Stuff & Junk!

This is going to be the longest post....  So much has happened and I didn't want to leave anything out.

Ok, so I thought I would be posting lots about this pregnancy, the holidays, and everything happening, but I've been busy the last couple months with some stuff...and junk!  But I wanted to remember some of this "stuff" and get it down on 'paper'.

So in October.... Brandt and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary!  I can't believe it's been 2 years, and we have been through so much!  Last post I forgot to post the picture of the flowers he gave me.  They were beautiful!

And for my birthday a week later....besides getting to find out we were having another son... I got a wild hair went to the store and got some hair color.  I dyed my hair auburn!  Yep!!!!  Did it myself!   I actually really liked it at first... then it started to fade and my hair started breaking off really badly..... but it was pretty for a min while it lasted.

I did eventually go back to Debbie and have my hair done.... finally!  She put a few different tones of warmth and a little blonde.  I think I just feel and look better with lighter hair.

So Also in October.... October 17th to be exact, we welcomed a new little nephew into the world.  Blake Stephan!  Brandt's brother Devin, and wife Cassidy had their 4th son.  He is so beautiful!  Her labor was easy and uncomplicated.  He is getting so chunky now, but he was so tiny then!  :)  Josh, Brickton, and Skyler were all pretty excited to meet their new brother!

November was  a busy month.  We decided to buy a new home.  So we did.

 Here are a few pics that I took before it was completely put together.  It's little and quaint, but so cute and nice!   I love it!

 My favorite are the floors :)

We moved in a week before Thanksgiving.  It was nuts!!!  Although we don't have that much stuff.... I was 22 weeks pregnant and feeling the effects of Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction.  It wasn't fun.  But we had Thanksgiving in St George at Geran & Anna's house and it was so much fun!  We took the side-by-side down and Brandt took the kids on rides for about 4 days straight.

 Jackson was IN LOVE with these goggles!  Brandt really needed to get goggles for everyone because of the dirt that flies up and gets in everyone's mouths and eyes.  Good thing he did.  I think we need to get Jackson his own goggles!

 They seriously could not get enough of the side by sides!  Geran was able to borrow his neighbors 4-seater.  Good thing!  The kids like the speed of the 2-seater, but they liked being able to go with 4 people with the bigger one.  Looks like we may need to invest in a 4-seater down the road!  :)

Love Jackson and the goggles!  I didn't get a turn, but I wasn't too sad... somehow the bumpy motion didn't seem like it would be a fun thing at that point.  Maybe when I'm 40 weeks along ;)    Dinner was awesome.  The company was so much fun!  The kids put on a talent show and it was fabulous.  I saw their little fun personalities come out in ways I'd never seen before.  They're all getting older now, and much more confident.  It was fun to see Hayden get out there in the excitement of it all and do a full on front flip!  I wish I would have gotten some pictures!!   Luckily Sierra's dad put it on video.  It was awesome and such a surprise to everyone!

On December 3rd, we celebrated Little Lucas's 1st Birthday.  This day was a long awaited much anticipated day!  I was worried that it would be a really hard day.

 I still wanted to make it as happy as could be.  I felt like I wanted to do some things for him that we had done before.  I knew Lucas loved chocolate and oreos, so I made a chocolate cake with chocolate oreo frosting from scratch!  It was a special cake for Lucas and one I would have made for him if he were here with us.  I also ordered a bouquet of flowers from Barretts Blossoms (where we ordered the funeral flowers), the same bouquet as one we had ordered for the funeral.  It contained some of my favorites....White Lillies, Blue Hydrangea, and Yellow Gerbara Daisies.  It was a beautiful bouquet.

It was snowing so hard on his birthday, so I didn't want to leave the beautiful bouquet at his grave to get ruined, so I brought them home and we enjoyed them for over a week.  We also enjoyed the cake!!!!  We went to visit him at the cemetery, and came home to look at all his pictures and videos, and remember all the things we could about him.  It certainly was a bitter sweet day!  We love our boy and can't believe a year has gone by.  Life has gone on for us.  Yet we will never be the same without our Lucas.  I can't wait until we can hold him again someday.

On December 3rd, something else happened.  I became a new auntie again!  Ryan and Michelle became a new mommy and daddy again.  Graham McLeod was born.  So special that he shares his birthday with little Lucas :)  So exciting!  He is so cute!  He looks like a little old man with his male pattern baldness.  He is getting cuter and cuter every day!

Noah didn't quite know what to think about his new little brother....

 Jake could not get enough of new little Graham!  He's taking his role as "big brother" pretty serious!

 One proud Grandpa, A New happy Daddy, and three little boys!

 Growing so fast!

 Graham is such a little snuggler!

 Cute little chunker cheeks!  

I think he has Ryan's eyes!

Just a few days after that.... On December 6th, Anna and Geran had their 4th, a little girl they named Olivia Jane.  She is a beauty!!!!!  She has gone through so many different looks... First I thought she looked just like Halle, now I think she looks so much like Chloe, but she is definitely her own little person.  So cute, so calm, and mellow!  So fun seeing her grow and different stages!

Well we spent a few weeks/months putting the house together after Thanksgiving!  Brandt was busy with work and I decided it was time to start looking to adopt a new member for our family.  I found a cool lady on KSL who was selling Bernese Mountain Dog puppies, and they were going fast, so if we wanted one,we had to act fast!  So we did.  I met with Jenny a few times and got to know the puppies a little bit.

I couldn't get enough and it was fun seeing Brandt light up when we would go to see them, so we put a deposit down and then got to choose.  It was a VERY tough choice!  I had originally told Jenny that I thought Brandt would like little Sparrow the best... and I also had picked out Fisher.  We LOVED Fisher.  But after being 6th on the list to be able to choose, little Sparrow and "Bella" were the only two left.  We had visited a few times and felt an immediate connection with Bella.  Sparrow was so cute too!  It really was a tough choice... then Jenny called after we chose, and let us know that the other family that was last to choose had already let her know that they wanted Bella because she was the smallest.  They were worried about size and their small children.  Jenny told us she would give us a huge discount if we chose Sparrow.  Oh my....that threw a wrench into everything.  Because we loved Sparrow too, and the thought of someone not wanting her or appreciating her uniqueness really was stressful.  Sparrow was the spunkiest and most active of all the puppies!  I really liked that about her.  But I also kept thinking we were having a baby soon and Bella was actually the most calm out of the litter and that is why I had originally chose her....even though she was the smallest.  Brandt loved her too.  We went back over to get to know the puppies a little more....

 We took these pictures of the two.  Little Sparrow on the left and Bella on the right.

 They looked so similar.  It was late and both puppies were sleepy, but when we got up to leave, Bella followed us outside and had fun in the snow for the first time with us.  Little Sparrow kept sleeping inside.

 I think that sealed the deal for me..... we wanted to keep our decision with Bella!

A new name for this new puppy was another story!  I know she's going to get big and I had really LOVED  a few names.....  This was my list!
STELLA
JUDY

BERTHA (was more of a joke)
I also wanted to keep her name as Bella and name her Bella Bird, because her mama's name was "Sparrow", and the litter name was "Sparrow's Nest" and all the puppies were originally named bird names.  Jenny LOVED this idea.  It didn't sit well with Brandt.  He wanted a tough name for his big dog!  We looked up names and I found Kaia.  It immediately clicked and that's what we named her!

So this is our new addition to the family.  Kaia.  And I still call her my Kaia Bird sometimes :)

 This was her first day in her new home.  We took her potty and out to play in the snow and she was EXHAUSTED!  So cute!!!!!

 Her favorite Lamby friend!

 Kaia LOVED Mia and wanted to play, but mia was so intimidated by her and didn't want to be bothered.

 We went to St George to spend Christmas with my parents.  It was a mellow weekend and we didn't do much outside of just hanging out at home and taking Kaia for walks.  It was fun to have a new little furry friend to play with :)   Kaia made herself right at home at my parents home!

 Kaia LOVES waiting for daddy to come home.  She is growing so fast.  When we first got her, she was about 10 lbs, at 7 weeks.  Today she's pushing 23 lbs at 14 weeks.

As you can see, I'm thoroughly obsessed, and we both love this little cookie so much!!!!!

 So glad we chose "Bella" KAIA!  :)

So a little on the pregnancy.  I'm huge!  I'm 30 weeks right now... but I'll post a few pics that I took along the way.  I liked to do side-by-side comparisons with my pregnancy with Lucas and with this Baby Guy #2.  We are so excited for him.  We've been trying to figure out names but nothing solid yet.

This day, I was hanging out with little Mia, just me and her, and she was really enjoying my baby belly.  I don't know if she understands, but she was the cutest little thing with me that day!  I love Mia!

This is a side by side shot of me at 27  weeks.  I was pregnant with Lucas on the left, and new little guy on the right.  I am about 15 lbs heavier this time.... at this same point in comparison to last time, considering I was 20 lbs heavier when I got pregnant this time.  The weight gain certainly isn't the funnest but I'm sure the outcome will far outweigh the "inconveniences" of pregnancy!  I can't wait to meet him.

Brandt and I are going to get a 3D/4D ultrasound tonight and I can't wait to see his cute little face.  We were blessed with many 4D pictures and videos with Lucas because of the different hospital I was at, but this time we haven't had the luxury, so we're going to Fetal Fotos!

Here are some ultrasounds of new baby, so far from what we got at 13 weeks, and 15 weeks when we found out his gender :)

Lucas looked so much like Brandt.  I'm wondering who this new little guy will look most like.  I found some fun pictures of Brandt and I when we were little.

Who will this one look like???

Brandt 

 Tricia

I know our kids will be good looking.

3D pictures to come....