REJOICE!

"He whose birth we commemorate this season is more than the symbol of a holiday. He is the Son of God, the Creator of the earth, the Jehovah of the Old Testament, the fulfillment of the Law of Moses, the Redeemer of mankind, the King of Kings, the Prince of Peace. . . .

"And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!

"For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father--

"That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God."(D&C 76:22-24).

"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."  (2 Nephi 25:26)

We are thankful for our Savior and for what he has done for us.  He has provided a way for us to return to him, if we will take advantage of his Atonement and improve ourselves and repent.  We are thankful for the opportunity to be an eternal family.  We are thankful for the gospel in our life and for the happiness it brings to our home.  We hope you all feel the love of the Savior this Christmas season, and that you can also know that he is the source that we look to for everything we have that is good. 

Family Pictures

Some random pics from our photo shoot today.

My handsome little man

Kate and Maddie at the spray park


Brady let Kate run through our sprinklers one night. It was hilarious!

This is a typical scene at our house these days. Kate has decided that she has to have all of these blankets all the time. I love dragging them around everywhere. Caleb is a little piglet and can't wait more that about one minute for food once he is ready for it. At least I am sitting down!

Tender Mercies

We were very blessed in the days leading up to Caleb being born. The Saturday before we had him my mom and sisters held a baby shower for us. We were given lots of fun gifts, and all of them were things we needed. The next day, on Sunday, I woke up and had a strong feeling that I needed to get all of my laundry done that day. I never do housework on Sunday, but I knew that I was being prompted, so I did it. On Monday I got some things from Amanda that I needed and bought the last few things I needed for him at Wal-Mart. That night I cut Brady's hair and got my hair cut the next night. All of these things were done because I felt an urgent prompting to do them. We had Caleb on Tuesday night at 11:29pm. It was so nice to come home after being in the hospital with a new baby being fully prepared. I didn't even have to worry about getting anyone's hair cut. I recognize that I was prompted to do all of these things. Had they gone undone it wouldn't have been the end of the world. It really wouldn't have mattered much at all. They were all things that could have been done after the baby was born. However, I am so thankful that Heavenly Father knew that I would feel more peace of mind with those things taken care of. It was truly a tender mercy that he extended to us so that we wouldn't have anything to worry about besides taking care of our new baby. It was his way of showing us he loves us and wants us to be happy. I am very thankful for a loving Father in Heaven who takes care of us.

Priceless

3 Months Fertility Drugs: $300
6 IUI's: $600
4 Ultrasounds: $550
Emergency C-Section: $11,000
12-Hour NICU Stay: $3000
OB/GYN Fee: $3000

Our little man: PRICELESS

Caleb Brady

On Tuesday night I started hemmoraghing at 10:45. We rushed to the hospital and had an emergency c-section. Caleb was born 45 minutes after I started bleeding at 11:29 pm. He weighed in at 6lbs 3oz and he was 18 1/2 long. He only had to be in the NICU for 12 hours and was given a clean bill of health. He is eating like a champ and is just gorgeous. I think he looks like Jake. We are so thankful for our doctors and nurses who worked so fast and hard to take care of us. We were in a lot of danger while they were working to get him out. Since I had eaten not long before the c-section we just had a spinal block. I threw up the entire time they were working on me. Dr. Hall asked me if I could, "Try to stop barfing so he could put my guts back in." In the end, all of my guts got put back in and I got all stapled up. I am feeling fairly well now and I am ready to go home with my new little man.

Baby Time...

Our c-section is scheduled for July 14th at 11am. I am hoping we make it until then and don't have to to it emergency style.

Easter...and Daddy's Girl

We had a really fun Easter. It was a nice day to spend with the family. Katie was fun this year because she actually had a reaction to her Easter basket, so we got some cute video. On a more serious note, we are so thankful for our Savior and for the opportunity he has given us to repent and to be resurrected and to live with him again. It gives us such a wonderful goal to work toward. We are thankful for an eternal family and are so glad we get to see them often.This girl LOVES her dad. She is his little shadow and just adores him. This is a favorite activity for both of them.
We are super excited to meet our baby boy this summer. I have complete placenta previa, so we are taking it easy right now and waiting to see if I will have to have a c-section. As long as the baby is fine and healthy, I am fine with however he has to get here. As Brady so eloquently put it, "He has to get out of there somehow." Easy for him to say when it isn't his belly getting sliced open! :0) We will know more on that about the middle of May.

It's a Boy!

Achilles Heel

"And then there was Achilles. Now there was a guy who had it all; the build, the foot-speed. He could jab! He could take a hit! He could keep on comin'! BUT THAT FORSLUGGINER HEEL OF HIS! He barely gets nicked there once and kaboom! He's history." Phil-Walt Disney's "Hercules"

On Thursday Jan 14th Brady got hurt playing basketball at the church with his friends. He thought someone had landed on his leg. He limped around until Saturday when we finally decided he had better go to the doctor. The doctor thought his Achilles was torn either partially or completely. We had an ultrasound on Mon and determined that it was torn. On Wed the 20th we saw the orthopedist who immediately opened him up and discovered that it was in fact completely severed. He was able to repair it well. He is in a lot of pain and is very nauseated, but we are glad it is fixed and he should make a full recovery. No basketball or snowmobiling for now, but he will be able to again. I was completely overwhelmed by the offers of help I received from our family and neighbors. I probably won't have to do anything but sit around. Seriously though, we really appreciate all the support and are glad he is okay. We are excited that he should be back on his feet (literally) by the time the baby comes.

New Year

It is a new year again, and once again I am trying to improve myself. Why, oh why, am I constantly having to do that?? My own fault, of course! I am looking forward to this year. It should be great. We are excited to have another baby and be done having babies. My first baby will be 2 and that happened in a blink. We still love our ward and our neighborhood and are just enjoying life. We feel like we are very blessed and are so thankful for our families. We are pretty lucky to live so close to all of our siblings and our parents. Our Katie is getting big and getting the funniest, cutest personality. She is a teaser like her dad and it constantly cracks up. She likes to tell us, "I funny." And she is, for sure!