How I Found Him

Braden disappeared they other day, and I couldn't find him anywhere! It is very rare that he is not right under my feet saying "Hold you me!". I searched and found this...

First of all, he is 2 1/2 years old and still has a binki! Kason was my only other "binki lover" and we had taken it away by the time he was 1! I always had friends that let their kids keep the binki until they were two and three and thought they were crazy! Well, bring on the fourth kid - and all rules go out the window. I love so much that he sleeps well at night, and takes long naps during the day. I haven't yet been able to part with the binki. We have however, limited the binki only to nap and night time. Every morning Braden leaves his binki in his bed. When he gets upset in the day and wants his binki, I remind him that he can't have it until nap time. Well it looks like he solved the problem on his own....he needed a little binki time, so he climbed in his bed and found his binki. I love kids that can solve their own problems!

I keep trying to tell myself that I will take the binki away soon....but for some reason there always seems to be some other pressing crisis happening, and the binki gets put on the back burner. Maybe I can make a goal to have it gone before the baby comes? Can't make any promises though :)

Oh yes, and that is a pink silky blanket you see in his bed. It was originally Halle's, but Braden has now made it his. Good thing he is strong in his manhood!

Jazz Family Fun

We were able to go to the "Family Jazz Night" and meet some of the players. We went last year and were able to get all of their autographs for the kids on their basketballs. This year there were more people and not enough time to do that. We also had to leave early for Kason's basketball game. But the kids did get to shoot with Andrei Kirilenko. Kason missed and was so mad at himself for the rest of the night - it was his time to show that he could make a shot and he missed :). I kept trying to reassure him that Andrei would never remember (or even remember him for that matter), but to a 10 year old it is devastating!

Sorry about the blurry picture

We did get a quick picture with Jerry Sloan before we left! He is much taller than you think.

A couple of weeks later the girls were able to attend the Jazz Girl dance camp. They had 2 fun filled hours of dancing with the Jazz Girls. They loved it - especially Halle, who was most excited that she was finally old enough to attend one of these fun camps!

This is actually one of my sister's friends - so they thought it was "extra cool" that they knew a Jazz Girl!

Happy Sounds

The latest thing that makes me smile is this:

Happy, loud, boisterous singing to their ipods. Kason, Jaicee, and Halle can be frequently found singing their favorite song VERY emphatically while listening to their ipod. Kason's song of choice is "Low" by Flo-rida (not sure if that is a good one for a 10 year old to listen to), Jaicee's is any Hannah Montana song, and Halle's is "Popular" from Wicked. They all know every word - including Halle. It always makes me happy inside to see hear them singing their heart out and feeling confident that they must be one of the best singers in the world! Don't you remember thinking "Boy I sound good" when loudly singing to your "walkman"? It is such a freeing feeling - I think I need to try to sing my heart out to my ipod a little more often!

Conversation with a 2 year old

Braden and I were talking about the baby that is in my belly. You know, trying to prepare him for the shock that will hit his life in a few months. Well, this was how it went:

Me: Braden, what is in mommy's belly?

Braden: Baby!

Me: Baby brother or baby sister?

Braden: Baby sister!

And then touching my belly he excitedly said: "Let's open it!"

He then proceeded to pull on my already protruding belly button very hard! Obviously trying to open it!

Braden: "It's stuck mommy!" (While continuing to pull on my belly button - now making it stick out 4 inches instead of 2)

We laughed and laughed. Kids are so literal. I wish I could pull on my belly button and have the baby come out - now that would be great labor! Needless to say, my belly button was quite sore for a couple of hours, and if it didn't poke through my clothes before...well, it is huge now!

Baseball Begins!

This past weekend we went to St. George for Kason's baseball tournament. I can't believe baseball season is already upon us....here comes the crazy schedule. It was great, however, to have an excuse to take a mini-vacation. It was also nice to get in some sunshine - even though it wasn't nearly as warm as we would have liked!

Kason played two games on Friday, two games on Saturday, we had Sunday to relax, and played another game on Monday. They did great as a team - and it was fun to watch him play.

The girls and Braden on the other hand weren't so excited that baseball season was upon us again! They get a little tired sitting at ball games - so we have to pretty much transport all of their toys to the ball park to keep them entertained. Luckily, there are other little kids to play with to bide the time. And lots of treats at the "snack shack" to help keep Braden still...well mostly still (we did lose sight of him a couple of times). It is a definite adventure to have a very active two year old at the ballpark for multiple hours. Brandon and I just keep reminding ourselves that these are fun memories that we will look back on and laugh!

Jaicee, Halle, and baseball friends

We did get a couple of days of swimming in...which seemed to make up for the long baseball games.

And a trip to the park

Of course, Kason and Brandon only did one thing at the park....played baseball! Go Figure?

All in all, it was a fun filled family weekend. Of course, the temperature was 62 degrees when we had to leave on Monday. Isn't that how it always is??

Ever Seen This One?

The other day Braden was coming up the stairs, and then started screaming! I ran down to find this:

It almost immediately looked like this. Has anyone ever seen such a bruise? And there were no bumps on his head or anywhere else - just his ear. The picture doesn't do it justice....his whole top half of his ear is black and blue! We have had many strangers stop to ask what in the world happened to his ear! I am guessing he must have hit it on the edge of the banister....who knows? With all the injuries my kids have had (there have been plenty crazy ones) this one has to take the cake. He actually didn't cry long - and hasn't been bothered by it since. I guess it is a good injury to have!

Ode to Saving Money

So, this happened a couple of months ago...but I had to post it when I came across the picture.

Ever since we have been married, Brandon has always been able to do things himself to save money. Whether it is fixing a clogged pipe, replacing floors, finishing the basement, you name it - he can do it. He is an all around "handy man", and can figure out how to do anything! That, in fact, is one of the things that is so attractive about him!

Well, he has always changed the oil in our cars. He thinks it is ridiculous to pay someone $30-40 dollars, that he can easily do himself for under $10. He was routinely changing the oil in one of our cars when all of the sudden he walked into the house looking like this:

The filter fell while he was unscrewing it, and landed in the pan of used oil. Hilarious!! Talk about an "oily" complexion! Needless to say, we just recently needed our oil changed...and he took it to the local Jiffy Lube!