Fun with Grandma...

Brayden and Grandma Rupp have been having lots of fun together. Here are some pictures from our trip to Atlanta and then Brayden's bath time tonight. Brayden sitting in the chair, eating his phone and sitting with his bear Giggles, while Grandma is at the computer.

We took a walk one day and Brayden got tired of riding in his stroller so I put him on my shoulders. He thought it was great until mom got to tired and took him off.

This is bath time tonight. I still give Brayden his baths in the sink since he still fits and it takes less water. Up until now, he hadn't been interested in splashing at all. Well, tonight he figured it out and went crazy! Grandma had a great time letting him splash and even made the comment that, "I would have never let you do this but since it's my grandbaby it is ok."

A happy boy....

Brayden splashing around and loving it!

The Game of Life...

I have always had a hard time with change but since meeting Jason, I am quickly learning that the only thing that stays the same is the fact that things change! Our families "game of life" has taken a couple new turns lately and we have been busy trying to adapt and adjust...

I know that I have not posted anything in a while but things have just been too crazy...now that they are slowing down here is what we have been up to.... A LOT!!!

Brayden and I went to Atlanta to visit my parents for a week February 17-24th. It was nice for Brayden to be able to spend time with his Grandpa and Grandma Rupp although the visit did not turn out quite like planned... We arrived on Tuesday night and on Thursday night, Jason called to let me know that he had been layed off from his job. We had a feeling that this might be coming and eventually it did due to the hard times that have fallen on the construction industry. I was more upset about the news than Jason...he was relieved more than anything since he hated his job. (Commercial construction is not his thing as we found out with this job in California)

I about went crazy for the next 4 days (not being there in California with Jason) until we flew back to California. We decided to hurry and pack up and move, to Atlanta, so that we did not have to pay another months rent. Luckily, the company gave us a severance package so that we were able to move across the country. Why Atlanta? We actually had been planning on moving here at the end of summer since Jason has been applying to schools here for the MBA program. Jason decided that he is tired of construction and wanted to go back to school in order to give our family more options. We decided on Atlanta since we both have family here...my parents and Jason's older sister and we both like the area.

Anyway...I got home Tuesday afternoon...we packed up everything by Thursday night and on Friday morning we loaded the moving truck.Friday night we went to a party at the Kerrs and had a terrific time with all of our friends there to say goodbye to us! Thanks Jenn and Jason! Jason's parents flew in from Hawaii to help Jason drive the moving truck, which was towing our truck, and our car across the country. We left on Saturday and drove to Salt Lake so that we could visit with family and friends. We had a lot of fun spending time with friends and spending time with Jason's younger sister Aubrey and her family. On Wednesday morning, Jason and his parents left to begin driving. Brayden and I flew out on Thursday morning for Atlanta and we all arrived Thursday night. On Saturday, we moved all of our stuff into a storage unit. Since then, we have been busy with all the little details of moving such as changing addresses, getting new drivers licenses, etc.

Our current plan is that we are staying with my parents until Jason finds a new job. We both feel like moving to Atlanta was the right thing for our family and we are having lots of faith that everything will work out especially since we are due to have a new baby in 3 months!

Thank you to Mom and Dad, Jenn and Chris, Brooks and AmyAnn, Cam and Katie, and Mom and Dad Sesssions for all our your help in this process. We couldn't have done it without all of you guys.

Life goes on and things change but these past couple of weeks have once again reminded our family that "We may not have it all together but together we have it all!"

explanation to "mom has almost lost control"...

I video below is of Brayden walking with his toy he can push. He does pretty good walking with it on his own. What does this mean...? Yes, mom has almost lost control because soon enough Brayden will be walking. If that was not enough, we have had some events in the past week that have shown me just how much control i am losing...

Example 1-on Thursday morning, I was awakened by Brayden crying just like I am every morning. So, I got out of bed and went to go get him out of his crib. When I opened his door, to my surprise, he was on the floor surround by his toys! I was so confused. Granted, I had just woken up...but still confused. It turns out that Brayden had climbed out of his crib, fallen to the floor, began playing with toys, pulled himself on the bookcase that has some of his toys on it and when he pulled too hard to get some toys down, he fell over and began crying. This is how I found him. I can't believe that he didn't even cry when he fell out of his crib! Either he was so excited to get out that he didn't care or he had the wind knocked out of him and couldn't cry. Maybe and probably both. I was really freaked out by the whole incident and needless to say, the crib is now at the lowest possible setting where he is not tall enough to climb out of it.

Example 2- On Saturday night, we were having dinner and Brayden was sitting in his high chair eating with us. When we were done, I began putting stuff away and then went to get Brayden out. I took off his high chair tray and turned around to set it on the counter. At that moment, Jason got up to take his plate to the sink. In that split second, Brayden decides he wants something off the table and goes to reach for it. He ends up doing a head dive to the floor and starts screaming bloody murder. The amazing part was that when he fell, he feel under the table and luckily, he was curled up enough that he cleared the table edge.

Yes, I know it is a wobbly world out there...Brayden takes his fair share of bumps and falls trying to walk, climb, up, into and, onto things and it is only going to get worse for a while...but what does this all mean...? Yes...I am slowly losing control. Oh well...such is life!

mom has almost lost control

The baby boom of 09...

I have to say that being pregnant when a lot of your other friends are pregnant is a lot of fun. It makes the long weeks and months of waiting for that little baby to arrive and all the pain and aches much more bearable because you have a whole support system of friends going through the exact same thing as you. I keep finding out that more and more of my friends are expecting and it is so exciting...Between the Spring and Summer of 09 there is Meredith, Katie, Holly, Shannon, Lauren, Jerilyn, Courtney, Jessica, Mindi and those are only the ones that I can think of off the top of my head right now...I know there are more if I sit and really think about it. And so I wanted to sat thanks for all your love and support girlfriends! You make this big belly and the long wait and all the fun in between much more bearable!

The fun of almost 1...

I have to say that I really like the age Brayden is at. He is so much fun! I love being able to crawl around with him, help him learn to walk, teach him words, and just have fun playing. He is all over the place these days...crawling, pulling up on everything, and cruising with the help of whatever is in reach. He is doing pretty good walking with his toy he can push. It is pretty funny the places that I find him now. He is very inquisitive and wants to explore everything! Like every toddler, he takes his far share of bumps but that is part of the learning process. One thing that i don't like is that he is trying to drop his afternoon nap. I keep fighting him on this but I guess in the end it works out since he goes to bed earlier. I'll be honest, I didn't think that he would be walking by the time he turned 1 but who knows...he may just yet. Here are some fun pictures we took. I reprised the washing machine picture and this time got a smile out of him! I also love talking to him and he talks back in his baby babble. I am now trying to teach him the word sister to get him ready for our new addition to come in a couple of months.

And baby #2 is....

A GIRL! Yay! We are so excited! Yes, Jason was right once again..(well he redeemed himself from his loss at thinking we were having twins). I can't wait....all the cute girl clothes! Now i have another reason to buy more dresses and skirts! Just what Jason wants :)...It will be fun to have both a boy and a girl! I was curious to find out what we were having since this pregnancy has been so different from the one with Brayden...some things are a lot better and some things are worse. Oh well. You can't have it all. That's all the exciting new for now.

Video for Grandma of Brayden

Here it finally is mom...a video of Brayden crawling. Its not the best but you get the idea enough to hold you over for 2 weeks till we come. love you!

A childhood favorite revisited...

I grew up with Thrift drugstores and Thrifty ice cream. Well, Rite-Aid took over Thrifty and I have discovered that, at least some of the stores in northern CA, still have the Thrifty ice cream counter. I was really excited to discover this and we have one not too far away from our house! So, on Saturday, we took a family trip to Rite-Aid and got ice cream cones. The ice cream is still as good as ever and the prices are actually pretty cheap ($1 for a single scoop and 2$ for a 3 scoop waffle cone..much to Jason's delight!) While we were trying to decide on the flavors to get, the ice cream lady made the comment that Brayden was probably too little for ice cream. Immediately, he got a frown on his face and began to cry. It was pretty funny. He had a few licks at the store but today, I made another ice cream cone and shared it with Brayden and he thoroughly enjoyed it as you can tell from the picture. I am so happy that I found this find of thrifty ice cream again!

The cycle of sickness...

We have been having the go around of sickness at our house since...well...Thanksgiving and I am so tired of it! After we got back from Utah, for Thanksgiving, Brayden got croup, and then since then we have had colds and flu going around with morning sickness all thrown into the mix. It seems Jason or I get sick and then Brayden gets sick and then the other person who hadn't been sick gets sick and then Brayden gets sick again and on and on....Make it stop!!! Currently, Brayden and I have colds and sadly, Brayden's is much worse then mine. I am hoping it does not develop into something worse. I am making Jason and I take Vitamin C and Zinc to hopefully prevent against anything else but who knows. We are at week 18 and my morning sickness still is going strong. Two weeks ago, the doctor gave me 2 prescriptions to help but they haven't done much. It is starting to really take its toll on me. I am so curious to find out what we are having because this pregnancy has been so different from with Brayden. Hopefully I start feeling better or the doctor threatened that they would have to put me in the hospital and we don't want that at all!!! I guess I am just trying to be patient and hope for the best...

Baby and Brayden update...

This week was the week of appointments. Thursday I had a check-up for the baby and today Brayden had his 9 month check-up and fun for me...tomorrow I have a dentist appointment. Lots has been going on with Brayden these past couple of weeks so I thought I would share...
-Brayden began crawling. He is a much happier baby now that he has more freedom of movement. Now he wants to pull himself up on things and try and walk around.
-Brayden's teeth continue to come in and he is doing much better at self feeding.
-Brayden weighed in at 20 pounds (he lost some weight from crawling) and 28 inches long. I can't believe he has almost grown a foot since he was born!
-Brayden said his first word...mom! He won't say it on command...only when he wants to be rescued from something. We are working on dad or dada now.
Here are some pictures of what Brayden has been up to recently:

Playing with his toys. He crawled into his toy basket but got scared and I had to come get him out.

Crawling around. He likes the blinds and to peek out the patio window.

Playing with his leapstart Leapfrog music learning table. He likes that he gets to stand up at it and play.

Playing with Dad. He loves when dad comes home. He gets to excited to see him!

Brayden in his new forward facing car seat that he got for Christmas. He likes this one a whole lot better. He likes to play with his shoes. Can't you tell?

As far as the baby...I am now 16 weeks along and still sick as can be. In fact, I am more sick than I was in the first trimester. I am hoping this ends soon!!!!!!!! We find out soon what we are having...feb 6th and i am excited!

A rare moment....

I woke up last Sunday to find this...Brayden and Jason asleep together on the couch. It was so cute to see the two snuggled up together and I was so amazed that Brayden actually went snuggled and went to sleep that i took a picture. Of course the flash woke Brayden up and there went that moment. Brayden just likes to be put in his bed and to go to sleep on his own. I thought these moments were long gone, the only time he snuggles for me and goes to sleep not in his bed is at church, but it turns out Dad has some tricks up his sleeve still. Way to go honey!

Visit with Grandpa and Grandma Rupp and Aunt Lizzy...

We have had a busy week filled with lots of fun, games, and shopping. Brayden wasn't the happiest little baby as he had a cold and got two more teeth in, for a total of 3 teeth now. He is not a happy teether. He also has enough hair for a Mohawk now since that is about what it is because most of his hair is on top of his head.

Grandpa playing with Brayden. Brayden loves to rough house around and so he was quite entertained by Grandpa.

Brayden loves his Grandma and loves getting all the attention.

Brayden riding on Aunt Lizzie's shoulders at the Vacaville outlets. We had a great time shopping and Brayden did a pretty good job during the 4 hour ordeal. I hit up some great sales at the Motherhood Maternity Outlet and got a bunch of maternity clothes that i love! Thanks mom!

Grandpa and Grandma left last night to go back home to Atlanta but we had a great time with them! Brayden and I can't wait to see you again in February when we come visit you!

Rupp Family Christmas

On Saturday, Dec 27th, a few days after Christmas, we had our Rupp family Christmas party. My parents and Lizzie came to visit us for a week from Atlanta. We had a big Turkey dinner and opened tons of presents and played games. It was a lot of fun! Here are some pictures from that night.

Brooks got the "How to fix everything manual" and was engrossed in it for the rest of the night.

Lizzie trying on her new skirt from Brooks and AmyAnn

Brayden opening presents with grandpa and grandma.

Grandma's new moccasin's from Brooks and AmyAnn.

Christmas 2008!

We hope that everyone had a great Christmas! We did. Christmas Eve started off great as Jason came home from work at 2:30 pm. Brooks and AmyAnn came down for dinner that night and I got to use my China that I have had for 3 years and never used. (I am proud to say that after going from Atlanta to Utah, Utah to Kauai, Kauai to Oahu, and Oahu to California, only one salad plate had broke out of all 8 place settings! I was a little scared to open the box because I hadn't opened it since I first got it for Christmas in Atlanta.) We also played a good game of Seafarers of Catan with Brooks winning.

Christmas day, we woke up at 5:30am thanks to Brayden and I decided that we should open presents then since Brayden wanted to play and not go back to sleep. We spent the morning at home and then we went to Cam and Katie's for Christmas Brunch, games, a movie, and dinner. We had a lot of fun playing Settlers of Catan where Cam took both wins!

Here are some pictures of the day...

Brayden sitting in his dump truck Santa brought him for Christmas

Playing with all the wrapping paper...

Brayden with some of his new toys..he doesn't know whats going on...

The first present...a cool ball from mom and dad.

Playing in Zerin and Natalie's tractor that afternoon.

So excited...

Post bath time hair...
Brayden playing with his cousin Noah

Last night, we went up to Oakdale so that Jason could go to the chiropractor since he sprained his neck. We also stopped by the Whitemyers house and saw Jenn Kerr and all her brothers and sisters and then Jason's cousin Greg came over with his little boy Noah. It was fun to watch Noah and Brayden play together. One of Jenn's younger sisters, Kristen, had a baby boy two months ago and was in town visiting from Utah. We got to hold the little cutie and it made us so excited for our new little baby! I was expecting a heavy little thing when i went to pick him up, like Brayden, but he was so little and light! He snuggled right in and was such a cutie. It made me wish that I had taken the time to enjoy those days more with Brayden since they are now gone and he doesn't like to cuddle so much anymore or be rocked. While, I didn't take full advantage of those days with Brayden, when i had so much of it while he was in the hospital, it made me excited to have another one and enjoy those sweet times more since they go by so so fast! Exciting note...we find out if we are having a boy or a girl on February 6, 2009!

Dreaming of..

I am dreaming of...my long hair again, being tan, and not wearing maternity clothes...

Being pregnant does not always inspire one to feel the most glamorous. This picture(below) sits in a frame on our dresser and i was putting away laundry the other day and I started looking at it and it made me miss my long hair. Having it short was fun but I am tired of my limited options for ways to wear it. I know, it's my own fault for going and cutting it short...I also really enjoy how tan i am in these pictures...and i just like the pictures too. Jason looks so young to me in these pictures and also so handsome too! I know i wont be pregnant forever and i will return to my normal clothes, my hair will grow long again, and someday i will be tan again. But until then...I'm dreaming of it...

Sessions Family 2008 Christmas Letter

Friends and Family,

Happy Holidays for this 2008 season of festivity. Another year has come and gone for the Sessions family and we can’t believe how fast it has passed. It is almost 2009. This year has been quite eventful and filled with numerous blessings for our family. Here are just a few…

January 08: We rang in the New Year at the Phoenix airport as we were returning from our Christmas trip to Atlanta, GA visiting Emily’s family. We had a great time with all of the Rupps and Taylors. Jason also celebrated his big 30th birthday and finally got his Dodge Viper (a toy one).
February: Emily went to Utah to visit her Grandpa Rupp who was suffering from Pancreatic Cancer. Jason didn’t come along as “he was busy with work” but two days later, on Valentines Day, he surprised Emily by showing up at her Grandparents doorstep. Two weeks after returning home from Utah, Emily had some complications with her pregnancy and got to make a two day trip to the hospital, including a ride in an ambulance, and then got put on bed rest.
March: March was the most eventful month of our year and the most blessed. On March, Emily’s grandpa Rupp passed away from pancreatic cancer. We were unable to attend the funeral due to Emily’s bed rest but we were present in spirit. On March 25th, Emily’s water broke and 6 days later our sweet little boy, Brayden Keith Sessions, was born on March 30th, 9 weeks early. He was born at 4:59am, weighed 4lbs. 2oz. and was 17 inches long. We gave Brayden the middle name of Keith after Great Grandpa Rupp.
April: The last week of April, the newly promoted Grandpa and Grandma Rupp and Aunt Lizzie came to Hawaii to visit us and to meet little Brayden. Unfortunately, Brayden was still in the hospital but they were able to come with us on our twice daily visits to the hospital to visit Brayden and hold him. Emily had to moderate the holding time between Grandma and Lizzie. We had a great time seeing some of the sights in Hawaii with them as well, including parasailing and snorkeling.
May: After 5 weeks in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Brayden was able to come home on May 4th. We were so happy to have him home finally. Taking him home from the hospital was exciting but it was even more exciting to have all of our family together in one place, at home.
June: On June 5th, our family moved from Oahu, Hawaii to Northern California. Jason decided to close down his construction company in Hawaii and took a job in California. We stayed with Jason’s brother Cameron and their family for a month while our belongings were being shipped from Hawaii. Emily and Brayden also made a trip to Utah to visit friends and family.
July: On July 14th we moved into our new apartment in Richmond outside of San Francisco. We spent the month unpacking and getting situated.
August: Emily celebrated her 23rd birthday on August 8th. We also made a trip to Atlanta, GA to go boating for a week. Despite the bad weather from all the Hurricanes we still had great time tubing, wakeboarding, and waterskiing. While there, we celebrated our 1 year anniversary. Grandma Rupp watched Brayden so we could go on a date and celebrate.
September: At the end of September, we finally gave Brayden a name and a blessing. We were able to have both sets of Grandparents in town for the occasion. Jason gave Brayden a beautiful blessing and afterwards, we had a good time visiting with both extended families. Emily also got called as the Den Mother for our ward cub scouts and Jason got called to teach the 12 and 13 year old Sunday school class.
October: More exciting news…we found out that we are expecting baby #2 in June! Emily gets a second calling in the ward as a Relief Society teacher.
November: We were able to go to Utah for Thanksgiving where Emily’s mother’s side of the family was having a family reunion at Aspen Grove. We were so glad that we went as we had a blast!
December: We got our Christmas tree and decorations set up and managed to finally write this letter. We are awaiting the festivities at the end of the month when Emily’s parents and Lizzie come to visit and help celebrate.

Our family has been incredibly blessed this year and we are so grateful to Heavenly Father for all that we have. We are grateful for the addition of Brayden to our family as he brings us such joy and happiness and we are looking forward to the second addition to our family next year.

We hope that this letter find everyone healthy and happy this Holiday Season. May the Lord bless you and your family this upcoming year and fill your homes with love and happiness.
The Sessions Family,
Jason, Emily, and Brayden + 1/2

Multi-purpose Ensigns...

We all know that the purpose of the Ensign is to help uplift the heart and the home. This month's Ensign served the noble purpose of just that and beyond...Brayden was being fussy and since we currently get two copies of the Ensign a month, we gave Brayden one to play with. He was so happy! It uplifted him and gave us a happy home!

A lesson in patience...and something i just dont get...

I know that I haven't posted anything in a while and it is simply for the fact that one, I have no energy what so ever. I could go to bed and sleep all day long and still feel like I am still tired and have been run over by a truck...two, I feel like my life is boring and I do the same thing everyday. Since Thanksgiving, it is obvious that the Lord is out to teach me some patience. Since we got home from Utah, Brayden has been a mess! I keep waiting for Brayden's teeth to come but we still have none. His gums, both top and bottom are swollen with white swollen bumps where his teeth are coming and clearly it hurts him. We keep Motrin and orajel on hand and with us at all times! He has also developed a whiny cry type scream that he seems to really enjoy using since he does it all day long! This week has been much better but last week was not fun! We are praying that his teeth come in soon!!! Brayden is also very frustrated that he isn't crawling. He just cant seem to put it all together yet and it drives him nuts. He wants to go explore and get into everything and he cant. Another reason for his whiny cry. On a fun note, Brayden not only feeds himself his bottles now but he eats just about anything with the exception of meat. He has to try everything we eat or he screams. I love the selection of food i can give him now.

On another note, I keep seeing this and I just don't get it...maybe someone can shed some light on it for me...

1. Everywhere I look, I see people buying alcohol. Grocery stores and most of all at Costco and Sams Club. The past two trips to Costco, I have seen people in front of me or in lines next to me spend over a 1,000$ on alcohol. Then, you always see people who look like they can barley take care of themselves and their families buying it. I don't get it. Why do you want to drink something that makes you lose control and takes away your freedom and two, how do people aford it? What a waste of money! I just don't get it...

Up next...a post of our family Christmas letter. Check back soon to read it!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...and Gratitude...

After arriving home on Sunday from Utah, and getting settled back in, we had a family put up the Christmas tree activity that afternoon. Not fifteen minutes after finishing the tree, Brayden scoots over to the tree and begins to undecorate the tree. He thought it was pretty funny when mom came over and said, "No, babies don't play with the Christmas tree." He gave me a great big smile like he was saying, "Yeah right mom. I know how to out smart you." I then took away the ribbon that he had unwrapped and made him cry because I took away his toy. He got over it. We will see how many times I have to put the tree back together. Jason and I both agree that the Christmas tree will be the thing that inspires Brayden to crawl. He is almost there...he has a month to try and get to the tree before mom gets him away from the tree.

On another note, the Holiday season always gets me thinking about my blessings and how grateful I am for all that I have. I heard a comment on TV the other day that I really liked. It was, " People always focus on what they want during the Holidays instead of what they have and their blessings." I thought that the comment was so true! We have wish lists and letters to Santa and Holiday shopping all to fulfill our desires for what we want. This Holiday season, Jason and I are trying to focus on what we have and not what we want. Here are some of the things that I am so grateful for...

-I am so grateful for Jason. He is a terrific husband, best friend, and I wouldn't trade him for the world. Marrying Jason was the best thing that I have ever done! He isn't a perfect person and has faults just like everyone else but he compensates for my weakness so nicely and we work together as a team so well. I am grateful for how hard he works for our family. Jason is a terrific father and always helping out with Brayden. One of the things that I love about Jason is that he always makes me smile, even when I am mad and don't want to smile. I appreciate that Jason treats me like a Queen and pampers me with lots of back rubs and massages. Thank you for all you do handsome! I love you!

-I am grateful for my family. Brayden brings such joy and happiness to our home and lives. His smile and giggles light up our days and help us to remember to enjoy the little things in life. Brayen helps me to be a better person everyday and I am grateful for that. I am also grateful for extended family and how they love and support us. My mom is always there to listen to my stories and give me advice or just to talk when I am lonely at home with Brayden. We are grateful for all the help that you all give us and we are grateful you are part of our lives.

-I am grateful for steady paychecks and a job in this scary economy.
-I am grateful for a home that keeps is warm and dry and is a place that we can call our own.

-I am grateful for microwaves, dishwashers, stoves, and all of our modern conveniences. They make life so much easier.

-I am grateful for computers and the internet. They make life easier and help me stay in touch with family and friends all across the country and world. I am also grateful for spellchecker because we all know that I am not the best speller out there. Thank you California public schools for teaching me such great spelling skills!

-I am grateful for much more...these are just a few...

Thanksgiving in Utah

We ended up going to Utah for Thanksgiving. We had planned on going for the past couple of months and then we found out that Jason had to work Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of the week of Thanksgiving. We decided not to go to Utah after all. Then, Tuesday night, Jason came home from work and asked me if I wanted to go to Utah? We decided to pack up and go at the last minute, so we drove through the night Wednesday night and arrived in Utah around 9am on Thanksgiving day. My mom's side of the family, the Schmidt side, was having a big family reunion up at Aspen Grove and so we spent Thursday and Friday at one of the lodges up there. It was a lot of fun and I am so glad that we went. I would have regreted not being there since we were the only ones, from the whole extended family, not there. We called and told my dad, Tuesday night, that we were coming but not to tell anyone so it would be a surprise. When we got up to Aspen Grove, we walked into the lodge where everyone was having breakfast and said that we had a "special delivery for Grandma Rupp." My mom turned around and started to cry because she was so surprised and excited that we were there. Her reaction made the trip all worth it. Here are some pictures from our trip. We also got to spend time with one of my best friends Katie Marshall Boden and went to Cafe Rio on Saturday. We played lots of games, helped my Grandma Rupp set up her Christmas trees, visited family, had a Rupp side of the family dinner at Marie Calenders, and Brooks, AmyAnn, Jason, Lizzie, and my mom all went and saw the lights at temple square. I stayed home with Brayden because I was exhausted and it was so cold outside and Brayden is starting to get another cold! Agh! We drove back home on Saturday night and here we are...home again. I was nervous to drive to Utah since it was a 10-12 hour car ride and Brayden hates his car seat. However, Brayden did great! On the way there, he slept for 5 hours and then was awake for 2 and then fell back asleep for the last 5. On the way home, he slept the whole way except for the last hour where he just played with his toys. I am glad that we decided to drive through the night because I think that if we had driven through the day it would have been a lot worse! We had a great time and can't wait to see everyone at Christmas when you come out to visit us for a week!

Brayden had a blast eating Thanksgiving dinner and made a massive mess not only one himself but also on the floor.

Grandma Rupp and Brayden had so much fun together. She was able to get smiles and laughs out of Brayden all weekend unlike anyone else.

The Rupp family at Aspen Grove

8 month pictures...

These are some of Brayden's 8 month pictures. I love them!

We took some pictures in a big pile of leaves and Brayden hated it! He was scared of the leaves and cried the whole time. I could set him any where else except in the leaves.

0-1...no twins here folks...

I have not posted anything in a while so i thought i would take this moment of spare energy to write something. This past month has seemed very long and this past week even longer! I am in the midst of a big "no energy crisis" and have been pretty sick this past week. This little baby hasn't been too fond of much that I have eaten latley. I feel like Brayden thinks that all that I do is eat and yawn becasue that is what i feel like i am always doing.
We went to the doctor today finally. The baby looks good...just like a normal little lima bean in there with a good heart beat. No twins! I laughed when the doctor said, "Well there is only one in there." Thank heavens! So Jason is 0-1 at this point. We will see if he gets the gender right. I have mixed feelings about the doctor. My problem is that we live in the midst of all the crazy liberals from San Fran and even worse...Berkley! It drives us nuts sometimes! The hospital is in Berkley, my doctor is based in Berkley, and lets just say that they are all very liberal. When I took Brayden for a hearing test about a month ago, at the hospital, I had people tell me that I was a bad mother becasue my child did not have eco-friendly and organic products. Who freakin cares! And I also got told that my truck is ruining the world because it pollutes so much and it is just horrible that I drive it. Whatever... Today, the doctor tried to push every genetic test under the sun. I told him that I wasn't interested in them and his response was, "Don't you want the tests so that if something is wrong you can have an abortion?" No! Nor would I ever have an abortion if something were wrong. His attitude about the whole abortion subject irritated me. I understand that in California, by law, they have to talk about it and give options but honestly...it is redigulous! Anyway...

I get a kick out of my pregnancy cravings. They are so random and odd sometimes. Jason says that they dont drive him nuts but were still have a good amount of time to go before the baby is born. I currently crave meats and cheese. Jason dosn't want a turkey for thanksgiving, he wants ham, becaue he dosn't really like turkey that much but loves ham. I told him tonight that I was buying a turkey tomorrow and making it becasue I wanted to sit and eat all the meat and also that it was against my personal constituition not to have turkey at Thanksgiving time.

My belly continues to grow, much quicker than last time, and I am slowly switching to maternity clothes. Enough of this trying to fit into my regular clothes. That is what I did last time. This time, I just want to be comfortable!
On another note...anyone wanting a house in Kauai, Hawaii, our is for sale!

Croup...no fun for anyone...

This past week has been very long...I got a cold and then in turn gave it to Brayden. I tried not to give it to him but it is kind of hard not to when I am the one with him most of the day and he can't really care for himself yet. Brayden caught the cold on Wednesday and it has been downhill since. He continued to get worse and worse and by Friday night, I was ready to take him to the ER. We gave him a blessing first and decided to see what happend. He got a little better and so we didn't take him. Our apartment smelled like a big cough drop from his vaporizer and we spent lots of time shut up in the bathroom with the hot shower steam to help the crupe. I felt so bad for him. He sounded so sad all stuffed up and weezing. I couldnt let him cry for long because it broke my heart so we spent lots of sleepless nights with him. He didn't want to go to sleep and went about a day and a half with about 2 hours of sleep. Despite all of our efforts to get him to sleep nothing worked...not even Benadryl! That made for one miserable little boy which turned into some miserable parents. He woke up this morning a little improved but not much. At least he slept through the night for 10 hours! Yay! When i went to change his diaper after he woke up, I found that he had a rash all over his neck, stomach, and back. I called the doctor as soon as they were open and we got an appointment for this morning. The doctor said it was crupe for sure and that his rash was a product of the virus casuing the crupe. He gave us a perscription for a steroid to help the swelling in his throat go down. We'll see how it works. The happy part of the doctors appointment was that Brayden had grown 2 1/2 inches in the last month which now makes him 27 1/2 inches. He is also 19 pounds...getting to be a little chunky monkey...well...not so much...just heavy with some cute baby rolls! I love them...so cute! We are just taking life one day at a time...just trying to get Brayden better so we can get back to our routine of life.

"How do you do it?" My shopping secrets...

Since my little family is all tucked in bed, and it is only 7:30 at night, I thought I would write a blog that i keep meaning to write. I am glad that Jason can home and crashed since he has been working 80 hour weeks recently.

Anyway...So, I get asked all the time how I manage to find such cute little boy clothes, how i afford to dress Brayden like a little baby gap model, Where i shop, etc., etc. We can't go anywhere without people commenting on Brayden's clothes or how cute he is. I know people are suckers for babies but sometimes it gets a little extreme. For the most part, I get a kick out of watching peoples reaction to Brayden. They always come up to look at him and comment on how cute he is and on cue, he flashes a huge smile and tries to say a few words and leaves everyone oohhing and awwing. I just get a kick out of it and stand ther and think, "It's only a baby people." haha. Brayden is such a ladies man already! But all in all people are so sweet to Brayden and I.I don't think that I dress Brayden all that well. Somedays he just sports a onsie or his diaper since his favorite outfit is his birthday suit. I don't really care about clothes brands. I just like Brayden to look cute. I have no biased between walmart, gap, or any other brands.

So, when Brayden was born, Jason and I made a deal that I could dress our children if I didn't try and dress him. DEAL!

Of course I love shopping but i don't do it so much for me these days. I actually can't remember the last time i bought clothes for me..its been months! I do most of my limited shopping for Brayden these days since the kid is growing like a weed and grows out of everything left and right.

So where do I shop for Brayden? Gap? Gymboree? Polo? Nope. I get 99% of his clothes at thrift stores! Yep that's right. Thrift stores! I know some people have issues against that but i don't. You save so much money. So here is the awaited secrets to finding terrific clothes at thrift stores...

1. Good Will and Salvation Army are great. The DI in Utah dosn't work for this plan. Salvation Army is generally cheaper than Good Will. Consignment stores generally dont give you great deals on clothes only toys and books.

2. You don't have to get anything that is worn out or stained or has holes or a problem. Just get clothes that look brand new and lots of times there is clothes that are brand new with tags still on them! Infant clotehs are great to buy at places like these since they grow so quick and generally they are in terrific condition!

3. Location, location, location! Thrift stores in lower income areas are not going to have great stuff. Find thrift stores in upscale neighboorhoods and cities. Generally, people that have more money don't mind paying full price for expensive clothes. They then donate it and you buy it! I have found terrific stores all over the country...california, atlanta, and hawaii. You just have to try a couple stores to find which ones tend to have the newer more upscale clothes.

4. Take advatage of the sales. This means that on all holidays there is a 50% off all apparel sales. So clothes that are 1$ or 2$ are half that! What a bargin!

5. Go about once a month to see what new donations came in.

I also love Target's 75% off clothes rack. You can get clothes really cheap then too.

And the biggest rule to live by...DON'T BUY CLOTHES AT FULL PRICE! IT ISN'T WORTH IT! (ok somethings are worth full price but the majority of stuff isn't)

Here are some of my best buys recently:
-3 brand new old navey parkas for Brayden at
.75 cents each. I stocked up for the years to come. I couldn't pass up some great deals!
-20 pieces of Baby Gap clothes for 10$...5 of which still had tags on them..anyone wanting to know of a great thift store that is a designer baby meca of a thrift store in atlanta let me know!

So there is it is...my big secret...my child may look like he dresses good but he looks good for less. Take it for what it's worth...Even though I may not think he dresses all that cute i still love a great bargin!
there you go...you have some of secrets now.Have fun shoppers!

2, then 3, now 4...? What?

Yep...if you caught onto the title you already know...We are expecting baby number 2! We are actually so excited about this new development. This was not our original plan by any means and it has cost me many many tears and nights of crying to get to the decision to have another little one so quickly.

So here is the reasoning and madness for this decision in a tiny nut shell....After Brayden was born, I had some complications. We went to several OB/GYN's to seek answers and in the end, all 4 doctors said exactly the same thing. (I kept going to different doctors because I was hoping to get a different answer that I liked better...but that didn't happen.) All 4 doctors said that we needed to have our family as soon as possible so that if/and/or when I needed surgery and could not have any more children as a result of the surgery, we would not feel sad that we did not have the children that we wanted. I cried a lot over this information because I kept thinking about my sanity and how I wanted my plan for my family to work out. (wait 2 or 3 years for another baby) Well, things got even more crazy when we started to pray about what to do. I guess don't pray about something if you are not ready for the answer and I was not ready for what Heavenly Father had to tell me..."You need to get pregnant again now." So with this going on, I cried even more. I kept telling Heavenly Father that "I can't do it. How can I handle a 1 year old and a newborn? I am not a good enough person to do all that. How can we afford that?" Well our answer never went away and so after a few months I resigned myself to the fact that this is what we needed to do and well...here we are now! After all this time, I am actually great with this decision because I feel so at peace with it all. I am excited to be pregnant this time around because I am much less stressed about the whole thing. I already know what to expect for the most part and feel like I have this "mom thing" somewhat under control...most days. I know that being a parent for 2 young children will be much more difficult and challenging but we will live. We're not the first to do it and we won't be the last.

The baby is due in June so that means it will probably be born in May. Well, we are hoping for the baby to be born at least at 8 months this time instead of 7 like with Brayden but full term would be great too. I decided that I can handle the baby being in the hospital for a week but I don't want to have it be there 5 weeks again. (Side note: And Brayden would have been there a month longer is we had not fought with the hospital to let him come home!) anyway...

Things are going well so far. I seem to get the most sick at night which is a blessing since Brayden is asleep and if he isn't Jason is home to help with him. Jason is convinced that we are not only having a girl, we are having twin girls. Whatever buddy...He thinks that since he was right about Brayden being a boy he is going to be right about the sex of our children always. We'll...see...2 months or so and we will find out if he is or not! I would love a little girl but I would be excited for another boy too. I guess it is true that the second time around you show much quicker because I looked down today at my belly in my church dress and couldn't believe how big I was already. I know that most couldn't tell other than me and Jason but still...(Jason can't tell either, he just pretends to just to humor me.)
Whatever...anything that gets me to the looking pregnant stage faster and out of the just looking chubby stage I am for.

Now, I know that as a formality you are supposed to wait 3 or so months before announcing the happy news but this is me we are talking about. I am not a patient person and having such a wonderful secret is so hard to keep. I hate when people ask so what is going on in your life and you can't really tell them what is...like oh I am pregnant. So we decided to forego the waiting period and get the announcement out there. We told immediate family last week and my mom told me to wait, and not to write a blog about it. Instantly, that old teenage streak inside of me instantly siad no! haha...well I lasted a week mom. And Lizzie...I know that I don't need to blog about every aspect of my life but it makes me happy so I am going to. Besides, my friends are all over the country now so blogging is a way to keep in touch with them. They dont all live in a 1/2 mile radius at BYU anymore. But I love you still even for telling me not to blog about it.

So...there you go...the news is out! We will keep you updated with all the happy developments!

Halloween fun and other random stuff...

Ok here they are...the big Halloween costume pictures and some other random ones mixed in there too...We were boring and did not do a whole lot for Halloween. In fact, surprisingly, we had no trick-or-treaters. Brayden was long gone in bed and I didn't even bother to put him in his costume at all that day. Saturday, we had the ward trunk or treat and so Brayden dressed up in his Tigger costume for that. It has been raining like crazy here and I love the rain! It makes me feel like I am back in Hershey where it rained all the time. We hope everyone had a good Halloween. Jason turned on the Christmas music today. Although, he would listen to it year round if I would let him but i refuse to listen to it other than at the right time of the year.

Daddy and Brayden together.

This is Brayden on his tummy time toy. We are trying to help him like it more but we get mixed results everyday.

What a cutie pie!

Brayden enjoys wearing his hat on the side much better than the normal way.

If finally fits Brooks and AmyAnn. We got this hat when we got married as a wedding present from Brooks and AmyAnn. They gave us all BYU hats and some Leatherby's memorabilia to remember Jason and I's first real meeting.

Catching some cartoons, drinking apple juice, and showing love for his birth state of Hawaii.