Long over due update

We have had an exciting and very busy few weeks. It started with Thanksgiving. We went and visited with my family in Rupert. It was fun to be with everyone.

Brayden followed his cousins around everywhere, he just want to be in the same room. Good thing the kids were go sports about him tagging along.

Brayden pined Patrick as he came up the stairs. For some reason he likes to sit on his head (to bad it wasn't with a stinky diaper ;)

We were able to see our new niece, Brookelyn. She is a cutie. She is 8 weeks younger than Whitney. Whitney have been the same size as Brooke since she was born, so it is fun to see them together. (Brooke is on the right)Every time we visit my parents, Patrick manages to take a nap in this chair. (He was cuddled up with Whitney's pink blanket but as soon as he heard the camera throw it)Brayden has become quite the cook (or eater). We made peanut butter cookies and Brayden discovered how the beaters came out and that you can eat with is on them. This is what Brayden does everyday. If you can see all the trucks are lined up in a straight row and he drives them two by two around the table. Whitney is getting more alert everyday. She smiles and giggles now. It is so quiet and innocent. She has the quietest cry that we can barely hear. We blessed Whitney on Dec 7th. Thank you to all our family to come out and support us. Patrick did a wonderful job. The Spirit was strong and you could feel of our Heavenly Father's love. My mom was able to use extra material from my wedding dress (she is an amazing seamstress, she made my wedding dress) and use it to make Whitney's blessing dress. It was absolutely adorable.

My best friend, Jessica, made Whitney this beautiful blanket, I just had to show it off.

Whitney is doing very well, growing like crazy. As the doctors say, a very tiny little girl. Everything about her is very petite. She now can fit in most newborn clothes (and she's 3 months) She has been diagnosed with a rare chromosome imbalance called Pentasomy X. There are only about 25 girls world wide with it, so little is know how it will affect her. We are doing everything we can now to better the chances of a 'regular' life. She is healthy physically, just lots of things we will be working on. The physical therapist was impressed with her strength, so now we will just work on the the basics.

Our sweetheart

Our little angel

Brayden is well on his way to 'terrible two's'. I've wondered many days if UPS will delivery him to his grandparents. His new favorite word is "NNNOOOOOO" with lots of atittude. Each week he is talking more and more. Brayden got his new snow clothes and he had to try them out

Brayden with his trucks, an all day activity.

Brayden got to spend the day with Grandma Great O while we took Whitney to her doctor appointments. He 'helped' her rake the leaves. By help, I mean run through the piles of freshly raked leaves.

One morning I looked out the window and this is the view from my front door. Lovely, itsn't it. Don't worry they said they would move it by Friday.

Brayden loves the phone and thinks Whitney needs to talk on it too.Here is Brayden as a punk

Whitney is growing great. She is up to 7 lbs. 6 ozs. That is what Brayden was at birth.

Most newborn clothes are still to big, but at few are starting to fit.Here's her teddy bear picture so you can see how much she is growing.

Brayden loven' the bear.Whitney get lots of tummy time. She doesn't like it, but we are working on it. She is starting to roll over whenever she get put on her tummy. We start physical therapy next wednesday so hopefully he can help get her to turn her head to the left.

Halloween

For Halloween this year, we were able to go to Rupert so Brayden could go trick-or-treating with the cousins. He was our little baseball player (he has to pretend cuz' Patrick says he can't play baseball in real life.

Checking out his 'goods'
Sleeping Minnie Mousecostume parade (Bailey's the flower and Briggs is the Horse)

Bailey the 'beautiful Flower"

When Daddy babysits (Patrick was babysitting Brayden when he was about 9 months)
Whitney feel asleep next to me in bed

6 weeks

Whitney is now 6 weeks old and growing tons. She is still wearing preemie clothes, the newborn are still way to big, the preemies still fit but are getting to short. The neck of the newborn outfits fall off her shoulders. The size difference between newborn and preemie is huge. If anyone has any suggestions I'd appreciate it.

She is more aware and more active. The pediatrician said she needs to be about 8 lbs before sleeping through the night, so the last couple nights I woke her up to eat otherwise she would probably sleep through most of the night. Feeding once a night isn't to bad. She is getting chubbier especially in her cheeks. She is about 6 lbs now.

Brayden still doesn't really care to much that Whitney is living here. He hates when she is in her car seat so he is always trying to get her out. He brings a truck to her every now and then. If you were to drive by our house and hear the noise level you would know the 2 year mark is fast approaching. Brayden has become a LOUD talker. We are working on 'using our inside voice'. Helping Mommy give baby Whitney a bath We keep Brayden on a pretty strict schedule and he knows it. So when we are a little late getting him to bed or a nap... he will go get his blanket, push Patrick and me into his room and start to climb into bed.. you know you've worn out your child when they are trying to get into bed, not out.

He loves playing with his 'Dadda'

I put Whitney is a pair of pants that Brayden had. He wore them when he was 3 weeks old so I figured Whitney, at 6 weeks, could maybe fit into them. Well instead we found that Whitney is going to be a pair on pants for Halloween. Brayden is going trick-or-treating as a baseball player. The smile is because he can sense the candy (or any food) that will be in his reach.

Consumer Report

To all who read this, this is a warning. This has been a very long and frustrating battle for me. (and I was pregnant aka had no patience) I am shortening the story and making it nicer than it really was for your sake.

Consumer Report for United Studios

For my birthday, I really wanted to have family pictures. There was a place at the mall that was having a special so we signed up to take family pictures and Brayden's 1 year pictures. (my birthday is in March). We had the pictures taken and I was really impressed with the photographer and excited to get the pictures back. We were scheduled to get them the first part of April. Well, we didn't get them so I started calling the company and each person just kept saying 'give it another week'. A month later I (kindly) insisted the tell me where my pictures are and get them too me. One lady looked into the matter and called me back to tell me they were never printed but they were on a rush order and should be there in a couple weeks. A couple weeks later, I called again and was told the same thing. To make matters worse, each time I called and asked to speak with the last lady, I was told the 'company let her go'. The end of August (yes 4 months later) I demand they get me the pictures so they did some more looking into it and our pictures were never really printed. The end of August I finally received pictures in the mail..... Do you even see any family resemblance?

(This is just a sample, the really pictures were scary)

I called and told them they had sent the wrong pictures. They apologized and kept saying that this never happens. I mailed them back and they reprinted 'our' pictures and have the sent out to us right away. A couple weeks later we got a folder of pictures... Any resemblance yet?

Needless to say... I never expect to see our pictures. Three weeks ago I requested a refund and still have not heard a word from them.... I doubt I'll ever see that as well. I promised the company I would never do business again with them and I would tell everyone I knew...... so this is me keeping my promise.

NEVER NEVER NEVER use United Studios to take your pictures. They will charge you and lose your pictures.

Win a free handbag! they are super cute!
http://www.handbagplanet.com/

Happy Birthday Grandma, We love you!!!!

**All Beautifully decorated by Brayden

Brayden is 19 months and is always on the move. He fills his day with animals, trucks, and food. He is keeping us on the move and always bringing us smiles. Terrible twos has hit and we are all hoping it doesn't last to long. He is loving his new room and his new sister. He will bring her toys so she will play with him. When she cries he runs to her and gets her pacifier, blanket, and me.

My 'big' boyBest Buds

Patrick and Brayden are learning about all the different kinds of trucks (I told Patrick we live in a country town now, he better brush up on his farming) Brayden loves to help me cook. He decided that he need to add a little of each spice from the spice rack (too bad we were making cookies)
We finally got Brayden to hold Whitney and even give her a kiss! Too bad she didn't like it.
Whitney will be one month old on Thursday.... it still amazes me how fast time goes. She went to the doctor on Oct 9th and she is growing! She is finally 5 lbs 6 oz, 18 1/2 inch!!! I wasn't quite sure if she would ever hit 5 lbs. The newborn clothes still are too big... she is so tiny around her waist, neck, and legs that they just don't stay on. A traditional 'Joan' look. Grandma always slept with her mouth open like this. Grandma would wake herself up snoring, Whitney hasn't done that yet. Whitney's hair is turning more red everyday too... Thanks Grandma Whitesides!!!I have be meaning to add this picture for awhile. This is from her first bath... when I was washing her hair I noticed how curly it is.