Brayden's 1st trip the ER

Upon returning home from my trip to Cabo Brayden was having a rough time re-adjusting to nursing. He was used to not having to work so hard for his milk and was not enjoying the bonding experience anymore. I tried relentlessly for 4 days to get him to enjoy breast feeding again, but to no avail. I'm sure you are wondering what this has to do with a trip to the ER with Brayden, but I'm getting to it. Thursday night Brayden threw up blood! Yes, blood!!! I'm not one to panic or rush my kids to the doctor let alone the ER, but blood is a whole different story. I called Kyle who was out at a business dinner to inform him that I was on my way to Hoag Hospital, that Brayden threw up blood and if he would meet me there for moral support. As if I needed to ask... Brayden was checked in and seen by a doctor right away. They asked me several questions such as:

-am I nursing? YES

-have there been any changes in the way Brayden's been nursing? YES

-am I sore from nursing? YES!

By this time it had been over an hour since Brayden had thrown up blood and now all that was coming up were the sweet peas he'd eaten for dinner. Praise Jesus!! The doctor explained to me that most likely Brayden was nursing too aggressively, which most likely caused some bleeding (which I didn't realize) and that the intake of blood cause his upset tummy resulting in him throwing up the blood. Gross right?! Sorry! I'm trying not to be too graphic. Needless to say I'm back to pumping several times a day and Brayden is a happy camper as am I. While I miss nursing I'm thankful for my new breast friend (hhahaha) the Medela pump so that I'm able to still give Brayden mommies milk. Hopefully we won't be making a trip to the hospital again any time soon for either child.

Brayden is 6 Months Old!

Can you believe it?! Neither can we! Last week I took B to his 6 month wellness check up and he's looking great. The pediatrician said that he's strong, gaining weight appropriately and is one of the happiest babies she's seen. He giggled and laughed through his entire visit... until the nurse came in to and gave him his shots. This visit Katelyn sat next to him and held his hand during his shots and said, "shhh, shhhh Buddy, I wuv you!" She has got to be the best big sister ever!

Weight: 17.6lbs (50th percentile)

Height: 28in. (93 percentile)

Brayden can now:

*Roll from his tummy to his back

*Roll from his back to his tummy

*He loves to jump in his jumparoo

*He is almost sitting up on his own

*Can hold a bottle with minimal help. This is huge if I'm multitasking

*is beginning to sound out some consonant sounds. I'm sure he'll be saying "dada" soon

*is sleeping from 8pm - 5:30/6:00am pretty consistently (finally!)

* has almost figured how how to drink water from his sippy cup

*loves his baby food, even the veggies

*smiles and laughs all the time, especially at his sister

*loves having his picture taken... he must be a Circle! =)

Here are his 6 month pictures....

Look what I can do!

Watch me...

roll

over!

*Smile*

While I was away...

Kyle's mom came and stayed with the kids for 4 of the days, then one day the Great Grandparents came and then the last day a good family friend came to watch the kids. I'm so grateful to the family and friends network we have that sacrificed their time to come and take care of my little ones while I was gone. Katelyn had so much fun with their Gigi, Great Grandpa and Grandma Circle and Auntie Janell. 

Katelyn made cookies with Grandma Circle just in time for mommies arrival home. YUM!!

Here's what I arrived home to. My little ones looks so much bigger. I know it's in my head, but when you don't see your kids for a few days they look so much different when you get home. Brayden learned how to hold his own bottle...

Katelyn's looking more and more like a toddler than ever! My how time flies. It's hard to believe she'll be 2 in just 2 weeks.

Cabo San Lucas

As many of you know Leah and I just returned from a week long getaway to the One & Only Palmilla in Cabo San Lucas. I cannot even begin to express how much fun we had and how wonderful it was to spend some time on a tropical island free from children. Although I did miss my hubby and wish he could've come too!

Here's a little movie slideshow of our trip as there were way too many to try and load.

Walking Shus

A couple weeks ago our family participated in the Great Strides Walk in Huntington Beach to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis. If you don't know about this degenerative disease you should check out the Cystic Fibrosis website. It is a very devastating disease and one I'm so grateful neither of my children have. Kyle and I really want to raise Katelyn and Brayden with a mindset for philanthropy so we decided that we would be apart of organizations and events that will teach them how to give back to others. They may be young now, but it's never to early to start teaching them to love on others the way their Jesus loves them! I was so proud of Katelyn. She made the choice to walk almost the entire time rather than riding in the stroller. It was a 5 mile walk, and I'm pretty sure she walked over 1/2 of it! Our team raised a little over $1000 for the organization. Thanks to everyone who joined our team, we had such a wonderful time!

My first Giveaway!

I've been so excited to share this giveaway with you for the last several weeks.

Mommies get Excited! I've got the perfect gift for you. I've teamed up with my friend Emmy at Confessions of a Paper Freak to do a giveaway of one of my adorable Infant Car Seat Canopies. I met Emmy at a boutique last fall and fell in LOVE with her paper products. My love for her products spread to my friends and I'm sure you will all love them too!

Back to the giveaway. Want to know which canopy is up for grabs?

This one...

Want to Enter?

Click HERE

Good luck!

A visit from Danny

My cousin Danny is on break for college for the summer and he is driving cross country visiting friends and family along the way. He was in the Air Force for 4 years, including 1 trip to Afghanistan and is now attending a university for aeronautical engineering. It was so much fun having him here visiting and it gave me a break from entertaining 2 kids all day. Katelyn loved having him around and ran around yelling, "Danny," which she pronounced Dhanneee, like a British person. Too cute!!

Katelyn's turning 2

Last weekend we had Katelyn's pictures taken for her birthday invitation. Our friend Matt Gruber dabbles in photography and he volunteered to take Katelyn's pictures and design her birthday invitation. For which I am completely grateful. Here's a short video of the pictures he took. Thanks again Matt!!

Fun in the sun...

The weather in Southern California has been amazing the last couple of weeks. I've been fully taking advantage of it with the kids. 

We went on play dates at Irvine Spectrum...

and we stayed home and had play dates here at the house...