by far the biggest trial and hardest thing I have ever gone through and while I found every possible negative thing to say about our situation he was always right there with something positive.
-I am so grateful for both of our families. Without our families we have nothing and I love spending time with all of them. I remember my mom telling me when I was a teenager that friends would come and go but your family would always be there and how true that is! My family has been there through thick and thin and I am so grateful to all of them for everything. Jared and I have amazing mom's who are always willing to drop everything and come and help out with Brogen and he love's his grandmas! I am so grateful for my grandparents and for the examples that they are and all the help they have given us throughout the years. They have always been so generous with their time and resources to help us out.
-I am grateful for sight, smell, touch, health, and all those things that I take for granted everyday. I love this time of year when all the trees change to the beautiful fall colors and the air is cold and crisp and the mountains all around us.
-I am grateful for the gospel, prayer, fasting, and blessings. I have to admit that this past seven months my faith has been tested and there were days that I was so bitter at God for not answering my prayers and I was so mad that Brogen had to go through so much. At the same time I know that he was helping me through this time and blessing me even when I refused to recognize my blessings. I felt his love for me and overwhelming peace on the day of Brogen's surgery and I know that many prayers were offered on our behalf. I am so grateful for the atonement and the sacrifice of the Savior and the opportunity I have to be forgiven and to better myself.
-I am grateful for the opportunity to be a mom. This has been the most humbling amazing experience for me. I have learned so much about myself as a person and it has made me more aware of my weaknesses and strengths. I am learning patience and selflessness and everything that I lacked before and I never knew that I could love a child so much. I know how it feels to love unconditionally. When he is hurting or sad it makes my heart ache and when he is happy and laughing I am so happy. I want whats best for him and I worry and stress over him and just love him so much I can't even stand it! There are so many things that I get to experience as a mother and I am so grateful for it!

5 Months!

So this post is a few days late but better late than never. My little bubbers is 5 months old already. I know I say this every month but I wish the time didn't go so fast. I love this little guy more than life itself and can't believe how much he has brought to my life. Here are a few new things he is doing since last month.
He can sit up all by himself and prefers to do that over anything else

He LOVES his rice cereal! I can't spoon it in his mouth fast enough for him and so he yells between every bite

He has started arching his back and kind of throwing little fits and tries to escape off my lap

He sucks in his bottom lip and looks like such a gummer

He still has no teeth even though I swear he is teething every other day

He went through a little phase where he woke up every 3 hours in the night and was fussy and thought he needed to eat. Needless to say Mom and Dad are so happy that was a 2 week phase!

His little phase prompted a trip to the doc to make sure he didn't have ear infections and he weighed in at 16 pounds 6 ounces fully clothed. Chunk!!! We were informed with a smile that he was just fine and welcome to parenthood!

He isn't really a fan of his binky anymore except to go to sleep

He loves his cousins and loves when Broc does silly dances for him

He will not lay back in his car seat, he sits forward until he falls asleep and then I have to push him back against it. I think this kid is always going to fight sleep!

He gets so excited when I clap for him and say Yeah Brogen! He squeals and kicks his legs

He pushes off when he is on his stomach and manages to get to things he wants. I don't think it will be too long before he is crawling!

He smiles at anyone who will talk to him and is quite the flirt with all the ladies when he comes to mommy's work. He is such a happy boy!

Smile Creations Portrait Studio

I had to post these pictures because they turned out so cute. My friend Becky just opened up her own Portrait Studio in St. George called Smile Creations. I am so proud of her for doing it! We went in Wednesday to get some pictures and support Beck and these are just a couple of the many cute ones we got. I think she does a great job! If anyone is interested she has an awesome August special going on right now, 6 poses, 3 sheets, free enhancements, and a collage for $39.99. Her phone number is 688-9363 and she is over by Great Harvest. Give her a try, you won't be disappointed! Isn't my little guy the cutest! I love love love his smile and little dimples!

4 Months Old

I can't believe I am writing this 4 month post! Where has the time gone? We had Brogen's 4 month appointment today and he is doing amazing. This months stats: 14 lbs. 14 ounces and 25.79 inches long. He is in the 50% for weight and 80% for height. I don't know where he gets his long legs from but we know its not from me! He had to get his shots today and he was a brave little boy. He only cried for a few minutes. He was as happy as could be when we got home but is starting to get a little fussy. Brogen continues to amaze us everyday with the new and cute things he does. We just can't get enough of him. Sometimes I feel like we maul the poor little guy to death. He sure is loved! Things to remember about Brogen at 4 months:

He is rolling over and back with no problems and is now a pro at tummy time

He laughs out loud especially for daddy at all the funny faces he pulls and he is very ticklish on his legs, stomach, and neck

He pulls his binky out and then tries to put it back in, sometimes he can get it

He loves to stand up on your lap and then walk up the front of your body. That always puts a smile on his face no matter what

He holds on to the bottle when daddy is feeding him but can't quite hold it all by himself

He can grab and hold onto his toys and loves to play on his floor gym

He likes us to read books to him

He thinks he is a big boy and does not like to lay back in the slightest bit unless he is eating or going to sleep

He has started doing this little thing where when he is nursing he latches on and then pulls right off and looks around the room and then latches back on, takes two swallows and is back off again looking around. Just can't stand to miss anything. It drives mommy crazy!

Next we are going to try the rice cereal and letting him cry a little bit to get him to sleep through the night. Wish us luck! P.S. Thanks Karalynn for making the cute onsies with ties to match daddy. They look adorable!

New Haircut

Brogen's hair has been falling out like crazy. He was born with a ton of dark hair and it keeps getting lighter and thinner. He is now completely bald on top and then had a line of bald around his head complete with a long little mullet in the back. We finally decided that it was time for a haircut and we are trusting Shanette that its going to grow back in better and thicker! So we let Aunt Nat take the clippers to him. We were sad to cut his hair but now his whole head matches the top of his head where the new hair is coming in. He looked so cute in the little kid cape that Nat put on him, and he was such a little trooper and sat still the whole time which for anyone who knows Brogen that is a complete miracle! I was like the paparazzi the whole time snapping pictures like crazy and we were laughing and he started to wonder what was going on and thats when he stuck out his bottom lip and almost started to cry. It was so cute!

Before the haircut














Still smiling














Holding so still for Aunt Nat




























I think he must be sad about losing his mullet!














The end result. Now bring on the new hair!!!

3 Months Old!

Well a month came and went without me doing a post but I figured I would just skip the 2 month and go right for the 3 month update. We are loving Brogen more and more everyday and he just gets funner every minute. His personality is really starting to show and he is a spunky little thing! Sorry for the long list but I have to do this for journaling. Things to remember about Brogen at 3 months:

He is sleeping longer at nights and last night he made it 8 straight hours. Yahoo!

He loves his hands and has them in his mouth every second. Sometimes he spits out his binky so he can suck on his fists.

He laughs out loud now and makes so many cute sounds. He loves attention and is so smiley to anyone who will talk to him. He loves watching his cousins entertain him with their running around and acting silly.

This isn't anything new, but he never sits still. If he is awake his arms and legs are flying! He even works up a sweat!

He is a freakin chunk! He could hide things in his fat rolls if he wanted and weighs around 15 pounds now.

His poor little hair line keeps getting further and further back and his hair is thinning like crazy. Please grow some new hair!

He reaches for toys and can grab on to some of them. He loves to lay on his little jungle pad and grab at the toys.

He has a little blankie that he likes to hold on to and sleep with.

He can roll from his stomach to his back and almost rolled from his back to stomach. It won't be long now. He hates tummy time so we have to fight him to do it and he only lasts for a few minutes.

He sits up in his bumbo and we read books to him and that is about the only time he sits still. He loves to look at the bright colors in the books.

He continues to amaze us everyday with his cute little personality. We love him to pieces and just can't get enough of the cute boy!

A Name and a Blessing

On June 7, 2009 we blessed Brogen in my parents ward up in Enterprise. That morning he was so happy and smiling and making the cutest sounds. Its like he knew what was coming. We had a lot of family and friends that were there to support us. Jared gave an awesome blessing and even gave him the right name (him and my dad were joking about how my dad was going to say some completely different name just to rile me up). Jared got a little emotional during the blessing which I thought was adorable and just showed how much he loves his little man. I thought Brogen looked so handsome in his little white suit and he was so sweet through it all only giving one little yell through the whole thing. Afterwards we all packed in to my parents house for a yummy dinner provided by my mom. Thanks for all your hard work mom! It was a really great day. We didn't get many pictures because he hated being in the outfit but we got a couple.

One Month Old Already!

Wow! Time is really flying. I can't believe my little man is one month old already! It is going by too fast for me. I love being with him and he seems to change a little bit everyday. We were so excited when he finally made eye contact with us and now sometimes I will catch him just staring up at me. I love it! We have been getting smiles for awhile now but finally managed to catch it on camera. His little smile with his dimple is all it takes to melt my heart. Lets just say that he already has Mommy and Daddy wrapped around his little finger and he pretty much calls the shots around here. We just adore this little guy! He finally gets to have baths in the big tub and he either loves his bath or hates it, depending on his mood and there doesn't seem to be a happy medium. He really is a pretty content happy baby but doesn't really appreciate his diaper getting changed and sometimes he screams! I think I am doing him a pretty big favor by changing him but apparently he would rather lay in his poop all day. He usually goes to bed for the night anywhere between 10:00 and midnight and we have to wake him up for his feedings. We let him go for one 4-5 hour stretch and then the rest of the time we wake him up every three hours. Thats what the doctor ordered so thats what we do. Brogen must know that I get a little cranky when I don't get much sleep and he is really good at sleeping at night. His daddy already loves to pester and tease him and if you notice in the picture below Brogen is hungry and rooting around for food and one of Jared's favorite things is to put his nose up to his lips and sure enough he latches right on! He thinks he is hilarious.

Sneak Peak

Morgan and Karisti came down last Wednesday and Morgan took some dang cute pictures of Brogen. Thanks for taking pictures Morgan and for being such a good sport when he pooped and peed on you and all of your stuff! I know we are pretty biased but we think he is the cutest thing ever. He is already growing up too fast for us. It seems like he changes in looks everyday. He had his 2 week appointment today and he now weighs 7 lbs. 10 ounces so we were really happy he has gained weight. He even grew an inch and is 21 inches long. We love this little guy more than anything. Things to remember about Brogen at 2 weeks: his little lamb cry (seriously its his fake cry and he sounds like a little baby lamb), if he is awake he is usually squirming, he throws major attitude when getting his diaper changed, clothes changed, and having his bath, He has the cutest little smile and one dimple on his right cheek, (just a gas smile, we havc yet to see a real smile) He is such a sweet little baby and would probably sleep all night long if we let him. Brogen is the best thing to happen to Jared and I and we feel so lucky to be his parents.

Baby Brogen

Finally time for a post! Brogen is now 9 days old and I still can't believe that he is really here and that he is really ours. Here are some pictures from his first few mintues in this world. Some people want to hear the story and for those who don't stop reading cuz it will probably be long. I was really nervous the night before so I had Jared and my uncle Jeff give me a blessing. I felt so much better and knew everything was going to be ok. We woke up really early on Friday morning because we had to be at the hospital at 5:30 to be prepped and ready for surgery at 7:00. We got there and they started my IV and then there was some paperwork that had to be filled out. I was getting really apprehensive to get the spinal shot and was scared it was going to hurt so bad. I just had all these things going through my head, mostly that I was going to see my baby and hear his first little cries in less than an hour. My nurses were awesome, and the one that went into surgery with me is the nurse that taught our birthing class. The wouldn't let Jared in while they gave me the spinal so she held on to me. Not even as bad as I imagined and it started working immediatly. They had me lay down and started getting everything ready. They let Jared come in and he sat up by my head and after making sure I was good and numb they got started. It was completely nerve racking knowing what they were doing to me but I just couldn't wait to get my baby. The doctors were joking and laughing talking about random stuff while they did their work. They asked what his name was going to be and so I told them if he had brown hair it would be Brogen and if he had none or blonde it would be Connor. Finally they said they could see his feet and Jared peeked over the curtain just in time to see him come out. The doctor said it looks like he is going to be Brogen! It was the most amazing and spiritual experience to hear his little cries. We waited so long for this little guy. They let me see him for just a second and then they took him over to weigh him and get him cleaned up. I could hear the nurses dying over his eyebrows and his hair and how cute he was. I was excited to hear that he weighed 7 lbs 3 ounces cuz that is what I weighed when I was born, and he was 20 inches long. After what seemed like forever Jared brought him over and held him close to me. I couldn't believe he was really here! The nurses were awesome, they just took the camera and started snapping pictures for us which we so appreciate having. They also let Jared take Brogen outside the operating room where my mom and Sara were waiting anxiously to see him. After they finished stitching me up they moved me to recovery and I finally got to hold my baby. I never knew I could love something so instantly! He immediatly melted my heart and his daddys! We stayed in the hospital until Monday morning. The recovery has been painful but it gets better everyday. We had a lot of friends and family come to visit and we are so grateful for all they do for us, especially for our moms, who stayed with us, and fixed us yummy food and helped out wherever they could. We feel so blessed to have Brogen in our lives and I love being a mom no matter how many hours I am up in the night, every second is worth it. Jared is such a good daddy and so cute with him! I can't wait for all the fun we are going to have being parents.

Baby Brogen Blad!

Brogen was born on April 17th at 7:19 a.m. He weighed 7.3 and is 20in long.

He has tons of dark hair and very cute little eyebrows to match!

He is a little angel and we are all so happy he is here! This is just a sneak peak but there are more pictures to come as soon as mom and baby are home!

And The Verdict Is..........

Baby Blad will make his debut into the world on April 17th! We got to pick the day and with school and work we thought a Friday would be the best. Kind of funny to pick your child's birthday. Yesterday I had to go over to the hospital and have the tests done again and my fluid is the same which isn't great but better than it being lower, and the baby looked good but the little stinker is still breech. So then I headed over for my regular Dr. appointment. I had been having quite a few contractions this week so I thought maybe I was dialated. I decided I wanted to be checked just for curiosity purposes since I'm having a c-section it doesn't really matter. Well its not the most comfortable thing and after all that, I am still at a 1!!! If I was having this baby on my own I would probably be going way over my due date! So we only have a week and a day until we get to hold and kiss this little baby we have waited so long for. I have a lot of mixed emotions but I know once he is here everything will just work out. We are going to be busy this next week getting the house cleaned and just making sure everything is ready. I decided to take Thursday off from work to just have a day to myself and I am going to go get a pedicure and just relax. Jared is going to take a half day off so we can just spend some time together, he is so busy with school that we don't get much time together. So the countdown begins, only 5 more days of work. You have no idea how happy that makes me! I will update and post pictures as soon as I can.

Baby Update

The past couple days have been a little stressful but things are looking up. I went in for an ultrasound on Tuesday because I have been measuring small at my last few appointments and since I have a pocket on my placenta they wanted to make sure it wasn't causing me any problems. Well the ultrasound tech gave me just enough information to give me a complete freak out. First of all he is breech which didn't make me very happy and he was measuring all weird and his abdomen was measuring smaller which made me think something was wrong with the way he is developing and she wouldn't give me any straight answers! When I asked if that meant there was a problem she said well it could mean that. Then she tells me that my amniotic fluid is really low and that she needed to talk to the doctor. I guess they like it to be over 10 and mine was at a 7. When it gets to a 5 they take the baby because that is really bad. So she leaves me to freak out inside while she talks to the doctor which seems like forever. She comes back and said that I need to go have some tests at the hospital tomorrow and that the doctor wanted to see me in the morning after my appointment. She said the baby wasn't in immediate danger but that things could go that way so I needed to make sure he is moving. Then she asked if I had my crib ready and had taken the tags off the baby clothes. Pretty much she raised my blood pressure sky high! I leave thinking there is something abnormal with my baby and that I could be having him tomorrow after the tests at the hospital. I was a bawling mess that night and Jared and Terron gave me a blessing which made me feel so much better. So Wednesday I go to the hospital for my tests and it ended up I didn't have to get poked in the belly with a needle like I though (whew!) and they just did a stress test and checked the fluid again. This technician thought the fluid was at an 8 and the baby did good on the stress test so I already felt a million times better. Then off to my doctor appointment, and I left there feeling even better than before. He explained everything to me that I was concerned about and he is not growing abnormally. Baby is breech and because of my low fluid level and the stress he is already under, the doctor doesn't think it is a good idea to try to turn him and doesn't think because of those reasons that it would even work but is going to let me think about it. . They are going to keep an eye on my fluid and I go back every week to repeat the tests at the hospital. I was dialted to a 1 which doesn't really matter anyways, we decided to just go ahead with the C section unless by some miracle he turns on his own. He said he would schedule me next week and I will get to go a little early so it looks like 2 1/2 more weeks and we will get to meet our little boy. I was really disappointed when I found out I had to have a C section but I decided the most important thing is to just get him here healthy and the rest doesn't matter. I am really excited and nervous to think that he will be here so soon. I can't wait to see him and kiss his fat little cheeks! I will let you all know when we know the exact date.

Baby Shower, 34 Week Belly Pic

This last weekend was my baby shower in Enterprise put on by my mom, sisters, and sister-in-law. It was so fun and all their hard work paid off it turned out really good! They had everything decorated so cute with blue and brown. We had a couple fun games and then some yummy croissant sandwiches and a chocolate fountain with all the good stuff to go with it. I had a lot of friends and family there to support me and lets just say that Baby Blad is pretty spoiled already! I got a lot of cute stuff! Thanks everyone that came and thanks mom and sis's for putting it on for me! Check out the huge diaper cake, I thought it was so cute! So I posted another belly picture but I think this will be the last one. I really don't like to see myself in pictures because it shows how big I really am. I swear my face is twice the size and I have more chins than a chinese phone book. Ha ha! Now that I am nearing the end, I have about 5 1/2 weeks left, I am starting to really feel the aches and pains of pregnancy and I finally had to go and buy real prego pants which was a little disappointing but I am going more for comfort at this point. I have gained 29 pounds so far (not cool) and I am starting to feel the backaches, a little swelling, and insomnia! I wake up at 3 and 4 in the morning and can not go back to sleep! I don't want to complain but I now know why people try so hard to make themselves go into labor before the due date! I have a lot of mixed feelings as I am nearing the end of my pregnancy. I am super excited but I also feel really overwhelmed when I stop and think about what is really happening. I have doubts and fears about whether I am cut out to be a mom and if I am going to know what the heck I am doing. I know our lives are going to change dramatically but I think it will be a good change. I can't wait to get this little guy here and I will be so relieved when I know that he is healthy and everything is ok. We also can't wait to see who he looks the most like. We have narrowed it down to two names now, Brogen and Connor but we aren't for sure which one yet. We eliminated Teegan because everyone said they only knew girls named that, and Jared was not having that, and then Aaden is too popular of a name right now and we wanted something a little different so that is how we got to our last two names. I have got the nursery about half done so when I get that all the way done I will post some pictures for sure. If anyone has any advice on how to make these last few weeks fly by please share!

Catching Up Again

I am really trying hard to do better with updating my blog but I always seem to let too much time go by and then I have a ton to talk about. This past weekend my little nephew Broc came down to have a sleepover. He turns 6 in May and I swear he can't be that old already! I have always felt a special little bond with Broc, I got to be there when he was born and it was the most awesome experience to hear his first little crys. He is always so happy and fun to be around and so freaking smart he keeps us all laughing. For years my nephews and neice have been like my own kids and I have loved spending time with them and spoiling them. They were always that bright little spot in my life whenever I was having a hard time. I was so afraid that when i got married that things would change but thank heavens that Jared loves the kids as much as I do and the kids LOVE him. I am really glad that I got to spend time with just Broc for the weekend before this baby comes and I hope I can still be a fun aunt and spend time with them. We took him to play laser tag, watched a movie, played legos, Wii, and had lots of fun at Fiesta Fun. Here are a few pics from our weekend with Broc

Playing legos

Riding the bumper boats and soaking each other

My other cute little nephew Brayden got to come and spend a couple hours at fiesta fun with us

Hope you had as much fun as we did Broc!

And finally everyone has been asking for a belly pic of me and as much as I don't want to show how big I am here you go. Enjoy!

I just had an appointment today and Baby Blad is measuring in at 27 weeks! I have gained 14 pounds so far and from here on out should gain a pound a week. Sucks to be me! I have 3 months left so you do the math. He is so active, I feel him moving constantly and I love it! I don't know when he sleeps though, kind of makes me think he is going to be a wild child when he gets here cuz he never holds still. I think I will really miss feeling him kicking around. Jared loves to talk to him in my tummy and sometimes we are quite entertained watching my stomach move all around. We have our crib and our stroller and should be getting the dresser in a couple of weeks so when we get the nursery all done I will post some pictures. We are having a really hard time deciding and agreeing on a name and hopefully I won't be adding anymore names to the poll. I hope we have it narrowed down to at least two by the time he is born but we are pretty indecisive so I am not planning on it. If anyone has any cute names for us let us know! I am also having a hard time finding bedding that I like so if anone knows where to get super cute bedding clue me in!

Happy New Year!!!

Ok so I am officially the worst at updating my blog. So much has happened since my last post so this is probably going to be really long and boring. I guess i will just start with Christmas break cuz I don't want to go back too far. We started off Christmas break in Enterprise. We got there around noon on Christmas Eve day and we headed up to the rock pit with Sara, Terron, Jed, Karisti, Broc, and Brayden to go tubing down the hills. Being prego puts a damper on having fun sometimes so I was the camera girl and took lots of pics. It was fun to watch them though. Jared brought his snowboard and everyone was lovin taking turns on that. I didn't get very many good pictures because my battery died but here are a few.

Christmas Eve was so fun we ate lots of good food, my mom fixed navajo tacos and we had my favorite Christmas slush (it had lots of sugar and the baby was kicking like crazy) then we played some bunco and got some awesome prizes. My mom always puts a lot of effort into making the party awesome. Thanks mom! Sara and Terron stayed over also that night which was really fun so we opened our Christmas pajamas and hit the sack!

Here we are on Christmas morning at my parents house. We got spoiled again and my favorite present of all is the temple picture I have been wanting forever. Jared got some Wii stuff and some clothes and even Baby Blad had some presents under the tree.

The weather on Christmas day was horrible but we ended up venturing out to see what all the kids got which is one of my favorite parts. My mom made all the traditional food that day with Ham and cheesy potatoes and we pretty much just hung around the house all day because of the crappy weather. Friday was more sledding, food, and fun. Saturday we drove to Kanosh to spend some time with Jareds family and it was so fun to be there with them. We played a lot of Scum and a new game called 10,000 which was super fun and ate more yummy food, I think I gained a few pounds over the holidays! Me and Jared have both been off work pretty much since the 23rd and it has been so fun to spend time with family and just be together. We are so excited for everything this New Year is going to bring and we can't believe that in 4 months we are going to be parents. It gets more and more real all the time and we just can't wait to get him here and see what he looks like. On another note, we start school tomorrow and we also go back to work so life will be super busy again. One of my New Year's Resolutions is to update my blog more often. Ha ha we will see how that works out. We just want to wish all our friends and family a Happy New Year!