A Quick Christmas Memoir

Thank you to my wonderful children for letting me sleep in this morning. It was such an exciting time to see how excited Sasha was with each and everything that she was given. It is great to know that it was all appreciated (not just the boxes). Thank you to Emily and Matt, she loves her dolly, he has been napping and gone to bed with her tonight, I think she is very excited to have her own "little baby brother" (a name isn't decided on yet, that we are aware of). Grandma and Grandpa the stroller will always be in tow as well. Sorry for the track that is being etched in the floor upstairs.

This being Braden's first Christmas he wasn't too into all of the toys or clothes, his favorite thing of all was the attention and time that everyone wanted to spend with him. His ideal and favorite place to be is in someones arms. Thank you to everyone willing to give mine a little rest.

We are especially blessed to have the chance to be with our family at this Christmas Season. Thank you for all of the love that you share with each of us. It is particularly special to see how much excitement there is to see each of our kids. They are so very precious to us and it means so much to know how important they are to others as well.

I have been given the best gifts that anyone could ever ask for: a wonderful grandmother, the two most amazing parents, two great sisters, two of the sweetest children, the most caring husband, and a family that did a great job bringing him up to be who he is today, an aunt and uncle that have always been there for me, how could I ever go without including The Gospel, it has always been, and always will be counted amongst the most counted blessings in my life. I don't know where I would be without all of you. Thank you for being so wonderful to me.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

How Do You Jump?

This is one of Sasha's favorite things to do right now. We thought that you would all enjoy seeing this as much as we do. She is doing even better now, this was just so funny that we wanted to share it with you. We took this video a couple of days before Thanksgiving. I hope you all enjoy.

THANKSGIVING PIE NIGHT

Amy and Marshall hosted the 2nd annual pie night a couple of days before Thanksgiving. That way we can really enjoy the pies, without being too stuffed from all of the other wonderful things there are to eat on Thanksgiving. It's great to have such great friends to get together with, we love spending time with them all. We did get a bit of teasing for bringing veggies, but that is all that Sasha could eat. And they got finished off, I guess everyone needed something that wasn't quite so sweet.

Comments about the pictures:

Sasha has started carrying around her baby, or one of her stuffed animals in the sling (Mommy uses it to carry Braden sometimes) or one of my shirts as you can see. She is a great big sister.

Brit has offered several times to put a child lock on this cupboard, I don't want him to because this is how Sasha reminds me that it it time to feed her sometimes. For those of you who know me well know my concept of time. I apparently tell time like Dad, by the calendar not the clock. Sorry to everyone for always running late, I really am working on that. Brit is trying to help me.

What would we do without a LCD screen on the back of the camera? Every time we take a picture Sasha comes running "see, see, see..." she loves pictures, and cameras. So there are plenty of pictures of her running towards the camera, because she can't sit still long enough for the camera to take the picture.

Here are a few pictures of us at the pie night. Thank you again Amy and Marshall for hosting it again.


My "thanks"giving
I have such a beautiful family. A very handsome husband and adorable kids. I am so thankful for the blessing it is to have each of them in my life, and each of you. Thank you so much for taking such good care of us Brit, and for working so hard to do well in school. I am thankful to have a daughter that teaches me everyday how to be a better mom. Also a son who is so good natured and patient with me as I am learning. I am so greatful for a husband who is so understanding, he doesn't expect me to be perfect, I need that to balance me. He is everything that I need. Thanks for raising a great man. I am so blessed to have been raised by such wonderful parents, thanks for always being there, and for your examples, and all of the advice (even though you have probably had to give me more than you ever wanted), growing up and now. I love you, I know I will always need you. Thank you to my sisters, for all of the late night talks and great times, I love you both. Thank you for your examples.

First Boat Trip...This July

Well as I am trying to get this whole thing figured out I will be posting some old, and some new photos. I hope that you all enjoy.

Thanks to some great friends we had a chance to take our first boating trip as a family. I had to be content as a watcher by, and passenger. I tried but couldn't talk my doctor into letting me water ski at 30 weeks. Brit informed me that even if I had talked the doctor into it he wouldn't have let me. We had a great time, and Sasha loved it. She wasn't sure at first, but it didn't take her long to be having the time of her life. I did get to go swimming, the water was cold, and take pictures. What gorgeous water, it made it even harder to not go out. Surprisingly we were told that the water was not very good, you could have fooled me. We went to Porcupine Bay a little over an hour away, it turned out that we spent our time skiing on the Spokane River, a first for us. Hopefully we will have the chance again, and I hope that I can ski too.

Merely an Accident?

If anyone hadn't noticed before, Hilary cut me out of the family picture when she "took over" the blog. She reformatted and I was outta there! Fortunately, I know a thing or two and now I am back in the picture. Hilary told me it was unintentional, but I think it was her symbolic form of usurping the power of the blog! However, thanks to my knowledge, know-how, and experience, she won't dethrone me that easily!

j/k; it is really now a collaborative effort now. We are a team and Hilary has more time to keep up with the posts while I get bogged down at school sometimes, which makes all of you wait for new pictures. Thanks all for your patience.

It's not just me

Sorry I mistakenly took over the blog. I am very thankful that Brit is still excited to be part of this and keep "posting" himself. There are details that only he can take care of. Thanks for your help last night with this Brit. :)

Changes?

This is one of my favorite pictures of Braden I love watching him sleep, he is so peacefull.

This is where I found Sasha a couple of weeks ago, she had zipped herself into Braden's carseat. She is such a cleaver girl. Her doll or one of her stuffed animals is usually in her place, but I couldn't pass up this picture. She got in, but couldn't get herself out.

Well now that we have the internet at home, yes we finally gave in, I am of the understanding that the responsibility of keeping this updated is mine. Please bear with me as I am figuring it out. I will do my best to update this as often as possible, during naps or after bedtime :) Please let me know if there is anything that you would like to see, hear about, and if you like the changes that I have made, and may continue to make. We love you all!!! I promise a much more exciting post next time.

Halloween has come and gone!

We had a wonderful Halloween! We did the "Trunk or Treat" at the ward and then went to Justin and Ashley's house for the party. Our costumes didn't really go together, but who cares? Hilary and I were vampires, Sasha was the cutest Raggedy Anne, and Braden made an adorable pumpkin. Hilary made Sasha's costume and I personally think she did a fantastic job.

And all the wives at the party decided to get a picture taken (and some of the kids too, however, Sasha was too busy chasing the other boys around the house)

Here is one more of the whole family outside...

Here is a picture of Braden. We've been trying to get a picture of him smiling so that it won't be just another baby picture and we finally got one.

Stay tuned for the next post... I promise to post it before the week is over. There are some REALLY cute pictures of the kids that just have to be posted. P.S. Thanks to family for visiting this weekend. We had a great time and the kids loved it too. We definately missed the rest of you who couldn't make it.

Very funny song!

This is probably one of the greatest songs ever written about kids. This is just what we have to look forward to as our children grow older. Some of you with older kids most likely can really relate to this song. I think it is really funny!

Every Little Girl’s Dream …

We went to Green Bluffs: Harvest House on Saturday to go find a pumpkin. This one wasn’t quite the “pumpkin patch” that we went to last year; the pumpkins were all together on the grass surrounded by haybails. But, we did get some pumpkins, Sasha picked hers out and Braden got a little 5oz. pumpkin. Braden didn't quite have the same experience as Sasha did, but he survived.
However, the highlight of the day was when Sasha got to experience every little girl’s dream … She got her very own pony … to ride. (Actually, it was truly a horse, just a miniature horse)

She didn’t have the patience to wait in line, but when her turn finally came, she got the smallest horse they had (which was quite a bit smaller than the rest). After riding around for a few minutes, Sasha obviously did not want to get off. Oh, the protest! But it all worked out in the end. She calmed down and we were able to continue on our adventure for the day. Some of us were a little tuckered out by the time we got home (still holding on to her balloon).

After such a long day, we converted the new crib into a toddler bed for Sasha. She fell in love with it and although we were worried about how she would sleep, she did fine. (it was nap time the next day that did not go well) We went in to see how she was doing around 1a.m. and before Hilary’s eyes could adjust to the dark, she found Sasha like this …

In the morning, however, she was back in her bed like normal! She is simply amazing. (the next night, though, was a little more difficult to get her to go to bed). We now have a bed rail for her bed so she won't fall out anymore. I think that gives her a little more comfort when going to bed at night.

Ducks and the Park

We went to the park the other day to see the ducks (all ten thousand of them!) and Sasha absolutely loved it! Other than walking all over the duck poo and Sasha (thinking she would take a seat and get a good look at all the ducks) sitting down in the duck poo, it was a great day at the park. It was a little overcast but didn’t rain on us until after we got home. Sasha was quite the big girl; she played on the playground equipment with all the bigger kids. She loves going down the slides. This one was a particular favorite of hers.There is a girl in our ward that makes headbands so Hilary bought a couple for Sasha. We think she is really cute in them. They came with little flowers as well, that are on clips so they are interchangeable. She is getting so big! so fast! We are pretty lucky parents to have two wonderful little souls be part of our family. They seem to get along fairly well (at least until Sasha hits those terrible two’s) and they even seem to like each other. Thanks to the Lord for all his many blessings.

1 month old

Braden is now 4 weeks old. He is weighing in at about 10 1/2 lbs. and sleeping just like a newborn. He sleeps during the day, gets real fussy in the evening, and then is up all night. It's fantastic! Sasha has a new found fear of men. We went to a friend's new house to see it and I put her on the ground to walk around the house with us. She latched onto my leg and would not let go, even when I tried to walk. It was so funny. She would not go near him, but she sent straight to his wife and asked her to pick her up. Sasha is just weird.

Sasha's new thing is wearing Mom and Dad's shoes. Look closely at the shoes. Sasha doesn't have a clue what left and right are yet. We thought it was pretty funny.

Braden loves to make faces. We've been trying to get a picture of this one. Sometimes he smiles too, but only for a second.

Braden doesn't quite have the personality and character development that Sasha does so most of his pictures are of him sleeping or just laying there. But that is what babies do. Sasha got a new headband with a flower. She loves it and we think she looks way cute in it. This is what she wore to church this week. Surprisingly, she generally leaves it on all day. Sasha also had her first day in nursery on sunday. She did really well; Daddy went with her the whole time. She played well with the kids and seemed to enjoy the whole new church experience. It was kind of nice to not have to fight with her during sunday school and priesthood sessions. She is so independent that we are not concerned about leaving her in there all alone; we are just concerned about "snack time." Her food allergies are something we simply do not want to mess with right now.

Well, Hilary's mom has left us and we are officially on our own again. Braden is sleeping just like a newborn, which means that mom and dad are also sleeping just like a newborn. However, Sasha is sleeping very well still. That is because Braden is not sleeping in the same room yet. We would like him to develop a better sleeping pattern before we put the two together. We shall see. This is Sasha's new favorite hat, sent to her by Ann, along with the little doggy and the butterfly shirt. She didn't want to take the hat off even though she was almost sweating. Gotta love the pigtails. That is Daddy's doing. She really likes it though. She started laughing when she saw herself in the mirror. Here is grandma with the grandkids. I know he looks funny, but that is what babies do best (either that or just darn cute!).

So far, so good

Braden is officially 8 days old now. He loves to keep Mommy and Daddy up at night while sleeping all day long. Sasha is doing much, much better. She really likes her little brother. It has been great to have Grandma Andersen here to help during this first week. We wish the rest of you could be here as well. Hilary says that last picture does not look like Braden at all so here are some more pictures.


We are so blessed to have little Braden in our lives. He and Sasha are the loves of our lives. It is so wonderful to have our own little family growing (especially with such cute kids!). We wish you all could be here to see him and watch him grow. Anytime you feel like coming up to visit, our couch is a comfortable one! At least, that is what Hilary's mom tells me.
Stay tuned for more pictures!

It's a BOY!!!

Well, we already knew he was a boy, but here is finally here. And what a crazy week to do it in. Here is a quick rundown before I describe him in baby detail. Sasha was admitted to the Pediatrics wing of the hospital Monday night with a possible kidney infection. This is her in her hospital cage ... I mean crib, with her IV.









She is starting to do better. She spent two nights in the hospital. They are now ruling it a viral infection. Her only symptoms have been a spiking fever of 103. Other than that, she seems ok. She just had a chest x-ray yesterday and they are still trying to figure it out. So, we spent the night with Sasha in Pediatrics and Hilary started having contractions. At 6am, the nurses looked at Hilary and decided she needed to be wheeled down to the Labor and Delivery wing. Brit stayed with Sasha until at 8am he called Hilary and she said he had better get down there. At 9:05 am, a baby boy was born. Braden Andrew Glad, weighing in at 9 lbs. 3 oz and 22 in. long. Hilary had no anesthesia, no epideral, nothing. She is awesome!











Before the doctor decided that Sasha had a viral infection, she was able to come see her new little brother. Notice her IV tagging along.





Sasha was able to go home one day before Hilary was released. Everyone is home now and doing better. We had a lot of really good friends to take care of us and we thank you all and we thank everyone else for their prayers. Here is my favorite picture thus far of Braden ...

Large with child

Here is the most recent picture of Hilary. It was taken yesterday outside our apartment. This one is mostly for Emy who requested a pic to see how big Hilary has gotten. So, here you go.

We are doing well. Hilary is not quite progressed enough to deliver yet, but we are anxiously anticipating our little boy's arrival. It could be this weekend; it could be in two weeks. Hopefully, sooner than later.

Our camera is back!

Now that an entire month has passed, we have our camera back ... again. This time there was a smudge on the inside of the lense, so they fixed that and for some reason also replaced the autofocus. I guess it was a good thing that the smudge was there. So, Hilary's stomach is looking very large right now. She is definately ready to have this baby. This picture is actually a week old. She is even bigger now!

The other day was garbage day, so emptied all the garbages and wastebaskets accordingly. This is what I found when I came back in the house...Good thing we only put paper in that wastebasket! Sasha's other favorite new game is playing with bubbles. Hilary got out the bubbles the other day and Sasha thought that was the coolest thing she had ever seen.

She sure is a handful, but she is so much fun! Everyday is a new adventure. Stay tuned for more pictures.

New Favorite Things

Sasha has developed a love for several new things. Most recently, she decided it would be good to start cleaning the house. She also has become a super-fan of swings. So much in fact, that she screams and cries when we try to take her away from her swing. It's like she is "one" with the swing, or something. The most popular new favorite is painting...finger-painting, that is. Along with painting pretty things on paper comes painting everything else as well. Apparently, Sasha decided our house needed some extra decorations.








It's a good thing that all that finger-painting is water soluble, otherwise, we might have some serious scrubbing to do in order to not lose our renter's deposit. Even with all the cleaning she is learning how to do, I have a sneaking suspicion she would not be too much into scrubbing detail.