Back to the real world

Well David had to go back to school this week, and it was a sad occasion. It has been so fun having David home over the break, and he was a lifesaver to me in getting adjusted to our new family. Here's a few pictures from the last week. Here's our little sleeper. He always finds a way to wiggle his arms out of his blanket. Although he won't go to sleep unless his arms are wrapped up, he likes to get them loose.

David helped Isabel build a snowman on Saturday. Yes those are deer antlers for arms, we had to improvise. They are both wearing camo coats. I had a baby shower for Brigham with my friends here in the Village and one of my sweet friends got this adorable camo coat for Brigham to wear next winter (they all know David so well!). David wanted Isabel to wear it so they could match. Since she is so tiny, it fit her great, and she thought it was cool that she got to wear something different.

She loves to give Brigham "ugs" (hugs) and does it every chance she can, even squishing him sometimes. She is so sweet to him, we couldn't wish for anything better.

Here is our handsome little guy. He is getting more alert everyday and loves to be able to look around. David swears he likes to stare at the deer we have, because we willay him down on the couch under the deer and he fixates his eyes on it and won't budge. I guess we are training him early to be daddy's hunting partner.

Here is mommy's little helper. Isabel wants to be doing everything I am doing. If Brigham is fussy and I pick him up to bounce him and pat his back. Isabel runs and finds one of her baby dolls and does the same thing. The other day I was nursing him and she went and picked up her baby, tried to lift her shirt up, and couldn't, so she just cradled her baby like I was holding Brigham and just sat there. What a little mommy! This picture was after I had brigham in the carrier for a while. She went and picked it up and wanted Daddy to help her put it on. She wants to be so involved and is such a sweetheart. I still can't believe that she is my little baby girl, and I have another baby already. It is amazing that I can love two little kids so much, they are true joy. Being a mother is such a special blessing!

Happy New Year!

We bid farewell to 2008 by eating a delicious king crab leg dinner, YUM!!! Of course with a 2 1/2 week old and David in the home, we didn't stay up till midnight, but we had fun just the same. We had a great chocolate cake that Isabel enjoyed as well. That is why everyone needs a daddy-they let you make messes.

On the 31st, I took Isabel out on a mommy/daughter date to the zoo. She has been adjusting well to Brigham, but has been acting out a bit, so I took her out to have some alone time with her. I think she really enjoyed it, I know I did. It was fun to see her back to her normal self. We just wandered around and let her go wherever she wanted. We had lots of fun at the aquarium and the desert dome. She was so curious and intrigued by everything and loved having my undivided attention.

playing in the car and with the horn. She loves to honk at people and lets out a big yell whenever David honks the horn.

she loves to color!

We can't wait to see what 2009 brings us. Each year just keeps getting better.

Poinsettia Show at the Gardens

We decided to get all bundled up and head to our neighbor's, the Botanical Gardens, on Monday to check out the beautiful Poinsettia Show they had inside. It was so incredible. Thousands of poinsettias plants and trees of all colors (ok, not all colors, but lots of shades of red, pink, white and speckled.) There was even a giant Christmas tree built out of poinsettia plants. Isabel kept saying wow and running all over the place. They had these cute model trains that were running in and out of the plants. It was nice to get out and enjoy some beauty indoors while it is so bitter out here in Omaha.

Christmas 2008

Even though we were missing family terribly, we had a wonderful Christmas with our little family. It was so relaxing and enjoyable, we made great memories. It literally took us all day to open presents. We started about 7am and in between naps, a nice big aebleskiever breakfast and yummy lunch and feeding Brigham and playing with the toys, Isabel opened her last present around 5pm. After each present, she would play for the longest time with the toys or books. She LOVES Elmo so she really enjoyed this elmo doll and elmo books that she got. In fact, she really loved all of her toys and continues to play with all of them, trying to do it all at once, which makes a nice mess in our living room. She loved to open presents, but we would have to talk her into opening another one because she was so involved in her current toy. It was really fun to just have no schedule or worries. We spent all day in our pjs and just enjoyed the heck out of our kids. Brigham just slept the day away.

Further proof that you can just give kids some boxes for Christmas and they are just as happy!

I think she put about 5 miles on this stroller the first day. She loves doing laps in between the kitchen and living room.

Cuddle buddies.

Enjoying his great Christmas present. Thanks Grandma! It looks so comfy that Isabel keeps trying to crawl in and try it out.

Opening a present, I don't know if she looks so tired because she just woke up from a nap or if she is exhausted from all her presents:)

Santa's little helper. He got this outfit from Grandma G and it only lasted about an hour before his diaper leaked all over it. So he has worn it a few more times cause he looks so dang cute in it.

Baby got back!

Daddy helping Isabel get her Little Einsteins piano open. She loves little Einsteins and pounds on the keyboard. "tinestines" is what she calls 'em.

Here are some pretty flowers David bought for our Christmas Eve dinner.

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve Eve, we headed up to the trail center to check out the gingerbread display. It was so fun! There was hundreds of gingerbread creations from all over the area that people had submitted. Some of them were so awesome, I couldn't believe the detail and creativity that was put in to them. Here are some pictures of our favorites. our ward did one, but we couldn't find it.

We helped Isabel act out the Nativity story. (She was Mary and a wise man, I was Joseph, the innkeeper and some wise men. David was a donkey, shepard and camel carrying the wise man to see Jesus, and little Brigham was Jesus.) It was so cute, she was pretty reverent and curious about it all, I think she knew it was a special story.

Here is our cute little wise man bringing baby Jesus a gift.

On Christmas Eve, we cooked a delicious prime rib dinner (from the prime rib that we got from the 12 days of Christmas). We had so much food, we wanted to invite our neighbors over for dinner. We had a great time with them and ate till we couldn't move (we were all contemplating unbuttoning our pants to give us some more room, but didn't do it). Then we watched a beautiful video that we received from the 12 days as well. It was a picture slide show set to beautiful music that showed all sorts of paintings about Jesus' life. It was so moving and brought the tears flowing. It was a great way to feel the true spirit of Christmas.

We had so much fun receiving the 12 days of Christmas. We are pretty sure we know who it was, but since they wish to stay annonymous, we just want them to know how much we love and appreciate them. It was so overwhelming to see the time, effort and money that was put into it. We felt so loved and blessed to be the recipients. We just want to say thank you for all you have done, you'll never know how much we appreciate this and cherish the memories we have made because of it.

Happy 1 week Brigham!

A week has already flown by with our little guy and I can't believe how we got along without him. Isabel has been so great with him, I can even run to the bathroom really quick without fearing for his life. He is such a content little guy, he cries even less than Isabel did, which I didn't think was possible. David says he sleeps way too much, he wants to play with him more:)

Here are the roses David brought me at the hospital. They are so beautiful and had tons of greenery that looked like they grew in the mountains. He said he was going to get me red roses, but then thought they were too girly for Brigham, so he got these instead!

Can you tell that she is smitten with him?

If it is possible, his beatiful complexion has made me look even more white!

His first bath. He was pretty mad that we woke him up and made him get in the tub. But the second we took him out he was content again.

We have gotten a few inches of snow (on top of 2 inches of solid ice) on Friday, so David took Isabel out to sled down the hill behind our building. It was pretty cold, so they only lasted about 15 minutes, but she had a blast!)

She loves to give Brigham kisses and hugs

We took a picture of Isabel like this when we brought her home from the hospital and now David says we have to get a picture with his deer when we bring all our kids home. Notice the size difference between Isabel and Brigham. He may catch up to her pretty quick!

After we bathed Brigham again last night, Isabel wanted to get in (the whole "I have to be involved in everything that Brigham is"), so David bathed her in the kitchen sink. She had so much fun.

We took Brigham in for his weight and jaundice check on Friday and he looks great. The doctor said he didn't really have any jaundice and he was already an ounce over his birth weight (7 lbs, 14 oz. now). We are so happy he is healthy and eating great. He is such a sweetheart and we feel so blessed to have these two munchkins in our family. They make it all worth it!