Christmas 2008!

We hope that everyone had a great Christmas! We did. Christmas Eve started off great as Jason came home from work at 2:30 pm. Brooks and AmyAnn came down for dinner that night and I got to use my China that I have had for 3 years and never used. (I am proud to say that after going from Atlanta to Utah, Utah to Kauai, Kauai to Oahu, and Oahu to California, only one salad plate had broke out of all 8 place settings! I was a little scared to open the box because I hadn't opened it since I first got it for Christmas in Atlanta.) We also played a good game of Seafarers of Catan with Brooks winning.

Christmas day, we woke up at 5:30am thanks to Brayden and I decided that we should open presents then since Brayden wanted to play and not go back to sleep. We spent the morning at home and then we went to Cam and Katie's for Christmas Brunch, games, a movie, and dinner. We had a lot of fun playing Settlers of Catan where Cam took both wins!

Here are some pictures of the day...

Brayden sitting in his dump truck Santa brought him for Christmas

Playing with all the wrapping paper...

Brayden with some of his new toys..he doesn't know whats going on...

The first present...a cool ball from mom and dad.

Playing in Zerin and Natalie's tractor that afternoon.

So excited...

Post bath time hair...
Brayden playing with his cousin Noah

Last night, we went up to Oakdale so that Jason could go to the chiropractor since he sprained his neck. We also stopped by the Whitemyers house and saw Jenn Kerr and all her brothers and sisters and then Jason's cousin Greg came over with his little boy Noah. It was fun to watch Noah and Brayden play together. One of Jenn's younger sisters, Kristen, had a baby boy two months ago and was in town visiting from Utah. We got to hold the little cutie and it made us so excited for our new little baby! I was expecting a heavy little thing when i went to pick him up, like Brayden, but he was so little and light! He snuggled right in and was such a cutie. It made me wish that I had taken the time to enjoy those days more with Brayden since they are now gone and he doesn't like to cuddle so much anymore or be rocked. While, I didn't take full advantage of those days with Brayden, when i had so much of it while he was in the hospital, it made me excited to have another one and enjoy those sweet times more since they go by so so fast! Exciting note...we find out if we are having a boy or a girl on February 6, 2009!

Dreaming of..

I am dreaming of...my long hair again, being tan, and not wearing maternity clothes...

Being pregnant does not always inspire one to feel the most glamorous. This picture(below) sits in a frame on our dresser and i was putting away laundry the other day and I started looking at it and it made me miss my long hair. Having it short was fun but I am tired of my limited options for ways to wear it. I know, it's my own fault for going and cutting it short...I also really enjoy how tan i am in these pictures...and i just like the pictures too. Jason looks so young to me in these pictures and also so handsome too! I know i wont be pregnant forever and i will return to my normal clothes, my hair will grow long again, and someday i will be tan again. But until then...I'm dreaming of it...

Sessions Family 2008 Christmas Letter

Friends and Family,

Happy Holidays for this 2008 season of festivity. Another year has come and gone for the Sessions family and we can’t believe how fast it has passed. It is almost 2009. This year has been quite eventful and filled with numerous blessings for our family. Here are just a few…

January 08: We rang in the New Year at the Phoenix airport as we were returning from our Christmas trip to Atlanta, GA visiting Emily’s family. We had a great time with all of the Rupps and Taylors. Jason also celebrated his big 30th birthday and finally got his Dodge Viper (a toy one).
February: Emily went to Utah to visit her Grandpa Rupp who was suffering from Pancreatic Cancer. Jason didn’t come along as “he was busy with work” but two days later, on Valentines Day, he surprised Emily by showing up at her Grandparents doorstep. Two weeks after returning home from Utah, Emily had some complications with her pregnancy and got to make a two day trip to the hospital, including a ride in an ambulance, and then got put on bed rest.
March: March was the most eventful month of our year and the most blessed. On March, Emily’s grandpa Rupp passed away from pancreatic cancer. We were unable to attend the funeral due to Emily’s bed rest but we were present in spirit. On March 25th, Emily’s water broke and 6 days later our sweet little boy, Brayden Keith Sessions, was born on March 30th, 9 weeks early. He was born at 4:59am, weighed 4lbs. 2oz. and was 17 inches long. We gave Brayden the middle name of Keith after Great Grandpa Rupp.
April: The last week of April, the newly promoted Grandpa and Grandma Rupp and Aunt Lizzie came to Hawaii to visit us and to meet little Brayden. Unfortunately, Brayden was still in the hospital but they were able to come with us on our twice daily visits to the hospital to visit Brayden and hold him. Emily had to moderate the holding time between Grandma and Lizzie. We had a great time seeing some of the sights in Hawaii with them as well, including parasailing and snorkeling.
May: After 5 weeks in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Brayden was able to come home on May 4th. We were so happy to have him home finally. Taking him home from the hospital was exciting but it was even more exciting to have all of our family together in one place, at home.
June: On June 5th, our family moved from Oahu, Hawaii to Northern California. Jason decided to close down his construction company in Hawaii and took a job in California. We stayed with Jason’s brother Cameron and their family for a month while our belongings were being shipped from Hawaii. Emily and Brayden also made a trip to Utah to visit friends and family.
July: On July 14th we moved into our new apartment in Richmond outside of San Francisco. We spent the month unpacking and getting situated.
August: Emily celebrated her 23rd birthday on August 8th. We also made a trip to Atlanta, GA to go boating for a week. Despite the bad weather from all the Hurricanes we still had great time tubing, wakeboarding, and waterskiing. While there, we celebrated our 1 year anniversary. Grandma Rupp watched Brayden so we could go on a date and celebrate.
September: At the end of September, we finally gave Brayden a name and a blessing. We were able to have both sets of Grandparents in town for the occasion. Jason gave Brayden a beautiful blessing and afterwards, we had a good time visiting with both extended families. Emily also got called as the Den Mother for our ward cub scouts and Jason got called to teach the 12 and 13 year old Sunday school class.
October: More exciting news…we found out that we are expecting baby #2 in June! Emily gets a second calling in the ward as a Relief Society teacher.
November: We were able to go to Utah for Thanksgiving where Emily’s mother’s side of the family was having a family reunion at Aspen Grove. We were so glad that we went as we had a blast!
December: We got our Christmas tree and decorations set up and managed to finally write this letter. We are awaiting the festivities at the end of the month when Emily’s parents and Lizzie come to visit and help celebrate.

Our family has been incredibly blessed this year and we are so grateful to Heavenly Father for all that we have. We are grateful for the addition of Brayden to our family as he brings us such joy and happiness and we are looking forward to the second addition to our family next year.

We hope that this letter find everyone healthy and happy this Holiday Season. May the Lord bless you and your family this upcoming year and fill your homes with love and happiness.
The Sessions Family,
Jason, Emily, and Brayden + 1/2

Multi-purpose Ensigns...

We all know that the purpose of the Ensign is to help uplift the heart and the home. This month's Ensign served the noble purpose of just that and beyond...Brayden was being fussy and since we currently get two copies of the Ensign a month, we gave Brayden one to play with. He was so happy! It uplifted him and gave us a happy home!

A lesson in patience...and something i just dont get...

I know that I haven't posted anything in a while and it is simply for the fact that one, I have no energy what so ever. I could go to bed and sleep all day long and still feel like I am still tired and have been run over by a truck...two, I feel like my life is boring and I do the same thing everyday. Since Thanksgiving, it is obvious that the Lord is out to teach me some patience. Since we got home from Utah, Brayden has been a mess! I keep waiting for Brayden's teeth to come but we still have none. His gums, both top and bottom are swollen with white swollen bumps where his teeth are coming and clearly it hurts him. We keep Motrin and orajel on hand and with us at all times! He has also developed a whiny cry type scream that he seems to really enjoy using since he does it all day long! This week has been much better but last week was not fun! We are praying that his teeth come in soon!!! Brayden is also very frustrated that he isn't crawling. He just cant seem to put it all together yet and it drives him nuts. He wants to go explore and get into everything and he cant. Another reason for his whiny cry. On a fun note, Brayden not only feeds himself his bottles now but he eats just about anything with the exception of meat. He has to try everything we eat or he screams. I love the selection of food i can give him now.

On another note, I keep seeing this and I just don't get it...maybe someone can shed some light on it for me...

1. Everywhere I look, I see people buying alcohol. Grocery stores and most of all at Costco and Sams Club. The past two trips to Costco, I have seen people in front of me or in lines next to me spend over a 1,000$ on alcohol. Then, you always see people who look like they can barley take care of themselves and their families buying it. I don't get it. Why do you want to drink something that makes you lose control and takes away your freedom and two, how do people aford it? What a waste of money! I just don't get it...

Up next...a post of our family Christmas letter. Check back soon to read it!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...and Gratitude...

After arriving home on Sunday from Utah, and getting settled back in, we had a family put up the Christmas tree activity that afternoon. Not fifteen minutes after finishing the tree, Brayden scoots over to the tree and begins to undecorate the tree. He thought it was pretty funny when mom came over and said, "No, babies don't play with the Christmas tree." He gave me a great big smile like he was saying, "Yeah right mom. I know how to out smart you." I then took away the ribbon that he had unwrapped and made him cry because I took away his toy. He got over it. We will see how many times I have to put the tree back together. Jason and I both agree that the Christmas tree will be the thing that inspires Brayden to crawl. He is almost there...he has a month to try and get to the tree before mom gets him away from the tree.

On another note, the Holiday season always gets me thinking about my blessings and how grateful I am for all that I have. I heard a comment on TV the other day that I really liked. It was, " People always focus on what they want during the Holidays instead of what they have and their blessings." I thought that the comment was so true! We have wish lists and letters to Santa and Holiday shopping all to fulfill our desires for what we want. This Holiday season, Jason and I are trying to focus on what we have and not what we want. Here are some of the things that I am so grateful for...

-I am so grateful for Jason. He is a terrific husband, best friend, and I wouldn't trade him for the world. Marrying Jason was the best thing that I have ever done! He isn't a perfect person and has faults just like everyone else but he compensates for my weakness so nicely and we work together as a team so well. I am grateful for how hard he works for our family. Jason is a terrific father and always helping out with Brayden. One of the things that I love about Jason is that he always makes me smile, even when I am mad and don't want to smile. I appreciate that Jason treats me like a Queen and pampers me with lots of back rubs and massages. Thank you for all you do handsome! I love you!

-I am grateful for my family. Brayden brings such joy and happiness to our home and lives. His smile and giggles light up our days and help us to remember to enjoy the little things in life. Brayen helps me to be a better person everyday and I am grateful for that. I am also grateful for extended family and how they love and support us. My mom is always there to listen to my stories and give me advice or just to talk when I am lonely at home with Brayden. We are grateful for all the help that you all give us and we are grateful you are part of our lives.

-I am grateful for steady paychecks and a job in this scary economy.
-I am grateful for a home that keeps is warm and dry and is a place that we can call our own.

-I am grateful for microwaves, dishwashers, stoves, and all of our modern conveniences. They make life so much easier.

-I am grateful for computers and the internet. They make life easier and help me stay in touch with family and friends all across the country and world. I am also grateful for spellchecker because we all know that I am not the best speller out there. Thank you California public schools for teaching me such great spelling skills!

-I am grateful for much more...these are just a few...

Thanksgiving in Utah

We ended up going to Utah for Thanksgiving. We had planned on going for the past couple of months and then we found out that Jason had to work Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of the week of Thanksgiving. We decided not to go to Utah after all. Then, Tuesday night, Jason came home from work and asked me if I wanted to go to Utah? We decided to pack up and go at the last minute, so we drove through the night Wednesday night and arrived in Utah around 9am on Thanksgiving day. My mom's side of the family, the Schmidt side, was having a big family reunion up at Aspen Grove and so we spent Thursday and Friday at one of the lodges up there. It was a lot of fun and I am so glad that we went. I would have regreted not being there since we were the only ones, from the whole extended family, not there. We called and told my dad, Tuesday night, that we were coming but not to tell anyone so it would be a surprise. When we got up to Aspen Grove, we walked into the lodge where everyone was having breakfast and said that we had a "special delivery for Grandma Rupp." My mom turned around and started to cry because she was so surprised and excited that we were there. Her reaction made the trip all worth it. Here are some pictures from our trip. We also got to spend time with one of my best friends Katie Marshall Boden and went to Cafe Rio on Saturday. We played lots of games, helped my Grandma Rupp set up her Christmas trees, visited family, had a Rupp side of the family dinner at Marie Calenders, and Brooks, AmyAnn, Jason, Lizzie, and my mom all went and saw the lights at temple square. I stayed home with Brayden because I was exhausted and it was so cold outside and Brayden is starting to get another cold! Agh! We drove back home on Saturday night and here we are...home again. I was nervous to drive to Utah since it was a 10-12 hour car ride and Brayden hates his car seat. However, Brayden did great! On the way there, he slept for 5 hours and then was awake for 2 and then fell back asleep for the last 5. On the way home, he slept the whole way except for the last hour where he just played with his toys. I am glad that we decided to drive through the night because I think that if we had driven through the day it would have been a lot worse! We had a great time and can't wait to see everyone at Christmas when you come out to visit us for a week!

Brayden had a blast eating Thanksgiving dinner and made a massive mess not only one himself but also on the floor.

Grandma Rupp and Brayden had so much fun together. She was able to get smiles and laughs out of Brayden all weekend unlike anyone else.

The Rupp family at Aspen Grove

8 month pictures...

These are some of Brayden's 8 month pictures. I love them!

We took some pictures in a big pile of leaves and Brayden hated it! He was scared of the leaves and cried the whole time. I could set him any where else except in the leaves.

0-1...no twins here folks...

I have not posted anything in a while so i thought i would take this moment of spare energy to write something. This past month has seemed very long and this past week even longer! I am in the midst of a big "no energy crisis" and have been pretty sick this past week. This little baby hasn't been too fond of much that I have eaten latley. I feel like Brayden thinks that all that I do is eat and yawn becasue that is what i feel like i am always doing.
We went to the doctor today finally. The baby looks good...just like a normal little lima bean in there with a good heart beat. No twins! I laughed when the doctor said, "Well there is only one in there." Thank heavens! So Jason is 0-1 at this point. We will see if he gets the gender right. I have mixed feelings about the doctor. My problem is that we live in the midst of all the crazy liberals from San Fran and even worse...Berkley! It drives us nuts sometimes! The hospital is in Berkley, my doctor is based in Berkley, and lets just say that they are all very liberal. When I took Brayden for a hearing test about a month ago, at the hospital, I had people tell me that I was a bad mother becasue my child did not have eco-friendly and organic products. Who freakin cares! And I also got told that my truck is ruining the world because it pollutes so much and it is just horrible that I drive it. Whatever... Today, the doctor tried to push every genetic test under the sun. I told him that I wasn't interested in them and his response was, "Don't you want the tests so that if something is wrong you can have an abortion?" No! Nor would I ever have an abortion if something were wrong. His attitude about the whole abortion subject irritated me. I understand that in California, by law, they have to talk about it and give options but honestly...it is redigulous! Anyway...

I get a kick out of my pregnancy cravings. They are so random and odd sometimes. Jason says that they dont drive him nuts but were still have a good amount of time to go before the baby is born. I currently crave meats and cheese. Jason dosn't want a turkey for thanksgiving, he wants ham, becaue he dosn't really like turkey that much but loves ham. I told him tonight that I was buying a turkey tomorrow and making it becasue I wanted to sit and eat all the meat and also that it was against my personal constituition not to have turkey at Thanksgiving time.

My belly continues to grow, much quicker than last time, and I am slowly switching to maternity clothes. Enough of this trying to fit into my regular clothes. That is what I did last time. This time, I just want to be comfortable!
On another note...anyone wanting a house in Kauai, Hawaii, our is for sale!

Croup...no fun for anyone...

This past week has been very long...I got a cold and then in turn gave it to Brayden. I tried not to give it to him but it is kind of hard not to when I am the one with him most of the day and he can't really care for himself yet. Brayden caught the cold on Wednesday and it has been downhill since. He continued to get worse and worse and by Friday night, I was ready to take him to the ER. We gave him a blessing first and decided to see what happend. He got a little better and so we didn't take him. Our apartment smelled like a big cough drop from his vaporizer and we spent lots of time shut up in the bathroom with the hot shower steam to help the crupe. I felt so bad for him. He sounded so sad all stuffed up and weezing. I couldnt let him cry for long because it broke my heart so we spent lots of sleepless nights with him. He didn't want to go to sleep and went about a day and a half with about 2 hours of sleep. Despite all of our efforts to get him to sleep nothing worked...not even Benadryl! That made for one miserable little boy which turned into some miserable parents. He woke up this morning a little improved but not much. At least he slept through the night for 10 hours! Yay! When i went to change his diaper after he woke up, I found that he had a rash all over his neck, stomach, and back. I called the doctor as soon as they were open and we got an appointment for this morning. The doctor said it was crupe for sure and that his rash was a product of the virus casuing the crupe. He gave us a perscription for a steroid to help the swelling in his throat go down. We'll see how it works. The happy part of the doctors appointment was that Brayden had grown 2 1/2 inches in the last month which now makes him 27 1/2 inches. He is also 19 pounds...getting to be a little chunky monkey...well...not so much...just heavy with some cute baby rolls! I love them...so cute! We are just taking life one day at a time...just trying to get Brayden better so we can get back to our routine of life.

"How do you do it?" My shopping secrets...

Since my little family is all tucked in bed, and it is only 7:30 at night, I thought I would write a blog that i keep meaning to write. I am glad that Jason can home and crashed since he has been working 80 hour weeks recently.

Anyway...So, I get asked all the time how I manage to find such cute little boy clothes, how i afford to dress Brayden like a little baby gap model, Where i shop, etc., etc. We can't go anywhere without people commenting on Brayden's clothes or how cute he is. I know people are suckers for babies but sometimes it gets a little extreme. For the most part, I get a kick out of watching peoples reaction to Brayden. They always come up to look at him and comment on how cute he is and on cue, he flashes a huge smile and tries to say a few words and leaves everyone oohhing and awwing. I just get a kick out of it and stand ther and think, "It's only a baby people." haha. Brayden is such a ladies man already! But all in all people are so sweet to Brayden and I.I don't think that I dress Brayden all that well. Somedays he just sports a onsie or his diaper since his favorite outfit is his birthday suit. I don't really care about clothes brands. I just like Brayden to look cute. I have no biased between walmart, gap, or any other brands.

So, when Brayden was born, Jason and I made a deal that I could dress our children if I didn't try and dress him. DEAL!

Of course I love shopping but i don't do it so much for me these days. I actually can't remember the last time i bought clothes for me..its been months! I do most of my limited shopping for Brayden these days since the kid is growing like a weed and grows out of everything left and right.

So where do I shop for Brayden? Gap? Gymboree? Polo? Nope. I get 99% of his clothes at thrift stores! Yep that's right. Thrift stores! I know some people have issues against that but i don't. You save so much money. So here is the awaited secrets to finding terrific clothes at thrift stores...

1. Good Will and Salvation Army are great. The DI in Utah dosn't work for this plan. Salvation Army is generally cheaper than Good Will. Consignment stores generally dont give you great deals on clothes only toys and books.

2. You don't have to get anything that is worn out or stained or has holes or a problem. Just get clothes that look brand new and lots of times there is clothes that are brand new with tags still on them! Infant clotehs are great to buy at places like these since they grow so quick and generally they are in terrific condition!

3. Location, location, location! Thrift stores in lower income areas are not going to have great stuff. Find thrift stores in upscale neighboorhoods and cities. Generally, people that have more money don't mind paying full price for expensive clothes. They then donate it and you buy it! I have found terrific stores all over the country...california, atlanta, and hawaii. You just have to try a couple stores to find which ones tend to have the newer more upscale clothes.

4. Take advatage of the sales. This means that on all holidays there is a 50% off all apparel sales. So clothes that are 1$ or 2$ are half that! What a bargin!

5. Go about once a month to see what new donations came in.

I also love Target's 75% off clothes rack. You can get clothes really cheap then too.

And the biggest rule to live by...DON'T BUY CLOTHES AT FULL PRICE! IT ISN'T WORTH IT! (ok somethings are worth full price but the majority of stuff isn't)

Here are some of my best buys recently:
-3 brand new old navey parkas for Brayden at
.75 cents each. I stocked up for the years to come. I couldn't pass up some great deals!
-20 pieces of Baby Gap clothes for 10$...5 of which still had tags on them..anyone wanting to know of a great thift store that is a designer baby meca of a thrift store in atlanta let me know!

So there is it is...my big secret...my child may look like he dresses good but he looks good for less. Take it for what it's worth...Even though I may not think he dresses all that cute i still love a great bargin!
there you go...you have some of secrets now.Have fun shoppers!

2, then 3, now 4...? What?

Yep...if you caught onto the title you already know...We are expecting baby number 2! We are actually so excited about this new development. This was not our original plan by any means and it has cost me many many tears and nights of crying to get to the decision to have another little one so quickly.

So here is the reasoning and madness for this decision in a tiny nut shell....After Brayden was born, I had some complications. We went to several OB/GYN's to seek answers and in the end, all 4 doctors said exactly the same thing. (I kept going to different doctors because I was hoping to get a different answer that I liked better...but that didn't happen.) All 4 doctors said that we needed to have our family as soon as possible so that if/and/or when I needed surgery and could not have any more children as a result of the surgery, we would not feel sad that we did not have the children that we wanted. I cried a lot over this information because I kept thinking about my sanity and how I wanted my plan for my family to work out. (wait 2 or 3 years for another baby) Well, things got even more crazy when we started to pray about what to do. I guess don't pray about something if you are not ready for the answer and I was not ready for what Heavenly Father had to tell me..."You need to get pregnant again now." So with this going on, I cried even more. I kept telling Heavenly Father that "I can't do it. How can I handle a 1 year old and a newborn? I am not a good enough person to do all that. How can we afford that?" Well our answer never went away and so after a few months I resigned myself to the fact that this is what we needed to do and well...here we are now! After all this time, I am actually great with this decision because I feel so at peace with it all. I am excited to be pregnant this time around because I am much less stressed about the whole thing. I already know what to expect for the most part and feel like I have this "mom thing" somewhat under control...most days. I know that being a parent for 2 young children will be much more difficult and challenging but we will live. We're not the first to do it and we won't be the last.

The baby is due in June so that means it will probably be born in May. Well, we are hoping for the baby to be born at least at 8 months this time instead of 7 like with Brayden but full term would be great too. I decided that I can handle the baby being in the hospital for a week but I don't want to have it be there 5 weeks again. (Side note: And Brayden would have been there a month longer is we had not fought with the hospital to let him come home!) anyway...

Things are going well so far. I seem to get the most sick at night which is a blessing since Brayden is asleep and if he isn't Jason is home to help with him. Jason is convinced that we are not only having a girl, we are having twin girls. Whatever buddy...He thinks that since he was right about Brayden being a boy he is going to be right about the sex of our children always. We'll...see...2 months or so and we will find out if he is or not! I would love a little girl but I would be excited for another boy too. I guess it is true that the second time around you show much quicker because I looked down today at my belly in my church dress and couldn't believe how big I was already. I know that most couldn't tell other than me and Jason but still...(Jason can't tell either, he just pretends to just to humor me.)
Whatever...anything that gets me to the looking pregnant stage faster and out of the just looking chubby stage I am for.

Now, I know that as a formality you are supposed to wait 3 or so months before announcing the happy news but this is me we are talking about. I am not a patient person and having such a wonderful secret is so hard to keep. I hate when people ask so what is going on in your life and you can't really tell them what is...like oh I am pregnant. So we decided to forego the waiting period and get the announcement out there. We told immediate family last week and my mom told me to wait, and not to write a blog about it. Instantly, that old teenage streak inside of me instantly siad no! haha...well I lasted a week mom. And Lizzie...I know that I don't need to blog about every aspect of my life but it makes me happy so I am going to. Besides, my friends are all over the country now so blogging is a way to keep in touch with them. They dont all live in a 1/2 mile radius at BYU anymore. But I love you still even for telling me not to blog about it.

So...there you go...the news is out! We will keep you updated with all the happy developments!

Halloween fun and other random stuff...

Ok here they are...the big Halloween costume pictures and some other random ones mixed in there too...We were boring and did not do a whole lot for Halloween. In fact, surprisingly, we had no trick-or-treaters. Brayden was long gone in bed and I didn't even bother to put him in his costume at all that day. Saturday, we had the ward trunk or treat and so Brayden dressed up in his Tigger costume for that. It has been raining like crazy here and I love the rain! It makes me feel like I am back in Hershey where it rained all the time. We hope everyone had a good Halloween. Jason turned on the Christmas music today. Although, he would listen to it year round if I would let him but i refuse to listen to it other than at the right time of the year.

Daddy and Brayden together.

This is Brayden on his tummy time toy. We are trying to help him like it more but we get mixed results everyday.

What a cutie pie!

Brayden enjoys wearing his hat on the side much better than the normal way.

If finally fits Brooks and AmyAnn. We got this hat when we got married as a wedding present from Brooks and AmyAnn. They gave us all BYU hats and some Leatherby's memorabilia to remember Jason and I's first real meeting.

Catching some cartoons, drinking apple juice, and showing love for his birth state of Hawaii.

Emily's Driving

Emily thinks she is a great driver. Maybe she is, and its just me that brings out bad habits in her. I guess I shouldn't be surprised anymore since she exposed me to her driving abilities from the very beginning. She managed to dump herself off and roll my 4 Wheeler. If that wasn't enough, the very next day she ran into me on Paul's neon green 4 Wheeler, claiming she didn't see me. We were brutal with how we rode them, but never caused as much damage as she did in two days.

I love that she is so adventurous, and I am very grateful that she hasn't had to go to the hospital as a result of our adventures, yet. I love my wife, with all her strengths and weaknesses. She is the perfect complement for me. I'm so glad she married me. Life with Emily is eventful, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Pictures and some cake...Yum!

Here are some random pictures that I have taken recently... Brayden is a true boy. He likes to hang upside down, do airplane, do flips...all sorts of stuff. He's getting ready to be a little Gymnast.

This is our future blogger. Jason was playing with Brayden while I made dinner. He enjoys trying to type and press all the keys on the computer.

Brayden currently thinks that everything is a footrest. He puts his feet up on everything and his toys are no exception.

Brayden enjoyed exploring the pumpkin for about 2 minutes til he fell over and then got occupied with something else.

Yes, here is the big haircut...its not the best picture but the only one I currently have of it. You get the idea.

Brayden in his suit for church. He did not like wearing it, but I made him anyway. The jacket came off before we left for church, the shoes in sacrament meeting, the vest and tie in Sunday school, and then he showed his full and total appreciation for the outfit by blowing out in it during Relief Society. So by the time church was over, he managed to strip down to his diaper...I had no other clothes for him and then by that time I was done so we left 20 minutes early from church. Clever little boy. He knows how to get what he wants.

But he just looked like a little stud muffin in the suit! Oh well...at least he wore the whole thing for 5 minutes.

On other news...we had a fun weekend. We headed up to Sacramento on Saturday. Aunt AmyAnn watched Brayden while Jason and I went to the Sacramento temple. I had never been there before and it was beautiful!!!! After we picked up Brayden, we went to visit one of Jason's friends from elementary school who just had a cute little baby girl. I got to hold her and it made me sad that I did not cherish that newborn time more with Brayden. Next baby... We also visited Cam and Katie and then ended up leaving early instead of attending Brooks and AmyAnn's pumpkin carving party. Sorry guys!

Random...Jason is making me a pineapple upside down cake right now and I am excited. First, what a sweetheart for making me a cake. I tried to tell him how to make it but then I stopped because I dont let him help me with my cakes so I was going to let him do his own thing. I am anxiously awaiting a piece or twelve, let's be honest. I love you Jason!

pictures of the week...and a hair cut!

I love these pictures! So i was changing Brayden into his pjs and he was being funny with his head stuck in this shirt. He thought it was so funny for some reason. The second picture, Brayden tried to feed himself. This is what happens...a mess...proceeded by a bath. The second one for the day. Messy boy! He was so proud of himself for both trying to feed himself with a spoon and for making a great big mess. We kept telling him that Halloween was not until next week and that he didn't need to paint himself orange until them but he was too excited to wait. \

Also exciting news....i cut my hair! Oh yes i did. According to my dear sister Lizzie, I got the "mom bob". Thank you Lizzie! No...I went with the a-line bob. I wanted a change and so i went out and got it cut. I also died it red but i didn't like it so i died it back brown. I thought it would be funny to turn up at Thanksgiving with red hair since a couple of years ago i turned up blonde, blonde, blonde. My parents were shocked. To make it even better...i died it back brown before i went home for Christmas and did not tell them. So they are walking around the airport looking for a blonde when i am brunette again. So fun. Anyway...i was going for that again but i didn't like it enough to wait a month. oh well...

totally random...and all in a day in the life of emily...

Yes, this is a totally random post but so is my life so it is ok...although life is really not as random as it used to be. First, I had to share a total "Emily" story...
So about a week ago, I was going to check the mail and take out the trash. I had Brayden in one arm and the trash and my keys in the other. We walk downstairs to the dumpster to throw away the trash first. The bag was particularly heavy and i was trying to swing it over one handed. Not as easy and you would think. I finally got it over but at the last second, my keys got caught on one of the drawstring handles and flew into the dumpster with the trash. I realize what
happened and i am thinking oh no..oh no...all my keys and the remote to our garage and gates. I can't just climb into the dumpster with Brayden so i am looking around for a place to set him down. No where....so I run back up to our apartment and lay him in the middle of the living room, give him a teething ring, turn on the TV ( a great babysitter at times) and then I run back down to the dumpster. I didn't want to wait to go find the keys because who knows what other trash might accumulate and i didn't want to have to dig through more than was necessary. Luckily, I found my keys and climbed back out of the dumpster and I don't even think anyone saw..but who cares if they did. I am sure they got a kick out of watching me dumpster dive. That night, when Jason got home from work, I am telling him about what happened and his comment was..."You must have a thing for getting in dumpsters. It reminds me of when we first met. How sweet...reliving our memories." Thank you sweet heart! Not quite what I was going for but yes, I did think about our fun that we had looking for your stolen stuff after your car got broken into at Leatherbys.

On another note...I had another funny situation occur...this one staring Brayden. We went to the doctor on Tuesday for his 6 month check-up. (He is getting big...18 pounds and giving mom some serious muscles!) The doctor and I were talking about Brayden's eating patterns and she gave me the go ahead to start Brayden on finger foods. So, that night...we tried it out. I gave Brayden some steamed carrots and some bread pieces and melt in your mouth puffs. He didn't know what mom was doing at first but he caught on quick. I walked away for a second to go to the bathroom and came right back. I walk into the kitchen and find Brayden with fists fulls of food and he stuffing it into his mouth. He sees me and gets this look on his face like he has totally been caught red handed. It was the cutest and funniest thing I have seen in a long time. I had such a good laugh over the whole thing.

Besides funny and random incidents, I have talked to a lot of my good friends lately. Tia and I discussed her crazy dating life, Jerilyn and I talked about cakes, catering, and living in Las Vegas, Braint and I talked about married life, Halloween, and I had a fun time harassing him as always (all in good fun of course), and Shannon and I swapped stories about motherhood and shared tips we have found that work. It was so good to talk to so many good friends! I am so grateful for all of my friends. They make life so much better and I have been blessed to have such great friends. I love keeping in touch with all of you. It makes me so happy! Thanks everyone for being so awesome!

adendum to the previous videos posted...

A note to all readers...a good friend of mine recently said that the videos that were previously posted were creepy and "Blair Witch Project" like. Well I just could not have that when Brayden really was giggling and laughing. I'm sorry the video was dark and i was holding the camera becasue Jason was at work. Anyway...the videos were too happy to have them come across that way so i took them off. I hope no one got the wrong impression. Thank you to you who i will not name for that comment haha.

A call to all mothers, women, and friends...any ideas?

ok...i am breaking down and asking for ideas...support...anything. I just don't know what to do anymore...I've tried everything i can think of. So, Brayden has been super fussy lately. I feel like I am constantly fighting with him over everything...eating..sleeping...playing...he doesn't want to do anything but be fussy. He is obviously teething. His two bottom teeth keep floating around. They pop up and we think they are going to come through at any time and then they go back down. He is drooling like there is no tomorrow and wants to chomp on everything. I think one of the hardest things for me is that everyday is so painfully the same. We do the same things everyday and it is driving me nuts! Jason comes home from work and asks how are days was and what we did and it is always the same answer...nothing special..same thing we did yesterday. I know their is not a lot you can do with a 6 month old. We take walks...we play...i cherish nap times even if they only last 1/2 hour at a time. Brayden's sleep schedule has recently changed and that is also frustrating. I know teething is no fun for anyone....Motherhood is surely teaching me patience on a whole other level!
Now don't get me wrong...I love, love, love being a mom. It brings me such happiness and joy and i am so blessed to be able to have Brayden in my life. I do love being able to be a stay at home mom and I am so blessed to be able to do so...it is just frustrating at times and has its own unique set of challenges. I think it is a much harder job than actually being in the work force.
Does anyone have ideas of things we can do to change the routine? Any great teething ideas? We've done orajel, teething rings, Popsicles, teething tablets, Motrin... and if you don't have any ideas some friendly support would be terrific! thanks everyone!

My little Tigger...

I know...I know...Halloween is a couple weeks away but I couldn't wait. I just thought Brayden looked so cute in his Halloween costume! What a cute little tigger! He was so cute and cuddly in it and he was happy and smiling and my heart just melted. What can I say...I get sucked in by those cute little smiles and his laughs and giggles. Stay tuned for the real Halloween pictures!

BK's First Haircut...

This weekend we decided to give Brayden a haircut...We were cutting Jason's hair and we decided to even out Brayden's hair a little since the front is growing in so much faster than the rest of his hair. We gave him a little buzz and he was done. He did great! To clean him off we stuck him in the shower. We got a kick out of it but Brayden did not. He had a pure look of terror on his face the whole time and did not know what the heck was going on.

What a difference 6 months makes..!

I can't belive that it has been 6 months since Brayden was born! What a difference that time makes! I look at Brayden every day and I am so amazed at how big he is and how he is growing and developing. Here are some fun videos that we have taken. The first is from he day Brayden was born. You have to remember that Brayden's arms and legs were ity-bity. He was ity-bity! He was 4 lbs! His legs were the size of almost 2 of my fingers! Look at how he has grown! He is now 17.5 lbs and 25 inchs long. That means he has gained 13. 5 pounds and grown 8 inches.

The President and His Advisor...

First of all, this picture cracks me up!...So, this is Jason and my brother-in-law Brooks. They are sitting in the office at our apartment talking to Lizzie on the phone. Lizzie had called while we were all in the middle of a game of 5-crowns wanting ideas of things to do for this boy's birthday that she likes in her ward. We turned the phone over to the boys to give her ideas. They called her back after the game and apparently the 20 minutes that she had to wait was too long! The things boys do to us girls!... I walked into the room to find the boys like this and it looked like Brooks was the President and Jason was his advisor. We all got a good laugh at those two. They keep things interesting when we get together and we love them both. I also thought you would enjoy the picture liz!

6 months old and a trip to Apple Hill...

This past weekend, with family in town for Brayden's baby blessing, we went to Apple Hill with the Sessions family. Apple Hill is a bunch of apple farm with craft fairs and all sorts of good food and fun things for kids to do. We went to the High Hill Ranch. We looked at the craft booths...had lunch...ate lots of good stuff including awesome apple cider and apple fritters. We had a fun time with Jason's parents and his brother Cam and his family. That night, after apple hill, the women went to the Relief Society Broadcast and the guys stayed home and watched the Georgia vs. Alabama football game. Grandma Sessions with her Moose Sign...
Brayden is now 6 months old and growing like crazy! He is getting so big! I know his is...but I think he looks huge to me considering how little he was when he was born. Now he has cute little chubby legs and checks that i love to kiss!