Poor Santas...

What were the men who pretend to be Santa thinking when they volunteered to dress up in thier red suits? Were they thinking about my daughter? I am sure if they were, they would have thought twice!!! This is Braelyn last year on Santas lap....

This is her this year. We even went to two different Santas, and the second one Santa just pulled Matt on his lap too because she was freaking out so bad.

At this point I ask myself, should we be saying poor Santa or our poor children who we force to sit on a complete strangers lap who is dressed in a funny get-up?

Braelyns Christmas Gift

I know that Christmas is still eight days away, but it came in the mail today and I just had to set it up. We are going to St. George for Christmas, so it's not like she was going to open it Christmas morning anyways =) We got her a bike cart that converts into a double jogger. She is already having so much fun in it and she hasn't even been out on a bike ride yet!

Here are some pictures...

What a silly girl =)

It's All Worth It...

As most of you know, I have had a lot of pain with this pregnancy. I have been to the hospital twice, missed four days of work, and been hunched over in pain for hours at a time with nothing to even help relieve the pain. This all started last Sunday before Jer was to give his son a blessing. I feel so rotten for missing the blessing and for making Matt miss it, but I am so grateful to have a family that understands. Why am I telling you this? I don't want pity, I just wanted to write about what has come of it. I have been praying for help with the pain and I have recieved that help. It is not gone, but it is tolerable. I don't know whether my body is just used to the pain now or if the pain has lessened, but it is tolerable. So my prayer was answered. The power of prayer is truely amazing. I was also praying for understanding and for guidance. I now understand that no matter what this pregnancy causes me, I am so very grateful to be carrying my son. I know that no matter what happens, he is supposed to be here during this time and I was the one chosen to raise him. So to the bumps along the way I say, "BRING IT ON!!!" because I know I have the most powerful ally, My Heavenly Father. I also have a family who I know will be there no matter what happens. All the trials we go through are worth it in the end, because you would never be able to enjoy life the same without them.

I love my hubby!

Through these last couple days, my husband has been a really big help! I have been having some severe abdominal discomfort (streching pains) and he has been so kind as to stay home from work (Monday) and run around and do whatever it is that I need him to do (I am pretty sure he ran to the store every hour to get something else to ease the pain). He has taken care of Braelyn without any breaks and let me sleep for almost two days straight. He has cooked and cleaned without any complaint. I don't think that he could prove his love or devotion to me anymore than he has. I may call him immature and give him a hard time about not doing something, but I know that he always does his best and is getting better at doing the little things that count. He probably won't read this, but I just want everyone to know how much I love and appreciate him and despite what all you other married women might think, I am the luckiest wife in the Universe!!!

Donut Addict...

So my daughter has become a victim, much like myself, to the donut. I bring home the bag and she knows what it is. She has also figured out how to pull the donuts out of the bag... not good. Maybe it is my fault, ok it is totally and completely my fault, but I don't give them to her all that often. She still eats her fruits and veggies despite my husband and I corrupting her with goodies. I am not sure how much longer it will last, but at least for now she still eats everything. =)

Happiness is a Journey, Not a Destination

This is an e-mail that I got from my sister-in-law, so if you've read it already, that's ok. It's good enough to read twice =)

We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we're frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are. After that, we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We'll certainly be happy when they're out of that stage.

We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire.
The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when ?
Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway.

One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D. Souza. He said, "For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, or a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life."
This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time with...and remember that time waits for no one.

So, stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you're off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you've had a drink, until you've sobered up, until you die, until you're born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy.

Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

A Trip To Wal-Mart

Braelyn is quite the social bug. We go to Wal-Mart and she will smile for anyone and I mean ANYONE who says, "Hello!" Today I went to get a few things and she was just being a screecher not really screaming, just screeching at me every 30 seconds. The lady in the checkstand next to me just smiled at her and she became this sweet little angel and started smiling, laughing, and waving with her. Then we walk away from that lady and she starts again! It cracks me up everytime. She is such a silly girl. Her favorite part about Wally world is not the people though, it's the cart. That's right. Brae loves the cart! She gets so excited to ride in the cart that it is like nothing else in the world matters to her! I guess if we could all just be a little bit more like our kids and remember the little things in life that makes us happy, oh how much better our lives would be!

What a Blessing

This morning I was looking through all our pictures on our computer to see if there were any that I could delete. Of course I couldn't part with a single one.

I found one of Braelyn and when we were bringing her home from the hospital.

I think this one stuck out to me because it was the first time we had put Brae in a carseat and it hit me that we are going to be putting our son in a car seat for his first time in just a few short months. Then I was rummaging through the recent pictures and found one of Brae in her costume sitting in her carseat forward facing for the first time.

It's only been a year since we took this first picture of Brae and she has grown so much. It won't be long until we are taking pictures of our son for his first time forward facing. It is so crazy how fast time flies, yet how slow it seemed to be during it all. I am so glad that I took the time to enjoy every moment. The first year was hard, and this next year is going to be even harder, but I am so grateful that our Father in Heaven has given me the blessing of having children. He reminds me that it is a blessing everyday through my daughter and I know that will be the case with my son too. I don't know why He chose me to be one of the lucky women that can bear children, but I am so glad He did.