Christmas

Thanksgiving has come and gone and I am just getting around to updating this blog. Life never seems to slow down. Here is a little of what we have been up to
October-I became a working mom while Jake stayed at home looking for a job
End of October- Jake finds a job in Kingman, AZ
November-Jake moves to Kingman while I stay in Mesa a work a few more weeks and we look for a home in Kingman. One week into Jake being gone Bailey gets sick with strep and the croup passes it to Brayden and we have the longest two weeks of my life. I stopped working early then expected to take care of my sick kids.
We celebrate Thanksgiving with my family and packed our house.
December-We move to Kingman, AZ.

We are loving our new home and getting used to life in a very small town. Jake loves his job and we feel very blessed! Kingman is not the first place I would pick to live but we are making the best of it and grateful for all we have.

Brayden- Brayden is getting so big! He crawls all around the house, but mainly to wherever I am. He is pulling himself up on furniture and falls on his head a minimum of 4 times a day. He gets into everything I don't want him to. He is one of the cutest little boys I have ever seen. He says "Dada" all the time and loves when his dada gets home. He says "nana" for mama. He HATES baby food. He loves to bug his sister. He says "NONONONO" right back to Bailey when she yells no to him which makes her even more mad. He doesn't like his mom to do much of anything but pay attention to him. He still wakes up once a night just to make sure we don't get used to sleeping through the night, but every once in awhile he will go a whole week of sleeping through the night. He takes two naps. We love our little Brayden and our excited to see him and Bailey running around together soon!

Bailey- Bailey is a 2 year old going on 10. She is constantly correcting me on things I say. Example- Me: " Bailey will you put this jacket on?"
Bailey:"Mom that isn't a jacket it is a coat"
Me:" yes, you are right"
then she walks to her bedroom to get a coat and a jacket bring it back and says, "Mom this is a jacket and this is a coat"
She is constantly making me laugh at the little things she says.
As long as she gets her rest she is very happy. She wakes up singing every morning. She does not like to sleep away from her crib or crib tent. She lets me curl her hair and paint her fingernails. She loves to play with barbies, dolls, and her tea set. She loves to help make cookies! She brings so much joy into our home!

We feel so blessed to have these two beautiful children, for Jake to have a good job, and to have all the family and friends that we have! We are grateful to everyone who has helped us get through the last few years of Jake being in school and grateful to still be married and together :) We miss all the people we have met along the way and want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!!

Brayden and that arm...

First on the list....Jake passed the BAR!!!! YAY! What a relief! We are so excited!

Next Brayden and his arm. Brayden loves to suck on his arm! He does it like any other baby would suck there thumb but it is his arm. The problem is-he sucks it so much that it gets raw and on a few occasions begins to bleed! Ouch! WE keep long sleeves on him as much as possible but as soon as the sleeves are off the arm is in his mouth. He uses it to comfort himself, get to sleep, when he is hungry, etc. He won't take a pacifier but will take my arm as a replacement if I let him. I don't so much like having my arms all red from his sucking so I try to keep my arm away from his mouth hahaha! He always holds his arm in with the opposite hand. Hopefully he grows out of this sooner rather then later!

8 months + the cutest video ever!

Updates-
I have been working full time at Dr. Sandstrom and Edwards dental office for the last month while Jake has been a stay at home dad. It has been hard for both of us to get used to but a blessing in many ways. I am grateful for the blessing that this job has been in a time of need and it has also been great for me and Jake to switch roles for awhile. I think everyone could use a week of seeing what your spouse goes through. Jake did find a job. It isn't something he wants to do forever but it will be a means to an end. He is going to be working for a large firm doing document review. It pays great but you only work when they have projects which may be all the time but they may also have weeks with no work. I think it will be a great thing while we have some other things in the working. I plan to continue to work part time and see how things go. I will only have to work one full day and two day 8-12. Jake gets his BAR results next week! Hopefully good news!

Bailey-Bailey is now potty trained and doing great!!! She is turing into such a big girl. I don't really know how I feel about this yet. I don't want her to grow up to fast but she is so much fun right now. One of our favorite things to do is every week we pick out a fun movie (or record one from Dish) like "Beauty and the Beast" "Finding Nemo" or "Up" make a bed on the floor with lots of pillows and blankets and get a tray with popcorn, snacks, and drinks and have a family movie night. Bailey loves it and waits all week and so do I!

Brayden-The past month we have been able to find out a little more about Brayden's allergies. We now know he is allergic to dairy, soy, wheat, eggs, and some type of mold that is carried in the air through dust and pollen. He basically need to live in a bubble! We are having some further tests run and will have the results in the next couple weeks. In the mean time he is on a special formula and just eating baby foods fruits and veggies. Good news is that as soon as we switched to this formula he started to sleeping through the night. He went from being up 3-5 times a night and not taking naps to taking 2 naps that last 1 1/2 - 2 hours! I feel so bad that he has been so uncomfortable for so long and it has taken us so long to figure everything out. His skin has been horrible and he would just wake up scratching all over but we finally have everything under control and he seems to be doing great!! He is getting so big and is such a happy little boy! We pray that he outgrows his allergies very quickly!

movie night

I love my kids so much and am so grateful to be there mom!


Bailey and Brayden laughing at eachother. Cutest thing ever!

Recently

I have been meaning to update for awhile but between Jake taking the bar and me trying to work from home there seems to never be any time left at the end of the day. Jake finished taking the bar and we are awaiting results while he looks for a job. We are praying he finds something very soon!


Brayden turned 6 months old. He weighed in at 16lbs 7oz (30% ) and was in the 97 % for his height. We got the unfortunate news that he is allergic to dairy and soy. For anyone who reads labels you know that soy is in everything. Right now he is on a special formula. I had to stop breastfeeding overnight which has made this week especially difficult. The nights have been really rough b/c all he wants is for me to feed him. The first few days he refused a bottle but we are finally adjusting. He is taking a bottle and feeling much better. His poor skin has been broken out in rashes since the day he was born so it is nice to finally have answers to what has been causing that. I was really sad to be done breastfeeding but very happy to be eating normal again!

Bailey seems to get smarter by the day. She talks up a storm and makes me and Jake laugh all day. Yesterday we were at the mall and she really wanted a balloon but Jake told her no cuz they cost money so she came to me and said, "Mama I have money Please" (with her hand out waiting for me to give her money) She is way to young to be asking for money!

Our summer has been filled with swimming, eating popsicles outside, working, and being with family! We have really enjoyed it and we are so happy to have Jake a part of our family again :) Jake worked so hard in preparing for the Bar exam. He spent an average of 15 hours a day studying at the library. I was very impressed with his dedication but ready to have my husband back!

Birthday Celebrations

We had two different birthday parties for Bailey. One on her acual birthday, Sunday the 26th at my parents where my parents got her this really pretty and yummy cake.


I did a party for Bailey on Saturday the 25th with all her friends. It was a Mickey Mouse party because she likes Mickey and all the kids coming were boys so I did not think it would be appropriate to do a princess party.

Of course we had to serve Hot Dogs which is one of Bailey's favorite things to eat

She did a great job blowing out her candles.

After we ate and opened presents we went swimming. The party was a lot of fun! I love seeing Bailey so happy!

The party was a lot of fun. Im grateful to all our friends and family who came.

Happy Birthday to Bailey!

Bailey turns 2 today! Words can not express how much I love this little girl! She brings so much happiness to our home. She is talking like crazy and makes me laugh everyday! She can sing the ABC's, I am a child of God, Teach me to walk in the light, and I love you song. Bailey is the most loving girl you will ever meet. She has to give everyone a hug before we leave. She goes around in nursery and hugs each kid before she will go home. She LOVES being outside. It doesn't matter if it is 105 degrees she wants to be outside running around. She runs everywhere she goes and loves to climb. She is staring to become protective and very loving towards Brayden. The other day I put Brayden down for a nap and went to take a shower, during my shower he was crying so Bailey hurried into the room, got into his crib, and was patting his head saying "It's ok Brayden Buddy, It's ok!" Bailey loves for me to lie down next to her before she goes to bed so lately I have been climbing into her crib and she has me lie down, she puts her arm around my head, and sings I am a Child of God. haha It is the cutest thing ever. Bailey is very smart and remember so much. I love watching her grow and learn and I am so grateful to have her as my daughter!

Allergies

I was hoping and praying we would not have to deal with allergies with both of our children. Unfortunatly, I think Brayden may have some of the same allergies. Since he was born his skin would brake out into these horrible rashes. At first the doctor told me it was a normal "baby rash." As time went on these rashes have become more severe and frequent. After talking to the doctor here in Arizona he said it could be food allergy related. Hoping that it was just some severe excema he gave me some cream to put on twice a day. I started doing that, but also decided to stop eating dairy to see what it would do for him. A couple days into my dairy free diet his skin was looking great. I wanted to think it was just because the cream we were putting on him was AMAZING. Yesterday Jake decided to pick up a milkshake for me. I drank it last night with the hope that it would not affect Brayden. We woke up and this is what Brayden looked like...

It is so hard to see how much this affected him. I felt horrible! And I also feel discouraged that I will have to deal with another child's allergies. It is really hard as a mom not be able to give your child certain foods...especially dairy. No goldfish crackers, no mac and cheese, no string cheese, no cookies! A lot of kid friendly foods have dairy in it. It really takes away a good portion of food that most people feed there kids.

This also means that if he really is allergic I need to stay away from all dairy while I am breasfeeding. It will be a challenge, but I feel like I need to breastfeed him for at least 7 months if not 12....

I Am A Child of God-Video

Brittney's pre-wedding...

One of my best friends Brittney is getting married this next week. I am so sad I won't be able to be there for the actual wedding because it is in Salt Lake, but I was so happy to be apart of everything this past week. Thursday we through a little bachelorette party for her and had dinner at Cheesecake Factory. Friday she went through the temple and I was able to be there for that. And Saturday she had an open house here in Arizona.

Me, Brittney, and the other bridesmaid, Alli

Don't they look great together!

The shoes goes with the colors of the wedding.

Brittney with all her fun gifts at the Cheescake Factory.

I love seeing Brittney so happy! She is glowing and can't wait to marry Lance! (and was very happy to get all her "Bachelorette" gifts! :)

Brayden

Brayden had his four month appt. this past week!

Weight 14.5lbs (26%)

Height- 26 3/4 (98%)

Lately

Lately we have been busier then ever! We got all moved to Arizona and are settled into our new home. We love being in Arizona, close to family, and loving the heat! Im not joking when I say we love the heat! We go swimming, eat popsicles, and go for walks when the sun goes down. So much better then the cold!

Jake has started his bar prep class and is feeling pretty stressed out. He spends every waking moment craming his brain with material for the bar exam he will be taking the end of July!

I have started doing some work from home in between taking care of Bailey and Brayden. When Bailey and Brayden are napping and after they go to bed I work. It has been pretty busy!

Brayden has started deciding that he doesn't like to sleep anymore :( It has started to getting hard to get him to take good naps and he wakes up way to much at night! I am trying to get him on some type of schedule to see if it helps.

Bailey will be two next month! I can't believe she is getting that old. I have begun to see why people call it the terrible two's! She is so independent and strong willed! She has so much personality and keeps me busy! She has hit the "princess" stage and loves to watch Cinderella and Tangled! I am loving it to! We are borrowing Cinderella from a friend and I really want to buy it, but it is "in the disney vault".? Does anyone know when it is suppose to come out again?