Christmas 2009

We had a wonderful Christmas. We took advantage of not have a bowl game and did some really fun things together as a family. We made a Gingerbread Train, rode the little train at the mall to see all the pretty lights, slept underneath the tree, and made lots of holiday treats. Christmas morning Brayden was pretty excited by all his gifts, especially his bulldozer and his Thomas the Train. Here he is later in the day still riding his Thomas the Train.

Going Fishing

Visit to Boise - September

Two days after family left from visiting for Reagan's blessing I was heading to Boise. I didn't realize until we were driving to the airport that it was 9-9-09; which was kinda weird, I didn't know if I really liked that I was flying on that date. We had an early flight and as always felt like we were scrambling to get out of the house on time. I was glad that Jared was able to get a gate assist and help me to the gate. Both flights went as well as I could have hoped; it wasn't easy, but it could have been a lot worse. As we got of the first flight (we had to change planes in Salt Lake) I put Brayden in his monkey backpack and leash so I could keep him close. It was so nice having him attached and not having to chase after him or worry about him getting lost in the crowd of people. It was so funny as we got off the plane I had Brayden go in front of me, we were the last ones off the plane so when we got to the front of the plane I wasn't expecting to see so many people, but they were all waiting for their gate checked bags.  Brayden walked right through the crowd saying, “excuse me everybody”. He got a lot of laughs. He has such a good nature. We arrived in Boise and my dad was waiting there for us. Brayden was so excited to see him. We drove out to their house and Brayden took a nap as the rest of us waited for Hailey, Kira, and Cole to arrive later that day. 

The main reason for the visit back to Boise was to be with Libby when she received her endowment in the Boise Idaho Temple. It was so wonderful to all be together as a family in the Temple. I love my family so much. . I am so proud of Libby and the wonderful, strong, loving person she is. Brayden adores her and I know Reagan will too. It was a great day!After the Temple we took a few pictures and headed back home for a dinner. Joining us at the Temple were Aunt Kathy and Gail Wester. 

I was so thankful that Aunt Teresa and our good friend Pat Wilde were willing to help us by watching our little ones. Lucky for them the kids were awesome. Brayden and Kira slept until 5 and the babies took their bottles like champs. They were spoiled while we were gone. That evening we also watched the CU game. They were playing Toledo and unfortunately got beat. I really hope we pull it together, cause I really like it here in Colorado.

The kids had a blast watching movies before bed while eating popcorn of course.

They also loved being outside any chance they could be. They have such a great time with grandpa outside. They have a blast no matter what they are doing. Even if they are just walking down to get the mail. Brayden really doesn't walk anywhere, it is more of a run.

We have been in Boise for almost a week and we finally got around to riding the horses. I have always wanted Brayden to be able to ride the horses, but we haven’t been at my parents during nice weather since his has been old enough. So we Brayden was pretty excited when he got to final get on a horse. He loves going out with Grandpa to do the chores and feed the horses, but today was a very special day when he got to get on a horse. Brayden had a big smile on his face while he rode the horse. He rode Blue and a few days later rode Maggie. He thinks it is awesome to ride on them.

Reagan even made it out a few times. Check out the rolls on her arms and those cheeks. She is still a little chunk.

She still does a lot of sleeping.

We roasted marshmallows in my mom and dad’s smoke chimney. The kids thought that was a lot of fun too. Brayden was in awe and he got to eat marshmallows. 

I am grateful Reagan is such a great baby, and makes it easy to be able to do so many fun things with Brayden.

It is so nice being at home and having so much help with the kids. While in Boise I always try to see friends. I was able to get to see Biggie play in his football game. It was a lot of work taking both kids, especially because all Brayden wanted to do was play on the playground. I am glad we went we were able to see them for a few minutes. I am amazed at how big their kids are getting. 

 It is also nice because I can get my hair cut and see old friends without having to find a babysitter. Stephanie cut my hair while I visited, she cut about 4 inches off. It will be nice to have a short hair cut that is easy and cute for the winter. I also had an evening where I met up with Rachel and her girls, Emily and her kids, and Natalie Dalos for dinner. It was so good to see all of them and catch up. It really made me miss Boise and the friends that I have there. I was also grateful for the friends I have made in Colorado too. 

Elitch Garden

A few weeks after Reagan was born, the football team had a day at Elitch Garden. Reagan and I stayed home and Jared and Brayden had a great time. Here are some of the fun rides and things they got to do.

Reagan 1 month

Reagan has been a great baby. She has battled a little bit of diaper rash, but she is such a good baby. She is so calm and even tempered. She is such a sweet little one. She makes some awesome noises when she sleeps that sounds like she is a dinosaur. We cal her our little raptor. 

Reagan Christine Aurich

Reagan Christine Aurich was born July 14th, 2009 at 6:03 in the evening. She weighted 9 pounds 7 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. 

She is amazing, she is already filled out and has a little chunk on her. She is gorgeous and we are so excited to have her be part of our family.

 Shortly after they finished checking her out, Hailey walked in with Brayden. Brayden was touching her feet, and he was really cute about meeting her for about 2 minutes then he just wanted to see what all the hospital stuff was. I was pretty disappointed that Hailey didn't make it in time for the birth, but I am glad she was one of the first to meet Reagan. Cole and Reagan are two weeks apart and were delivered in the same hospital by the same doctor.Here she is getting ready to go home, here outfit barely fit her. She is still so tiny to me, but a little to big for the outfit. I can't imagine having a baby any smaller. She seems to be a really good baby and is precious.Here is Brayden holding Reagan after we returned home. It was hard to be away from him in the hospital, it is nice to be all together as a family of four.

When is she coming

I am getting pretty close to my due date and I am thinking she should be arriving any time. I feel and look like she should already be here. I am just amazed at how big your body and belly can get. I feel like I have a huge ball in my belly.
Brayden wanted to show off his belly too.
While I have the belly I guess I should use it for something. Cole rested perfectly on the huge belly.
This was the night before I had the baby, I think it is bigger than the first picture (is that possible).

Fourth of July

We celebrated Fourth of July a little early this year on the 3rd. There is a golf course near our house which is the University of Colorado's home golf course, and they have a big Fourth of July celebration. It was so nice that it was close to our house and because Jared works for the university they had a roped off section for all the families to sit in with an awesome view of the fireworks. Hailey and her family and my mom also joined us at the golf course. We got there about an hour before dark so we could let Brayden run around and do some of the bouncy slides they had. I was getting a lot of stares because of my huge belly. I heard several people say, "look at her"...oh well.
Brayden had a little fun going through the maze which ended in a slide. This was not his favorite, but he went on it with his dad.
We had a blast watching the fireworks and eating kettle corn. Brayden wasn't too freaked out by the fireworks which was nice. It was a lot of fun and I am really glad we went. The morning of the 4th we had a church party. They served breakfast and had some crazy games that were pretty entertaining to watch and then they had the kids bike parade. Most of the kids decorated their bikes, but not us we are always so last minute we didn't have anything to decorate with. The kids then ride around the hockey rink and wave and then crash into each other because there are so many kids. Brayden still can't reach the peddles so Jared had to push him around the rink. Brayden was having so much fun...
...until he crashed. There was a huge pile up of bikes so Jared tried to miss the pile up and cause Brayden to fall of the bike causing our own accident. He went from time of his life fun to tears.
You can see the tears still running down his face.
He stopped crying when I told him he was going to mess up his firework painting on his cheek. It was a lot of fun; I really like our ward.

Hailey had her baby

My sister had her baby! She had a big baby boy. He was 9 lbs 5 oz and he was long. The labor went pretty quick and she only pushed for a short time before he arrived. This is giving me some hope that this time around it may be this smooth for me. She delivered during the night so I was able to leave the Brayden and Kira asleep at home with Jared.
Kira stayed at our house while Hailey and Cale were in the hospital. It was a lot of fun seeing her meet her new baby brother for the first time. This is Kira taking her Brother Cole home from the hospital, she loves him so much.

Rocky Mtn National Park - Camping with the Westers

We had our final weekend of camping before the baby came. We decided to go with Hailey and her family to Rocky Mountain National Park again. We stayed at Moraine Park campground. We got up to the campground around 4 and starting getting the camp site ready. Hailey had bought a little chair for Brayden and Kira to each have. They thought it was so fun to sit in their very own chair that was just their size. As you can see they didn't do much sitting they were constantly climbing on the rocks around the campground and being really brave (a little too brave at times) as they jumped off the rocks.
After eating a very yummy peach cobbler it was time to go to bed and while Brayden had become a pro at sleeping in the tent this was Kira’s first time of the year. Our tents basically touched so what was said in one tent could be heard in the other. After getting Brayden to sleep in about 5 minutes Jared and I then listened to Kira for the next 30 minutes or so saying, “Hi Mommy”, “Hi Daddy”, “Go Nigh Nigh”. The next morning as soon as the sun came up around 5:30 so was Kira. I don’t think she understood why her mom and dad were still trying to sleep when it was light outside. We then heard her say, “Hi Mommy”, and “Hi Daddy” over and over again. Hailey later told us that she kept poking her finger in Cale’s eye trying to get him to open his eyes and wake up. She finally went back to sleep and we were able to get a little more rest before we started our day. The next day we rode up Trail Ridge Road, I am not a fan of the road, it is really steep and I have decided I am scared of heights.

At the top it was really cold and windy so we ate our packed lunch inside the visitor center. We decided to head back to camp in hopes of taking a family nap. It was fun crawling into the tent to all lay down for a bit.
We had smores after dinner and Brayden kept trying to sneak marshmallows out of the bag. The next morning we had breakfast and packed up and headed for home.