Emily's Driving

Emily thinks she is a great driver. Maybe she is, and its just me that brings out bad habits in her. I guess I shouldn't be surprised anymore since she exposed me to her driving abilities from the very beginning. She managed to dump herself off and roll my 4 Wheeler. If that wasn't enough, the very next day she ran into me on Paul's neon green 4 Wheeler, claiming she didn't see me. We were brutal with how we rode them, but never caused as much damage as she did in two days.

I love that she is so adventurous, and I am very grateful that she hasn't had to go to the hospital as a result of our adventures, yet. I love my wife, with all her strengths and weaknesses. She is the perfect complement for me. I'm so glad she married me. Life with Emily is eventful, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Pictures and some cake...Yum!

Here are some random pictures that I have taken recently... Brayden is a true boy. He likes to hang upside down, do airplane, do flips...all sorts of stuff. He's getting ready to be a little Gymnast.

This is our future blogger. Jason was playing with Brayden while I made dinner. He enjoys trying to type and press all the keys on the computer.

Brayden currently thinks that everything is a footrest. He puts his feet up on everything and his toys are no exception.

Brayden enjoyed exploring the pumpkin for about 2 minutes til he fell over and then got occupied with something else.

Yes, here is the big haircut...its not the best picture but the only one I currently have of it. You get the idea.

Brayden in his suit for church. He did not like wearing it, but I made him anyway. The jacket came off before we left for church, the shoes in sacrament meeting, the vest and tie in Sunday school, and then he showed his full and total appreciation for the outfit by blowing out in it during Relief Society. So by the time church was over, he managed to strip down to his diaper...I had no other clothes for him and then by that time I was done so we left 20 minutes early from church. Clever little boy. He knows how to get what he wants.

But he just looked like a little stud muffin in the suit! Oh well...at least he wore the whole thing for 5 minutes.

On other news...we had a fun weekend. We headed up to Sacramento on Saturday. Aunt AmyAnn watched Brayden while Jason and I went to the Sacramento temple. I had never been there before and it was beautiful!!!! After we picked up Brayden, we went to visit one of Jason's friends from elementary school who just had a cute little baby girl. I got to hold her and it made me sad that I did not cherish that newborn time more with Brayden. Next baby... We also visited Cam and Katie and then ended up leaving early instead of attending Brooks and AmyAnn's pumpkin carving party. Sorry guys!

Random...Jason is making me a pineapple upside down cake right now and I am excited. First, what a sweetheart for making me a cake. I tried to tell him how to make it but then I stopped because I dont let him help me with my cakes so I was going to let him do his own thing. I am anxiously awaiting a piece or twelve, let's be honest. I love you Jason!

pictures of the week...and a hair cut!

I love these pictures! So i was changing Brayden into his pjs and he was being funny with his head stuck in this shirt. He thought it was so funny for some reason. The second picture, Brayden tried to feed himself. This is what happens...a mess...proceeded by a bath. The second one for the day. Messy boy! He was so proud of himself for both trying to feed himself with a spoon and for making a great big mess. We kept telling him that Halloween was not until next week and that he didn't need to paint himself orange until them but he was too excited to wait. \

Also exciting news....i cut my hair! Oh yes i did. According to my dear sister Lizzie, I got the "mom bob". Thank you Lizzie! No...I went with the a-line bob. I wanted a change and so i went out and got it cut. I also died it red but i didn't like it so i died it back brown. I thought it would be funny to turn up at Thanksgiving with red hair since a couple of years ago i turned up blonde, blonde, blonde. My parents were shocked. To make it even better...i died it back brown before i went home for Christmas and did not tell them. So they are walking around the airport looking for a blonde when i am brunette again. So fun. Anyway...i was going for that again but i didn't like it enough to wait a month. oh well...

totally random...and all in a day in the life of emily...

Yes, this is a totally random post but so is my life so it is ok...although life is really not as random as it used to be. First, I had to share a total "Emily" story...
So about a week ago, I was going to check the mail and take out the trash. I had Brayden in one arm and the trash and my keys in the other. We walk downstairs to the dumpster to throw away the trash first. The bag was particularly heavy and i was trying to swing it over one handed. Not as easy and you would think. I finally got it over but at the last second, my keys got caught on one of the drawstring handles and flew into the dumpster with the trash. I realize what
happened and i am thinking oh no..oh no...all my keys and the remote to our garage and gates. I can't just climb into the dumpster with Brayden so i am looking around for a place to set him down. No where....so I run back up to our apartment and lay him in the middle of the living room, give him a teething ring, turn on the TV ( a great babysitter at times) and then I run back down to the dumpster. I didn't want to wait to go find the keys because who knows what other trash might accumulate and i didn't want to have to dig through more than was necessary. Luckily, I found my keys and climbed back out of the dumpster and I don't even think anyone saw..but who cares if they did. I am sure they got a kick out of watching me dumpster dive. That night, when Jason got home from work, I am telling him about what happened and his comment was..."You must have a thing for getting in dumpsters. It reminds me of when we first met. How sweet...reliving our memories." Thank you sweet heart! Not quite what I was going for but yes, I did think about our fun that we had looking for your stolen stuff after your car got broken into at Leatherbys.

On another note...I had another funny situation occur...this one staring Brayden. We went to the doctor on Tuesday for his 6 month check-up. (He is getting big...18 pounds and giving mom some serious muscles!) The doctor and I were talking about Brayden's eating patterns and she gave me the go ahead to start Brayden on finger foods. So, that night...we tried it out. I gave Brayden some steamed carrots and some bread pieces and melt in your mouth puffs. He didn't know what mom was doing at first but he caught on quick. I walked away for a second to go to the bathroom and came right back. I walk into the kitchen and find Brayden with fists fulls of food and he stuffing it into his mouth. He sees me and gets this look on his face like he has totally been caught red handed. It was the cutest and funniest thing I have seen in a long time. I had such a good laugh over the whole thing.

Besides funny and random incidents, I have talked to a lot of my good friends lately. Tia and I discussed her crazy dating life, Jerilyn and I talked about cakes, catering, and living in Las Vegas, Braint and I talked about married life, Halloween, and I had a fun time harassing him as always (all in good fun of course), and Shannon and I swapped stories about motherhood and shared tips we have found that work. It was so good to talk to so many good friends! I am so grateful for all of my friends. They make life so much better and I have been blessed to have such great friends. I love keeping in touch with all of you. It makes me so happy! Thanks everyone for being so awesome!

adendum to the previous videos posted...

A note to all readers...a good friend of mine recently said that the videos that were previously posted were creepy and "Blair Witch Project" like. Well I just could not have that when Brayden really was giggling and laughing. I'm sorry the video was dark and i was holding the camera becasue Jason was at work. Anyway...the videos were too happy to have them come across that way so i took them off. I hope no one got the wrong impression. Thank you to you who i will not name for that comment haha.

A call to all mothers, women, and friends...any ideas?

ok...i am breaking down and asking for ideas...support...anything. I just don't know what to do anymore...I've tried everything i can think of. So, Brayden has been super fussy lately. I feel like I am constantly fighting with him over everything...eating..sleeping...playing...he doesn't want to do anything but be fussy. He is obviously teething. His two bottom teeth keep floating around. They pop up and we think they are going to come through at any time and then they go back down. He is drooling like there is no tomorrow and wants to chomp on everything. I think one of the hardest things for me is that everyday is so painfully the same. We do the same things everyday and it is driving me nuts! Jason comes home from work and asks how are days was and what we did and it is always the same answer...nothing special..same thing we did yesterday. I know their is not a lot you can do with a 6 month old. We take walks...we play...i cherish nap times even if they only last 1/2 hour at a time. Brayden's sleep schedule has recently changed and that is also frustrating. I know teething is no fun for anyone....Motherhood is surely teaching me patience on a whole other level!
Now don't get me wrong...I love, love, love being a mom. It brings me such happiness and joy and i am so blessed to be able to have Brayden in my life. I do love being able to be a stay at home mom and I am so blessed to be able to do so...it is just frustrating at times and has its own unique set of challenges. I think it is a much harder job than actually being in the work force.
Does anyone have ideas of things we can do to change the routine? Any great teething ideas? We've done orajel, teething rings, Popsicles, teething tablets, Motrin... and if you don't have any ideas some friendly support would be terrific! thanks everyone!

My little Tigger...

I know...I know...Halloween is a couple weeks away but I couldn't wait. I just thought Brayden looked so cute in his Halloween costume! What a cute little tigger! He was so cute and cuddly in it and he was happy and smiling and my heart just melted. What can I say...I get sucked in by those cute little smiles and his laughs and giggles. Stay tuned for the real Halloween pictures!

BK's First Haircut...

This weekend we decided to give Brayden a haircut...We were cutting Jason's hair and we decided to even out Brayden's hair a little since the front is growing in so much faster than the rest of his hair. We gave him a little buzz and he was done. He did great! To clean him off we stuck him in the shower. We got a kick out of it but Brayden did not. He had a pure look of terror on his face the whole time and did not know what the heck was going on.

What a difference 6 months makes..!

I can't belive that it has been 6 months since Brayden was born! What a difference that time makes! I look at Brayden every day and I am so amazed at how big he is and how he is growing and developing. Here are some fun videos that we have taken. The first is from he day Brayden was born. You have to remember that Brayden's arms and legs were ity-bity. He was ity-bity! He was 4 lbs! His legs were the size of almost 2 of my fingers! Look at how he has grown! He is now 17.5 lbs and 25 inchs long. That means he has gained 13. 5 pounds and grown 8 inches.

The President and His Advisor...

First of all, this picture cracks me up!...So, this is Jason and my brother-in-law Brooks. They are sitting in the office at our apartment talking to Lizzie on the phone. Lizzie had called while we were all in the middle of a game of 5-crowns wanting ideas of things to do for this boy's birthday that she likes in her ward. We turned the phone over to the boys to give her ideas. They called her back after the game and apparently the 20 minutes that she had to wait was too long! The things boys do to us girls!... I walked into the room to find the boys like this and it looked like Brooks was the President and Jason was his advisor. We all got a good laugh at those two. They keep things interesting when we get together and we love them both. I also thought you would enjoy the picture liz!

6 months old and a trip to Apple Hill...

This past weekend, with family in town for Brayden's baby blessing, we went to Apple Hill with the Sessions family. Apple Hill is a bunch of apple farm with craft fairs and all sorts of good food and fun things for kids to do. We went to the High Hill Ranch. We looked at the craft booths...had lunch...ate lots of good stuff including awesome apple cider and apple fritters. We had a fun time with Jason's parents and his brother Cam and his family. That night, after apple hill, the women went to the Relief Society Broadcast and the guys stayed home and watched the Georgia vs. Alabama football game. Grandma Sessions with her Moose Sign...
Brayden is now 6 months old and growing like crazy! He is getting so big! I know his is...but I think he looks huge to me considering how little he was when he was born. Now he has cute little chubby legs and checks that i love to kiss!

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...