Our first trip as the 4 of us

Brad had his first vacation time off for a friends wedding in southern Washington and we added some stops along the way. First stop (after the outlets that Brad can not pass up) was my parents house. My dad's surgery was the following day and it was great to spend the evening with them. His surgery went well and they feel they got all of the tumor - YAY!!! He was home 2 days later and is doing great!

Our next stop was Great Wolf Lodge - this is what TJ and really all of us were looking forward to the most and we had a great time!!! They were so kind to upgrade us to a beautiful 2 bedroom suite which was amazing! Jami met us there to help watch the kids while Brad and I went on the big rides! THANKS JAMI! We had extra bracelets so our friend Shanna and her two kids were able to join us as well which was alot of fun! Terrace had a great time and was really comfortable in the water. She was able to do a couple slides by herself and was really proud and excited. She wants to go back to play in the pool and in the arcade.

Then we were onto Vancouver for the wedding weekend. Brad was able to golf with the wedding party and catch up with his old roommate. I took the kids to a jungle playland and TJ had a great time running around!!! It was challenging getting around a city I did not know but we figured it out. We spent the next morning at the Portland zoo and TJ was really into the animals this time. She has always enjoyed going to zoo's but this time she was really excited about most of the exhibits. The wedding was beautiful and fun - though it was a lot of work with 2 children! Terrace could not wait to start dancing and LOVED the added bow Brad helped her with (from the chairs). The last day we spent taking our time heading home which made for a long day.

We survived all sleeping in one room and the kids were great travelers. Brad and I were able to talk during most of the car ride which was great to be able to finish a conversation :)

Braeden's bed for most of the trip was his car seat and he did really well


Great Wolf Lodge -











Portland Zoo




Wedding Evening -

something only a child would do...

Terrace was so excited for our trip that when we went to check on her before we went to bed, we found her sleeping like this -




backpack on and ready to go. It was so cute!

2 months old

Well, as we all say - time has gone quickly and Braeden is already 2 months old. We have had true enjoyment with him the last couple days and he is so smiley and cooing often! It is just a wonderful interaction and TJ gets very excited when he smiles and "talks" to her. He had his 2 month check up and he is now 12 lbs 10 oz (75%) and almost 24 inches tall. It looks as though he will have brown eyes or some other color than blue. Braeden does not usually like his diaper changed or bath but is pretty content but can again get pretty fussy in the evenings unless being held :) Terrace has been so patient when he is need of help and she wants something as well. I hope to get some good single pictures of Braeden on here soon.

We have had a busy day getting ready for some time away and will have tons of pictures to post when we get back. Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers as we just found out that my dad will be getting a tumor removed later this week from his kidney. The tumor did not spread into his liver which is great news and they will biopsy it to see if it is cancerous. We will be spending tomorrow night with them before continuing on our travels and then hopefully hanging out with them at home for Father's Day. LOVE YOU DAD!

attempt at pictures of Braeden smiling yesterday! when he see's the camera he just stares at it...



Picnic dinner at a park in Blaine - I knew T would love the stage to dance. She also LOVES her crown from burger king.



an attempt at a picture of the 3 of us


Braeden loved the park so much that he fell asleep - he has yet to stay awake in the moby more than 5 minutes.


dancing





we met up with William who we have not seen in some time - he is now 13 and we almost look eye to eye. For those of you that knew him when he was younger - he still has that amazing smile and gives great hugs!


Terrace on her bike! She is now a cautious rider and insists on wearing her knee pads (which she calls shin guards) since falling a couple times but is on her bike at least once a day.


in her unique gardening attire - helping Brad create some curb appeal in our front yard this weekend.

week in review

I am trying not to get behind in the blogging world. We took Braeden to get weighed this week - TJ loves coming with. We go to a local non profit called Mother Baby Center and they have wonderful family rooms set up so TJ can color or play with toys and we can read after I weigh Braeden while I am feeding him. We even found a selection of free books and she was VERY excited to pick out an Ariel book as she is very excited about Ariel these days (since Grandma Mac brought up a couple DVD's after B was born). I tend to be concerned that I am not producing enough milk but Braeden is gaining weight just fine and was up to 11 lbs 13 oz so I just need to relax! He is sleeping longer some nights (did 8 hrs last night - though I was up with TJ at 2 and then cats woke me up at 4 so I did not sleep 8 hrs...bummer) and taking some great naps. We are excited to see who Braeden becomes as he is already such a joy!

Terrace is doing great and is now potty trained!!! YAY! We have some accidents but she is now telling us when she needs to use the restroom and it is not always us telling her to go. She is still really excited about it and we are very proud of her! We also got her a bike this weekend. After searching soooo many stores for a princess bike and not finding one, we ended up with a dora bike and princess helmet. She is sooo excited and is already zooming around the neighborhood - it will be a good workout for me to keep up with her!

This was Brad's first long weekend off since B was born and it was wonderful. He is home with the kids while I got a massage, grocery shop and update the blog. This weekend we met some of our friends at jungle playland down south, had some friends over for dinner 2 nights in a row and enjoyed the wonderful weather out at Larabee State Park. Brad is taking vacation soon and we will be staying one night at great wolf lodge and 2 more nights at a hotel as his roommate from college is getting married. It shall be interesting to see how well we all do after 3 nights of sleeping in one room - luckily the kids seem to be heavy sleepers!

Larabee - great rocks to climb, tidepools (TJ was comfortable touching most sea life) and lots of purple starfish!






Using the Moby Wrap!


Terrace trying out the Moby Wrap with mimi for the first time - too cute!


Lake Samish - we met our play group here earlier in the week.

having fun in the sun

We have had some great weather the last couple weeks and we are outside enjoying it often. Braeden is doing well and last week was almost at 11 1/2 lbs and no longer fits in his newborn clothes. We can see his legs and cheeks getting bigger (very cute). He LOVES when TJ talks and sings to him - his eyes just light up and he coo's back at her occasionally. He is smiling now but it still takes quite a bit of work - but is worth it bc it is adorable! Braeden is very content unless he is hungry and he will let you know. He does have a fussy period starting around 5 pm and just wants to be held but is also sleeping better at night and usually I can get a 4-5 hr chunk of sleep as well :) We feel like we are over the hump of adjustment with TJ as well, she loves him very much and is eager to try to help or calm him when he is fussy or crying.

Brad is also done with his turnaround and back to regular schedule. YAY!!! It will be an adjustment when I have to do the night shift (dinner, bath, bed) by myself as he has been home every night. Below are pictures of what we have been up too -

It is the start of sprinkler season - still a little chilly with the wind when we had this out but TJ does not care



Braeden is luckily pretty content in his car seat - it has worked well to get him shade at parks - BUT we got a new stroller that will provide shade as well so I won't need to cart around the HEAVY carseat!


Ski to Sea party over Memorial Day weekend. Brad did not have a team this year since everyone was working. Fairhaven was CRAZY, but after some shaved ice and shade we had a GREAT time watching Terrace dance to Space Band. The singer and the drummer were part of the band from our wedding - it made me smile so much to see her dancing! She really wants to see the "singers" again so I hope they have more all ages shows!

enjoying a horse ride!






Braeden 1 month pictures - see below that our cat Bob (better known as bubba) is still bigger than braeden and MUCH heavier






Date night to a beautiful restaurant on the water - TJ was at our good friends house and we brought B with us! We were there for almost 4 hrs addressing our announcements, hanging out with friends and eating yummy food! It was hard trying to keep B shaded but we found my lightweight nursing coverup worked great - sleeping on my lap and then with Micah (who was in the delivery room supporting me both times but sadly unable to view either c-section) THANKS MICAH!



We had a great family day at Lake Whatcom enjoying lunch, swimming in the lake and playing at the park. Braeden enjoyed the fresh air as well.



Braeden and mommy -