First Haircut

Yesterday everyone else was getting haircuts so we decided to trim up Braddock's a little too.  He had those crazy, long, stray hairs sticking out all over so we just even things out a bit.  As you can tell he wasn't a huge fan of the whole experience, but he survived, and he looks so handsome with his new do.

One Month Old Already

I can hardly believe it, but Braddock is one month old. And at the same time it feels like he's been a part of our family forever. We sure love our little guy. Even if he's up screaming till 2am every night. ;)

* He's now 10lbs 14oz and 23 inches long.  90th percentile for height.  We have a tall, skinny guy on our  hands.
* He only sleeps if he's being held by Mom in her bed.  Spoiled?  YES!  But we do what we have to to get a little sleep around here.
* He's got baby acne but he's still so stinking cute.
* He is adored by his big brothers.  They get so excited when he's awake and alert.
* He can spit up with the best of them.  We've got a little Tanner on our hands.
* His left eye has a clogged tear-duct so it's always goopy and gross, but he handles it like a champ.
* He's a wonderful addition to our family and we couldn't be happier.

Time With Dad

Saturday I got to go to the Stake Relief Society Activity and was gone from 9am till 5pm.  Dean was super nice to cover things at home so I could go, and man was it nice to get a day "off".  I still had Braddock with me, but socializing with other women, and being spiritually fed all at the same time was just what this tired momma needed.   While I was gone Dean managed to squeeze in some fun time with the boys which is few and far between for them so they soaked up ever second of it.  They made this monster out of newspaper and toilet paper . . .

They also made volcanoes with baking soda and vinegar.  And helped Dad cut some wood for Mom's upcoming Christmas Craft Workshop for Relief Society. (Yep, it's that time again!)  I'm so glad they got to have some time with Dad, and that they had so much fun.

Family Photos 2012

 

It's pretty difficult getting good pictures of newborn, 2 year old, and 4 year old.  Especially when you're doing the whole tripod and self timer method, but I think we pulled it off.  And we even had fun with no major melt downs.  And we topped off the night with dinner at Eat'N'Park to boot.

Robot Puzzles

I've seen an idea for some simple homemade puzzles bouncing around blog land lately.  So we thought we'd give it a try.  We have a serious love for this show . . .

. . . so we decided to make our puzzles all different robots. (Thanks again Cassie for sending this to Tanner a few years ago!)  With a little help from two of my best little helpers . . .

. . .we whipped up these . . .

We just happened to finished up the drink mix from his container that day, and now it works as perfect storage for our puzzle pieces . . .

 And of course we've had lots of fun playing with them too . . .

Bath Time

Braddock finally lost his umbilical cord on Sunday.  He was 19 days old and we were ready for that thing to be gone!  So yesterday we decided to throw all the boys in the tub together for Braddock's first "real" bath.  Tanner and Landon were a little happier about the whole thing than Braddock was.  Someday he'll like baths. . .

Rub a dub dub, three boys in the tub

Tanner caught two fish

Landon's all "prinky" aka "wrinkly"

Braddock's all dressed and much happier now that he's out of the tub

Flying Solo

Well, I survived the first week flying solo with the boys. My Mom headed home last Tuesday and I was just a little nervous to handle all three crazy boys on my own, but we've actually done pretty well. The first day we got a lot of things done around the house, gave the boys haircuts and baths, made fruit loop necklaces, and topped the day off with a movie night and popcorn on the couch while Dad was out with the Missionaries. Having three kids to juggle is a bit of an adjustment, and I definitely don't have it all figured out, but we're getting there. Mostly I miss sleep, and I'm terrified to go anywhere with all of them by myself, but it's also been so much fun! We feel pretty blessed to have these three adorable little stinkers!

Tanner sorted his into color piles, and then made a pattern

With a little help from Mom, Landon made one too

And of course the best part is eating it

Luckily Braddock still does a lot of this, or I'd never get anything done

PJs, popcorn, and a movie makes for happy boys and a happy momma

Boating Adventures

Saturday PapPap was kind enough to take us out boating on the river. The boat has been out of commission for several years and we were excited to start it up and try it out. After being out for less than 20 minutes the boat died and wouldn't start again. A nice tug boat stopped and jumped it for us and we cruised back to the dock for the spare battery. We all decided it was worth another shot so we headed out again. This time we were careful to go up-stream so if anything happened we could float/paddle back to the dock. Grant jumped in to try some skiing. We didn't have a flag to signal that someone was in the water, so we made due with a plastic garbage bag. As soon as we started going the rope snapped. We just laughed and laughed at the whole situation. We tied a new rope but accidentally made it WAY too short, but Grant managed to get up anyway. When we stopped to let Grant back in the boat died again. By this time it was looking rather stormy and not too many boats were out on the river anymore. We started floating over to the side of the river and managed to get stuck in some mud. We pulled out the paddles and eventually freed ourselves, but the dock was a long ways down and we weren't sure we'd ever make it back. We tried using our handy dandy trash bag to flag down another boat for help, but they just waved and zipped on by. Eventually we got one to stop and they tied us up to tow us back. That worked for awhile until the rope broke (a different rope than the one that broke last time!). Ha! They re-tied it and we made it back safe and sound. We really did have a lot of fun despite several kinks in the plan. It definitely made for a memorable trip, and Rachel and I feel like we're now officially part of the Nelson family with a great boating story to add to the memory books!

Rachel waving the bag.  Eli looks like he's loving this.  Ha!

Hanging by the barges hoping someone would stop to help.

Grandma Furin packed plenty of food.  We could have just floated out there for days.  The boys were loving the Cheetos!

The first rescue boat.

Dean driving the boat.

Grant got up despite the short rope.

And he skied like a pro.

Paddling slowly but surely.

PapPap even pitched in with half a paddle. ;)

Labor Day Weekend

On top of Grandma Hilton being in town, Grant, Rachel and Eli came to visit too.  We had a great weekend full of family, food, and fun.

Janna got to hold Braddock for the first time.  She thought it was pretty funny that he had socks on his hands.

Braddock had his first try at a bottle.  He took it no problem.  Guess this means that Mom can sneak away once in a while.

Cuddle time with Aunt Rachel

Being held by Uncle Grant

Eli with Uncle Dean

And we had to get a picture with Grandma Nelson.  She was in Colorado when Braddock was born so we didn't have any pictures with her yet.   Sleeping like a baby!

These cousins had WAY too much fun together!
LANDON - ELI - TANNER - BRADDOCK

A Week With Grandma Hilton

We've been super lucky to have my mom out visiting for the past week. She's been SO helpful and the boys were VERY sad to see her go. Here's our week courtesy of Grandma's camera . . .

Braddock getting in some cuddle time

Thanks to Mom, Braddock and I did a lot of this . . .

We had dinner out on the deck . . .

Grandma took the boys for a picnic lunch at the park, and from the pictures I think they had just a little bit of fun. . .

They played countless games . . .

Built forts . . .

. . . read books, watched shows, went for walks, played hide and seek, house, and hospital, and had WAY too much fun.  Thank you, Grandma, for playing with us all week.  We miss you already!