Grandma's visit

My grandma came down from Salt Lake to visit this weekend (: She hadn't met Tais yet, so this was her very first time meeting her FIRST great-granddaughter! We didn't get to spend as much time with her as I would of liked cause we were pretty busy, but it was nice to be able to see her for a bit. Especially since the last time we saw her was in September!

What is it with little kids & grandma's?! I swear, Brans always knows when someone is a grandma or grandpa & automatically loves them, haha. It's been almost 9 months since he last saw her & he acted as if he see's her everyday! (:

Pretty pathetic, but this is our very first family picture! :( It only took 3 weeks to get one of all of us. I = failure. HA!


I'm glad my grandma was finally able to make it down, she's had a lot going on lately & definitely needed a little break! I wish my grandpa could of made it down with her, but they're dogs are sick & he needed to be there to take care of them. It sucks not being able to see them all the time like I did when I was little, but I guess that makes me look forward to & appreciate these visits even more! (:

Kajen & Chelsea's birthday {pool} party!

Today we went to my aunt Teresa's house to celebrate my 2 cousins birthdays! Chelsea's birthday was May 17th, & Kajen's is June 4. It was a pool party & bbq. Brans had so much fun swimming! It was his first time swimming this summer. I wanted to jump in there as well, but I still can't swim yet :( Taislee's belly button also isn't healed all the way yet, so she still hasn't had her first time swimming.

I felt muchhh better about him being in the pool without me since he was in the floatie & he had a life jacket on, haha (:

My little lion eatin' chippy's!

It's always nice to have family get-togethers, especially since they don't always happen as often as we'd like! Brans just loves being around all of the kids, I wish he could play with them more. I can't wait to take him swimming more this summer... he is definitely a water baby! (:

Happy 12th Birthday to Chelsea & Kajen!

Taislee's Newborn Photo's

Here are a few of Taislee's newborn photo's, done by Amber Wallace of CarlyGracePhotography.
She's also the one that did my maternity photo's! (:

She was extremely cranky for 90% of the session, so we didn't get to do as many poses as we wanted to, but the ones we did get turned out pretty dang cute! (:
I can't wait to get her announcements made & some prints for my house!

Amanda Graduated!!! (:

My baby sister is a high school graduate!!! (: I am so so SOOO proud of her! She had it a lot harder than most high school students, as she was also raising a child while going to school full time! But she did it... she graduated on time with her class & with pretty good grades, too! (: She is definitely an inspiration.

Sorry this is blurry... my camera SUCKS! I just about cried when she was walking down the stairs. SO proud.

Again.. my camera sucks :(

Tuacahn High School Class of 2011!
Congrats, Amanda!


Oh, and I just have to include how much Brans enjoyed the ceremony:
He kept randomly yelling 'Yay manna!' and other crazy things! haha. Then one of the speakers was talking about Cookie Monster {random much?!} and he kept saying - very loudly! - 'Where's cookie monster?!' over & over. My aunts told him that cookie monster wasn't up there, cookie monster is blue. Then, another speaker came up a little bit later and she was wearing a COOKIE MONSTER BLUE dress! So Brans starts saying 'THERE'S THE COOKIE MONSTER!' hahah. It was hilarious! (:

2 week appointment {a few days late}

Being a good girl waiting for the Dr (:

Miss Tais had her 2 week appointment today! She actually turned 2 weeks on Friday, but her pediatrician was out of the office the end of last week, so we had to wait a few days for her appointment.
She is now 8lbs 8oz... she has gained exactly a pound since birth! (: Apparently mama juice is doin' it's job well! She is now 21 inches long - 1/2 an inch up from birth. They got her head measurements, too... but I forgot to ask what it was :( They also didn't give me the papers to see what percentile she is in like Bransyn's old office did. Hopefully they just forgot, cause I like knowing what percentile they're in! Dr. Hubbard checked her out & told me that she is just perfect! (: She had to do the PKU test at this appointment... which I was dreading. I hate seeing my babies cry in pain. She actually did really well, though! She kind of fussed when the nurse first sliced her heal, but I was able to sooth her pretty quickly & she actually stayed very calm while the nurse squeezed the blood out of her heal. That always makes it so much easier for mama! (:


She's doing very well so far & she will go back when she is 2 months, which is when she'll get her first shots since birth :( I asked Dr. Hubbard if the calcium spot they found on her heart through the ultra sound was still a concern, since my Dr never confirmed that it went away completely, but he couldn't find anything on it in my file. So he said he would get a hold of my Dr's office & check on it, then let me know at her 2 month what the deal with that is. It was getting smaller every time they checked on it when I was pregnant, so hopefully it is either completely gone by now, or close to it!

While we were there, I also had Dr. Hubbard check Bransyn's 'bumpies' {the skin virus that he has under his left arm} to see if we should freeze the bumps off, or not. He said that they CAN freeze or pop them, but it would leave a scar where each one was. So they usually just like to let them go away on their own, unless they are on the face. The virus usually takes 6-9 months to run it's course, then the bumps will pop on their own & not scar, so we decided to wait it out a little bit longer. He's already had them for almost 6 months, so hopefully not too much longer! If they do start irritating him or he starts picking at them more, we can take him back in to get them removed, but if they're not bugging him I'd rather just let them be & not put him through the whole removing process, since I'm sure it won't feel too great. He also HATES for anyone to touch them & throws a fit if they do, so this will be easier on everyone! haha.

Tubby Time!

Tais got her first 'sponge' bath on 5/10 when she was 4 days old!

As you can see, she was not a huge fan of it.

But brother stayed by her side the entire time.

She did, however love getting her hair washed by daddy.

She was still just a tad bit upset about the whole bath experience after she was dressed.


She got her first REAL bath on 5/16, when she was 10 days old... it was the day after her umbilical stump fell off! (:

{the stump was gone, but she still had a scab from the blood blister}

She fussed for about 1.5 seconds when I first put her in. . .

but then she realized how amazing the warm water felt & she was calm the rest of the time! (:

She didn't like when I took her out to wrap her up in the towel, but then I started washing her hair & all was good again!

Until I had to unwrap her to put lotion, diaper & jammies on. But it only took a few snuggles & kisses to make her happy again, after she was all ready for bed! (:

Oh, the things kids say. . .

This morning Brans was helping me change Taislee's diaper, by handing me the wipes. As I was just about done getting her cleaned up & the diaper back on, B suddenly got really scared & said to me; "HER PEE-PEE BROKE! HER PEE-PEE BROKE!"



Obviously since girls are a bit different than boys (:

I had to hold myself back from laughing hysterically, to explain to him that she is a girl & girls don't have pee-pee's.



Ohhh, the silly things 2 year olds say! hahahhaha

PAARRRRKKK! (:

Tais went on her very first trip to the park! (:

I am going crazy staying in the house ALL the time lately, & just needed to get out for a bit. So we decided to take a trip to the park to have some lunch, let Bran play for a bit, and get some fresh air!

She felt so relaxed at the park. . . ;)

Brans got to play on the playground for a while & get some of his energy out!

He even found a friend there (: He kept saying 'dis is buddy!' and 'dis is dude!' about the little boy, haha.

I love just going to the park to relax outside for a bit & watch my big boy play! (:

Week 1.

Little Miss Taislee is one week old today! So crazy it's already been a week, but at the same time it seems like she has been here forever! Weird how that works, haha! Anyways. This past week has been pretty interesting! Our first night home, we had a bit of trouble getting her to sleep during the night. She pretty much refused to sleep in her own bed. I would get her to sleep, lay her down in her bed & about 5 minutes later, she would be squeakin' & fussing wanting to be either held or fed. It got to the point that if I even sat down with her, she was NOT happy. So needless to say, this mama did not get much sleep! So Sunday, me & her slept quite a bit. She's been doing better at night, still not a fan of her own bed, she would much rather sleep next to her mama - she is JUST like Brans was! ha. There was one night that she didn't want to sleep again, so I ended up sleeping in the rocking chair in the living room with her. We're working on the whole bed thing & hopefully she will start to do better (:
It's been a bit of a challenge adjusting to taking care of 2 little kids by myself during the day. Mainly because I am sooo tired still. Also, Tais has been wanting to be held at ALL times, even if she is asleep. And until my milk came in, she was literally wanting to eat every half an hour. So it was pretty hard to give Brans the attention he needed & it made me feel horrible :( But I'm still trying to get used to it & I know it won't always be like that!
Tonight we had a bit of an issue with her belly button/umbilical cord stump. As I was changing her diaper, I noticed there was a big 'bubble' of blood right above the cord. I googled to see if it was normal, but couldn't find anything. So we decided to take her in, after making a call to her pediatrician. Turns out it was a blood blister on her skin, they think that whoever put the clamp on her cord must of caught some of her skin in it, making a blister & it finally just filled with blood. I'm really not sure if that is what happened, I didn't notice her skin pinched in the clamp, but maybe I just missed it? Who knows! But while they were looking at that, they noticed that her skin was also sticking to the cord & it wasn't drying up properly. So they had to push the skin down, and they also put some stuff on there to help it dry up quicker. So glad it wasn't anything serious, but it still sucks that there was a problem. It looks so yucky now & I can not wait for it to just fall off! haha, poor girl.
Brans is doing really well adjusting to having a new baby sister. We haven't had any jealousy issues yet & he loves her so far! He always likes to give her kisses & is so soft when he does it. He also likes to 'bounce' her in her bouncer & is so gentle. He'll rub her face & talk to her, & it is soo cute. Sometimes he'll sit by me when I'm burping her & tell me that he wants to be burped, too. So I'll pat his back & he'll fake burp (: haha. One thing that we HAVE had an issue with, is him thinking all of the babies things are his. We just have to remind him that he's too big for them (the bouncer, swing, ect.) or that it's Taislee's & she needs it. But other than that, he's been doing really well & I am so relieved! (:
Overall, Tais is such a good baby. It kind of seemed like she was fussy a lot when we first brought her home, (she hardly made a peep in the hospital!) but I think she was just getting used to her surroundings, or something, cause she is such a happy girl now & really doesn't cry or fuss that much! Well, unless she's hungry, getting her diaper changed or getting dressed. Which she IS getting better with getting changed & dressed. The first few days she HATED it, but now she's doing much better (: She smiles SO much, mostly in her sleep... but also just at random times! & they are definitely the cutest little smiles ever (: She reminds me so much of Bransyn when he was a baby, it's crazy! Just with the little faces she makes, the sounds she makes, and just the way she looks! I honestly love it. She definitely sleeps a lot, but it seems like she is awake a lot more & more alert than the 'average' newborn! She is already doing really well with holding her head! She lifts it all the time & loves to look around. If someone is talking to her, she will focus in on them & just stare. Soo cute! Oh, and when she was FOUR days old, she rolled over... from her back, to her tummy, back onto her back - while she was SWADDLED! I was amazed! She hasn't done it again, which doesn't surprise me... she IS only a week old, haha. But I just thought it was so funny that she had done that already! She loves to sleep on her side. I'm not sure if that is necessarily a bad thing... I know TUMMY sleeping is a no-no, but not sure about side sleeping? I always put her to sleep for the night in her sleep positioner, so she doesn't ever roll to her tummy.
It's been quite the week getting used to this new life of mine, but I wouldn't change it for anything! I just love my cute kiddo's & it makes me SO happy that I am able to stay home with them ♥

Mothers Day.

Today I had my first Mother's Day as a momma of two! (:

We didn't do too much to celebrate, since we have a 2 day old baby. I actually told Ryan a few days before she was born that the only thing I wanted for Mother's Day, was to spend the day at home with our two sweet babies, so that's exactly what we did! (: Taislee had kind of a rough first night home, me & her were up most of the night, so Ryan took over with Bransyn this morning & let us sleep in. My mom came over around 3:30 to make Mother's Day dinner, since we weren't going out for dinner this year like we usually do. She made a ham, potatoes, & a bunch of different sides! It was deeeelish (: Ryan's parents & his sister came over, as well as Amanda & Camden.
It was a nice relaxing day & exactly what I wanted! (:

I am so extremely blessed to be the mama of these two precious babies! I don't know what I did to get so lucky & I don't know what I would do without them. I also have the best mama ever! She has been there for me through everything & has always been so supportive. I am definitely lucky to have her in my life (:

Happy Mothers Day to all you mama's! (:

Going home & Taislee meeting Bransyn! (:

We got to bring Miss Taislee home today! AND, she finally got to meet her big brother!!! (:

Her coming home outfit, it says 'little sister' on it. Brans was supposed to wear his 'Taislee's Big Brother' shirt, but my mom forgot to give it to Ryan's parents & they were the one that brought him back to the hospital to go home with us :(

All snug in her seat & ready to go home! She didn't cry at all when she went in there.

FINALLY! He got to see his baby sister for longer than 1 minute! (: He was SOO excited! And we were all so excited to see him, too! It was a long 2 days without him!

Our sweet babies in their seats.

He was so excited to sit next to her. He watched her the whole way home & kept asking to take her out (:

When we got home, he wanted her out RIGHT away. But we had to park around the corner since the Ironman Triathlon was going on right on our street, & Ryan had to run back to the car to get all of our stuff. So we had to wait to take Tais out until he got back, so that daddy could see B hold her for the first time. (& help him, so that I could take pictures :)

He just kept talking to her, looking at her face, touching her ears, putting her blanket on her (: it was so cute.

Taislee got him a 'Mater's Tall Tales' book as a present for being her big brother (:

He was so careful holding her.

So sweet ♥

Me & my babies! I am the luckiest mama in the world!

These boys are crazy about their girl ♥

It's so nice finally being home with Brans & also having Taislee here. I absolutely love being home with my 2 babies! Brans is doing really well with her so far, he wants to be by her all the time & is showing no signs of jealousy so far, so I hope that lasts! (: