Day of Thanks

We had a very nice relaxing Thanksgiving. We ended up spending it in Provo, since we will be heading down to California for Christmas. Since the Nelsons were sticking around as well, we got together with them along with Kate and her friend Mariella.




We ended up with 5 pies between all of us. I made a chocolate caramel pecan pie and a pumpkin cheesecake pie( recipe found here ). The chocolate caramel one was devoured, but I still have plenty of pumpkin left. So come get some.


The Nelsons fancy schmancy table display


Brittany baking up a storm



Brittany bought a jaw dropping 20 lb turkey. This thing was a BEAST. The funniest part about our meal was that after 5 hours of cooking, the turkey still wasn't done.... so we went ahead and had our Thanksgiving dinner minus the turkey. Don't worry.... we were still stuffed. We got together the next night to eat this sucker along with our tons of leftovers.




Bradley just chilled like this most of the night



After dinner we went to see The Blindside. GREAT movie. Totally worth paying full price for it.

Shindig

We had some friends over last week to celebrate Garrett's B-day


The birthday boy with his many candles.

I asked Garrett what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday thinking he would just ask for chocolate or confetti cake. Nope. He wanted angel food cake. Growing up, his family made angel food cake whenever it was someone's birthday. I have never attempted this cake before. I thought about making it from scratch, then I read that I needed to sift the flour and sugar 5 times. No thank you. So I just opted for the box. It turned out a little tilted, but it tasted yummy.




Some of the gang


Madi helped Garrett blow out all his candles

BREAKTHROUGH

Bradley has slept for 11 hours at night for the past 2 nights!! Glory hallelujah! The night before last he only woke up to eat once at 5, and last night he didn't even need to have a feeding! He did wake up once, and I just popped his pacifier in his mouth and he was back to sleep.

Bradley has been a pretty dang good sleeper at night, but he was still waking up 2 or 3 times to eat. I decided to try a few things I read in "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby", along with the pacifier trick to see if we could get him to sleep straight through. The first 4 nights were pretty tough. He would wake up more often, and we tried letting him cry for a while (no more than 10 minutes at a time though.....it was all we could take). But we saw results even after the 1st night. A few rounds of crying at night was totally worth it now that he is sleeping longer. When he is awake during the day, he is alert and happy. He goes down for a nap instantly. I can tell he is well rested. SUCH a good feeling!

thankful

my Savior . my beautiful baby boy . my husband, the love of my life . the gospel . my family . fall leaves . scented oil . disposable diapers . fabulous friends . DVR . music . facebook . heaters . tai pan . blogs . my bed . epidurals . pandora . my mac . mac make up . my brother serving a mission . perfume . youtube . dreft . baby powder . cameras . ballard designs . nursing bras . my house . in n n out in provo . camel back water bottles . black friday . education . raspberries

Happy Thanksgiving!

3 Months

Our baby Bradley is 3 months old! He is getting to be so much fun. I am sad that he is not a teeny tiny newborn anymore, but it is so fun to see him grow and develop.


- He laughs and smiles all the time. He usually starts with a little half smile, and then it gets huge. He laughs the most when we play peek-a-boo with him. He gets startled and then starts to crack up.


-He can hold onto his Blabla and other soft animals. He pulls them up to his face and tries to eat them.

-He blows bubbles and drools like CRAZY.


-He is on a great "feed, wake, sleep" schedule. He is happy and alert when he is awake and usually goes right down for his nap with no problem.


- He has learned that he can hit his little animal friends on his bouncy seat.


- He loves to suck on his hands.

- We are working on getting him to sleep through the night.... slowly but surely. Usually he still wakes up about 2 or 3 times at night.


- He still loves to be swaddled.


- He is getting better and better at tummy time. He holds his head up almost the whole time, and makes a little scooting motion with his legs. Not quite ready for him to be mobile yet, but it's a start!


- He loves getting and giving kisses.

25

My handsome hubby turns 25 today! For some reason, the jump from 24 to 25 seams like a big one. Doesn't Garrett look like a little boy in this picture?


We went to P.F. Changs to celebrate. A little Great Wall of Chocolate really makes for a great birthday.




Brock even surprised Garrett by coming down from Ogden


Then we headed back home for a little present opening


We finished up the night by cheering on Garrett in his flag football game. They had quite the cheering section. And kicked some mad bootay.


Bradley and I attended the game and had some sweet box seats. I stayed nice and warm and Bradley slept.

Happy Birthday Love! I am so lucky to have such an awesome husband. I have loved watching you with our son. You are a fantastic Dad.

Laughing Bradley

Bradley started laughing last week! It cracks us up. He has this little low laugh, it's pretty funny.

This is one of the first times we got him to laugh. Don't mind my annoying voice.


He has the hang of it now and does it all the time.

I did it

I quit my job. I can't believe I actually did it. The closer and closer my maternity leave got to being over, the more sick to my stomach I felt about going back to work. Even though I can work from home full time, I couldn't figure out how I would be able to juggle taking care of Bradley and trying to get work done. Even if Garrett was home most of the day, I would hate having to sit at my desk all day and not be able to play with him. So after much thought and prayer, we decided that it would be best if I just focused on being a mom right now. I am so grateful for such a supportive husband. I really felt a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders when we made the decision. I am loving the time I get to spend with my little boy. We may have to make a few adjustments now, but in the words of Tim Gun, we will "make it work."

Parties

This post is a little belated, but we attended some fun Halloween parties.

Party #1: Whitney and DJ threw an awesome party complete with a Costa Vida dinner, orange sherbet served out of real oranges that looked like carved pumpkins, Halloween Jeopardy, and candy apples.


The Host and Hostess


Swine Flu again. I am loving the comfortableness of these costumes


Kelley and Vak. Hilarious.


My sleepy piglet

Party #2: Burke and Chelsea threw a fabulous bash up at Burke's family cabin slash mansion. Good food and even better company.


We played a rousing game of Mafia
(Chelsea: I told you I'd put this one on)


Bradley sported PJ's mustache. I think it's a good look for him.


and Madi kept Bradley company

Ward Halloween Party

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I love our ward. The Halloween party is always the best. Everyone is so creative!




Mario and Princess Peach


Greek Gods


The Wizard of Oz (They took 2nd place!)


Jerry Seinfeld, Elaine, and a Lady Bug


The Incredibles


A bee and his flower


Juno




The Ward

The Costume

So each year for Halloween G and I always try and think of something clever to be. It is usually something current from the year. In the past, we have done....


2006: Britney and K-Fed (obviously this was when they were still together and Brit was prego with a baby....this was also pre-engagement for us)
Side note: My friend Mara suggested that we should go as Britney and K-Fed pregnant with a baby this year. I'm not sure if she knew we had already done that one or not. Funny coincidence.


2007: Dwight and Angela
(obviously this was when they were still together....everyone seems to always break up)
At our ward party, the Bishop saw Garrett and said, "Don't worry, I didn't dress up either."
....yes Bishop. This is how Garrett looks normally.


2008: John McCain and Sarah Palin
Glad we got this one in before they lost.

And for 2009...... here is a hint:



THE SWINE FLU


It was so much fun incorporating a baby costume into the mix. Here is my Swine Flu baby. Let's just pray the real swine flu stays away from us.





P.S. Yes I realize that I dressed up my little boy in all pink. I'm sure he will resent this when he is older.

Pumpkins

We got together with the Evans this week for a little pumpkin carving fun.


Garrett was so excited to get his hands sticky


Tina and Madi


The guys hard at work


Garrett had been dying to watch Rudy. I've never seen it before, but apparently it's a classic. So we watched while we carved.


The finished product. It's supposed to be a pig.


Ta da!

ESPN College Game Day

When Garrett told me that College Game Day was coming to BYU, he was like a little kid on Christmas morning. He tried very hard to explain the magnitude of this event to me. I, of course, had no idea what this was. He said, "It's the equivalent of having Christina Aguilera come perform in the Marriott Center" . . . . say no more honey. I understand completely now.

Kate and Brock came over bright and early for breakfast burritos on Saturday. We are talking 5:30 in the morning. I was either sleeping or nursing during this event. Then they were off to the stadium with some signs we made the night before.




He was in Heaven


Bradley and I joined them around 9. That was bright and early enough for me.
P.S. Do you get the double meaning in our sign? Do ya?

Gardner Village

Bradley and I went to Gardner Village a little while ago with the play group that gets together each week in our ward.
(I go to play group. I have a baby. I am a MOTHER. woah.....)

I had never been up there before and it was a lot of fun. There were lots of adorable shops and everything was decorated for Halloween. Each year they do a witches theme, so there were a bunch of cute witches everywhere.






Bradley was sound asleep in his stroller, so I didn't bother trying to wake him for the picture. If I've learned one thing, it's to never wake a sleeping baby.




Witchy Poo.....classic

The Falling Leaves

We went up the canyon to enjoy the beautiful changing leaves and take some family pics with the Evans. The leaves were beautiful! It must be the thing to do because there were tons of other families doing the same thing.








The cute Evans family


Madi played in the leaves


and we laid Bradley in them

Fall

I love the Fall. Just about as much as I love spring. It's fun to decorate for the different seasons and feel festive.

Typical

This is what our guest bathroom looks like on a typical day. Bradley loves trying on different outfits. He lets us know when he is ready for a new one my barfing or pooping.

Hee Haw

This past weekend we ventured out to Hee Haw farms for a little pumpkin picking extravaganza.


Some creepy worker with a mic on came up to Brittany and I and insisted on taking our picture. He took a picture of himself as well. I will not be posting that.


Tina, Chelsea, me, and Brittany


I can't get enough of Madi's face in this one. She is just one of the girls!


We took a little hay ride


Bradley LOVED being outside




G picked a good one!


The massive sunflowers really added to the ambiance. It was a great little fall activity that really put us in the mood for Halloween.

p.s. Mayday! Mayday! I STILL don't know what we are going to be for Halloween. Any suggestions?

2

Our little baby is 2 months old today! I can't believe how much he has grown. We love this little boy and are so blessed to have him in our little family.

- My favorite part about him now is how much he smiles! The mornings are the best because he wakes up so happy and talkative (even if I feel like a zombie). It is fun having little "conversations" with him.
- He is almost sleeping through the night now, and only gets up about once or twice to eat
- He will stick his tongue out if you stick it out
- He LOVES his bath
- He is getting on a really good "eat wake sleep" schedule. It makes for a happy baby and a happy mom!

Daddy's day to dress Bradley

You may see a reoccurring theme here...

His 1st outfit of the day:


Once that one got dirty (because they always get dirty) here was the 2nd one:


I pulled out the bumbo just to see how he would do in it. I can't get enough of this kid.