The Bradshaw's

Milestones

2010-05-10T19:36:00.003-07:00

After 13 months this little cutie finally got her first tooth! It was immediately followed by... her second tooth! I am so excited, it was taking so long! As if that wasn't enough, she took her first step today! She thought it was cool so she tried it again later and took three steps! At first I was excited....but then I realized her learning to walk would give me three kids to chase after. Oh well! At least her knees won't be black anymore!

Eczema, Witchcraft and Failure

2010-04-23T21:57:00.000-07:00

Dave just took the kids to the gym and I am having one of those rare moments where I have the whole house to myself. It's one of those times where I can actually think and not get interrupted. Although I was excited to have some time to myself I didn't realize it would lead to me breaking down. As a mother, I of course want the best for my children. Most things if I feel they aren't going the right way I am able to make a change so that I feel they're on the right path, getting better. There is one area that I can't control, I can't solve, and I feel like a total failure. It's Isabelle's eczema.

Today she woke up from her nap screaming her head off, big crocodile tears falling down her cheeks, and saying between sobs, "It hurts, It hurts." Her skin has been particularly bad today and she must have been itching her feet or rubbing them together (because I am always telling her not to itch, so she rubs) and because they are so sensitive it was really hurting her. I picked her up, hugged her tight, and then put lotion on her feet and covered them in socks. It stopped the tears but did not get rid of the eczema.

Here is the background on Isabelle and her eczema. At two months old she started having red, dry patches all over her body. When I took her to her two month well check the first thing the nurse said to me was, "Looks like she has that newborn skin!" I was relieved when she said that because if it's newborn skin then that means it will go away, right? Wrong. Isabelle is almost three now and her "newborn skin" is worse then ever. On a bad day, she is pretty much covered from head to toe with dry, itchy spots. She looks like a leper. Her face, the back of her neck, her arms (especially her elbows and wrists), her hands, her legs (especially her knees and behind her knees), and her feet. I would say overall her feet are the worse because of having to wear shoes which irritates it even more. On a good day it is only her knees and feet. The spots are bad enough but because she itches them so much she is constantly scratching herself until she bleeds resulting in scabs all over her body. I'm scared that one day she will get an infection because she has so many open wounds all over her body. She looks awful and it saddens me just to look at her. I am constantly cutting her fingernails but she still finds a way to scratch herself. She is so full of life and she shouldn't have to go through something like this at such a young age. It hurts me that I can't fix it or heal it.

I've tried so many things to help her. I've bought numerous lotions claiming to heal eczema. They've all ended up in the trash. Of course we've talked to her pediatrician about it. He prescribed a steroid creme. We've taken her to the pediatric dermatologist. He prescribed FOUR steroid cremes and a whole regimen of when to use what. It was crazy. I took her to the allergist to see if it was caused by a food allergy. Nothing. No allergy to blame it on. She said to continue with the steroid creme and use Vanicreme, a lotion that is "formulated without dyes, lanolin, fragrance, masking fragrance, parabens, and FORMALDEHYDE."

Does that make you wonder what's in your lotion? It is supposed to be for sensitive skin but if I put it on Isabelle she screams her head off because it stings so badly. The allergist also prescribed a 24 hour antihistimine that was supposed to help with the itching and not make her drowsy. It doesn't make her drowsy but she definitely still itches. Apparently you have to stop the itching or else it's likes a vicious cycle. The more you itch, the worse your eczema gets. The one thing all of the doctors have said is that the only way she will truly get rid of it is to "grow out of it." I refuse to accept that as the answer.

I'm now trying to figure out how to heal her homeopathically. I truly believe that Heavenly Father put everything on this earth for a reason and somewhere I will find the answer of how to heal her without smothering her with steroid cremes. I refuse to lather those steroid cremes on her twice a day for who knows how many years. I can't even imagine what they do to her body, her development, and I know they affect the way that she acts. One of the cremes that the dermatologist prescribed for her literally makes her crazy when we use it. I don't mean like out of control, hyper crazy, I mean CRAZY. We will NEVER use that one again.

Thankfully, the internet is full of information on how to heal it naturally, but the one thing I've figured out is what works for one person doesn't mean it will work for another. Some people believe it is caused by the many chemicals that touch our skin. I switched to all natural cleaners, and laundry detergent and threw out the bleach, which is one of the few things that I know for sure makes her skin break out. I didn't notice much of a difference by doing these things. I heard from someone during a "twitter party" (I know, lame right?) that she has healed her eczema for 20 years by boiling dried Calendula for 20 minutes and then adding it to her bath water. After some difficulty of finding where to buy Calendula I found this cool store in downtown Mesa. Check it out here. They are full of all things natural when it comes to healing any ailment you can think of and were very helpful. They even taught me how to make my own salve.

This is the first time she bathed in the calendula. It wasn't the kind where I boiled it and it turned the water yellow. This is just the calendula that came out of the olive oil. At first she thought it was fun to catch all the flowers but she quickly decided it wasn't. :)

This is what the salve looked like before it cooled down. To make it, first I soaked calendula in olive oil for two weeks, left it to sit in the sun and shook it every day. After that I strained the calendula out and boiled the olive oil. I added some beeswax to help it harden and some pure cocoa butter to help moisturize. It was actually really fun to make but it made me feel a little bit like a witch making her "witches brew." Unfortunately, neither the bathing in caledula or using my salve has really helped that much.

After that didn't work, I decided to call Dr. Bob Martin on 550 AM. He is full of all natural healing knowledge on pretty much any subject you can think of. I enjoy listening to him on Saturdays but I can't take him quite as seriously after seeing the '80s mustache he is still sporting. He told me that her eczema was probably caused by the vaccine she received in the hospital right after she was born. He did not have much advice to share about helping her other than take her to a homeopathic doctor and have her tested for food sensitivities. I told her that I had already taken her to the allergist and he said that the skin tests they perform are not very accurate and I need to have her blood drawn and tested. I have yet to do that but do plan on it. He also recommended sprinkling Evening Primrose oil on her food. We did that for a few days but didn' t not notice any difference.

One day while researching I came across this great post which taught me something new. They actually talked about how to HEAL eczema instead of just treat it and wait for her to grow out of it. I was so excited to find this! It explains that eczema means there is a problem with the immune system and you need to heal the "gut" to help the eczema go away. I put her on probiotics that same day and Dave started making her a "power smoothie" full of many of the ingredients that they suggest. Doing that did not cure her but it led me to many other posts on eczema which after blog hopping for a bit led me to this post. I truly felt like I was inspired to find this blog on the day that she did this wonderful post about yeast and healing the gut. We are now on day 4 of giving Isabelle these drops and although today was a bad day for her and her skin I was warned before starting the drops that she was going to get worse before she gets better. I'm hoping that the worst is over and now she will start getting better. If these don't work I don't know what else to do other then smother her with steroid creams.

Treating Isabelle's eczema is very time consuming and involves many lotions and medicines. Here is a little glimpse of the routine we are doing for her right now. It is constantly changing in hopes of finding something that works but this is what we are doing MOST days. When she wakes up in the morning I smother her in cocoa butter. It is hard as a rock and I have to heat it up in the microwave to make it soft enough to spread on her body. Because it is pure, with no chemicals, it doesn't sting her and it makes her smell like chocolate! Then I give her the 24 hour antihistimine and the yeast drops. They taste horrible but I found that if I add them to some of my Pepsi she drinks them right down. Yet another benefit of Pepsi! :) I usually put the cocoa butter on and the salve that I made at least one more time before nap time. One day I put the lotion on every HOUR and her skin still looked like I hadn't put anything on it since she was born. I don't bathe her every day because it dries out her skin too much but if it's a day that I do bathe her I boil the calendula and add it to the luke warm bath water. It turns the water yellow and makes it look like the kids peed in it. :) I don't use any soap on her, just some gentle scrubbing with a wash cloth. Sometimes her hair gets really greasy from the lotions getting on it so sometimes I will use a free and clear shampoo but I try not to. Immediately after she gets out we put lotion on her and then put jammies on her that cover as much of her body as possible to trap the moisture and lotion. The type of lotion depends on the day but we usually layer different lotions on her. It could be the salve I made with the cocoa butter on top of that or it could be the salve with vaseline over it. I don't like to use the vaseline either but it is one of the most effective things to use. If it's a really bad day then it is the steroid cream with vaseline over it. At dinner time she gets another dose of the yeast drops and then just before bed time we give her juice with a probiotic in it to help add some of the good "stuff" as we try to kill all the bad. At bed time she also gets some Benadryl. Before we had her on the two antihistimines (the 24 hour and the Benadryl), she would wake up screaming a few times every night. She couldn't sleep because she was so itchy. We were all a little sleep deprived and i'm grateful that for the most part she is now sleeping through the night. It might seem like doing these steps every day isn't that much but when you've done them every day for months, years even, and when you think about how much complaining, crying, whining, coaxing, bribing, etc. it takes to do these things it adds up and can be very draining. For the most part she has been a trooper though and is really trying to not itch her skin. This is what she looked like tonight before bed AFTER we put her lotion on (tonight it was steroids and vaseline since it was so bad). It was night time so the lighting isn't good enough to really see the redness and it's not dry because we just put vaseline on her but you can definitely see all of the scabs from the itching.

If you've read this whole post then you deserve an award. I think it is my longest post by far but it has been very therapeutic for me. For now we will keep doing the yeast drops and try to heal her gut and if that doesn't work i'm not sure where I will go from there. Probably take her to a naturopath to be tested for the food sensitivities. I hope that one day I will be able to change the title to Eczema, Witchcraft, and SUCCESS! Any suggestions with helping Isabelle's eczema would be appreciated!

Btw, if you want to see what kind of chemicals are in your lotion check out this site. It's what I am using to find pure, natural lotions, that don't have any chemicals. It's amazing how many things say they are "all natural" but aren't. I'll warn you though it's kind of one of those things where ignorance is bliss. The lotion that I've been using for over 10 years was given a rating of 10 which means that it is full of the worst chemicals that have been linked to cancers, throwing off your hormone levels etc. I guess I need to find a new one but I just love that Love Spell too much! It's going to be hard to replace. Oh well!

T-ball

2010-04-18T20:36:00.000-07:00

Justin is having a great time playing t-ball. The coaches are great but kind of forgot to start with the basics, like showing them the order the bases go and where the positions are. During the first practice one of the coaches asked Justin where "home" is and Justin started pointing far away towards our house! Another classic moment was Justin's first at bat in a game and he totally skipped first base and ran straight to second! Luckily, at this age no one really cares and they're just having a great time!

Justin is the only "lefty" on his team

Justin's team is the "Marlins"

Dave's giving him a few encouraging words before his first at bat

Pretty good stance for only being four!

Good game, good game

Easter Extravaganza

2010-04-18T20:16:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter this year filled with many fun activities. Here are the highlights...

Dyeing Easter eggs:

Isabelle spent a long time moving each egg from color to color. I'm surprised they didn't all turn out brown! It took a few good washings to get the dye off of her hand.

Decorating (and eating) sugar cookies:

The Las Sendas Easter egg hunt:

It had lots of different activities like horseback riding, a petting zoo, and a bounce house. The kids had a blast!

They divided the egg hunt up by age. The one and two year olds went first and the instructions were to have them run in, pick up one egg and then sit down until the announcer says go. As you can see, you can't stop a two year old after one egg! (Sorry the picture is so overexposed!)

Justin had a lot of fun hunting with his friend Kai.

We also had a great time hunting eggs with all our friends in the old neighborhood and our cousins. The kids had so much fun getting to hunt eggs so many different times, including Easter morning, which apparently I forgot to get pictures of! Oh well, next year I guess!

Happy Birthday Ruby!

2010-03-29T21:56:00.000-07:00

Wow I can't believe it has been a year! I can't believe this little bundle of joy:

Has turned into this big bundle of joy:

We had all the cousins over for cake and ice cream and of course I let Ruby have her own!

She wasn't quite sure what to think at first

Then she tried it...

and couldn't get enough of it!

I wonder how much actually ended up in her mouth?

She is a little mamma's girl. It's exhausting sometimes but I wouldn't change it. Her first word is mamma but she actually says it when she sees our cat who is also named Mamma. Oh well, at least she technically said my name first. I also love it when she says "uh-oh." She is a great crawler and creeper but she isn't trying to walk yet. She loves to do all the things she knows she's not supposed to do like climb the stairs, hit, and play in the toilet. How do they learn to be naughty at such an early age!? She is still a little cuddle bug which I love and I am often reminded that when Dave blessed her, he said she would be my "special comfort." This is what I think of when she cuddles with me. She loves to take baths, which is good because she also loves to play outside resulting in lots of baths! Justin and Isabelle love to play with her and I can just tell that Ruby and Isabelle will be best friends one day!

There is one thing that I would like to apologize to Ruby for...Ruby, i'm sorry that I didn't realize your name rhymes with a certain female body part until after you were born. I hope that the teasing isn't too bad in junior high and high school and don't worry, I understand what it will be like since I was often compared to a beaver because of my teeth and called four eyes. We gets lots of compliments on your name and I still wouldn't change it! We love you Ruby!

P.S. Sorry about the freaky naked baby picture above. I couldn't resist. If I hadn't of been there I would never even think it was Ruby!

Does it Get Any Cuter?!

2010-03-24T20:16:00.000-07:00

Ruby has the funniest smile, she likes to scrunch up her face!

My lil' man!

Every girl needs a good pair of cowboy boots! We've been potty training too and she is doing awesome!

Dave's Latest Project

2010-03-24T20:07:00.000-07:00

Many of you know that Dave LOVES reptiles but you might not know that he also LOVES to make cages for his reptiles! He has always wanted to do one outside but I have never wanted him to do anything that would be permanent. Let's face it, not many people want to buy a house with a reptile habitat in the backyard, right?! So, he came up with a great idea that allows them to be outside but it's not permanent. Check it out!

What's in it you ask? Chuckwallas! It was quite entertaining to watch Dave jackhammer our backyard so that he could put the cage down into the ground! I don't think the neighbors appreciated it though!

BTW, Dave also made that rock. He is very talented! It's actually a little cave for the lizards to hide in.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

2010-03-12T09:10:00.000-07:00

Six years and counting...

I love you Dave!

San Diego

2010-03-07T22:11:00.000-07:00

We took off for a quick trip to San Diego last weekend and had a great time despite the fact that it poured rain all day Saturday and there was a tsunami warning! The kids were so good. I was worried about all of them sleeping in the same room but they were so tired by the end of the day they all just went right to sleep! If only every day were like that! We had a great time at the Wild Animal Park, Birch Aquarium, visiting the temple, eating at El Torito where we had our wedding luncheon five years ago, and visiting the newly remodeled Mormon Battalion Visitors Center. The only problem was that the trip was too short! Sorry for putting so many pictures on here but it was too hard to only choose a few!

The Wild Animal Park:

One of the coolest things at the park was feeding the Lorikeets.

Robyn likes this picture because it looks like they're kissing

When Justin's birds were done eating they climbed up him, nibbled on his ear, rested on his head and then flew away. He was so happy holding them!

Aren't they beautiful?!

They had a fun water park that the kids cooled down at. I think my kids were the only ones dressed there. Every one else stripped their kids down to diapers and underwear... it was a little weird.

This baby elephant had just been born two weeks earlier. It was so fun to watch him be so playful. He was like a typical child and liked to bug his older siblings!

Isabelle caught a ride on Dave's shoulders...

and this was the view from behind.

The kids had fun petting the Kraal

Ruby was so good all day, even taking a really long nap!

Justin was set on getting his face painted like a tiger. I tried to talk him out of it by bribing him with a toy but there was no changing his mind. It looked so cool but he was ready to take it off by the time we got back to the hotel.

Isabelle choose butterflies

We were beat by the end of the day!

Birch Aquarium and The San Diego Temple

2010-03-07T22:10:00.001-07:00

Oh how I love this temple! I really don't think there is a building anywhere that is more beautiful than this. I can remember visiting it before it even opened when I was in junior high and falling in love with it. It was fun to be there almost five years to the day that Dave and I were sealed there.

The Mormon Battalion

2010-03-07T22:10:00.000-07:00

This was one of the best things that we did in San Diego. Everyone loved it and it was so well done. It was so fun, educational, and very interactive. The Sister missionary that took us on the tour totally fell in love with Isabelle (How could you not?) and told us she was going to write about her in her journal that night. There are certain parts of the movie where the actors pretend to talk to you but my kids thought it was real. Isabelle kept saying hi to them and showing them, "her pretty dress." The Sister said it was the most she'd seen anyone try to interact with the movie and could not stop laughing at it.

The kids loved dressing like soldiers

Isabelle loved talking into the cannon

The kids loved gold panning and they all got to take a piece of gold home with them

They had a great time pretending to be pioneers and soldiers in this covered wagon.

The porch was lined with rocking chairs and it was so nice to just sit and rock for awhile

One of Dave's ancestors was part of the Mormon Battalion and he was able to look him up and gets lots of good information that he could just email to himself so he always has the info! They also took this picture of us and printed one off for us and then we could email them too. It was such an efficient place too!

Lil' Farmers

2010-02-17T20:54:00.000-07:00

Due to my ever growing need to find new, exciting things for my kids to do, I signed them up for a farm class at Superstition Farm. It turned out to be really fun! It was one day a week for two weeks. The kids had a great teacher named Melrose that Justin affectionately called "Miss Rose." They learned about all sorts of animals and how a dairy farm works. It was very hands on with lots of animals to feed, pet and groom.

The Cowboy

The Cowgirl

The Patient Observor

The animals:

Justin was overjoyed to hold "Roger the Rooster"

Feeding "Lover"

Feeding the calf

Petting "Dustybuns"

Feeding "Clementine"

"Driving" the tractor

Making new friends

We just barely missed a calf being born but we were there for its first steps! See it in the middle?

Enjoying the most delicious ice cream made from their cow's milk

Heart Day

2010-02-17T13:56:00.000-07:00

I had the best Valentine's Day this year. Dave and I went out Friday night to celebrate but we didn't get our babysitter until Thursday night. I was calling around trying to find a steakhouse with an open reservation and they were all booked! I was a little stressed about where we were going to eat until Dave called me Friday afternoon and said we had a reservation at 6 but wouldn't tell me where! He did say though that it would be one for the record books and he was right! We went to a restaurant called Mastro's and if you are a lover of steak and potatoes like me you have to go there! It was hands down the best filet I have ever had and it's a good thing because it was also the most expensive! It literally melted in my mouth! Dave got the NY strip and we shared sauteed shrimp, lobster garlic mashed potatoes, and gorgonzola macaroni and cheese. For dessert we got the creme brulee which was so good and also included an overflowing plate of whip cream that was to die for! It was all amazing! The restaurant is kind of a dungeon though. It is very nice but very dark and you even have to walk down to get to it, making me feel even more like I was in a dungeon. Everyone was using their cell phones to read the menu and the servers carry flashlights with them. Dave was definitely right though when he said it was one for the record books, it was definitely the best steak ever and also the most expensive dinner we've ever had! I even saved the receipt to remember it!

Sunday was also a fun day with the kids and I tried to make it extra special for them. Here are a few pictures from the day

Pink heart pancakes for breakfast

Layered heart jello as part of dinner. We also had spaghetti and a fruit salad made with red fruits to keep with the red theme.

I wish this was a better picture but you get the idea!

And for dessert we had pink heart shaped Rice Krispie treats. Yum!

Too bad I didn't get any pictures of the kids from that day! I guess I was having too much fun with the food!

2010-02-03T23:20:00.001-07:00

My blog is under construction. Please be patient while I try to figure out how to expand the margins so there isn't so much blank space! And if you know how please help me!

Justin is Four Years Old!

2010-01-23T22:15:00.000-07:00

Justin got this crown at preschool. We brought Krispy Kremes donuts so that he could celebrate with all his school friends.

We had a Batman party and Justin of course dressed up as Batman and Isabelle was Supergirl. I got these reversible capes off of Etsy and they are so cute!

I love cupcake cakes! They make serving everyone so easy!

Justin loves the cake too!

All of the cousins and siblings.

Most of them were dressed up as superheroes earlier but I wasn't fast enough in getting a picture.

Do you think Isabelle enjoyed her cupcake!?

My Brothers

Next time I'll tell them i'm taking a picture of them so they can be ready! :)

Justin had so much fun opening and playing with his presents. That night when I was tucking him in bed I asked him what his favorite one was. He said, "All of them!"

Poor Isabelle! She just didn't get that only Justin was getting presents. This is the sad look she had after I told her AGAIN that none of the presents were for her. I even gave her the cape early in the day so that she wouldn't be so sad but I guess it didn't work!

Justin is such a sweet boy! I love watching him with his sisters and how sweet he can be with them, at least most of the time! He is a great helper and is very smart. He is even starting to read! He loves to wrestle with his dad, he is a pro at video games (I know, not the best thing for him but it's the only thing that makes him sit still for a little while!), he loves superheroes, riding his bike, playing sports, and doing anything that makes him a "big boy."

He was like an old pro at the doctor for his check up. He was so proud to show the doctor how big he is getting. We're hoping for a growth spurt though. He was almost 39 inches tall which is only the 20% and weighed 33 lbs which is the 25%!

I can't wait to see what the future holds for Justin!

We love you Justin!

Get Us Out of Here!!!!!!

2010-01-11T14:33:00.000-07:00

Most people when they hear the name of the neighborhood we live in automatically think it is a nice neighborhood. When we first lived here there were many great families from our ward that lived in here too. The Merrills, the Taylors, the Stogdills and the Wisers just to name a few. Sadly they have all moved on and now we are pretty much the only family from the ward in this neighborhood. When we moved to Annecy from here we were leaving because we had definitely outgrown this house. Isabelle was a month old when we moved. Now we have one more child (Ruby) then last time and we are bursting at the seams! Ruby sleeps in the loft, which is surrounded by everyone else's rooms, so if she cries in the middle of the night I can't really let her cry it out because I don't want the other kids to be woken up too. So I have been very sleep deprived because of this! Also, when we moved back we lost 1600 square feet of living space. It's all now packed into our garage and a storage room that we are renting. I could probably deal with all of these problems but the one thing that I can't handle is that I don't feel safe in this neighborhood! The Mesa police have been putting bait cars in here to try to scare away car thieves and they tried to get a neighborhood watch program going but there wasn't enough interest. Plus we have had a few strange, weird, or scary things happen to us since we moved back. First of all, I can't believe some of the people that live in here now. I'm not trying to judge but some of them are definitely not people I would ever want to be friends with. I think when the housing bubble burst it must have allowed more of a variety to buy in here because they definitely wouldn't have been able to afford it before. I could deal with this too but I can't deal with these next few things. One day when Dave and I came home from church we found the back door wide open. When Dave went to look out back there was a black crate (not ours) pushed against the wall like someone had used it to jump over the wall. Luckily, nothing was missing, perhaps we interrupted something?! Another time when I came home with the kids the back door was wide open again and I swear that I heard somebody upstairs and then I could hear someone running in the rocks, like they must have jumped from the second story down. One time we found an old frying pan in our backyard that got there who knows how? But finally today something else happened. When I was coming back from QT a neighbor two doors down who looks like he is part of a Mexican gang was standing in our front yard. I only know who he is because many times when I come home he is standing outside with his girlfriend making out and they don't bother to stop. Anyways, he was in my yard holding a semi-large rock and then when he saw me he dropped it and started walking away. He didn't bother to acknowledge me at all. You know a nice, "Hi i'm standing in your yard for some strange reason" smile or nod would have made me feel a little better but no, nothing. So I roll down my window and say very nicely, "Are you looking for something?" and he very nicely without stopping says, "No, I just dropped something" and keeps on going. Excuse me! You're looking for something in my front yard with a rock in your hand! We don't even live next door and you don't take walks to give you the opportunity to drop something, all you do is make out. And if you are REALLY looking for something in my front yard, why don't you ask me if I've seen it. Needless to say I didn't believe him but i'm still not quite sure what he was doing. All I know is I need out of this neighborhood! I personally think feeling safe is a necessity in life! Unfortunately we aren't able to buy a house at this time and renting a house when you already own one doesn't quite seem right but that's what i'm leaning towards. In the meantime I think I am going to become G.I. Jane and learn to protect myself, especially with how much Dave is out of town and it's just me and the kids. So next time you see me, I might be packin' some heat!

Christmas 2010

2010-01-06T20:45:00.000-07:00

What more could you ask for, matching jammies, matching chairs, red cowgirl boots and wolverine claws, they had a great Christmas and so did I. Thanks Dave for being so thoughtful! I love you!

Christmas Activities

2010-01-06T20:10:00.000-07:00

This Christmas season I was determined not to be stressed and surprisingly, it worked! I love December and all the fun things that go along with it. I think the best part is watching my kids have so much fun and be excited for Christmas and Santa! We were able to do a lot of fun things this year too. If you want to try not to be stressed next year, I recommend doing all your shopping on Amazon. You can't beat great prices and free shipping! It definitely made things a lot easier for me this year!

We had a blast making "gingerbread houses" at my friends house! Isabelle definitely ate her share of candy that day!
Temple lights

Robyn was in The Nutcracker this year as a soldier. She did a great job and we had a lot of fun watching her!

Santa picture at Bass Pro Shop

Soccer Star

2010-01-06T19:41:00.000-07:00

This year was Justin's first year doing soccer and he had a blast! His coaches were amazing and the whole team improved so much over the season. Justin had a lot of fun except for the first game which he ended up not even playing in once he learned he couldn't use his ball. He started crying and refused to play so we left early. I guess I should have warned him that there would be a game ball and that he couldn't use his like in practice! He was fine every game after that and averaged one goal per game. He was very proud of himself after a game when he scored three goals. I think one of Justin's favorite parts was getting the ball out of the goal and giving it to the referree. If anyone else tried to get it he would wrestle them for it and usually win. He is a very silly boy!

The star

Look at that hustle! Justin has a funny way of running, he pumps his left arm as hard as he can and doesn't really do much with his right arm. I really need to get it on video!

The team

This was when Justin scored his first goal!

Two Peas in a Pod

2009-12-29T20:23:00.000-07:00

It's so fun watching Ruby grow up. The similarities between her and Justin are amazing. Can't you just see the resemblance?! Justin's hair used to be blonde like hers too until we cut it. I wish we could get it back! Oh well! Ruby is even doing the army crawl like Justin did and I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't walk until later like he did too. At nine months, Justin still can't get enough of her and is such a good helper with her. Their body compositions are very similar too. At Ruby's 9 month check up she weighed 16 lbs. (10%),was 28 inches long (60%) and had almost an 18 in. head circumference (80%). Long and skinny, just like Justin. If only she were as good a sleeper as Justin was, he was sleeping through the night at 9 weeks. As for Ruby, well, she's getting there...

Has anyone seen Justin?

2009-12-10T14:22:00.000-07:00

Today when I went to pick up Justin from school he wasn't there so I took home this cute Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer instead!

Holiday outfits

2009-12-10T14:14:00.000-07:00

I decided to not go with the traditional red and black this year for their Christmas outfits.

It's always nice to mix it up right!

I got a steal on Christmas shirts this year on Black Friday. I always feel guilty buying something that will only be worn a few times a year but not this year! The kids all wore them to our ward Christmas party.

Eight months!!!

2009-12-10T14:03:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can't believe it! They really do grow so fast! She is rolling all over the place and it is a challenge to keep all the little things off the ground with Justin and Isabelle around. She is very attached to me, more than the other kids, which is difficult sometimes but I feel very blessed that I have someone who's whole world revolves around me. She is really sweet and since she's sleeping through the night it makes life much better for me!

Turkey Lurkey

2009-11-25T13:56:00.000-07:00

One boring Sunday afternoon, when the kids were out of control, I decided we were going to make a turkey and each day until Thanksgiving we would each add a feather of something we were thankful for. We ended up not doing it every day but we still ended with quite a good amount of feathers. We each had our own colors. I was orange, Justin started out as green but then wanted to be brown, "like Dad," so Dave is also green and brown, Isabelle is red, and Robyn is yellow. I think we will do this every year now. The kids really loved it and it was a good reminder of why we celebrate Thanksgiving.

Halloween

2009-10-31T11:08:00.000-07:00

Halloween was a lot of fun this year! It's taken me forever to post it because I wanted to dress Ruby back up and take an actual picture of her costume but I never got around to it. I made her and Isabelle's outfits. Isabelle was supposed to be Tinkerbell but refused to wear her wings so everyone thought she was a princess. Ruby was a cat and I made her a cute tutu to wear over her onesie. Justin was Superman and wore his costume for weeks before Halloween and still continues to wear it at least once a day. I'm glad i'm getting my money's worth out of it! Robyn was the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz.

Don't you love that face!?

Enjoying the candy

Really enjoying the candy!

The whole crew- we went with the Bradshaw cousins this year, who all looked very cute!

The Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-30T20:41:00.000-07:00

Reasons why we love the pumpkin patch...

Good quality "Daddy time"
The tractor ride

(Although Isabelle ended up freaking out and not going on it)

The maze

Petting the animals

Finding and decorating the perfect pumpkin

and pretending to drive the tractor

This is our third year going to Mother Nature's Farm and it is a fun family tradition that we look forward to every year!

More Sedona Pictures

2009-10-25T20:25:00.000-07:00

Nothing like waking up and being able to stare out at the beautiful red mountains!
This was the view outside our room, Steamboat Mountain.
Oh, how I wish I could go back!

Sedona Birthday Trip

2009-10-24T21:30:00.000-07:00

Dave and I headed up to Sedona for a night to celebrate my 30th birthday. That's right, I'm 30 now! We had a great time and the only real problem was that the trip wasn't long enough! We stayed at a cute bed and breakfast with a great view of the beautiful red rock. Dave had planned for us to go on a two hour horseback ride which I was so excited for but it actually turned into an 8 hour adventure! It started with a two hour jeep tour (which I really could have done without), then we were picked up and taken to another place for our two hour horseback ride and then we were dropped off at a cowboy dinner/theatre show at the Blazin' M Ranch. It was a great time but a very long day. The company Dave did it through was called "A Day in the West," but he didn't know it would literally be a whole DAY! I guess he didn't read everything that was included.

My horse's name was George and Dave's was Sonny. They were best friends. Apparently, they always go on the trail together because they need Sonny to keep George from getting too far behind! I love horses and anytime I get on one the whole world seems to be at peace for me and there isn't a care in the world. The only present that could have been better was a horse of my own. One day...

The Blazin' M Ranch had some cute stores to shop in and lots of great places for some photo ops.

It's not easy to get a good picture of yourself using an iphone!

Thanks Dave for planning such a wonderful trip and thanks Bob and Marta for watching the kids for us!

We're goin' country...

2009-10-17T21:18:00.000-07:00

In preparation for our horseback riding trip we went to Shepler's. Justin had more fun than you could ever imagine and it made me so happy to see how much he wanted to be a little cowboy!

The cutest cowgirl ever!

Isabelle kept yelling "Ni hao" from the t.v. show Kailan instead of yee-haw. It was so funny!
Justin got these sweet boots and a hat that says, "Justin Boots" on it. He really wanted a cowboy hat so I guess that will be next.

Future Rock Stars

2009-10-12T21:14:00.000-07:00

Dave must have taken these with his iphone since they're not the best quality.

So long ghetto car!!!!

2009-10-10T21:09:00.000-07:00

Dave is finally getting a new truck and I am so excited to get rid of this piece of junk! I can't believe Dave has driven it around for so long and that it hasn't broken down yet. It's going on 200,000 miles! I guess they really do build those Japanese cars well.

Ruby 6 months

2009-09-29T21:01:00.000-07:00

I just can't get enough of this little face, with her not quite brown but not quite blue eyes. Maybe one day she will pick a color but she is still just so adorable!

Justin's First Soccer Practice

2009-09-25T20:43:00.000-07:00

Justin was so excited to start soccer. He pretty much wore his shin guards everywhere when he first got them. He loved the bag that I got for him to carry his ball around in too. He calls it his "BYU ball" because it is blue and white... I've taught him well.

The star athlete

Isabelle has a great time too and it's hard to keep her away from the big kids. She just wants to play soccer with them too!

Annual Tucson Trip

2009-09-18T20:23:00.000-07:00

Every year Tucson has a big reptile show that Dave likes to go to. This year we decided to go down the day before and stay the night. We were grateful that Dave's parents decided to join us too. I didn't make it to the show this year, only Dave and his dad went, which I wasn't too sad about but we all went to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum again. Last year we went for the first time and we all love it so Dave decided to make it an annual trip. It really is such a neat zoo, even though it's called a museum, especially if you have a fourth grader who is learning about all the animals during Arizona history. It is definitely worth the trip to go down there!

I don't remember what this flower was called but I think it is beautiful! I think I need to plant a bush in my yard!
Dave's parents and Isabelle
Justin's favorite part was getting up close and personal with this Mountain lion. We were literally inches away from him. Luckily there was the nice strong glass to separate us!

They have lots of fun stuff for the kids to do, including this giant tortoise to play on.

St. George/Pine Valley

2009-09-16T21:20:00.000-07:00

Over Labor Day weekend we went up to St. George to visit my parents. It was nice to relax and be able to go outside without melting. The highlight of the trip was going to a small town about a half an hour away called Pine Valley. It's famous because it has the oldest operating chapel for the church there. They give tours and it was really neat to hear the history of the place. When it was built in the 1860s there was only one person who really knew how to build and he only knew how to build ships. So the chapel ended up having many features that a ship would have. The ceiling is the coolest part. It looks like the bottom of a boat! Afterwards we went and had a nice picnic by the river up there.

Ruby's First Cereal

2009-09-16T20:34:00.000-07:00

My doctor told me to start feeding Ruby solids about a month and a half ago and I am finally getting around to it! I'm always very hesitant to start because it really upset Justin's stomach the first time and I don't want to go through that again! Ruby seems to be doing fine though and I actually think she enjoyed the whole experience. Maybe next time we can focus more on her actually keeping the cereal in her mouth instead of pushing it out with her tongue.

Why am I sitting in this chair Mom? Where's my bottle?

Justin is such a good helper with Ruby. He can't seem to get enough of her!

She's not quite sure what to think .

Unfortunately, she's not smiling because she likes the food. All you have to do to get Ruby to smile is smile at her, so she's just smiling back at me.

Eventually, she grabbed the spoon and just wanted to chomp on it.

And then she'd finally had enough.

Justin's First Fishing Trip

2009-09-13T20:55:00.000-07:00

Justin has been begging Dave to take him fishing so Dave finally bought Justin a Star Wars fishing pole so they could go. Justin had so much fun casting and reeling in the pole at our house. He practiced and practiced every chance he got. Dave and I both were shocked at how much Justin seemed to like it. He eventually got so good that he was casting it over our fence into the neighbors yard! Dave finally got an opportunity to take him so we headed over to Red Mountain Park. We didn't have much time before it got dark but fortunately it is well lit around the pond.

Sorry the picture's a little blurry

Can you see the excitement?!

Isabelle wasn't very interested in fishing and eventually dragged me over to the playground close by.

Patiently waiting for a tug on his line.

Robyn had lots of fun too!

Dave had the only catch of the night but instead of a fish it was a GIANT crawdad. The kids thought it was cool. Justin was a little disappointed that he didn't catch anything but got excited when I told him that just means he gets to go again and try some more. I'm glad he enjoys it so much! Hopefully, he will catch a fish soon!

Justin's First Day of School

2009-09-08T21:52:00.001-07:00

Justin was soooo excited to start Preschool again with Miss Kerry. He was a little hesitant all morning but as soon as we got there and she said she had a present for him he ran into the house without looking back! It was very cute and i'm glad that he likes it so much. He has been working on writing his letters over the summer and I am excited to see how much he improves and learns this year.

He insisted that I get a picture of his new back pack

He especially loved the way he tilted his head in this picture. :)

Are you Ready?

2009-09-08T15:08:00.000-07:00

Are you ready to try out your food storage/survival skills? Food Storage Made Easy is going to have a seven day challenge with mock emergencies so you can figure out where you could improve. It's going to start soon so make sure you sign up fast! Plus there are prizes!

Check out this website, http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/7day/#.html

They have given some clues to help you prepare for their emergencies so make sure you check those out. It sounds like I might not be able to go to QT for a whole week! I don't know if I can handle that!

Robyn is 10 Years Old!

2009-09-03T13:52:00.000-07:00

Today is Robyn's 10th birthday! It's crazy that Dave is old enough to have a 10 year old! We had her party last night since she will be with her mom today. We had all the family over for cake and ice cream and then of course Robyn's favorite part, opening presents! She had a blast and loved all the presents. I don't know about her but my favorite one is the one Dave and I gave her, horseback riding! To celebrate on her actual birthday, we picked her up at lunch from school and took her to IHOP (her choice). We hope you had a great birthday Robyn!

Robyn insists on having her own cake like I do for the kids when they turn 1! Whatever makes her feel special!

Isabelle Is 2 Years Old!!!!

2009-08-31T21:07:00.000-07:00

Saturday we had Isabelle's two year birthday party! We had all the family over for hot dogs, cupcakes and ice cream. Isabelle had a blast and I think she especially enjoyed the cupcakes (or at least the frosting!). She loved all of her presents and it has been really fun watching her play "Mommy" to her new dolls. I can't believe that she is two already, actually it's more like I can't believe she is only two! She has been talking up a storm for as long as I can remember and as long as we're at home she is totally potty trained. I think she just wants to keep up with Justin and it really makes her seem a lot older. She is so sweet and I wish that I could bottle up her little voice and keep it in a locket around my neck (I think I've been watching The Little Mermaid too much!). She has such a cute way of saying things and I especially love the way she says "Justin" and "What Mommy?". She loves to sing, especially if the song has motions to it. I think this is such a fun age and I love watching her learn and experience new things. If only she would stop making so many messes! She definitely keeps me busy cleaning up after her and that's why it's a good thing she is so cute. You can't help but laugh at her. We love you Isabelle!

Blogger isn't letting me move the pictures around so these are totally out of order. Sorry!

Daddy's little girl

I love cupcake cakes! They make serving so much easier than a normal cake!
The poofy party dress
The birthday girl!

(Yes, that is a giant bruise above her left eye. She has her brother to thank for that.)

Ruby is 5 Months old!

2009-08-29T21:46:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love that face?!

Unfortunately, my hopes of having a blue eyed baby are gone. Her eyes finally started changing a couple of weeks ago. They haven't really settled on a color yet but I am sure they will eventually be brown. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with brown. I was just hoping for a little variety! She still isn't sleeping through the night but that's okay because I get to spend lots of time snuggling with her! As long as she keeps sleeping good during the day I will survive! She is finally starting to grow out of being so fussy at night (between 6 and 9) too which is making things easier! I love watching her laugh at Justin and Isabelle. She laughs at the silliest things, especially Justin being goofy. We love you Ruby!

First Day of Fifth Grade!

2009-08-17T22:09:00.001-07:00

Wow! I can't believe Robyn is old enough to be in the fifth grade!

I am such an idiot!

2009-08-06T14:06:00.001-07:00

So today I hit my house with my car! Here's the brilliant reason why, I forgot to put it in park! Ever since I started having kids I have been the biggest goof, doing all sorts of dumb things and now I have a new one to add. Here's how it happened. We have two sets of keys in the car. The set that wasn't being used when I got home had the house key on it so I just grabbed it and got out to unlock the front door before I got the kids out so they didn't have to wait in the heat. When I turned around to come back the car was moving! We have a post in front of my house that the car was about to hit so I stepped in between them and got pinned! Thankfully, I did manage to stop the car (did I mention it's a Suburban!) instead of getting completely squished between the car and the post. Could you imagine what would have happened if I wasn't strong enough to stop the car?! Anyways, now I am pinned in between wondering what the heck to do next. My phone was in the car so I couldn't call someone, Dave was at work and wouldn't be home for a long time, and if I can wedge myself out the car will hit the post and both will get damaged. I decided to wait to see if anyone would walk by and could get in my car and back it up then put it in park. Well not too many people go for walks when it's a 112 degrees outside! I realized that our planter was within reach and maybe I could wedge it between the tire and the car to stop it from hitting. I grabbed it and knocked it over spilling the soil and dead flowers everywhere, finally got it into position, shimmied my squished body out and ran for the front seat. The planter didn't do anything and the car still hit the post but there is no damage to either thankfully. The kids had no idea what was going on and were contently watching Brother Bear in the car the whole time. The only damage is the burn to my hand trying to push on a black Suburban in the heat. I can't believe how hot cars can get! Oh yeah, and as I was finally getting the kids out a biker rode by. If only they would have come about two minutes earlier!

The aftermath

Random Pictures of the Kids

2009-08-06T13:52:00.001-07:00

Chef Isabelle

This is what Isabelle's hair looks like after it's washed. Very curly and totally in her face. It doesn't seem to bug her though!

I was trying to get Ruby to smile and Justin wanted to help so this is what he did. I guess that's one way to get her to smile!

Ruby's new outfit

Justin's new haircut.

I finally found a place that I actually like the way they cut his hair!

Justin got a Spiderman swimsuit and these are his Spiderman "moves."

Isabelle got a new tutu and these are her ballerina "moves."

Both are from TJ Maxx, one of our new favorite stores.

Ruby's Four Month Appointment

2009-08-05T21:53:00.000-07:00

Ruby's check up went great. She is in the 75% for height, 35% for head circumference and 15% for weight. She only weighs 12 pounds! The doctor said that was okay though and she is still thriving. She does though, have several weird things about her. Last time I went at her two month appointment he told me she had an herniated belly button. This time he discovered she has some sort of rib disformity that is inherited. It makes her rib cage stick out farther than it should. If you feel her rib cage on both sides you can definitely feel that the left side sticks out way more than the right. After feeling my rib cage and Dave's I've determined she inherited it from Dave. :) It's not really a big deal, just kind of weird. She also has these two little marks under her bottom lip, I call them her vampire bites because that's what they look like to me. I asked the doctor about those too but he said that they are just fat pockets and they're perfectly normal. Finally she has these three little red lines on her left arm, which I asked about too. Apparently, those are normal too and are just some veins that are close to the surface. I wonder what we will discover next time!

The three veins

I couldn't get a picture to take any closer but this shows how noticeable they are against her white skin.
See the little pointy things under her bottom lip? Those are her vampire bites.

Four Months!

2009-07-29T20:51:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it has been four months (although sometimes I can't believe it's ONLY been four months)! Ruby is such a smiley, giggley, happy baby. She is so much fun to have around and we just can't get enough of her. Just to prove what a big girl she is, she decided to roll over 4 times in a row the day after she turned four months. This is a big accomplishment when you don't get to do tummy time very often because you'll get stepped on by your brother and sister!

Mmmmm, Daddy's finger tastes good!
Not quite sure what this look is!

So happy!

. . . and her eyes are still blue.

(You have to understand that we all have brown eyes so we're hoping that maybe one of our kids will defy genetics!)

It's Official!

2009-07-26T15:31:00.000-07:00

I can officially say Justin is potty trained!!! It is so nice to only have two in diapers now! Justin hasn't had any accidents for days, not even at night and he goes all by himself now without us having to ask him. We are so proud of him and judging from the grin on his face he is very proud of himself too!

This seems a little lame to be putting on the blog but since this is really my journal too I am including it more for me then you. Thanks for bearing with me! I would put more details on here for you of why it was so hard to pottytrain him but I will spare you!

Don't Panic!

2009-07-10T22:25:00.000-07:00

This morning Justin got stung by a baby scorpion! I was upstairs when Justin started screaming his head off and saying "That just hurt my leg!" I ran downstairs to where he was at the very bottom of the stairs, scooped him up, and saw a little scorpion right where he was. Luckily, Dave's shoe was close so I could take care of it. Justin said he was watching it and it crawled up his leg and stung him. It was so scary! The first person I called was Dave, who rushed home to help. Then I called Justin's doctor and then I called poison control, all while trying not to freak out or cry. It was difficult! After talking to the experts I was able to calm down and Justin had stopped crying so I could tell he was doing better. I took him to the doctor just to get it checked out and the doctor said in his 30 years he has only ever seen one child go to the hospital for a scorpion bite. Why is everyone so scared of them then? Apparently, it just hurts like crazy! They did tell me Justin would probably be a little out of it for the rest of the day and that's okay, but Justin was normal.

You can't really see much in this picture other than the redness but the sting is in the middle of the circle. I drew a circle around it in case the swelling got bigger the doctor could see where it started and how much worse it had gotten.Here it is, about the size of a dime. Everyone always says the baby ones are worse.

So in case you ever get stung or are with someone who does here is what they told me to do. First, wash the sting with soap and water. Apparently, scorpions are very dirty bugs and the most common side effect from a sting is an infection. You may need a tetanus shot too, if you're not up to date, according to the doctor. I have to watch Justin for the next three to four days to make sure there is no infection. Second, apply a cold compress to the area. Third, which is optional, give the person an anti-inflammatory. I gave Justin Motrin, which helped with the pain and the swelling. The more serious side effects that you want to watch for are, muscle twitching, excessive drooling, and eye darting. I think if I would have known all this ahead of time I probably wouldn't have freaked out as much. Then again, I probably would have!

Fourth of July Fun

2009-07-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

We went up to St. George to stay with my parents this year for the 4th. Two of my brothers and their families came too. We had a blast! There is always plenty to eat when my family gets together and we all come home at least 5 lbs. heavier. The second night we stayed there we woke up to Justin throwing up everywhere! The poor guy! The next day he only threw up one time but he didn't really eat for days and was not his usual energetic self. Luckily, nobody else caught whatever he had. One day someone found Isabelle walking around with my wedding band and wet arms. Any guesses as to where the rest of my ring was? That's right, the toilet. It's really the first time she ever has played in the toilet and I don't know why she would ever think to put my ring down it, but she did. We didn't even know it was in there for sure but could only assume, so my wonderful dad had the bright idea to vacuum the water out with a shop vac. Out came the ring! I don't know how my dad thought to do that but he definitely saved the day! Here are some fun pictures from the trip. They're out of order but my computer kept freezing up when I tried to move them so it will have to do!

Justin loved the sparklers but got a little too curious and touched one after it was finished burning. He had a massive burn blister from it! Isabelle's in the background by the water bucket. She didn't want anything to do with the sparklers unless it involved putting it in the water.

Justin's showing off the tattoo he got at the fair we went too.

More sparkler fun!

Riding the "train" at the fair. Isabelle cried almost the whole way!

Sweet Ruby enjoying the shade

Isabelle's shirt said "Daddy's Little Firecracker." Oh how true that is!

My dad's new hot rod. He took the girls out cruisin'.

Isabelle was so tired one day she crawled up on Grandpa's bed with him and fell asleep.

We had a great time there and it was so nice to have so many people willing to hold Ruby. I definitely got spoiled! Dave and I even got to go to the movies although we didn't go together. The boys saw Transformers and the girls saw The Proposal. I got home around 11:45 p.m. and Justin was on the couch with Grandma and Grandpa watching the weirdest kid show that he called "booby" ( I think it was actually called Ooby but I'm not sure, Justin's name is funnier). Needless to say he was very tired the next day! Now if we could just get rid of the nasty colds/coughs that they came home with, we will be good. Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us all come!

Naked Tag?

2009-07-08T20:29:00.001-07:00

So right now I am basically potty training two kids. Let me tell you how much fun that is! We started with Justin on Dave's birthday (this is like the third or fourth time we've started with him) and Isabelle was so eager to start that I decided to let her a couple of days ago. Actually, it was try to potty train her or constantly clean up her accidents because she keeps taking off her diapers! She is doing pretty good considering the fact that she isn't even two yet and I think it makes Justin try harder because he doesn't want his little sister to beat him at anything. So today they were both naked, due to the potty training, and they started playing tag. Pretty soon Justin started saying they were playing naked tag! It was so funny! He asked me if I wanted to play naked tag but I had to decline because I was making dinner. When Dave got home he asked him too. They had a great time playing naked tag for awhile. We'll have to see if this becomes a favorite game of his or not!

Father's Day

2009-07-02T14:11:00.000-07:00

The kids had a great time helping me with Father's Day. We started off the day by bringing Dave breakfast in bed and letting him open his presents. Later that night we had his parents over for dinner and the kids loved being able to celebrate Father's Day with their dad and grandpa.

Ruby's present was a onesie that said "I love my Dad." She looked so cute!
One time when I took Justin to the store with me he saw this Batman shirt and had to get it for Dave so that they could match. The funny part is that I told Justin he couldn't tell Daddy what we were giving him so when we got home he said, "Don't worry Dad, I won't tell you what kind of shirt we got you." At least he kept part of it a secret!
This turned out way better than I expected. It was fun to make and to see Dave's face when he saw it. In case you can't tell, the kids are spelling Dad.

I'm just glad that it's over. Doing his birthday and Father's Day back to back is exhausting but I love trying to make his "special" days special. He is such a good dad and I really couldn't ask for anything more! We love you Dave!

3 Months Old!

2009-06-29T21:02:00.000-07:00

. . . and her eyes are still blue!

Happy Birthday Dave!

2009-06-14T16:18:00.000-07:00

We hope you enjoy your last year in your early thirties!!!! We love you!

I thought that I would be so happy. . .

2009-06-07T14:26:00.000-07:00

to see the dogs leave, but for some reason i'm the only one that shed a tear! I'm sure i'll be over it soon! No matter how much I hated them, Dave really did love them, I think that's why I feel so sad. Molly left us last night and Justice just left today. Hopefully, they will enjoy their new homes!

Ruby is Two Months Old!

2009-05-29T15:02:00.001-07:00

She was so tired after the doctor today!

Facts about Ruby:

As of today she weighs 10 lbs (25%) and is 22 in. long (35%).
Sometimes when she spits up it comes out of her nose.
We call her Peepers because she has the biggest eyes.
Several times she has been compared to the hamster on Bedtime Stories because of her eyes.
She has a herniated belly button.
She only wakes up one time during the night (usually).
She started smiling about a week ago.
She is very loved!

Justin's Preschool Graduation

2009-05-24T21:21:00.000-07:00

Justin's teacher, Miss Kerry, had a fun little ceremony at the end of the year. All of the kids had the cutest little caps and gowns on. Justin had a hard time keeping his cap on because of all of his hair. She gave Justin a little diploma and then said some really nice things about him. I think that Justin really felt proud of himself!

On a side note, Isabelle was being a little pill and kept running up to the front to be by Justin or to play with the balloons. Usually Dave chases her around but for some reason that day I was. One time I went up to get her with the video camera in my hand. I picked her up with one hand basically, stepped backwards and fell flat on my behind! And yes this was at the front of the room in front of everyone! It's a good thing Justin isn't old enough to be embarrassed by his parents yet because he would have hated me. Needless to say, I was embarrassed enough for the both of us!

This is Justin as he is walking in with the graduation song playing.

Notice the cap missing?

So cute!

I love this look!

Justin and Miss Kerry

Ruby's Blessing

2009-05-24T20:49:00.000-07:00

We were so grateful to bless Ruby at the beginning of May. She was so little that most of the dresses wouldn't fit her but I finally found a newborn size dress that was just perfect! Dave did an amazing job with the blessing. I think we both truly feel that there is something extra special about Ruby. Dave got choked up during the blessing and had to pause to compose himself. It was so sweet! I was amazed by some of the things that Dave said and it reaffirmed to me the power of the Priesthood. Dave expressed things that I had already been feeling but never told him. One of the main things is that he blessed Ruby to always be a special comfort to me and for some reason since the day she was born that is what she has been. She calms me. She helps me to breath. She reminds me that everything is okay as long as I have my family. She is my special comfort.

We were so grateful that so much of our family could be there. I was especially grateful that my brother Greg and his family were able to be there for the first time and we of course missed the Capps! We had a wonderful brunch at our house afterwards and really enjoyed this special day!

So sweet!

The Poulsen's

If you're wondering where Justin is he is hiding behind my nephew in the front. He did not want his picture taken at all!

The Bradshaw's
Unfortunately, we didn't get most of Dave's family in the picture!

Reality

2009-05-18T20:33:00.000-07:00

Sometimes life on these blogs seems too perfect. Here is a little dose of reality. . .

Today our house that we built from the ground up sold at auction. Now I am living in a house that I don't like and am trying my best to be positive about it but having a hard time.

Today Dave spent an obscene amount of money on lizards without talking to me about it first.

Today Justin scratched up my antique piano bench which used to be my Grandmas.

Today a Costco sized bottle of Tide liquid detergent fell off the washer, cracked open and completely leaked all over my laundry room floor.

Today Isabelle fell off the couch, hit a box and then landed on the floor. She was crying so hard that she stopped breathing and passed out. I was feeding Ruby at the time and was only able to break her fall instead of catching her. I don't think I've ever been so scared.

Tomorrow I am going to wake up and hope for a better day.

Fathers and Sons Campout

2009-05-04T13:46:00.000-07:00

Dave took Justin on his first camping trip last Friday. Our ward went up to a place past Roosevelt Lake to camp. Justin was so excited to sleep in his new sleeping bag and to sleep outside. They both had a great time and Justin loved looking for animals. In typical Dave fashion they went looking for snakes. They found two dead ones and then the one below in this picture. Can you tell what kind of snake my three year old is standing only a couple of feet from?

That's right, a rattlesnake! Does anyone else see a problem with letting him stand so close? Thankfully the snake didn't strike because they are way faster then Justin is! At least Dave didn't bring the rattlesnake home like he has before!

I didn't get too many other details out of them other then Justin loved playing with his football friend. When I asked Dave who his football friend was Dave said, "Everyone." Justin is so funny, everyone is automatically his friend. He was playing football with all of the older boys and had a great time.

The only other story I heard about was when they were driving home. Apparently, outside of Globe there is a mountain range with a huge flag pole and American flag on it. When Justin saw it he said, "Look Dad, that's where President Obama lives!" I wish he would never grow up!

Ruby is One Month Old!

2009-04-26T21:05:00.000-07:00

Ruby is still sleeping a lot but when she is awake she loves to look around with her beautiful, big eyes. The doctor said they are going to be brown, which is no surprise, but I love the deep blue that they are right now.

I love this picture with Justin in the background because it's really how things are around here. He loves her so much and is constantly around her. Every time I pick him up from school he climbs in the car, goes straight to Ruby, gives her a kiss and says, " I love my baby sister!" It always melts my heart when I hear him say that.

Here are some recent pictures of the other kids too.Justin and Isabelle love to play the piano together.
Isabelle is always laughing and when she isn't it's because she is getting into something she shouldn't be. I can't believe how many messes I clean up a day because of her!

Justin is a Nintedo DS wizard. I didn't know that 3 year olds could be so good at video games!

One Week!

2009-04-07T10:07:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how fast they change at this age! Ruby has been such a good baby and we just can't get enough of her. Justin LOVES her and is always wanting to see her and "pet" her. Isabelle hasn't quite mastered how to be soft yet but doesn't seem to have any jealousy issues which is a big relief. I thoroughly enjoy all the one on one time I get to spend with her ,except maybe the 4:30 a.m. feeding because she never seems to go back to sleep after that one. My favorite is putting her on my shoulder and rocking her because her body just seems to perfectly mold to mine. Dave definitely deserves the "Dad of the year" award because he has really stepped in as being "mom" for Justin and Isabelle and has let me rest as much has possible. Thanks Dave! I love you!

I am Woman, Hear me Roar!

2009-04-01T13:37:00.000-07:00

Ruby Christine is here finally! She decided to come a little earlier than our scheduled induction and a lot faster than any of us expected! Saturday night I finished packing my bags and finally laid down to sleep when I felt a contraction. That was about 10:00. By 11:30 we were loaded up in the car heading to the hospital. By the time we got there around 12:00 my contractions were about 3 minutes apart.

The first thing they did was take me to the triage room where the nurse checked me and said I was only dialated to a 3. I felt like the biggest wimp because my contractions hurt so bad and I was only at a 3. I asked if she could give me anything for the pain and she said to me, "First we have to make sure that you're staying." Excuse me! When do you want me to come back when my contractions are a minute apart? This was not a good start for me and the nurse that would eventually deliver Ruby.

It took forever to get hold of the doctor so that he could finally admit me but once he did they took me to the delivery room. I was in so much pain by this point that I am crying with each contraction and ask again for some medication. Unfortunately, they had to run lab work first due to my high blood pressure and I couldn't have anything until everything came back okay from that. So Dave and I are just sitting there, i'm trying to breath through each contraction to lessen the pain and continue wondering why I am such a wimp and can't handle them when I was much farther along with Isabelle when I received my epidural and was fine then.

They started me on Magnesium so that I wouldn't ceisure during labor due to the high blood pressure and it made me feel super hot and like I had the flu. I was sitting there feeling miserable because of that when all of a sudden I said, "I think the baby is coming "and needed to push. The nurse took one look at me and realized I was right. Conveniently, my blood work came back at the same time and she called so I could get the epidural. Unfortunately Ruby was not going to wait and I proceeded to give birth to her naturally! The room filled with nurses and chaos. I was in so much pain, I screamed uncontrollably. Poor Dave was literally about to pass out (It wouldn't have been the first time) from everything and they even assigned him his own nurse who would bring him OJ and try to keep him relaxed while he tried to keep me relaxed.

If anyone laid a hand on me I would scream at them because I couldn't stand to be touched. Dave said I was giving everyone dirty looks and I won't even begin to tell you some of the things that I was screaming! I remember the nurses just finally grabbing my legs and holding on tight to make the pushing easier. They said to me, "Just push throught the fire and it will all be over." It definitely felt like fire but luckily Ruby was very small and it only took me a few pushes and then the pain for the most part subsided. She was born at 1:38 a.m., an hour and forty minutes after I was admitted to the hospital! When it was all done Dave broke into gleeful laughter that I didn't quite understand because I was still angry that I didn't get my drugs!

Imagine the worst labor scene you have ever seen on t.v and that is what I feel like happened to me. I never, ever wanted to give birth naturally and the fact that I was forced into it made it even worse for me. We found out later that when they called the doctor to tell him that I was about to have the baby they said, "You won't make it here before the baby comes but you better hurry." By the time Dave went to get the camera from the car so we could take pictures of Ruby the doctor had just pulled up and Dave saw him sprinting into the hospital. Dave yelled, "You're too late!" but I guess he didn't hear him. We also found out that the doctor paging service wasn't working right that night and that is why it was taking so long to get hold of the doctor. All in all it's over and I think that I have already started to block out how much pain I was in. I hope to never do that again but i'm sure one day I will say it was a good experience, but probably not for awhile! Luckily, in the end we were blessed with sweet little Ruby and that makes it all worth it!

Ruby Christine

6 lbs. 3 oz.

19 1/2 in.

1:38 a.m.

Proud Papa, tired baby

I eventually stopped giving dirty looks and replaced them with smiles!

Tiny feet

Ready to go home

I felt so bad for the way that I acted during delivery that I did eventually apologize to the nurses and the doctor, who I guess I wasn't very nice to either once he finally showed up! Thankfully they were all very understanding and accepted my apology.

The Prego Picture

2009-03-28T20:12:00.000-07:00

There have been requests, I figured since this is my last day of being pregnant I better do it.

This is Dave's new "baby." It's a San Esteban Chuckwalla in case you couldn't tell. I think he really wanted me to show off the lizard on the blog so I thought I would humor him.

Tick Tock, Tick Tock

2009-03-24T14:16:00.000-07:00

I'm anxiously awaiting my doctors appointment this afternoon. I feel like it can't come fast enough. My due date is exactly one week from today and I am not one of those lucky ladies whose babies like to come early. I must be a good incubator because both Justin and Isabelle only came due to a little prompting from the doctor. I am hoping that today he will say that I have at least started to progress a little bit and then if he is really nice he will say "Let's set up a date to induce you." I love my doctor because I really think he understands how miserable women feel towards the end of their pregnancy and has no problem with inducing them.

Friday, after having blurry vision several times I decided to go to the hospital to be checked out. I showered. I shaved. I was ready. I really thought they would say "We need to induce you. " Unfortunately, everything checked out okay and they sent me home with orders of bed rest. Okay, it's good that everything checked out okay but I'm ready to have this baby already! Luckily, I have a wonderful husband and he let me relax and stay in bed as much as I wanted. It really helped me to feel better.

Well, I guess I will go back to watching the clock. . .

By the way, if anyone can recommend a good nursing bra, I just realized I need one still, so
please let me know!

Update: I'm being induced on Sunday! Now I need to prepare myself for what it will be like to have three kids under the age of three and a half!

Happy Anniversary Dave!

2009-03-12T13:17:00.001-07:00

Five years and counting!

Remember when we used to be able to go on vacation whenever we wanted. . .

When it Rains it Pours!

2009-03-05T18:46:00.000-07:00

After a miserable night and morning with Isabelle I decided to take her to the doctor today. Turns out she has an ear infection! She is on antibiotics now so hopefully she will be back to normal soon.

But wait there's more. . . I had my doctor's appointment this afternoon and it turns out I have extremely high blood pressure and so this baby might be coming a little earlier than expected! I go back on Monday to get checked again so we will see what happens! The doctor said to me, "You need to try to take it easy." I felt like saying, "Let me tell you about my week and then you tell me again to take it easy!"

Good times, good times.

Trauma

2009-03-04T19:27:00.000-07:00

That's how the past couple of days have been for me and even more so for Justin. Let me give you the background. Justin has been sick for at least a week and a half with a fever that comes and goes, sometimes getting as high as 104 degrees, and a really nasty cough. I took him to the doctor a week from last Monday and he told me everything looks great. The fever should be gone in about three days and the cough will probably last a couple of weeks. I was okay with that but when Friday came around and his fever was still coming back I called to talk to the nurse. She said that the cough has been lasting up to a week and to just give him lots of fluids and Motrin to keep him comfortable. Fine I can do that. Then, Sunday Justin fell asleep around 5:30 and didn't wake up until after 8:00 the next day. That is so out of character for him. Monday he actually asked to go to bed which is the first time ever and Tuesday he fell asleep on our couch with the t.v. on and Isabelle running around screaming. He has never fallen asleep anywhere but his bed and the car before, let alone with so much noise around him. So not only is he still having this fever and cough but now he is extremely tired too. Did I mention that when he woke up he was breathing irregularly too?

I decided to take him to the urgent care that night. He has not enjoyed his last couple of trips to the doctor so of course the mention of going there freaks him out. I finally convinced him to go (or should I say bribed him with the promise of ice cream afterwards). When we got down there I was shocked by all the cars and the mention of the hour and a half wait made me turn around and head home. By this point i'm in tears but stop them long enough to make it through the Dairy Queen drive thru to get Justin his promised ice cream even though we didn't actually see the doctor.

We went home and I was trying to figure out what to do because I really wanted Justin to see a doctor that night. I finally remembered there was another urgent care by us so we loaded up and went. I showed up at 8:01 and they closed at 8. I even asked if they could let me in and they told me no. How could you turn away an extremely pregnant woman who has obviously been crying and holding a sick three year old? Needless to say, the tears came again.

I decided to head back to the original urgent care and wait it out. After about an hour we saw the doctor. Everything went fine until he said he needed to swab Justin's nose to see if it was the flu. I didn't know that he meant stick an extremely long, bendy, cotton swab as far up Justin's nose as possible. This time it was Justin's turn to cry. By the time he got in bed last night it was 10:30.

Today was a whole new day of trauma. The doctor ordered chest x-rays and blood work done. I couldn't go in for the x-rays because I am pregnant but Dave said it took four people to hold Justin still enough to take the picture and apparently Justin was throwing punches left and right and kicking wildly. So glad I missed that!

Justin went immediately from the x-rays to the blood work and of course he's not in a good mood at this point. Dave had to totally restrain him while two people worked to draw his blood as quickly as possible. They took three vials! Since Justin couldn't physically do anything while they were doing it he chose to yell at them instead. At the end I said, "He really is normally a sweet boy!" At least it's all over!

The preliminary x-rays look like he's developing pnuemonia so he's now on an antibiotic which will hopefully clear it up quickly. By the way, this afternoon after all of these traumatic things Justin broke out in hives from head to toe. Now I have to figure out what's causing those too. Could anything else happen at this point? I won't even start with what's wrong with Isabelle! I just keep praying I won't go into labor. . .

Our Snow Day!

2009-02-22T15:02:00.001-07:00

I'm not really a big fan of the snow after living in Utah for 5 years but I really wanted to take the kids to play in the snow. We finally got the opportunity to go on President's Day and the kids had a blast. We went up to Christopher Creek which is right outside of Payson. Dave's family used to own a cabin there so he wanted to check it out and then we just played in the church parking lot right by it. There was still a lot of snow even though it hadn't snowed recently but it was a little hard. I think the kids favorite thing was eating the snow. Once Isabelle realized she could eat it she just walked around with a snowball in her hand and didn't bother playing with it anymore, just eating it. Justin the next day at school told his teacher all about our trip and how yummy the snow was! Isabelle did not want to hold still for the picture!

Dave helped the kids build a snowman. Notice the snowball in Isabelle's hand!

Justin was excited to finally make a snow angel instead of a carpet angel like he does at home.

Justin and Dave had some good snowball fights!

Yummy snowball!

Valentine's Day

2009-02-22T14:48:00.000-07:00

I know some people are very anti-Valentine's Day but I like it. This year Dave and I celebrated the night before and it was a special treat for me. I have been begging for a night away because other then when I was in the hospital with Isabelle I have not had an overnight "break" from the kids. Dave's mom was kind enough to come stay with the kids so that we could get away for the night. Dave surprised me by taking me to The Buttes resort overnight. We ate dinner at one of their restaurants and I had the best creme brulee I have ever had! They mixed berries into the cream instead of just putting it on top. I was looking forward to a good night's sleep since there were no kids to wake me up but unfortunately it was NBA all star weekend in Phoenix and I think there must have been a lot of young people staying there too and they were so loud! All night long people were walking by our room talking loudly and laughing, probably coming to and from the bars. Oh well! In the morning Dave had another wonderful surprise for me. He had scheduled a facial for me at the spa and while I was there he was going to go back with the kids and just let me spend some much needed alone time until check out. It was wonderful! I read my book, watched tv, and just relaxed. The facial was awesome too! I'm so lucky to have Dave! Valentine's Day is also special to us because it is the anniversary of our engagement to. It's fun to celebrate both!

Here are the kids in their Valentine's outfits. It's not a very good picture though because the kids looked so cute!

The Train Park

2009-02-22T14:26:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we went to a train park in Scottsdale. It was so much fun! It had two little trains that you can ride on, a carousel, a train museum, a great playground, and a few other things too. This is Robyn in front of the train museum. It's inside a train that used to be used by one of the President's but I never found out which one. I think I need to go back!

Justin had a lot of fun on the carousel but it was stressful for me. It didn't have any seatbelts so I had to hold on to him the whole time so he wouldn't fall off. I found out later that it is an old carousel on the carousel preservation list and that's why they haven't "upgraded" it.

This was Justin and Robyn's favorite part. At the end of one of the trains they have this little cattle car that the kids can ride in and they shut the door so they're kind of trapped. Justin loved It!

Dave took Isabelle on one of the train rides and she screamed the whole time! I guess she didn't like it but she loved the playground and playing in the sand.

Boxers For Sale

2009-02-04T16:34:00.001-07:00

Someone please take them!

Justin's Party and 3 Year Check up

2009-02-03T13:06:00.000-07:00

Justin had a great "Diego" party. We were blessed with beautiful weather that day so we had it at the park in our neighborhood. Justin was so excited to have a birthday party and to have all of his cousins over to play. For food we enjoyed beetle wings (potato chips), snake eggs (grapes), crocodile teeth (wedges of apple), and ants (craisins), and drank jungle juice. The cake

The aftermath

The crowd

The future football star

The proud soccer player

The Moocher

(Isabelle was trying to get cupcake from Robyn and her cousins Sydney and Lexie)

The Pirate

Justin's cousins Sydney and Sophie gave him a pirate costume and he loves dressing up in it and running around the house saying "Arrghhh" and "Mateys".

At Justin's three year check up he was not very happy. The first thing he had to do was stand on the scale and get measured for height. What a chore it was to get him to do that! He was pretty good with the doctor examination until it came time to look in his mouth, good thing that was the last thing! He has always been tall and skinny according to the growth charts so I was shocked to find out that now he is short (20%) and skinny (25%)! I'm hoping for a big growth spurt soon. At least I know why he can't ever reach the wheels of a tricycle and a bicycle, it's not because the pedals are too far like I thought, it's because his legs are too short!

Justin has become very independent lately. It started when he finally learned how to open the door by himself. That resulted in a very scary incident when he went outside by himself while I was in the shower and he was "taking" a nap. Luckily, Robyn was walking home from her friends house at that exact time and happened upon Justin walking down the street away from our house. I now lock the door at all times! Could you imagine if Robyn hadn't been there! He also wants to buckle himself in the car seat by himself, and pretty much anything else that he can do he wants to do by himself. It is fun to watch him learn to do things but it has definitely tried my patience at times!

He is halfway potty trained. He will use the toilet if he isn't wearing a diaper but still prefers to wear them so I don't really know what to do. Everyone says don't force it, he will do it when he's ready but I really don't want to have three kids in diapers so that leaves me two months to fix this problem, any advice?

Justin is also very smart and loves going to preschool. He knows all of his letter sounds and can also identify all the letters. The other day after school Justin's teacher, Miss Kerry, showed me that he can sound out letters together to make a word, so he pretty much is reading! Of course Justin doesn't know he is reading he just thinks he is making the sounds. I was watching the pregame for the Super Bowl the other day and the interview with Barack Obama came on. Out of nowhere Justin says, "That's Barack Obama." Shocked that he knew this I said "What?!" and he repeated it again. I didn't teach him that and neither did Dave so we're still trying to figure out how he learned this.

He is so fun to have around and I love listening to his sweet little voice. I wish that I could capture it forever. Sometimes I wish that I just had a camera that would follow him around all day capturing every moment! I try to treasure these times because I know they will be gone too soon!

Happy Birthday Justin!

2009-01-23T14:44:00.000-07:00

Three years ago today Heavenly Father gave me one of the best gifts ever. . . Justin! I can't believe how fast the years have gone. He is such a joy to us and keeps us laughing every day!

January 23, 2006

7:44 a.m.

I know his face is dirty (leftovers from lunch) but that's usually how it is anyways so this is a good representation of him! One day I'll learn to edit photos. . .

A few random things. . .

2009-01-22T18:14:00.000-07:00

I decided to put Isabelle's hair in pigtails the other day and this is how it turned out. So cute! My new neighbor said that she looks like Boo from Monster's Inc.

We were at the store the other day getting Isabelle some new shoes when Justin spotted these babies. He had them off the shelf and on his feet before I even new what happened! He was sooooo excited about them that I decided to buy them for him and he pretty much hasn't taken them off since! He told the guy in the checkout line behind us that his new shoes were going to make him go faster because they have wheels! They also came in very handy today when it rained!

Justin also had a monumental event happen a couple of days ago, we got rid of his crib and got him a toddler bed! He was so excited the first night that he went to bed early and didn't even want me to say goodnight! He ALWAYS wants to say goodnight to me! It was so funny he had Dave put the blanket over him, shut the door and that was it! One of the easiest bedtimes ever. He did fall out once that night but has done really well ever since, except nap times are pretty much non-existent!

He also said the funniest thing the other day. . .

Justin: Mom we don't live at our house.

Me: We don't? Where do we live?

J: We live at QT!

I guess I've taken him on one too many trips to the gas station to get a drink!

He definitely keeps me laughing every day!

Justin's First "Real" Haircut

2009-01-11T20:37:00.001-07:00

In a couple of weeks Justin turns three and I want to get some pictures taken so I thought I would get him a "real" haircut and let it grow out for a couple of weeks so that it will look perfect for picture day.

Before

During

As you can tell, Justin was not very happy while she was cutting his hair but overall was a good sport about it. He kept saying, "Mom why is she doing that?" and did not want to look where she was telling him to.

After
This after picture isn't so bad but I have to say that I don't like his haircut! I miss the long, shaggy, unprofessional looking style and I hope his hair grows back fast. Dave started a sentence today by saying, "Remember in Dumb and Dumber how Jim Carrey's hair looked like a . . ." and then I cut him off. I don't want to admit what Justin's haircut really looks like and I hope I can salvage it for picture day. In the mean time, Justin is enjoying it because it doesn't get in his eyes anymore!

The Rest of Christmas. . .

2009-01-11T18:37:00.000-07:00

Finally some time to catch up on Christmas! We had a great Christmas and were so lucky to be able to spend it with so much family! Here are some activities that took up the rest of our Christmas season. All the Bradshaw grandkids gathered together for the Christmas FHE
Joe and Robyn played the piano while we all sang Christmas carols and then watched a talent show put on by all the kids.

Christmas Eve with the Bradshaw's
Robyn and Cousin Danny as Mary and Joseph.
The Nativity Story was pretty low key this year. We made it through without Justin stealing baby Jesus like he did last year!

The kids each opened one present Christmas Eve, which of course were pj's!

Christmas Day was great! We didn't even open presents until about 8:30 because that's when Justin finally decided to get up! Overall everyone loved their presents and had a great day. It was fun with Justin because this is the first year he understood that Santa was coming and he was just so excited for every gift. He still is saying, "This was the best Christmas ever!"
Robyn got a cool ATM to hold her money for her. She can make deposits and withdrawals and it keeps track of how much she has. Much easier than recounting every time!
Isabelle got a fire truck Cozy Coupe. I was tired of her and Justin fighting over the one we already had so this is definitely a favorite toy of mine too. She really can't move it yet but just likes to get in and out and put things in the "trunk."

Justin got a train set for Christmas. I knew he would like it but I had no idea that hours would be spent just watching the trains! We had to replace all the train batteries two days after Christmas because he played with it so much. I had no idea that the track was so big and I am still trying to figure out what to do with it so I can move it out of my entryway.

Dave and I both loved our presents too. This year was more about buying things that we needed rather than wanted and I really liked it! Dave came up with some really thoughtful gifts, like the Shark Steam mop since I hate mopping the floor and now it is much easier. I have to say though, that the gift I have used the most I actually bought for everyone else but now I am addicted to it! It's a Nintendo DS and I play it every chance I get and have already realized that it will be great entertainment while I am in the hospital with the new baby!

Later that day all of my family came over. Dinner was delicious and luckily wasn't ruined by the fact that the turkey wasn't done cooking when everything else was ready. My new digital thermometer that I received that morning said it was done. Who am I to argue? Luckily, there were plenty of appetizers to hold us over while the turkey finished cooking. There is always PLENTY of food when the Poulsen's get together!

The Poulsen Family Three out of the last four Christmases I have been pregnant! Maybe next year I will like the family Christmas picture . . .

The Bradshaws

We hope that you all had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Christmas so far. . .

2008-12-16T19:36:00.001-07:00

Fun craft we did with our friends the Cook's using Nutter Butters

Dave and I going to his work Christmas party

Justin was so excited to come home from preschool as Rudolph!

Isabelle striking a pose in her Christmas dress.

Justin's Christmas outfit which is also his first tie. He was very excited!

Dave and I as Mary and Joseph for the ward Christmas program

The kids and Dave all ready for the Christmas party

Isabelle's 15 Month Appointment

2008-12-04T10:13:00.000-07:00

Isabelle's 15 month appointment went great! She weighed 22 lbs 10 oz. (50%) and was 31 1/2 inches long (75%). Her head is a little on the large side (75%) but I don't think you can tell when you look at her! She has just as much personality as Justin and I think will be just as talkative as he is. I love to watch them play together. They laugh so much together (and sometimes fight!) and she learns so much from Justin. She is also learning her animal sounds and whenever she seess a duck starts saying quack quack! A big day for me was when I put her hair in a ponytail for the first time a couple of weeks ago, just after Thanksgiving. I realized I am going to need some practice doing little girls hair and if any one has tips on how to get her to hold still please leave a comment! Here is a list of words that she can say and it seems to grow daily!

Daddy
Mommy
Uh-oh
puppy (almost every animal is a puppy to her)
Hi
Bye
Diego
Dora
owie (she seems to hit her head constantly)
Grapa (Grandpa)
Gramma (Grandma)
movie
good girl (she says this to herself when she sits down in the bath tub and on chairs because she knows she's not supposed to stand up)
Wee!
night-night
bird
ball
Pop Tart (one of her favorites!)
nana (banana)
and who knows what she will learn today!

You can't tell in this picture but she still only has two teeth!

Daddy's little girl!

Isabelle with Grandma Poulsen

It was a Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-12-01T20:29:00.000-07:00

We had a great time for Thanksgiving. We ate at my brother Mark's house along with my parents and my other brother Greg and his family. The food was delicious of course and it's always fun to see all the cousins play together. It was nice to have Dave home for a long weekend too. His sister Rhonda and her family were in town so we got together one night to roast marshmallows and the next day they went on a hike (I opted to go shopping!). Unfortunately, I don't have any great pictures with delicious food in it or beautiful scenery from the hike because I am tired of having a camera that doesn't zoom so we rarely use it! Here are just a couple quick pictures I snapped of the kids.

Justin made this hat at Preschool. He wasn't really in the mood to take a picture so no smile this time!

Isabelle is always in the mood to take a picture and has even learned to say cheese while doing it! Too bad she's not always dressed. . . She just turned 15 months and we can't believe how time has flown!

Inspirational

2008-11-21T09:49:00.000-07:00

Check out this beautiful and inspiring story about the Nielson's.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/mesa/articles/2008/11/20/20081120mr-stephanie1120.html

Halloween

2008-11-04T20:34:00.001-07:00

We had a great Halloween this year! Justin really got into it for the first time and was excited to go trick or treating. Justin was a lion because he loves lions and has a very ferocious "roar." Isabelle was a beautiful purple fairy simply because I fell in love with the costume. Unfortunately, we couldn't get very good pictures because the kids didn't want to hold still and we couldn't get any of them next to each other because everytime Justin would go to stand by Isabelle she would run away from him! He had been bugging her all day and I think she had had enough by that point!

Pumpkin Carving

2008-11-04T20:18:00.000-07:00

I was excited for us to carve pumpkins this year because I thought that Justin would really enjoy getting messy. Boy was I wrong! He didn't even want to reach inside at all but he did enjoy watching Dave and coloring his own pumpkin. Isabelle was not really interested at all but content to run around us and eat Dave's necklace from his Uncle Rico costume.

The pictures ended up backwards, so here is the finished product first!

Eating the necklace

Coloring the pumpkin

I really think Dave enjoys carving the pumpkins and letting his creative side come out.

And it's Going to be. . .

2008-10-30T17:56:00.000-07:00

a girl! As Dave put it, Isabelle will have the sister I never had. Now if we could just give Justin the brother Dave never had. . . The baby looks great and it was actually the most entertaining ultrasound i've had. She of course had her stomach down so it was hard to tell the gender. My doctor says he is 95% sure it's a girl and will check again next time. Dr. Beck kept poking at her trying to get her to move and by the end of the ultrasound she was literally doing front flips which was pretty funny to watch. Everything looks healthy and we are just excited to hear that!

It was time. . .

2008-10-28T16:16:00.001-07:00

My mom will be so happy, Justin finally got a haircut! I love his hair long and get so many compliments on it but it was so long the poor kid couldn't see anymore. I started yesterday by just cutting the front but apparently Dave thought it looked like a mullett so today he cut the back. I have to admit that Justin does look really cute and he keeps calling himself handsome, but I can't wait for it to grow back! Before

Poor Justin had to look up to try to see out from under his hair!

After
Doesn't he look handsome! Dave think he looks like he's 5 now.
At least you can see those beautiful baby browns now!

On a side note, Justin has a fever of 103.5 today! He's acting normal so hopefully it won't turn into anything more and will go away quickly!

Twenty-nine is fine, right?

2008-10-27T13:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I turned the big 2-9. It was a great day and Dave and I had a great date Saturday night to celebrate but I am still having mixed feelings about this one! I am just one year away from turning 30 which if I think about that too long it starts to freak me out! We ate at the Macaroni Grill Saturday, and I couldn't help looking around at all the young employees and remembering when I worked in restaurants during college. I thought to myself, "I'm not that much older than them now, right?" but if I asked them they probably would think i'm old! On the other hand I think, "I'm only 29 so why do I feel like i'm 39!" I can't believe how much having kids and all these "adult" responsibilities has aged me. How do you stay feeling young when it's so hard to find any time to yourself? Sometimes I think, "In a couple of years when my kids are older and more independent it will be okay, but then I remember I'M PREGNANT and the whole cycle of raising a child is about to start over! But if I really step back and put things in perspective I feel like I have so much at such a young age. I have a wonderful husband who supports and encourages me in everything that I do, two beautiful children with one on the way that bring me more joy and laughter then I could ever imagine, a beautiful house in a great neighborhood, and I come from a wonderful family and now I have amazing in-laws too. The list could go on and on and on and with each birthday i'm sure that I will have more to add to that list so I think from now on i'm just going to remember "Age is just a number" especially next year when I will be turning 30!

By the way, here's something that always brings a smile to my face when I think about it, no matter how old I am, Dave will always be 4 years older! Just one of the benefits of marrying an older man! I love you Dave!

I would love to put a picture up of my birthday yesterday but we didn't take any! Instead, here is a picture from October 2004, when I wasn't even thinking about age!

The Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-20T21:14:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went to Mother Nature's Farm and had a great time! We went there last year too and the kids really have a blast. Justin, Robyn, and Isabelle all had a great time picking out a pumpkin and then decorating it. There is also a tractor ride that takes you around the farm and you can see all the animals. At one point in the day we couldn't find Justin and when we finally did he was running back and forth from one animal's cage to the next. He really loves animals and could have spent the whole day with them. Isabelle also really liked the animals and it was really cute to watch her because she is starting to do animal sounds! Justin was so proud of his pumpkin! Honestly, the one he picked out was one of the worst in the patch and was starting to rot, but whatever makes him happy!
Robyn went with a Patriotic theme.
Isabelle definitely mastered the "maaaa" sound by the time we left!

Isabelle's New Best Friends

2008-10-14T12:59:00.000-07:00

Now that the weather is so nice all Isabelle wants to do is go outside. I can't say that I blame her! She is very excited to hang out with the dogs and even puts food in their bowl for them!

She can be very quiet so one time when I went to look for her this is where I found her!

She also loves to read books and decided to read one to the dogs. I couldn't take the picture fast enough, but right before this Molly was on the other side and it really looked like she was reading the book to both dogs!

My New Favorite Food Storage Item!

2008-10-03T13:15:00.000-07:00

I have really been into getting my 3 month food storage supply ready lately so to help me I went to a canning class at Shar's so I could learn to can meats. She always gives out samples of the food and on top of the apple pie she put the yummiest stuff called Spiff-E Whip. I know it sounds like it's from the 1950's but it is so cool! It's basically whip cream that comes in powder form and you just add water. What makes it even better is it is low calorie and zero fat! I used it as a fruit dip the other night and it was so good! I was checking out the website of the people that make it and they actually have an outlet store in Utah that you can place orders through and get all sorts of stuff. I think next time I am up there I will have to stock up!

Need a fun day trip?

2008-10-01T19:55:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday Dave dragged us to a reptile show in Tucson. Okay, he probably only dragged me because the kids really wanted to go. The kids had a great time looking at all the reptiles etc. and I was just happy to leave there without any new pets! By the time we left it was lunch time and almost nap time so I wanted to eat and then go home hoping that the kids would fall asleep in the car. Dave had other ideas though. He wanted to go to a musuem that he remembered going to when he was little. So without really knowing the name of it or where it was, we set out to go there. Luckily, we ran into a nice Highway Patrolman that gave us great directions. I was totally not prepared for what this place really was. It is called the Arizona Sonoran Desert Musuem. It is pretty much like a zoo but only with Arizonan and Sonoran Desert animals. Justin kept looking for the elephants and I didn't know how to tell him there weren't any there. Luckily there were lots of other things to see! I liked it much better than the Phoenix Zoo because you could get much closer to the animals, they had hidden caves for the kids (and adults) to go through, they had different crafts for the kids to do and lots of other things. We spent hours there and still didn't see everything! The highlight for me was seeing a red Cardinal. I know i'm lame, but I used to teach AZ history and had to learn all of the state symbols so I was excited to finally see the state bird! There was so much to see and do there and I wish I had pictures to post to show you all the cool things but unfortunately we didn't bring the camera so you will just have to take my word for it!

An Update About Me

2008-09-25T18:01:00.000-07:00

So remember a while ago how I posted how I had lost a bunch of weight? Well, if you've seen me lately you probably thought,"She doesn't look like she lost weight!" Don't worry, i'm not offended. There is actually good reason, I'm pregnant! I am 13 weeks along right now and just got back from the doctor. Everything looks great and I am due on March 31st. I can't wait until next month when we find out what we're having! Anyone want to place bets?

Isabelle's One Year Check Up

2008-09-14T16:05:00.000-07:00

Last Monday I took Isabelle to the doctor. He said she looks perfect and is right on track developmentally. I had to laugh when he asked if she was pulling herself up on things because she had passed that step long ago! I told him she had been walking for weeks and he laughed. Just today I noticed that she is practically running now! I always love seeing what percentage she falls into for height, weight, and head circumference. I was pleasantly surprised to find out she's not as chubby as I thought. She is 21 lbs which is only 50%. An interesting fact though, Justin only weighs 5 lbs. more than her and is a year and a half older! She was 29 1/2 inches which puts her in the 60th percentile for height and her head, following the Bradshaw tradition was the biggest at 70%. We're glad that she is so healthy and strong! Also, she finally has a tooth! Her front, bottom right tooth finally poked through a couple of days ago.

I wanted to post pictures that my friend Rachael has been taking for me since Isabelle was born. Rachael is so talented and I am so lucky to have a friend that is willing to take the time to work with my children to get the best shot of them. Here are some of my favorites:

This was taken at 1 month. Can you believe the attitude already?!

I love these pictures of her taken at 6 months!

These four were taken last week when she turned one. It was so hard to make her hold still long enough to get a picture! I think they turned out really cute though! Thanks Rachael!

Justin's First Day of Preschool!

2008-09-02T20:49:00.000-07:00

Today was Justin's first day of preschool! I was excited (and a little hesitant!) but for some reason Justin wasn't! It was the weirdest thing. For so long he has been asking to go to "cool" like Robyn and when it was finally time he was all shy and timid. If you know Justin you know that he is usually very excited and happy about everything but not today. He didn't even want to get his picture taken and that's why there is such a lame picture of me holding him because that's all he would let us do. When we got to the house he was still acting weird, but went in without any fuss, so that was good. He was fine when he came out and his teacher said that he didn't cry or anything but that he wasn't very happy until she got the animals out. Another wierd thing, he told the teacher that his name was Peter! I have no idea how he even knows this name, maybe she misunderstood him, I don't know! Hopefully the next time will be better or else Justin might become a preschool drop out! Justin acting shy and not excited!
Justin outside the school, still not excited!
Justin with his teacher, Miss Carrie, still acting shy and not excited!

Happy Birthday Isabelle!

2008-08-31T19:56:00.000-07:00

Today is Isabelle's birthday (and my Mom's- Happy Birthday Mom!). We had her birthday party yesterday with all the cousins and she had a blast! I can't believe she is already one! This weekend has brought back so many memories from last year, which was one of the hardest ever for me so I was glad to be able to fill it with good memories this year! She is such a fun, happy girl. She is walking all over the place now and has been for a couple weeks. She is definitely a "Daddy's girl" and it is so cute to see her reaction when Dave comes home. She gets so excited and gets mad if he doesn't come pick her up right away. She loves to play with her brother and sister and loves the animals too! She brings so much joy and laughter to the family! We love you Isabelle! I couldn't pass up this birthday outfit when I saw it. She looked so cute! Notice the big bruise on her forehead, she had a pretty bad fall a couple days ago!
She couldn't decide between the carrot in her hand and the cake for a while. Eventually she used the carrot as a spoon so she could enjoy them both!
She made a big mess!
She loved the ribbon on Grandma's present and has loved playing with all of her presents! Thanks everyone!

Daddy's little girl!

Day Trip to Payson

2008-08-19T19:11:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went up to Payson with Dave's sister Becky and her family. It was nice just to get away from the day and escape the heat for a little bit. We just ate lunch at a nice park in Payson and then let the kids play. Dave, being inspired from watching the Olympics tried to do some of his old gymnastics moves. It was actually quite impressive but unfortunately we didn't get anything on video. He was doing standing back flips and a bunch of other things that I don't know the names of, but the most impressive was when he ran and jumped over a fence, did a front flip and landed on his feet. Unfortunately, for Dave he is still in pain 3 days later! Our final activity was feeding the ducks, or rather the geese. It was really scary to watch the kids feed the geese because the geese were not shy at all! They were eating out of hands and almost attacking us to get the bread. Luckily, no one got bit and the kids had a great time!

Isabelle just chillin'

Dave helping the kids do flips

Feeding the attack geese

2008-08-14T12:31:00.000-07:00

you are plum
#DDA0DD

Your dominant hues are red and blue. You're confident and like showing people new ideas. You play well with others and can be very influential if you want to be.

Your saturation level is low - You stay out of stressful situations and advise others to do the same. You may not be the go-to person when something really needs done, but you know never to blow things out of proportion.

Your outlook on life is bright. You see good things in situations where others may not be able to, and it frustrates you to see them get down on everything.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

Well purple is my favorite color so I guess plum works. As for everything else, I'll have to ask Dave if he thinks this sounds like me!

11 Months!

2008-07-31T12:29:00.000-07:00

Isabelle turned 11 months old today. I can't believe how fast time has gone! She is so fun right now, always laughing and excited to see you. She says mama, hi, boo, and puppy. I love it when I go in to get her out of her crib and before she can even see me she is saying "Hi." She is trying so hard to walk and that is pretty much all she wants to do. She often puts a death grip on my fingers and tries to scoot herself off my lap so that I will walk her around. She can take a few steps by herself but doesn't do it very often. She loves to play with Justin (when he is being nice to her at least) and has fun trying to crawl faster than he does. We love you Isabelle!
This is Dave's creative way of walking her around so that he doesn't have to lean over. He used her blanket at first but it wasn't quite long enough so now he uses Justin's snake to hold her up and she just walks and walks and walks. If you would like to purchase one of these "baby walkers" you can buy them at Ikea!

What a week! Another Gratitude Post

2008-07-25T23:26:00.000-07:00

Wow! This week has really made me take a step back and ponder my life. In this past week I have learned that one of our friends just recently had a Down Syndrome baby (which of course a baby is always a blessing but to think of the challenges they will face for years to come. . . ), a family member has lost his job and now has to find a new one, and then just today our neighbor's 2 year old daughter drowned in the pool. Dave and I drove by right after it happened, the ambulance was gone but the police were still there, and Dave right away said, " Oh no they have a pool." I was praying that this wouldn't be true but when the news trucks showed up a few minutes later I knew it was. It is hard to imagine what the family must be feeling right now. I don't think words could express it. I realized a little later that just on Sunday part of the RS lesson was about losing a child and how you will have the opportunity to raise them again after the ressurection. I left the lesson thinking, "I hope this isn't one of those lessons that I needed to hear for a reason. . ." These events have helped me remember something that I was just talking to a friend about a few months ago. We were sharing our stresses with each other and discussing how we could solve them when she said, "Just remember that as long as you have your family you will be okay." That is what is most important! My family will face some hard times but as long as I have them we will make it through. Justin might be out of control because he is trying not to take naps anymore and Isabelle might be fussy because she is finally getting teeth, and it can be a little frustrating at times, but I have them, they are safe and they are healthy. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have of the Lord's plan and I am grateful to know that this family has the same knowledge. I can only pray that it will bring them comfort during this incredibly difficult time, a time that no parent wants to go through. These three events have helped me to put things in perspective and be grateful for the blessings that I have. We have so much to be thankful for even when times are rough and it is so important to remember those blessings to help us make it through. I am grateful that I am able to tuck my children into bed each night with a loving husband by my side.

2008-07-14T18:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been so long since the last post! Life just seems to move too fast some times. I will try to do better. I hope that everyone is doing well and enjoying their summer!

Bear Lake, Idaho

2008-07-10T17:10:00.000-07:00

We just got back from our vacation to Bear Lake. I have to say that it was probably one of my favorite vacations ever! I grew up going to Bear Lake every summer as a child so I was very excited to take my kids there. My grandparents bought a cabin there in 1950 and we are so lucky to be able to go there. It's just a little small town with lots of wide open space. It was so nice to just go and be together. My parents, my brother Mark and his family and my brother Jim and his family also came. We were sad that my brother Greg and his family couldn't make it but hopefully next year! We went out on my parents boat almost every day and the kids loved that (the water was too cold for me!). One day some of us went to Minnetonka cave. I think Justin was a little scared because he wouldn't let us put him down the whole way. It was quite the work out having to hold him because there were 888 stairs to climb and we walked over a mile round trip. Luckily, Dave carried him on the really strenuous parts! On Fourth of July we went to a parade and the kids loved it! Each float threw out candy and the kids were loaded by the end of it. The best part is that we didn't even have to go anywhere to watch fireworks. The cabin two houses up from us put on a huge fireworks show two nights in a row and I don't mean the ones that just stay on the ground. They were just like if you were to go to the display here. Apparently it's some famous ex-football player named Merlin Olson and he does it every year. Lucky for us! One of my favorite parts was going to LeBeaus (the local food place) for raspberry shakes. They are the best and I am really going through withdrawals not being able to get one. The problem is that I now have to lose the weight that I put on while I was up there because I definitely had one too many shakes! I am counting down the days until we can go again next summer!

Justin at the beach

Random shot of the cabin

Justin, Robyn and their cousin Sydney playing at the beach

These two pictures are from inside the cave

The kids in their Fourth of July outfits
Isabelle at the parade