Thoughts Today

I haven't posted in such a long time. We have been pretty busy with the events going on lately which I will post about later, but I read my sis-in-law Natalie's blog this morning and it made me really reflect on everything that I have to be grateful for. So here goes my list:
-I am so grateful first of all for my husband. He is amazing in every way possible and is my rock and my strength and I never could have made it through Brogen's surgery without him. This was by far the biggest trial and hardest thing I have ever gone through and while I found every possible negative thing to say about our situation he was always right there with something positive.
-I am so grateful for both of our families. Without our families we have nothing and I love spending time with all of them. I remember my mom telling me when I was a teenager that friends would come and go but your family would always be there and how true that is! My family has been there through thick and thin and I am so grateful to all of them for everything. Jared and I have amazing mom's who are always willing to drop everything and come and help out with Brogen and he love's his grandmas! I am so grateful for my grandparents and for the examples that they are and all the help they have given us throughout the years. They have always been so generous with their time and resources to help us out.
-I am grateful for sight, smell, touch, health, and all those things that I take for granted everyday. I love this time of year when all the trees change to the beautiful fall colors and the air is cold and crisp and the mountains all around us.
-I am grateful for the gospel, prayer, fasting, and blessings. I have to admit that this past seven months my faith has been tested and there were days that I was so bitter at God for not answering my prayers and I was so mad that Brogen had to go through so much. At the same time I know that he was helping me through this time and blessing me even when I refused to recognize my blessings. I felt his love for me and overwhelming peace on the day of Brogen's surgery and I know that many prayers were offered on our behalf. I am so grateful for the atonement and the sacrifice of the Savior and the opportunity I have to be forgiven and to better myself.
-I am grateful for the opportunity to be a mom. This has been the most humbling amazing experience for me. I have learned so much about myself as a person and it has made me more aware of my weaknesses and strengths. I am learning patience and selflessness and everything that I lacked before and I never knew that I could love a child so much. I know how it feels to love unconditionally. When he is hurting or sad it makes my heart ache and when he is happy and laughing I am so happy. I want whats best for him and I worry and stress over him and just love him so much I can't even stand it! There are so many things that I get to experience as a mother and I am so grateful for it!

5 Months!

So this post is a few days late but better late than never. My little bubbers is 5 months old already. I know I say this every month but I wish the time didn't go so fast. I love this little guy more than life itself and can't believe how much he has brought to my life. Here are a few new things he is doing since last month.
He can sit up all by himself and prefers to do that over anything else

He LOVES his rice cereal! I can't spoon it in his mouth fast enough for him and so he yells between every bite

He has started arching his back and kind of throwing little fits and tries to escape off my lap

He sucks in his bottom lip and looks like such a gummer

He still has no teeth even though I swear he is teething every other day

He went through a little phase where he woke up every 3 hours in the night and was fussy and thought he needed to eat. Needless to say Mom and Dad are so happy that was a 2 week phase!

His little phase prompted a trip to the doc to make sure he didn't have ear infections and he weighed in at 16 pounds 6 ounces fully clothed. Chunk!!! We were informed with a smile that he was just fine and welcome to parenthood!

He isn't really a fan of his binky anymore except to go to sleep

He loves his cousins and loves when Broc does silly dances for him

He will not lay back in his car seat, he sits forward until he falls asleep and then I have to push him back against it. I think this kid is always going to fight sleep!

He gets so excited when I clap for him and say Yeah Brogen! He squeals and kicks his legs

He pushes off when he is on his stomach and manages to get to things he wants. I don't think it will be too long before he is crawling!

He smiles at anyone who will talk to him and is quite the flirt with all the ladies when he comes to mommy's work. He is such a happy boy!

Smile Creations Portrait Studio

I had to post these pictures because they turned out so cute. My friend Becky just opened up her own Portrait Studio in St. George called Smile Creations. I am so proud of her for doing it! We went in Wednesday to get some pictures and support Beck and these are just a couple of the many cute ones we got. I think she does a great job! If anyone is interested she has an awesome August special going on right now, 6 poses, 3 sheets, free enhancements, and a collage for $39.99. Her phone number is 688-9363 and she is over by Great Harvest. Give her a try, you won't be disappointed! Isn't my little guy the cutest! I love love love his smile and little dimples!

4 Months Old

I can't believe I am writing this 4 month post! Where has the time gone? We had Brogen's 4 month appointment today and he is doing amazing. This months stats: 14 lbs. 14 ounces and 25.79 inches long. He is in the 50% for weight and 80% for height. I don't know where he gets his long legs from but we know its not from me! He had to get his shots today and he was a brave little boy. He only cried for a few minutes. He was as happy as could be when we got home but is starting to get a little fussy. Brogen continues to amaze us everyday with the new and cute things he does. We just can't get enough of him. Sometimes I feel like we maul the poor little guy to death. He sure is loved! Things to remember about Brogen at 4 months:

He is rolling over and back with no problems and is now a pro at tummy time

He laughs out loud especially for daddy at all the funny faces he pulls and he is very ticklish on his legs, stomach, and neck

He pulls his binky out and then tries to put it back in, sometimes he can get it

He loves to stand up on your lap and then walk up the front of your body. That always puts a smile on his face no matter what

He holds on to the bottle when daddy is feeding him but can't quite hold it all by himself

He can grab and hold onto his toys and loves to play on his floor gym

He likes us to read books to him

He thinks he is a big boy and does not like to lay back in the slightest bit unless he is eating or going to sleep

He has started doing this little thing where when he is nursing he latches on and then pulls right off and looks around the room and then latches back on, takes two swallows and is back off again looking around. Just can't stand to miss anything. It drives mommy crazy!

Next we are going to try the rice cereal and letting him cry a little bit to get him to sleep through the night. Wish us luck! P.S. Thanks Karalynn for making the cute onsies with ties to match daddy. They look adorable!

New Haircut

Brogen's hair has been falling out like crazy. He was born with a ton of dark hair and it keeps getting lighter and thinner. He is now completely bald on top and then had a line of bald around his head complete with a long little mullet in the back. We finally decided that it was time for a haircut and we are trusting Shanette that its going to grow back in better and thicker! So we let Aunt Nat take the clippers to him. We were sad to cut his hair but now his whole head matches the top of his head where the new hair is coming in. He looked so cute in the little kid cape that Nat put on him, and he was such a little trooper and sat still the whole time which for anyone who knows Brogen that is a complete miracle! I was like the paparazzi the whole time snapping pictures like crazy and we were laughing and he started to wonder what was going on and thats when he stuck out his bottom lip and almost started to cry. It was so cute!

Before the haircut














Still smiling














Holding so still for Aunt Nat




























I think he must be sad about losing his mullet!














The end result. Now bring on the new hair!!!

3 Months Old!

Well a month came and went without me doing a post but I figured I would just skip the 2 month and go right for the 3 month update. We are loving Brogen more and more everyday and he just gets funner every minute. His personality is really starting to show and he is a spunky little thing! Sorry for the long list but I have to do this for journaling. Things to remember about Brogen at 3 months:

He is sleeping longer at nights and last night he made it 8 straight hours. Yahoo!

He loves his hands and has them in his mouth every second. Sometimes he spits out his binky so he can suck on his fists.

He laughs out loud now and makes so many cute sounds. He loves attention and is so smiley to anyone who will talk to him. He loves watching his cousins entertain him with their running around and acting silly.

This isn't anything new, but he never sits still. If he is awake his arms and legs are flying! He even works up a sweat!

He is a freakin chunk! He could hide things in his fat rolls if he wanted and weighs around 15 pounds now.

His poor little hair line keeps getting further and further back and his hair is thinning like crazy. Please grow some new hair!

He reaches for toys and can grab on to some of them. He loves to lay on his little jungle pad and grab at the toys.

He has a little blankie that he likes to hold on to and sleep with.

He can roll from his stomach to his back and almost rolled from his back to stomach. It won't be long now. He hates tummy time so we have to fight him to do it and he only lasts for a few minutes.

He sits up in his bumbo and we read books to him and that is about the only time he sits still. He loves to look at the bright colors in the books.

He continues to amaze us everyday with his cute little personality. We love him to pieces and just can't get enough of the cute boy!

A Name and a Blessing

On June 7, 2009 we blessed Brogen in my parents ward up in Enterprise. That morning he was so happy and smiling and making the cutest sounds. Its like he knew what was coming. We had a lot of family and friends that were there to support us. Jared gave an awesome blessing and even gave him the right name (him and my dad were joking about how my dad was going to say some completely different name just to rile me up). Jared got a little emotional during the blessing which I thought was adorable and just showed how much he loves his little man. I thought Brogen looked so handsome in his little white suit and he was so sweet through it all only giving one little yell through the whole thing. Afterwards we all packed in to my parents house for a yummy dinner provided by my mom. Thanks for all your hard work mom! It was a really great day. We didn't get many pictures because he hated being in the outfit but we got a couple.