I'm a BIG girl now

So my little baby Briles is sitting up now. Not quite independently, she has to be sat up and balanced before she can stay up without assistance, but still. Crew was sitting up like that around 7 months and Briley is not even 6. Maybe she will be walking before 16 months (Crew was a late walker but you wouldn't guess now the way he rips around the house). She can stand up holding onto things for awhile before getting to tired. She is just the sweetest little angel. I love how content and happy she is. She is kinda a tough crowd when it comes to getting genuine loud laughs from her but she squeals and smiles a ton! I love having two kids and its so fun to have one of each. I rarely leave the house without a huge flower on her head. The other day at a restaurant I heard a lady remark to her friend (that flower is almost as big as that little girl's head) and I could tell by her tone she thought it was riddiculous. I wanted to reply "well at least you can tell she is a GIRL", but I bit my tounge. I know she rocks her flowers and earrings and I love that she is very seldom called a boy.

So I am horrible about keeping this thing up, and I appologize for the few people who actually read or check my blog. I was on a roll in January but that was it. Life is great here in Arizona and we are really excited it is summer. Crew turned 2 in May. To celebrate we went up to Phoenix for the weekend. We did some shopping and stayed at a nice hotel downtown. They had a cool pool on top of the roof and so we bought some floaties, really excited to take the kids swimming. It did NOT go over well. A month or so back I had taken Crew to our indoor pool The Cove and while trying to coax him under this little waterfall they have, he slipped under and a stranger pulled him right back up. My friend was right by him too but this lady helped him up first. I think it was more the fact that I was not there to do it myself then the actual being underwater part, but he is now officially terrified of water. We tried to break him of his fear on our trip and Brian attempted for over an hour to get him in. I am sure people were ready to call CPS on us. He was screaming so hard when we held him in the pool that we finally gave up. Briley must have caught on to his fear and screamed her head off in the pool also, so eventually we gave up and went back to the room. We will keep trying until he loves the water again! We went to the zoo while we were up there too, but it was big and hot and was not my favorite zoo trip of all time. My favorite part of the whole trip was walking around downtown in the evening. We had a nice dinner then found this outdoor mall/park area that had a ton of waterfalls and little pools. Crew ran around like crazy and had a great time! It had such a tropical feel I almost forgot we were in one of the driest states in the US.

So the kids are doing wonderful and growing every day. I have decided to bite the bullet and get my Master's degree. I was wanting to wait until Brian finished his Bachelors before I went back, but I have decided that even though we will be taking out more student loans and essentially increasing our debt, it will be more than worth it. When I finish I will be a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (a BCBA) and will be providing services for families with special needs children. It is what I am doing now as a tutor, but I will be the one going in, meeting the children, assessing them and creating a personalized plan for either myself or a tutor to implement. It is what my friend and supervisor Jessica is now. It will be a long hard road, but will so be worth it! I applied at ASU for an online program. Its a Masters in Education- curriculum and instruction with a behavior analyst focus. Kinda cool because it not only gives me my Masters (which I need to be a behavior analyst) but also has all of the classes that I need for my BCBA certification. It is a completely online program that gives you one class at a time every 2 months and it will take me about 15-18 months to finish. Meanwhile, I will continue working more than I am working now so I can complete my 1500 hours needed for my license. I am so excited I hope I get accepted into the program, I will hear back in the next few weeks. It will start July 4th and I cant wait to get started. All in all I should be done with everything in 2 years or a little less. It is a very substantial raise in pay so even if I work part time like I have been doing it will be worth it. Plus it is such a flexible job and I can do so many of the hours at home from my computer. Totally doable as a mommy.

Most of my friends right now are pregnant, which is super exciting but is making me feel a little baby hungry. I have been craving to have a 3rd baby right until I decided to start this endeavor. Before I kept thinking I should just knock all 4 out fast, kinda space them all 18 months apart or a little more. But now I am going to just enjoy my two beautiful children, finish my schooling to reach my ultimate career goal, and enjoy the much needed break to my body. I havent been not pregnant or nursing since 2008. So we will probably wait 2 or 3 years then have another set close together. I can tell already Crew and Briley are gonna be the best of friends. He loves her so much and always gives her a lot of attention. She, in turn, puts up with his attention and he is the only one who truly makes her laugh. So cute!

We have explored a lot of different career locations for Brian, but have now decided to stay here in AZ where I can complete all my hours and supervision with my current job. Sometime in our life we may end up in WA or UT but now it is much easier and less stressful to stay here for the next few years.

I hope everyone is having a great summer so far. We are going to Utah to see family and friends and I couldn't be more excited! Especially cause my very bestest Nicole will be there the entire time. I get to show off my sweet baby girl and spend time with the people I love! What could be better?

Time flies but sometimes not fast enough

My title is very true to how I feel today. We had Briley's one month appointment, I can't believe its already been a month since I had her! She is a very healthy 9 lbs now and 21 1/2 in long. She started out 5 lbs 15 oz so she is definitely getting enough to eat:). I am loving my life as a mom to two but its starting to get more challenging at times. Take, for instance, this morning. I was going to go grocery shopping with a girlfriend and was incredibly proud of myself for getting both my kids fed and ready before she had even left her house to head over. Before I could get dressed Briley spit up a little so I started to wipe her off, telling her "You are not getting a new outfit, Missy, I will just dab off the small amount of throw up". Suddenly, as if to argue with me, she threw up ALL over me, the carpet and her adorable outfit. So I got to change her, then leave her alone and lock Crew in the bathroom with me so I could shower real quick to get it all off me. Crew was screaming the whole time cause he wanted out and Briley was crying when I got out of the bathroom. Then Crew hit her with a book in the head so I had to both discipline him and comfort her. I wanted to pull out my hair by the time Jessica got to my house. The rest of the day went pretty smoothly until right before leaving for her drs appt, when she vomited all over my sheets and her outfit again. Crew never ever spit up as a baby, not once. Its quite an adjustment. Hopefully this phase doesn't last long. The Dr is not concerned about it.

So I am looking forward to her sleeping through the night and throwing up less. It is hard to live such a busy life off of such interrupted sleep. I know countless moms do it every day and my hat's off to them! I am trying to get her on more of a routine in hopes that she sleeps through the night by 7 weeks like Crew did. I know its rare but I am hoping for a miracle! :) The longest she goes at night is 4 hours. Its usually a 4, 3, 2 hour pattern, with me up 3 times a night. I know it will pass soon and I will hardly remember what it was like getting up so much at night. I adore my two sweet children though and I can't wait til they can play with each other and I don't have to worry so much about Crew's over enthusiasm with "baby!". I am watching the Tucson Memorial right now for the victims of Saturday's shooting. It was such an awful tragedy and I am just so thankful for my life, my freedom and my family.

Gratitude

I just wanted to take a sec to post this pict of our whole family and announce that I am so incredibly thankful for my beautiful family. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a mom to two beautiful and sweet babies! When I am up multiple times in the middle of the night feeding Briley or telling Crew no for the hundreth time in a day I sometimes lose my persepective. Then I remember that people are suffering great amounts of grief and loss and I am so incredibly blessed and lucky! So on that note I am so thankful to our Heavenly Father for my wonderful husband and my amazing kids. I am also thankful for all of our extended family. I have wonderful inlaws, great parents, an amazing sister and sister-in-laws and fabulous friends who are close enough to me to be considered my sisters. Just thought I would put all that out there to start off the new year!

I am loving having two kids and am starting to adust more and more. Yesterday I was brave enough to take them both to McDonalds and then the park. Briley slept the whole time and I had a blast with my little Crewser. He is such a daddy's boy and I feel like a lot of my time is spent tending to Briley's needs right now, so it was really nice to be able to play and bond more with my sweet man! Brian is off the next two days and we are gonna go out tonight to celebrate my birthday, which is Monday. Can't believe I will be 26, how the time has flown! I am sure this year will be amazing I am so looking forward to all that is in store for us!

Briley's Photoshoot

My photographer friend Ashley Elicio (ashleyelicio.com) took these for me when Briley was just 4 days old. She did a great job and I can't believe how much she has changed from then already! I will have to post some new ones soon she will be 4 weeks tomorrow! How the time flies! Hope everyone is having a wonderful New Year so far!

Merry (late) Christmas!

Here is Crew giving his sister a sweet kiss on Christmas morning!

We had a great Christmas morning with just our little family. I am thoroughly enjoying my two babies and have loved Brian being home, although he is already back to work. Crew has been sick with a double ear infection the whole week of and before Christmas, so he was sleeping in til about 8 or 9. Brian, unfortunately, woke up around 6:30 am and had the rest of the family up by 7. Poor Crew was a little tired and had to go down for an early nap. We did our stockings and ate our orange butter coffee cake (so yummy!) and then did presents. Crew loved all his new stuff although I think at first he was slightly overwhelmed. We did go a tad overboard but next year with two kiddos to buy for we figured we would spoil him while we can. Dave and Shelly got here late Christmas night and are here til Monday. We are having so much fun with them and will be sad to see them go! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Pictures

Sorry I could not figure out how to flip the picture of Briley and me in the hospital so it was right side up, and then I couldn't figure out how to just delete it off. I hope it doesnt bother everyone as much as it bothers me. But I will add more pictures here of just snap shots around the home I have taken. We got newborn pictures taken yesterday and I cannot wait to add those, but it will be awhile before we get them back.

Welcome to the World Miss Briley

For those of you who don't know, I had Briley almost a week ago today on 12/12. I was just about three weeks early and she was an ity bity 5 lbs 15 oz. She had been trying to come for awhile, when I was 35 weeks I started having pre-term labor and they kept me overnight in the hospital trying different medications to stop the contractions. We were finally able to stop them and they sent me home on moderate bed rest. I stopped working and was good for about a week before I got sick of laying around and started being active again (jogging aside but lets be honest I never jog anyway:)). When I got to 37 weeks I started getting anxious and bored cause I felt like I was just waiting around... we had gotten Christmas shopping done early and everything was in place. I started to worry she might even be late. Went for a family drive up Carr Canyon and hiked around a bit up there last Saturday. I'll admit, I was trying to jump start labor but nothing happened so I went about my day and finally decided she could come whenever she wanted, I wouldn't be impatient anymore. That night around 8 or so I started having contractions but nothing painful. Around 8:30 they were very consistent and even though they weren't too painful yet decided to go to the hospital since my dr said this one could go fast. We dropped off Crew with my friend Jess and by the time we got admitted they were super painful and only a minute or two apart. I was only 3 cm and even though I told them I would probably go fast they made me walk around for a half hour to progress before they would check me again and put me in my own room. It was the longest half hour of my life, it was so painful and I just wanted my epidural. I was 5 cm next time they checked me and by the time they got me my epidural I was already at 8 and kinda panicking that I wouldn't get it in time. Less than a half hour after I got my epidural (by this time the contractions were less painful but still hurt) it was time to push. She came out in 4 contractions (about 15 min or less) and even though I could feel most of it and it hurt pretty bad, I was just so glad for it to be over! It was more painful and intense than Crew's 12 hour birth but I was grateful it only took 4 hours and I didn't need any stitches this time either.

We got home Monday morning and Brian stayed home all week. We have been enjoying our little family so much! We have gotten awesome meals all week from our ward family and this week we are getting more from the mom's club I am in. I have been just feeling so grateful to all our friends here for their support and love. I am feeling great this time around and am amazed at how much energy I have. Briley is an angel baby, she sleeps a lot and is eating well (although I wish I could get her to eat for longer periods of time- dr said not to worry) and has longer and longer periods of alert time where she just looks around in wonder. I am up 2-3 times a night to feed her but she goes right back down after. I feel so blessed to have two wonderful children. Crew is adjusting well to sharing his parents, and seems to like the baby more and more. The real test will be when Brian goes back to work on Monday.

I love having a girl! The bows, flowers and frills are just too much fun. I can already see how everyone says girls are more expensive. But she is totally worth it! I am loving this Christmas season more and more now that I get to share it with both my children, plus I love not being pregnant although lets be honest, I don't totally look "not pregnant" yet;). All in good time! I am planning on taking another two or three months off then going back to work very part time. I am going to keep two of my kids from before and work either one or two days a week probably for an hour and a half each kid. I love the flexibility of my job, and the rewarding sense of accomplishment when I help them progress in life. Its the same feeling I have every day being a mom. So great! Haven't felt any baby blues yet, am hoping they won't sneak in down the road.

A horrible thing happened this week. An agent from Brian's station was shot and killed while on duty. Brian didn't know him well but its a tragedy and makes you realize the frailty of life and appreciate what you have. I can only pray for Brian's and everyone's safety every day and know that there is a reason for all things. I am just so thankful Brian and I are sealed together in the temple and get to be an eternal family no matter what.

I will end this post with a funny story. I have started pumping a little every day to have a storage of milk in the freezer. Yesterday Crew took out one of the little storage bottles from my bag where I keep everything and held it up to his bare chest and looked at me with a proud little smile. It totally cracked me up, kids pay a lot more attention to us then we give them credit for! I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season!