The Bells

3 Baby Steps

2012-02-07T13:18:00.004-06:00

Brady has been standing without holding onto things for a while now. He will pull up to the couch, door, wall, my legs, whatever he can pull up on and then he will get distracted and let go and still just stand there. Until he realizes that he's not holding onto anything and then he quickly grabs hold again or just sits right down! He's getting better and better at doing it, so I figured I should get a picture (because what else do moms do?) so last night I stood him up in the middle of the floor and tried to snap a picture. He stood for a good 30 seconds and then took off...errr...took 3 steps! I was sooooo excited! We clapped together to celebrate, although I'm pretty sure he had no clue what he did. We have been tricking him into taking steps (holding his hands and then letting go), but these ones were all on his own! I tried to get him to do it again so Quentin could see, but he was over it. Soon enough he will be running all over the place!

11 Months

2012-01-24T19:36:00.003-06:00

So I'm a little delayed on this post since Brady's 11 months was about a week and a half ago, but better late than never right? We got to spend Martin Luther King weekend with Kyle, Cassie, Alexa and Grandma Bell! We had lots of fun and got to celebrate Grandma Bell's Birthday while we were there. We spent way too much at the outlets (all good deals of course!), swam, watched a movie, played games, and enjoyed each other's company. And Brady turned 11 months while we were there. I only took one picture that weekend of Alexa and Grandma feeding Brady. The other two are from today. Doesn't he look so cute in that hat?

Christmas Videos

2012-01-07T14:30:00.003-06:00

These are longer than our normal videos, but here are a few of our Christmas. I have more I will put up later, but they take forever to load. The first one is decorating the Christmas tree and the second is Christmas at the Moore's.

Brady's First Christmas

2012-01-03T09:53:00.004-06:00

Christmas is a lot more fun when you have kids, even when they are as young as Brady and not really sure what's going on. We had a perfect Christmas this year! We were lucky enough to have Randy come share Brady's first Christmas with us. Christmas Eve we went to see the Magic Tree. Brady thought it was pretty cool to touch all those lights! Then we came home, watched Christmas Vacation and ate a bunch of junk. I was sure Brady was already so excited for his first Christmas because it took him almost an hour to go to sleep that night! But then Christmas morning he slept in (well, until 7:30). When we put him down he went straight for his new toy. He liked it a lot because it made music and he has just started "dancing" so he would push a button and then stop to dance. It was soooo cute! I'll post a video later. He also had fun pulling off the wrapping paper and playing with it. Randy did our "stockings," and it's a good thing we don't have actual stockings because the treats took up our whole love seat! He bought out the vanilla tootsie rolls at WalMart for me and we will be good on snacks for quite a while. Thanks Randy!After presents and Brady's nap we went to church with Grandpa and Grandma Moore and then went back to their house and got to see Aunt Aliisa and show off Brady's super cute suit :) We played games, ate a bunch more junk and a yummy dinner, and apparently wore Grandma and Grandpa out :) It was a wonderful Christmas and we are so glad we got to share it with some of our loved ones. Next year will be even more fun with little Brady! And we might even get to share it with Kirsten and Kirk!

Brady's First Santa Visit

2011-12-22T21:50:00.004-06:00

Bass Pro gives out free pictures with Santa and they let you take your own pictures as well. We tried to go in Springfield, but the line was too long for a Brady that is overdue for a nap. Since I was off Tuesday, we decided it would be the perfect time to go, and lucky for us, Grandpa Moore was off too so he got to be there with us! Here is Brady with Santa... He pretty much had no reaction. But I'm not sure if that's just because he's pretty laid back anyway or because Santa was a little lacking in the personality department. Don't get me wrong, it was a free thing and he definitely looked like Santa with a real beard andeverything. But he didn't speak one word. Not even a single hello. Ummm I thought Santa says "Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!" But not Bass Pro Santa. Oh well, maybe it made the experience a lot less frightening. Anyway, Brady was more interested in the train and cars and stuff like that. It was still fun to be there and let Brady sit on his lap. And maybe if I'm a really good girl next year, Santa will say hello to me.
Randomly because I don't want to make another post, I made these snowmen this year for Quentin's family and Lori and think they turned out pretty cute! Cute enough that I'm glad I made one for myself :)

Bell Family Christmas

2011-12-22T21:35:00.004-06:00

And the whole reason for our big gathering this past weekend was to celebrate Christmas with the Bell family. We did the Christmas celebration on Saturday evening (so I had to share my birthday). Brady was pretty excited about this bow, so thanks Michelle for providing such fabulous entertainment :) The kids opened their presents and then the adults did a dirty Santa exchange. I do have to say there was a little bit more stealing this year compared to last, but it is still a pretty mild exchange! After dinner, everyone surprised me with a cookie cake (but not just a cookie cake...two cookie cakes with frosting in the middle...a cookie cake sandwich if you will) along with serenading me with the Happy Birthday song. It was a very thoughtful and delicious surprise, so thanks to everyone involved. And a sidenote here... I look a little angry in this picture because I just cut myself on the cardboard. However, the other picture of this moment is right when I cut myself and I look more than a little angry so I chose the lesser of the two evils.

10 months

2011-12-20T14:22:00.004-06:00

Awww, what a sweet, peaceful 10 month old......until he wakes up. Then he is still sweet, but not as peaceful. This kid is seriously all over the place now! He still hasn't taken any steps on his own yet, which I am kind of grateful for because then it will be a whole new kind of busy. He has done pretty well not getting into the Christmas decorations. At our house they are mostly out of reach, but even the tree at daycare and both Grandma's houses he pretty much has left it all alone. The biggest news for this 10 month old boy is he finally has a tooth! The bottom middle on the right to be exact. Maybe someday he will get others, and hopefully soon because he is barely tolerating baby foods now that he has had a taste of real solids. He was a little fussier than normal for a few days, but I think we are pretty lucky in the teething department. He is just a good baby all around. It is fun to watch him learn new things and how proud he gets. He was climbing up Grandma Bell's stairs (with me right on his tail of course) and looked so proud at each step! He is seriously the cutest!

Steal Your Dollar City

2011-12-20T14:08:00.003-06:00

Ok, ok, it's actually Silver Dollar City. But Steal Your Dollar is a little more accurate. The Bell clan made a stop in Branson just for SDC and the light parade there. We rode some of the kiddie rides, saw their version of A Christmas Carol, watched the light parade, and then stopped by Freddy's to eat on the way back to Willard. Brady only got about a 30 min nap in the car, so he had absolutely no reaction to the rides. He then slept in my arms for a while in A Christmas Carol, and he was back to his normal smiley self after that. In fact, after he woke up him and Garrett were best buds and hugging and kissing each other like crazy! It was so cute and I wish it hadn't been during the show because I would have loved to get some pictures of that. But here are out SDC pictures. It was freezing cold, especially once we lost the sun, so yep, Brady is very well bundled. But probably still cold. Also he got slap happy when we were eating because it was way past bedtime. It was pretty funny.

Happy Birthday to Me

2011-12-19T22:22:00.003-06:00

I am now the big 2-5. Since we were gone on my birthday this year, Quentin, Brady and I celebrated a little bit early. When I came home from work on Wednesday, this is how I was greeted...It was a nice surprise, and of course Brady looked super cute in the hat! I also got to open my presents early, which was kinda nice because I still get a little anxious when it comes to presents :) And I think my scrub top matches my wrapping paper. I bet Quentin planned that for sure! Anyway, I got some cute new flats, season 7 of The Office, and a pink mp3 player with matching pink headphones. Thanks Quentin and Brady! And in case you haven't had enough Brady in this post, here's another cute picture of him all dressed up for church. Thanks Grandma Moore for keeping our boy clothed in cuteness!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

2011-12-19T16:50:00.003-06:00

I am behind on my posting, so there will hopefully be quite a few posts in the next few days...
The weekend before my birthday we celebrated with the Jacobs (since Karen and I both have the same birthday). We ate tacos for dinner, had yummy cheesecake for our birthday cake and then went to help them pick out their Christmas tree. Since our tiny apartment doesn't allow the room for a normal size tree, we stole this photo op with their borrowed tree...Do you notice the look of excitement on Brady's face? No? Oh, that's because it was past bedtime already and he probably was wondering why the heck we were keeping him awake to look at trees. He konked out in the car on the way back.

Thanksgiving

2011-12-04T20:33:00.005-06:00

We went to Utah again this year for Thanksgiving. All the Moore girls and their families were there, and we had so much fun together! Brady got to meet Grandma Hendrickson for the first time. He also enjoyed playing with cousins Patrick and Luke. Last time they saw Brady, he was only 3 weeks old, so I think everyone had more fun with each other this time. They all love to read, so there was a lot of reading involved while we were there. And Luke was excited to finally have someone younger than him around so he could say "Don't do that baby Brady," which didn't seem to bother Brady at all. Luke was also kind enough to share his candy with Brady, for which Brady is eternally grateful. It was so fun to watch them play together! When we tried to get a picture of Grandma Moore with the grandsons, it was a bit of a challenge, especially because Brady kept pulling Luke's hair.Megan, Mom, Quentin and I braved WalMart on Black Friday, which was mass chaos. Luckily, we made it out with only minor injuries, as Quentin and Megan risked their lives to get our portable DVD player. Quentin kept getting shoved down, so he had to crawl out of the dog pile with his prize and Megan had a rather large man standing on her foot (who refused to move even when she told him he was standing on her foot) while everyone around was pushing and she had the bruises to show for it the next day. Overall it was successful since we got what we wanted, but people are so crazy!

Zion National Park

2011-11-30T07:38:00.004-06:00

Kirk and Kirsten came up with the fun idea to go to Zion National Park while we were there. It's only about an hour away from St. George, so it was a short trip. And then we went on the shortest hike there is. I can't remember for sure what is was called, but I think something like "Weeping Rock" and it was only like half a mile, but it was still fun. It had a little waterfall and it dripped over the edge of this overhang. Pretty cool. If we didn't have the kiddos, we probably would have gone on a different one. Sorry if we ruined it for you, Kirk. Luke and Patrick enjoyed throwing leaves and rocks into the water. It was pretty cold, so it's probably good that we didn't stay too long. Sure was beautiful though!

Brady's First Plane Ride

2011-11-30T07:35:00.006-06:00

We went to Utah for Thanksgiving again this year, so it was our first experience really traveling with a baby (other than our car trips to KC, the Lake, Springfield, and Arkansas). It feels like you're packing up your whole house just for a short trip because there is so much stuff that you need for a baby, but we managed to get everything we needed (and probably more). I was soooo nervous about how Brady would do on such a long trip, and especially about the plane, but he showed me there was nothing to worry about, especially with the help of Grandma, Gandpa, and Aunt Aliisa. He is so squirmy, and he definitely enjoyed being passed back and forth. He was soooo tired on the way there and eventually fell asleep in Quentin's arms for a little bit. He is a pretty good sleeper when he can lay down on his own, but not so great when he is being held. But he was still pretty happy, espcially for being so tired. These pictures are on the way home. He was looking out the window, but when he saw the flash from the camera, he turned around to pose. Such a ham! I will post more about the Utah trip soon...stay tuned.

Brady's Friend

2011-11-29T11:45:00.003-06:00

Here is a cute picture Lori sent me of Brady and his best buddie, Matthew. Just cuddling on the couch :) Brady loves Matthew so much that he cried when Matthew got on the bus yesterday to go to school. Aren't these boys just the cutest?! I will have to get a picture of Brady and Allie on here sometime too. We are so blessed to have such a great daycare filled with people who love our little Brady just as much as we do!

Nine Months

2011-11-21T18:35:00.004-06:00

Hard to believe Brady is 9 months old already! He has now been outside my belly longer than inside (although time seemed to go much slower when he was inside).Time is sure flying by, but it's so fun to watch him grow. He went to the doctor today, and was super happy right up until the shot (which they luckily save to the end). Here are his stats:

Height: 29 in (75%)
Weight: 19 lbs, 6 oz (30%)
Head: 46.8 (88%)

Yep, he has only gained 5 oz since his 6 month appointment...which means he went from being in the 80% to the 30%. The only explanation is that he is soooooo extremely wiggly and busy. Because this kid is a bottomless pit. He just eats, and eats, and eats. To the point that I was often worried I was feeding him too much, but apparently, the poor boy could probably pack away even more.

Favorites: Reading, singing, playing in the mirror, pulling up to things, Butters, chasing Butters, harassing Butters, "wrestling," eating, begging for food (generally successfully), baths/swimming

Dislikes: Getting cleaned up after meals, carseat/car ride (which I now realize might be due to motion sickness. He puked ALL OVER in the car on the way home from Kansas City), being put down when he is trying to watch what we are doing, not getting food fast enough

He is the happiest, sweetest little guy. He is now getting good at putting on a show for people with his cheesy smiles and stuff. He's pretty irresistible :)

Here he is with Ashlyn and Preston on the "rocket." He had fun playing with them this weekend and we had fun on our little weekend trip to Kansas City, too! Michelle, Colton, and I even got to venture out to the movies kid-free to see Twilight.

Why Sit, When You Can Stand?

2011-11-11T17:29:00.003-06:00

Brady has mastered the skill of pulling up on things to stand. The couch, chairs, my leg, the wall (especially the mirror on the back of the door), and probably his favorite (and my least favorite)...the bath tub. He also seems to be getting braver, and lets go with his hands (only to reach for stuff he knows he is not supposed to have) as long as his body is leaned against whatever he is standing by. He seems so proud of himself for standing, it's so cute! But he looks pretty cute when he sits too. Can't resist that smile :)

Weight Lifter

2011-11-11T17:22:00.002-06:00

The other day Brady was behind the chair and I heard some grunting, so I went to check it out. He had a hold of one of my little 5 lb hand weights and was trying to lift it. It was sooo cute, and he did it for quite a while, but of course I didn't think to get a video. I tried to recreate it, unsuccessfully, but the video is still cute (maybe because it has Brady in it?) so I figured I would post it anyway. Enjoy!

Trick or Treat

2011-10-31T22:14:00.003-05:00

We just made a few stops trick or treating tonight since Brady isn't really old enough to know what's going on or really enjoy the candy (but we can enjoy it!) He didn't like going in and out of his carseat much, so he was pretty fussy about that, but once we got out of the car and went up to the doors, he was a pretty happy little dinosaur :) I didn't get any pictures of the actual "trick or treating" but here is the aftermath. Brady was actually pretty into playing with the candy, so we might be in trouble when he is old enough to eat it. Please notice that he has candy in each hand. And we're not as cool as Megan and Benjamin or Kirsten and Kirk - we didn't dress up. Maybe next year (but probably not) Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-29T15:54:00.006-05:00

We have had quite the eventful weekend between Halloween parties, cheering on the Cardinals to their World Series victory, and then our visit to the pumpkin patch. Grandma and Grandpa met us there for a fun few hours. The weather could not have been any better and we all had a fun time. Brady may have been a little young to fully appreciate it, but he seemed to enjoy it and was mesmerized by the animals, particularly this chicken with a bunch of little chicks following behind. We also got to go on a little hayride. It took him most of the ride to decide whether it was safe to pick up the straw or not, but he eventually did, and then it went straight to his mouth of course! The only animal he pet was a bunny. Actually, two bunnies. They were siblings named stupid and cupid :) We'll definitely visit again next year, and it will be even more fun since Brady will be able to understand more of what's going on. And here are a BUNCH of pictures...

Halloween Party

2011-10-29T15:43:00.003-05:00

Brady had a full day of Halloween parties! He started the festivities yesterday at his daycare party, costumes and all. They had the house all decked out with everything Halloween. Have I ever mentioned how much we love this daycare? Lori is just the best and Brady loves it there. I don't have any pictures at daycare, but here he is with Daddy before he left. Then last night we ditched our own ward party and went to Grandma and Grandpa's ward instead. He was so cute and, of course, such a good baby the whole time. He usually goes to bed between 7:30 and 8, but we hadn't even started "trick or treating" by that time and he wasn't fussy at all. Maybe it's because there was just so much to see and it kept him busy, but whatever it was, he was a trooper. We didn't even leave until around 8:30 and he konked out on the way home and then slept until 8 this morning (which has NEVER happened before). Isn't he just the cutest dinosaur? With Mother Nature Trick or Treating and Grandma and Grandpa's door

A Few Cute Ones

2011-10-29T15:36:00.002-05:00

Cute litte teddy bear Brady and his best bud (Butters, not Mommy)and watching the Cardinals game...go Cards!

Gamer Already?

2011-10-17T07:38:00.002-05:00

This was Brady while we were getting ready for church yesterday... already in love with the Xbox. Well, the controls at least. He tries to pull himself up there too, but it's kind of awkward and he usually faceplants. But he pulled himself up on the dresser and he pulled himself up three times on Mom's couch and a few times on the laundry basket. This boy gets more mobile everyday!

Homecoming Parade

2011-10-17T07:31:00.003-05:00

This year was MU's 100th year of Homecoming (yep, we claim we were the first to start the tradition). We skipped out on most of the festivities, but we decided the parade would be fun for Brady, so we braved the crowds and claimed our spot on the sidewalk. And to show our Tiger spirit, we put Brady in his little tiger outfit Aunt Cassie bought for him. He got lots of attention from it because he (of course) looked SUPER cute! Brady mostly liked to watch the people, but even that got old after a while. The parade was still going when we left, over an hour after it started. And it was over an hour past naptime, so Brady did really well considering. He then took a 3 hour nap! And Brady showed his true tiger by eating Daddy's head (because if you can get it in your mouth, you should eat it right?)

Quarter of a Century

2011-10-13T07:07:00.006-05:00

Quentin is now a quarter of a century old (25 for those of you struggling with that). We didn't do anything fancy to celebrate, especially because Quentin got up before I could make him breakfast in bed. And then he said not to make him breakfast, so he ruined that surprise. I felt pretty bad about that, so I let him open his presents in the morning (with Brady's help of course).

He got a mini ratchet set and some MU basketball shorts. Not super exciting, but I think he liked them. Then last night he got a better present, a visit from his dad! Randy came on his way to Kansas City so Brady got to play with Grandpa Bell and he loved that! Maybe because Grandpa Bell never wanted to put him down, which meant that Brady got to be held for most of the evening, and he was definitely not protesting that. For dinner I made stuffed peppers per Quentin's request and then we had funfetti cake with rainbow chip frosting. It was great to have Randy here to celebrate and I think everyone had a good time. Brady even got to sleep in Grandpa's arms for almost an hour, and Grandpa should feel pretty special because it's rare for him to sleep like that.

This One's For You, Kirk

2011-10-12T07:24:00.002-05:00

Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na,, na, na, na, na, BATMAN!I tried getting a picture first thing this morning, but Batman is apparently really pretty grumpy before he gets his milk... (Also proof that our smiley boy does occasionally cry. And it's still pretty cute)

Meet Jonas

2011-10-10T07:22:00.005-05:00

We had the pleasure of going to Arkansas to meet the newest member of the Hufford family, Jonas. He is so sweet and cuddly, and I definitely enjoyed loving on him, but don't worry, it did not make me want another of my own :) Grandma Bell was kind enough to let us stop and stay with her on Friday night to split up the 5 hour drive a little. It was a much needed break for everyone (I know this for sure because we did not stop on the way home and it was a looooooong trip). Cora and Brady loved to play together. At one point Cora even came up to Brady and said "Brady, you need to give me a kiss, I'm leaving." So cute! And Brady even got to sit on his first ride-on toy, although his legs didn't quite reach. The other main attraction for the kids was swimming in the hotel pool...or giant bathtub filled with freezing cold water...whatever you want to call it. It took most people a while to get brave enough to actually get in. Except Brady. He loved it! He didn't cry at all, he was just so happy to be in there splashing around. Here's Michelle with Garrett and Preston.... And here are the girls (minus Addison who was enjoying her time in the pool at this point, pictured below). Kayley, Ashlyn, Alexa and Cora. Addison finally decided to put her floaties on and realized how fun that was And, of course, our little fishie, Brady with Quentin Brady had so much fun playing with his cousins and Grandma Bell! And I'm sure it will only get more fun and exciting as he gets older. He did pretty well for the long drives, but on the way home the sun was in his eyes and he did not like that AT ALL, so that part was a little rough. He slept for probably half the time, so we were afraid he wouldn't sleep at night, but he proved us wrong on that. He was a little slap happy when we got home and that was pretty fun. He slept pretty good at the hotel too, but his crib was right up against the sink and there was a kleenex dispenser within reach, so when I got him up in the morning there were shredded kleenexes all over the crib. No wonder he was so content to just lay in the crib and talk for a while in the morning :) He's a sneaky little guy!

Another One

2011-10-03T20:21:00.004-05:00

It's been a while since the last post, so any of you going through Brady withdrawals, here's your fix...Brady is such a great baby. It is so fun to watch him grow, and he grows so fast! He has started clapping sometimes now and it's adorable. He has also started getting into more and more. There's a fun game we play every day called "Let's Try to Get Butters's Water Bowl." Unfortunately, sometimes he wins. Believe it or not, he can be pretty tricky. Especially when he goes for any cord he can find. He will act like he is going for something else first. He also pulled himself up on the side of the couch Friday. He hasn't done it since, but it sure seems like he tries sometimes. As you can see in this picture, he can hold himself up at the side of the couch, at least long enough to take a picture (although by the blur, you can tell it's a struggle).

Crawler..Errr Brady's Version

2011-09-19T07:57:00.003-05:00

I got the video camera out to get Brady's "crawl" and he was kind enough to show off his sitting up too! He is getting so fast and it seems like every time I look away for a few seconds he is into something. His favorites? Cords of any kind, papers and Butters's food and water dishes. But don't worry, he always gives a huge smile when he gets caught and that makes it ok right? Well, it does make it hard to get too upset.

7 Months

2011-09-15T21:30:00.004-05:00

Brady is 7 months old already and getting around better than ever. He has not quite figured out the crawl, but is a master at the army crawl. And on Sunday he sat himself up for the first time! Also to mark this 7th month, he got a new car seat. Not so much by choice, but more by necessity as he has already hit the weight and height limits for the infant seat. He is such a big boy! We are so happy to have him around and he pretty much makes it impossible not to smile. Here he is in his big boy carseat on his way to see his friends at daycare! Now we just have to get another one for my car.

What's on My Feet?

2011-09-10T22:10:00.003-05:00

Brady was lucky enough to get some cool shoes from one of Grandma's friends. And we were lucky enough to find this pair of shoes that stay on his chubby little feet! He seemed a little confused at first, but he quickly forgot and returned to all smiles.And here's a random picture of Brady with his best friend (although I don't think it's a mutual feeling). He really loves his Butters. Probably more than his mommy.

Not Where I Left Him

2011-09-10T22:03:00.003-05:00

Brady is starting to really get around pretty well now, so when I go in the other room, he is generally far from where I left him. Here are a few examples of what I have found when peeking back in to check on him...

Jibber Jabber

2011-09-07T20:23:00.002-05:00

Brady has also become a lot more vocal lately. He just talks and talks. In fact, usually when he wakes up in the morning now he just talks to himself until my alarm finally goes off so I am forced to get out of bed and get him up. And he jabbers a lot in the car too. It's so fun to listen to him! Quentin caught it on camera this weekend while I was at work. Isn't it just the cutest little voice?

On the Move

2011-09-07T17:16:00.001-05:00

Brady is getting so good at the army crawl! This video was taken last week, and he is even better now. Last night he even did a real crawl for just a few seconds. Here he is chasing Butter's ball. I have another video to post later too. Stay tuned!

Daycare

2011-08-27T23:23:00.003-05:00

Brady started daycare this week and seems to be loving it. He likes to watch the other kids and he's doing really well with it. I'm also proud to say I only cried a little on the first day. We love the lady who does his daycare (Lori) and I was so happy to get a text from her on the first day, letting me know everything was going well. It saved me from worrying and from wondering whether it would be too overbearing for me to check in on him :) Win, win! Here he is right before leaving for daycare the first day. One of these days I will get a picture AT daycare. It is a huge relief to be happy with the daycare situation because I know he is in good hands, so I'm not constantly worrying all day at work. It doesn't make me miss him any less, but it makes it easier to get through the workday! Lori also has this little form that she fills out for us each day saying what he ate, when he napped, diaper changes, and a little of what they did each day. It is nice to get that, especially since Brady can't tell me anything at this point, and I think I will probably hang on to the papers and put them in a scrapbook or something. And I think all the stimulation and such wears him out because he gets pretty sleepy in the evenings now. And today I could not get him to wake up from his nap. Guess he has already figured out that the weekends are for relaxing. He has been sleeping on his side like this a lot lately. Isn't he just the sweetest?!

Just Like Daddy

2011-08-27T23:20:00.003-05:00

I was working on dinner the other day (or maybe dishes, but that's not important) and looked over and saw this...

I thought it was so cute and I couldn't stop laughing. Brady is so much like Quentin and this just confirms it!

Half a Year

2011-08-19T06:24:00.005-05:00

Yep, Brady has hit his 6 month mark (which unfortunately brought with it another round of shots). He did really well at the doctor and cried only for a minute with the shots. Extreme fussiness to follow, but it's part of life. Here are his stats:

Height: 28 in (91%)
Weight: 19 lb, 1 oz (80%)
Head: 44 cm (78%)

So Dr. Wheeler said he is actually not super big for his height, but I think the rolls on his legs and arms beg to differ. (As seen below if you can get past looking at the world's cutest, cheesiest grin)

We are also treating Brady for asthma now. He has a chronic cough and often wakes up coughing at night. He always has, and I realized right away as I was describing it to the doctor that it was probably asthma. Anyway, there is no way to test it other than to treat it as asthma and see if it gets better, so that's what we'll do. Other than that, everything looks great and we are lucky to have such a happy, healthy baby! He has started eating real foods now (well, the pureed version anyway) and it's fun to see his reaction when he tries something new. So far we have tried avacados, green beans, and carrots. We are still not sure about his feelings towards green beans, but he still opens his mouth for more with anything we give him, so he must like it some.

Favorites: Still Butters, songs, "Baby Signing Time," tickling, silly noises, sitting up, carrots, pulling hair, bath time, babbling

Dislikes: Loud noises (vacuum, baby food blender), getting hands and face wiped after eating, people not paying attention to him, and that's pretty much all

And here he is trying out his johnny jump-up. He hasn't quite mastered it yet, but he sure does enjoy it.

3 Year Anniversary

2011-08-17T06:57:00.004-05:00

I am proud to say Quentin and I have been married for 3 years! (Ok, due to a little delay, 3 years and 8 days). For our anniversary, Grandma was kind enough to take Brady off our hands so we could enjoy a baby-free dinner together at Murry's, a favorite local restaurant. We have grown a lot in the past three years, and in some ways it has flown by. But it's also sometimes hard to believe that it's only been three years because it feels like we have always been together and it's hard to imagine a life without Quentin. He is such a loving, caring, hard-working husband and I'm lucky to have him. It has been especially fun to watch him take on the role of dad the past 6 months (and he plays the role well I might add) and I look forward to seeing what's in store for us in the years to come.

Three Day Weekend

2011-08-07T20:25:00.004-05:00

After working 7 days straight, I was rewarded with a three day weekend! And we celebrated by going to visit Cassandra, Kyle and Alexa at the lake. We tried to plan our trip to coincide with Brady's morning nap and it worked perfectly. He was asleep before we left the driveway and woke up as we pulled into Cassie's. And Alexa greeted him by putting all kinds of bows in his hair :) We spent most of the day Friday at the outlets, but we didn't find as much as usual. We definitely didn't leave empty handed though! Saturday we went swimming and it was Brady's first experience in an outdoor pool. It was also his first experience in a little floatie thing, and he seemed to really like that. He just kicked back and relaxed! Kyle was nice and volunteered to take the kiddos back to the house for naps so the rest of us could stay and get some sun. Minutes later, the sun disappeared and it rained. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. And my skin almost got some color. Here's a picture of the cousins after naptime. They sure did love each other!We stopped by Miner Mike's for a bit after naps, but it was a little much for Brady so we headed home. After taking a 2 1/2 hour nap, I thought it would be a long ride home, but Brady slept the whole way again, which made for another rough night, but what can ya do? It was so nice to get away for a while and we were glad to spend time with Cassandra's cute little family. Thanks so much LaBrues! Here's Brady sporting some of his new clothes from our shopping trip (the shoes are new too. So cute...while they stayed on his feet that is).

Around the House

2011-08-07T20:17:00.003-05:00

Brady was not thrilled that on my day off work last week I decided to put laundry away instead of giving him my undivided attention. But when I got the camera out, things changed... Brady loves when Aliisa comes to see us...well mainly just to see him.

"Cheese!"

2011-07-24T21:06:00.004-05:00

This is the reaction I got when I got out the camera. Instant smiles! Maybe it was a coincidence, but I think this boy may already know what to do for the camera. And he does it so well :) Also check out his cute overalls.

5 Months

2011-07-16T14:55:00.005-05:00

Yep, our little Brady is already 5 months old! He has mastered rolling over...errr...from his back to his belly, but seems to have forgotten he knows how to roll back the other way too. He has also started scooting a little bit sometimes. It looks like our next big accomplishment will be sitting up (not spitting up, as he has already mastered that). He is getting better and better at sitting without toppling over. Favorites:
Butters, first and foremost. Butters is like our secret weapon to keeping Brady happy
Milk, of course
Being outside
Baby Signing Time (A DVD to teach baby sign language)
Anything that crinkles, particularly his baby wipes package
Splashing in the bath
"Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam"
Being Tickled
Daddy hanging him upside down
He also started to roll over in his swaddle, so we are working on weaning him off the swaddle. It's going better than I thought it would, but still a work in progress. Mostly, he rolls over and loses his pacifier and gets mad. I used to roll him back to his back, but then the second I would walk away, he would just roll back to his stomach again. He eventually falls asleep this way, but I still haven't figured out if he LIKES to sleep on his stomach, or just finally gives up and falls asleep. He still wakes up once a night to eat (between 4 and 5) and then goes back to sleep for a couple hours. I was planning to break him of his night feeding, but one sleep battle at a time is enough, so once we master the "unswaddled sleeping" we might tackle that. Here's a picture I caught of him asleep on his stomach.We have introduced oatmeal cereal now, and he seems to do ok with that too. It's looking like we are going to have a pretty good eater, but I guess we'll see in about a month when we start to introduce other foods. He is still on breast milk, which means that I am still tied to my pump for a decent portion of my day. I don't love it, but formula is so expensive. My goal is to keep pumping for at least another month, and by that time we should have about a month's worth of milk in the freezer.
I swear he gets cuter every time I see him. It's still hard to leave him for work every day, and all I think about is coming home to his cute, chubby smile.

Little Swimmer

2011-07-02T11:19:00.003-05:00

We decided it was time to take Brady for his first swim! The rec center has family night every Friday, so we took advantage of that (and get our money's worth since you pay the rec center fee whether you use it or not). He was so cute in his little swim trunks and he just seemed mesmerized by the whole thing. Here are the pictures (I'll spare you the ones showing off my pale, flabby body). He kicked his legs some, but seemed to just hold his arms as straight as possible. It was fun to do something different for once, and we will definitely have to do it again sometime.

Little Emily Amelia

2011-06-28T21:30:00.003-05:00

On a brighter note from the last post, yesterday we got to meet the newest member of the Jacobs family, Emily Amelia Jacobs. She was born last Wednesday, and I wanted to meet the cute little girl sooner, but didn't want to pass along my cold so I waited and waited and finally got to hold her yesterday. She seems so tiny, and it's hard to believe that only 4 months ago Brady was about her size. I mean, I know he has grown a lot, but she just seems teeny! She was just so sweet and I loved cuddling her (don't worry, this DOES NOT mean that I want another one now). Brady was not in the greatest mood, (not sure, but might have something to do with the fact that he had pretty much been awake since 3AM with just short little naps here and there)and the whole time we were trying to get him to smile, but the only time he did was when he saw Emily. It was pretty cute! So congrats Mike, Karen and Andrew! I also got to go visit a friend from work who had her baby just a few days before Karen and he was cute too. Tons and tons of hair that stays just how you put it. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures because it was just a quick stop on my lunch break. Babies are so much fun!

Love You, Grandma

2011-06-28T04:34:00.002-05:00

Yesterday my Grandma Moore lost her battle with cancer. Given the fact that she was given 3 months to live over a year ago, I'd say she battled hard! In the end, she was ready to and at peace with it, but those of us left behind, while grateful her pain and suffering have come to an end, are saddened by the loss of such a wonderful woman. She was probably one of the most selfless women I have ever known and has always been such a wonderful example of hard work, sacrifice, perseverance and service. I have so many fond memories of her and am so disappointed that Brady will not get the chance to meet her in this life. That being said, moments like this are perfect reminders of how lucky I am to have a knowledge of the great plan of salvation, and this brings comfort and peace to an otherwise devastating situation. It is the difference between saying "goodbye forever" and "see you later," which is much easier to stomach. So, Grandma, you will be greatly missed in this life, but I look forward to seeing you again someday! Love you!

You Know You're a Big Boy When...

2011-06-20T20:37:00.004-05:00

You get to start eating "solids!" We went to Brady's 4 month Dr. appointment today and he said we should start trying to give rice cereal, so we did. He did pretty well. Not really sure any of the cereal made it down to his tummy, but he liked to eat off/chew on the spoon and tried to grab the bowl. We started with a bib on, but the bib seemed to be more interesting than the cereal, so we got that out of the way and just made a mess all over ourselves. Fun right? It was so cute to watch him. We might try feeding him in his swing or something next time so he is leaning back more. If you look closely in the last picture, you might be able to see the cereal making its way back OUT of his mouth. Oh well, it's all a learning process right?
So here are his stats:
Height: 25 3/4 in (80%)
Weight: 15 lbs 7 oz (60%)
Head: 43.1 (75%)

So we still have a very healthy, very happy, and VERY cute baby boy :) Just crossing our fingers the shots don't affect him too much for his first day with Grandma tomorrow!

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-20T20:31:00.003-05:00

Quentin had his first Father's Day yesterday. Unfortunately I had to work in the evening, so I continued the festivities today since we were both off today. So yesterday morning I let him sleep in and made him a yummy breakfast of bacon (his all-time favorite), eggs, and cinnamon rolls. Then he got his presents, none of which were a surprise because he's a big brat and always ruins his surprises. So he got a new razor, IBC root beer, rainbow chip frosting, and socks. Here's Brady with his daddy on Father's Day... He is such a great father and husband and it is so fun to watch him with Brady and see how much fun they have together already. We are so lucky to have him! (Notice that Brady's shirt says Daddy's MVP...it was also a Father's Day present.)

4 Months

2011-06-16T20:50:00.004-05:00

Yep, it's already been four months since Brady joined our family! Here's a little of what we've been up to:
He loves tummy time...well for short periods of time and then he gets worn out or something. He CAN roll, but he really doesn't that often. He generally seems more concerned with attempting to scoot, and then gets mad when he can't. Still working on the back to belly roll too. He also loves to go on walks outside and just started riding in his umbrella stroller, which is nice because he really loves to be able to look at everything going on. He also very much likes to fall asleep in the stroller. So when he is grumpy and nothing else seems to work, we pack up and go for a little walk.
Other favorites: singing (any song really, but he LOVES "Old McDonald"), weird noises (especially Grandpa's noises), reading, baths, and chewing on anything he can get in his mouth (and getting mad when he can't get something in his mouth). Not sure, but we are thinking he might be teething. Anyway, we don't have his 4 month appointment until Monday, so I'll post all his stats then. Can't wait to see how much he has grown, but not looking forward to the shots. And I feel bad that his first day with Grandma will be the day after his shots. Hopefully he does ok!

I Spy

2011-06-16T20:47:00.003-05:00

Where, oh where has my little dog gone? Oh where, oh where could he be? (Don't mind his glowing eyes please)P.S. These pillows are all piled up here because we needed them off the floor to vacuum with our new vacuum...a Dyson that we love!

The Best Sound in the World

2011-06-10T20:48:00.003-05:00

Well there are a few of you out there who have been requesting videos of Brady laughing. We know its been awhile but finally they are here. There are two different versions on here one we forgot to turn the t.v. off so you can hear it in the background. They are both still pretty dang cute. Enjoy!!!

It's Not Easy Being Cute...

2011-06-10T04:34:00.003-05:00

Oh wait, yes it is! For this kid anyway :)Sunday we got out the exersaucer and he was mesmerized by it. There are so many cool things to play with and it kept him happy for awhile. Sundays are not always the easiest since church messes with not one, but TWO naps. At first he couldn't even get both feet down so he couldn't turn himself in it at all, but he has already figured out how to turn a little (not sure if it's on purpose or not, but he turns!) and it is a nice little distraction when we need it. Today Quentin was so nice and brought Brady in to work at lunch. It was so wonderful to get to see him during the day instead of waiting until I got home. I hate being away all day. Today was the perfect day to come too because it was a particularly unpleasant day at work, so it gave me something to look forward to. Quentin said he was pretty grumpy in the morning, but he was all smiles at lunch :) Probably because he's a big flirt and likes to smile at anyone who will look at him. Man, he is just too cute.

Growing Fast

2011-06-04T18:05:00.003-05:00

It's been a little while since I posted and this boy is growing fast so I figured I better get a post in. He was rolling from belly to back but now is just concerned with trying to crawl when he is on his belly, so I guess he just has no interest in rolling now. Except he does like to roll on his side from his back like so...He is also starting to "talk" a lot more, which is fun. And he likes to play with his feet and eat his hands. He has started laughing which is pretty much the best sound in the world and Dad is the best at getting him to laugh.
Last weekend we traveled down to Arkansas for Addison's birthday. I wasn't very good at getting pictures, but I did have Quentin get a picture of Ashlyn holding him (and Preston didn't want to be left out). It was fun to see everyone, and even Randy was there!It is getting hot now, so here is Brady sporting his summer clothes...shorts and flip flops (I love putting him in shorts to show off those chubby legs!) He loves to sit and stand while you hold onto him, so he is starting to like the Bumbo more and more.

Just Daddy and Me!

2011-05-21T11:08:00.003-05:00

Quentin has gotten the unique experience of staying at home with Brady while he is in between semesters. And Brady LOVES his Daddy, as you can see. (Also check out how chubby his little legs are getting). It is fun to see them play together and even better when Brady laughs! And it's a lot easier to go to work knowing that Brady will be taken care of by someone who loves him as much as I do! I am so blessed to have a husband so willing to help with Brady. He is such a great dad and Brady and I love him so much!

3 Months

2011-05-17T17:36:00.002-05:00

Hard to believe this boy is 3 months already! He is so close to rolling from back to belly and he loves to do big boy things like have you help him sit up and stand up. He thinks he's pretty hot stuff when he does that! He also loves to suck on his hands (and ours). He is just generally a happy guy (of course he has his moments, but who doesn't?) and so stinkin cute!

Back to Work

2011-05-13T22:25:00.006-05:00

Well, my 12 weeks of staying at home sadly came to an end this week and I was forced back to reality...back to work. And by back to work I mean my paying job because, as any mom knows, staying at home to take care of a baby is by no means an easy job! I had a very hard time leaving him that first day. In fact I was in tears most of the night before and in the morning before I left for work, on my way to work, in the parking lot of work, and so forth. But I survived. And Brady survived. And Quentin survived his first day of Mr. Mom. And then I did better the next day (although it was still hard to leave, especially because he was so smiley!). Here we are before I left for work my first day back.Quentin is officially done with his semester. Aliisa was kind enough to watch Brady this morning during Quentin's last final. We are so lucky to have such a good family to volunteer to help out like that, and it is a lot easier on me to leave him with family than at daycare (which will eventually come, but I prefer not to think of that). Quentin doesn't start back until he starts his program on June 21, so he gets a whole month of being Mr. Mom. It will be a good experience for him to bond with Brady and I hope he is as happy as I am that he gets the opportunity. Also Brady was sweet enough to roll over for the first time the day before I went back to work. He has done it several more times as well, but Quentin has yet to see it.

So going back to work is not really all bad. And after going back I have realized just how much harder my job was when I was pregnant...now it seems so much easier physically. I try to think positively to make it easier, so here is the positive:
1. I bring home a paycheck
2. I get awesome benefits (our insurance really is the best!)
3. Bringing home a paycheck will (hopefully) allow us to continue debt-free, even with outrageous tuition
4. I get adult interaction
5. It gives me the opportunity to show off how cute my baby boy is (trust me, I have shown pictures to everyone I can think of!)
6. This month it allows Brady and Quentin time to grow closer
7. I think it helps me appreciate the time I do have with Brady even more
8. We don't have to wear green scrubs anymore! Seems pathetic that I get so excited by this, but I had to wear my Hunter Greens for two years and the two years before that as a student I had to wear black. So having options is nice.
8. At the end of the day, I get to come home to this...
...and then it's all worth it!

Wal-mart Pictures

2011-05-10T17:59:00.002-05:00

We took Brady to Wal-Mart to get his 3 month pictures (it's about a week early, but I wanted to be there for the pictures, and I go back to work Thursday). He did so good and it was very hard to pick one. Anyway, here's the link if you want to see. Let me know what your favorite is!

Click for Cute Pictures!

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T09:12:00.003-05:00

I had a great first Mother's Day and it all started with Brady giving me the best gift he could...a good night's sleep! The last few nights had been a little rough with the sleep training stuff, but I think this little guys is really catching on. He learned almost immediately how to put himself to sleep when you first set him down at bedtime or naps (like on the first day!) and the tricky part has been learning to put himself back to sleep when he wakes up in the night, but even that is improving and I am so proud of how well he is doing. Not to mention I feel so much better and more energized and able to care for him appropriately I think. So anyway, thanks little guy, that's just what Mommy wanted! I also got pretty much everything I wanted from Quentin for Mother's Day: some kitchen shears (to be used ONLY in the kitchen so I don't have to hunt them down every time I want to use them), new mixing bowls as ours were really wearing thin (literally, one has a little cut in it so it does not hold anything really), a new body pillow since mine was one I made 5 or 6 years ago and was pretty nappy looking, and a card that he put little scribbles on a said was from Brady. It was a really great day and I am so grateful to be a mom. It is definitely hard work, but one of the most rewarding things ever.

Bumbos and Overalls

2011-05-05T09:30:00.004-05:00

Yesterday Brady wore overalls for the first time. And anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE overalls and when I was a little girl I wore them all the time and cried when I outgrew them. I mean, look at this and tell me it's not adorable! If he looks a little tired, it might be because he refused to sleep the night before and took VERY short naps all day, making for a very long day and a grumpy boy (and mom). And then it took nearly 3 hours to get him down last night. It was awful and something I would rather not have to endure ever again. So tonight we will start with the Ferber method. Yes, it is kind of a cry it out, but you go in periodically and reassure him you are still there. Basically it forces them to learn to put themselves to sleep, which is what we need. It is supposed to take less than a week, so I guess we'll see. Cross your fingers (and maybe say a little prayer) because we need to figure something out so I can make it through the day at work. I go back next week already!
In an effort to get some relief from this fussiness yesterday, I was willing to try just about anything. Sadly nothing really worked, and if it did it was very short-lived. Brady loves to have you help him sit up. He thinks he's pretty hot stuff when he's sitting, so I gave the Bumbo a shot. He is probably too young, but like I said, I was willing to try anything. And he was happy....errr until he realized it had been a whole 5 minutes since he cried. As you can see, head control is still a work in progress.

Our KC Getaway

2011-05-02T11:33:00.004-05:00

Brady made his first trip to Kansas City this weekend and did a pretty good job in the car. He screamed his head off at first, but once I moved to the back with him he was ok. He took a bottle in his carseat when he got hungry, so we didn't have to make any stops along the way...what a trooper! We stayed with Michelle and Kendall and had a great time. Friday night we watched Tangled and it was really cute. Saturday was the 5K, and Quentin is proud to say he ran the whole way with absolutely no training (and is feeling it now!) We went to some garage sales before the race and then I dropped off our racers and Brady and I went to park...out in Timbuktu. It was seriously like a 20-25 minute walk just to get to this dang race and the road we had to walk did not have a shoulder. So basically I risked my life - and Brady's - to go cheer on these racers! Brady did really well the whole time and was content to sit in his stroller and chew on his burp cloth most of the time. It was right by the temple they are building in Kansas City, so it was fun to get to see that and we look forward to going inside soon enough. Saturday afternoon was Garrett's birthday party. Can you believe this little guy is a year old already? He is so cute and it is funny to watch him walk because he just seems too little to be walking. We had a great time as always. And to make it even better, Brady got to meet his Great Grandma Weekes, who was returning from her winter in Hawaii.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-25T11:28:00.003-05:00

We got home from the Lake Sunday morning in time to get ready and give Brady his Easter basket containing diapers, wipes, a cute little stuffed duck, his vitamins (which he LOVES) and gripe water (it's for his gas and he really likes it too). Doesn't he look so cute in his little outfit?! Then we went to church and after that headed to Grandma and Grandpa Moore's house as usual for Sunday dinner and laundry. Grandpa hid some eggs for Andrew and Brady and Grandma helped Brady find the eggs that his mommy was willing to eat for him :) He obviously had no clue what was going on, but it was still fun and cute!

Brady's First Trip

2011-04-25T11:17:00.003-05:00

I decided to be brave and agree to go visit Kyle and Cassie in Camdenton. It's only about an hour and a half away, but for a boy who is eating about every two hours during the day, that is cutting it pretty dang close! He was so fussy and not eating well right before we left, so I was pretty stressed out. Then he screamed for a while in the car and I had to move to the back with him and he eventually fell asleep. He didn't eat very well that whole day, but he seemed happy enough so I tried my best not to worry (which is pretty hard to do for me). He slept great while we were there and loved the company! Friday night we had a barbecue and all the food was excellent! Saturday we went to a little Easter thing put on by one of the churches in the community. The Easter Bunny dropped eggs for the Easter Egg Hunt from a helicopter and they fed everyone for free...it was pretty cool! Brady slept in Grandma Bell's arms the whole time. Then we went to eat at Culver's and dropped Alexa off with her other grandma for a nap while we hit the outlets. I fed Brady right before we started shopping and he literally slept the entire time we were there (about two hours) and woke up just as we were making our way to the car to leave! We got some great deals!! We were going to just stay Friday night, but we were having so much fun, we decided to extend it another night. It also might have been because Mooma is such a wonderful Grandma and loves Brady (and us!) so much that she agreed to watch him during the night so we could get some sleep. So I just had to wake up to feed the little guy and it was soooooooo nice and I feel so refreshed! Saturday night I also got pampered with a nice long jacuzzi bath. I'm like a whole new person! Thanks so much to Mooma for allowing us to get some rest and the Kyle and Cassie for being such great hosts. We had so much fun and are looking forward to our outing to Kansas City this weekend!Alexa loved her Baby Brady, so her Grandma helped her hold him.

Holy Pukes and Cute Church Clothes

2011-04-17T18:19:00.003-05:00

This boy has become very pukey lately and Quentin always seems to get the worst of it (or maybe he just has the biggest reaction to it?). This is what I saw when I heard a cry for help the other day... Also Quentin had to go home from church today and change shirts because he was covered in spit up (good thing we live close). And this is what our handsome boy wore to church today. I couldn't get him to look at me, but still cute. It's hard to compete with the flashing lights in the swing.

2 Months

2011-04-15T12:25:00.004-05:00

Brady is two months old today! And we went for his two month appointment and shots. He did pretty good with the shots. He screamed while they were giving them to him (who can blame him?!) and then was very easy to comfort when they were done. Oh yes, and I survived them too :) He is...

Height: 22 3/4 in (50th percentile)
Weight: 10 lbs 12 oz (27th percentile)
Head: 39.4 in (40th percentile)

So he has gained over 3 pounds since his two week appointment...he is growing fast! Here is a picture taken when he woke up from his two and a half hour nap after the Dr. today. As you can see, he is still smiling and cute as can be. He is becoming more and more interested in grabbing his toys and he is starting to coo a little. He is becoming a pretty good little napper, but sadly our 5-7 hour between night time feedings seems to have disappeared and has been replaced with 4 hours (I pray that he is just on a growth spurt for now!) So we have ourselves a very happy, very healthy, growing little boy :)

Our First Book

2011-04-12T14:44:00.003-05:00

Yep, that's right...my eight week old boy already enjoys a good book! Columbia has this really cool thing through the library called the Dolly Parton Imagination Library where you can sign up your kid to get one free book a month until they are 5 years old! He actually got his first in the hospital, but this is the first one we got in the mail. I didn't know if he would even care, but I figured it was worth a shot and he loved to look at it. Is he a smart boy or what?! (Please don't mind my unkempt look. Some days just don't allow for a shower, getting dressed, brushing your hair, etc)

Just Hanging Out

2011-04-11T16:12:00.001-05:00

No need for words really...

Not About Brady

2011-04-07T17:51:00.002-05:00

You may all be shocked (and maybe a little disappointed) to see a post not centered around Brady, but here it is. I finally got a haircut today and am loving the length. Butters got a haircut last week. Here we are, sporting out new 'do's. I like to think mine looks a little better on me than Butters does on him. Anyway, don't worry...Brady posts will continue.

Nothing Big

2011-04-06T22:31:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to post a few pictures of this cute little guy! Nothing really noteworthy to tell you all about except that he tries to grab his toys now and gets this proud look on his face when he actually gets it :) Here he is smiling at Dad... Here he is in a cute outfit with some shoes that wouldn't stay on his feet... And this one is just for you Kirsten! He's ready for the warm weather in his stylish flip flops from and Kirsten and Uncle Kirk... And this is what happens after have such a fun time at Grandma and Grandpa's- it's exhausting!

Welcome Pintos

2011-03-30T17:09:00.003-05:00

I was so excited that Kirsten and Kirk got to come all the way from California for the blessing! They didn't get to stay too long, but it was great to see them and I'm glad they got to meet Brady. Aunt Kirsten got some pretty good smiles from the little guy (and plenty of tears too!) And they brought Brady this cute little outfit...it has a lion on the butt and the cutest, tiniest flip-flops in the world.

Brady's Blessing

2011-03-30T17:03:00.003-05:00

We blessed Brady at church this past Sunday. It was so nice to have everyone here! The only family we were missing (from both sides) was my oldest sister Megan and her family, but they got to meet Brady first. Anyway, Brady did really well at church and slept mostly through the whole thing. Here are some pictures...

Look How Strong I Am!

2011-03-22T12:50:00.002-05:00

Brady has pretty much been trying to hold his head up since he was born and has been getting better and better at it. Now when we have tummy time he holds it up REALLY high for what seems like a long time. And looks super cute while doing it of course!

Tough Choice...

2011-03-18T13:07:00.005-05:00

So we bought an outfit for Brady to wear for his baby blessing long before he was born. It's size 0-3 months, and according to their sizing chart it should fit. Much to my dismay, it is still rather large on him and his blessing is only a week away! So we bought another outfit that is size newborn. It still seems a little big to me, but what can ya do? Anyway, take a look and let me know which one you like best. Either way he will look adorable of course. And pay no attention to the fact that he is screaming in one picture (apparently he does not like to play dress up). There's a poll to your right or you can leave a comment. Thanks!

Option #1

Option #2

SMILE

2011-03-18T12:37:00.002-05:00

I did my best to catch a glimpse of our smiley boy. Pictures don't really give it justice, but it's still pretty cute :)

One Month

2011-03-16T21:34:00.004-05:00

I can hardly believe it, but Brady is a month old already! He is growing so fast and he is starting to get really alert. We now get to enjoy his smiles (not just from gas). Grandma got his first smile and then Aliisa. He didn't give Mommy or Daddy smiles until the next day!
Last week we got his tongue clipped. He was tongue tied at birth and thanks to my mom's neighbor, Lori, who is a lactation consultant (who was the one who told us) we were able to get it taken care of without any problem. So basically the tissue under his tongue (frenulum) was attached more toward the tip of his tongue, which really limits the movement of the tongue and also makes breast feeding more difficult for him. To fix the problem they just clip the tissue with a little pair of scissors, hold some gauze there for a minute to stop the bleeding and then have him breastfeed because the antibodies in the milk are all it needs to heal. He is already making so much progress with the feeding...again thanks in a large part to Lori.
He has also rolled from his belly to his back...twice! Yes, I realize it was not intentional, but he is such a squirmer already and so strong. He likes to hold his head up when you try to lay him on your chest and has been doing that since before we left the hospital. He sleeps pretty well at night, sometimes going 5 hours between feedings. Anyway, here are some pictures.

Hanging Out With the Marshalls

2011-03-16T21:27:00.004-05:00

We were so excited to have Megan, Patrick and Luke come visit for about two weeks! (We were sad Benjamin couldn't join us...school shmool). Patrick and Luke are pretty entertaining and so much fun! Luke loved to give Brady kisses and point out his facial features (we tried to avoid the eyes). Patrick gave a few kisses but was more concerned with playing basketball and such. It was so much fun to have Megan keep me company and take turns holding this little guy. I wasn't very good about taking pictures, but here are a couple. Thanks for coming to visit. I wish you guys lived closer so our boys could grow up together!

Bath Time

2011-03-16T21:23:00.003-05:00

Here's Brady's first bath. He likes it well enough at first, but when we get to his head he HATES it and starts crying almost the instant the water hits his head. And just to show us how much he hated it, he peed all over. Check out that little belly!!

Our Growing Boy!

2011-03-01T15:01:00.003-06:00

Brady is now two weeks old! We went to the doctor yesterday and he is now 21 inches (an inch longer than birth) and 7 lbs 8 oz ( 7 oz bigger than birth!) The weight goal at two weeks is to be at birth weight, so obviously our little guy is doing better than ok! Here are a few more pictures of this cutie

Brady Comes Home

2011-02-21T19:14:00.004-06:00

Well, we are at home now. Brady has settled in just fine and is doing great. I have been fortunate enough to have help from Quentin's mom and my mom the past few days so I have been able to get some decent sleep between feedings. Aunt Cassie was nice enough to come up for a quick visit too! Brady's weight was down to 6 lbs 8 oz on Friday, but today we went to the doctor and his weight was up to 6 lbs 14 oz, so he is almost back up to his birth weight. It might have something to do with the fact that he is a great eater! Anyway, here are a few pictures of his first few days at home.

Brady's Birth

2011-02-21T18:35:00.004-06:00

For anyone who's interested, here's the whole birthing story. For anyone who's not, there are some cute pictures to enjoy :)

Tuesday I had my regular doctor appointment to check on Brady and make sure things were ok. I got my ultrasound to check fluid levels and such and I knew right away that they were only about half of what they were the week before. I even told Quentin right before we saw the doctor that she might not let me go all the way until Friday, but I was shocked when we saw the Dr. and she told us that the ultrasound showed the cord was wrapped around Brady's neck and because the fluid levels were low we needed to induce that night. She sent us home to get our bags and come back to the hospital. I also got the news that I was now dilated to 3 cm and 90% effaced, which was quite a change from when I was in the hospital Saturday and I was at a 2 and 75% effaced.

We got to the hospital and then they started the Pitocin drip around 6:00. My doctor (Dr. Morse) was not available to attend the birth, so we had Dr. Thies and she was wonderful! About every 20 min they increased the Pitocin, which also meant stronger contractions...yipee! Mom was there to hang out with us and be a backup in case Quentin fainted, and Aliisa came and hung out for a while too. Quentin and I passed the time playing Farkle (and no, Quentin did not let his laboring wife win). When my nurse checked me around 8 I was at 5cm. I had decided I wanted to try medication-free natural birth, and I did pretty well with it until they increased my Pitocin again around 10:00 and the contrations were so intense that I decided I needed an epidural. I got my epidural around 10:30 and it only took a few minutes for it to take effect. I was at a 6 when I got my epidural, and I started dilating VERY quickly after that. It was also at this point that his heartrate would drop with each contraction, so they tried rolling me from side to side, which helped a little at first. I think around 11:20 Dr. Thies said I could start pushing, so I had to push on my side at first. His heartrate continued to drop, so they started prepping for a C-section. Quentin even started putting on the booties, gown and scrub hat for the OR. They let me push on my back a few times, and then started packing my bed up to go to the OR. Dr. Thies did an epistiotomy and said I could have one last shot at pushing before we had no choice but a C-section, so I gave it my all (which is hard to do with an epidural and you can't even really tell if you're pushing or not) and out he came at 11:39! She said it is the closest she has come to getting someone to the OR and then not having to do a c-section after all.
When they laid him on my chest for the very first time it was the most incredible feeling in the world. He was so perfect and I fell in love instantly. It truly is a miracle and we love him more and more every day! He is such a good baby and hardly fusses at all. He came out a pro at feeding, which has made things a lot easier I'm sure. It is so fun to watch Quentin with him...Brady could not ask for a better dad! So here are some pictures right before we were discharged from the hospital...

Brady James Bell

2011-02-17T11:41:00.003-06:00

Here are a few pics of our newest addition. I'll write up the birthing story later. I figure mostly people just want pictures anyway :) He was born Feb 15 at 11:39 PM. He weighed 7 lbs 1 oz and was 20 inches long. We are all doing well!

40 weeks

2011-02-14T11:36:00.003-06:00

Well I am actually 41 weeks tomorrow so this is a little delayed, but here's my growing belly! My Dr. appointment last week looked good, so Brady has a little more time to decide if he wants to come on his own or not. I have another appointment tomorrow, but unless something has drastically changed I have until Friday before they will induce. So Brady has officially received his eviction notice and has been informed he is free to come ANYTIME NOW!
In other news we got to spend our last childless weekend in the hospital of all places. I had a cough for a few days and then woke up Saturday with a fever that continued to get higher. Around 7 that night I took my temp again and it was 101.3 and I realized it had been a while since I felt the baby move (granted I had been asleep probably 95% of the day) so I called the on call OB and she said it would be best for me to come in and get things checked out. They had no problem finding Brady's heartbeat, but it was staying up in the 180's which is pretty high. They said this was because of my fever and ran all kinds of tests and pumped me full of fluids. My flu test came back positive (so much for that flu shot huh?) so they gave me Tamiflu and started antibiotics to prevent it from turning into pneumonia. And they decided to keep me overnight to monitor the heartbeat. Hospitals are not the most comfortable places to sleep, especially when you're hooked up to the fetal monitor and an IV, so needless to say it was not my most restful night. But by morning Brady's heartrate was back down to 130's to 140's, which is normal so they cleared me to go home and I spent most of the day in my own bed sleeping. Now I am fever free and just stuck with the cough and stuffy/runny nose. Not the best weekend of my life, but luckily Brady and I both came out ok in the end!

Columbia's Blizzard

2011-02-01T17:59:00.003-06:00

Unfortunately, I am not talking about a DQ blizzard. It has been snowing hard since about 6:30 this morning and is supposed to keep going until tomorrow around noon (last I heard). We are up to 14 inches and going strong, with predictions of final accumulations around 18 inches. Plus the snow is really dry, and it's windy so there are some big snow drifts. Kirsten requested some pictures, so this post is mostly for her. It's hard to tell really how much there is from the pictures. The one with Dad shoveling is the 3rd or 4th round of shoveling. Anyway, here are the pictures...Luckily I was able to catch a ride to work with Dad. More importantly, he made a special trip to pick me up from work (at that point we had about 10 inches I believe). Otherwise I would have been stuck overnight at the hospital, which is not exactly my idea of a fun night.
MU actually shut down the campus, which is extremely rare, and they have already called off classes tomorrow as well. They even shut down Dad's bank this morning, which is also rare. Pretty much everything around is closed except, of course, the hospital.
I never thought I would say this, but I have been telling Brady to STAY IN for a few days until this all clears up. I told him before the storm hit that it was his last chance to come early, and he didn't cooperate then, so hopefully he listens better this time. Otherwise, we might be having a home birth. It's a little nerve racking, but I think Mom seems to be the most concerned about the possibility. That is a huge surprise because she never worries about anything :)

38 Weeks

2011-01-29T17:43:00.001-06:00

We're getting so close! I tell Brady every day that it's time to come. Maybe one of these days he will listen. He's definitely running out of room in there!

Go Quentin!

2011-01-20T03:37:00.002-06:00

Well, Quentin started his new semester. This time he is only attending one college though :) He is full time at MU now, and he definitely has a full schedule. He is taking 13 hours, but there will be A LOT of papers and a lot of fun times with Physics. He has two writing intensive classes, Physics, and an intro to ultrasound class.

The exciting news is that Quentin got an interview for the ultrasound program!!!!!!! Not everyone even gets and interview, so we are pretty excited and I am so proud of how hard he has worked to get to this point. His interview is scheduled for Feb 7. Brady is due to arrive Feb 8. Whaaaat?! No worries though, he told them when they scheduled that his wife could be having a baby that very moment and they said they would reschedule if need be and were very understanding. But really the only reason he would need to reschedule is if I am actually in labor at that exact time. I guess the odds are pretty unlikely right? Anyway, feel free to join in our prayers that the interview goes well!

Baby Showers

2011-01-20T03:05:00.003-06:00

If one thing's for sure it's that Brady is already very well loved and taken care of by so many people! We're lucky enough to have had baby showers the past two weekends and both were so much fun and provided us with basically everything we still needed to take care of baby Brady!

The first shower was thrown by Jade (and Janet and Jordan) and Kayla. The turnout was great...I think we had around 20 people there including my wonderful in-laws who all had to make a significant drive to be there. I got all kinds of clothes, diapers, bottles, pacifiers, bath stuff, blankets, diaper bag and pretty much everything else you can think of for a baby! The cake was super cute and yummy (I'll have to steal some pictures from Janet) and I absolutely loved my diaper cake. Another fun thing was the "guest book" where everyone wrote down when they guess I'll have the baby, how long the labor will last, the size of the baby, etc. It was fun to read through and is also a fun little keepsake. The only thing that would have made the day better would have been if I had not gotten sick, but I guess you can't have it all right? Thanks everyone for a great shower!

The next shower was with my coworkers, so Quentin was fortunate enough to get to join in on the fun for this one :) Chuck and Genola were gracious enough to host at their house and I think everyone had a really good time. The food was delicious and Danielle picked out a cute cake. We got pretty much everything else we needed for Brady including a boppy, bumbo, more diapers (can you ever have too many...I think not), clothes, cute little Nikes, shades and a mirror for the car, etc. After gifts and cake the guys headed downstairs to play pool and the girls got to chat for a while. Later I got to demonstrate my lack of pool skills. We ended up staying until about 11, which is probably the latest I have stayed up this whole pregnancy. I am so lucky to have such great, supportive coworkers! We are winding down to the final days now. I'm 37 weeks, so if this kid comes on time (and I am hoping and praying that he does!!!!), we only have 3 weeks left. He can actually come at any time now so the bags are packed (well, the best I knew how), the crib is ready, and everything is good to go. I am getting more and more excited every day. Not just to get my bladder back and avoid the rest of the discomforts of pregnancy, but to finally meet this little guy! So feel free to come whenever you're ready, Brady!

Yeah, I Made This...

2011-01-02T21:33:00.003-06:00

I saw these "carseat canopy" or "carseat tent" things online, but they charge around $40 for them...which seemed like too much to me. So, after my mom confirming that it would be fairly easy to make, I decided to save a little money and sew my own. The cute fabric came from Utah when we went for Thanksgiving, and Quentin even helped pick it out! Anyway, I'm pretty proud of myself and I think it turned out really well. Plus we bought a little extra fabric so we can have matching burp cloths :) It really was pretty easy, but I did have a little help from Mom. Now we're just waiting on the baby to fill the carseat :) Anyway, here are the pictures. The second one just shows the pattern on the underside (which matches the straps).

34 Weeks

2010-12-30T22:42:00.003-06:00

That's right, 6 weeks left until my due date! Which is good because I can barely tie my own shoes, I have to wear Quentin's T-shirts under my scrubs tops because mine are all too small, even the bigger scrub tops I bought are getting quite snug, and my scrub pants are not going to hold out much longer. I have also said adios to my ankles and have instead met my cankles. Pregnancy is definitely not the most fun experience, but it will be worth it to hold my little baby boy pretty soon!
At our last appointment we had to get an ultrasound because I was measuring small. Everything looked perfect, thankfully! They said I am probably just measuring small because he is sitting really, really low. They estimated his weight to be 4 lbs 3 oz, which is just below average. He seems to be growing quickly though! Anyway, here's the bump now...

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-30T22:30:00.004-06:00

Well I didn't take any pictures at all this year for Christmas except this one... ...but that doesn't mean we didn't have a fun Christmas! The weekend before we did the Bell family Christmas in Willard. It was a fun weekend including a yummy breakfast, pizza, presents, food and family. And shooting guns for the guys...and Cassie :)
Quentin and I were going to do our Christmas on Christmas Eve when I got off work, but we got a little anxious and opened presents the day before. I got a camcorder that I LOVE along with some accessories, some scentsy, and a new timer for our kitchen. Quentin got the video game he has been waiting for (Black Ops), a tool bag, socks, a new white shirt for church and a flashlight. So I would say we both did pretty well this year :)
I had to work Christmas this year, but I didn't go in until 2 so we did Christmas with my parents and Aliisa Christmas morning. We opened presents and ate a really good breakfast and then everyone took a nap. Later that afternoon Quentin and Dad went to see a movie, so I think it ended up being a pretty good Christmas even though I had to work. And that means I don't have to work the next two years for Christmas. Next year will be Brady's first Christmas :)

Woohoo!

2010-12-27T11:53:00.002-06:00

Quentin finally got the score he needs to apply for the ultrasound program! This was his last chance to get the score before the applications are due this year so we are both so relieved. I am so proud of how hard he has been working and it is wonderful to see that it has paid off. This doesn't guarantee him a spot in the program, but now he will at least have the chance to apply.

Hendrickson Family

2010-12-07T20:15:00.003-06:00

Here are a few pictures from the Hendrickson family photo shoot over Thanksgiving. As you can tell, we had an excellent (and very patient) photographer.

30 Weeks

2010-12-03T22:46:00.002-06:00

Well, only about two months left until Brady makes his arrival! Things are still going well. I passed my glucose test, but my hematocrit levels are low so I am taking iron supplements. Here's my growing belly...

Thanksgiving in Utah

2010-12-03T16:54:00.005-06:00

We were so lucky this year to be able to go to Utah this year for Thanksgiving with both the Moore side and the Hendrickson side of the family! It is always so much fun to have my family get together because it doesn't happen often. I can't believe how big Patrick and Luke have gotten...they sure are cute!

We got there Wednesday night and then Thursday we had Thanksgiving at Grandma Moore's. The food was yummy of course and it was fun to see everyone. Someone brought a little puggle puppy and she was SOOOO cute! Grandma Moore had just had chemo, so she wasn't feeling the greatest, but still seemed to be doing pretty well. Here's a picture of me and Grandma... Friday we were crazy and got up at 2:30 to do the Black Friday sales. We got a luggage set for a really good deal at Kohl's but it was insane and the line was forever long there to check out so we left Quentin with our stuff and headed to Target. Target was also really crazy. I don't remember it ever being so crazy here for Black Friday. Then we went to breakfast at Denny's and went back to bed for a while. That afternoon we did the Hendrickson Thanksgiving which was more delicious food and then we went to get family pictures. I'm sure it was a lot of work for the photographer to get so many people, but she did a good job. After that we all gathered again for games, but I was so tired so I didn't end up staying very late.

Saturday some of us went to a craft show and I got a cute Christmas decoration. I'm a sucker when it comes to Christmas decorations! Then we went to see Grandma Moore again. After that just our little group of Moore family got together to exchange our Christmas gifts. It's definitely the most fun to watch Patrick since he gets excited just to open any present. We all got to enjoy Cafe Rio after that...Mmmmmm wish we had one here. Mom made us aprons and Megan made one for Mom and they turned out really cute!

Sunday we came home. It was fun to see everyone, but it's always nice to get back home and I definitely missed my bed. Hard to believe the next time all the Moore girls will be together will be for Brady's blessing!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

2010-11-19T23:16:00.003-06:00

We may have jumped the gun a little this year, but we decided to put up the Christmas decorations. It's my family's tradition to do it the day after Thanksgiving, but we'll be in Utah this year so now seemed as good a time as any. By far the worst part is digging through storage for the Christmas boxes, but luckily that job falls to Quentin :) Here's our little tree. Some day when we upgrade to a house we'll upgrade to a real-size tree, but this works for now. And here's a picture of me going through some stuff. Look closely and you can see Brady's car seat just waiting to be used sitting in the background.

Halloween

2010-11-06T17:21:00.004-05:00

We didn't really do much to celebrate Halloween this year, but we did carve some pumpkins with the Jacobs! I was feeling pretty lazy though, so I just let everyone else carve and I picked out pumpkin seeds. Ours ended up looking a little like a Chinese man. They are not quite as intricate as last years, but we still had fun! I didn't take many pictures, so I mostly just stole these from Karen's post...thanks Karen!

25 weeks

2010-10-26T22:32:00.005-05:00

And even a different outfit! Thanks to my sister and sisters-in-law I will be a well-dressed pregnant lady! I now have a closet full of cute maternity clothes! Thanks girls :)I never really know what to do with my hands in these pictures...kind of awkward.

I had a Dr. appointment today and everything is still looking good. Also I am mostly past the morning sickness junk (I think). So other than the normal aches and pains of pregnancy (back pain, frequent bathroom trips, trouble sleeping, out of control acne, general discomfort, etc) I am healthy and so is baby Brady. He's a pretty active little guy and if he's facing the right way, I can even SEE his kicks now sometimes. So fun!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Alexa!

2010-10-26T21:58:00.003-05:00

Our niece was celebrating her 2nd birthday this weekend, so we headed down to Camdenton to join in the festivities. I was off Friday, so we got to spend an extra day hanging out with Cassie, Kyle and Alexa and got a little extra shopping in at the outlets :) Friday afternoon Quentin's Mom got there and then Friday night Nick and his family came and then Michelle and her family made their arrival as well. So we had most of the Bell family there and it was so much fun to see everyone! Here's a shot of the kids crowded on the couch to watch Dora... Saturday Kyle took us out to ride on the boat. It was a beautiful day, but it did get a little chilly during the ride. It really was the perfect time to do though because there was hardly anyone else out on the water, so the ride was really smooth. So smooth that Preston fell asleep :) Plus we had a great captain...thanks, Kyle!
Then we stopped at the outlets again before we headed to Alexa's birthday party. I definitely got A LOT of baby clothes, but I got pretty good deals so I'm proud of my purchases. Alexa's party was at Miner Mike's, which is like a giant playplace mixed with an arcade full of fun games that Quentin and I teamed up on to get the most tickets possible...all to benefit our nieces and nephews of course! There is even a little roller coaster inside that made baby Rex jump each time it started. Cassie did a great job planning the party (as always) and we think she could make a career out of party planning. After the party we headed to this really yummy pizza place. They had the best cheese sticks I have ever had in my life. Everything was sooooo tasty! Thanks for planning such a fun weekend for us Cassie! The birthday girl, opening up a present.

Quentin was brave enough to go through what I like to call "Tube City" with Preston. (And he survived!)

This was my attempt to get a picture of baby Garrett's smile...this is more of a half smile. When he REALLY smiles it takes up his whole face and is totally irresistible

A Peek at Brady

2010-09-30T18:51:00.006-05:00

Here are a few pictures we got at our appointment. This is little Brady at 21 weeks! They are small so kind of hard to see, but hopefully you can still enjoy the a little. I'll give a little description of what you're looking at just in case you can't tell!

The picture above shows a little foot (The toes are at the right and the heel is at the left)

In this one Brady is telling us that "I'm number 1!" If you look closely, you can see that he has his pointer finger up.

It's a boy! (Arrow is pointing this out in case you cannot tell)

Here's a classic ultrasound picture...baby's profile! Look at his cute little nose :)

This is another profile shot, but in this one he's waving his hands up around his head.

So that's our little man! We are so excited!

It's Official...

2010-09-28T21:25:00.002-05:00

We are having a BOY! I had my ultrasound today and everything looks good. We are so excited to welcome this little guy into the world and can't wait to meet him! He's an active little guy and he had the hiccups during the ultrasound and it was funny to watch. Now the fun of buying baby clothes and toys and such can begin!

Butters Sling

2010-09-23T16:59:00.002-05:00

Megan and my mom hooked me up with a free sling (all I paid was shipping) and it came today! I decided the best way to test it out would be to use a baby, but since that wasn't an option, I went with the next best thing and used Butters instead. I thought he would fight against it but he was completely content to stay exactly how I put him in the sling! It was pretty cute :) I just hope the baby likes it as much as Butters.

Getting Bigger

2010-09-21T17:09:00.003-05:00

Here's a 20 week shot. And yes, I am wearing the same outfit in this picture. I am usually in scrubs, so my "normal clothing" options are fairly limited right now. Maybe you can't tell a huge difference between this one and the last one, but I sure feel a lot bigger and have had people ask me when I'm due and such...even patients when I'm wearing scrubs (which happens to be when it is the least noticeable).I'm still not completely over the nausea or vomiting, but I am down to puking only about once a week now :) I think this week it can be attributed to this lovely cold I'm battling. I've started to feel little Baby Bell move around a little, which is always fun. One week from today we'll have our ultrasound to (hopefully) find out the gender!! Just keep your fingers crossed that this kid cooperates and doesn't cross its legs or anything. I'm hoping for a nice, good view. Don't be shy, baby! Your mom and dad will see plenty of your nakedness when you're born anyway!

And the baby bump begins...

2010-08-23T18:09:00.003-05:00

I promised Quentin's Mom I would post this picture, even though I'm not particularly fond of it. I'm 15 weeks in this picture... And the bump just gets bigger and bigger every day!

California

2010-08-13T17:20:00.004-05:00

Well, as always I did not get enough pictures. Quentin and I got to venture out to California to soak up some sun and visit Kirsten and Kirk. We had a blast and were not ready to come home! The first day we got there we went to get frozen bananas at Balboa Island (which is really only entertaining to any Arrested Development fans out there). It's fun to take the ferry across and walk around and look at the shops and the cool houses. Then we hunted down an In N Out for lunch, which was actually much harder than we expected. It was delicious and very worth it! Then we hung out at the beach for a while before we met Kirsten and Kirk for dinner at Cafe Rio. I really wish we had that here! After that we all went and walked around this outdoor shopping mall. This first picture is kind of random...there was this cow painted like a watermelon...Friday we went kayaking. It was Quentin's and my first time, but it's pretty easy and lots of fun. Definitely a good workout! There was a little cove with a bunch of these little jellyfish that don't sting, so we checked that out and it was pretty cool. Then we paddled around an island and saw a sea lion at the very end. After that we hung out on the beach for the rest of the day. That night we went to see Despicable Me and it was really cute!
Saturday we just had a relaxing day at the beach and then headed to the OC Fair. We watched the pig races and the chinese acrobats and ate some yummy food. Kirsten, Quentin and Kirk tried chocolate covered bacon, but I opted out of that. We also tried fried avocados, which were pretty good and fried twinkies...delicious! We also had corndogs and funnel cakes. Yum! There was also a petting zoo where a little deer kept eating people's shorts (you can't really tell in the picture, but it was funny).Sunday we went to church, came home and took naps and then tried to go tide pooling. Unfortunately, the rocks were closed because the waves were too high.
Monday was our two year anniversary and also our travel day. Not the best way to celebrate, especially when our layover in Denver lasted MUCH longer than it was supposed to because the plane was delayed two hours! We didn't get into KC until 11 something. Luckily, Michelle did not abandon us and waited patiently to pick us up. Thanks Michelle!
We had so much fun and I really wish that Kirsten and Kirk lived closer so we could see them more. Thanks Kirksten for letting us stay with you, entertaining us, driving us around, and feeding us!