Kaden's First Basketball "Practice"

Last night Kaden really enjoyed his first basketball practice.  He did pretty good.  There was only one time when he just watched the other kids playing around him and just jumped up and down.  :)  Danny told him he looked like a little frog.  :)

Here are some pictures from his practice...

Playing In The Snow With Cousins

The boys got to play with their cousins last Friday.  They ended up playing outside in the snow and had a lot of fun.  Here are some pics...

Feeding Ellie

Feeding Ellie is a lot of fun.  She is a pro at using the spoon. :)  

Anyway, as you can see from the pictures, when Ellie is up in her high chair, Preston feels it is a necessity to play with her.  It's pretty cute, actually.

What's Up With Kaden?

Kaden starts basketball tonight.  He is so excited!  He has wanted to play all sports that are available to him.  We were going to sign him up for soccer, but we were too late to sign him up. We were bright and early on the basketball sign-ups though.  I'll let you all know how it goes and probably post a picture or two.

Another Funny Quote From Preston

Preston put the leapster on the chair where I had been sitting.  He left the room and then I sat back down.  When he came in he couldn't see the leapster.  He said, "Where's the leapster?"  I pulled it out from behind me and he smiled.  He said, "Oh, you were hiding it in your bum..." :)

I promise, it was NOT in my bum!!!  :)

Good Book!

I purchased this book on Monday (as per the recommendation by both my sister and sister-in-law), and I finished it today...  SUPER!  I'm just so bummed that it is part of a series and I have to wait for the next one!  

My Amazing Husband

So, it is ok for me to brag about my husband, right?  =)

Last weekend, when Danny could have been relaxing for a long weekend, instead Danny was hard at work.  What was he doing?  He finished our storage room and then helped to organize all or our tools/utility closet/food storage/and junk...  He's so handy to have around!

Classic Preston-isms

At 2:00 in the afternoon, when we have all been awake for hours...  Preston comes running up to me and grabs hold of my legs in a big hug.  "Mooommmm...  You are awake!"  And then he proceeds to do the same thing to Danny and then to Kaden.  =)

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One evening as we are settling down for dinner...  Something was said about me already having made the kids' dinner or something and Danny made the comment, "She sure is a nice mom."  Preston doesn't even skip a beat and says, "mmm, yeah, and toot".  (For those who don't know the language Preston speaks, toot=cute)  =)

Kids...

Well, our kids are growing up...  

They are doing new things, reaching new milestones, and keeping us on our toes!

Ellie:

She is now four and a half months old!  She is eating cereal.  In fact, we went to the doctor yesterday and he said the "average" amount for a baby her age to drink per bottle is 5-6 oz.  Let me follow that "statistic" with what our little munchkin drinks - 8 oz!  He said that we should try cereal 2-3 times per day and try to reduce the milk consumption down to about 6-7 oz (per bottle).  The thing is, she still seems STARVING after 5 oz.  So more cereal it is, and she actually is doing really well with it.  She did get shots yesterday which resulted in a low fever, but nothing a little motrin can't kick.  And she is now over 16 lbs.  She is in the 96th percentile for her weight and the 99th percentile for her height!  She is definitely growing!

Preston:

Let's just say that he doesn't pee the bed.  :)  For the last 4 nights the little stinker gets up at approximately 4:00 every morning in order to wake us up to tell us that he needs to go potty.  Again, I'm not complaining... He doesn't pee the bed.  But Danny has been trying to train him to just go potty without waking us up.  I think I'll take what I can get.

Kaden:

Tooth-fairy, here we come!  Kaden had a dentist appointment today.  I guess I just haven't really looked in his mouth much lately because he had an adult tooth coming in behind his bottom front two teeth.  Therefore, the dentist pulled his two front teeth out of the way.  One of the teeth came really quite easy because it really didn't have much of a root.  The other tooth, however, was rooted down deep.  I swear the thing was OVER a half an inch long!  Anyway, he was a good sport with only minor yelps as the dentist yanked on that thing with all his might.  Needless to say, the tooth-fairy is feeling a little more generous with how these teeth came out.

Well, that's it for now.  Kids grow and we, as parents, get to experience each new thing.  Ya gotta love it! :)

Who Said December Is A Busy Time Of Year?

Well, I know I have a TON of pictures to show off. (~Yes I understand that blogs - for the most part - are just for showing off your kids :) ~)  We had a super busy December and we had a wonderful Christmas season.  But let's start from the beginning...

Ellie is getting so big!  Time goes by so fast and the kids just continue to grow - especially when they are from 0 to 12 months I guess.  But I am enjoying her so much.  She has recently discovered her voice and is making little squealing sounds that neither of the boys ever made.  She smiles and laughs all the time now.  She is the BEST sleeper ever!  She is always so content.  And she is becoming more and more separated from the boys as she continues to grasp her girly nature.  We love her so much!

The boys definitely have enjoyed the snow so far this season.  From having a snowball fight in the beginning snow fall to enjoying sledding with their dad in windy Idaho.  They have gotten a lot of use out of their snow boots.

We made sugar cookies on Christmas Eve.  The boys REALLY enjoyed that!  They were supposedly going to be for "Santa" but we forgot to set them out for him that night...  Oops! :)  It was fun nonetheless.

We all got to talk to my brother Wes on Christmas Eve as well.  He is in Japan on his mission and he sounds so good.  I couldn't stop smiling after I got off the phone with him.  It was just so good to talk to him.

Christmas was extremely enjoyable!  The boys truly loved the whole day, including eating dinner and playing with their cousins.

New Years Eve was AWESOME!!!  My wonderfully amazing sister put on a Vegas-themed murder mystery and it was one of the funnest things I've ever done.  My role was that of the floozy cocktail waitress and Danny was the bartender.  My whole family got into it and I haven't laughed that hard in a while.  We also had a poker tournament (how can you have a Vegas-themed night and not have poker?)  And guess who won the jackpot?  Yep, you're right...  I actually even beat my dad at Texas Hold 'Em!  Tons of fun!

Then the next day - New Years Day - we took our new paintball guns out for the first time.  We had so much fun with my family!  Thanks a ton again to Tresa and Chet for hosting a wonderful couple of days!

Then on Friday we had a game night with Danny's family, complete with all the food you could imagine.  I think I gained all of the baby-weight back that I had lost after Ellie.  It has been an extremely food-filled and fun holiday season. 

Anyway, that's our last month shortened for all of you to read.  Hope you had a wonderful holiday season as well!

'Tis The Season

I love this time of year. Thanksgiving for me includes family, games, food, laughter, games, and of course family. I love being able to sit down with those I love in order to laugh and play together. Such was the case last week. I was able to spend a small amount of time with my parents and then come home and spend more time with Danny's family. It was so much fun to play basketball and other miscellaneous games with them.

On Friday morning my sister-in-law and I enjoyed the shopping season of Black Friday.  It is always fun to witness those people that take the shopping SO seriously that they fight over things.  We even saw an ambulance in Wal-Mart, but thankfully they left with the stretcher empty - it mustn't have been too serious.  

Anyway, now it is time for Christmas parties, candy, gift buying and wrapping, and of course the all important "Dear Santa" letters with the kids.  

I love the different traditions that we continue to improve on and add to.  A couple of years ago we started the tradition of doing the 12 days of Christmas for someone in the neighborhood.  We are beginning the preparations for that.  We are also going to make the yearly batch of yummy fondant candy.  

And thus it all begins.  The time to think of the beautiful birth of our Savior.  The time to remember the importance of Him in our lives.  The opportunity to bear witness of Him to those around us.  The chance to show Christ-like love to everyone we come in contact with.  And the possibility to spend time with those we love the most.

May you enjoy this December and remember that which is most important.

Pictures

Just a picture update:

Family

It has been a while since I sat down to work on my blog. In fact, it has been a while since I even looked at others’ blogs. As most of you know, my sister-in-law, Megan, gave premature birth to her twin boys. Dex received his body then went back to be with Heavenly Father again; and Crew is at Primary Children’s Medical Center right now trying to get strong enough to come back to UVRMC’s NICU.

Throughout the past couple of weeks I have gone through an array of emotions. It has just taken me a while to sort through my feelings enough to deal with them as well as read other people's emotions on the matter. Let alone being able to sit down and write about them.

I guess what it all boils down to is that I love my family! I am so grateful for having them in my life and being linked to them for all eternity. I’m not just talking about my wonderful sweetheart Danny and my three beautiful and wonderful children. The family that surrounds me in this life are the greatest examples to me...

Parents: I have two amazing sets of parents who have taught Danny and I right and wrong. They have ALWAYS been there whenever we needed them and have sacrificed so much for our behalf. I could say they are the most loving and giving people on the planet.

MY SIDE

Traci and Rick: Strong family values and very, very talented in many, many ways. My sister is a wonderful homemaker and I always wanted to be just like her when I became a mommy.

Tresa and Chet: The funnest people to hang around! No matter what we are doing, it is always fun when it’s with them. I also look up to Tresa and the strong testimony she has.

Jodi and Felipe: The most kind-hearted and giving people. I could go on and on about their many kindnesses and the great friends they are to me. I love to just talk to Jodi and enjoy the wonderful spirit that she exudes.

Jill and Spencer: Amazing, giving, and wonderful family values. They are a complete combination of all of the above. Family-oriented, fun, kind, giving - all words that would describe Jill.

Weston: Great missionary! He has been blessed with all of the traits listed above as well - maybe due to having 5 sisters. :) I miss him so much, and am so proud of all he is doing for the Japanese people.

DANNY’S SIDE

Justin and Megan: Where do I begin... They amaze me! Their strength astounds me! Megan is outgoing and fun and super strong in the gospel. Justin is a great friend and an amazing husband and father.

Kayla and Adam: They also are the most giving people. They would give you the shirts off their backs if you needed them. Adam drove our Uhaul truck to Las Vegas for us - as a favor... What more can I say?

Matt and Kim: Spiritual, funny, strong, and giving. I love ‘em both to pieces! Matt worries needlessly about EVERYONE and EVERYTHING and therefore would be there for you at the drop of a hat. I love to hear his testimony, too.

I didn’t sit down expecting to write all of that... But it is how I feel. I have been blessed with the most amazing family members in the world and as I have observed them I can’t help but realize what a great blessing the gospel is. We DO have the opportunity to be an eternal family. When someone goes back to our Father in Heaven, we WILL have the opportunity to see that person again. How grateful I am for these people as they witness to me of this truth. I love you all!

Ellie's Baby Blessing

We had Ellie's blessing on Sunday.  It was a wonderful day!  Thank you to those who came and supported us...  And to those who couldn't make it - we missed you but understand.  Ellie actually has a little rash on her head but you can't see it in these pictures thanks to Photoshop. :)  But this is Ellie on her special day.

Ellie with Aunt Tresa and some cousins

Ellie with Grandpa Hyde

Ellie with Grandma Bradshaw

Ellie with Grandpa Bradshaw

Thanks Grandma Hunsaker

Grandma Hunsaker sent Ellie some money to go shopping, so Ellie and I went out on the town. Danny laughed that I called it a "Girls Day" - I'm just excited that I can say it's a "Girls Day." Anyway, we went shopping and found this cute little outfit. Isn't she cute in her new jeans and shirt? Thanks Grandma Hunsaker!

Wanting Attention

Ok, so I stole this off of my sis-in-law's blog.  While watching this, I laughed so hard!  This is Kaden to a T - I swear.  And it is always when I'm on the phone or talking to someone or even when I'm just trying to get some time to myself.  Don't you just love kids!

Ellie M Bradshaw

Nope, we haven't fallen off of the face of the earth. :)  It has been a crazy couple of weeks but we are all doing really great!  Ellie has changed quite a bit so I wanted to post some updated pictures of this beautiful little girl.  

Also, I didn't want to forget the details of her birth so I wrote them down below - mainly for myself.

PS. Girls are so much fun to dress! :)

Ellie Enters The Picture

August 30th at 1:29 in the morning I woke up to a contraction.  In order for a contraction to wake me up from my sleep it has to be a fairly good contraction.  But I had had so many false alarms the past two weeks with what I like to call fake contractions that I didn’t dare believe I was going into labor.  Little did I know that within hours I would meet this little bundle of joy that had been growing inside my tummy.

At 2:30 in the morning Danny finally woke up to my struggling through the contractions.  He asked how long I had been having contractions and I told him.  He asked how far apart they were and I explained that I hadn’t been keeping close attention but that I thought they were about 5 minutes apart.

For the next 2 hours we struggle with deciding what to do.  Not only were the contractions not regular, but we also needed to contact someone to come stay with our boys.  We had already asked Matt and Kim to be on standby, but should we make the call and have them travel the 20 minutes to our house when the contractions weren’t regular yet?  In fact, we kept the record of each timed contraction...

5.46

5.20

4.00

2.24

6.25

7.07

6.48

2.15

4.38

7.35

7.47

7.10

3.19

1.33

2.01

11.14

5.30

2.00

1.10

1.29

2.48

3.00

3.25

4.37

7.51

3.25

1.58

2.02

3.22

4.13

2.27

1.52

3.55

8.00

5.28

As you can see, there was absolutely no regularity in each of the timed contractions.  We just didn’t know what to do.

At approximately 4:30, we decided to call Matt and Kim and let them know what was going on.  That way, they would truly be on standby.  But just one problem...  Their phones were on silent.  We tried calling for about 15 minutes to no avail.  They simply couldn’t hear their phones.  What were we going to do?  We decided to just continue to wait to see if the contractions got regular and take it from there.  But about a 1/2 hour later Matt just happened to wake up, look at his phone, and call us back.  Danny explained the situation, Matt took his phone off vibrate, and we continued to wait.

At about 5:15 I could no longer take the pain.  I wanted an epidural so badly!  So we called Matt and they headed to our house.  Meanwhile, all we could do was wait until Matt and Kim got there before we could leave for the hospital.  But it hurt so bad!  I got impatient and at 5:40 we called Matt to see where he was.  Thankfully they were just pulling in to the subdivision, so we left.

When we got to the hospital, they didn’t even monitor me - They simply admitted me.  When they checked my dilation, I said to the nurse, “Please don’t tell me I’m still a 3.”  The nurse replied with, “You’re definitely not a 3.”  And she proceeded to tell me that I was dilated to a 7.  To which I responded, “Please give me an epidural!”  :)  Then I turned to Danny and proudly said, “I made it to a 7!” - You see, with both Kaden and Preston I had an epidural by the time I was dilated to a 4.  Now I actually know what a true contraction feels like. :)

They got the anesthesiologist in and he gave me an epidural.  It worked everywhere except on the right side of my back and my right leg.  I explained this to the nurse and she called the anesthesiologist back in to give me more.  

After I got some more epidural, I started to feel nauseous and then light-headed.  They had given me too much and I felt extremely weird.  Meanwhile, I had progressed enough that it was time to push.  I had to push while feeling like I was going to pass out and I couldn’t feel a thing from my waist down.  And to top it all off, Ellie was face-up so the doctor had to try to turn her with the forceps.  And then she wouldn’t turn because her shoulder was caught on my bone.  I ended up pushing for an hour; but towards the end of the pushing, the epidural started to wear off.  So they had to call the anesthesiologist back in to give me even more.

But finally, at 8:59 AM on August 30th, 2008, Danny and I welcomed this beautiful little angel into the world.  She weighed 8 lbs 2 oz and was 20 inches long.  And she took my breath away.  

Childbirth is truly an indescribable event.  It was emotional from start to finish, and I still get tears in my eyes when I think about the first time I saw her.  Once again, children bring a whole new perspective in to our lives and I am so grateful for my opportunity to experience each joy, pain, happiness, misery, frustration, and proud moment.

Catching Up

Well, I guess I had better catch you all up on our life. I know it has been a long time and for good reasons. We have been extremely busy with life! We finished the basement, Danny took a business trip to California for a week, Kaden started the first grade, Preston is now potty trained (yippee), and of course - WE HAD ELLIE M BRADSHAW!

She was born on Saturday, August 30th. She weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs 2 oz. She was 20 inches long. And she is absolutely beautiful.

It was a fairly difficult delivery. She was face up and the doctor tried multiple times to turn her to no avail. The epidural was a little iffy at first, then they overdosed me, then it wore off too early... A little painful and difficult. But one of the first things I said after getting to hold my wonderful little girl is that it's amazing that no matter how difficult, it is still so incrediby worth it in the end. She is already my little angel and she definitely has Danny wrapped around her little finger. :)

Now for pictures... I will start off with Ellie and work backwards.



This is Preston being potty trained. (Am I a bad mom for taking pictures of this? :)



And, lastly, this is Kaden and his 1st grade experience. We met the teacher and found his class the day before school started. Then he wanted to ride the bus because he is now a big boy. They grow up way too fast.

Memory Game

Here is a fun little game... leave a comment on my blog of a memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if you've known me for a short time or a long time, anything that you remember! Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It is pretty funny to read the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you are playing and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. On your mark... get set... blog those memories!