Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Santa came to our ward Christmas party.  It was a MUCH better experience this year.  No tears for either of them -- of course Briella was too young to know what was going on.  Braxton even tried to tell him what he wanted for Christmas--so cute!  Since the party, we've been to the mall twice and he has to walk by Santa several times each trip and keeps trying to run to him saying, "I get Santa".

O Christmas Tree

I love my tree.  I wish I could keep it up all year long.

November & Thanksgiving

Early in November, Briella started smiling a lot.  Of course she won’t do it with a camera in her face yet.  She also gained a lot of neck strength, so she can sit in some fun toys.  She also is starting to take interest in rings and other stuff that go straight to her mouth!  But here are some of the almost smiles I caught.

We spent Thanksgiving week up in Park City with Brian’s dad, grandma, uncle & cousin. We stayed in a great condo. It was the first time the four of us have stayed in the same room together and it worked just fine. The only problem was getting Braxton to bed quietly, since Briella was already asleep. It was good to just relax, hang out, & watch movies. I also got to shop like a crazy person on Black Friday at the outlet mall. Shopping goes SO much faster when you are by yourself, but I was on a dead run for the whole 2 ½ hours between Briella’s feedings. I felt like I was stealing clothes! At one store, between the Black Friday deals and my coupons, I only paid 10% of purchase price. Like whole outfits for $1-$4. CRAZY!

The week after Thanksgiving, Brian took off work and we headed down to St. George to visit my parents. They moved into a new house, so Brian spent some time moving furniture around and I helped my mom do her Christmas cards and such. I LOVE St. George. I wish Brian could eventually find a job down there. Here’s a picture of Brax getting in the hot tub with the big boys. All in all, it was busy & great November with lots of family and traveling.

Halloween

Braxton has really loved the Toy Story movies and particularly Buzz Lightyear this year, so we wanted him to be Buzz for Halloween.  We ordered his costume online because by the time we decided on Buzz, they were sold out of Buzz costumes in Utah County in his size.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get the costume in time for our ward Halloween party and we had to come up with something else that night.  Brian screen printed a BYU logo on a white polo shirt with the name Coach Neilson, which he wore with navy blue sweatpants.  Coach Rob Neilson is a men’s BYU volleyball coach who lives in our ward.  We didn’t tell him about the costume and it was so funny when Rob showed up to the party in pretty much the same outfit since he just came from work.  We wondered if people would get it, so it worked out great that they looked alike.  Rob’s wife, Sarah, took a picture of the two Coach Neilsons.

We finally got Braxton’s real costume the day before we took off for Idaho to spend Halloween with family. He LOVED being Buzz and would run around really fast like he was flying. We went trick-or-treating with my brother’s kids, Sienna & Savona. Their neighborhood is so fun and I actually ran into a guy I used to work with that moved in around the corner from my brother. It really is a small world.

The trick-or-treating experience wasn’t great this year. It was SO cold and at the second house we went to, the teenage boys who lived there answered the door with scary masks and roared. Brax totally freaked out and wouldn’t go up to any door until it was open and the candy bowl was lowered by a nice normal person. Then a couple houses later, my poor niece Sienna threw up all over her coat and costume. She went trick-or-treating at her preschool that day and ate way too much candy and felt really sick. Poor girl!!

Briella was a butterfly. We borrowed the costume from our friend Ashlie and it worked great. It kept her nice and toasty and she slept through the trick-or-treating back at my brother’s house, since it was way too cold for her outside.

We had a great week in Idaho with the family. Brax even got to cook his own hotdog over the fire.

 

2011 Family Pictures

Back in September we took family pictures for the year.  Here are the best ones.  Enjoy!

Music of My Life

My life is full of sounds lately.  Here are a few of the sounds that make up the music of my life:

• Baby coos and happy squeals are just about the most beautiful noise in the world.  I am so lucky that my sweet Briella will coo and smile every time you tickle her stomach.  I could stare into her eyes and exchange smiles & coos forever.  It never gets old.
• Little boy laughter comes in a close second.  Braxton's laugh kills me & I can't help but smile & laugh with him whenever I hear it.
• Toddler chatter is SO funny.  I think all mothers could write books about the funny things their toddlers say.  Braxton chatters all day long to me, Briella, our cat Tasia, his toys, the TV . . .
• Hysterical, angry screaming brings me to sobbing tears.  We've been trying to get Briella to take a bottle and she pretty much refuses.  She will scream, arch her back, and fight for more than an hour before she will fall asleep from exhaustion without taking a drop.  It reminds me of the first week of Braxton's life when he wouldn't nurse.  I become so emotional.  It is one of the hardest things about being a mom.
• Deep flem-y coughs & sniffles break my heart.  Our whole fam is sick right now with a cold.  Braxton is the worst.  I breaks my heart to hear him coughing in the middle of the night and knowing I can't do anything to take it away.
• Dark, suspenseful theme music draws me to the TV at nights. I just finished watching the first season of Vampire Diaries and I am surprised at how much I liked it.  I read the first book and pretty much hated it.  But, the dark almost horror genre of this series is actually surprising & refreshing in comparison to the light romance of the Twilight movies.  I can't wait to watch the second season.
• Whining/crying from both of my children grates on my nerves like nothing else.  Whining is a natural sound from children, but lately it has been more prevalent because they aren't feeling good.  That, combined with me not having much patience because I'm not feeling good either makes for long days.
• Singing brings joy into my life.  Braxton has started singing along with the primary songs and his voice is so precious and pure.  It makes all the hard times during the day worth it to hear him sing.
• Any upbeat music from any show gets danced to at our house.  We love to spin and dance.  Braxton likes to spin round and round and then fall the ground in some break dance moves.  It's so funny.

Happy 1/2 Birthday Braxton!

Today is Braxton's half birthday.  I can't believe he is 2 1/2 years old!  My baby boy is so grown up.  Here are a few things we love about Braxton:

He is speaking complete sentances.  His voice and expression has so much attitude to it, it makes us laugh.  Here's a list of our favorite Braxton sayings:

• "Braxton make a mess of milk" --when he spills his cereal.
• "Oh my gosh, now" --when something slightly surprises him.
• "I do it"  or "My do it" --he wants to do everything himself.
• "No, I baby" --when he is crying or whining, we ask 'are you a big boy?'
• "I go work, bye bye" --when he gets on his plasma car outside.
• "Grandpa drives a race car, Vrruuum" --after he saw his grandpa drive away in his convertible.
• "I kiss . . . " --when he is stalling at bedtime, he wants to kiss everything.  Including the walls . . .
• "No singing Mommy" --apparently I can sing everywhere except the car.  He doesn't even like me to bob my head to the music.
• "Me hold you?" --when he wants us to carry him.

He has to have a step stool for EVERYTHING.  He wants to make his own lunch, push the microwave buttons, push the washer/dryer buttons, wash his hands, brush his teeth, help bathe Briella, and the list goes on and on.  Some days it is totally annoying to pull out and put away the step stool a thousand times a day, but other days it is pretty amazing how much he can do for himself.

He is an AMAZING big brother.  He never once has shown any jealousy or anger toward her at all.  He likes to help her without being told.  Everytime he sees her in a bouncer without a blanket over her, he runs to her room and pulls out a blanket.  He puts it up to her chin and tucks it around her feet.  When she is crying, he takes her a binky and tries to put it in her mouth.  When he knows it is time to eat and she is crying, he runs over to her and says "It's ok baby, mommy is coming".  When we are doing tummy time on the floor, he wants to lay on his blanket next to her and tells her what to do.  When I'm in the shower, he entertains her by reading a book (showing her the pictures) and playing his little piano next to her bouncer.  Briella adores him.  Every time she hears his voice she looks for him and smiles--even when she is eating.

His new obsession is with lions.  His favorite movies lately are Lion King, Madagascar, and Aladdin.  Believe it or not, he wants to watch the scary 'cave of wonders' lion over and over.

He is a really good eater.  His current favorites are steak, chicken, green beans, carrots, mac n cheese, turkey lunch meat, hot dogs, corn dogs, and eggs.  His favorite snacks are apples, fruit leathers, pumpkin cookies, and chocolate chips.

He loves to sing primary songs.  His favorites are I Love to See the Temple, Jesus Wants Me for A Sunbeam, Daddy's Homecoming, and I am a Child of God.  He also LOVES to go to church.  Everytime he sees his church pants in his dresser, he pulls them out and says "I go church today".

He is incredibly athletic.  He loves anything with a ball and has learned to throw one-handed.  He actually puts the basketball in the hoop as often as he misses and every day gets better.  He still loves watching sports on TV and lately likes BYU football.  He also loves to run.

He likes to be like Mom and Dad.  When he sees us brush our teeth, he wants to brush his teeth.  He pretends to put in his contacts when he gets ahold of my contact case.  He begs for a spray of cologne when dad is getting ready.  He rubs deoderant on his arms.  I had to get him his own makeup brush (without makeup on it) so he can do what mom is doing.  He wants to talk on our phones and push buttons on our computers.  He also likes to unload the dishwasher and put his clothes away after I fold them.

We can't get enough of our amazing little boy!  We love you Brax!

Sweet Blessings

On October 9th we blessed Briella in our ward. It was so nice to see so many of our family who could make it. My great-grandma Foster, aunt and uncle got home from China the night before and drove down from Idaho that morning to be there! Brian gave such a beautiful blessing and we had a great dinner afterwards. We are so in love with this precious little girl! Here are some pictures of her on her special day.

The Dress:

The Headband:

The Shoes:

The Bracelet:

Blessing Day Pictures with Family:
With Mom and Dad

With Grandpa and Grandma Foster

With Grandpa Lulloff

With Grandma Coombs

With Great Grandpa and Grandma Merkley

With Great Grandma Foster

Lulloff Boys

Just a cute picture

2 Months--So Slow, So Fast

Apparently, bad things aren’t the only thing that pours when it rains. I guess my blogging follows in the same vein. We just have a lot to blog about right now! Briella is officially 2 months old today and I can’t believe how weird that is. In so many ways, I can’t imagine life without her and it feels like I’ve had her for so long. But, on the flipside, I can’t believe she is already 2 months and starting to sleep through the night! Where has my tiny baby gone? We took her to the doctor yesterday and here are her stats:

Weight: 9.96 lbs (28th percentile, up from 10%)
Height: 22 in. (37th percentile, down from 38%)
Head Size: 14.25 in (2nd percentile, down from 13%)

So, my kids just have small heads that grow really slowly. The doctor wasn’t too worried about her drop in this yet—she did grow in inches from last time—but he said if she doesn’t at least keep this rate of growth by next time, he may be a little worried because her head is so small. Also, because her head is so tiny, she is starting to look chubby in the body in comparison. It is kind of funny.

She had a big growth spurt this week, hence the 45 minute intruder and wanting to eat every two hours during the day, and has completely grown out of newborn clothes. She is still SO sweet. She only cries when she is tired or poopy (which is literally every hour if not sooner). I asked the doctor if it was normal for a baby to poop this much since Braxton was on the other extreme (once every 5-6 days) and he said it is for breast-fed babies whose mother’s milk are really full of sugar. So, I guess my diet of frozen green grapes isn’t helping the problem—seriously, I’m addicted to them.

She is starting to smile and coo—a lot. She even smiled at the doctor while he looked in her ears, very strange since most babies hate that. When she got her shots, she let out an initial squawk but then threw her bottom lip out in a pout for the nurse like she was saying, ‘Why did you do that?’, but no more crying.

She has beautiful, soft skin and bright blue eyes. I am so obsessed and in love with this little girl. I don’t know if it is because I don’t have baby blues like I did with Braxton, if she is that much better of a baby, or if it is just a better transition because I was already a mom, but I am loving this baby time a million times more than I did last time. I find myself wanting to wake her up to see her eyes and her smile. When both the kids take naps at the same time, I take a short nap myself and then find myself pacing, waiting for her to wake up and wanting to go watch her sleep.

When it Rains, It Pours

Have you ever noticed that sometimes it seems like everything falls apart at the same time? Life decided that we had things too good and decided to throw us a couple curveballs this week. The following things happened in our home in 36 hours:

• Braxton peed in his bed.
• While washing his sheets, the washing machine breaks. Really breaks. The repairman said it will take 2-3 weeks to get special order parts. If it wasn’t under warranty, he told us that he wouldn’t fix it and we’d have to get a new one.
• Sewage backs up into Braxton’s tub.
• Briella decides she is done taking naps for a while—the 45 minute intruder has hit. Hard.
• Braxton decides he doesn’t want to take naps again without a fight.
• Our car battery dies at our family pictures and we had to ask strangers for a jump.
• Braxton pulls the O button off my computer. Not sure if it is fixable, but at least it still works or this post would be without the Os.
• Visiting the Laundromat for the first time with 5 full, black garbage bags of clothes. Kind of scary at night and I felt like I needed a shower after I was done.

On the upside, Briella is now a big girl sleeping 6-8 hours straight in the night and is now in her own room. I think we got some good family pictures for our wall and Christmas card. And our family managed to escape the Orem County flu outbreak that pretty much got our whole neighborhood.

Goodbye Merry Maids, Hello Housework

As some of you know, I was limited in the housework I could do while I was pregnant.  So, we hired Merry Maids to come every two weeks to clean our house from top to bottom.  I have to say it was SO nice to not have to clean bathrooms for a few months.  For some unfathomable reason, Brian thinks that now I’ve recovered from my C-section that I need to get back to cleaning the house.  So, goodbye dear Alondra and all the other sweet women from Merry Maids!  I will miss you!

Briella's Newborn Pictures

We had Suzee Anderson take Briella's newborn pictures when she was three weeks old.  We just got them back.  Here are our favs!