"Babblin Braiden Boo"

It seemed like it took awhile for our little Braiden to get the hang of this whole talking thing. Alexee's 1st word was Dada was I was determined for Braiden to say Mama 1st. So in the beginning that is pretty much all I said to him over & over, you could say I even brain washed the poor baby. Boy did it ever backfire, for about 6 months or so that is all the little boy said, milk was mama, bedtime was mama, anything and everything he looked at or wanted was mama!! Then for awhile he really didn't have much to say, but now you better look out because these last few months he has exploded with a giant vocabulary!!! And when he is talking you better listen because you have to repeat what he says so he knows you're paying attention!

Some of my favorite things our little Braiden Boo loves to say are, "So Much" everything is so much, ho loves you so much, he wants this so much, the other day when I left Mom & Dad's he wanted his Grandpa so much!! Lately his Daddy works, so much! It is pretty darn cute!!
His other favorite is "Silly HEad" everyone is a silly head. After you do something he'll say, "Mommy, you silly head" I couldn't figure out where he got it from, but then when I started paying attention I call the kids silly A LOT, he just added the "Head".
He also loves to snuggle, he wraps both arms around you and squeezes you in soooo tight. The other night I told Brad I'll never need any sleep aids with Braiden around, his snuggles can knock me right out!! One day during, snuggle time, he pulled away & said "Mommy, no more squeezin, and rolled over & went to sleep. I thought he snuggled for him to fall asleep, but maybe he does it for me, I do love that snugglin stuff!! One year when Brad was hunting I was staying with Stacey & I couldn't sleep, I am addicted to that contact, so I asked her to "Spoon" me so I could fall asleep (I don't remember if she did or not :)
Anyways, back to Babblin Braiden, the one new thing we could maybe do without is the "Weiner" conversation. He is so curious about weiners & bum bums (that's what you have if you don't have a weiner around here) he asks if everyone has a weiner or bum, bum. It is okay when we are here at home, but Target's ladies restroom, not my favorite place to have the Weiner talk. Here is a little of how it goes, Sissy on the "To-To" peein, Braiden "Mommy, Sissy no weiner, sissy have bum, bum."
Me, "Yes Braiden, SHHHHHH"
Braiden, "Mommy, me have a weiner"
Me, "Yes Braiden, shhhhh"
Braiden, "Daddy have a weiner too"
Me, "Yep, now please shhhhhh"
Well, on he went through about everyone in the family, Uncle Paul, Uncle Dave, Grandpa, everyone he could think of with a weiner. No matter how many times we tell him Hurley is a girl, Nope she has a weiner!!
When we were growing up little boys had "Units" and little girls had "Little Bums" I still don't know where my Mom came up with Unit! Too Funny!!
We sure do love that little boy & all the joy & laughter he brings to this house!! He is SUCH AN EASY TODDLER, baby not so much!! I love this age!! And I love our sweet little Babblin Braiden Boo!!
Aunt Glor got him those jammies, they are my favorite, I am sad for him to grow out of them :)

Regrets Anyone????

So I have been having some crazy OCD moments lately & I feel like they are getting worse!! You need to understand at the beginning of this post that I was always the "FLy by the seat of my pants sister" Lesley & Ange were always the planners, and cleaners, and organizers, and shedulers, and don't forget budgeters! Nope, not me, well something in me has changed!! Ange & I had a conversation about this today & her post today makes me think of it even more.The point of this post here is that I have become a little too crazy & obsessive about my house, bad timing considering now there are 5 of us to pick up after!! I can't help it though, I have so many fun things I want to get to, like scrapbooking & printing pictures & playing with my kids, the list could go on & on, but I CAN NOT let myself do these things until everything else is done, well guess what Crazy Girl, everything is NEVER done!! I pick up & clean up ALL DAY & never get it all done! I am constantly telling my kids when they want to play, Mommy will play with you as soon as I........ (you can fill it in, do the dishes, or laundry or blah blah blah) But then I forget & didn't get down & play like they asked! I can't stand to see a bed unmade or a toy out of place, WHAT? So not me! It is starting to even affect my mood, if the house is clean I am HAPPY, if the house is out of order, STRESSED!

So, my question for all of you, what are your regrets on things you have or have not done due to obsessing about something else? I am so worried when my kids are raised & gone that I am going to look back & regret not spending more time doing the fun things, screw the laundry & the house, but how can I let go??? HELP!! I want to know if you have regrets & how I can let the other stuff go!!

Oh, the pictures are of the 2 big kid's "Snuggle Time", and this one of Carter was too cute not to post!!

Just when you think.....

"Just when you think you have it bad" So, I have been a little on the poor pitiful me side lately. All the sickness, the being locked in the house with cooties, and of course the WORRY about my baby fighting this, can get to me some days!

Well, today we had yet another trip to my buddy Doc. and this is where I received my GET OVER IT YOU GOT NOTHING TO DEAL WITH MOMENT!! It was just me & the 2 boys & we walk in & there is a wheel chair sitting next to a typical "Pahrumpian" woman, I then look over in the sick room & see a little boy who I think is maybe 6 or 7 trying to make his way to some toys on the other side of the room. My heart broke in 2. This little boy had no movement from his knees down, I think. So he was using his arms to pull himself on the floor. His poor little fingers where all crimped & bent, & he couldn't move his legs, he was the cutest little boy, when we got in the room he started chatting with Braiden. They were playing & laughing & he asked how old Braiden was, I said he just turned 2, & the little boy said he was 11, WOW he was no bigger than Alexee, yes she may be a brute for a girl but how sad for this little boy, he was so small. He just kept smiling @ the baby & playing with Braiden, then Braiden ran over to a chair & just hopped up on it like you think any little boy can. Not this little boy, it took all he had to get in the chair next to Braiden, when he was finally 1/2 in it, he looked over at me & said it felt like he was going to fall off, which he was about to fall off. So it was one of those awkward moments, because you are waiting for "Pahrump Mom" to help her little boy, but then you realize she isn't going to get off her BUTT, so you can't sit & watch anymore. So I go over & slide another chair under him so he doesn't fall to the ground. Then he looks over at my perfectly healthy 2 year old & says, "I'm going to eat good so one day I can be as strong as him". Fighting back tears I look at this little boy who gave everything he had to sit in a chair by himself, then I look at my kids & it hits me, "just when you think". Here I am whining about RSV and this ladies little boy will never run, or even walk, but he was so brave & happy! I could have slapped his mother, but I guess we all handle things different. I did however want to pick him up & bring him home, after I slapped her. The moral of the story here is I need to remember to NEVER take our health for granted!! I am so lucky to be blessed with 3 perfect children! Just when you think you have it bad, remember there is always somebody who has it WAY worse!

The Road To Mend

After too many days of not feeling good, doctor's appointments, hospitals, runny noses, breathing treatments, coughing fits, nasty medicine, & nasty RSV I think we are on the road to recovery!! I better knock on wood :) Today, for the 1st time in I don't even know how long, my baby put HIMSELF to sleep & is sleeping by HIMSELF like an angel :) Normally Carter is an angel, you lay him down ANYWHERE & he can put himself to sleep & sleep like a baby :) Well, this week something changed, poor little boy cried constantly for days, then he got a little better, but still had to be held ALL DAY!! It was like a blast from the past, because that was the 1st 4 months of Braiden's life! They say everything happens for a reason, maybe this happened to remind me not to take advantage of what an angel my Carter Bug is! OOH I love this little Carter Bug. G-Ma Jan got him this for Idaho!! TOO CUTE!

I am not used to holding him all day, while taking care of 2 others, wew it was fun while it lasted!! I got an arm workout :) But I am sooo sooo happy he is feeling better, the other 2 are almost as good as new also!! YEA!! Thank you everyone for your calls & concern! We have such a great family!!

My sweet little kids with there fishy masks on!! At 1st Alexee loved the treatments, I think she just wanted some attention, but she quickly got over that. Poor Braiden would say "medicine all gone, me done!" like 20 times a treatment! Looking at these pictures I feel so lucky to have healthy, happy children! I don't ever want to take advantage of that!

Christmas Sweets

Here is pictures of the little munchkins on Christmas, they were so cute I could have ate them up!! The boys bein all handsome!
Ms. Photogenic Alexee as always!!

Here is a picture of Alexee & Braiden a year ago, I just found it while browsing & I can't believe how much they have changed, especially my little boy, he isn't a baby anymore!!

The Good, The Bad & The WORSE

Wow, so now that I have missed an ENTIRE month of blogging, I have some serious updating to do!! I think we should start with the good first :)
The Holidays were wonderful, all Brad's family came here for Thanksgiving, and the my husband took A WEEK off for Christmas, that is right a WEEK OFF! I swore we weren't going anywhere, but with a week off how can you stay home, so we packed up the kids, the dog, more on that later, and headed to snow country!! We went to Boise to see Jared, Crystal & the kids, it was great getting to spend a whole week with them, the 4 kids play so good together & they had so much fun!! They got to go to a science museum, sledding & off course hunting with their Daddy!! Now that the Holiday's are over we are trying to get back in the swing of things!!
The kids playin in the snow!!

After we got home the kids got to do another Christmas with Grandma Terry, Jesse, Aunt Becca & their uncles, they are loving all this attention!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!! WE LOVE YOU!
On another good note, we decided we weren't busy enough with the 3 kids, so we went & got a dog!! What was I thinking, right? She is actually a really cute puppy, we named her Hurley, so now we have Roxy & Hurley! For my sanity she goes to work with Brad to get trained! The kids have a love/hate relationship with her. I think Braiden is the most into her, but as she grows up & mellows out they will all love her, she has, for the most part :) been a good dog!! She likes the kids chair :)

THE BAD

Our little Braiden just can't get over this winter funk so we took him to the doctor AGAIN to find his lungs are a little screwed up, so after many tests & 13 hours in the Sunrise Children's Emergency Room we finally learned he has RSV. Sucks, he had to be admitted & have a gazillion breathing treatments & some oxygen, he was only breathing at 85% on his own. Well, we finally got released & were on the road to recovery, but I found out there is something worse than 1 kid with RSV, what 's that you ask? That would be 3 kids with RSV.

THE WORSE

On Sunday Carter & Alexee both started acting sick, so off to the doctor we went on Monday, to learn that they all 3 had the funk!! Alexee is already over it & fine, poor Braiden is fighting it with all he's got, our sick little Carter unfortunately is getting sicker. He went back to the Doctor today, & was put on an oral steroid to help kick the funk, hopefully he will recover soon.

AND EVEN WORSE

So, in the middle of this post Carter started coughing, Mommy went to get him & BLAAA He just puked all over me, so I guess we shall cut the post short & go shower :)
On another good note, our kids are like Brad, they are so damn tough you would never know how sick they are!! They have been so brave through all of this, I am excited to get them all healthy so we can go outside! :)

Oh in case you were wondering, I go to the Doctor so much we are like buds, I even have his home number, pretty sad huh?