Spring break

We had original planned to stay around for spring break. With the baby coming and spring ball starting there was a lot that needed to be done around that house. However, plans changed when Jared's mom wasn't doing very good and we felt we should spend some time with Jared's family. We spent most of the week in Colorado and were a little worried when they predicted a severe snow storm to hit Colorado the day before we were scheduled to fly out. Sure enough the day before we left we got hit with over a foot of snow. It took Jared almost 2 hours to shovel the driveway; which he had to do if we wanted to get our car out in the morning. Most of the flights had been cancelled and we were worried if we would be able to fly out. We woke up really early on Friday, and got to the airport about 2 hours before our flight left. I was amazed that we didn't have any trouble and we arrived safely in Utah. We spent the afternoon hanging out with family. About 3 or so I started not feeling very good. I was having some cramping and abdominal pain. I was worried that something was wrong with the baby and told Jared something wasn't right. We had plans that evening so we headed out anyway. I stayed in the car while Jared took Brayden to watch Chase ride his bike and when they returned we headed over to his sisters for dinner. I never made it to his sisters house, about block from the park I had to have Jared pull over and out I went leaving my mark on the side of the road. I found out later it was actually behind the church were Jared and I held our wedding open house. I spent the rest of the evening sick. The next day I tried to be a trooper and join everyone for Frisbee golf, I didn't make it out of the car, but saw the pictures and it looked like a great time.It took Jared awhile to complete the course because Brayden was distracted by the river and the train that passed. Brayden got to take a ride on Logan's long board; which you can tell he liked.

He also spotted Grandpa's tractor in the garage on day, he sat in there for about 2o minutes before we had to drag him out for dinner. He is obsessed with tractors.
While we were there we had a early birthday party for Brayden. Amy threw a cake together made of cookies, it was pretty cute, and Brayden didn't grab for the candle this year, at least not yet!

He also got another tractor!

Brayden got to watch the girls play the Wii, and had a great time on our visit to Utah.

Boise by myself

With Hailey now in Colorado I thought I would take advantage of the babysitter and travel to Boise myself for the first time. First time to travel by myself and the first time to not have Brayden with me. I was a little nervous to go, but was glad I was so busy while I was there. Hailey watched Brayden on Thursday and Jared was able to watch him the rest of the time. Brayden enjoyed going to work with daddy on Friday, and Jared even got him to sleep in this pack and play in his office. I was busy helping with the state dance and cheer competition. It is always a lot of fun for me to work with such good friends. The NCAA men's basketball tournament was in Boise that weekend and I had family that was in town to watch the games. It was nice to spend some time with them and also catch a game myself. I was able to go to the Sunday session and saw Xavier play Wisconsin and Missouri play Marquette. It is always fun to be around that level of play and the excitement the athletes have about their sport. I was traveling home on Monday and got a call that Brayden was sick and that thrown up, I felt bad for Jared having to clean that mess up. I am happy to say they both survived and it was a very happy reunion when I returned.

Disney on Ice

Uncle Cale got us tickets to Disney on Ice; which was a happy moment in Brayden's life. The plot was about the Incredibles which is a favorite movie of his. He watched so intently the first half and even during the second half was pretty into the show. I was amazed that he willingly sat on my lap for over 2 minutes, let alone the 2 hours we were at the show. I can say that probably won't be our last kids event. I just hope all I ever pay for is the ticket and not the cups, balloons, and junk that is so expensive. I wouldn't even pay for a real picture instead we got a picture in front of the $6.00 a bag popcorn stand.

Our new roommates

Hailey and her family have been staying with us and I hope it has been as fun for them as it has been for us. I know she is anxious to get settled into their own place before her baby comes, but we have really enjoyed having them around. We had fondue dessert on Saturday night, we let the kids use toothpicks to dip their strawberries in the chocolate. The tasty treat was enjoyed by them both. We also made cupcakes, and they have learned they want to be around when cupcakes are being made so they can have a little batter. They both end up a mess, but they love it.

They play pretty well together and like always Kira has learned some of Brayden's tricks. She is no longer scared of the giraffe tent we have, and she dives into the ball pit without fear. She also thinks it is a fun game to have timeout; so she'll touch the TV stand and run over to the stairs (the time out step) yelling, "sit, sit". It is pretty funny. Uncle Cale also showed them how to play hide and seek and that has become a house favorite. However, I don't know if Brayden likes playing it or just saying , "one more, one more" every time he finds the person. I think Kira loves waiting behind the blanket more than she likes looking for the person. It has been really fun having them here, especially the night they watched Brayden and Jared and I went on our first date since Brayden was born.

February trip to Boise

In February I traveled back to Boise for a dance competition that I help with. Brayden of course came with as we spent about two weeks in Boise. A week before we left we received news that Hailey's plans had changed and they were no longer moving to Seattle they would be moving to Colorado. I of course was very excited to have some family near by. Cale arrived at our house before I left so we thought it would be fun to send the dads some Valentine's Day cookies. We had the kids help make them. And decorate them. Brayden had fun putting on the candy sprinkles until he tried one and then there was no more decorating, just eating. He did decorate a few that I sent to Jared, with a warning because Brayden had a runny nose and was coughing all over the cookies too, so I told Jared to eat at his own risk.Brayden showing Kira his loving side, such a tight gripping hug.While we were visiting Kira gave us a little scare, and we had to call 911. Kira was fine and the kids got rescue hats from the firemen that came to the house. He thought the hat was pretty cool and the fire truck was awesome, they even gave him a honk goodbye as they drove away.
My cousin Jef and his wife Kara were in Boise while we were there. Brayden loved hanging out with another male of course. He enjoyed building blocks with Jef. It was really good to see them, the timing worked out great!

Our plane ride home was a great because Hailey and Kira were on our flight. I am really excited to have them staying with us for awhile. It will almost be like I am still on vacation.

Christmas in Boise

Sunday Jared was schedule to fly back to Colorado and my dad had planned to come pick Brayden and I up in Utah and drive us back to Boise to stay for a week. With the snow it took my dad a full day of driving to arrive in Utah. I appreciated that he was so willing to take the time to come pick us up. We had decent roads and Brayden was a great traveler. When we arrived Kira and Brayden were excited to see each other. We spent the evening having our Christmas as my parents. We have a tradition where we write about our favorite memory from the year and share it with the family. Jared joined us on the webcam and when Brayden saw his dad he got really sad and started to tear up. He was missing his daddy and he was really saddened that he wasn't with us. Of course, we started playing with Kira and was distracted in no time. Kira and Brayden still love to play their night, night game. They only stay down for a second and then they pop right up.
While we were in Boise we didn't have great weather so we spent a lot of time entertaining the kids inside. We made sugar cookies one day.

And decorated them the next. The kids were both really into cooking, stirring, and helping in the kitchen. Which is great, but they are not always the biggest helpers.

Brayden also enjoyed giving Kira hugs, if that is what you can call them. His hugs can be somewhat aggressive as he squeezes her neck .

The hug is always followed by a kiss. They always have a really good time and even with some of Brayden's abuse, Kira still likes to be around Brayden.

Christmas in Utah

We decided a few weeks before Christmas that it would be really fun to surprise Jared's family by being there for Christmas. With the help of his sister we had everything arranged and we were very excited to pull off the surprise. However, the weekend before our scheduled flight Brayden came down with a cold. He spent most of the weekend feeling pretty miserable, and I was really worried about how deep his cough was. We were scheduled to fly to Salt Lake City Monday night, and Monday morning we were at the doctor, hoping that they wouldn't tell me we shouldn't go. They were able to prescribe him some medicine and went by the drug store to pick up the prescription on our way home. Our flight was delayed and Brayden was exhausted by all the travel so the first night didn't help him in his recovery. We got in really late so the next morning we sent Brayden into Grandma Sandy's room for a very special wake up call. She was shocked and it took her a minute to realize that she wasn't dreaming. It was a long day waiting until Grandpa Jerry got home from work for his big surprise. Even though Brayden wasn't in true character for most of the trip I am glad that we were able to spend Christmas with Jared's family. Jared's family renewed an old family tradition; booby trapping each other Christmas presents. Jared spent several hours on the project and is already talking about next time. Brayden was too tired to experience the party, but we kept him up long enough so he could tell everyone he was going to be a big brother. We went over to see Jared's Grandma and you can tell Brayden wasn't very happy and still feeling pretty sick. By Christmas day he had enough energy to get through opening a few presents and playing with some of his gifts. The big hit was his tractors that Santa brought. He opened them first and we had a hard time getting him to open his other presents.

He also liked his piano, I think he thought he was a big boy and could play like his Uncle Adam and cousin Chase. I sure he was a little confused that we were letting him pound away, because while we were staying at Jared's parents Brayden ended up in our bed most nights. Early one morning Brayden had crawled out of the bed without us know and turned on Uncle Adam's keyboard that was in the room and started pounding on they keys. It was about 5 in the morning when we were abruptly awakened by the beautiful sounds.

I was excited that why we were there a snow storm came through, and Brayden was in heaven when he got to ride in Grandpa's tractor to remove the snow. While he was in the tractor Jared's sister came by on their four wheeler and Grandpa turned the blower on them and they got covered with snow. We also took Brayden sledding, he went down about three times and only fell off the sled once.

I think the walking wore him out, because he hung out with me in the car after about 10 minutes.