Brayden's Baby Blessing

We had a wonderful event take place this past Sunday on the 28th. Brayden had his baby blessing. I know... it's about time since he is 6 months old. Jason was able to give Brayden the blessing and it was beautiful! We were surrounded by family and friends. Grandpa and Grandma Sessions flew in from Hawaii and Grandpa and Grandma Rupp flew in from Atlanta. Brooks and AmyAnn and Cam and Katie and their family both came down as well as 4 of Jason's aunts. After the blessing we had a brunch at our apartment and spent the afternoon playing games. We had a great time! Thank you to everyone who came and who helped make it all possible! We had great time seeing everyone! Brayden in his blessing outfit compliments of Grandma Rupp. Thank you mom! If we had waited any longer the outfit would have been too small but we did it just in time!

Our little family!
I love my sweet little Brayden! He brings such joy to our family and he is just so darn cute! (I know I am the biased mother haha)

One big, busy MESS of trouble and cuteness!

Brayden is a busy little guy these days. He keeps mom and dad busy! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the past few days. Needless to say...we have gotten a lot of laughs out of it all and Brayden has gotten a lot of baths as a result of his efforts. We even found a new way to give him a bath! (Scroll down and you will see...)

This was Brayden's latest mess today. I was sitting on the floor playing with Brayden. I got up to go get some chips and grabbed the Doritos. I ate one and they hurt a canker sore in my mouth so i stopped and put them on the floor by us. I got up again to get a drink. I walked across the room...and in that time Brayden grabs the Doritos bag. I let him play with it because he had been eyeing it the whole time. You see...Brayden is very into all food especially food other people eat.
I got up again to go get my phone and he had gotten chips out of the bag...
And then he starts eating away. He's a real fan of Doritos. Although that was the one and only taste he got. I couldn't believe it. I just laughed and laughed!

This is our new method of washing Brayden...just kidding. I was doing laundry and Brayden didn't want to sit and watch. He is really into standing right now and he wanted to stand. So, I stood him up in the washer and he loved it. He had a grand old time and it is my new favorite picture.

My happy boy in his high chair!
This picture is funny as well. Brayden loves Popsicles! I was eating on while watching him play in his bouncer. He started to fuss because he wanted some of the Popsicle so i gave him a taste. But then he started bouncing around. He came back around and got another lick and then bounced around. He did this about ten time and by that time he was a big mess and he got a bath!
This is Jason's attempt at feeding Brayden. Actually, Jason does well at feeding Brayden it just happened to be a night that Brayden was not into his food and wanted to play with it rather than eat it. Although...Jason learned his lesson of why you use a bib.
Our big boy standing all by himself. He gets excited when he does this and so do we. What can we say...were first time parents....every development is exciting!
Brayden is sitting in the basket while he watches mom do laundry but he didn't like sitting so he got to stand in the washer instead.

I am being "boyafied"

As most of you know, I have two sisters and no brothers. So, when I got married it was an adjustment to have a husband and be around a boy all the time. (Yes, I know you are a guy too dad but by the time we came along and were old enough to pay attention to what was going on, mom had already had lots of years to work on you). And then, when i found out that I was pregnant, I was scared to have a boy because I was already getting used to one boy...and I didn't know about little boys! Well, Heavenly Father decided that I needed to learn about them and so we got our Brayden. Jason teases me that we are going to be like the family on Home Improvement with all the boys. The thing is...I can totally see our life turning out like that. Well, all except Jason actually knows what he is doing in construction unlike Tim Taylor and does not blow things up. Well, I must really be in need of boy training because I am getting "boyafied". I have to laugh...two weeks ago, I was called as the Den Mother for our ward. Yep...me the Den Mother. It makes me laugh when i think about it. It should be fun and I am looking forward to it. It just seems so fitting!
By the way, Jason also got a calling as the 12-13 year old Sunday school teacher. My first response when we got in the car to go home after talking with the bishopric: "Well just because you are surrounded by 12-13 year olds doesn't mean that you get to act like them. You are supposed to be the example." haha he knew i was teasing...somewhat...
In thinking about it right now, I am already outnumbered at home by males...hmm...maybe their is a girl up there in heaven for our family to help even things out. And if not...well...I'll live and still be happy!

Wax on...Wax off!!!

So I got this daring, random idea to try waxing the other day....what the heck was i thinking? Alright, this whole situation was a nightmare to begin with! I decided to have Jason help with the whole thing..i thought that one, it would be a good bonding experience...and two i couldn't bear to pull the wax off myself...so that was his job. We put Brayden to bed and i prepped myself for the pain...actually i thought it wouldn't be so bad..and i don't really think it would have been if it had gone as planned. So, I microwave the wax and we start...not so bad the first couple of strips...then Jason decides the wax isn't hot enough anymore so we heat it up again. Well while doing this the microwave dies. What! It is brand new! They just replaced it a month ago! That matter is a whole other blog that i will get to...So the microwave magically starts working again after trying everything...testing the breakers..not it...short in the plug...not it...nothing is working... and then all of a sudden it turns back on..what the heck! Anyway...so we resume the waxing again. Then the cloth strips decide they don't want to adhere to the wax and they start pulling off while the wax stays on...this keeps happening...so now, I am left with strips of wax stuck to me and they are dry...how do i get them off? We tried everything! just pulling the wax off...doesn't work so great...paper instead of the cloth..nope..and in a last ditch effort...Jason tried superglue on top of the wax and then the cloth....not even that worked! By this time...i am tired...and yes getting ornery and frustrated that my little experiment is not working at all! So finally, I get the wax off by using a box cutter/razor blade and scraping it off ever so carefully so i didn't scrape skin off to. While this worked it was so painful because instead of taking the hair off in one rip it was pulling it off one hair at a time! Oh it hurt! By the end of the ordeal i was done...put me to bed...i was bleeding...had welts and was hurting! Needless to say...i will not be trying waxing again anytime soon! Although it wasn't Jason's fault it didn't work...sorry honey...but you're not helping next time...well maybe you will be...but only in the form of financing the operation..shoot..if i am doing that again i am getting it done professionally!

We made it! One year down...eternity to go!

We did it! We made it through the first year of marriage! We were in Atlanta for the big day and had a great time. We spent the day boating and then Jason and I went out to dinner that night while Grandpa and Grandma Rupp watched Brayden for us.

We had fun reminiscing about the past year and all of it's craziness and fun. We have had a event filled year to say the least! We started out in Kauai, HI then moved to Oahu, HI 3 months later. We had lots of learning experiences with Jason's construction company and with Brayden and the pregnancy. At 6 1/2 months, Emily lost her Grandpa Rupp to cancer. 7 months after getting married we had our cutie-pie baby Brayden who was born 9 weeks early and then proceeded to stay in the hospital for 5 weeks. Brayden came home in May and a month later we moved to Northern California for Jason's new job. Re-reading this it doesn't seem all that crazy and busy but it was but we survived and are better for it all around!

I am so grateful for you Jason. You are the love of my life! I am so blessed to have found you and married such a wonderful man. You are so talented and gifted and I am so proud of you and all that you do. Thank you for all that you do for our family and for me! You are my everything and you make my world such a better place! I am so grateful that I married you in the temple so that we have all eternity together. Thanks for putting up with me. I know I can be a handful at times. Thanks for making me laugh and smile every day...like right now as i write this you are making me laugh to death as I watch you hulahoop on the Wii Fit. It's hilarious to watch! Thanks for encouraging me to continue to develop my talents and pursue the things I love and for supporting me in them! I love you Jason Sessions!!!

Boating in Atlanta 08

This past week our family flew to Atlanta to visit family. While there we did lots of things including our favorite: Boating! We were able to go boating 3 days while we were there. 2 of the days were cloudy with some rain, thanks to the hurricane but we toughed it out and then the last day was sunny, blue, and beautiful! We stayed with Grandpa and Grandma Rupp and had a great time. We also got to visit Jen and Chris and their family (Jason's oldest sister) and one of Jason's best friends: Jason Allred and his family. It was a lot of fun to be able to see everyone. We also we able to go to the temple on Wednesday night. Grandma and Lizzie watched Brayden for us. We were able to be in the same session that my dad was the officator for which was neat. It was good to be able to go to the house of Lord togeather. Here are lots of pictures from the vacation. Grandma Rupp had a blast with Brayden. We loved that after seminary was over she would come take over and play with Brayden while Jason and I went back to sleep! It was glorious! Brayden was nicknamed Bubkey by grandma. I didn't like the name so much at first but then by the end of the trip I found myself calling him it.
Brayden did great on the boat! It was the best nap he has ever taken. He sleep almost the whole time we were boating except for the last day but that's ok. He loved looking around and being where all the action was. This is Brayden driving the boat. We start them young in the Rupp family.
Grandpa Rupp and Brayden are great buddies. They had lots of fun playing together!

We took a beating tubing. It was choppy water and this picture shows it all...i.e. Emily biffing it off the tube and Jason is already long gone as he bifed it a while back. Good picture though.
Our little family boating! Brayden did great except he wasn't a huge fan of his life jacket.
Brayden didn't like wake boarding too much. He must be like his mom and be a skier at heart!
This is Brayden's fist time in the lake. He didn't like that it was somewhat cold and his swim only lasted about 5 minutes but that was good enough for us. We were determined that he had to get in the water at least once on the trip.

Jason and I had a lot of fun doing this. Since I like skiing and Jason likes wake boarding we decided to try it together. We had fun going under each others rope trying tricks...most of which ended up in wipe outs but that's ok!
This is Jason's 180! He did lots of tricks..well he attempted lots of tricks this vacation. He had a lot of fun and got pretty got at them by the end of it all but he paid the price and hurt, hurt, hurt!
I love this picture! It's Jason getting some air on one of his jumps. And he even landed it! What a stud!
This is Emily's attempt at wake boarding and tricks. Of course I didn't land it but I had fun...but as fun as it was...skiing is still much funner!
Again...a wild ride on the tube!

Thanks mom and dad and lizzie for a great vacation! Thanks Jen and Chris for lunch and letting us come visit! Thanks Jason and Claire for dinner and a great time. We love you all! We would also like to thank Lizzie for all her play time with Brayden. She loved to play with Brayden and was a huge help which made for a nice break for us! Your a great aunt lizzie!

pumpkins, veggies, and games...oh my!!!

This has been a fun but busy weekend. On Friday night, Jason and I had a Wii Fit battle. It all started because the cake that i had made that day didn't turn out to my standards of perfection and i was mad about it. I couldn't sleep and so i got up to go get some energy out and play the wii fit. Jason then got up and it turned into a battle to get the highest score at soccer. I got killed! Jason not only slammed my score he did it over and over and eventually kicked my off the score board! It's going to take me a long time to get close to his record of over 450! On Saturday, I went up to Elk, Grove where Brooks and AmyAnn live to help AmyAnn decorate her apartment. We had a fun time together running around all over the place and spending money. While, running errands we went to a store called "Once Upon a Child". It is a consignment store. I found the cutest Halloween costume for Brayden. We got him a pumpkin and a tigger costume. Only 5$ each and almost brand new! The pumpkin costume might not fit him by the time Halloween comes around so i came home and put him in it. Brayden was tired and he didn't like it too much. I put him in it again today and while i didn't get a smile he didn't cry this time. On Sunday Jason and I had to speak in church. It went fine and it was nice to meet more people in the ward as a result of it. After church we went up to Jason's brother's house, who also lives in Elk Grove. Brooks and AmyAnn also came over. We all had dinner together and then we had a great game of Settlers of Catan with my sister-in-law Katie winning the game. It was a close one!
On another note...Brayden has been eating baby food now for a couple of weeks and loves it. He has tried applesauce, sweet potatoes, peas, carrots, peaches, bananas, pears, and prunes. He hates the peas and the prunes but loves everything else. So far, sweet potatoes are his favorite. He loves when you do the airplane with the spoon into his mouth and he also loves playing with his spoon after hes done. Were headed to Atlanta this week to go boating with the Rupp family for a week and we are so excited! Keep posted for all our adventures with that.

Fo-Hawk Finally!

I am so excited that Brayden can finally have a fo-hawk! Yay! He was born with a full head of brown hair and then it all fell out. So, by the time he was home from the hospital and I could do it there wasn't enough hair anymore. Well, today, there was finally enough hair! The top has finally grown in enough! The hair is still growing so it should keep improving! We'll see...

Things we love....

Here are some things that Brayden has come to love and also things we love too... Since the day Brayden was born he has had his little tigger. We put it in his incubator in the hospital with him. At that time, they were somewhat the same size but Brayden continues to grow like a weed...but a cute one and one we want to keep! He still loves his tigger and likes playing with him...
Brayden also loves trying to eat everything that is within reach including hands...food...clothes..blankets...and his toys.

Brayden loves Popsicles. Yes, Emily lets him lick her Popsicles. Since Emily is a Popsicle lover herself, this happens a few times a week. Brayden has gotten to where he will cry if he doesn't get a taste of mom's Popsicle. He loves them and loves making a big mess too! (This is only a tiny mess in the picture!) Both Emily and Brayden love the all fruit Popsicles! So Good!
This is one of every one's favorites...nap time! We titled this picture "The Good Life". Brayden decided to sprawl across Jason and snuggle in and take his nap. But we didn't protest. It meant three things: 1: a happier baby, 2: quiet, and 3: we could get some stuff done...well in this case Emily could. Jason just kept watching the Olympics.


We also love taking family walks together and playing Nintendo 64 Ultimate Tetris together. We have come to love certain foods as well. Our top ones include: bacon, brownies, and Outback's cheese fries. Jason still loves his koolaid and emily still loves her chocolate!

We love spending time with other family and friends as well!

jump...jump...jump

We bought Brayden a johnny jumper this week and we have gotten mixed results. However, he has started to catch on and jump and move on his own. He sits and plays with the toys in the front which light up and sing when he touches them. We have noticed that since we have gotten him this he has become 10x more wigglier. Is that even possible? He can't sit still...he wants to kick and bat at things and try to talk to us. If he's not doing one of those things he's trying to eat his hand or whatever is close to this mouth. Gotta love the little guy. Just when mom was getting the hang of things they go and change all over again!

Project this...

This is Jason's beloved projector screen. It can adjust to 80" or 65". Of course, it can't ever be just 65"...it has to be the full 80" or there is no point in using it. Jason loves his projector. It's one of his babies from his bachelor days. This is the history of the projector:
Jason was the ultimate bachelor for a good amount of time. He had a great job, his own house, and lots of toys and gadgets to fill it with. He used the whole living room wall as the projector screen. But in bachelor ghetto style, he covered up the windows with sheets to make it dark enough...and then left the sheets there 24-7. I came to visit before we got married and saw the beloved projector. I told Jason the set up wouldn't last because 1-the sheets were ugly and tacky, 2-he took up a great wall. I wanted to hang pictures on it and i couldn't if it was used as the projector screen....anyway....And then....we got married! And I moved in and I learned the projector wasn't a battle that was worth fighting (most days :) ) I wanted to take over the house...clean...decorate...move furniture...totally change Jason's bachelor pad. And I didn't like feeling like I had to compete with Jason's favorite Xbox Star Wars game. That gun and light saber sound gets so annoying! He didn't like that idea so much. I have never met a guy who has such a big opinion when it comes to decorating. Jason claims its because it's what he does for a living...no...you build the houses not decorate them silly!
Anyway...it didn't matter much...we switched houses with Jason's parents 3 1/2 months after getting married and we moved to Oahu. The projector stayed on Kauai. But then...we moved to our current location in Northern California...of course the projector moved with us.
At first, Jason wanted to use a wall in the living room as the screen again but I said no! So then we actually took out the projector screen out of its box and realized that it opens and closes. How convenient. So, I agreed to let Jason mount the screen to the wall (its only like 6 inches wide when closed)...but we also kept the TV in the room as well. Now we have a beautiful compromise...we still have the TV for convenience but we also have the projector for movies and to play any video games on...and since we have every system possible (excluding Atari and Sega) it works out great!
So...what did Emily learn from all of this?...nothing new...except that i actually like using the projector for the most part...but...i, once again, learned that marriage is all about the art of compromise. But...its so worth it! I love you Jason!

Brayden is now 4 months old. We have come a long way in that time.
We have gone from the NICU at the hospital, breathing aids, IV's, and 4 pounds 2.8 ounces and then down to 3 1/2 pounds to 14 pounds at 4 months. We are so proud of our little Brayden and all the progress he is making. He is such a blessing and joy in our life! Here are some videos that show just how far he has come!

This is Brayden 3 days after he was born!

This is Brayden a week shy of 4 months!

My Favorite Picture!

This is my current favorite picture. I love Brayden's little smiles. I love to look at this picture when he is being ornery...which he has been having his days of...it reminds me that he is worth it all!

Our little handsome...

Emily enjoys dressing Brayden up since Jason won't let her dress him. We put Brayden in his little suit yesterday for church and he was a huge hit! We had people taking pictures of him and everything. Brayden and Emily also love having Jason at home more. Jason and Brayden like to play togeather and are so cute when they do!

Brayden is working on discovering his hands. Grandma Sessions bought Brayden a kick and play set but Brayden showed no interest in it until recently. We then modified it and added the pooh stuff. I love this picture. Brayden likes to sit and grab the tails! Cute!

LIKE FATHER...LIKE SON...

So, Jason put his sunglasses on Brayden the other day. He got so excited about it. This is Brayden looking "so cool"! What a cutie!

Smiles and Giggles

Were finally here! Brayden is now Smiling and Giggling! Yay! We are so excited. It has been somewhat frustrating waiting for Brayden to get to his developmental milestones because he was so premature. (For those that don't know...a premature baby's growth and development is measured not by birth age but by "adjusted age" which is the age since the original due date. Brayden's original due date was May 29th. ) It has been hard to see other babies who are Brayden's birth age reach these milestones before us and long since surpass us. I know, I know...every baby has it's own timeline...but I'm an impatient first-time mom. What can I say! Even though the smiles and giggles have to be prompted we are making lots of progress! Brayden is also making progress in other areas as well...he is over 11 lbs and 22 inches long. That means he has grown 5 inches in 3 months and gained almost 8 pounds! Were still working on getting Brayden to sleep at night. On average, he sleeps for about 2 hours and then wakes up to eat. On good nights, he goes 3 hours. On bad nights, like last night, he wakes up every 30 minutes and then is up for 30 minutes. This pretty much creates a sleepless night for mom (if it's during the week ) or dad (if it's the weekend). We are both very much looking forward to Brayden having his own room once we get a house here in CA and then getting him to sleep through the night. For all those who know Emily well, this has been a big challenge since she loves her sleep so much. The sacrifices you make for you're child....but they are all worth it! We couldn't be happier as parents and as a family.

4th of July Festivites!

Sessions Family July 2008
This picture cracks me up. Brayden looks so GQ with his little man pose and his hand in his pocket.
Dad and Brayden!

This 4th of July was our first as a family. We had a great time together. We went up to Oakdale, California to some family friends for a BBQ and then we did fireworks that night. Amazing how much things can change in a year...last 4th of July, Jason was in Utah visiting Emily and we were registering at stores for our wedding. (Registering wasn't as fun as we had both dreamed...this year was way better!) Hope everyone had a great Holiday!