November 28, 2007

Tonight was the "Our Shining Stars" event! This is an event put on by our local March of Dimes to honor our preemies during Prematurity Awareness Month. Families join together and a roll call of names is read..as each name is read the family of the child *lights* a star in their honor! This year we had between 40-50 people join us and I think everyone had a good time.

Awww...two peas in a pod...from day one! These two have been buddies since the day Braden was born :) Sally was next to Braden in the NICU and they've now grown up together and even go to preschool together now too! Aren't they sweet showing off their stars?!?! Hmmm..looks like Braden scored an extra one!

November 27, 2006

Gavin and his Mommy and Daddy came and had dinner with us tonight, then he chilled in our cabinets...it's the cool thing to do!

November 26, 2007

We're starting to get into the Christmas spirit here! Braden helped me put up our nativity scene today and clean the living room in preparation for our tree hopefully this weekend!

Isn't it pretty?

November 25, 2007

Awww...it's Peppermint Mocha time at Starbucks!!!

November 24, 2007

Finally Braden got a nap in...and boy did he crash (right along with daddy!) As you can see they were already dressed for the big game tonight!

We had to capture this moment, because I don't think we've ever seen my parents in Black and Gold...now that is family support! But after Nebraska's dismal year, the Tigers are looking awfully good right now...Just ask Braden to sing the Fight Song, it is too cute!!
Grandma with her two grandbabies...does it get any better?

November 23, 2007

My "techie" son...first he plays gameboy while standing on his head?!?!?

Then Matt and Chris got him playing Guitar Hero...too freaking cute!

Then Keegan and I got to snuggle while we watched the Nebraska game...thank goodness the season is over...Bye-Bye Coach Callahan!

November 22, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Chris and Keegan

(Chris thought he'd gotten a little bigger since he last saw him when he was 4 days old!)

"Man it's been a long day...good thing there's cheesecake!"

Then I finally played my first game of Guitar Hero...and I ROCKED on my first song ever! This game is a little addicting...just ask my hubby!

November 21, 2007

The day started out looking like this...we saw the very first snowflakes of the season...we were told it wouldn't amount to much of anything and were still totally planning on heading to Nebraska in the afternoon...

well...the weather people were slightly off and we got dumped on! It took Chris and hour to get home (usually 20 min.) and there were multiple accidents along the interstate where we would be traveling...so we decided to head over tomorrow and have a little fun in the snow! Braden was THRILLED! He was in heaven...this boy just loves the outside...rain, snow or sun, he's there!

And of course the motorcycle had to come out and the mower showed up too?!?! Silly boy!

November 20, 2007

Gavin is Braden's little shadow lately and while we were playing outside Braden started acting like a baby and crawling around on the driveway...then Gavin started doing it too....Jill I apologize in advance for anything that Braden teaches Gavin :)

November 19, 2007

70 degrees today...what a beautiful day for a drive!

November 18, 2007

Ummm...well...you tell me what you think it is?

Braden told me it was his sculpture?!?! Isn't it beautiful!

November 17,2007

Happy 2nd Birthday Gavin!!!!

We had a great time at his "Curious George" party! And boy did Braden enjoy the cake!!!!

November 16, 2007

This is what "Dippin' Dots" ice cream looks like when it melts...

Kind of freaks me out...but it is Pink and Blue so I thought it was appropriate for Prematurity Awareness Month :)

November 15, 2007

Tonight we had a great little holiday party at our friend's house. This is their son Clay! He is an awesome little boy...and he loves "Cars"...so he and Braden got along really well!!!

November 14, 2007

Today the Iowa MOD put on a Prematurity Summit and it was really great! There were parent roundtable discussions and very smart doctors that gave very interesting sessions on what they are doing to try to slow down the rate of prematurity in the country! I am very glad I went and got to see some of my favorite gals too!

Here's Renee and I, she was so sweet to drive over with me! She is a dear friend whose daughter was Braden's neighbor in the NICU and we're still friends to this day and the kids are in the same preschool class!!! (Plus we got to stop at the outlet mall on the way home and had a great time there!!!!)
And here's Stacey who had an integral part in putting on this whole summit! Way to go Stacey! It went great! Don't you just love the HUGE button I was wearing! Isn't it obnoxious? Stacey has one on too, you just can't see it! It is promoting a new program in our MOD chapter...seriously, obnoxious...but I guess it got noticed!!!

November 13, 2007

Today is Prematurity Awareness Day!!!! Braden helped me stuff these cute little Blue and Pink bags full of helpful information and cute MOD Beanie Bears for the families in the NICU. I delivered them tonight to the families that I talked with. Just a little something to help with their stay...sometimes the little things can help the most! I hope it helped brighten some of their days! For a great Prematurity Overview Click Here Ms. D has a wonderful way with words so instead of plagiarizing her, I'll just send you on over!

November 12, 2007

Well one of the huge hits this weekend at Meena K's house was this simple quilt. Braden saw the thick lines on the quilt and automatically thought that they needed to be roads. So he and Meena K played cars all weekend on the bed! By the end of the weekend he had buildings, trees, talking fires and a lot of other things on the bed...his "own town" he told me! Man when do we lose that imagination????

November 11, 2007

Well Braden and I hang out in Missouri this weekend while Chris was at a wedding about 1 1/2 away...so Braden got to do all of his favorite things with Meena K and PopPop Dirk..including riding the tractor...oh was he in heaven!

Then we went to Mimi's house and saw Caden again and he laughed at us...cuz Braden's pretty funny looking!

And I LOVE this pic! Braden loved climbing Mimi's tree out front, and it is a good climbing tree! He didn't want to get down...oh to be a youngster again!

November 10, 2007

Well today was a big day!! Braden and I got to meet Chris's cousin's baby boy Caden...did you get that? Really we just call him cousin Caden, b/c we're all close like that! He and Keegan are only 1 week apart and they are both bruisers! He is so stinking cute though and I'm so happy that I finally got to meet him! No one else really got baby time today, because as most of you know if there is a baby in the room, I need to be very close!!!!

November 09, 2007

Braden got ahold of my camera today and this is the beautiful picture he took of our basement...awww...such promise...HA!

November 08, 2007

Well today I was talking to my friend Jill on the phone for awhile and when I got off I went to find Braden because it was getting to be time for nap...I couldn't find him anywhere, I thought he had gone to the basement to watch cartoons...but nope, the reason he was so quite was because he was sound asleep on the couch in the living room...too cute! And after I moved him to his room he slept for 3.5 hours...WOW!!!

November 07, 2007

I found this praying mantis insect outside on our driveway today...EEEWWW...he was pretty much dead, but he was huge! I don't remember seeing too many around these parts! I had to keep Braden from running over him with his bike tire, he thought that would be pretty cool?!?! Boys!

November 06, 2007

So here's our friend Trouble he's got some kind of yucky bug and he's in the hospital trying to figure it out. I brought his mommy some yummy Starbucks today and got him an awesome Fire Truck balloon! I was so happy to see a smile on his face...and the doctors were happy that his mommy got some caffeine in her :) Get better Trouble...hate seeing you sick!!!

November 05, 2007

Braden calls these my "Elmo Shoes" they are the very softest slipper/sock thingys and the best part about them is they have grippy things on the bottom so I don't fall flat on my butt every time I walk into my kitchen/bathroom :)

November 04, 2007

This kid LOVES lemons? What a weirdo, I know! I've been trying to drink more water throughout the day, and one way I get all of it in is by adding a little lemon squeeze to each glass...well it never fails, at some point, this little monster's hand will end up in my glass grabbing for the lemon????

I have a distant memory of my older brother Eric loving lemons too, MOM, am I making this up? I just think he has to get it from somewhere! He sucks the things dry and barely makes a face, what am I going to do with him?

November 03, 2007

It's that time of year again, and this little guy has finally got it figured out this year! Here he is studying the Toys R Us toy catalog...this thing has gone everywhere with him all week long! All day long I hear, "Mommy, I want Santa to bring this for Christmas, or maybe my birthday!" I think we want the whole catalog already...I think it was easier when he was happy with wrapping paper and boxes!?!?!

November 02, 2007

Just a cool dude hanging out on a beautiful day!

November 01, 2007

November is Prematurity Awareness Month !!!!!!

For any of you reading this who know me in the least...You know that the fight against Prematurity is near and dear to my heart! This month is all about raising the awareness of this epidemic in our world.

These five beautiful children were born premature...their COMBINED birth weights equaled exactly 8.0 lbs. which is right about the average birth weight for a full term healthy baby! Each of them have a different story and they are ready to tell it! They've each had different struggles because of their early arrivals...many they have conquered, but there are still lingering effects today. That's what each of them want you to know...We need every baby to be born healthy and "on time"! Prematurity isn't just small babies that need time to grow. Many of the 500,000 babies born prematurely each year will have lasting disabilities that can follow them for the rest of their lives and very sadly; prematurity is the leading cause of newborn death, some babies are just too small and too sick to survive.

These children know that their mommies and daddies are doing everything they can to "help save babies". They are the reason I was in Washington DC doing *political* things (which is so not me!), they are the reason we Walk every year to raise money to help fund the research that will one day ensure all babies are born healthy, they are the reason I spend at least 3 nights a month in the NICU supporting other families who have been forever touched by prematurity!

I know that we are soooooooo lucky to have Braden in our lives today! And I know that because of his early birth and complications, this is where I'm supposed to be in life, this is what I'm supposed to be doing right now! So won't you help me raise awareness this month?

Tie a pink and blue ribbon on your trees, or around your car antenna...wear pink and blue this month and tell others why you are doing it! If you want to know more about what the March of Dimes is doing to help our tiniest babies (and all babies) let me know...I'm learning more each and every day!

Right now the March of Dimes is running a campaign called Every Baby has a Story it is a pretty cool site and is all about what it's name says! Click here to read Braden's story!

October 31, 2007

October 30, 2007

Ok, well we're a little weird here in central Iowa...we go trick-or-treating the night before Halloween?!?!? Believe me it's taken awhile to get used to, but whatever, it works! So tonight Braden headed out with one of his best buds Gavin (the chicken) for some yummy treats! We ended up with way too much loot...but it was a good time had by all!

Braden, Gavin and 3 of our old neighbors who stopped by to visit!