Brandon, Brittany, Kayla, and Tessa

Family pictures

2011-11-28T14:05:00.004-07:00

Two months ago we had a good friend of ours take our family pictures. She did great and I think she did a wonderful job capturing the kids' personalities. We of course had to get a classic Iowa corn picture!
The primary song, "I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home" completely applies to our family. It is absolute mayhem when Brandon walks in the door. I have never seen kids adore their dad as much as these kids do Brandon. He is the best father!
My sweet Tessa! She is my little giggler. She laughs at anything I say and is always up for a dance party.

Kayla is getting to be such a big girl. She has learned to read and can read almost anything. She has such a desire to learn. She is always asking Brandon to teach her things that he has learned about at school. She loves learning about the human body and how it all works. She amazes me!
This is a perfect picture to depict what these kids are like. Kayla is always trying to cooperate and do what she is supposed to do. Tessa makes her feelings quite known and Jace is the smiliest brightest light in the world.

This little man has brought so much joy to our lives. His sisters can't get enough of him and to tell the truth, I can't either. I can't kiss him or squeeze him enough.

I feel so lucky and blessed to have these people in my life. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

Jace’s birth story FINALLY!

2011-09-03T15:37:00.004-06:00

I had a few weeks of the pregnancy left and I had to get an ultrasound because my belly was measuring about 3 weeks too small. I got the ultrasound on March 17^th, and the tech told me that everything looked great, in fact, Jace was measuring exactly what he should. On the 22^nd, I got a call from Dr. Wenzel. She said that my fluid was very low (it was a 4 or 5 and normal is above 10), so I needed to come in the next day for a non-stress test and be prepared for induction if there were any problems. Kassie Abarca took the kids the next morning (Wednesday), and Brandon and I went to the hospital. We had mixed emotions about having Jace that day- Brandon had his big internal medicine exam on Friday, but we were really excited to meet Jace. Again, Jace looked great, so they said the induction could wait. We were a little disappointed, but we scheduled induction for the next Monday (the 28^th). Brandon got a day off of his next rotation (family medicine). I liked knowing when it was because I got a lot of organizing/cleaning done before hand.

I woke up at 6 on Monday to call and make sure there was an open room for me. There wasn’t! We were so anxious to meet Jace so it was hard because we had no idea how long we would have to wait. I hadn’t slept the night before because I was so excited, and it would be hard for Brandon to get another day off of work. As I lay down to take a nap around 10, Brandon came running up the stairs and handed me my ringing phone. They told us we could come and be there by 11:00! We rushed the kids to Elsha Haberle’s house, and then went to Mercy Hospital in Iowa City.

We got there right around 11:00. Dr. Wenzel was very excited to see me. They had been very busy all morning and she had been asking the nurses if I was there yet. She pulled some strings so I could have priority to get in faster. I had been having minor contractions through the night, so I was ready. They broke my water and started a normal does of pitocin, but my contractions started coming too close together, so they backed off on the pitocin. I think I might have gone in to labor that day even if they had not induced me. Because of the past 2 labors we knew that the epidural would take a long time to work, so I started getting it when I was at a 4. Brandon told the anesthesiologist about my issues, and so when the epidural didn’t work (for the third child in a row!), she did an intrathecal injection, which felt GREAT! But about an hour later, it was wearing off. I started feeling pressure with the contractions, then pain, then I was feeling everything. I wanted something else for the pain, but the doctor came in and said I was ready to have the baby! It was 2:45. She got prepped and came back in at 2:50. I could feel everything and it hurt so bad! But I pushed for 5 minutes and he was out at 2:55 pm. The entire labor was only 2 hours long! I keep cutting 2 hours off my labor time with each kid. Kayla was 6 hours, Tessa was 4 hours and Jace was only 2. I better just camp out at the hospital for my next kid!

With my past labors I didn’t feel a thing because the epidural s eventually started working. I couldn’t even feel if I was pushing with each contraction. All I did when they told me to push was hold my breath and it seemed to work. With Jace I could feel EVERYTHING. I think if the labor had lasted longer the epidural would have finally kicked in because in the past it took a couple of hours to work. It was such an intense feeling when I had to push. It made my eyes water because it hurt so bad, but I loved the feeling of accomplishment I had once he came out. There was such a sense of relief. Feeling that intense pain made the experience even sweeter when it was over. Brandon cut the cord and they placed Jace on my chest. Brandon didn’t cry, just like he didn’t cry with our other two children or at our wedding. Jace was so cute! He weighed 7 lbs 12 oz and was 20 in. long. His little bottom lip was trembling when he cried and he had little stork bites all over his body. The stork bites went away after a couple of hours. He definitely looked like he belonged in our family. It is so fun to see that we have a family look going. He looked different than the other kids, but also so similar. He really looked a lot like Tessa. Sometimes when we see a baby picture of Tessa we think it is Jace until we see that she is wearing pink.

I stayed in the hospital for 2 days and my mom came that Thursday. It was so nice to have her here to help. I think she helped a lot with the transition for the girls because I was able to give them the same amount of attention as I had been before since my mom was here to hold Jace for me a bunch. She was here for three weeks and about the day she left, Jace was one month old, he started getting fussy a lot more. We really didn’t know what to do to help him, but we put him on an acid reflux medicine that seemed to help a little, but he still cried for hours every day. It was a difficult time because he just wanted to be held all day, but because he is a third child it just wasn’t possible. He just screamed and screamed and screamed. I never left the house because it was such a process and I usually made a big scene where ever I went because he would just cry the whole time. We really loved the little guy so much, I was just so exhausted mentally and physically because of what was being demanded of me.

When Jace hit 4 months old we hit a breakthrough. He let me put him down! Up to that point I knew that if I ever dared to lay him down he was going to break out into a blood curdling scream. One day I put him down expecting to hear his wrath, but he didn’t do anything. I couldn’t believe it! His happy moments began to linger and his angry moments began to disappear. I felt like we were starting all over again and I was getting to know my precious baby boy all over again. I started running errands with the kids again and taking them to the park and I was able to do all these things successfully! He remained calm and happy the whole time. He would even coo and giggle and smile! It has been so wonderful! We love this little man so much! He has such a sweet personality and is always all smiles. He loves his sisters. He follows their every movement. He still isn’t a great sleeper, but I would much rather have him happy in the day and rough at night than vice-versa. In the beginning when he was colicky he was actually a pretty good sleeper. I only had to get up with him twice a night to feed him and it lasted about 15 minutes and then he would go right back to sleep for about 3 more hours. Now he isn’t eating at night, but he wimpers all through the night. We are now making him cry it out and it is going a bit better, but there is still A LOT of room for improvement. He is growing so big. He is greater than the 95^th percentile in both weight and height (and of course head).

I’m so grateful to have this boy in my life. I can’t imagine my life without him and I truly am in love. I feel so blessed to be living the life I get to live.

36 Week Belly Pics

2011-03-07T11:40:00.003-07:00

I can't believe I have less than 4 weeks to go! I am so ready for this little guy to come! I can't wait to hold him and see what he looks like! I'm not a fan of taking multiple pictures documenting my protruding belly so I usually just take one when I am 8 months along and call it good. I would say that I am quite a bit bigger this third time around than the last two. If you look at the picture below this one it was when I was pregnant with Kayla and I seem a bit smaller. I am measuring 2 weeks smaller than average right now, but with both Tessa and Kayla I was always measuring 5 weeks smaller than average. I also seem to gain 5 more pounds with each pregnancy. With Kayla I gained 15 lbs. With Tessa I gained 20 lbs, and for this one I have gained 20 lbs so far and I will probably gain 5 more over the next 4 weeks. I have definitely felt this pregnancy more than the last two. Pretty much every step I take is very painful and I can't stand for more than a few minutes. I always thought people were just being wimps when they complained about their aching bodies when they were pregnant, but now I am seeing how tough it really is. I look forward to having my body back and being comfortable again.

Kayla is taking swimming lessons right now and having the time of her life. Every day she asks if it is a swimming lessons day.

I love these people so much!

Brandon missed his bus the other day so he took the van which left us stuck at home for the whole day. So, what did we do? We made a tent out the of the bunk bed!

Our Christmas!!

2011-01-25T07:43:00.004-07:00

We had a blast this Christmas! The week before we left to Utah we celebrated with just our family and had the girls open their presents from us. It was such a fun day and it truly felt like Christmas. We spent the whole day just hanging out in our pajamas and playing with our new toys. Brandon bought me a new sewing machine which I am so excited about, but I have yet to sew anything with it. That is my next project.

Brandon is so cute with Kayla... he had the idea to make this fun Christmas wreath with her cute little hands. I love it!
We spent the first two weeks of our vacation with Brandon's family so we celebrated Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with them. All the kids woke up to the presents having been placed like a Christmas tree.
After we opened all our presents at the Egbert's we went over to my parent's house. Kayla loves to dress up and my mom gave her a new Cinderella dress. She wears is all the time. It was fun because Grandma Egbert had given her a Cinderella Barbie doll so she carried it around while she wore her beautiful dress.

Once again they are dressing up. My mom saved all of my little sister's old dance costumes so Kayla and Tessa had a blast trying them on.
Every year for the last 4 years Brandon has taken on the project of making the tallest snowman he can manage. It gets taller every year. This year's project truly was amazing. His whole family pitched in and it was a fun day trying to break our record.
We went up to Yellowstone for a few days one of the weekends we were there. I left my girls with my parents and we drove up with Brandon's family. It was such a great trip. It was fun to have a little break from parenting and Yellowstone is absolutely beautiful. It averaged 0 degrees so all of our pictures are comical because we were so cold, but we had a great time. We saw buffalo, and bald eagles. We saw Old Faithful and more snow than I have ever seen in my life.

I had to say good-bye to my little brother for two years when I left to come back to Iowa. He is leaving on a mission to Mexico City in two months. We got a family picture while we were out there because it is the last time we will all be together for several years. It is already almost outdated because I am pregnant and my sister-in-law is expecting in June. I guess that is how it is going to be from now on though. We will always be adding new members to the family. Hopefully we will add a wife soon for my brother Jason :) I snatched this picture off our photographers website so ignore the words going across my dad's face. I love my family so much. I'm so grateful we were able to spend so much time with both of our families.

Saying good-bye to an old friend

2010-11-25T20:15:00.004-07:00

Today my best buddy and pet passed away. He was the best dog any girl could ask for. I begged my parents for a puppy and they finally gave me one for my 14th birthday. My dad wanted him the least, but Quigley softened him up on no time. That dog preferred my dad over anyone else and eventually my dad because just as attached to him. He has been my most loyal friend. He slept on my bed every night up until the time I moved out of my parents house. He had the most playful spirit. I loved him so much that when I was pregnant with Kayla, Brandon worried that I wouldn't be able to love our daughter as much because I was giving it all to Quigley. The last year or so he has started getting very sick and today he decided he had had enough. I'm so grateful that he chose to pass away on a day that my whole family was gathered together for Thanksgiving. My mom and brother sat with him and pet him while he took his last breaths. A part of me wished that I could have been in Utah to grieve with my family, but I am also glad that I wasn't there to see him die. I can just remember him for what he was. I will miss his greeting when we come for Christmas. I'm so thankful I got to spend 12 wonderful years with him.

We're having a BOY!!!!!

2010-11-21T12:18:00.002-07:00

We are having a boy!!! We are beyond excited! We had our ultrasound last week and Brandon could tell it was a boy within 3 seconds of looking but he didn't say anything. He is trained with ultrasounds so it took me a little longer, but I saw it for myself before the tech even told us. We are so happy that we will have a boy and girls in our family. We would have been just as excited if it was another girl, but I do know for sure that I don't want a family of all girls. I want both genders represented so now a lot of pressure has lifted and we are ecstatic! I can't wait to have a little boy. I love their energy and I can't wait to buy little boy clothes! Four more months and we get to meet him!

R.I.P.

2010-11-07T14:16:00.002-07:00

We got back from Utah last week and Brandon surprised the girls by buying them four goldfish the day we were coming home. Unfortunately two of the fish died within a few hours. The remaining two fish died sometime during the drive to Des Moines and back when he went to pick us up. When we walked in the door the two little fishies were belly up. So, Monday for family night we went back to the pet store and bought four more fish. The girls were so excited. Three of them made it through the night and then each day we lost one more. I was getting sick of seeing dead fish floating around in a bowl and I was even more sick of seeing what the other fish do to the dead fish. I don't know what this one fish was doing, but he looked like he was trying to eat the dead fish. He would just lurk around it and run into it over and over again with it's face. It really gave me the creeps. Finally with three fish dead and only one living I told Brandon to flush it down the toilet because I knew it was only a matter of time before that one went belly up as well. He took care of it and flushed in down the toilet. We did this without Kayla and Tessa's knowledge. Later Kayla came into the bathroom and started laughing hysterically because the fish somehow survived the flush and was swimming around in the toilet bowl. The girls got a big kick out of that. We put some food in the toilet and since we have two toilets we decided to leave it in the toilet and see how long it would last. It lasted until the next day so I flushed it down. I don't know what the deal is. They were only $.28 each, but we couldn't seem to keep them alive. Rest in peace little fishies. We are going to take a break from purchasing more fish for awhile. I can't take any more deaths.

Fun with family

2010-10-31T13:06:00.003-06:00

We just got back to Iowa last night from a three week trip to Utah. We had such a great time. The girls had fun playing with their aunts and uncles and they loved all the attention they got form grandparents. I love everything about Utah! I love the weather, the people, family, THE WEATHER, and the mountains. I'm so happy we got to go out there again. We went a few months ago and on our way home it took us two days to fly because of cancellations and dumb United Airline employees. For our trouble they gave me some vouchers so we needed to use them up before the next baby came and we had already bought our Christmas tickets so I picked a time when Brandon would be the busiest and we boogied on out of Iowa. We fit a lot into those three weeks. We went down to St. George for part of a day; we played in the canyon; we went to a Halloween party; we hit all the restaurants that I crave when I'm in Iowa by eating out A LOT; we went to Gardner Village; and we did a lot more things that I just can't remember right now. I didn't do great at taking very many pictures but here are a few.
My dad's work lets kids come in and trick-or-treat. Luckily my mom had some fun things for the girls to dress up in because we hadn't brought costumes with us. It turned out to be really fun. I was surprised at the amount of people that were there. Apparently Symantec is a popular place to trick-or-treat. Tessa is dressed up as a little leopard.

Kayla is my beautiful fairy princess.

Every day is dress up day at our house. Tessa looks like she is wearing some kind of turban :)

My grandma was there visiting from Delaware for the first three days we visited. She hadn't seen Kayla since she was a newborn and she has never seen Tessa. We had to get a four generation picture.

My crazy family!

Baby #3!!

2010-10-02T08:41:00.003-06:00

Yes! We are expecting baby number three! We are so excited! This picture is actually a picture of Tessa's ultrasound. I am 14 weeks along and doing well. I think the worst is behind me. Up until last week I was feeling very sick and practically nonfunctional, but now I feel a lot better and I am so happy about that. It's hard to have two little ones that need my constant attention and not have the energy to help them. We feel so blessed to be expecting this new addition to the family. I have no inclination as to what the gender is. All three of my pregnancies have been very different. When I was pregnant with Tessa I was positive she was a boy, just because of the difference between her pregnancy and Kayla's. This time around I have no idea. We really want a boy someday so we would be ecstatic if it is, but I have also loved every minute of my life with my two girls so I would not be disappointed in the least to have another one.
Tessa of course has no idea what is going on, but Kayla is at a fun age where she understands and is really excited. Kayla wants it to be a boy named Charlie. When we were visiting in Utah a few months ago, my parent's neighbor had a little newborn baby named Charlie and she was loving seeing the baby so now she thinks we are having a Charlie of our own. Don't worry Mandy we aren't going to steal your name :) I will be sure to post in 6 weeks when we know the gender.

Hats off to Dad and Garrett!

2010-09-26T15:35:00.005-06:00

I'm so proud of my dad and my little brother. On Sept. 11th they participated in the craziest bike race I have ever heard of. It's 206 miles from Logan Utah to Jackson Hole Wyoming. It took them 12 hours to complete the race including stops to refuel (you gotta eat a lot if you are using that much energy!) My dad as of late has become a bicycling maniac, if you will. He would do it all day every day if it was socially acceptable and if he didn't have to go to work every day to provide for his family. I'm glad he and Garrett got the chance to do this. They had a blast and it always feels great to accomplish something so challenging. Way to go guys!!!

First day of Preschool!

2010-09-07T15:37:00.003-06:00

Kayla went to her first day of preschool today! She was sooo excited! The preschool is on a little farm with all kinds of animals for the kids to take care of. Kayla is so excited that there is a llama with her same name! Today they got to feed the pig named Pearl. I love the program they have at this school. Each of the children is given a little chore to do and they switch off feeding the different animals. There is a pony to ride, llamas, chickens, turkeys, pigs, goats, cows, swans and two dogs that follow the kids around and are just like little kids themselves. Kayla's teacher is so sweet. There are so many fun activities for the kids to do. They have mounds of books and Kayla's favorite, they have a little stage! There is a sledding hill for the winter, and a wonderful playground for the warmer days. I signed Kayla up for their van service that comes and picks her up in the morning and drops her off in the afternoon. It's wonderful because the school is about 20 minutes away and so I don't have to worry about driving her there. She came home exhausted, but very happy and couldn't wait to tell me everything she did. I missed her so much while she was gone. I cried as she drove away. She is my little buddy and I love spending time with her. Tessa and I are going to have to figure out what to do with ourselves while she is away. Tessa had a hard time with it too. She is Kayla's little shadow and so she became my shadow while Kayla was gone, but I'm not as fun as Kayla is.

5 Years ago today!

2010-09-02T07:50:00.007-06:00

September 2nd 2005 was the best day of my life up to that point! The love of my life asked me to marry him! I'm so grateful for the last five years we have spent together. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me. He is the most patient, kind, lovable husband I could have ever wished for. Every year it gets better and I can't wait to see what the future brings.
We went to Brandon's family cabin about 1 1/2 hours away. Brandon's family came down too to join us. I had no idea what was going on. I thought we were just there to play. We started out by riding the four wheeler down to the lake.
There was a canoe waiting for us at the lake. Brandon said that it was his uncles and he always leaves it there. I still didn't suspect a thing. Brandon wanted us to row out to a small island in the middle of the lake because he wanted to show me something. I'm grateful I brought my camera along. I snapped pictures the whole time, not because I thought something was going on, but I just wanted to document our fun trip.
The island turned out being a pretty far row away. It took us about 45 min to get there. I wanted to turn back a few times because Brandon's sisters were waiting for us to get back so they could ride the four wheeler. I later found out that they just said that to throw me off.
Brandon and his best friends drove down to the cabin the night before and rowed out to the island to prepare for the next night. Brandon said that these four big boys in the canoe was a funny sight. The canoe was about to sink from all their weight.
When we got to the island Brandon blindfolded me. Finally at this point I knew what was happening. He led me a ways into the island and when he took of the blindfold this is what I saw! He had sprinkled rose petals all over the ground and he tried to light some candles, but it was too windy. There were two dozen roses on the table and a banana cream pie (my favorite!)
After I finished my pie this is what was written on my plate...
This was in the rose that held the ring.

I love my ring so much! It is so simple and elegant. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! I said yes of course!
We went back to his cabin and my whole family was there along with Brandon's family. That was a wonderful surprise. I was on cloud nine!
When I got back to my house that night there were 4 more dozen roses waiting for me. I am the luckiest girl alive. He had planned out such a special night and everything went perfectly.

A Day at the Lake

2010-08-29T12:45:00.002-06:00

Our favorite thing to do this summer has been to go swim and play at the lake on Saturdays. The weather gets to hot out here in Iowa that nothing feels better than swimming in a nice cool body of water. Kayla absolutely LOVES it. She is our little fish. Tessa likes it as long as I am the one that holds her. She is terrified of Brandon for some reason when we are at the lake. We don't understand why because I am rougher with her in the water than he is, but for some reason she doesn't trust him. It's kind of funny. We went with some friends yesterday and had a wonderful time. The men played some football and the girls sat in the sun and soaked up some sun. Ahhh, I love days when Brandon is off from school and we can play as a family.

This is just a bragging picture for me. I did two french braids on Kayla's hair the other day and it was my first time. She looked so cute and I was pretty proud of myself!

Utah Trip

2010-07-13T19:00:00.005-06:00

Wow! My last post was about Tessa walking! That was so long ago that I can't even remember a time that she wasn't walking! We took a trip out to Utah to visit family last month while Brandon stayed in Iowa to study for his Boards. We had such a blast. Kayla loves to play with her aunt Abby and Tessa loves all the attention she gets.

My little brother, Jared graduated from high school. This is my whole family minus my brother Jason, he had to work.

My three handsome bro's!
My dad is such a stud! He is 50 years old and is competing in triathlons! He placed 5th in his age group and had the fastest biking time!

It is impossible to get these two girls to stop playing and pose for a picture. I have to do it when they are eating and this is what we end up with.

My beautiful sister Kristen turned 16 while I was there and had the boys literally lined up to take her out. She went on a date the night she turned 16, the night after that, and following night!

Grandma Egbert bought Kayla this adorable dress.
Grandpa took Kayla for a ride on the scooter.

Jared is a weirdo and Kayla LOVED it!
Kayla turned 3 years old on our trip. She LOVES princesses and so my mom gave her a princess Aurora dress for her birthday. She wore it every day!

Tessa is walking!

2010-04-04T06:49:00.003-06:00

Last week I was sitting on the couch enjoying a book while the girls played on the floor. I looked up suddenly when I saw movement and Tessa was walking across the room! We had been trying for weeks to get her to walk and she was never interested. She liked to stand up by herself wherever she was, but when we tried to get her to take a step she would always just laugh and crawl away. I don't know how she did it but she taught herslef to walk. I don't know how to post videos so once I figure that out I will post if for the grandparents. She still prefers to crawl, but she can walk as well. I'm so excited! She and Kayla are already the best of friends and now it is just going to be more fun. They are going to love running around and playing together.

Spring is here!

2010-03-28T19:01:00.003-06:00

Iowa winters are unlike anything else I have ever experienced. Growing up in Utah, when spring came I was happy; but when spring comes in Iowa I feel victorious. It's like I've conquered some sort of battle. Even if the temperature is only 40 degrees it feels like a sin to not be outside enjoying it. Here are a few pictures of what we have been up to the last few weeks.

This is Tessa and Kayla's new favorite game. Tessa is starting to walk so she likes to hold on to Kayla while she walks around the room. Kayla will fall down on purpose causing Tessa to fall as well which results in a lot of laughter.
We took a walk around our favorite park the other day. This is an example of us feeling like we needed to be outside even though it was still a little cold. The pond still had a lot of ice and Kayla is shivering in this picture.
I pulled out Kayla's old swimming suit for Tessa and bought Kayla a new one. I took the girls to an indoor pool with a friend and they had a blast. Kayla jumped right in, but Tessa took awhile to get comfortable. Eventually she enjoyed it.

Kayla is so silly.

Strike a pose!

My handsome husband! I was brave and cut his hair for the first time last week. I think I did pretty good. What do you think?

Last weeks was Spring Break for the students. Brandon studied for his Boards most of the week, but he did take a little time to spend with the family. We had a bonfire with some friends one of the nights and roasted marshmallows and hot dogs.

Tessa Turns One!!!

2010-03-14T20:29:00.003-06:00

My little baby girl turned one today! I can't believe how fast this year went. She is such a joy. She already has the funniest personality and I cant wait to see it develop even more. She absolutely adores her older sister and lights up whenever Kayla is around. Today was a perfect day to celebrate a birthday. It was the first day of pleasant weather we have had since before the winter. I love my little girl so much and I feel so blessed to call her mine.

Update

2010-02-28T15:15:00.004-07:00

My little brother Jason returned home from his mission while I was visiting family in Utah. He had been serving in the Italy Catania mission for two years. Everyone was so excited to see him again. I was especially excited because Kayla had grown up so much and he had yet to meet Tessa. His plane got in at 10:00 p.m. so I had to wake the girls up so we could drive up to the airport. Kayla was just a baby when Jason left, but she loved him so much. She would always get the biggest smile when she saw him. She had heard a lot about him over the last two years, but obviously didn't remember him. She was a little shy when she first saw him, but she warmed up over time.

Here is Kayla waving her Italian flag waiting for Elder Bodine to get off the plane.

Tessa was a little skeptical.

Me and my handsome little bro.

We all got pretty sick while we were in Utah. Here is cute Kayla trying to deal with a runny nose.

We didn't see Brandon for four weeks because he had to go back to Iowa for school. Tessa changed a lot in those weeks. She learned to crawl, clap and got 6 teeth!

We finally came back to Iowa on Feb. 6th after being gone for 7 weeks. The girls were so excited to see their dad. They could get enough of him and he couldn't get enough of them.

Our Time in Utah

2010-01-05T15:14:00.006-07:00

We have had so much fun out here in Utah. Here are a few things we have done.

Kayla got a hair cut today! For so long now I haven't known what to do with her hair. It was looking like a mullet so I just took her in and chopped it all off to even it out. I love it! She feels so pretty with her new due as well.

This is Kayla's hair before she got it cut.

We took the girls sledding the other day and Kayla had a blast. She couldn't get enough of it. You just can't beat Utah winters. I took them for granted when I lived here. The snow is so beautiful and unlike Iowa it isn't too cold to play in. We miss our Utah mountains as well.

Brandon and his family built a 20 ft tall snowman. He is pretty proud of it. He convinced all of his siblings to stay home from skiing to help him with it.

My sweet little Tessa Rose.

Kayla and Brandon's sister Abby got matching outfits for Christmas.

We spent a few days at the Egbert's cabin in Scofield. It was nice to get away in the mountains and hang out with the fam. Kayla was a little daredevil on the four-wheeler. She wasn't scared no matter what Brandon did on it.

We had our fourth annual Christmas party with some of my high school friends. It was fun to see them all again. We have such a great time together.
Here are the three wisemen on Christmas Eve. (Left to right. Brandon, Garrett, Jared). They get weirder and weirder every year.
Tessa is starting to crawl which is adorable. My life is changing now though because nothing is safe! She gets into everything!

Getting Creative

2009-12-13T18:33:00.003-07:00

The other day I let Kayla pick out her own outfit and this is what she came up with.

Kayla is starting preschool with some friends and they made some cute gingerbread houses for their art project. She had more fun eating the candy than making the house.

Here is my sweet Tessa. I love my girls so much!

My Twins

2009-11-23T09:43:00.004-07:00

It is so fun for me to see Tessa in Kayla's old clothes. They grow out of them so fast and it makes me sad when I only get to see an outfit a couple of times before it gets too small. Kayla and Tessa are the exact same age in these pictures and they are wearing the exact same outfits. So cute!

NEW MOON

2009-11-22T14:58:00.004-07:00

Okay so I am a complete nerd and I went to the midnight showing of New Moon on Thursday night. I loved it! We thought we would play it safe and show up at the theater at 9:30 to wait in line, but the line was already ridiculously long. The people at the front of the line had been there since noon! I think that was a waste of their time though because we had great seats and we got there 9 1/2 hours later. New Moon is much better than Twilight. I was sad when it was over and I already want to go see it again. Kim, I hope you're not mad that I stole your picture off your blog :)

What we have been up to

2009-11-18T07:55:00.006-07:00

It has been awhile since I lost posted anything and a lot has happened. We went to Utah for 3 weeks in August for my brother's wedding. We had a blast hanging out with our families. We floated the Provo river and went to the zoo. Kayla has been potty trained for a few months now and that has made my life wonderful! Tessa is getting her first two teeth. She still isn't crawling, but I am very okay with that. Kayla took awhile to crawl and I was so anxious for her to learn, but once she did my whole world changed and I realized how easy I had it when she was stationary. With Tessa I am just appreciating that she will just sit there and be happy to play with her toys in one spot. Brandon is busy with school and only has four more weeks left of the most difficult semester in all the four years of medical school. It has been a tough few months for both of us. I have learned to deal with him not being around, but it is tough watching him work so hard and always be so stressed out. He always makes a little time for his family though even if it is just 30 minutes during dinner time and during that time he stays happy and he never shows us how stressed he is. He stays happy so that we can enjoy our limited family time. He is the best!

Can you tell which baby chick is Tessa and which one is Kayla?

Brandon's family pictures

Garrett's Wedding!

2009-11-16T12:11:00.007-07:00

We love our families!

2009-07-20T13:42:00.009-06:00

We have had such a fun summer so far! I have been really bad at updating our blog so sorry to the two people that read it. I am just going to list the things that I haven't updated lately as well as post a zillion pictures to document it. To start off, we moved 2 months ago to a new house and we absolutley love it! It is twice the size of our last apartment and cheaper rent. Kayla turned two years old! She is getting so big and so smart and we love her so much. She makes us laugh every single day. I had a birthday as well. Brandon planned a surprise party for me which I had always told him that if he ever did that he would die! It ended up being really fun though and I was glad he did it. Both my family as well as Brandon's family drove out here for a week each and we were able to spend some time with them. We spent some time in Nauvoo when each family was visiting. We feel so lucky to have Nauvoo so close to us. We also got family pictures taken two months ago which I have just been too lazy (or busy) to post.

Kayla on her 2nd birthday. It is also the day we moved to our new house so there are boxes everywhere.

Me on my birthday!

All the friends that showed up for the party. The reason I told Brandon he better never throw me a party was because I always figured no one would show up. We had a great turnout though and I'm so grateful for all the friends that helped Brandon make the day so special.

Kayla and her Aunt Abby when she came to visit. Abby is 3 months older than Kayla and they are best friends.

Carthage Jail with the Egbert family next to the window where the prophet Joseph Smith fell.

Brandon's cute family

My cute little girls were pooped out from all the sight seeing.

Kayla at the lake. She loved the water!

Brandon's siblings Ali, Ashley, and Kaleb.

Mississippi River

Walking the Trail of Hope

My family in Nauvoo

Carthage Jail, outside the window where the prophet fell.

We were able to go to the Nauvoo Pageant with my family which was wonderful! We were rained on the entire time! They had fun pioneer activities before the pageant started. Jared and Brandon are pulling me and Kayla.

My family copying Brandon's family.

Tessa being a little cutie pie

Kayla at the lake with my family

This is the only picture I have with Kayla's real smile. It is so hard to get her to smile for pictures. She always does a fake smile that is pretty, but doesn't really look like her. I'm so happy I finally have one that shows just how beautiful she is!

Congratulations Garret and Andrea!

2009-05-28T07:53:00.003-06:00

My little bro is getting married! I am so happy for him! For 31/2 years now Brandon and I have been the only ones married out of our siblings and FINALLY someone is joining us. He is marrying Andrea Forsyth from Spokane, Washington. The cute couple met at BYU and are getting married August 14th. My family just loves Andrea to death! I haven't gotten to know her as well as everyone else because we live so far away, but I really like what I do know and that is that Garrett is so in LOVE. Andrea, you are a lucky girl! Garrett is going to be the best husband! Garrett is a lucky guy too! We didn't think he would ever get such a pretty girl! Just kidding Garrett.

1/4 of the way done!

2009-05-27T08:09:00.003-06:00

Congratulations Brandon for finishing your first year of medical school! I know this is a little late, but I just want you to know how proud I am of you and I'm so thankful for how hard you work. This year was not easy for you, in fact it was probably the hardest of your life so far, but I know it will be worth it in the end and you are the best!

Life With Two Children

2009-04-28T09:25:00.005-06:00

Life with two kids has been great! I worried how I would handle it and if it would be too stressful. There are stressful moments, but overall it is very easy! Kayla loves Tessa so much and is always trying to help me. She is quick to give her a binky when she is sad and showers her with kisses. Sometimes I worry for Tessa's safety because Kayla loves her so much. I am just crossing my fingers that one of the times that Kayla gives her an affectionate hug she doesn't crack one of Tessa's ribs or something. Tessa has been such an easy baby to take care of. She has been sleeping somewhere between 5-7 hour stretches at night and she is so happy and pleasant every day. I don't mean for this post to be a brag post, I am just vocalizing my thankfullness and my blessings. There are definately some difficult moments and sometimes some difficult entire days, but overall my life is so much better with this new addition and I am so thankful to have two beautiful little girls.

Kayla loves her cute friend Kallie. They have so much fun together.
We went to the park and Kayla had fun throwing rocks into the pond. Brandon and I would find the rocks and then she would throw them in.

Brandon with his two little girls. He photographs very tired looking. He is very tired actually because he stays up until 2 or 3:00 a.m. every day. Poor guy!

17 Again!

2009-04-24T07:12:00.002-06:00

I have a new favorite movie! Some friends and I had a girls night out and saw the movie 17 Again. It is so funny and entertaining. Zac Efron did a great job. Somehow the movie demoted our maturity level about 10 levels. We felt like we were 17 again and then next thing we knew we were cruising around in my friend's mini van singing and dancing to music and acting like teenagers. We went to Walmart and discovered that they don't like it when you climb into the shopping carts. Jessica found that out the hard way :) It was such a fun evening and the funniest part about it was that no one observing us would have guessed that we all were mothers.

Welcome Tessa Rose

2009-03-17T20:53:00.003-06:00

We finally welcomed the 4th member of our family on Saturday March 14th. Tessa Rose was born at 2:59 p.m. weighed 7 lbs 5 oz, 20 1/2 inches long. She has been so much fun! The labor went well. From start to finish it was 4 1/2 hours long and I only had to push for 4 minutes. Kayla loves her little sister. It is a bit of an adjustment for her to get used to the attention shift, but she is doing well. Brandon is out of school for a week for Spring Break so that has been nice because he has been able to help out a lot. As far as we can tell she has my mouth and Brandon's eyes. We feel so blessed to have her in our lives and we love her so much.

Me at the beginning of labor. I'm holding up to fingers to signify baby number two. I'm not saying Peace.
Tessa right after birth before her bath.
Kayla's first visit to the hospital.

Almost There!

2009-03-09T21:31:00.005-06:00

We are only a few days away from getting a new addition to our family and I cant wait! People have been asking me for a belly picture for a while now and so I finally took one. I'm measuring about 5 weeks too small again, which was a problem when I was pregnant with Kayla as well. But ultrasounds show that the baby is a good size, about 56th percentile. Brandon had a birthday on Saturday and turned 25! I can't believe how old we are getting! Kayla was quick to partake of the birthday cake.For a ward activity we learned the cha cha cha. Brandon and I weren't any good, but I had a lot of fun. I have an appreciation for dance and it is something I would like to learn someday.
Kayla and her daddy having a tea party along with some guests.
We have a pass to our local children's museum and I try to take Kayla there once a week. She absolutely loves it and it really is a great place for a kid to explore and learn. Here she is pretending to drive an ambulence.

Kayla loves to play with Brandon's stethoscope. She always asks to, "Listen heart."
I'm so grateful for the fun friends I have made out here. I love our girls nights once a month!

Kayla Keeping up on her Current Events

2009-02-09T18:14:00.005-07:00

Kayla is learning things so quickly these days. She speaks almost in full sentences and can communicate anything she wants. Tonight Brandon and I were watching the presidential news conference. President Obama had just come to the podium to speak and apparently Kayla knows her current events because she shouted "Bama!" Brandon and I looked at each other and were like, "Did she just say what we think she said?" Brandon pointed to the TV and asked her who that was and again she shouted, "Bama!" We were laughing so hard. We coudn't believe it because he really isn't the topic of many converstations in our house and we have never told her who he is. Kayla makes us laugh every single day with the things she says. We love seeing her little personality come to life.

Home Sweet Utah!

2009-01-20T09:12:00.009-07:00

Here is the ultrasound of our little baby Tessa. We are getting so excited for her to come! We have just over 7 more weeks! Kayla is excited for a little sister as well. She gives my tummy kisses every day and prays for Baby Tessa every night. You can kind of see her profile in the picture. I think she is already adorable!

We had a wonderful trip to Utah for Christmas break. We were able to spend 17 days there with both of our families and Kayla had such a fun time seeing all her grandparents again. We love it out here in Iowa, but we realized while we were out there that Utah will always be our home and we hope to end up there again someday.

Kayla loved the puppy, Quigley at my parents house. She chased him everywhere and would laugh when he ran away. Poor dog must have been really happy when we left.

Kayla and Grandma Bodine.
Kayla is giving my sister Kristen a back massage. She loved that little toy.
A rare cuddly Kayla moment. She is getting better though all the time.
After bath time.
Kayla loved spending time with her aunt Abby who is only 3 months older than she is. Here they are at Uncle Jordan's basketball game.
Brandon and I at the Jazz game.
Kayla, Abby and Jackson at Jump On It. She is so lucky to have an uncle and aunt so close to her age.
Kayla and Abby in their matching Sunday dresses.

My friends have an annual Christmas dinner every year and each year our numbers expand :)

Christmas morning with all 9 Egbert children.
Sledding on Christmas Eve.
We miss our Mountains!
Kayla loves her uncle Jackson. She always wants to sit by him and hold his hand. He sure is sweet to her too.

Girls Day Out!

2008-12-20T09:34:00.004-07:00

Last Saturday was an interesting day. My girlfriends and I planned a trip to Chicago for the day and our husbands were going to watch the kids for us. But with our car packed up and ready to go at 7:30 in the morning we had a strange feeling that we shouldn't. We decided it would be foolish not to listen to that feeling so instead we hung out in town. We went shopping at the outlets and went to dinner. Later that night we got together and watched a movie after the kids were asleep. It was a really fun day and we will never know why we weren't supposed to go to Chicago that day, but at least we are still alive to be with our families.
Taysia and Robyn with our car full of shopping bags. I got a new pair a boots that I really wanted. They were originally $90 and I got them for $32! It also got a few gifts for Brandon's Christmas. I cant say what they are yet though.

666

2008-12-20T09:22:00.003-07:00

Go to your sixth picture folder and post the sixth picture in the folder, then tag 6 people!

The date on this picture is December 29, 2007. Kayla was 7 months old and it is a great capturing of our little daddy's girl. She loves her dad so much and she always wants to be right next to him. I can't believe that this picture was a year ago! Time has gone by so fast!
I tag:
1: Maddy
2: Natty
3: Meggin
4: Tiff
5: Katie
6: Anyone else that wants to do it.

Tender Moment

2008-12-11T11:27:00.004-07:00

I had to share this wonderful moment with everybody. Kayla is not a cuddly little girl. She never lays her head on my shoulder or just sit on my lap and cuddle. She has been getting better lately though and it makes me so happy. We were lucky to catch one of the few tender moments on film and I think she knows how happy it makes me when she cuddles so she does it to make me happy, not because she really wants to cuddle.

We had our ward Christmas party on Friday with a visit from Santa. It was a very funny and sad thing to watch because ever single kid was absolutely terrified of him. This was the best picture we could get, but she was not happy.

We just graduated Kayla from the highchair to the chair. She really likes it because she can eat with us at the table and I think it makes her feel like a big girl.

My messy little girl!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-12-03T11:39:00.004-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

We had a wonderful holiday. Brandon had the whole week off of school so it was great to hang out with him some. For Thanksgiving we got together with some friends out here that are also familyless and had a little feast. It was so YUMMY! Here are some of the things we did this week.

We went bowling on Friday. Kayla didn't have very much fun because here molars are coming in. She wasn't in the mood for a picture :)
Brandon took out the trash on Sunday and found this 53 inch big screen TV by the dumpster. He brought it up and we are going to see if we can fix it.
Kayla loves this hat. She always has it on.
Kayla's new obsession is this merry-go-round. It is in our mall so every time she sees it she says "horsey, horsey!"

Halloween!

2008-11-03T11:37:00.004-07:00

We had a fun Halloween this year! On Halloween night we took Kayla Trick or Treating and she loved it! She was so cute. She knocked on all the doors and would even say "trick or treat" when we told her to. Her costume was a lion. She walked everywhere saying "Rye!" which is her version of "roar." We had a ward Halloween party on Saturday morning and on Saturday night we played the "How to Host a Murder" game with some friends. We had a blast! It was a little hard doing it with a baby and two of the other couples had babies as well so it was challenging when we were trying to get into the game, but we still had a really fun time.

Our little family at the ward party
Kayla and Hannah. Hannah was a giraffe. They were such cute little African animals!

Kayla and Hannah are so funny. Kayla is obsessed with Hannah. She says her name all the time and when she sees her at church she will yell out her name, its so cute!
Kayla put on Brandon's hat for our murder night and she looked too cute not to take a picture
Here we are in costume for our murder mystery. Brandon was supposed to be a hunter and the invitation said to wear a hat with a rubber duckie on it. That is why his costume is a little silly.

We decorated Taysia's basement to be spooky and mysterious for the evening. It looked pretty cool!

Halloween Party

2008-10-28T09:20:00.003-06:00

We had a Halloween party with the M1's in our ward (1st year medical student). It was really fun. Here are some pictures from the night.

This is just a random picture of Kayla getting into trouble.
This was Kayla's costume for the party. She was Bob Marley.
All the 1st year medical students and their wives.

We were jocks for our costume
Kayla and her friend Hannah eating apples

Brandon bobbing for apples
Brandon's pumpkin he carved. It is throwing up if you can't tell. How nice!

Nauvoo Trip #2 and other random pictures

2008-10-20T11:57:00.008-06:00

We went on a family walk yesterday since the weather is not going to be on our side for much longer. Kayla loves to explore.
Brandon is showing her a little caterpillar on a stick. She thought it was pretty cool, but when it would come close to her she wasn't too happy

We went to Nauvoo again with the ward on Saturday. Its really fun, but it is a very LONG day. Usually when we get home we just lay around the house because we are too tired to do anything and it is especially long for Kayla.
We had a little picnic at the park with our friends Jason and Caroline in Nauvoo.
Kayla loves the leaves. She calls them "weaves".

Try not to pay attention to my face in this picture. We were at our friends house one night and Kayla found these sunglasses and she wore them most of the night. She's so silly.

We carved pumpkins with our friends. Brandon did the one with the wolf baying at the moon. Pretty good, huh?

Kayla likes to be like mommy. She put on my oven mitts so she could help me cook.

I took Kayla to a local gymnasium so she could run around and play. She loves the foam block pit!
Kayla has an interesting little quirk lately. For some reason she has gotten really attached to this bottle of lotion. She carries it everywhere. It is a little silly, but very cute.
Kayla loves books. Her favorite thing is to sit on our lap and have us read a book to her. I go to the library every week and go crazy with all the picture books. She reads them to herself too and it is really cute.
Kayla is walking around in Daddy's shoes. She loves this beanie that she is wearing she puts it on ever day. Another one of her little quirks for the moment.

I'm running for president!

2008-10-13T15:17:00.005-06:00

Here is my campaign video!
http://www.tsgnet.com/pres.php?id=357563&altf=Csjuuboz&altl=Fhcfsu

Pictures

2008-10-13T11:50:00.005-06:00

I got to be in a musical show the stake put on about the ten virgins. It was a really great experience and I am glad that that I did it. It had a great message that I think touched a lot of people. I know I learned a lot from it. Here we all are after it was over in our regular clothes with our lamps.
Kayla likes it when we blow in her face for some reason. It makes her laugh really hard.
These are from a few months ago when we went to Bear Lake with Brandon's family. Kayla loved the water!

Kayla at the pool.
Messy Kayla eating spaghetti.

Nauvoo Trip

2008-10-08T12:06:00.003-06:00

A couple weeks ago we went with the ward on a ward temple trip to Nauvoo. It is so cool having our temple be the Nauvoo Temple. It is about 1:45 minutes away. What our ward does is have families take turns and volunteer different months to babysit at the stake center in Nauvoo so that other families can go to the temple. It was so cool to be there! We loved it so much! We finished our session and picked Kayla up at the church. It was getting close to her naptime and we had already been there a few hours so we ate lunch at a nearby deli with some friends and then walked around the town a little. I think we are going to have to visit Nauvoo a little at a time. We will go there every month for our temple trip and we will have to hit a couple landmarks every time.

Kayla and her friends walking down the sidewalk.
In front of Joseph Smith's house. The Mansion House.

Kayla and Aunt Abby

2008-09-06T13:27:00.007-06:00

Kayla is a lucky girl! She has a best friend named Abby who happens to be her aunt! Grandma Egbert bought the two little rascals matching princess dresses before we moved. They looked so cute in them we had to get some pictures. These two little girls love each other so much. Now that we have moved they don't get to see each other, but every week we Skype with our families and they each get so excited to see their friend again.

Labor Day!

2008-09-04T10:17:00.003-06:00

For labor day our ward had a softball game. Brandon played while I hung out with all the wifes and watched the kids. It was really fun and afterwards we went to an apple orchard to pick apples with our friends the Orien's. They take you out into the orchard on a tractor and then you can eat as many apples as you want while you pick. Kayla loved the apples! Afterwards we bought the best apple turnovers we had ever had!

2008-09-02T07:26:00.004-06:00

It's been awhile since our last update, but some cool things have happened here. Brandon started his first year of medical school. They had a few days of orientation before classes started and a white coat ceremony which was a special event. He started classes last Monday and boy were his eyes opened! He is very grateful to be here and is so excited to be in med school, but it is going to be a lot tougher than undergraduate school was. The first day of school he came home and shut himself in our room to study for a few hours and I have never seen him do that. He is really enjoying himself though. There are five first year med students that are in our ward and they have all become good friends so he is going to value those friendships the next four years. Here are some pictures of the white coat ceremony.
These are pictures of Brandon getting his coat put on by the Dean of the Medical College and shaking the other professors' hands.

These were taken after the ceremony. He looks so important now!

We Made It!

2008-08-18T18:49:00.006-06:00

We finally made it to Iowa and we love it! It took us two days of driving to get here and Kayla did pretty well. I am more impressed than I thought I would be with the city. It is modern and not as f army as I thought it would be. There is a really nice mall a block away from us and a close grocery store. There are beautiful parks all around. We love our apartment as well. We hadn't seen it before we got here, so we were pleasantly surprised by how nice it was. Kayla is adjusting well to the move. She knows that things have changed and she is a little bit clingier, but she is getting used to our new house more and more every day.
Brandon and Kayla in front of the medical college.
Our first of many meals of corn.
Our living room in our new apartment

Memory Lane

2008-07-05T11:12:00.000-06:00

1.As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you
and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knoew me
a little or a lot, anything you remember.

2. Re-post these instructions on your blog and see
how many people leave you a memory. If you leave a
comment I'll assume your playing the game, and Ill
come to your blog and leave a message.

We're Going to Iowa!

2008-07-01T13:58:00.004-06:00

So last Wednesday was one of the greatest day of our lives! Brandon received and email from the University of Iowa telling him he was accepted! We could not be happier. Brandon was at work when he received it and so he left early and came home and surprised me. He made a big poster that said "You are going to be a doctors wife!" (that was his way of telling me he got in) and put it outside our door and knocked and ran away. We called all our relatives and rejoiced with them. We went out to celebrate at Olive Garden that evening. We feel so blessed. We are so excited to be going to Iowa and we know it is the place we are supposed to be. We found an apartment yesterday and now we are ready to go! It is going to be a wonderful 4 years!

I got tagged!

2008-06-25T15:05:00.001-06:00

5What was I doing 10 yrs ago...
Ten Years ago I was 14 years old and was going into 9^th grade. I got my little puppy Quigley for my birthday. I liked Martin Heimuli (man has my taste changed since then)
5 yrs ago....
I had just finished my Freshman year of college and was running for UVSC. I moved home for the summer from the Riviera apts. I worked at Pizza Factory as a server.

1 yr ago....
I had just had Kayla and she was about a month old. Wow! She has grown a ton!

Yesterday...
I did laundry at my parent’s house, took Kayla to the doctor (she has an ear infection), went to a wedding reception and caught up with my good friend Lisa, played with Kayla, and went to bed early because I was tired from the long day of a sick baby.

5 snacks I enjoy....
Mint chocolate chip ice cream, Starbursts, Mint Milano cookies, ice cream, ice cream

5 favorite books
I don’t really know. I will just name the books I read most recently; Pride and Prejudice, Twilight, Bourne Identity, The Firm, and Harry Potter 7

5 places to run....
The bathroom (after eating Mexican food), out of our apartment and to wherever we are moving for med school!

5 bad habits...
Eating too much ice cream, driving fast, being too gassy

5 pet peeves
Leaving the time left on the microwave without clearing it after cooking something

I agree with Nat, I hate it when kids have really dirty faces and boogars all over the place.

I don’t like it when people poke me with their finger.

5 things I enjoy...
A nice long nap, playing with Kayla, spending time with Brandon (it doesn’t happen enough), ice cream, vacations, my family

5 favorite tv shows...
The Office, The Bachelor (or Bachelorette), American Idol, 24 (except it didn’t air this season!), and Gilmore Girls (I know I know, I used to hate it too, but lately I like it and it is kind of funny once you get passed the terrible acting and them talking way to fast).

5 people I'd love to meet
Oprah Winfrey, Josh Groban, Kelli Ripa, Thomas S. Monson

5 people to tag...
Maddy

What Kayla Can Do Now!

2008-06-19T14:23:00.003-06:00

Kayla is growing up so fast and I just cannot believe that it has been a year since we had her! Here are the things that she can do now
*She stands all by herself. She wont take a step alone, but she is close
*Dances any time she hears music.
It is so cute because she starts bouncing and shaking her head any time music it on. I am going to have to sign her up for dance lessons!
*Things she says
-mama
-dada
-uh-oh
-no no
-thank you (it is her own version, it sounds a little like "koo")
-bark like a doggy
*She finally learned how to pet the doggy gently! Quigley isn't a big fan of her so he tries to get away from her though.
*She has been climbing up the stairs for awhile now, but hasn't figured out how to get down.
*She sings when she is dancing sometimes (In baby talk of course)
*She recently discovered some holes in her face

Feeding the Ducks and a Day at the Pool

2008-06-19T14:06:00.003-06:00

Kayla and I went down to BYU where Brandon is working and we had a little picnic and fed the ducks. I have a little phobia of ducks so I didn't have a wonderful time, but it was fun to watch Kayla because she was very interested and curious about them. I was scared that they were going to bite her a couple times.

On Friday I took Kayla to the pool for the first time. She was a little cautious when we first got in the water, but eventually she started splashing and crawling around in the shallow area. Isn't her little swimming suit the cutest!

I'm 24!

2008-06-09T21:57:00.003-06:00

I turned 24 of Friday and Brandon took me to see the Garden's at Thanksgiving Point. We had so much fun and it was beautiful! Brandon treated me like a princess the entire day (he treats me like that every day, but that day was even better). For my gifts we got a new kitchen table and chairs (which I love!), a web cam (so we can talk to our families when we go to med school), and a DVD he made of pictures from the last three years.

My birthday got even better when we were hanging out with Bryce and Maddy and she told me about hair extensions. With birthday money from my parents I went and purchased some the next day. I have always wanted long, thick hair and I absolutely love them! They are so easy to put in and take off so I don't have to wear them every day, but I want to! Thanks Maddy!!!!

Kayla's 1st Birthday!

2008-06-09T21:22:00.003-06:00

Kayla turned 1 on the 30th of May! She is getting so big and she has so much personality! We had a simple celebration with both of our families there. She loves balloon's so we blew up a bunch and let her go to town. She loved opening her presents too!

A Day in Ensenada Mexico

2008-05-22T13:40:00.003-06:00

The final day of the cruise was spent in Ensenada Mexico. We spent the day shopping in the little shops and exploring the city. I bought a beautiful painting in one of the shops and Maddy got one that was similar. Our husbands did the bartering and they talked the guy down to $26 for both paintings. I thought it was a good deal.

Everywhere we went people were trying to sell us something. It got annoying, so Brandon started trying to sell them a wooden dolphin that he had purchased earlier- to show them how annoying they were. When they would follow us around, he would start following them and try to sell the dolphin in Spanish. It was pretty funny. Also, a lot of people were trying to get us to come into the bars and buy drinks.

Brandon taught us how to say "no tomamos" which means we don't drink. We said that to all the bartenders that were in the street trying to sell us alcohol. Eventually we started saying it to anyone who tried to sell us anything even if it was only a bracelet. We got some pretty funny looks but they would usually laugh along with us. It was hilarious!

Watch this!!!

2008-05-21T21:30:00.006-06:00

Cruise Day Two Catalina Island

2008-05-21T14:02:00.009-06:00

We went to Catalina Island on the second day of the cruise. It was so beautiful: it resembled Greece with the houses built on a hill overlooking the ocean.

We spent the day playing around. We planned on renting a golf cart and riding it around town and to the botanical gardens. Unfortunately, there were no six-man golf carts available, so we decided to just walk. We didn't know how far away the botanical gardens were, but a native elderly woman with a walker told us they were just up the hill, not far away. Well... after a long, steep 2 mile hike in flip flops we finally arrived; I guess the elderly woman either has a motorized walker, or has never tried it herself!

We were worried because golf carts kept passing us along the way and none of them seemed to stay at the gardens very long. We were wondering if it was going to even be worth it. Well, we made it worth it. There was an ancient Aztec temple there (it was actually a memorial built in the 1990's but ancient sounds cooler) and so we used it to take a bunch of pictures. We thought the silhouette picture was pretty cool. The "botanical" gardens only had different kinds of cacti (no flowers) which didn't really interest me, but we had a fun time at the memorial.

We were planning on going kayaking that day, but because of the unexpectedly long hike. We didn't have time. That is why we are all in our swimming suits.

The Cruise Day One San Diego Cali!!!

2008-05-19T12:59:00.012-06:00

For our graduation we decided to go on a cruise to celebrate. We went with two other couples. Brandon's cousin and his wife and my cousin and her husband. We had a wonderful time. The cruise left on Monday May 12 and our first stop was San Diego California. It was a beautiful day in San Diego. We walked around down town and also went to Sea Port Village and went shopping. We passed a huge statue of the famous couple kissing after the war. It was probably at least 100 feet tall. We couldn't resist posing.
While we were standing there a guy came up to us and made us some cute flowers out of a palm leaf. It was weird because he just came up to us and started making them without asking us if we wanted one and then he told us he accepted 50's and 100's. We each game him $2 and called it good. The flowers were pretty though.

Graduation!!!

2008-05-05T11:13:00.007-06:00

Brandon and I finally graduated! It feels so good! It was a great day for us. I walked in my own convocation and I carried Kayla with me. We rented her a little baby cap and gown and it was so cute! She got to meet Elder L. Tom Perry and he mistook her for a boy saying, "How are you doing young man?" It's okay though because it will be a fun story for her to tell when she gets older. I was able to walk with Brandon for his convocation later that same day. I loved that we were able to share the day together. We had both our families attending and we were just so happy to be done with school!

2008-03-16T21:34:00.004-06:00

Kayla is now 9 months old

This is Kayla meeting her uncle Garrett for the first time at the airport. He just returned from the Canada Edmonton mission.

Creeping Baby

2008-01-25T10:02:00.001-07:00

Kayla is now learning to crawl!! She cant quite get on her hands and knees yet, but she scoots backwards. In this picture, she scooted under her jungle frog and got herself stuck. The wood floor makes it easier on her because she is able to slide better. She is trying to get to her toy phone in the picture below.

2008-01-24T14:26:00.000-07:00

Elder Jason Bodine entered the MTC on Wed. Jan 16. He is serving a mission in Catania Italy. He and Kayla have a special bond. Every time Jason walks into the room, Kayla stops whatever she is doing and stares at him and smiles. She has done that even since she was a newborn. He really loves her too. He said she is the only person he is going to miss while he is gone.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T11:53:00.000-07:00

Sorry that I haven't been updating the blog- I have been busy with school- but the only person that has even visited our site is Grandma Barrett. I will try and do better now Grandma :) I took my final final finally a couple weeks ago. I am graduating!!!! Yahoo!! Yippee skippee!! It is the best feeling. It was difficult going to school with a baby, but I am so glad I did it because now I am a college grad! Brandon has one more semester and is waiting to hear back from medical schools. We had a great Christmas. Kayla loved opening her presents. She loves to play with paper and rip it apart, so unwrapping presents was a natural instinct.

Bathtime for Kayla

Halloween 2007. Baby chick

Brittany's first post

2007-09-17T22:01:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone. Welcome to our blog. Brandon is teaching me how to use this thing. I will try and update it every week. If you want to see pictures, they are at the bottom of the screen.

Life if great for our little family. Brandon and I are in school right now. He is in the process of interviewing for medical schools. He had an interview last week at University of Utah and he has a few more lined up with other schools over the next couple of months. Kayla is growing like crazy. She smiles all the time and is such a joy. I am in my last semester right now and can't wait to be finished!

Hello

2007-06-28T12:04:00.000-06:00

Welcome to our blog.