Back to school

Since I was a kid I have thrived on routine. We attribute this to the flip chart schedule my mom put me on as a small child (it was awesome and epic and I believe still up in the her attic). Because of this love of routine I have always enjoyed the start of school, I am also a big fan of office supplies and shopping for office supplies. This is one of my favorite times of year and the kids seemed excited about it too. 

This year we had a big change in the back to school routine, we added in another school. For the past two years it has been one drop off and pick up. But we have added a seventh grader this year....

Laine started at Olympus Junior High this year. She is getting big fast, she was in first grade when Christian and I got married. She was nervous about starting junior high but also excited. She made a few friends in her first couple of days and was super excited that one of her new friends was also named Laine, something that she has never encountered before. 

Eve was so excited to start fifth grade that she was bouncing while I took her picture, it was hard to capture a good one. 

Eve has one of the best teachers ever hence her excitement. There are already plans for a spook alley, a climb up Mt. Timpanogos, and a pirate store. Eve was also excited that this year she can participate in FPS with her friends.  

James was starting third grade this year and while school shopping the only shirt he liked was this one...

He wore a Star Wars shirt last year too, so it must be a theme. James is still our quiet shy boy.  But he has a great memory and loves anything to do with science. He is so cute and was excited to start a new year. 

These two had quite an adventure the first day of school. They are bus riders and have been riding the same route for the past three years and were pretty good at it. Well the bus arrived after school and I watched kids pile off, unfortunately they were not my kids.  I went over to talk to the bus driver and sure enough the kids weren't on there. It being the first day of school the bus driver didn't remember them at all and at most of the stops she had been on the phone with district transportation trying to help a girl who had gotten on her bus accidentally.  One of my kids' school mates, who was on the bus, said he remembered seeing them that morning but not in the afternoon. By now I was freaking out a little (okay, a lot). The bus driver got the school on the phone and people started to look for them up there, then we were on the phone with transportation calling the other bus drivers for Morningside trying to see if they had any extra kids or if they remembered mine getting off the bus.While they were doing that I was on the phone with Christian, who was home with the three other kids, and my in-laws just in case the kids had missed the bus and decided to walk to their house.  After thirty minutes of no luck the district decided to involve their officers. While I waited for their call I started working the bus route backwards, as I was pulling into Olympus Junior High the officers called and started asking questions, I began answering them and then I saw two figures sitting on the curb. Sure enough it was my two kids had gotten off at the wrong stop and just sat waiting. Later when we asked them why they got off I heard, "because I thought it was Monday." (they used to get off at that stop on Mondays last year when taking kung fu) and "I got off because James got off".

So after several phone calls to the parties out searching for the kids, and to the secretary at the elementary school to let them know it was all okay, we laughed a bit and tried to let the kids know that in a few days they would see this as an adventure and have a great story to tell their kids one day about the first day of fifth and third grade.

Here's to hoping that the rest of the school year is less eventful!!!

Abby-One month

It has been nothing but baby, baby, baby around here as we try to learn how to move from a six person family to a seven. I am actually finding adding child number five harder than it was to add child number four in many ways. It may be that I have forgotten what it means to have a baby. Several times this month I have walked out of the house with my purse only to walk back in and take the diaper bag instead.  Our washer seems to be going full time now (and the number of pink clothing that I was seems to have tripled) and though I thought we had an abundance of blankets we always seem to run out of the preferred white muslin swaddlers we love. I feel like I am eating on a teacher's schedule again (scarf everything down in five minutes so you can move on to the next thing)  and I find planning my entire days around when the baby will need to nurse.

Even with all of that it has been a fabulous month. This little munchkin has all of us wrapped around her finger and willing to do anything to see one of her smiles. Abby continues to be a mellow baby, pretty necessary for a fifth baby, and is just sweet.  So here comes the pic spam of a few moments from month number 1. 

I love watching Abby sleep, she is so content- she also sleeps a ton so that is when most the pictures of her are taken. 

Matty LOVES his little sister and wants to hold her constantly. He also sings to her, gives her kisses, and big hugs. 

He also gets excited when she wears the same thing as him, Abby seemed not to be as pleased with this Pioneer Day matching. 

Not an uncommon situation in the morning. There are days I really have to pry him away from her. 

I was so happy to find some bows that did not appear to be bigger than her face. It is harder than one might think. 

Though we are each getting about five hours of uninterrupted sleep right now, nap time for Christian and I is not uncommon. Thank heavens Abby also sleeps during those naps.  

This girl has some wild hair going on. 

Did I mention she was happy? 

So when she was about three weeks old we went to Target to have her newborn pictures taken. It was a mess, my normally happy daughter decided that she did not want to comply and thought it would be fun to yell and scream the whole time. The pictures did not work and we ended up leaving early. I was a bit sad, I loved my newborn pictures with Matty and wanted to have these memories of Abby too. A week later she decided to let me capture a few of her first smiles so that made up from the mess of the Target shoot. Plus, I think these turned out better than any newborn shot ever would. 

Abby- A baby story

When I was in college I remember TLC having a show called "A Baby Story."  I used to watch these episodes while I was house sitting or somewhere that had cable. I enjoyed watching the different stories that people had and the different ways they approached birth. I have enjoyed hearing other's birth stories since this time, and I am still addicted to TV shows where they talk about birth.  So this is our story, well Abby's story. 

Abby is our 2.5 year project, and there were moments where I was pretty sure that she wasn't ever going to get here. After a little over a year of trying to get pregnant then suffering two miscarriages last year it was a long road. When we found out we were pregnant again I was scared, I spent a few months on IVs to keep me hydrated then non stress tests (NSTs) the last month and change because I had developed gestational diabetes. So it was a rather eventful pregnancy, to say the least. 

While I was pregnant with Matty I started visiting Salt Lake Prenatal Massage, I never stopped visiting and developed a friendship with the owner, Rebecca Overson. Rebecca, besides being a fabulous masseuse, is also a doula.  After many talks with her I decided that I want to have a drug free birth with Rebecca by our side as a doula. She was a great added resource while we were pregnant and I was able to always get a different perspective on procedures and labor techniques. 

I had planned to labor as long as I could at home. Since I had been induced with Matty I really wanted to start labor spontaneously, and move to the hospital when it was about time to deliver. I had planned this my entire pregnancy, I envisioned it, it was what I wanted. Funny thing about that, it doesn't always happen. About a month before Abby was born my fabulous OB, Dr. Jones,  started suggesting we might want to look into induction at about 39 weeks, since I had gestational diabetes. Dr. Jones and I discussed this at length and she was okay not inducing as long as we didn't have anything else that might cause trouble. Well, we Bradley's are all a stubborn lot and seem to have minds of our own, this apparently starts while in the womb.  During my NSTs Abby kept flipping around. For the first few weeks that wasn't much of a problem, she had plenty of time to get head down and ready for delivery, unfortunately she didn't stay that way. Three weeks before her due date she went from head down, to transverse, to feet down, back to head down in a 48 hour period. With as much as this girl was moving Dr. Jones decided that she wanted to induce at 38 weeks, so we could catch the baby head down and could avoid a C-section. 

I was not happy about this decision, I wasn't sure what to do and called Rebecca to get her advice. Armed with advice from my doctor and doula, Christian and I talked out our options and went to the Lord, through prayer, for guidance. The night before I had to make my decision I was up late, trying to figure out what to do. As I laid in my bed the following words came into my mind, "Trust Dr. Jones, Have faith in Rebecca, and know that I am God." After that I had no further anxiety or doubt. I knew that we were being induced on July 7th, I was just grateful it was not on Matty's birthday. 

So we got up early on July 7th and made our way to Alta View Hospital. Just a little plug for Alta View here, we loved it. The nursing staff was great, the support staff was great, everything was just fabulous. It took about an hour and two nurses and an anesthesiologist to get an IV in me. I wish I had taken pictures of my arms after, they were bruised for about three weeks. The doctor broke my water, they started the meds and we were off. Rebecca came and for the first many hours of labor I was enjoying a lovely foot massage and a head massage. Really, having a doula is super awesome. 

The one problem with being induced was the nursing staff was hesitant to let me get out of bed and move around. I was able to get on a birthing ball at one point, and then they finally let me stand up around one. Christian made jokes about twerking the baby out, but the standing and walking around the room is what did the trick. After about an hour of that I was wanted to lay down and, that is when things kicked into high gear. 

Me hanging out on the birthing ball. 

I don't remember much of those couple hours. I remember I moaned- a lot. I remember Rebecca moaning with me. I remember begging for drugs at one point. I apparently hit Christian, I don't remember that. I remember being mad at the nurse that they wouldn't let me out of the bed. And I was hot. Really hot. Rebecca and Christian kept putting ice water drenched towels on me to cool me down. At one point I remember them telling me Dr. Jones was on her way down and all of a sudden the room was full of people. Next thing I knew it was time push, and I remember being so tired that seemed like it would be impossible. However, with Christian and Rebecca, and Dr Jones I found the strength to do it. Twenty minutes later we finally got a glimpse of the baby that had caused us so much grief for nine months and she was beautiful. She was also tiny, 6 lbs 13 oz much smaller than the doctor, thought she would be. 

A little cleaned up and ready to meet the world. 

When we found out we were having a girl we started talking names. We had about six or seven options walking into the hospital each of us having a different top choice. As soon as I saw her I knew her name was Abigail, there was no question whatsoever about that. I just hoped Christian thought the same thing. After things calmed down and it was just us, Rebecca, and the nurses Christian and I discussed the name. I was so happy that Christian also thought that Abigail was her name, not sure what we would have done if we disagreed. Christian then got to pick her middle name, Rebekah and like that the being we had been calling Baby Bellatrix or Baby Girl for the past months had a name. 

She already has Daddy wrapped around her little finger. 

I was happy that at this point they gave me and Ibuprofen, thank heavens for drugs, and then moved me to my new room. I have to say going drug free made for an easier recovery for me. It was nice to be able to get up and move around. It was also nice to have her in the late afternoon so I got some actual recovery time in.

Soon after she was born, the visitors started. Everyone was very excited to meet Abby, there was one special visitor though that wasn't there. Big sister Laine was up at Brighton Girl's Camp so she had to wait four whole days before she got to meet Abby.  Everyone loved her, thought that she had a ton of hair (she did) and just wanted to sit and hold her. Abby really was and continues to be a rather mellow baby. It was just nice, and she has been a rather good sleeper from the get go, and a great eater-yay!!!!

Matty has a bit of Mom time

Abby and Grandma- grandchild #20

Big brother Matt. It is his new favorite title

Grammy and Poppa- grandchild #11

These two are awesome big siblings. Eve is just great at calming her down and James just wants to be with her all the time 

We spent two days at the hospital, mainly because it was quiet and nice just to be able to rest and not worry about everything that comes with being at home. It was fun just to be with our little girl and enjoy her snuggles and love. The kids came and visited again, as did all of her grandparents. Then like that it was time time go home.

Ready to go 

She was met to a fun welcome home sign and 3 of her 4 siblings. 

So welcome Abby, this world is a crazy place but we are happy you're here with us.

Summer Catch up

Somehow summer has escaped me and I have failed to record the super awesome adventures that we have had these past two months. Now here we are, two and a half weeks until school starts and I am once again found playing catch up. So here is our summer as told through pictures and maybe some commentary.

We started off the summer with Laine's promotion from Morningside Elementary school. We were happy to see her promote but the ceremony took about 2.5 hours....I think my high school graduation and both my college graduations were shorter. 

The older kids jetted off to Puerto Rico with their mom as soon as summer started so Matty got some one on one time with everyone. Grammy and Poppa took him to the zoo...he had such an awesome day! 

He also got to go and see "The Little Mermaid" at Hale Center Theater. He was pretty good through the whole play and was taking it very personally that Eric wasn't kissing Ariel. His favorite part was when got to meet Ariel. 

When the girls got home we made these awesome dresses with Grandma Bradley and our Bradley cousins. It was fun for them to learn a new skill. 

We went to the Oakley Rodeo with our good friends. This was the first time we had been and we had a riot, since I was 38 weeks pregnant at the time I enjoyed that it got cold enough for sweatshirts. 

We celebrated the 4th with our family and neighbors and the kids still indulged me by wearing matching shirts....they are counting down the days until we go to Disneyland and I make them dress alike for a whole week!

Matty turned 4. I can't believe this little man is now a full on kid. He got to go to build-a-bear where he built a dog. He got a lunch with mom and dad and a day where we "celebrated him." 

Matty "played" t-ball. I use play lightly because it was more puppy piles and clobbering each other with their mitts.  He did get to play with two buddies though so that was fun for everyone. 

The other kids left again for a fun Bradley camping trip, Matty got to stay home with us and have special outings with friends and Grammy and Poppa. He also perfected the art of sleeping in church.

Oh and we had a baby....

More on  that later though. 

No, no, no, and also, no.

I am not ready for this. Not even a little bit. My little baby girl, the one who crawls around, puts her hair up in a pineapple ponytail that goes straight up, the one who can barely toddle, the one who just started kindergarten, the one that just barely learned how to ride a bicycle, the one who is much too young to be a young lady - she's a young lady now.

Laine celebrated her twelfth birthday a couple weeks back. She decided she has outgrown parties where parents have any role, so we supplied pizza, candy, and brownies, along with a basement clear of siblings, and she took care of the rest. She had half a dozen of her best friends over, they watched Princess Bride and laughed so loudly I thought there would be a body count by the end of it.

So now she gets to run off half the summer to fun camps with the church Young Women's program, start Junior High this fall, and become a completely independent little woman who doesn't need her Dad at all.

Yup, not ready for this at all.

-Christian

It's Great to be Eight

James turned eight this last week and we celebrated in style and all weekend long. James is a quiet boy who is still really shy, especially around pretty women. He is also a lego builder. He loves the complex lego sets and sits for hours putting them together. He also loves Minecraft and would play for hours if we let him.  He also dislikes pizza, the first kid I ever met that disliked pizza but loves all other Italian food. 

He chose a chocolate raspberry cake for his birthday. I loved making this one and it seemed to be enjoyed by everyone. 

Then he opened quite a few legos sets and books, his two most favorite things in the entire world. 

James got a birthday party this year and because of my rough pregnancy (and the thought of ten eight year old boys running around the house made me cringe just a tad) we decided to do a party at the local pool. James loves swimming and this was a perfect party for him and us.

 I loved that they provided everything, other than the cupcakes, and even did the clean up. I loved that and James seemed to have a good time too.

Saturday was James' baptism. He was so excited to have his family and so many neighbors present. He even smiled for a few pictures, which is like pulling teeth in most cases. 

So proud of James and what a great young man he is. He is a great little brother and a fabulous big brother. We are so grateful he is part of our family. 

It's a Girl

Christian here, posting for Natalie. Sincere apologies for the many months without a post. We've been pretty busy at the Bradley home. I probably ought to get the big news out of the way first up, we're pregnant, and it's a girl.

For those who haven't spent much time with us lately, Natalie has managed to be pregnant for 12 of the last 17 months (two back to back miscarriages, those sucked), and we still have three months to go. Natalie has magic pregnancy powers that make it morning all day long, and by that I mean that morning sickness is active around the clock. We had some real fun for a couple of months when she had to go on a daily IV drip to keep from dying of dehydration, just glad we were able to do it with the home hospice care service or we would have basically been living at the hospital. Baby Bellatrix as we've been calling her (no, that's not what we're naming her) has been about as much trouble as Matthew was in utero, but at least this one made it past the end of the first trimester so we're all pretty happy about it. We're due in July

That's probably enough baby stuff, what else has been going on around here? Lots.

Seeing the Christmas lights at the zoo.

Meeting stormtroopers at Comic-con.

Singing.

Cooking.

Snuggling cousins.

Growing mustaches.

Playing fetch.

Seeing American landmarks done in Legos.

Playing basketball.

Gardening.

And a whole bunch of other stuff, you know, Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years, work, play, school, all the usual. We'll keep you posted, just figured we should put something up in case you thought we just didn't want to blog anymore.

-Christian