Brayden

I'm so behind on posting this but on July 18th, 2011 at 10:53pm we were blessed with the arrival of Brayden Lyle Brigham. I had a doctor appointment earlier in the day and when I went I was dilated to 5 so I was sent to the hospital. It was a boring labor, painless too so I'm thanksful for that, right up until the end when it was about time to push, then it was not painless or boring at all! He is the sweetest little baby and we all love him so much. It was the first time that as soon as the baby was placed in my arms I was overwhelmed with love. I loved my other 2 children of course, but the bond was instant with this little guy and I felt as if I had known him forever. Maybe because I had been saying since Jacob was born that I knew I had another son was out there waiting for me. Whatever the reason it was wonderful. I'm so blessed to be able to have this little guy, another healthy baby, and I dont take it for granted ever.

Just 10 days before Brayden was born Josh's father had a massive heart attack and died. It was a total shock, he was a pretty healthy man, and of course this was devastating to Josh. I had said that I was not going to have the baby until after the memorial service and it was less than 24 hours that I went into labor so we were both very thankful for that. A little miracle I believe since I had been dilated to 4 for 3 weeks and I had never made it to 39 weeks before. Josh likes to say it was half Gods will and half my stubborness. The baby shares a middle name with Josh's father, something we decided after he passed away as a little tribute to him. He had actually suggested the name but we were going to go with something else. I hope he is happy that we changed it for him. So July was a crazy emotional month for us but life has gone on and we are enjoying our family of 5.

Emma's 6th birthday

Emma is now 6 years old! She was one of the only kids in her class who was still 5 at the end of the year so she was really happy to "catch up" to the other kids. On her birthday her Auntie Melly and Carter came with me to get her ears pierced. I had told her whenever she wanted to do it she could but was honest about the fact it would hurt a little. Last year she said she would never do it, but a few weeks ago she said she was ready. She was a champ, said it hurt but there were no tears or anything and she loved the results!

She hadn't had a birthday party since she was 3 so we had promised her this year she could have one. Not the best thing to plan and put on when you're 9 mos pregnant, but it turned out well and she had a blast with all her friends.

Hormonal

I am super hormonal these last few days, maybe because I'm 36 weeks pregnant now and I know I'm about to meet my son and hold him and kiss him and give him lots of love. Okay now I'm crying, see like I said.. SUPER hormonal!

I am overwhelmed with how grateful I am that I made it this far (at 34 weeks found out I was dilated to 2 and that frightened me), and that I made it past Emma's birthday which was June 22nd and her birthday party which was June 25th. I'm grateful that despite a few problems here and there with my other 2 pregnancies I had fullterm healthy babies. The last 10 years I have worked with babies who were born weighing 1 or 2lbs and spent months in the hospital, or had some really bad syndromes that will affect them the rest of their lives so I know how lucky I am. I'm grateful that I have never had to deal with any fertility issues or miscarriages or anything of that nature that so many of my friends have had to deal with. I have been reminded this last month how I shouldn't take it for granted after another friend suffered a loss. I am grateful that I have a husband who without complaining takes over household chores and preparing meals and giving kids baths because he knows I need to be off my feet and resting as much as possible. He tells me all the time to sit down and relax even when I say I'm fine. I'm grateful for great insight, over the last 6 years we have made financial decisions that have allowed me to barely work so that I can be home with the kids. And once again my husband has supported me in that, understanding how it benefits the kids. I am so in love with family, I couldn't be happier. I'm going to really try and enjoy every minute of this baby, even during middle of the night feedings. Easier said than done perhaps, but I am going to try! And I am going to try really hard to get my patience back, because I lost it during this pregnancy.

Hormones are a crazy thing, they can be good, like now when I'm feeling all happy and grateful, but they can be a bad thing like when I see a pregnant person who is 2 weeks ahead of me and she's way smaller. That happened today in the doctors office, and it ended up being a co-worker of Josh, which made it even worse. But at least today I was dilated to 3, so the end isn't too far off and I can get back to a more normal size and wear normal clothes again and not feel like a whale!

Our little graduate

I seriously can not believe that Emma is done with kindergarten!! I so clearly remember posting about her first day! It has been a great year, she has met some really awesome new friends, and I have become friends with a couple of their moms. She has learned so much, she's reading books to us now, and Jacob often goes to her to be read to. She has super math skills and impresses me daily with some of things she can do now. She really loves school and learning and I want to encourage that so it continues for many more years. Kindergarten sounds so sweet and young, but now she's a big first grader and she's so excited about that. I myself have always had issues with change, but luckily at her school they keep their teacher and class for 2 years, so the only thing that will change is her grade. I am really excited to have her home for 8 whole weeks, with about half of that being before the baby is born and the other half afterwards. It gives me time to hang out with her and Jacob and give them lots of attention, and then time for her to be around the baby and get to know him before going back to school. I am so proud that Emma is my daughter, I love her so much!!

Why I can't sleep.

I am very very tired!! Not sleeping is part of being pregnant, especially towards the end when you are up using the bathroom anywhere from 2-4x a night, and trying to use a dozen pillows to find a comfortable position because you are sore and have aches and pains everywhere. And having Jacob decide 2 or 3x a week to come in our room at 1:45am (always the same time) and try and come snuggle with me doesn't help. But most of all what keeps me from sleeping is shown is this video.

Yes I am grateful for this miracle of life, and having a little one moving inside you can be neat at times (mostly earlier on when the baby is smaller and much more gentle with your organs), but it can also be sorta annoying I hate to say and very very uncomfortable too when they are doing somersaults. But I will try to enjoy these last few weeks because I never plan to do this again.

milestones

In the last 2 days there have been a couple of milestones hit by the Brigham children. Sunday morning I woke and found that the baby had hiccups for the first time. Josh and the kids took turn feeling them, and the kids thought it was really neat. Even though this is my 3rd pregnancy and I've felt them 100x before, feeling them with this little guy is just as special. And then Sunday evening Emma lost her first tooth. I knew it was about to fall out and told her to work on it throughout the day so it didn't come out the next day when she was at school, and that night with a gentle pull from Josh it came out easily, no bleeding and no pain, it was definetly ready. Emma of course was super excited about it. For some reason it made me sad and I actually teared up. Just another sign of her getting older and a reminder of how fast they grow up. The toothfairy came and brought Emma a dollar (alot more than I got as a child, but I guess with inflation it makes sense), along with a "First lost tooth" certificate. Then after breakfast as Emma was brushing her teeth she came running to me that her bottom teeth were bleeding. Both are loose and I thought "Oh great, another is going to fall out??", but instead to my surprise I found that a new tooth had popped up behind one of the baby teeth. So she loses one on top Sun at 7pm, and then 12 hours later she has a new one but not where she's lost one of course. Both my kids teethed early, and got a whole bunch at the same time, so I guess that's what's going to happen with the permanent ones too. At least Emma is thrilled with all of this, it's big deal in kindergarten and she couldn't wait to go to school this morning. And not to leave Jacob out of course, he did get his 3 year old pictures taken by a friend from highschool who is starting a photo side buisness. I've seen one picture and it was really cute, so I cant wait to see all the rest next week. I'll post them as soon as I get them. We never did 2 year pictures because he kept getting bumps and scratches on his face, so where we hang the current pictures of the kids, his 1 year picture still hangs.

Jacob turns 3

I can't believe my baby has turned 3!! He was so excited about turning 3, been talking about it since Christmas. It's been over a week and he still likes to tell people "I'm not two anymore, I'm three now." We didn't do anything big this year, had some close friends and family over for cake and ice cream and he got to open his presents of course. He's still very much into Thomas the Train and so he received a couple more of those, they keep coming up with new ones so it seems as though his collection will never be complete. My dad, "Papa Kim", came over the night before and gave him a Thomas scooter and he totally loves it! My dad has tried explaining to him several times that his middle name is Thomas because my dad and brother's middle name is Thomas, but Jacob insists that he's named after Thomas the Train.

Jacob is such a sweet boy, I cant imagine my life without him. He has the best smile, and loves to make people laugh. He's always very concerned with our feelings, will give us hugs and kisses if he thinks we look sad, and then will say 'You're not sad, you're happy now." I feel so blessed to have such caring son, and hope that his little brother will take after him in that way.