Pre-Easter Festivities

The days leading up to Easter were so much fun this year. I just love the fact that Abby is 3 now and really gets into the fun of these holidays. She participated in 4 Easter egg hunts this year (if you include the one in our backyard :) ) I love seeing her so excited.


This picture is a favorite for sure! Last year she was still scared of the Easter Bunny. This year she just went right up to say hello. This bunny was part of the first egg hunt she went to.

She filled her bucket up on this one :)

This day was another fun one. We went to the park with some friends and she got to decorate cupcakes.

This was taken at egg hunt #2 at a friend's house. She has an amazing and giant backyard, just perfect for the kids to run around finding eggs!
A group shot of the little hunters

And here she is at egg hunt #3. This was such a fun morning. A friend's mom puts this together and it is always so fun for the kids. We spent the morning at the park playing games and hunting for eggs.

Here is Abby taking part in the sack race.
and the egg on the spoon walk
and finally the great hunt!!!
A family shotThis was the first year we attempted egg dying with her. She loved it! We decorated pretty glitter eggs.

Pat's Run

Last Saturday Abby ran in her first "race". She did the Pat Tillman kids run. A good friend of mine did a great job putting together a super fun experience for the kids. She put a team together and they had practices every Friday for two months to get them ready and excited for the race. Their team name was "Lil Racers". All the kids did great in the .42 mile run.Living in Arizona, I feel like everyone must know who Pat Tillman is. But for those of you non-Zonies, I will fill you in just in case. Pat Tillman is a hero who died serving his country. Only it isn't even that simple. He started a promising football career as number 42 for the ASU Sundevils. After 9/11, this star NFL defensive back walked away from his $3.6 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals to enlist as a U.S. Army Ranger. He was sadly killed by friendly fire while serving in Afghaninstan. Not only did I want Abby to do this race for the fun and experience, but also because I couldn't think of a better person to honor, as the proud sister of a U.S. Marine who has been serving his country for more than 2 decades.

Abby was a bit overwhelmed by the massive crowds before the race started.
Gearing up for the run and cooling off a little with a pre-race smoothie (95 degrees this day)Once the race started she did so great! I thought it was such a neat experience. It is very important to me that she grows up with the attitude that being active is fun, so I love to do activities like this with her. She had a great time running with her best bud, Jaxson.
Crossing the finish line with her Daddy on the 42 yard line of Sun Devil Stadium!!

Princess Phase

Abby has finally gotten really into "the princess phase". She loves to dress up. The first thing she does in the morning when she gets out of bed is put it on. Then she cries when I make her take it off when we have to go somewhere. Then the first thing she does when we walk back in the door is put it back on. I think the funniest part is that she is not content to just put one item on. She has to have it ALL on. Here she is in her Disney princess tiara, barbie dress, bumble bee skirt, tutu, and her Cinderella high heels. This is the getup she wears all day long at home. Oh how different it will be to have a boy....

My Lovely Baby Bump

We are finally at the point in this pregnancy where we feel like it is okay to be so excited. Part of that excitement has been sharing it with Abby. She really seems to understand what is going on and that there is a baby growing in my belly that will be her little brother when he is big enough to live outside Mommy's belly. I have a shirt that says "I love my bump". One day she asked me what the shirt said, so I told her. Ever since then, she loves to refer to my evergrowing belly as my bump. She also learned a little tune from her Daddy that goes a little something like this..."my bump, my bump, my lovely baby bump." (sung to the tune of a Black Eyed Peas song). Last night Abby she sang it over and over again as she was in bed trying to fall asleep. She sure does love this little miracle already though. She loves to kiss my belly :). She also loves to stick her belly out or put a ball under her shirt and pretend she has a bump too. This day she was excited for us to both show off our bumps for the camera.

Cousins!

I really do cherish the times that Abby gets to spend with my sister's kids. We so wish they were closer, but they live almost an hour and a half away, so we don't get to spend nearly as much time with them as I would like. I really want her to grow up close to her cousins though. Her cousins on Marc's side are in Minnesota and she has only met them once, so I really need to be better about making sure she gets to see her cousins on my side more often. Life just gets so busy sometimes that we have to remind ourselves of what really matters in life. I just really LOVE this picture (and I am sure my mom will too since it is one of the few of all her grandkids together). We spent a very long and fun day at the zoo with them a couple weeks ago. Xander is 18 months, Christoper is 5, Abby is 3 and Sammie is 6! (Notice Abby is just about as tall as her much older cousins.)

I'm back....blogging for me!

Yes, it really has been 7 months since my last post. Wow! One of my major hang ups with blogging has always been, "Nobody else is going to care about that." There have been many times when I have wanted to blog about something and then I talk myself out of it thinking that nobody else would really be interested in what we did today, something Abby said, etc. Then it came to me! Who cares!!! Why do my posts have to be for someone else? Why can't they just be for me? I love to look back at things I posted when Abby was just a baby and now I am sad that I let such a silly thought slow me down. So here I sit, ready to blog away about things that matter to me. Those who find it boring don't have to read, right? Genius!!

Minnesota Trip

We recently took a trip back to Minnesota. Marc is from Minnesota and all his family lives there. This trip was a big deal for us because it was the first time we have been back since I was pregnant with Abby. She had never met Marc's brother, Tony, and his family. He has three kids, so we were excited for her to meet her cousins. She also got to meet her great grandma Bryand for the first time.

Abby had her very first airplane ride on the way there. She had a great time at the airport while we were waiting for our flight. We took lots of escalator and elevator rides. She did so great on the plane. I brought a big "bag of tricks" to entertain her and I didn't even need 90% of it. She just colored for most of the flight. She never once tried to get out of her seat (other than to sit on my lap to see out the window). The flight went GREAT and then she got to meet Uncle Tony and her cousin Tony Jr. when they picked us up from the airport. She was a little confused by the fact that there were two Tonys. I tried to explain that one was Uncle Tony and the other was just Tony. For the rest of the trip she called cousin Tony "Justony". It was cute.

Here are some pics from the airport and airplane....

After arriving, we headed Marc's Mom and Dad's house, where we would be staying. Marc grew up in that house and Abby slept in his room while we were there. We then headed out to eat and Abby got to meet Aunt Heidi (Tony's wife) and her other cousins, Taylor and Cory. After eating we went to a great little park where Cory had football practice. Abby was soooooo excited to be able to play outside at a park again. She played for a long time with Grandma and Taylor. I soooo enjoyed all the nice green grass and trees! I just LOVE all the grass and big trees in Minnesota.

I won't bore you with the details of everyday we were there, but we did do some fun things, so I will share those with you. There is an awesome park and zoo in Minnesota that is FREE! It was fun because Abby is finally at the age where she is starting to enjoy looking at the animals more.

Here are some pics from Como Zoo....

Auntie Heidi bought Abby and Taylor new shirts while we were there. Such cute matching cousins! Thanks Heidi!
Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Tony, Cory, Abby and Taylor

We took a day to rest the next day and then headed to Valley Fair, a great amusement park in Minnesota. We had tons of fun and there was so much stuff for Abby to do, which was a nice bonus because I really wasn't sure what to expect. Once she went on her first kiddie ride, she didn't want to stop. I think she went on more rides than anyone else. The Minnesota State Fair was going on while we were there, so Valley Fair was not very busy. It was great because we didn't have to wait in very many lines. A BIG thanks to Grandma who took Abby on rides so that Marc and I could enjoy some big people rides!

This was one of Abby's favorite ridesThis was her other favorite!Looking at the hot air balloon ride we were about to go on
Here we go! Abby not looking too sure about what is about to happen!Grandma, Me, and Abby (who was not a fan at all)


Here's one of "Justony", Grandpa, and Marc...

The rest of the days we pretty much spent just hanging out with family. We enjoyed a great day at Marc's Grandma's house. It was very cool for Abby to meet her Great Grandma. We got to enjoy some her her fabulous cooking. I had the best Mexican feast ever! Homemade tortillas are the best.

Here is a picture of 4 generations of Bryands.

We enjoyed 8 days in Minnesota. The first few days were great because the weather was so nice. Then it got hot and humid. I was hoping we could escape the heat the whole time we were there, but it didn't quite work out that way. We still enjoyed a lot of time outside though, which was so nice. I know I already said it, but I seriously love all the grass and big green trees. If it weren't for the winters, Minnesota would be perfect! Can you tell I have lived in the desert all my life and am tired of it?
Abby did pretty well on our trip. She was very 2 and clingy while we were there, making some days hard, but I suppose it could have been much worse. She didn't have a nap for 5 days in a row, which certainly didn't help anything. I guess I was just hoping for a little more of a break with so much family around willing to help. Abby just had different ideas. She wanted all mommy all the time. She has been going through a separation anxiety phase all over again. I know, I know...I will look back someday fondly on the days when she wanted to hang out with me.

Enjoying the weather and grass in the back yard

Taylor and I

Grandpa and Grandma with all their grand kids

Thanks for reading. Posted lots more pictures from our trip on facebook :)

Birthday Baking

Marc's 38th birthday was Saturday. We decided to just have a relaxing day spending time together as a family. We started the day off with a big breakfast made with love :). Pretty much the only time I cook a good breakfast is on special occasions. Of course Abby and I had to make Marc a cake. We enjoy baking together and he enjoys eating it! It was nice day.

Here are some pictures of Abby helping to make the cake (and eat the batter)....

The finished product.....

We added on 32 months for Abby since she shares the 14th as her b-day also (in December)..

Got a nice picture of Daddy and Abby with the cake.....

Then this happened......

The look on her face says it all....



Oh well, time to blow out the candles!!!

Enjoying the result of all her hard work...

Another Sad Loss

Last month we went through another very sad loss. We lost another baby in a miscarriage. The time leading up to the miscarriage was without a doubt the most stressful 10 weeks I have had. I was so worried from the moment I got the positive on the home pregnancy test. I really tried to think positive, but there was always that nagging feeling that something was going to go wrong again. My first ultra sound was when I should have been 6 weeks and 6 days along. My heart sank right away as I watched the screen and saw nothing but a gestational sac and yolk sac. No heart beat, which you can usually find around 6 weeks. The Dr. basically told me to prepare for another miscarriage and that it didn't look good. He was expecting my hcg hormone levels to start dropping, so I went in every 2 days after that ultra sound to give blood. Then I nervously waited the incredibly long 24 hours each time to get the results. My numbers continued to go up each time and I suddenly had a little hope that maybe the baby was just a slow starter and maybe we were going to be okay. 12 days after the first ultra sound, with my hcg levels still rising, I went in for ultra sound number 2. By this point I had really started to feel sick from the pregnancy. I was incredibly nauseous and tired, so I was hopeful that this was a good sign. I had to remind myself to breath as I lay on the table waiting for the ultra sound. She started the ultra sound and there it was, the most beautiful thing - a baby with a heart beating 140 beats per minute. I cried out of joy. I was only measuring 7 weeks and should have been 8 1/2, but the Dr. said that was okay and nothing to worry about. I was so happy to have beat the odds. I left that appointment feeling so happy, but still had that nagging feeling that things were not right. I went in a week later for another ultra sound. This time was not a happy one. The baby had grown and was measuring 8 weeks, but no heartbeat. A week later, when my body still had not miscarried on its own, I had a D&C. It was hard to go through another D&C, but I felt relieved to get relief from the sickness. It was hard to be so sick for 5 weeks with nothing to show.
It has been a difficult time for us. I think the loss was harder this time in some ways, yet easier in others. It was easier in the respect that I wasn't necessarily blindsided this time. With the first miscarriage I wasn't expecting it at all and was caught so off guard. This time I was almost expecting it just because of the feeling I had that something just wasn't right. However, this miscarriage was much more difficult to deal with because now we are facing the real possibility that we may not have any more children. After one miscarriage, the Drs will tell you that there was probably just something chromosomally wrong with the baby, and your body knows. In my eyes, they can't say that anymore after two in a row. It is now much more likely that there is something wrong that is preventing me from carrying a baby to term. It could be anything from hormone deficiency to a clotting disorder. With each miscarriage, your risk of having another goes up. The horrible part is that the insurance companies will not pay for any sort of testing to try to find the problem until you have had 3 consecutive miscarriages. It is very hard to think about going through all of this a third time.
Despite all of it, I really do still believe that all of this is part of God's plan for us. I may never know why, but I have to trust my belief that everything happens for a reason. It is very sad for me to think about not having any more children, but I am so thankful for the miracle I do have in Abby. She could have been a total miracle and I didn't even know it. I am so blessed to have her will always be so grateful. She really is my heart. I would love to give her a sibling, but if that doesn't happen I have to focus on how VERY lucky I am to have her and my two angels in heaven.

No More Sleep Sack

When I finally stopped swaddling Abby, I started putting her in a sleep sack for naps and at night. I figured I would just use them until she didn't want it anymore. I liked it because I never had to worry about her kicking off blankets and getting cold. Another perk was that she didn't like to stand in it so I never worried about her climbing out of her crib. (She has been tall enough to do so since she was 1) I never expected her to stay in it until she was 2 1/2!
Well, the day before yesterday she started taking it off in her crib. I went back in her room on Monday night after I put her in bed (saw on the video monitor that she had taken if off already)and asked her if she wanted it. She just said "no more sleep sack Mommy, take it out". Before that she has never even tried to take it off and never showed any objection to having it on. It is so weird to look at the video monitor and see her legs. I think she is going through a little bit of an adjustment to not having it because it is taking her longer to fall asleep. Hopefully she will get used to it. Of course she doesn't keep a blanket on....
She still isn't standing in her crib though. In fact, when she wakes up she usually doesn't even sit up. She just rolls around and talks to herself. She is such a good girl. We will see if she ever starts attempting to climb out of her crib... I really don't think she will because it is just not her personality. Hopefully she will stay put for another few months. I don't really want to make the switch to a bed until she is closer to 3. Ohhhhhh my, my baby is growing up. boohoo!