the brower bunch

Birthday at Chuck E Cheese!

2012-01-27T12:50:00.002-07:00

For Gage's birthday we decided to go to Chuck E Cheese as a family and since his big birthday party is on Sat it was just the three of us. Gage sure had a blast and after his coins ran out managed the bum 3 more tokens off various people. He's just sit by the ride and someone would come along and put on in. And mind you we started with a TON of tokens. 20 free ones for his birthday and 50 more that came with our pizza deal . I don't know who had more fun on the games, Cody or Gage. And what did 70 tokens amount to? 300 tickets which bought 4 pieces of candy. Not a great return but still was totally worth it. I'm excited to have a two year old but I'm bummed that Gage no longer gets into everything for free. Not flying free is going to be the biggest blow but maybe turning 2 means him growing up and getting a bit more self-sufficient. This morning I put underwear on Gage just for fun. I thought he'd really get a kick out of it but instead he ran right over, grabbed a diaper and laid down on the ground. And he NEVER willingly subjects himself to a diaper change so he did not like the underwear one bit. Maybe he could sense that they symbolized an ending to diaper freedom. And trust me, I'm not interested in potty training for quite some time more. I don't even know where I'd start with him since his language is way behind and I couldn't even explain to him how it all works. I guess we could lock ourselves in the bathroom and I could have him drink a ton of water and just wait. Maybe that's how it begins. Plus he's two and a half by the time the next baby comes so I don't know whether to try it before (since I'll be super busy after the baby is here) or to wait till after since they say kids revert to diapers when a sibling comes. Any thoughts? And then potty training him will introduce the toddler bed which frankly I'm not sure I'm ready to give him that kind of freedom. Anyway, I'll be having a big ol' update after his Thomas birthday tomorrow. I ordered a super cute cake and have about 10 kids coming so it should be a blast! Can't wait!

First preggie pics

2012-01-22T21:55:00.002-07:00

Well here are some pictures from this week. I'm looking pretty dang pregnant for just being 4 months along (apparently not so weird for a 2nd time mom) and I'm fully enjoying the fact that I can now go 3 hours without eating and feel pretty good still. I had an appointment this week and got to hear the heartbeat. A solid 165 which I think is exactly what Gage was. I need to look up that superstition about the heart beat saying if it's boy or girl. I put no stock in it but it's still fun to look at. Everything seemed to go well at the appointment and my thyriod levels are going back down after spiking in the first trimester so that's a relief. I should be able to find out the gender in just 3 weeks. Earlier than I was first told I could. Gage has a new tooth coming out this week has been one of those just get through it times but I think he'll really continue to get better now that words are coming to him a little easier. The problem is now that he uses a word and it's close enough to sounding like a real word that we both get frustrated trying to think what it might be. Just another step in getting him to talk I guess. The bottom picture is a typical Gage face I get when he wants something and he's trying to be charming. This look is usually followed by him saying "candy" or "cookie" and since I'm trying to encourage talking he occasionally gets it, which just makes him say it more. Visits with the speech therapist haven't been forthcoming and she usually comes right when he gets up from a nap so he's not all that friendly. I may need to get the time changed.

As many of my blogging friends know I got asked to be president of Relief Society in my ward and although it's only been a month I'm so excited, exhausted and honored to be working in this calling. It's a big job since we have over 200 women in the organization but I feel equal to the task and at least I know a small "break" will be coming in July. As if having a kid can really be considered a break. Regardless I'm going to do the best I can and I'm lucky to have steller counselors to help me out. Cody is also really busy right now in school with a clinic that gives him a real life criminal and he has to defend them in court and be their lawyer. It's for low income people and under the supervision of their professors he's sworn in and is a legal lawyer during this clinic. So needless to say it is taking all of his time and when I finally get him home the poor guy is exhausted. I'm so proud he made it into such an honored clinic. It's really difficult to get into and I think he'll look back on it as some of the fondest memories of Law School.

We almost got rid of our dog this week cause she kept breaking out of the yard and I've been really fed up with her but we decided to give her another chance. A dog catchers ticket runs in the hundreds around here and if it weren't for awesome neighbors we would have racked them up by now. She's not allowed on the carpet anymore either which is going really well and has greatly reduced the amount of cleaning I have to do. Anyway, if things go back to being too much for me we might have a very sweet, very lovable lab on the market. Anyway, all this was a little rambling'ish so thanks for sticking through it. Gage has his birthday on Tue with a birthday party next Sat so some pretty fun pictures should be coming up!

Great Article I Found

2012-01-18T14:52:00.002-07:00

Well I know this is cheating since I didn't write this but lately I haven't been feeling like Gage is the peaceful, perfect little kid he used to be and I was sad that I've been stressed at times and not always enjoying every minute of parenting. Now while I don't mind hearing "cherish every moment" I do think she has a ton of great points. This article is right on the money!

By Glennon Milton

Every time I'm out with my kids -- this seems to happen:

An older woman stops us, puts her hand over her heart and says something like, "Oh, Enjoy every moment. This time goes by so fast."

Everywhere I go, someone is telling me to seize the moment, raise my awareness, be happy, enjoy every second, etc, etc, etc.

I know that this message is right and good. But, I have finally allowed myself to admit that it just doesn't work for me. It bugs me. This CARPE DIEM message makes me paranoid and panicky. Especially during this phase of my life - while I'm raising young kids. Being told, in a million different ways to CARPE DIEM makes me worry that if I'm not in a constant state of intense gratitude and ecstasy, I'm doing something wrong.

I think parenting young children (and old ones, I've heard) is a little like climbing Mount Everest. Brave, adventurous souls try it because they've heard there's magic in the climb. They try because they believe that finishing, or even attempting the climb are impressive accomplishments. They try because during the climb, if they allow themselves to pause and lift their eyes and minds from the pain and drudgery, the views are breathtaking. They try because even though it hurts and it's hard, there are moments that make it worth the hard. These moments are so intense and unique that many people who reach the top start planning, almost immediately, to climb again. Even though any climber will tell you that most of the climb is treacherous, exhausting, killer. That they literally cried most of the way up.

And so I think that if there were people stationed, say, every thirty feet along Mount Everest yelling to the climbers -- "ARE YOU ENJOYING YOURSELF!? IF NOT, YOU SHOULD BE! ONE DAY YOU'LL BE SORRY YOU DIDN'T!" TRUST US!! IT'LL BE OVER TOO SOON! CARPE DIEM!" -- those well-meaning, nostalgic cheerleaders might be physically thrown from the mountain.

Now. I'm not suggesting that the sweet old ladies who tell me to ENJOY MYSELF be thrown from a mountain. These are wonderful ladies. Monkees, probably. But last week, a woman approached me in the Target line and said the following: "Sugar, I hope you are enjoying this. I loved every single second of parenting my two girls. Every single moment. These days go by so fast."

At that particular moment, Amma had arranged one of the new bras I was buying on top of her sweater and was sucking a lollipop that she must have found on the ground. She also had three shop-lifted clip-on neon feathers stuck in her hair. She looked exactly like a contestant from Toddlers and Tiaras. I couldn't find Chase anywhere, and Tish was grabbing the pen on the credit card swiper thing WHILE the woman in front of me was trying to use it. And so I just looked at the woman, smiled and said, "Thank you. Yes. Me too. I am enjoying every single moment. Especially this one. Yes. Thank you."

That's not exactly what I wanted to say, though.

There was a famous writer who, when asked if he loved writing, replied, "No. but I love having written." What I wanted to say to this sweet woman was, "Are you sure? Are you sure you don't mean you love having parented?"

I love having written. And I love having parented. My favorite part of each day is when the kids are put to sleep (to bed) and Craig and I sink into the couch to watch some quality TV, like Celebrity Wife Swap, and congratulate each other on a job well done. Or a job done, at least.

Every time I write a post like this, I get emails suggesting that I'm being negative. I have received this particular message four or five times -- G, if you can't handle the three you have, why do you want a fourth?

That one always stings, and I don't think it's quite fair. Parenting is hard. Just like lots of important jobs are hard. Why is it that the second a mother admits that it's hard, people feel the need to suggest that maybe she's not doing it right? Or that she certainly shouldn't add more to her load. Maybe the fact that it's so hard means she IS doing it right...in her own way...and she happens to be honest.

Craig is a software salesman. It's a hard job in this economy. And he comes home each day and talks a little bit about how hard it is. And I don't ever feel the need to suggest that he's not doing it right, or that he's negative for noticing that it's hard, or that maybe he shouldn't even consider taking on more responsibility. And I doubt anybody comes by his office to make sure he's ENJOYING HIMSELF. I doubt his boss peeks in his office and says: "This career stuff...it goes by so fast...ARE YOU ENJOYING EVERY MOMENT IN THERE, CRAIG???? CARPE DIEM, CRAIG!"

My point is this. I used to worry that not only was I failing to do a good enough job at parenting, but that I wasn't enjoying it enough. Double failure. I felt guilty because I wasn't in parental ecstasy every hour of every day and I wasn't MAKING THE MOST OF EVERY MOMENT like the mamas in the parenting magazines seemed to be doing. I felt guilty because honestly, I was tired and cranky and ready for the day to be over quite often. And because I knew that one day, I'd wake up and the kids would be gone, and I'd be the old lady in the grocery store with my hand over my heart. Would I be able to say I enjoyed every moment? No.

But the fact remains that I will be that nostalgic lady. I just hope to be one with a clear memory. And here's what I hope to say to the younger mama gritting her teeth in line:

"It's helluva hard, isn't it? You're a good mom, I can tell. And I like your kids, especially that one peeing in the corner. She's my favorite. Carry on, warrior. Six hours till bedtime." And hopefully, every once in a while, I'll add -- "Let me pick up that grocery bill for ya, sister. Go put those kids in the van and pull on up -- I'll have them bring your groceries out."

Anyway. Clearly, Carpe Diem doesn't work for me. I can't even carpe fifteen minutes in a row, so a whole diem is out of the question.

Here's what does work for me:

There are two different types of time. Chronos time is what we live in. It's regular time, it's one minute at a time, it's staring down the clock till bedtime time, it's ten excruciating minutes in the Target line time, it's four screaming minutes in time out time, it's two hours till daddy gets home time. Chronos is the hard, slow passing time we parents often live in.

Then there's Kairos time. Kairos is God's time. It's time outside of time. It's metaphysical time. It's those magical moments in which time stands still. I have a few of those moments each day. And I cherish them.

Like when I actually stop what I'm doing and really look at Tish. I notice how perfectly smooth and brownish her skin is. I notice the perfect curves of her teeny elf mouth and her asianish brown eyes, and I breathe in her soft Tishy smell. In these moments, I see that her mouth is moving but I can't hear her because all I can think is -- This is the first time I've really seen Tish all day, and my God -- she is so beautiful. Kairos.

Like when I'm stuck in chronos time in the grocery line and I'm haggard and annoyed and angry at the slow check-out clerk. And then I look at my cart and I'm transported out of chronos. And suddenly I notice the piles and piles of healthy food I'll feed my children to grow their bodies and minds and I remember that most of the world's mamas would kill for this opportunity. This chance to stand in a grocery line with enough money to pay. And I just stare at my cart. At the abundance. The bounty. Thank you, God. Kairos.

Or when I curl up in my cozy bed with Theo asleep at my feet and Craig asleep by my side and I listen to them both breathing. And for a moment, I think- how did a girl like me get so lucky? To go to bed each night surrounded by this breath, this love, this peace, this warmth? Kairos.

These kairos moments leave as fast as they come- but I mark them. I say the word kairos in my head each time I leave chronos. And at the end of the day, I don't remember exactly what my kairos moments were, but I remember I had them. And that makes the pain of the daily parenting climb worth it.

If I had a couple Kairos moments during the day, I call it a success.

Carpe a couple of Kairoses a day.

Good enough for me.

Feliz Navidad!

2011-12-29T11:29:00.007-07:00

Merry Christmas everyone! Things have finally calmed down enough to get a blog post up. Christmas this year was so much fun. We didn't travel anywhere because of my history of miscarriages and I just didn't want to take the chance, so we had some wonderful friends invite us in for Christmas Eve and a different family for Christmas day. The Warners are our best
friends here and I seriously wonder what we'd do without them. They have 5 kids and the house is full of all the love and chaos both Cody and I had growing up in big families. Plus Gage loves being fussed over by the 4 girls. We did a little nativity thing with the kids and we made it all the way through it (which was more than I expected). We even managed to break out the chimes and play some Christmas classics. We actually pulled that off pretty well and Cody only had to stab one of the kids with his chime to get them to be quiet.

Gage pretending to be a wise man.

The wise men (or wise guys as Thayne likes to be called) and Mary. I spray painted some BK crowns. Not too shabby huh?

Mary and Joseph with Cody as the donkey. Gage really wanted a turn at riding.

Just the sweetest girls ever!

We had a total blast and as usual didn't get home till mindnight or so. I'm so grateful that we have a transportable kid. Gage is such a champ at falling asleep at other people's houses and goes right to bed when we get home. It's really helps us to get out with friends and not be stuck at home. Christmas day we spent with the Owen's (some friends from church) and they made an amazing prime rib that was to die for. All I've wanted to eat this whole pregnancy is red meat which is so different than it was with Gage. Just some funny little differences. Like the fact that I haven't thrown up yet and don't think I will. Just a lot of sich feelings but even that's tapering off a little. Still having to take a nap during the day and that's with Cody letting me sleep in often. I'm going to die when he goes back to school. I've heard 2nd trimester is a good time to tell everyone you're pregnant but I've also heard 14 weeks. Thoughts on the matter?

Christmas was a blast and Gage loved all the presents we got him. By the end of the morning he was a pro at opening presents. I've got to say that I just love my little boy so much. He's so loving and caring and some how pulls off being super energized all the time but still being an easy going kid. We've been working on kisses lately and he came and gave me a big one this morning as he left with Cody to the pool. Man it just melted my heart! This next baby sure has some big shoes to fill! I'm sure I'll have no problem loving the new baby just as much as I do Gage.

Photo sesh fun and Santa

2011-12-16T21:26:00.003-07:00

I got my hair cut the other day so Gage and I decided to take some pictures for fun. Turns out he's kind of a camera hog. But we still had a lot of fun. And today at my mom's club holiday party we had Santa show up. Gage, as friendly as ever,

had no problem running right up, pushing kids out of the way, and plopping himself right on Santa's lap. Let's be honest, there was candy involved so there wasn't much I could do to stop him. It was pretty dang cute. Cody's done with this semester and doesn't start till January 10th so I'm all crazy excited to have him around to hang out with. Unfortunately I usually keep a dirtier house when he's on break cause I'd rather hang out with him than clean. We'll see how things go. I just love having a husband I ache to be around. Makes marriage so much fun!

Baby Time!

2011-12-13T17:25:00.003-07:00

So with me being at 10 weeks I feel pretty good about letting the blog crew know that we're having another baby. Finally, after a year of trying and two miscarriages we are welcoming a little Kumquat into the family (that's how big the baby is right now). I feel really good about this pregnancy and feel like Heavenly Father has let me know that this is going to work out. I have been super tired for the last couple of months and feel like I've literally been hit by a bus. My morning sickness, plus it being winter, has kept Gage in a lot and it's driving both of us insane. I can't wait for Cody to start winter break tomorrow so Gage can have someone to take him out. I honestly don't think I was ever this tired while pregnant with Gage. I fall asleep at 9 and I still have to take a nap during the day while Gage gets his. But I'm so grateful just to be pregnant again and with all signs that things are going well. I went to the doctor about 2 weeks ago and the ultrasound showed a healthy little heart beating in a little body. It's funny cause with Gage I never had any inklings that he was going to be a boy (although I did win $50 bucks off Cody on a bet) but I really feel like on several occasions I've been told it'll be a girl. I know that goes against my belief that I'll just have all boys (thanks to my church given blessing) but I have a hard time thinking in any other terms other that she and her and the little girl. I'd love a girl just so I could have both genders covered but I would love a little boy again so I could get some more use out of all those clothes. And in the end a baby's a baby and that's all that matters.

So everyone keep their fingers crossed. I know that 10 weeks isn't in the clear by any means but I feel like this ones it. There have just been some differences from the beginning that make me feel much safer about it. Anyway, that's all for now!

Winter Wonderland

2011-12-07T12:54:00.003-07:00

Just some random pictures from the last little bit. Cody and I got the Christmas lights up on a very cold day about a week ago and have been enjoying them ever since. We just picked up our Christmas Tree this morning and I'll be sure to get some pictures of that up too. Gage is a total wildman lately. I think it's the cold weather and having to stay inside a lot but man he is just going wild with the confines. He was jumping all crazy in the living room and total knocked a hole in the wall with his head. It was where a patch job already was but still he hit it pretty hard. Didn't cry or even seem phased but he did think the hole he made was pretty neat. Last Sat we took advantage of the new snow and went sledding for Gage's first time. He kinda liked it and kinda didn't. Big smile on the actual going down the hill but absolutly miserable when his hands got cold and his nose started running. Good thing we just used trashbags. No use wasting $20 on a sled that Gage only kinda liked. Anyway- that's about it for here in Colorado. I've got to get the tree set up and then prep the basement for my mom's club Zumba class tomorrow. Exciting!

Blow guns and a Zoo trip!

2011-11-22T14:31:00.004-07:00

We went to the zoo this morning and I was really impressed with Denver Zoo. Gage had a pretty good time except he refuses to stay close so he spent a lot of time in the stroller. His favorite exhibit was the sea lions under water observitory. They were playing around in the water like crazy and I think Gage would have joined them if he could of. Cody also got a blow gun for his birthday and has been playing with it in the backyard ever since. He claims he's gonna eradicate the pesky squirrles from our back yard but he's yet to shoot one (much to my relief). Gage has a great time blowing into it to shoot the dart out and I find him blowing into it whenever Cody leaves it in an reachable place. It's harder to aim than it looks but I'm sure I'll come home to rabbit stew some night and just not ask questions.

Grandparents, halloween and snow!

2011-10-31T20:33:00.004-06:00

Well we just got done having a wonderful visit from Mom and Dad Kelley, or I guess I should start calling them Grandma and Grandpa (since my mom taught Gage to call them that). I can tell he misses them already! They came for the weekend and we kept busy playing games and going to the dog park and it had snowed right before they came so things were really fall'ish. Gage likedto eat the snow at first till his hands went numb and then it was all tears and sadness. We also went to a trunk or treat with mom and dad and I can't imagine anything cooler to a toddler's mind. Halloween just became his favorite holiday I think. At least till Christmas comes along. I loved watching Gage interact with his Grandparents. Seriously, what parent wouldn't want someone around who loves and is as proud of your kid as you are. He's such a friendly loving little guy that he instantly loved them both and couldn't get enough hugs and loves. Plus it was my dad's first visit here so we got to show him around the house we are very proud of. I'm just glad our bug we all had before they came didn't hit my mom super hard and my dad missed it all together. Such luck! I was totally sick and miserable for the whole day!

Gage also dabbled in some more trick or treating tonight and I'm impressed he caught on the the spirit as much as he did. By the time we'd cleaned house on the neighborhood homes he was a natural. Often charming old ladies to give him three or four pieces of candy. My favorite comment of the night was from one lady who asked "now, do mom and dad like gummies more or chocolate" and I do hope to get some of that candy but man Gage has been crazy about candy lately. And we didn't have enough kids come to the door so we've got a whole fish bowl of candy left. Oh well. I wish my mom and dad could have stayed till tonight but I'm sure they were happy to be back in their own beds, especially with my mom being sick. All in all it was a wonderful weekend!

New Floor!

2011-10-25T11:53:00.006-06:00

Well I have to admit that this last project sure was intense but I think it's given us our best return yet. As any of you would know, dining rooms and carpets weren't ever meant to go together with a toddler in the mix. So we decided to put down a laminate click and lock floor to replace the carpet in the dining room, the vinyl in the kitchen and more carpet in the living room and laundry room. The living room opens into the back yard and I was tired of yelling at Gage and our dog every time they tracked something on it. So, ever ambitious of us, we decided to use Cody's inheritance money from a great Aunt to take on the project. And I've got to say it turned out great. It took two full weekends and a lot of Seseme Street episodes for Gage but it's all over with just a couple of finishing touches to go. Our house had some really outdated and trashed base board so we decided to replace them everywhere except the bedrooms. That portion of the project is ongoing but it helps make our house feel high end. We got the higher quality laminate that had the padding already on the back and we got it for a great deal too! 600 sq ft for only $900. Another $200 in trim and the grand total was just $1,100. And I'm so happy with the results. It got rid of so many of my problems and gives the house some real character. And let me say right now that Cody is amazing. I always grew up loving to do home projects with my dad and I love being able to do it with Cody. I'm probably about as effective as I was back then but I just love to see things come together. And might I add that a huge part of the demolition was all me. I pulled the 3 layers of vinyl off the kitchen floor and that stuff does not come up willingly. The hardest part was trying to get stuff done around Gage. He was a trooper but a horrible annoyance nonetheless. So that's another home project from the Browers! Enjoy!
Before and After!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Visit from friends

2011-09-29T11:17:00.002-06:00

We had some friends come down last weekend from Idaho and we had a total blast. The best part was just getting visited in the first place! Being in Denver means not getting visited very often so I was thrilled to have Rachel, Jesse, Kim and Josh visit (and also Jesse's cousin and GF). While all us girly folk went to the relief society broadcast the boys went to a UFC fight in downtown and apparently had a blast. Gage and Atreyu had a lot of fun and we're super cute together. They're still at the age where they don't really "play" together but there was plenty of stealing, crying and biting going on so I consider that interaction of a sort. We also went the the denver aquiarium and it was a really neat place. Wish I had brought my camera! And it made me miss the ocean all the more! All in all it was an awesome weekend that really reminded me that I've got wonderful friends who love me so much!

In other news I'm sure everyone saw on facebook but my phone got toasted. Gage has been watching me put things in the oven for awhile now and just recently started "helping" me take care of things. I hadn't seen my phone for most of the day...never a good sign... and decided to make corn dogs. After about 5 mins of the oven heating up I smelled something plastic burning. I thought it would be one of his plastic building blocks but was very disappointed to see my phone in their bubbling from the heat. It's his first time putting anything in there and I can't believe I was unlucky enough for it to have been my phone. At least we're phasing out of Sprint so this is my chance to get a new phone on a new plan. Oh well!

Playset!!!

2011-09-15T13:29:00.006-06:00

It only took us 5 months to finally set up my birthday present from May but the wait was worth it. Let me introduce the coolest addition to our home yet! A play set!

I've been keeping an eye out for one of these but our budget just didn't allow us to spend the $500-$1,000 other play sets were going for. Around my birthday I spotted this one and sweet Cody went along with my compulsive craigslist spending crave. We got this awesome set for only $125 and it was well worth it! The first picture is one of three pictures we got from the owner. He had already disassembled it for us which was nice in some ways but terrible in that it was super hard to put back together again with just 3 pictures, all from the same angle. The guy had really thoroughly taken it apart so it just looked like a big heap of wood. It's funny cause when I looked at his picture I thought- "this will be so easy to put together. It doesn't have that many parts. We'll have it up and going in half a day". Wrong. Try two very long, very full days. Putting it together was just like a puzzle figuring out which posts were side and which ones corners. We also got a gallon sized Ziploc bag full of bolts that we also had to figure out. Plus the guy had never put up the swing set part so that was done totally blind. And the wood was in pretty rough state so we sanded some of it and painted the whole thing. It looks almost new! The only thing still missing in the set is a rope net to climb right in the front next to the slide. We're going to get that up this weekend hopefully. And I'd like to paint the rock climbing wall on the back brown. I just couldn't wait to post pictures of it! I've got to say that I have the most wonderful, willing husband in the world. I always pull him into these crazy projects during his precious law-school free weekends and I always think they will go fast but Cody's much more realistic than me. Gage's reaction to the play set has been great. He loves the middle swing so much and especially when I get on with him. He also really likes the picnic table that sits under the fort and has eaten out there a couple of times. The neighborhood kids also love it and had really put it through the ringer with their rough teenager play. I'm happy to report that it's proven to be solid as a rock and I'm so happy to have a great backyard to contribute to my mom's group. It'll be such a sad thing to leave with this house when we do move but I'm not sure it's the kind of thing I want to take apart and put back together again. Maybe it'll be one more thing to the house that'll help sell it when the time comes.

A quick run to Idaho

2011-09-13T21:22:00.004-06:00

So Cody decided to head to Idaho for Labor Day and me, being the wonderful, supportive wife that I am origionally wanted him to take Gage and leave me with some peace and quiet for the weekend. But then that wonderful suportivness took over and I decided to go with him and not leave him with the boy on a 9 hour drive. Actually a huge reason I wanted to go was that our fillies (baby girl horses) finally got done with training and were ready to be riden. And let me say it was a blast. It is a totally different riding experience being on a horse you've had since they were born and knowing that you'll have them in your family for the next 20 years or more. They couldn't be different personalities and strangly enough Cody and I got comfortable with the opposite horses we thought we'd love. Gage had a blast too playing with his cousins and discovering the joys of ATV rides with his dad and grandpa. And he was also filthy dirty most of the time. Also a givin when camping. He was so cute with his cousin mercedes. They would climb on the ATV and fight over who got to be in front. Tipsy was a huge hit amoungst the little kids. Especially when they learned she could sit, shake and lay down. It only took her a day of it to realize she never got any treats for doing the tricks. She would finally find a quiet place to take a nap and the kids would come running to tell me that she must be sick cause they poked and poked her and she wouldn't get up. Bless her heart she never got fed up or frustrated with the kids. She's such a good dog! The nice part was that Cody's grandma lives just up the road so we didn't even bother with a tent. We just slept there at night. Now that we're back safe and sound I get to hang out with a horribly grumpy teether and relish in the joys of getting up in the night with him and enduring his whinning in the day. I just feel so bad for him that so far he'd endured a third of his life with terrible teething. Also I have some really cute 18 month pictures coming up that I'll post next. They turned out sooooo cute and I should hope they did cause they were a ton!

Summer fix up

2011-08-27T12:59:00.005-06:00

Here's one of the summer projects that Cody and I worked on. The first picture is when we moved in and other two pictures are our final product. We bought the house with a great little shed in the backyard but it was pretty beat up. Plus one of the neighborhood kids punched through one of the windows with his hand one day so we had a lot of work to put into it. The great part was that we picked up the paint for free and we only had to pay for a new window ($30) and replacement wood for some of the trim ($20) and we got a new looking shed for cheap! The mulching and trimming of the tree's helped a ton too! I feel so validated every time I get to improve my house a little bit and am so glad to live in Denver where we can get so many things for cheaper prices.

One huge catch up!

2011-08-08T11:10:00.006-06:00

This blog is pretty much just gonna be a ton of pictures of my trip to Cali to visit my mom and dad and also my most recent trip to Lake Powell with the Brower clan. I've been a pretty terrible blogger this summer but I have high hopes of not leaving for another trip for at least the next few months, so maybe I'll get back in the swing of things. Going to California was a blast and I loved being able to spend time alone with my parents so much. Cody was still in school so just me and Gage took advantage of some time in the sun. Gage was a wild man when it came to the ocean. He'd run full blast at it and brave the waves while he could stand it. He showed a little more reservation after his Grandpa let a wave crash over him but after a few minutes he was back at it again. It was exactly the vacation I had been hoping for! Then just a week after that I went to Lake Powell with the Browers for their annual house boating adventure. We all had so much fun and oddly we had a fairly relaxing time even with 5 kids being 2 or younger. I was so proud of how well Gage figured out how to swim and manuver in the water with just a life jacket on. We didn't even have a kid accidently fall off the boat once. I was worried that Gage would hate having to wear a life jacket all the time except when sleeping but he did great. Overall it was a much less stressful event than I thought it was going to be with a reckless 1 1/2 year old. And now to finish off the summer with some real relaxing. At least till Cody starts school next week.

WATERMELON!

2011-06-07T13:56:00.005-06:00

Summer days are the best! Gage tried watermelon for the first time the other day and I can't keep him away from it since! He's especially fond of the rind which is weird but I could see him liking the texture of it. He's getting a summer tan going and he gets cuter and cuter in my eyes with every day that pasts. It's funny the natural "boyness" that comes to Gage. If it is dirty, sticky or smelly he's all over it. I got hassled by a man at the dog park for letting him run around armed with a stick in each hand and while I admit that letting him play with sticks is risky, I can't keep him away from them. I'd rather just keep him as safe as possible while letting him be the most adventurous kid he can. I'd hate to think how I would have turned out if my mom wasn't so great at letting me get into adventures and loving every minute of my life.
The picture of Cody's leg is from when he got kicked by a horse in Idaho. We went up there to help Cody's parents move and to get our baby horses transported to the horse breakers ranch. So while trying to lasso her and get her haltered Cody got kicked and she jumped, not so gracefully, over the fence. The bruises keep traveling and getting darker even now so we're gonna get him in for some x-rays I think. Until then he gets to be my little gimpy who hobbles around.

So disappointing

2011-06-01T15:59:00.002-06:00

I think for my own piece of mind I'd feel like my miscarriage will totally be over once I write a little bit about it and just get some feelings out there. I guess I never felt great about the pregnancy since I wasn't feeling super sick like I did with Gage but I just chalked it up to a different pregnancy and different feelings. When I first realized I had started bleeding I instantly knew that I was losing the baby. The internet said that it was really common and then all the confusing thoughts started. Am I really miscarrying? Did I do something to cause it? If only half of the women that bleed miscarry could I be one of those? The tests we inconclusive when we first had them because you need 48 hours to take another blood test and compare the two so I went home hopeful but still really scared. Cody kept helping to keep me optimistic but after another day I had to know and was just tired of playing the "well maybe it'll be ok" game. After spending another night just lying in Cody's arms crying my heart out I asked Heavenly Father if I was losing my baby. The spirit told me SO strongly that I was miscarrying and even though it broke my heart to know that, I at least knew that Heavenly Father knew what was happening and if he knew then it must be a part of some big plan. The next day I took another blood test and by the next day the answer came back that my pregnancy hormone levels were dropping. A sure sign of a miscarriage. Even though Heavenly Father had already told me, it still hurt so bad to get that confirmation. The doctor said that the sack didn't appear to have a fetus in it so either one never grew or it only got a little growth in before it genetically failed somehow. Interesting enough, I was comforted that maybe a baby hadn't died in me but there's no way to tell. I've been busy enough with Gage that I haven't had to think about it much until now and I've been crying for the majority of this blogs writing but I feel like it really is the closure that I'm looking for. It's such a sad thing to have happen but I'm hopeful that the next baby won't take too long to join our family and I'm so thankful for the support and love that Cody showed me through this whole thing. It was terrible to be away from home while this happened but if it had been a week earlier or later, Cody would have been in school and wouldn't have been able to give me his full attention. He's such a strong man and such a wonderful husband. I'm lucky to have him. I just ask that everyone's prayers stay with us and I'm so grateful for all the love I've received from all of you.

2011-05-19T09:19:00.002-06:00

At last Cody is done with finals so I get my husband back again! I'm so proud of all the hard work he put into studying (sometimes going for 10 straight hours!) and we just hope the grades come back and reflect his hard work. His grades will determine if he gets his scholarship for next year so fingers crossed! I've been keeping pretty busy around the house and especially in the back yard. I got my garden boxes all set up but between Gage and the dog I'm not sure they'll make it far. I've already lost two pea plants and all my pumpkins to their destructive ways. Maybe I'll try fencing it in. I also removed about a ton (literally) of branches from some very overgrown lilac bushes. We just unloaded them at the dump this morning and it was so much work! The trimmed bushes look so much better but unfortunately it shows more of the neighbors house now. Oh well. I finished my outside project for this week by transplanting several aspen saplings we have in the back corner of the lot to the other end. Aspens work on a connecting root system with each other so I'm giving them about a 50/50 chance to survive the trip. They just don't have many of their own roots. So with the pictures I thought would give an insight into what the morning can be like with Gage. Let me sum it up. Lots of climbing. All the time! We were at a play place in the mall yesterday and Gage was scaling the steps to the slide with all the other big kids and several parents told me how shocked they were to see a 15 month old getting up there. And that's just Gage. He's tough, fearless and a boy through and through. I think I could walk away for an hour and he wouldn't even know I was gone. He must have been born with this independent spirit cause he is the total opposite of clingy. Which is great cause I'm too tired to even carry him most of the time. I haven't been having much morning sickness which is really great but it does stress me out cause I was so sick, all the time, with Gage. Maybe that means this one is a girl? Who knows? At least I have an ultrasound appointment on the 6th. The picture of my bedroom is to show the new bedding I got with my birthday money. I finally feel that I am starting to have an adult bedroom where I feel it's separate from the rest of the house. I'm hoping to have some fun pictures from our trip to Idaho next week and hopefully they won't all be of Gage screaming in his car seat. Cody's Grandma is catching a ride up to Idaho with us and all I can say is I hope she doesn't mind a screaming kid cause that's what's coming her way. Man I hate traveling!

New Front Yard!!!!

2011-05-08T11:34:00.008-06:00

Here are the much anticipated pictures of our front yard landscaping project! I think we ended up with the prettiest house on the block! We love just sitting out in front and admiring our lovely lawn. We can't sit out there when Gage is awake cause he has an unhealthy addiction to getting on the street and the one we live on is fairly busy. So the first picture is of the house when we just purchased it. After trimming and removing several trees and bushes, pulling out some sod and removing the front flowers we see the middle pictures. Still ugly and a total eyesore for the neighborhood. We then hired a landscaper to put in the rock and sprinkler system. And just a week ago me, Cody and 4 missionaries laid the sod. We got our sod for more than half off by cutting out the middle man and getting it from the country. We love our lawn so much and are so excited to see the bids on the house when we eventually put it up for sale.

Easter time!

2011-04-28T21:06:00.002-06:00

So a few different pictures here that I've collected over the past week or so. First is of Gage with the new pool/sandbox I got him. I figured I could make it a pool in the summer and a sandbox when it gets cool outside. He loves it and I literally am shocked he hasn't learned the word water yet cause he loves it! Whether its the dogs water bowl or the gutter run off- if it's wet, he'll play in it! The next picture was our family home evening lesson on faith and Gage got to plant a few seeds to show how faith grows. It kinda went well but I don't think Gage understood much beyond the fact that we were letting him play in dirt.

I also posted his easter pictures which I had to take the day after easter since it rained a ton here on Sunday. The nice thing was that all the candy and eggs and stuff were half off. So for future reference, Gage will continue to think that Easter is the Monday after the third Sunday :)

The last picture is of my poor little girl Tipsy. We took her to get fixed a couple of weeks ago and you've never seen such a miserable dog. The worst is that a month previous a male dog made it into our yard while she was in heat and she started getting fatter and more tired but I thought she was just growing up and adjusting to being in heat the first time. Turns out we're pretty sure she was pregnant. I asked the gal when I picked her up from being fixed if she had been pregnant but the nurse wasn't there when the surgery was done so she couldn't tell me. The sad thing is that I teared up at the thought that I had taken motherhood away from her and she would have made such a good mom. Oh well. There are so many puppies in the world that need homes so I feel that it was the right thing to have happened. But I can still feel sorry for her. Luckily she's making a great recovery and is back to the same energetic, free loving puppy I'm used to. She's such a good dog and such a blessing for Gage. I took a video of Gage and Tipsy trying to catch a fly in the house and it made me so gald that he has someone to hang out with. He's a dog guy through and through.

A visit from Family!

2011-04-26T14:41:00.004-06:00

Kaiann (Cody's sister) and her husband Kevin came for a visit with their three kids a few weeks ago and we all had such a blast together! Cody had a lot of school work he had to do but we still found time to hang out and have tons of fun. Gage loved playing with Alexis, Colin and Mercedes and especially taking baths with Mercedes. She was always trying to give him drinks out of his bathtub cup. We even found time to do some running, which I haven't done in two years (thank you Gage). Anyway, it was awesome and I was so sad to see them go. I wish we didn't live so far apart!

Trip to Cali!

2011-04-26T14:34:00.003-06:00

These pictures are from my trip home to welcome back my sister Laura from a mission in Korea. It was so much fun and I enjoyed being with my sisters so much! Especially being able to stay up with Laura every night just talking about whatever. I had the time of my life! Unfornutatley my camera was in my Dad's car for the majority of the trip so I didn't get to take pictures of Gage's first trip to Disneyland. All in all the whole trip was a blast and I know Gage loved being able to play with his cousins. Carson and Adam were especially fun for him to play with since they're around his age. Little Luke just needs to grow up fast to join the party.

New bathroom!

2011-03-08T10:23:00.004-07:00

Well I do have to say that Cody is the best husband ever! I'm surprised he doesn't cringe every time I start a conversation with "you know what would make the house look really great...?" I focused my weekend energy on the guest bathroom this time and I've got to say that it was one of my favorite makeovers I've done yet. Before the bathroom had an ugly old medicine cabnet that barly gave off adaquet light, an oak vanity that clashed with everything, and all in all zero class. So the neat thing about this project is that it taught me and Cody how to do something totally new. The lighting wires were in the wrong place so my awesome husband put a new hole in the wall, installed a new outlet box for the wiring to go through and re-wired it for the new light fixture. I'm just amazed that no matter what I ask Cody to do he somehow figures out how to make it happen! The mirror glass I bought on Craigslist for $10 and after adhearing it to the wall Cody built a frame around it that turned out beautiful. I topped it of with a coat of black paint for the mirror frame and on the vanity and ta da! An almost new looking bathroom. Someday when I get more money I'd like to update the fixtures and re-tile the bathtub area but not a bad make over that cost just $50.

Walking!

2011-02-25T13:46:00.004-07:00

Little Gage is walking and I'm so proud of him!!! He's been walking for about the last month but I didn't want to claime that he REALLY was cause he was being forced into most of it. But finally I can say that he is happily and willingly walking on his own free will which is a cause for celebration! He still prefers to crawl but I'm sure he'll be won over by the biped way soon enough. He continues to be a bundle of energy and fun.

Also in other news I went to the doctor to have my thyroid tested cause I've had problems with it in the past and I just got the results back today. Turns out I'm not only hypothyroidic but REALLY hypothyroidic! The doctor said the lab results were the highest she's ever seen in her professional life. A normal thyroid level is somewhere under 4. My results came in at over 150. They begin to medicate people when they hit a 10. So yeah. The way they measure it is your petuitary gland keeps track of how many thyroids your thyroid gland is producing. When your gland notices a shortage it sends a message to your thyroid to up the production. The THS number (mine was over 150) is how much the gland is telling the thyroid to produce. So that means I pretty much have had an inactive thyroid, probably for a while. My doctor mentioned that it could have been a factor in it taking me awhile to get pregnant with Gage. So I got my pills today and am really hoping to see some result. It should take about a week for the medicine to start working and after that It"ll take a few months to get the dosage right. So if anyones been really tired, depressed, cold or numbing of the hands or unexpected weight gain you might want to get yours checked out. It's just a simple blood test. Most of the evidence shows that this is a life long problem so I might just have to take a pill everyday for the rest of my life. It's funny cause the doctor said she was shocked to see my results because I didn't seem to have super severe symptoms but she said that when someones had it for a long time they can just learn to deal with it and ignore the effects. So I'm just mostly relieved that the problem is what I thought it was and hopefully I can get rid of the numbing of my hands. By far that was the symptom. My doctor mentioned that it might make me a high risk pregnancy next time I get pregnant so we'll see. Just wish I would have known all this for my pregnancy with Gage. The doctor said I was most likely super hypothyroidic then and that would account for a lot of the things I had to deal with. Numbness being the main one! I'm really hoping I can kiss the carpel tunnel goodbye and never see it again but we'll just have to wait and see!

Laugh attack

2011-02-24T13:50:00.003-07:00

Cody and I were watching "Scrubs" and there's this part where JD finds his X and his brother kissing in the bunk below him. He's so shocked that he falls from the top bunk with a squeal and Gage thought it was the funniest thing. We had to get it on video and we had to rewind the scene at least 30 times and he laughed just as hard every time. Oh he is just so full of fun I can't wait to see what kind of an adult he'll end up being! The picture exemplifies just one of the many mischivious things that he's gotten into. On his growing list are unrolling the toilet paper roll at least once a day, emptying my whole drawer of pots and pans and taking every N64 game off the shelf. I can see why houses are so hard to keep clean!

I've been doing a lot of different projects around the house and just finished up the masters bedroom so I'll have to take a picture of it and show it off. And I have to say that I did an awesome job with a zero dollar budget (thank you craigslist!). Maybe I'll go snap some pictures real quick and put them in this post. PS the mirror above our bed was also made by Cody and I've got to say he really is quite the carpenter. Every project he does for me looks so professional! We used left over base boards for the frame and a craigslist pick up for the backing with the mirror being another craigslist pick up. I wasn't sure about the wall color but Cody complained that all I ever want to do are browns and tans so I went out on a limb and found a gallon of this grey that I think turned out really nice. For my birthday I going to have Cody get me a new bedspread. I was thinking white. Any suggestions?

First trip to the Dentist!

2011-02-15T15:26:00.002-07:00

Well Gage had his first visit to the dentist and he did great! He got a cleaning and x-rays and a cool electric toothbrush that is his new favorite toy. The doctor said that he likes to see kids when they get their first tooth just to get them used to the dentist office. It was funny cause he said that just as another couple was leaving with a sobbing 3 year old in tow and he gestured to them as an example. I was so proud of Gage cause he managed to sit through and exam and even let the gal do floride stuff on his teeth. The other pictures are the flowers Cody got for me, which I love and are filling my house with such a sweet smell. He also got me a DU Law sweatshirt and I feel so cool wearing it! Cody is such a considerate husband and always makes such a effort to make me feel special. Thanks for a great Valentines Day Sweetheart!

The last picture was from last week when we were hitting negative teens and Gage and I ventured out for a walk. Gage liked licking his chin and then feeling the spit freeze. What a funny guy huh? Not crying or anything- just curious about what was happening around him.

2011-02-13T08:58:00.005-07:00

So, we finally got the mirror up! It weighs about 63 pounds so it was kinda hard to hang. We picked the glass up on craigslist for free and cut, framed, and stained it. It was quite the project and Annie and I learned quite a bit doing it. We LOVE craigslist! We even picked up a small rocking horse for Gage the other day for free as well. He has been a handful lately and pretty much goes wherever he wants. He is constantly crawling up on the fireplace, but doesn't know how to get back down, so he sits up there and yells until we get him, at which point he crawls right back up. . . We even have to keep the doggy door closed all the time or he goes right outside.

A lot of times we will hear him laughing and laughing just to find him chasing the dog around playing with her. We brought him to the dog park the other day and whenever a dog would even get close to him he'd start to laugh and try to play with them. It will be a wonderful thing for him to have a friend to grow up with and we are so thankful we were able to get Tipsy. Well, I promised Annie I would get this done before she got back from her relief society meeting, so I better wrap up. Love you all!

Home improvements

2011-02-09T14:04:00.005-07:00

So here are some fun projects that I've been up to in the house. Gage's room has taken several segments to complete and even then I'd love to have pasture fencing go around the room. Maybe during the summer when the garage isn't so cold to work in! The bathroom that I re-did is our masters and now has a beautiful row boat picture in place of our wedding one. In a couple of the pictures Gage is helping his Dad build a frame for a giant 3' by 6' mirror we had cut and it turned out great. Seriously professional looking and I'd bet you'd have to pay hundreds in store to get it's equal. Our grand total cost in the end was only $80 with a lot of the stain and lumber left over so we can use it again! We wanted to put it in our bedroom but it turned out to be too big for the space so we put it in the front entryway and it looks beautiful. I'll snap a pic and get it on as soon as possible. I'm also going to try and include a video of Gage riding his bouncy horse in his room. He was a little unsure about it at first but now he's really starting to warm up to it.

Gage has decided that walking is over-rated and has decided that crawling is just that much better. He walks just fine and takes sets of steps all the time but he's just too lazy to move to it preminatly. He doesn't even fall when he walks. He just maintans perfect balance and sits where ever he's at. Not that I'm complaining. I've heard they get near impossible to watch once they really start running around. I'm just glad that I haven't had to get up with him in the night for the last month so I'm thinking we really are beyond the 3am wake ups. My new fav is that he's starting to throw himself to the ground when he gets upset and I think it's so hilarious. Just face down, kicking feet and then he'll look up at me with such dismay that I can't help laughing. If anything can be said of him, he's got a great boo face.

Temperatures here have been near fatal with several days not breaking zero degrees so I can't wait till the summer comes. Luckly it's been a way better winter than I've had the last few years in Rexburg so I'm not complaining much but I would like to be able to wear less layers when I'm out and about. On another note Cody interviewed for a JAG internship, which is the Army's legal program. There are only 25 positions available in the whole Army so odds are against him. But it did get us thinking about the Jag program and all the great benefits they could offer. Such as retirement by 45, his 8 previous years of service would count towards retirement and he would be in an environment that he's familiar with, student loan payback, and job security. He would also become an officer which would be cool. So who knows, maybe in 3 years we'll be heading out to who knows where in the manditory 4 years abroad. Sounds like fun huh?

Cake Cake and more Cake!

2011-01-25T15:00:00.002-07:00

Here's some pics from the birthday party we had for Gage. Turns out I picked the right kind of cake cause he really went for it. I though I'd put some pics of the progression that his cake eating took. He was slightly hesitant at first but by the end he had at least half the cake smeared all over him! The funniest part was that he would cover his fingers in cake and frosting and then lick each and every finger thoroughly before moving onto the next. It took one heck of a bath to get him cleaned off and then we opened a present for him. I took videos of the cake and the present opening so I'll add those on when I get the chance. Thanks everyone for your birthday wishes and I'm so glad he's a part of my life. I love the little guy!

Happy Birthday Gage!

2011-01-24T09:23:00.002-07:00

I can't believe my little baby boy turns a year old today! Everyone says how fast it all goes but it seems like this year has been so long just because I can't think of what my life was like before having him. He's such a part of our family that we almost seem like a pretend family without him. Gage has been the perfect personality to come into our family. He's laid back and very content to just be around. I feel like he's already figuring out how to live a happy life. Seriously- nothing gets this kid down! He has taken some serious hits and sicknesses and you wouldn't even know it. He's rough, tough and everything that it means to be a little boy. We wrestle for hours on the couch and rough play by throwing him on anything that offers an ounce of padding and he just keeps coming back for more. His Grandma Brower thinks that he'll be one heck of a wrestler someday cause he just goes for you and doesn't hold back a bit. I've had several fat lips to prove it! Another thing that I love about my son is that he is so curious about everything. Food, the puppy, anything that makes a noise. And the funny part is that he'll just sit and watch it for a while first to try and figure it out and then he'll go after it. He sure is one observant kid. And what he lacks in willingness to smile he sure makes up for in classic expression that could have only come from his Dad. Gage will take any "perfect" photo opt and use it as a chance to take it to a whole new level. He's just so full of expressions and it's made being his photographer a trip and a half. Another thing that I really appreciate about Gage is that he's not loud. He rarely cries and is not into whining (yet) so it's enabled me to retain my sanity, which as we all know is priceless. The few times he's been really sick and has cried for 30 mins straight I realize that I love him so much for his quiet personality. I feel like I don't write what I love about Gage often enough so excuse the Gage fest that this blog is becoming but I really love my little boy so much and am so excited to see what kind of a sweetheart he's going to end up being. Happy Birthday Gage!

Christmas tree hunting!

2010-11-30T13:33:00.003-07:00

Tis the season! To spend way too much on a christmas tree! Well I can't say I mind it since it's still one of my favorite things to do! We debated about getting a fake tree this year but I realized that some of my best memories come from tree shopping. Plus some years i hope we can get one from the mountains of Idaho since it's only $10 and way more fun to cut it down yourself. We thought it would be fun to dress Gage up in his santa outfit his grandma Kelley got for him when he wasn't even born yet. It fit's great so I'm glad we went with the 18 month size instead of the 12 months. Who would have known he'd be so big! It sure was cold but we had a blast picking out the perfect tree! I love it!

Thanksgiving Time!

2010-11-30T10:01:00.005-07:00

Thanksgiving has come and gone and I can say I'm thankful we survived all the winter driving! Thank goodness Cody handles the ice well! We had a blast spending the last week up in Idaho with friends and family. The one I think who enjoyed it the most way our puppy Tipsy who learned that there is a wonderful place called Idaho where you can run to your hearts content. A place where large, four legged beasts exist and a place where 15 degrees is no big thing. We got to stay with the Kunz's, Mom and Dad and we even got to have a sleepover with the Womack crew which was a blast from start to finish. I'm so glad that I was able to make it to my sister-in-law's bridal shower and as always the Browers prove themselves to be a fun, wild bunch! We also got to hang out with friends that we love so much! Gage and Trey are only a couple of months apart and it's been so much fun watching them grow up! Gage got his first "real" horse ride. I call it real because we weren't holding on to him so I think it was pretty legit. Coco, our yearling, wouldn't hold still enough so we got a great picture instead on Cymeron. Can't wait for Gage to get more horse time in the future! All in all it was a great week and I can't wait to go back in a month for Kaylee's wedding!

Videos!

2010-11-15T15:54:00.005-07:00

Cody got the video converter up so here are some awesome videos of the boy. I also did a little photo shoot this morning cause Cody commented that we don't have enough 9 month pictures of Gage so I have now captured the many moods of Gage at this point in his life. And believe me- there are many. Enjoy the great pics!

Snow!

2010-11-14T19:01:00.006-07:00

I feel like someone has hit the fast forward button with Gage lately! He's developing so fast now and it seems like every day he is getting just a little bit bigger. In the past couple of weeks he's learned how to pull himself up on stuff and has even figured out the neat trick that if he climbs up my leg I pick him up 9 times out of 10.
Mostly I pick him up because it's so dang cute and he has semi ignored me half his life so it's nice to be wanted. In fact, he's become so loving and cuddly. It must be that age where other kids refuse to go to anyone but their mom and Gage is exhibiting it in that he seems to prefer me. He still goes to anyone (as proven by his popularity in Relief Society today) but it's nice to be needed. At church this morning Cody made the discovery of Gage's first upper tooth. It explains his behavior from the last day or so and by tonight he was running a full out drama show. No amount of teething gel or medicine seemed to help so he went to be early. Poor little guy! Cody and I had a great weekend of projects. Some went well and others... not so well. Our TV broke recently and Cody was lucky enough to be awarded some extra money from the Army that they owe him for schooling so we finally joined the club of plasma owners. We got our 50 inch plasma off craigslist for a steal of $540 and even managed to find the perfect stand for only $60 more! It was just what I wanted (which was good because I was extremely sad to see my old entertainment center go- It took me 4 hours to set it up the first time and over an hour of hard labor to take it down so needless to say I had invested some serious time into it). I wanted a TV stand that would keep the DVD and Cable box out of Gage's reach and also to have some wood in it for my country themed living room. It turned out great. Unfortunately, we got it home and it was 2 inches too short for the TV to fit so my wonderfully handy husband re-drilled all the upper shelves and sawed holes in the back for cables to go in. That was our successful project. Now for the not so successful. We have been working on re-finishing a coffee table for the living room. It's the one in the picture before we decided to do our "final" coat of stain and seal. So re-doing furniture is no picnic. First you use a type of acid to take the original finish off- then you scrap that finish off- then you sand the whole thing- then you do the first, second and sometimes third coat of stain to get just what you want. That's where things broke down for us. We got the stain + finish combo and I don't think it agrees with cold weather because it was like trying to spread quick dry molasses on a table that just keeps getting darker and stickier. Totally ruined it so now we'll have to start from step one again. I think we'll try separate stain and finish this time. So help me I will finish this project! I've already done too much to drop it now. The picture with the TV was our pre-screw up and it looks so good! Anyway- you win some and you loose some. On the plus side it was a blast getting to use table saws, band saws and sanders with Cody. It reminded me of wood shop. Cody only has a week of classes left and then they give the students 3 weeks to study for and take their finals the first half of December. Hopefully he does well cause loosing the scholarship would be terrible. Stupid curve grade! He could get an A on the final and still fall in the lower 50% of his class. He's doing great so far and I'm so proud of all his hard work. I can't believe he's willing to go through this for me and Gage. What a loving husband!
Lastly I wanted to include pictures of Gage's first run in with snow. He was a little confused by it but the puppy sure had a blast! I have a couple of videos that I need to post but we just re-formatted the computer so I lost my video converting software so once I figure that out I'll be able to throw some videos on. Miss you all and love you all!

2010-11-03T11:24:00.002-06:00

Well we have had a few busy weeks here at the Brower home! Gage seems to be coming up with something new everyday! Sitting up, grabbing and eating food, pulling himself up the railing on his crib and screaming bloodly murder when he realizes that he can't get down. So many fun things! Cody also turned 29 a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to say thanks to everyone who got their birthday wishes to Cody. I love him so much and can not believe the effort he is putting into Law school right now. We're talking 12 hour days at school which really gets him down sometimes. He works so hard to take care of Gage and I and we couldn't be prouder! We also had our awesome friends down from Idaho this last weekend and had a blast with them. It was so nice to hang out with friends that you have history with and you don't have to do all that get to know you stuff. So thanks to garage sales I've acquired a new truck and rocking horse for Gage, both of which he loves. He likes the truck more because of the more stable hand holds but as you can see he's a natural on a horse. Well, at least he is till Tipsy licks his face and he falls off the horse! He has fluctuated between waking up 4 times a night at times to not waking up at all (like the last two nights) so I can't rightly says what his nights are usually like. What a great feeling to wake up at 6:30 and realize that the bottle you set out for the night is still there. If not for the bottle I would just figure I got up with him and didn't remember. He's finally beginning to realize that his parents are pretty cool. He'll actually tolerate an occasional snuggle (and not just when he's asleep and we sneak in his room) and I think he's starting to get excited when he sees me. Halloween wasn't bad even though none of us dressed up. Lets be honest- if I can't get candy out of dressing up whats the point? Maybe next year. We did go to a trunk or treat and give out candy but with our Idaho friends visiting I wanted to just spend time with them and not worry as much about Halloween. The videos are from any given time in the last two weeks. I've been a total blogging slacker but I still wanted to get them up cause some are really cute. I'll miss all you Kelley's at Thanksgiving! Can't wait to see you Browers! Love you all!

Neighborhood watch

2010-10-14T16:09:00.003-06:00

I think I am now officially the place to be in the neighborhood. The neighborhood has a great collection of little kids who love to play with Gage and Tipsy all afternoon. Tipsy's in heaven the whole time but Gage interacts for about the first hour and then gets too overwhelmed and cries till I rescue him and kick everyone out. There's also one 15 year old named Hannah who originally came over to offer her bbsitting services (her little brother and sister hang out here) and now she just comes over after school to watch TV and hang out. Yesterday I got a call from her asking if I could get her from school since her mom and dad were at work and the school only had a half day. I was already out and about so I grabbed her and mentioned that I wasn't looking forward to going to the city office to get on food stamps and having to wait in line for 3 hours. She said she'd love to come and keep me company and play with Gage so I thought- why not. Kinda random but the company was nice. Additionally I also watch her two siblings in the morning from 7-8:20 3 days a week for the next 3 weeks because their mom had her hours at work changed and she needed some help. So yep- I always wondered if being a stay at home mom would be boring. How wrong I was. I just barely told the kids that today I was going to get some stuff done so they couldn't play. I can't believe the house is so quiet. How nice. The hard hat picture of gage is from my camera at our ward chilli cook off. They take it very seriously with 24 different entries of chilli and ton of decorations around the room simulating the 59'ers gold rush on Colorado. I didn't even know they found gold here. The things you learn. Also I've included a video of Gage and Tipsy. Gage was fussing this morning and all of a sudden I heard him giggling uncontrollably. I just caught the end of it but you can see who was causing all the fun.

Crawling!!!

2010-10-11T11:57:00.006-06:00

I have been so negligent with my blogging so here are a couple of updates just to show everybody what we've been up to. I've found recently that my life consists of walks. They keep the kid from crying and most importantly they keep the puppy from going crazy and taking her energy out on my stuff. So we average at least two walks a day so that's what all my pictures are of. It's getting cooler and cooler here in Denver and the leaves changing are absolutely beautiful. Gage has been a pill for the last week waking up a ton and then we finally figured out that it was because Tipsy would be in his room at night sleeping and she get these nightmares that make her woof really softly. I guess Gage could hear her and would wake up at the same time. He also had tummy problems that whole week but we kicked Tipsy out of his room just in case. We are both much happier and more rested now.

So two stories for this blog. The first story I had to get specific permission from Cody to share but I thought it was so funny that we couldn't keep it to ourselves. There have been many things that have been so different from living in the county and this one takes the cake. Cody decided that he needed a hair cut so he goes into a salon close to the metro he rides to school. It seems normal enough with a front desk waiting area and hair cutting cubbies off the the side. The women informs him that she is the manager and the only one cutting hair at the time so she would be his stylist. So, after sitting Cody down and putting the apron thing on him she excuses herself to go change into her hair cutting clothes as she can't cut his hair in "these clothes." What she changes into can only be very loosely described as clothes. Much to Cody's horror she comes strutting out in a lingerie outfit, scissors in hand. Cody was so flustered and embarrassed that he totally blanked. It only took moments for the hair cutter to realize his discomfort and Cody said that she became just as uncomfortable. You may ask what kind of conversations someone would have in a situation like this? Me. He told her about me the whole time which I'm sure sent the straight message of "I'm a married man" as loud as he could. Finally the hair cut ended and she told him that there was a complimentary back rub from the saloons masseuse (also dressed in like manner) which Cody quickly declined. I should probably be offended that some women would dress like that around my husband but if you understood Cody's utter discomfort with situations like that you could see the funny side of it. I can just imagine someone like Pete or Brian getting into something like that and freaking out too. Poor Cody. Needless to say he will not be returning.

My second story is not something really funny but it was a first for me so here we go. Cody and I found a free piano on Craigslist so I rented a U-Haul trailer to go and pick it up. Leaving the parking lot I went to turn onto the main road and out of no where two teenage kids fly in front of my car coming down the side walk. I slam on my breaks, just clipping the second kids back tire, knocking him to the ground. I jumped out and helped him up. He said he was not hurt at all and that his bike looked fine and just then the person coming down the road jumped out of her car yelling at the boy to get my info because he had been the victim of a horrible accident. The boy assured her that he was fine and then she started yelling at me to call the police and take responsibility for what I had done. She threatened that if I didn't call them she would. The kid told her he really didn't want the police called cause he was fine and no damage done. The women finally got in her car and took off in disgust. I really feel bad about knocking the kid over but wow, that women was crazy. After she left the kid asked if I was going to call the police and I said it was up to him. He said no and took off with his friend. So I have now joined the terrible club of those who have hit kids with their cars. I couldn't believe it happened and that the women was so crazy about the whole thing. I can understand being concerned but being that aggressive just didn't fit the situation. Crazy lady.

Anyway- the last video is Gage doing his crawling/ inching/ disco "worm"ing. It gets him around and every day he figures it out a little bit more. I'm so proud of him. It's a big body to have to lug around!

Fall is in the air!

2010-10-11T11:35:00.002-06:00

I wanted to post some pictures from my moms visit here and show the amazing things that she helped me do with my home. The room we really nailed was the dinning room (which now has one of the walls painted a light yellow cream to match the curtains- I'll post it updated when I get the other wall done :) . She also helped me get curtains up in the living room, which Cody continues to comment on everyday how much he loves them, and matching pillows for the couch. Don't get me wrong- I love my neighbors but it sure is nice to have a way to block them out now. We got the blue couch from craigslist with a bunch of pillows so mom just made covers for them. What a skill! I wish my mom could just come and live here with me forever but I'm so glad she made the humungous 20 hour trip by car just to come. We had a blast and I can't wait till I get to see her next.

PS the hat picture of Gage was taken after mom left when me and the neighborhood kids were playing around. I sure love those kids!

Mystery and intrigue

2010-09-16T09:22:00.002-06:00

You're probably wondering what the heck Cody did with his hair. Well, in an attempt to fit in the the more casual dress of Denver University he decided to go back to his teenage roots. What do you think?

Don't worry- I'm just kidding! Cody and I did a dinner mystery dinner with some LDS Law students and their wives and the theme was eat, drink and be married. I was the blushing bride with Cody and the rebellious bike gang member who, against my fathers wishes, was going to marry me. My "dad" was the murdered fellow after he stormed in, trying to break up the wedding (thanks for not actually doing that in real life Dad!) so we had tons of fun dressing up for it. I'll have to post more pictures from one of the other people there who has pictures of everyone. Anyway- it was a total blast and we're so happy to have such a fun group of friends here already. In other law news Cody has joined a group that runs mock trials to teach them how court proceedings work and they are going to do a practice run this Sat and need an expert witness so i get to be Cael "Crash" something and be crossed examined and stuff. Cody and I are going to prepare tonight so he and I nail it in court. The case is over an accident and who's fault it really was- the possibly intoxicated girl or the sleep deprived doctor on his was to the hospital for an emergency. I'm the accident expert supporting the doctor and Cody with be examining me so I really need to know my stuff when the other side cross examines me. At least the law students will probably be more scared than I will. :) So exciting!
In other news I have recently adopted about 10-15 neighborhood kids that all run around in a pack together and one day asked to play with the puppy. So I agreed, not knowing that I would be having a mini day care after school everyday. They are the sweetest kids all between 1st grade to 7th grade and they love my unfinished basement cause they can run and play and hide in there all they want. It's been great with the puppy cause they almost run her dead playing everyday and the little girls love to hold and play with Gage so he's getting some interaction there too. It's so nice to be able to be around kids again. I'm sure I'll have a lot of fun with this one.
Gage is being pretty grumpy with his two new teeth . I feel so bad for him but we all had to just tough through it so I guess he will too. We're also trying to move to a two nap a day system and also get used to a new puppy so really it might be all those things together. I have to use an "unhappy" voice when Tipsy is being naughty and if they're anything you need to know- Gage is very sensitive to any sort of yelling. Once Cody was impersonating a teacher of his that spoke with a really loud voice and when he finished talking Gage just burst into tears and couldn't calm down for at least a minute. Poor kid. With the puppy and the neighborhood mob he doesn't have the same calm life he used to. Oh well. It'll be good for him. Anyway- I need to start studying my testimony and evidence so I'll write next time and say how the mock court trial went.

Puppy!!!

2010-09-10T13:59:00.004-06:00

I would not have guessed yesterday morning that I would be a dog owner but... surprise! We got a puppy! She is a Rhodesian Ridgeback/ Labrador mix. So the ridgebacks most distinguishing feature is that along their back/spine the hair grows in two different directions so they always have a Mohawk on their back. This breed of dog was originally (and still is) used for lion hunts in South Africa so they are extremely fit dogs that show extraordinary devotion to the family's that own them. The locals take them out in packs of 20 and by the time the catch up with the dogs they've cornered the lion and kept it at bay till the owner can shoot it. Not a bad herritage. And the great thing about it is that they aren't violent dogs. Very friendly and gentle in fact and then you throw a half Lab in there and we think she'll be great. Cody served in a town in Russia called Vtipsk and for some reason he always wanted to name a dog after it (go figure) so we decided to name her that and call her Tip or Tipsy or Tips (depending on how much trouble she's in at the time). So far she has barely even so much as whimpered and drum roll please... hasn't even had a accident in the house! I know! Potty trained at 3 months! Who would have guessed? She is doing great with Gage except that she doesn't know her limits with him yet. She can be a little rough and then he cries which makes her lick his face all over to make him feel better which only makes him cry more. Oh- funniest story of the week! So I took Gage and Tipsy to grab some free couches and something you need to know about Tipsy is that she is terrified of driving in the car for some reason. So I loaded up the car and walked away for a few minutes just to talk to the homeowner and when I came back I discovered that Tipsy (in her terrified state) had climbed up in Gage's car seat with him and was curled up on his lap. Now Tipsy isn't a small puppy at all! She was almost totally covering him and poor Gage was in hysterics. No doubt Tipsy was trying to calm him by attack licking his face the whole time. Oh priceless! It took me 10 minutes just to calm Gage down but it was worth the 30 minutes it took me to stop laughing. Anyway- the story behind Tipsy is that the home she came from only owned her for two weeks and decided to give her up instead of the 30 pound, 10 year old, bright orange cat. Turns out Tipsy's lion hunting instincts had taken over and she was constantly "herding" and "cornering" the cat (who, in Tipsy's defense, strongly resembles a lion). So the owner decided that their pet of 10 years deserved to stay over the dog. And the best part is that for just $25 they gave me a huge bag of food, a dog bed, tons of toys and treats and a $30 pooper scooper. What a deal! Plus when they got her from the store two weeks ago they paid $75 for her so we got a great steal! And I can already tell that she is going to be pretty easy to train. Both breeds are known for their intelligence and I can already see that in her so she should learn her lessons very quickly.Both breeds are also known for their size (75 + pounds). Yikes! Poor Gage just has to survive till then. So without further ado here are some cute pictures of her.

before and after

2010-09-10T13:47:00.002-06:00

Ok- I'm going to attempt in some way to actually finish this blog post even though Gage is due to wake up any minute from a nap. So this one is just going to show some before and after pictures or a couple of projects I've been working on. There are endless more but I'm happy to report that at least these ones are good enough for public opinion. One is my living room where I painted the brick- took some shelves down- and gave the two alcoves on either side a pretty light jade color. Cody and I couldn't stop starring at it for days. PS brick, it turns out, is incredibly time consuming to paint. But well worth it. I also painted the fish tank stand that used to be an ugly damaged wood. The other picture is of the tiling job that my mom in law and I did. She is such a wonderful women to share her knowledge and help with me! Cody and I found a very retro surprise when we pulled up the carpet. Turns out linoleum was there but not the best design. So there you go! The projects continue!

Still homeless

2010-08-11T10:35:00.002-06:00

Hey everyone. Just a quick update this time without any pictures. Sorry. But we are still not in our house yet. I know... terrible huh? I feel like the show "where in the world is carmen san diego" but without the fun and prizes. Cody started law school orientation yesterday so we're down here in Denver sleeping in an empty real estate unit that our realator found for us to crash in. We are hoping to close by Friday but the loan officer has been really hard to get a hold of and he refuses to give us an answer of when we can get in. He's a total idiot and admits that he's new to Colorado and doesn't understand all the requirements so he's taking very long! It is a hundred times more complicated than that but I'll let it suffice to say that he's about my least favorite person in the whole world right now. Cody is enjoying his orientation this week and even managed to find a BYU-I student that he went through the business program with. Such a coiencidence! He said the most shocking thing was how innappropriatly all the girls are dressed. He said he never knew that "professional" clothes could look so trashy. We've been in Rexburg for too long. :) So anyway- I'm just trying to stay busy down here without a house or any perminant place of residence. I just can't wait till it's all over! So wish us luck this weekend. Hopefully we'll be moving into a house. Love you all!

Ode to Idaho

2010-07-24T17:37:00.005-06:00

In just a week we will be moving from Idaho. It's a bitter sweet feeling and although I'm so excited to move on I'm going to really miss the place. Reading Becky's blog made me even more sad at the thought of moving just because this place can be so beautiful and so fun. Then winter hits. So I just need to keep in mind that I'm going to a warmer place. In honor of beautiful Idaho, my home since 2002 (other than a brief 2 year stay in Spain), I'm posting these top thirteen "you know you're in Idaho when"...

- someone in a home depote store offers you assistance and they don't work there

-you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time

-you've had a lengthy conversation with someone who dialed the wrong number

-"vacation" means going anywhere north of Salt Lake

-you measure distance in hours

- you know several people who have hit a deer more than once

-you have switched from "heat" to "A/C" and back again in the same day

-you install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked

-you can drive 75 mph through a raging blizzard without even flinching

-you design your kids halloween costumes to fit over snow suits

-driving is better in the winter cause snow fills all the pot holes

-you know all four seasons as: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction

-you find 10 degrees a "little chilly"

So Idaho I bid you farewell! Thanks for the land, the people and the beautiful sunsets. You can keep your horrible winters, terribble roads, and zero airports.

Things are moving along with the home purchase. I'm not going to say that they are moving right along, cause we've had some crappy snags but we have to be out of our apartment by the first so we're moving one way or another. The following week will go as follows: monday packing, tue through thursday family reunion, friday packing and moving, sat driving to mom and dad browers, sunday driving to denver and monday closing on a house and moving in. Is it weird that I'm really excicted for it all to happen? I love the thought of moving somewhere new and meeting new people. It also helps that for once I won't be working and I can finally start taking care of Gage. Update on Gage- he had a WIC appointment today and he's 19 pounds 4 oz and 27 inches long. What a little weed! He just keeps getting bigger! And he had pears for the first time yesterday and he loved them. He has never willingly opened his mouth when food is offered before and yesterday with the pears he just kept opening it wider and wider every time we offered some. It was priceless. Also he doesn't have to wear his helmet anymore! I can't believe that wasn't the first thing I wrote about! He hit the legal limits to how far the doctors could change his head so we called it quits a month before we thought we could. He was the fastest baby they've ever had go through treatment. Good job Gage! He's sleeping so much better and overall seems much happier. I just feel so lucky to be able to feel my sons head against my cheek again. It's such a little thing but it means so much to me. He's still super heavy to lug around but at least I don't have to fear a head butt from him anymore. Well everyone I'll keep you posted on whatever else crazy pops up in my life!

A much belated update

2010-07-12T22:21:00.004-06:00

Well I think I'll just fill this post with a picture collage of everything we've been up to. Firstly, we are buying a house in Denver and it is such a crazy process! I can't wait till it's all over and done! This week is my last week at work and then I'll have two weeks to pack up and get over there. I packed my first box yesterday and it was heartening and disheartening at the same time. Nice to get started but it's going to take soooo much effort. Gage has been doing great and he went to a helmet appointment last week. He was the youngest paitient that day but still measured in as the kid with the biggest head. He's such a lug! I try to carry him everywhere but he is just so heavy and akward to haul around. As you can see we are trying to do solid food and Gage is finally understanding the concept of swallowing. He's getting messier at it but better at it too. Suddenly he's exploded into activity and will roll around wherever he is allowed to. I'll set him in a room- come back in and find him in the other corner getting into stuff that I though was beyond his reach. He is also figuring out what different sounds he can make with his lips and mouth. The tounge still tops his list as the coolest thing in the world. There's just so much stuff I've not shared or blogged about but everyone just wants to see pictures anyway so without delay...

2010-06-13T22:01:00.003-06:00

The first picture is of my super awesome garden that I've SLAVED over this summer. It survived 3 separate frosts and and even 2 snow storms! There were times I was just going to give up. Off to my left are my snow peas, radishes, califlower, and spinach (which I've already eaten and enjoyed!). To my right are the brocclii and sunflowers and in front are my carrots, lettece and onions. All in all it's a pretty good garden. Too bad I'm gonna have to leave most of it undone with the move happening at the beginning of August. Turns out that Cody starts law school a month sooner than we were anticipating. Instead of Sept 8th it starts Aug 8th. ooops! Guess I've really got my work cut out for me! At least Gage is cute as ever and doing great. He hardly notices the helmet anymore. What he loves to do now is to roll over. He pivots his whole body and flips over. The problem is that he gets there, realizes that he doesn't want to be there and then screams till someone comes to flip him. He'll have to get used to belly time cause I'm not going to walk him around all the rest of my life. He's already soooo heavy! In other news we just got done hanging out with friends this weekend and riding ATV's on the sand dunes. Don't worry- I didn't do anything crazy...(Dad)... so it was a total blast. Plus my friend Rachel had her little 2 month old boy with her and he's just the cutest. Anyway- everyone wish us luck with the move. Already I can't wait to get it done and it still isn't till the beginning of August. Talk about stress! Oh yeah- the video was taken just as Gage was trying to make some really cute sounds. He loves his tongue and is always sticking it out which creates tons of drool. It gets everywhere!

The hottest summer event!

2010-06-10T18:02:00.003-06:00

So here's to the hottest week of the year! Literally- the hottest I've been in a long time. I think the only thing that was hotter was Sevilla in Spain. I'm happy to report that Gage survived the week with a spray bottle, wet shirts and lots of sun screen. And unfortunately not much helmet wearing was happening. The doctor had us keep the helmet off except for nights because he had such a hard time adjusting to the helmet in 100 degree weather. At least there was the lake- which didn't help Gage but Cody and I sure enjoyed it. We did some wake boarding and Cody took a pretty hard spill but I think we both surprised ourselves with how good we are at it. I've only done it once before with Steve and Leah on the lake so I was glad to know that I remembered Steve's tips. On our way back up we stopped in Logan for my nieces baptism (congrats Alexis!) and we stopped by my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Phil to say hi and my grandpa was there also so I was able to snap a picture with me, Gage and Grandpa. Gage wasn't cooperating. This weekend we are heading up to the sand dunes with some friends to have some fun. Don't worry Dad- I won't ride too crazy :)

Just to match his eyes

2010-05-30T18:15:00.005-06:00

Well the helmet is finally here and you can tell that Gage doesn't think very much of it. I think the close up of him puts the whole thing together without even using words. He's actually taking it better than I thought he would and so far I think he's adjusting better than I am. It's weird to go from snuggling your baby all the time to having a helmet in the way. I'll go in for a kiss and if Gage turns I get a helmet to the side of the face. Perhaps he does it on purpose as pay back. He's slowly working into the helmet with one hour on one hour off yesterday and two hours on and one hour off today. He doesn't have to wear it over night for a couple of more days so at least there's that. The general consensus is that he is actually cuter because of the helmet. It frames his face and really shows off his eyes so I agree with everyone. The doctor is really concerned about us taking him camping in St. George next week because if he gets too hot he can get heat rash or become dehydrated, so I'm suppose to watch him very closely. Motel 6, here I come, if he's not handling it well! We were suppose to be staying on a house boat like we do every year but the people who share the time share sank it up to the top deck and now it's totaled. They blame the sinking on a huge storm that popped up but no other boats on the Lake sunk so we think it was the intoxication of the inhabitants more than anything. I'm actually relieved because I was nervous to do that kind of a trip with a 4 month old. Not many ways to escape a loud, full house boat.
It's been so fun to watch Gage develop and do things that he couldn't do the day before. For instance, a few days ago Cody came into the room all excited because Gage had rolled on his side (a feat which he repeated all day and then hasn't done since so that's odd). Also he has begun to open his hand and grab objects when he feels them brush up against them. Additionally, he has rolled from his belly to his back a couple of times. Bottle feeding has become really tough cause Gage wants to hold his own bottle but ends up swatting it away most of the time.

Also my friend Kristen had her baby and she is so beautiful. It was so fun to hold her cause she's only 6 pounds and Gage was never that small. We're already planning the dating future. We think they'll be a nice match some day. Well that's about all I have for this post. Love you all!

Oh helmeted one

2010-05-19T18:01:00.007-06:00

Well I'm glad that we went to Salt Lake to have this looked at! Turns out that Gage was well on his way to having a permeately mis-shapen head. There are some facts about his head treatment that are really interesting. So apparently if the flat spot is just on the back of the head and is symmetrical then there really isn't a problem. Unfortunately for Gage his flat spot has moved off to the left and is throwing off the symmetry of his head. They measured his head from the front left of his head to the back right and then again from the front right to the back left and there was an 8 mm difference- giving him a score of 8. Above 10 is severe and below five isn't cause for concern so he was in between but still needs a helmet at least a few months. So we left the first appointment and went to the second appointment where they scanned his head for images to make a custom helmet for him. As you can tell he screamed the whole time. Poor kid. If only he knew what was coming! It was really interesting. They placed a sock like fabric on his head and attached a transmitter base to the top as a reference point. They then used something that looked like a price scanner to run up and down his head. He was inconsolable about having to hold his head still. My favorite is that you can see his super chubby cheeks on the digital rendition of his head. What a darling! So we picked out a light blue color for the helmet (sorry to all those camo lovers out there- it was a close second---yeah right) and his helmet will be ready to be fitted next Friday right before Lake Powell. He has to wear it 23 hours a day and I know the poor thing is going to roast at Powell but some day he'll thank us. Looks like Medicaid will probably cover it but chances are also there that we might be getting the $2,000 dollar bill for this one which would be fine. Who knows if he's every going to grow hair so we just can't chance it.Above is a picture example of what his helmet will look like except in light blue. So lucky for Regan and Pete we'll be in Salt Lake every other week for the next 3 months or so before we head to Denver. Expect to see us a lot! I'm just so relieved that we went and did it even though the family doctor said to not worry. The specialist said that we came at the best time cause he still has so much growing to do and once you hit a year the bones in your skull cement together and there really isn't anything you can do to change it. So I think the internet deserves a big hand in this for helping us research what his condition was and what we could do to fix it.

Ahhh summer time!

2010-05-15T23:07:00.002-06:00

Once the bike is out I like to think that summer has officially started. I spent the entire day scrubing away at it and I'm happy to report that it shines like the day it was chromed. It's an 1100 v-star so this bike really has some power. Ironic because it is the only bike I've ever driven (aside from the little one that we used for the motorcycle test). Sadly there are sooooo many repairs that need to be done. At least $1,500 on the chrome alone and body tune ups. Turns out the salted road of winter do not agree with Chrome, paint or leather. But the bike has still got it. I think people are always surprised to see me driving it cause it's so heavy but they don't understand that it's only heavy when you're stopped. When it's moving it drives like a breeze. I'm wearing my new bathing suit that I got for my birthday and it felt so good to get some sun while I washed the bike.

In some Gage news we finally booked an appointment for him to get his head looked at and possibly get a helmet for him. His doctor said that we're starting young enough that the head should have enough growth left to change. The reason he's gonna need one is that he has a flat spot on the back right of his head and it keeps getting more and more flat and shifting further right. It's next week on Wed in Salt Lake so I'll keep everyone posted on the details.
Also for a sewage update... there is no carpet in half of our living room and the washer and dryer have been acting up because of the water damage. I just want to get my home back! I hate having things out of my control. The landlords are being pretty good about trying to fix things but they just had a baby and they live in Utah so... there you go.
But nothing else matters- I think my baby is darling and my life is pretty good. Too bad work is a necessary evil. But I have a wonderful husband who not only keeps house but also helps me with my work. What a sweetheart! Also Gage sleeps 7 hours a night straight and he cries himself to sleep now. Sigh- it was hard teaching him to do it but I'm so glad we took the time. It helped that Cody was around to stop me from rushing to him every time he squeaked.
Gage- you're the best!

The past little bit

2010-05-10T11:54:00.005-06:00

Here are some randoms from a few weeks past till now that I thought showed what we've been up to the past little bit. First off was our kite flying day that was a lot of fun. If nothing else can be said of Rexburg it's that we have some crazy wind. Usually it's not a good thing but once it's tamed and beaten it can be used for good. We bought the kite for a dollar and when we finished we passed it off to a father/ daughter combo who seemed pretty happy to have it.

In other news we got back from our concert weekend and had so much fun! We saw 30 seconds to Mars live and even though Jared Leto (the lead singer) was sick he still put on a great performance. There was a moment when he snuck to the back of the center and did a little acoustic performance and then had the audience crowd surf him back to the stage. I was so glad to have Cody there cause I wanted to get to the front to see the band, so Cody bulldozed his way through- no small task if you've ever been to a crazy concert- and got us right up front. The crowd is so crazy that he had to put me in front and brace against the crowd. I thought I was going to suffocate but I'd totally do it again. It's funny how animalistic people can get in those kind of situations with the fighting and cussing and shoving. It pays to have a huge husband! I glad there weren't any fights that broke out, mostly because Cody can put the meanest scowl on his face so people don't even try. I'd like to thank my sisters-in-law Kaiann and Kaylee and my brother-in-law Kevin for watching Gage for us. It was so fun to pretend to be young again. It wasn't hard with the whole audience being 17 years old!

Also in other news we came home last night to a bit of a disaster. The sewage pipe had disconnected while we were gone so we came home, flushed the toilet once and sewage exploded into our kitchen and dining room. The picture above was taken for the landlords as proof that it wasn't our fault. The last plumber secured the pipe to the opening with duct tape. I know... duct tape! The guy this morning couldn't believe the last plumber was so stupid and lazy. Every drop of water shakes that pipe on the way down so it was just a matter of time before the tape wore off. The house smelled sooooooo bad so we brought Gage into our room last night and shut the door, opened the window, and turned on the heater. I think we're going to a friends house for the next couple of days while the pipes are fixed and the carpets cleaned. Our landlords are being really great about it which is nice. They are even thinking about taking out the carpet from the kitchen and replacing it with tile which would be awesome! Also below are some pictures from the birthday dinner and play with Cody and also my happy birthday haircut I gifted to myself. I also got to talk to my little sister this weekend who is serving a Mormon mission in Korea. She gets to talk to us twice a year (mother's day and Christmas) and I was so happy to hear that she is doing so well and also learning the "ropes" of the mission. It made me really miss being out on mine till I noticed the exhausted note in her voice and I was a little less sad. I'm so proud of her!

Denver Colorado

2010-05-06T10:30:00.004-06:00

This first picture I forgot to include with the last post and I can't do without it. We saw Cody's brother on our way to Colorado and while we were out with the horses he came into the room and found his 14 month son trying to feed Gage honey grams. He managed to snap this picture and then quickly pulled the cracker out of Gage's mouth. Looks like Gage likes it :)

The rest of these picture are from the DU campus in Denver. As a BYU-I attendee all my life, the beauty of this campus blew me away! All the buildings were made of gorgeous brick and everything was green and in bloom. The building Cody is standing in front of is the law building that just was built in 2003 so the interior had all new laptop hook-ups at each desk and, true to a green conscious state, the building was green certified which meant that a certain amount of plant life in the building had to be seen and also it had to reach percentage specifications of the percentage of natural sunlight so the whole building is full of beautiful full windows. And a whole 5 story building just for law? How do you beat that? We also tried to look around at some housing but the car's oil light came on so we had to spend about 2 hours at the Walmart auto center. On of the neat things about DU is that there is a electric rail that runs around the city and out into the suburbs and all DU students get a pass to ride it that's included in their tuition. So if we could find a place next to one of the rail stations he could ride in everyday and be able to study on the train. If we end up deciding to go there we'll be planning another trip to look into some housing options. So many things to think about! My heart has been telling me that I would do very well in Denver so we're going to the temple tonight to ask the Lord if he thinks we would do well there. I'll let everyone know what we figure out. Plus I'll have to do another post soon just to show more recent pictures of Gage smiling and giggling. Love you all and happy mothers day to all!

At Last!

2010-05-06T09:59:00.003-06:00

So the pictures here are from our trip to Cody's parents place to help clear the irrigation ditches for the upcoming summer. It was pretty grueling work! And I went on a couple of horse back rides to top it off so- talk about a sore body! Chilly came up to ride horses with me and Cody and we had a blast. I don't know when the last 4 hour ride I went on but I forgot how much fun it can be to just pick a mountain peak and figure a way up to it. We had a couple of scares while riding. Chelsea got pinned into a huge grove of trees/ bushes and it was also a snow drift pile so the horse was having a hard time getting out of the snow. Luckily we had her on the 31 year old best horse in the herd so the horse kept calm and no one got hurt. The tricky part was that there were tons of branches and downed trees under the snow that popped up under her when the snow was brushed off so at one point the snow was half way up her belly and there were 5 branches criss-crossing her legs. Then my horse, which is still just green broke (so not very reliable) kept breaking in to a gallop for no reason out of the blue. And I mean a fully out gallop with the occasional buck. The worst was his galloping across this huge stretch of rocks. Glad I was able to stay on. Gage met the horses for the first time and I could tell that it was the beginning of legends. He also laughed for the first time that day and we got it on film. He doesn't do it till the 4th time of Cody tickling him so be sure to watch the whole thing. It is so cute to watch Gage become a real kid and I've got to say that I love his smile. He'll smile at me whenever I look at him now and I love it!

What we've been up to

2010-04-03T14:00:00.003-06:00

Look how huge our horses have gotten! Can you believe it? And Gage keeps growing too! I just don't know what to do with all of them! We were at Cody's parents house this last weekend to attend my friend Rachel's baby shower. She is due in three weeks and is having a little boy. On Sat we went on one of the best horseback rides that I've had in awhile. I started out on Gaden and Cody was on Simeron. Half way there I was through with riding Gaden so I switched Cody and had a much better ride after that. Simeron is a young horse that has never galloped with anyone on him so we decided to run down the road and it turns out that Simeron is a great runner. It was so exhilarating! I wish I could buy that horse off of Cody's brother. What a beautiful ride. We also went to Salt Lake for a couple of days to hang out with Pete, Reggie, Chilly and Dad. Only Chelsea has seen Gage before so he got to meet a whole bunch of new people. Afterward all of that we went back up through Liberty to attend Cody's dad's retirement party. And as if that weren't busy enough we are leaving in a few days to head to San Francisco to visit Leah and Steve and Mom and Dad are coming up too. Anyway- that's whats been happening lately. Love you all! Happy Easter!

Gallavanting in Idaho Falls

2010-03-24T12:25:00.006-06:00

So first off I wanted to say thanks for everyone's input about law schools. Right now Cody is trying to get on a Veteran's program that will help pay for school so that would open up some more expensive options. For all you University of Utah fans I have sad news. They decided not to take us so their loss. Jerks. Anyway- we had a great time with the family this weekend. Spending time with Regan and Pete was great and I also loved seeing Chilly and Dad. Cody's Dad had a retirement party on Wed and it was fun to be a part of him becoming a senior judge. Gage is doing great. Yesterday he weighted in at 13 pounds and 23 inches. Still a bit big for his age but really- have you seen his dad :) ! We are heading to San Francisco this next weekend to stay with Steve and Leah and also to see how life in SF would be. Actually I'm doing this when I should be working so I'll post some Gage and Noelle pictures later tonight. See ya!

8 weeks old!!!

2010-03-14T18:58:00.004-06:00

Happy 8 weeks old! Gage is growing so fast and is starting to show a lot of expression in his face. We got some priceless pictures today and a video of one of his biggest burp yet. Mom bought this brown and white striped onesie and I believe it is the cutest thing that has every graced his wardrobe. Cody and I also sat down and made a huge list that broke down all of the law schools that we are considering. There is one in Dayton Ohio that starts in May and they need to know tomorrow if we are going. We decided to take it out of the run just because I'm not that excited about Cody taking off soon to start and I would have to stay behind with Gage to close things up at work for a couple of months. I know Cody would love to get going on his law education but I'm just not ready for our hang out time to end. Our list today was packed with pro's and con's of each law school and the break down was as follows:

University of Denver
Tuition: $35,500 a year
Scholarship: $17,000 a year
Living Expenses: 17,400 a year
Total 3 year cost: $107,700
Info: best ranked, cheap housing, horses can come, great area, only 16 hrs from LA and 9 hrs from Montpelier.
Golden Gate University
Tuition: $38,100 a year
Scholarship: $30,000 a year
Living Expenses: $24,000
Total 3 year cost: $96,000
Info: Close to Leah and Steve, beautiful city, expensive apartments (so no home), cost of living high, 6 hrs from LA and 14 hrs from Montpelier, horses can't come, great honors program
University of Idaho
Tuition: $11,800 a year
Scholarship: $4,000 a year
Living Expenses: $10,742
Total 3 year cost: $55,700
Info: Beautiful area, cheap housing, no family nearby :( , fast track program that graduates 6 months earlier, 20 hrs from LA and 14 hrs from Montpelier
University of Dayton
Tuition: $32,400 a year
Scholarship: $5,000 a year
Living Expenses: $15,000 a year
Total 2 year cost: $86,000
Info: 2 year program, very friendly staff and professors, totally new area w/ new adventures, starts in May 2010, needs to know by March 15th... tomorrow, 1 day and 11 hrs from LA and 1 day and 2 hrs from Montpelier.

So you can see that we have some cheap options and some pretty expensive options also. University of Denver is the best ranked school of the whole list but is also the most expensive while Dayton is only 2 years instead of 3 but it starts in May which is frankly just a little too soon. Today I think we decided that Dayton probably isn't going to happen which leaves us with Denver, Moscow Idaho or San Francisco. That isn't even counting Pepperdine, UC Davis or U of U because we haven't heard from them yet. We were a little off about San Francisco thinking that it was a full ride but we had been looking at tuition projections that were 2 years old. Still just $8,000 a year isn't bad! It sure is hard making a decision like this cause the prudent Mormon's in us would just go for the cheaper option of U of I. Think about it- that's $30,000 we could put towards a house payment rather than sinking into law school. But then again we would really like to try living in another state just for the adventure of it all. So yeah- we have a lot of very hard decisions coming up. Anyway- if anyone has any suggestions please feel free to call me and tell me.

Month and a Half!

2010-03-11T22:19:00.003-07:00

So here are some much needed pictures to show how much Gage has grown. He went to the doctors this morning and weighted in at 11.5- I know. Huge. And he is filling his clothes so well. I look back at the first couple of outfits we had him in and they seem so tiny! We took him to the doctor cause he was so congested that he couldn't breath and would just spit out his milk when he tried to eat. Poor little baby. You just can't watch a baby hurting and not feel like it's ripping your heart out. But we got a spray and cleared his nose out and he's much happier now. His blessing was on Sunday and I'm ashamed to say that I forgot to take any pictures of him in his outfit because he peed all over it the moment the blessing was said so I got him changed right when we got home. Cody did a great job letting the spirit tell him what to say. And miracles of miracles he didn't scream the whole time. In fact he didn't even squeak the whole time. So that means that I lost the bet I had with Cody. Oh well. Anyway, my favorite part about the whole blessing was Cody telling Gage that I am the greatest blessing in his life. I thought that was pretty cool. In other news Cody got a huge scollarship from Golden Gate in San Francisco so we are heading there April 8-11 and staying with Leah and Steve. Pray that Gage makes the trip well! Still no news from U of U or any of the other Cali schools so I'll update when the time comes. The pictures above of Gage with the TV show his early fascination with lights and sounds. I can barley get him to realize when I'm right in front of his face but I guess I can't compete with a box that has lots of lights and sounds. I think we have a future TV lover. I even tried turning the TV off to make sure that he was watching it and every time I did he would turn his head away and not pay attention anymore. Such a funny little guy!

2010-02-21T09:25:00.006-07:00

So here are the pictures from the photo session. I think they turned out great considering that Gage was miserable most of the time. And for 25$ I think they totally worked out! My favorite was the little farmer outfit we put him in. I just had to have an Idaho themed one. Sadly none of the ones with us as a family turned out great but that's ok cause we were really there for Gage anyway. We're going to attempt to head to church for the first time this morning so we'll see how that goes. His blessing is going to be on March 7th at 11:30 here in Rexburg I think. We have to check with the ward still but I don't think they often turn people down. Anyway let me know if any of you want a specific copy of one of these pictures and I'll print one up and send it to you. Love you all!

A much needed update

2010-02-20T00:44:00.004-07:00

Sorry it's taken forever for me to get a new post together. Unfortunately the pictures are about a week old but that just means that you'll get to see the full development of little Gage Lynn when I post some more and he looks a bunch older. He's had several complications in the last couple of weeks and Cody and I are finally pretty sure that we've worked out all of his problems. He had to go through some thrush treatment and is now pretty much over that. Luckily he's been eating from the bottle so I didn't get infected. I thought that was the reason for his fussiness but it wasn't getting better. He would have horrible gas that would leaving him thrashing in pain and crying for hours. Turns out that he is infant lactose intolerant. His tummy can't break down the lactose which makes it ferment in his stomach and really hurts him. It was always especially bad after the first hour or so after eating. He would also have diarrhea all day and we would be changing diapers about every half an hour or so which also lead to a horrible diaper rash. After some research we decided to try and switch him to lactose free formula and ta da! He's been a completely different baby. No more crying, no more painful hours of grunting and passing gas. But that means that I'll probably stop feeding him breast milk and move him to formula. Breast milk has an even higher concentration of lactose than normal formula. There is a medicine that exists that helps a baby break down lactose that you can add to breast milk but even then there is only about a 50% chance that it will work. So I know it's not what I wanted and unfortunate that it hasn't worked out but I'm going to move him to full time formula. I'm just so relieved that he is doing so much better. A mom never wants to see her baby in constant pain.

Sadly we didn't figure out what was wrong until after we tried to take his newborn pictures so we pretty much got a lot of pictures of his sweet little crying boo face. I made the wrong move and tried to calm him with lots of breast milk, which I'm sure was just hurting him more. Poor little guy. I just can't wait to get some of my sleep back. One of the pictures below is Cody on the floor with Gage. We pretty much fall asleep everywhere and anywhere when we get the chance. Cody is such a sweetheart and takes Gage for most of the night so I'm able to get some much needed sleep. It's a good move on his part cause he does great on little sleep whereas I am a total grump and not fun to be around without sleep. Gage keeps getting more and more cute each day! I love my little boy! His eyes are really beginning to take on a beautiful blue and he is looking more like Cody with every day that passes. We've also discovered that he loves coming into the shower with us. As long as we are holding him he enjoys the streams of water and licks the water off his lips. He's getting chubby and is developing quite the double chin. I think he was being overfed for a bit because one symptom of Lactose intolerance is that babies will over eat to try and get comfort from the pain which just makes it worse cause more milk blocks up in his stomach. No more feedings every hour or two! Good thing! I can't wait to get the newborn pictures back next week. I'll be sure to post them the day I get them.

Law school wise here's a list of the schools Cody has gotten into. University of Idaho, University of Denver, Dayton University in Ohio, a school on Long Island in New York, two different law schools in Minasotta, and I think he's on a waiting list for one in Illinois. So we are still waiting to hear from some Cali schools and also university of Utah. Cody applied to 19 all together so hopefully we'll have some options open. We don't really know where we'd like to go so if anyone has a preference speak out now! I'll keep everyone updated when we find out more. Love you all!

2010-02-05T17:49:00.003-07:00

1 week and 5 days old already! I can't believe how much he's changed just in this short time! His face is starting to get chubbier and he has begun to eat more and more with each feeding. He was a real pill for a couple of nights but I am now happy to report that he is sleeping a little bit better. There are several things that have happened to this point that I wish I could go back and re-do these first couple of weeks. First I would always, and I mean ALWAYS, remember to point his little penis down when I put a diaper on him. When it points up his pee totally misses the diaper and ends up soaking his clothes instead. You'd think that after a few times of this I would remember... but I don't. Second I would buy the gas relief drops much sooner to save my son some of the agony of an upset stomach. Third, I would have somehow convinced my mom to stay an extra week. Fourth I would have never fed him with a "rapid" or "fast" bottle nipple. Turns out that there is a "slow" bottle nipple that enables him to eat a lot slower. He was downing 2 oz in 30 seconds- which I thought was a little fast. Fifth, I would have avoided a nipple shield since I think that has been a huge hindrance in getting him to breastfeed. Although without the shield he wasn't eating at all so it's hard to say. All in all I'm totally in love with my son and I can't wait for him to keep growing so I get to see what a handsome little man he's going to make.

2010-02-02T20:50:00.002-07:00

Bath time for baby! This is a video of Gage's very first bath. He didn't seem to think much of it but I might have had the water too cool. He screamed quite a but but he was so happy and clean when it was all done. We went to the doctor yesterday and Gage weighted in at 7.1 so he's back to birth weight after only a week so he's doing really great. He's been sleeping poorly the last couple of nights so Cody and I haven't gotten much sleep. I think he's had gas so we bought some gas treatment and I think he's been getting a little better. He smiles randomly sometimes and I'd love to get it on camera but I'm always just too late. His smile is a darling little side grin and it reminds me so much of Cody's side smile. So the vote is still out whether he looks like Cody or like me. I think we'll all just have to wait and see. Sorry this isn't very long but I figure people mostly want to see the pictures more than anything.

2010-01-30T16:09:00.006-07:00

So I had a little photo opt with Gage today. Yeah I actually got dressed and put make-up on. It was a big step for me considering that I've been hanging around the house in just a sports bra. I've now graduated to the status of a cow. So it was nice to feel like a women again even if I'm the only one who gets to enjoy seeing me. Well I guess Cody is around too and he could probably use the reminder after having to see by body go through some very un-lady like treatment over the last week. The first picture on the blog is not focused on anything but a very funny face that Gage makes a lot. He's got what we call shifty eyes and he is always checking things out around him. I think it's pretty dang cute!

Other pictures on here include his Popeye face and also one with his eyes open wide. The video however I think reflects best the different expression that he is capable of doing. The pout is my absolute favorite. And he is very good at it.

In other news I got pooped on big time today. I figured that with a boy I would expect to have the occasional instances where he pees on me. However today he really out did himself. I was changing his diaper and had his legs lifted up high while I wiped his bum. Well sure enough he wasn't done with pooping because it came shooting out and covered his blanket, the carpet and my pajama bottoms. Poor me. And the funny part was that as I was cleaning things up he did it a second time and got me again. Mom and I thought it was pretty funny.

Lastly I wanted to write a thank you to my wonderful mother who made this whole ordeal so much easier. She came rushing up here to see the baby being born and she stayed till today helping out at the house. She cooked and cleaned and watched Gage at night but most importantly she keep me company and showed me that she loves me. Her little grandson adores her and I couldn't have gotten through the first week with as much calm without her. She was a life saver through the whole Jaundice thing and I'll always treasure the time we spent together smiling and cooing to little Gage. Sometimes it's great to just have someone else around to talk about what a miracle little newborn are. So thank you mom for all your help and I hope your birthday is fun filled. You mean the world to me. Love you!

Some Videos!

2010-01-29T21:01:00.003-07:00

Here are some videos that aired on facebook but are now here for any of you that don't check it. I think he's the cutest thing but I might be a bit biased.

Gage Lynn Brower

2010-01-28T17:12:00.007-07:00

Well , where to begin? I guess the real beginning of the whole labor and delivery story started on Sat when I thought my water broke. Being the ever generous wife I had sent Cody down to Pocatello a day early so he could hang out with his friends and the on Sat I would meet back up with him in Pocatello for my baby shower. Sat morning I was getting out of the shower and felt a rush of water. I figured that was my water breaking so I headed up to the hospital and called Cody on the way- convinced that he would have to drive up super fast to help. Well I got to the hospital and was told that my membrane was intact, I wasn’t in labor, but at least I was dilated to 3 cm. So for the rest of the day I bled on and off and felt some not so fun discomforts in belly. The baby shower was wonderful and I got some wonderful gifts that have already been put to good use. Again, feeling confident that no labor was impending, I had Cody go to his friends house to pull and all nighter again with the computer games. After talking to everyone and staying up way too late I finally went to bed at 2 only to be woken up at 4 for no reason at all. I was in the habit of using the bathroom every time I wake up so I stood to walk down the hall and felt a huge rush of water coming out. I waddled as fast as I could to the bathroom and realized that even though all that water had come out I still had a full bladder and needed to go to the bathroom. That’s when I knew that something crazy was going on. I decided to go back to bed and found that I couldn’t sleep due to these weird pangs in my stomach. I decided to start timing them so I got my book and a watch and found that after one hour they had gone from 7 min apart to 4 mins. By the time that I came into the hospital I was having them every 2. I had the option of trying to drive the hour and a half back to Rexburg so I could have the baby in the hospital I had planned but the thought of driving that far with so much fluid leaking out. Plus Cody made it very clear that he wasn’t all too excited about delivering the baby in the car. So we stuck around and Cody’s mom and sister Kaiann brought some cards over and we played games for a bit till the contractions started getting bad. So I decided to get an epidural when I hit about 4 centimeter after about 6 hours of labor. The interesting thing is that the moment I arrived they put me on pitocin just to help things move along but it seemed to not be progressing me very fast. So I got medicated and the doctor who stuck me was very nice. In fact everyone on staff at Pocatello were the most attentive, wonderful people. Especially the doctors and I think they are the hardest ones to find. Anyway- the epidural finally started working until an hour later when pain and contractions started coming through. The anesthesiologist gave me a booster and told me to stay on my left side. Unfortunately Gage’s heartbeat would slow every time I did so I just had to work through the contractions. So the doctor came in to talk about c-section possibilities because my dilation was slow. He said we’d give it an hour and then check again. Well after an hour I was at an 8 and after the nurse left the pain got really intense and I started to feel a lot of pressure. I called the doctor back in who told me that I was at a 10 and was ready to go. My mom was about 10 minutes away driving up as fast as she could. She had caught a flight at 9am that morning when I told her that my water had broken and she rented a car in Salt Lake to drive the rest of the way to Pocatello. So I had my sister in law get on the phone and tell her to start breaking traffic laws. As luck would have it she arrived just as I started pushing. I thought she had barely made it but unbeknownst to me I had an hour and a half of hard pushing ahead of me. My epidural still wasn’t working right and the anesthesiologist was in an emergency c-section so he couldn’t come and help me. Turns out that several things worked against me in getting the baby out of my body. 1^st off I have tilted tail bone that makes passage around it difficult. Gage still has the scratches on his face from passing by it. 2^nd I apparently have a very narrow birthing canal and 3^rd Gage had been with so much pressure on his head for so long that his head had swelled up considerably. So I pushed and pushed and I can really understand the idea that having a baby is like running a race. I couldn’t get enough air into my lungs between contractions and I seriously wondered several times if I would pass out from lack of oxygen. Each push saw minimal results and I heard “you’re almost there” for about 45 minutes straight. My mom and Cody were such a help in pushing, telling me when the contractions were starting and more importantly letting me know when they were ending. As luck would have it the anesthesiologist showed up about 30 minutes before he was born and he was able to give me another booster to take the edge off. At one point the doctor told me that if I got an episiotomy he could have Gage out in just one more push. As tempting as the offer was I was really scared of getting cut. I think being able to see myself in the mirror made me reluctant to do it so I opted to go without and Gage was born just 10 minutes later. When he came out he was all grey and purple and not crying. I remember being so relieved but also very worried why he wasn’t crying. They had Cody cut the cord and they placed him on my chest for just a moment before they whisked him away to give him oxygen. He seemed so big to have come out of me and felt so cheated that everyone else was able to be up and moving around looking at him and I had to stay there and get stitched up. I didn’t tear on the outside but there were several lacerations on the inside. I never did ask how many stitches I received but it took at least 20 minutes to finish them all up. By then they had taken Gage to the NICU for oxygen treatment. He was grunting and whining softly (obviously a sign of the horrible trauma he had to endure). They also ran several tests to make sure that the severe bruising on his head wasn’t bleeding into his brain. So finally 4 hours after having him I was able to go to the NICU and see my little boy. And he is so beautiful! Even with his abnormally large swollen head he is the sweetest little guy you’ve ever seen. I stayed at the hospital for 2 days and brought him home. My mom has been here helping out and I can’t ever repay her for the service she’s given and the support she’s offered. Such a champ! Gage has had really bad Jaundice for the last couple of days and that has been very scary for us. He has had an ultraviolet light pad that we keep to his back at all times. He also wasn’t feeding very well so the lactation gal from WIC came over last night for a home visit and brought a hand pump. It turns out that she was heaven sent because it was while she was here that we learned just how bad his jaundice was and it turns out that he needed to be getting a lot more to eat than he was getting. They actually defined his condition as failure to thrive and that qualified me to get a rented double pump from WIC for free. It has been so nice because the hand pump was terrible with my carpel tunnel. Actually it hurt so bad that I had Cody pumping me all last night. Romantic- I know. Talk about seeing your wife in a whole new way! But thankfully we got some more blood results taken today and he is improving so we’ll be able to stop using the light pad by Saturday. I’ll be so happy to hold him again without a huge power machine attached to him and the pad. Well I’m going to leave the stories at that since I think this is about 3 pages long already. Enjoy the pictures and sorry they were so long in coming. Thanks to everyone for their support and help!

Where did all these kids come from?

2010-01-22T23:52:00.004-07:00

Here are some pictures of last weekend when I was down in Salt Lake for my cousins funeral. Although it was a very sad reason for all of us to get together it sure reminded me how great my family is. I love them all so much and it is so neat to watch their little kids grow. Pictured here are some of the fun we had just kickin' it in the hotel and spending time together. I think my favorite part about the weekend was watching Cody and Ami play together. I captured a classic moment when Cody is seconds away from being drooled on. The look on Cody's face is priceless and you can see the droplet falling out of Ami's mouth. The other pictures include Carson being very intrigued with my tummy and especially with trying to figure out where my belly button went to. I wish we all lived closer to each other so these hang outs could be on a weekly basis and not every few months. I also got to see my cousins who I love dearly. Andrea is always so much fun to be around and I hadn't seen Nicole for years! The drive down was uncomfortable as I presumed it would be and sleeping at the hotel turned out to be not so bad due to the fact that there was an ice machine that I used to ice my wrists. I've had a couple of doctors visits and they continue to have no suggestions for me on how to ease the pain of my carpel tunnel. I did however get my doctor to agree to inducing me a week early if this doesn't let up. I know the benefits of just letting the baby come but I just don't know how much more of this I can take. It helps to be around the cute kids of other people so I can see how worth it this whole thing is. I'm being thrown a baby shower tomorrow from the Browers and I can't wait. I'm going to go to the hair salon and have them do my hair (since I can't do my own with hands as numb as I have) so I'll be able to look the best that a preggie possibly can. I'll be sure to include pictures in the next post. my tummy routinely gets tight and hard with what I assume to be Braxon Hicks and that only leads me to hope more and more that he's getting closer to coming. It's hard to remember that he's just going to come when he's ready and that there is nothing I can do to speed up the process. A dumb part of me is so excited to have him so I can have a month break from work. How dumb is that reasoning? I get the feeling that he is going to be far from the "break" I'm expecting to get :) Well that about does it for my update. Expect more pictures in the next blog and pray that I don't go into labor tonight. Cody is down in Pocatello tonight so it would be very bad timing on the baby's part. Miss you all!

Baby Craze!

2010-01-12T16:49:00.002-07:00

Not many pictures to update with this time around but for those of you who don't see me regularly this is how I looked this last Sunday. Big... I know! The belly just keeps growing and growing. My motivation with work is beginning to slack off big time and the new eating plan that Cody and I are doing is going well but I'm sure missing all the sweets I allowed myself to indulge in. I'm really feeling good about eating better because as much as people keep telling me to just enjoy myself and not count calories- I have the sneaky suspecian that the stress of a baby will only make me want to eat more poorly. So here's to hoping that I can change my eating habits before the baby comes. I am not looking to lose weight by any means- I know that's not healthy- but my OBGYN said that I should be alright if I try to keep my weight at 165 till the baby is born. I'm really hoping that the baby comes early. As of right now I'm averaging about 6 hours of sleep at night and wake up about every hour to ice my wrists and shake feeling back into my hands. Cody is really sweet and has been giving me hand and arm rubs when he notices that I'm awake and can't fall asleep. I'm going to see my doctor on Thursday and I think I will really look into some after birth surgery for my wrists if it doesn't get better. The promise of early induction is looking more and more tempting. Last week Cody and I started birthing classes and we had a lot of fun while there. We go for the next 4 weeks every wed night. Our instructor is kind of an interesting women but other than that I love being able to learn breathing techniques and pain management. One of the calming techniques involves your spouse telling you a story to try and get your mind off the pain. So the teacher gave us 5 mins to lay down and be told a story. So Cody starts in with a beautifully described day with my baby horses and just 30 seconds into the story I start crying. It was such a sweet little story and once I start crying it is like a flood gate that opens. Every time we tried to gain control and start another story I would bust up in a crying/ laughing combination. We were the most distracting couple in the class. Oh pregnant moments! In other news the Brower clan is going to throw me a baby shower on the 23rd of this month in Pocatello. I can't wait!!! As long as Gage doesn't come before then :) I think Cody and I will be coming down to Utah to attend the funeral of my cousin. It's probably going to be an unpleasant drive but I want to be there and Cody still hasn't met the majority of my extended family. Anyway- Carpel Tunnel doesn't go along with typing very well so I'll try to update again when I get some more news and or pictures. Hope everyone is doing well!

Update on our first babies!

2010-01-03T22:24:00.005-07:00

One fun activity that happened while we were at the Browers for Christmas was bringing the horses across the town to their winter pasture next to the house. Normally they're kept out in 39 acres to eat at their leisure but when enough snow falls they're brought up next to the house to be fed all winter. Unfortunately that involves "driving" the horses down the highway amidst cars passing. The only way this works is to take the main mare and gelding (male horse that's been fixed) and tie them to the truck and drive it slowly down the road. The rest of the horses won't leave the herd bosses so it's relatively risk free. And let me take this moment to stress to everyone reading this blog- if you see horses on the road- SLOW DOWN! We had people flying past the whole herd at 40-50 mph. I was just waiting for one of the baby horses to spooke and jump out in front of it. People would always do that in La Canada too when Melody and I would ride and it would blow my mind people could be so inconsiderate. Now you may be wondering how we can legally just turn the horses loose and run them down the road. Well it turns out that the county is a free range land so people use the main road to drive cows, sheep and horses all the time. Such a different kind of a place. Anyway, the horses all made it safely and the baby horses are getting SO big. I think we underestimated what a full blood draft horse would throw cause these babies are already catching up to their moms super fast. FYI- the pictures posted were taken by my new camera that I absolutely love. It is amazing what a difference it makes! One of my favorite pictures is of Pokies hooves. They have the coolest coloration to them! One of my favorite parts of the day was when little Coco was eating from the barn, just minding her own business and the lead herd mare Sugar came up and tried to drive her from the spot. Well Coco panicked and tried to jump through the feed opening only to discover that she is way to huge to accomplish such a feat so she took several more bites till she was able to get out of the way. I gave Sugar a real good scolding for it and afterward Coco came stumbling over to us with a shell-shocked look on her face. She just stayed next to us for some comfort and petting till she calmed down. Almost as if she asked "did you see what happened to me" and was looking for protection. Poor Coco is the most kind and gentle horse I've ever seen. I am sure that she will be a member of our family for a long time to come and she'll only be 1 year older than Gage so they will probably be best friends as well (hey a mom can wish!). So pregnancy wise I'm still measuring about a week ahead of where I should be so with any luck maybe this guy will come a little early. Especially since he's been nothing but trouble for the last little bit. I've moved into the swelling part of pregnancy and sadly that has ushered in the carpel tunnel part of pregnancy. It's not a very common affliction but let me tell you it's awful! My hands will go painfully numb in the night every half an hour unless I wear wrist braces all day and night. I also have to ice my wrists a couple of times a day or I don't sleep at night. As if pregnancy doesn't suck enough already! I guess it's just one way that God is able to make women look forward to labor. I've already hit the amount of weight that I wanted to gain with this pregnancy so that's a bit depressing. My doctor told me that if I eat very well for the next month then there's no reason why I need to gain anymore. I'm not sure how that will work out with the baby getting so much bigger everyday but I'd really like to keep my weight gain down as low as possible. Well I've taken to rambling so I'll close this post and tell everyone about what's going on with Law School next blog. Love you all!

2009-12-29T09:17:00.003-07:00

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! Here are some picture of how Cody and I spent the holidays. This year it was the Brower's family turn to have us around and we sure missed the family that couldn't make it. The house was full of kids and excitement and I was able to spend some time with Cody's sister and her husband and girls who live out in West Virginia. It wouldn't have been Christmas without them! Bear Lake graced us with 20 degree weather in the day time so the snow wasn't even warm enough to pack a snowball. It was pretty cold! For Christmas Eve we did a dinner where everyone did something so I made Tortilla de Patata for the first time in two years. It's pretty much a glorified french fry and egg thick omlette and it was good! One re-adjustment I had to make was the time that presents were open. I think even when Chelsea was a little girl my family began pushing maybe 9 am to open presents. Not so with the Browers. 5 am. Seriously. Actually- before 5. I think someone got us up ten to 5. And let me say that in this stage of pregnancy any lost sleep is regarded more like the losing of a limb. So we got up and did the present thing and I went right back to sleep. Cody got help from all the nieces when he opened his presents. Unfortunately Cody and I had already maxed out our Christmas money on a new computer for him and a new camera for me so we set the limit at $10 for Christmas morning. Pathetic I know but at least it was something. So Christmas was great overall but I got to say that my favorite part was pulling out some pipe bells and with 5 of us trying to recreate Christmas songs. By the end I got to say that we were pretty good. It was weird not singing but the bells filled the musical need of the season. We're back at home now and are excited to get down to business preparing for a baby.

The last picture on the page is a picture of Cody's graduation. At first he didn't really want to walk but with enough persuasion he saw the benefit in it. And it meant a lot to his parents and to me as well. I'm so proud of him and even more proud because he's choosing to go on to Law School. What a smart man I married!

2009-12-11T11:06:00.002-07:00

Here are some of the beautiful baby things that have come my way in the last little bit. First off I wanted to say thank you to my grandma for the beautiful quilt that she sent. I can't wait to wrap my little baby boy in that quilt made with so much love! It's something that I will treasure for a very long time to come! Also pictured is a nice little bassinet that I got used for only $20 bucks. And the gal threw in a bunch of baby boy clothes too! My favorite new thing by far is the crib we just got yesterday for $35 and the bedding that my mom bought for me. It is the cutest little cowboy print you've ever seen. I'll probably be staining the wood so it is dark like the bassinet. And I forgot to take a picture of my careseat so on the next blog look for a picture of the cowprint car seat (also a favorite of mine and also from Mom and Dad). I'm getting so excited with all of these fun baby things. Now if this little bundle would just hurry up and get here!

These other two pictures include some of my pottery from this year and also Cody's new favorite project. I had a blast with throwing this year! Too bad about halfway through my class I was unable to throw on the wheel cause my belly got in the way. But I'm glad I was able to put out what I did. The picture of Cody is him putting together his first home made computer. It's the Christmas present we gave ourselves this year and you should have seen Cody's face when it arrived. He was like a little boy Christmas morning. I don't understand a bit of it but that never stops Cody from explaining it all to me while he's putting it together. So I've got my baby stuff that I'm enjoying and Cody has his computer to put together. I'm heading out today to visit my dear friend Carrie in Provo and my darling little sister Chelsea. I have decided however that this will be my last trip other than to the Brower's for Christmas. Driving has become so uncomfortable and I seem to sleep poorly in anything other than my bed. All a part of the joy of being pregnant!