Ten Months

Tomorrow Mason will be ten months old. He is so much fun! He has four teeth and he crawls everywhere. Some of his favorite things are drawers and ceiling things. He loves anything on the ceiling. At church we keep him entertained by pointing out the hanging lights in the chapel. He loves talking to the ceiling fan in our bedroom. He's so funny :) His favorite foods are bananas and crackers. He may have an issue with lactose, which is terrible for me because that means I have to watch what I eat too since he's still nursing. I'm terrible at cutting things out of my diet! It makes me crave it more when I know I can't have something. We bought Mason a little walker at Kid-to_Kid and he gets so excited wherever he sees it. He feels so cool standing up and walking behind that little lion all on his own.

Call me a hippie, but this week we started using cloth diapers. You can read more about those adventures at: www.stinkybabies.blogspot.com (Start with the oldest post. There aren't very many yet).

We love the warm weather and are looking forward to many outdoor adventures this summer. We already went camping once! Hopefully we can catch up with some friends and family now that the dreaded winter viruses are at bay for a while *knockonwood* We planted our garden a few weeks ago and I think half of the plants are already dead (I saw that coming with the snow, I was just a little anxious to get going!). This year we have planted corn, peas, beans, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, onions, zucchini, carrots, potatoes and pumpkins. Can't promise that we'll get any of them, but we planted them at least! ;)

I've made a discovery that should help me keep up on my blogging. It's the blogger app! I never get on my computer anymore so I never blogged (unless you count my tri-yearly posts). So, like I've said in the past, hopefully I'll post more frequently now ;) We shall see.

Six Months!

I can't believe Mason has already been in our family for half of a year... It seems like I just had him, but at the same time it kinda feels like he's always been around.  Time goes much faster when they're on the outside than when they're still inside... I love him :)

Some of his favorites:

laying on his back holding his toes
crinkling paper
my cell phone
the blinds in our house (they hang vertical and are loud if you move them around)
his usborne (sp?) tractor stroller book
sleeping in mom and dad's bed with us
long warm baths


Things he does/doesn't do:

Rolls from back to front.  Hasn't figured out the other way yet.. (I've never seen him try)
He still has no teeth
Eats baby food (when he's not sick)
Smiles and talks a LOT
Will lay on the floor with a few toys and be happy for quite a while!
Doesn't crawl (I kinda like it that way!)
Sits up on his own - still tips over sometimes though

Stats:

97.75% for height (28.5")
37.13% for weight (17.09lbs)
55.97% for head (17.2")

We have a tall, skinny boy on our hands :)

six months:

Mason - 2 months old

Today is Mason's two month birthday :)  A little update on him: he is getting really good control of his head.  We can hold him under his arms and he doesn't flop TOO much anymore, ha ha. He's starting to make eye contact and really talk to us.  He loves when we just sit and chat :) He smiles on occasion, but he's usually pretty serious.  He only wakes up one or two times in the night now... still looking forward to when I can get a full night's rest!  But honestly it hasn't been too bad.  He's been growing like a weed.  I don't know if I'm crazy, but I swear he got so tall so fast... Tomorrow we go in for his two month check so I guess I'll find out for sure!  He's finally getting a little bit of chunk on his body.  He had twig arms and legs for so long, and now all of that eating is starting to finally show.  He takes a glorious 2-3 hr nap in his swing every morning so I am finally getting my house back together, horray! (I said getting.  It's far from done).  Mason loves bath time.  At first he screamed and cried, but then I realized I was being way too careful and he was probably just cold... He likes really warm baths :)

We have loved having him here with us!  The first few weeks were crazy and I'm sorry to all of you who wanted to come over but I never really got back with you.  It took some work getting used to his schedule (which is really hardly a schedule at all... that's the hard part), but now things are better and it's a lot easier to get out!  Thanks for everyone's help and support as well... we have some really good friends and family :)  Here are some pictures for ya!

Blessing day

Two weeks old

One month old

5 generations

Posing at Seven Peaks

Scera Shell

Where to start... 

This weekend was supposed to be a family reunion in Zion.  The plan was to go down Tuesday night, camp one night then check into a cabin for the rest of the week.  Tuesday morning I went to the doctor for my weekly check (I was 38weeks and 2 days) and he said that I was only dilated 1cm and I hadn't had any contractions so I should be good to go as long as there is a hospital close by.  So we went!

Wednesday at 3am I woke up at the campground (we were sleeping out under the stars - I was on a cot though, ha ha) and noticed a little "fluid" had leaked, but it wasn't a ton.  So I waited till the morning to really think about it much.  When we got up, the family was all going to go canyoneering and I was going to go to the cabin.  Well, I talked to Rich and we decided he would stay with me and we would make a "quick trip" to Cedar to just make sure things were ok and maybe say hi to a few friends.  

We got to the hospital and they were doing some tests to see if it was amniotic fluid, but they were all coming back negative.  Luckily the nurse was convinced that it WAS even though the tests said no (I was having regular contractions at this point) so she kept checking.  Finally, 4 hours after getting to the hospital, we got a positive test back!  So instead of the big gush of my water breaking, it had just gotten punctured and was leaking.  Once someone's water breaks, they like them to deliver in 12-24 hours so that they don't get any infections or anything since that barrier is no longer intact.  

SO, we get admitted and they induced me the rest of the way (I still wasn't dilating, just contracting and effaced 85%).  By about 7:30 or 8pm it was time to start pushing!  (we were excited cause she just told me I was at 10cm.  Notice the smile- I had gotten an epidural so I was good by this point, ha ha)

 At 8:23pm, Rich delivered our little Mason Jay Brandt (with the help of the Nurse Midwife of course - Laurie Hansen).  He was 19.5" long and weighed 7lbs 12oz.  He's already a little champ at everything so far - sleeps good, eats good, poops good (he he) and he was even put on bili lights for one night and his levels were perfect by this morning!

This is the last picture we took of my belly before he was born

 And thank goodness we already had the nursery set up before we left on the trip!  We have so many wonderful neighbors and friends who gave us the stuff they don't need or aren't using anymore, so thanks to them (and KSL) this cute room only cost us about $2-300 total :)

I'm trying to not make this too long of a post so that I can get back to my cute little kid sitting next to me asleep, so if I forgot something, I'll just add it later :)

We love being parents and didn't plan on having our baby in Cedar City, but we couldn't have been happier with the whole delivery and everything!  It's been great!

11 Things

I've been tagged and would feel irresponsible if I didn't continue this...

The rules for this game are:

1. Post these rules.

2. Post a photo of yourself and 11 random things.

3. Answer the questions set for you in the original post.

4. Create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them.

(it didn't say it had to be recent!)

11 Random Things:

1. I hate cold water/being cold and wet. I have to have the door shut when I take a shower so that it traps all of the warm air in the bathroom. If I only had cold water for a month, I probably wouldn't shower that month... (only sort of kidding, ha ha). When I was a kid and my mom would drain the warm water from the bath tub, I would lay in the deepest part as long as I could and splash every last drop to keep me warmer longer. I also hate getting out of swimming pools. You get the idea ;)

2. I hate when my house is a mess, but my bedroom is seldom clean. I have to change clothes so many times in a day that I feel like it's a waste of time to put them away. AND if I only wore them for a few hours I'm not going to waste even more time washing them... so I can't just drop them in the hamper. They usually overtake the foot of my bed (sorry Rich)

3. I'm not a very healthy eater. I'm a big fan of cereal. And ice cream. When I eat fresh fruit, it makes my throat get all itchy and sometimes I lose my voice. It makes me nervous that one day my throat is going to swell up and close... so I don't eat a lot of fresh fruit. Preservatives! Wohoo!

4. I like potatoes a LOT. When I go to Wendy's I always get a baked potato and fries (and a frosty of course). I like pretty much anything made mostly from potatoes... mashed potatoes and hash browns included.

5. I love hugs, but I'm not an initiator. I know that some people don't like hugs, so I never start it (unless I know them really really well) but I always love when people see me and give me a hug. I'm pretty sure my husband thinks I'm annoying because when he comes home from work I just like him to hug me for a minute or two... :) (PS being pregnant kind of changes things... hugs just aren't the same when there's a basketball on your stomach)

6. I like to be needed. I love when people ask me for advice because they trust me. I hate when people treat me like I don't know something that I actually know quite a bit about.

7. I'm generally a quiet person and I'm pretty sure people think I don't say much because I don't have anything valuable to add to a conversation when in reality I'm pretty opinionated, I just don't want to cause contention.

8. I've been baby hungry longer than I can remember...

9. I love anything that's small. I used to make fun of my mom for this one ("oh look how CUTE it is!!!") but I'm the same way. I like little bitty flowers, baby animals, small kid furniture etc.

10. I used to be the neighborhood bully. I convinced my neighbor friends that the mountain behind our house was a volcano and could erupt any day. I'm pretty sure my sister Heidi had something to do with it too though... she's the one who made up the Jelly Bean Monster (sorry Megan)

11. It's really hard for me to come up with 11 random things...

11 questions for me:

1. What is your favorite season and why?

Spring! By the time it's been cold and mushy all winter, I'm ready for some sunshine! And the flowers are always so beautiful

2. Who is your favorite person in the whole wide world?

Rich. And not just because I'm obligated to say that since we're married - he really is my favorite. Although he's not perfect and sometimes gets on my nerves, he's super goofy, but can take things seriously when needed and he genuinely cares to make me happy even if it means doing something that's really hard for him or he thinks is unnecessary (see post above about hugging).

3. Where is the most random exotic location you want to visit?

Hmm... good question. I applied for a school nurse position on Wake Island, so now I want to go see what that place is like :)

4. If you could adopt a quality from someone...what would the quality be and from whom?

Uh... I can't really think of one specific. Maybe my mom's ability to just remember everything. Like the address and phone numbers to practically everywhere she's lived in her life

5. Favorite cartoon/movie growing up?

I really liked barney (I'll admit it) and Aladdin

6. Favorite "treat"? Doesn't have to be food.

Food: Ice Cream. And Oreos. Not food: going on a vacation

7. What do you do to relax?

Sleep

8. What makes you smile without fail?

When I feel my little man wiggle in my stomach. I smile a lot lately :)

9. What is the least 'scary thing' that you are scared of?

Big river rapids. I'm not a huge water fan... I guess that might still be considered a scary thing though?

10. What came first, the chicken or the egg?!

Chicken

11. Favorite physical feature of yourself?

Right now? My belly. I could stare at it all day... It's so weird!

11 Question I have For You:

It's already taken me like three days to get this far, so I'm not even going to try to come up with 11 new questions. Just answer the ones that I had to answer... they were good ones (thanks Nate and Kacee)

If you read this, consider yourself "tagged" (sucker! ;) ha ha)

March

Well, what's new? Baby. That's all that's really exciting in our life right now. We're having a little boy :) We got a cute little DVD with the ultrasound and some pictures of the little guy. I have a feeling I'm going to be one of those annoying new moms who gets excited for their kid to do what EVERY kid does, but it's HIS first time doing it so I have to tell EVERYONE!!! So sorry in advance ;) I'll try to keep myself in check. They changed our due date to July 8th now since he measured a little big at the very first appointment and the 20 week one. I'm excited about that!

We've both been able to feel the little guy moving around ever since about 17 weeks. I love it. I feel like I already know him and can't wait to just see what he looks like finally! We already know his name (Don't ask, I won't tell. There are name stealers out there!), just need to see his face now (in color and 3D)! Rich was so relieved that we're having a boy. You see, he has no sisters and it was a shock enough for him when we got married and he had to live with a GIRL! ;) We both wanted to have a boy first, but now I NEED to have my little girl eventually cause Rich already told me I can't paint the boy's toenails (we'll see about that).

Nothing else has really been going on. I've been super bored and ready for life to get moving lately (I'm not a very patient person). Rich told me to go do something for me... so I colored my hair dark again. I told the lady that I wanted it dark brown with a tiny bit of red, but NOT black. Well, I guess she got confused because it's pretty darn black. Looks like I get to be Snow White for a while!

I'm pretty sure most people know by now (thanks to facebook), but I'm pregnant! I'm 14.5 weeks along and super excited! We went to the doctor at ten weeks and got our first look at the little guy (or girl) and I loved it. Baby was just moving all over the place! I think they knew we were looking and wanted to say hi ;) Here's the picture they sent us home with. Looks like we're due July 12th. Yay for a summer baby!

Some other things that have happened lately, I quit my job at the hospital and now work at a doctor's office (no weekends, nights, on call, holidays.. wohoo!). I think it'll be much better that way when baby comes. For now I'm planning on working just one day a week or two half days after baby is born just to keep up my license. Didn't go to college for four years just to let it go a year and a half later ;)

Rich got surgery on his nose/septum/sinuses. It was more brutal than we expected and he was out for a good week without even turning on the TV. All he wanted to do was sleep. I felt so bad for him... then his first time out trying to do anything, he basically fractured his ankle and had to use crutches for a while! Worst part was I was already pregnant and in my first trimester so I was a little nauseous and a lot grumpy so by the time he was better from his surgery, but still healing from his ankle I wasn't super excited to wait on him. Hormones.

We had a good Thanksgiving with the Brandt family in Manti (minus Rich hurting his ankle the day before). Most of the family was able to get together for the holiday and that rarely happens for some reason. I enjoyed it :)

Christmas was spent with my family this year. We went snowshoeing/snowmobiling up to a yurt in the Uintas for two nights. It was an adventure actually finding the dang thing, but once we all got up there it was really fun! It was nice being up by snow around Christmas since there hasn't been any around Orem. It made it feel more Christmasy.

I'll post some pictures of these events when I find my camera and upload the pictures to my computer. I figured it would be better to just finally update this thing than to have it perfect.