Treats and Toys

I have to share this funny story about Braxton. I was getting ready to go to PT and had asked Bailey to watch Braxton real quick for me. The next thing I hear is Bailey screaming at Brinley,"Brin you are suppossed to be watching Braxton!" She comes running in to her room and tells me Braxton is eating something but she doesn't know what it is and she can't get it out of his mouth. So I run...well walked as fast as I could into the kitchen to find my adorable son sitting on the kitchen floor covered in chocolate. He had helped himself to a reeses peanut butter cup. Yup and as you can guess he had already devoured the whole thing. The only thing left on his lap in a pile of slobbery chocolate was the wrapper. All I could do was laugh! Another funny thing with this kid is he loves my swiffer vacuum cleaner. No matter where I hide it he finds it and hauls it around the house wherever he goes. Man-if I could just teach him how to use it properly!!!!

Ho Ho Ho

Braxton finally got to meet Santa Clause the other day at our ward party. We had made bets that he would scream bloody murder when he sat on his lap. We were all wrong. He did not cry but he just glared at him and would not take his eyes off of him as you can tell by the picture. I am really excited for this Christmas season even though I am going to miss seeing my family. We are just staying home this year. But it will also be the first time in a long time that we have been able to spend Christmas with Ryan's family so it will be really fun. It has been fun putting up our Christmas decoration for the first time in a couple of years. Why do kids have to grow up so fast?? Bailey informed me she only wanted a couple of things this year. A four wheeler and a laptop! Man I hope Santa hits the lottery! Braxton is going to be really fun this year. All he needs is some wrapping paper and boxes and he will be happy. Brinley wants a Webkinz and a Nintendo DS. We miss you all very much and hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Happy Late Thanksgiving!

What a great Thanksgiving we had this year! We of course headed up to Logan to be with my family. It was a blast! I love my mom's cooking more than anything and miss it a lot. Both my sisters and their families were there and it was so fun to spend time with everyone. Unfortunately Mindy's whole fam got sick while we were there but we were still able to spend some time with them. Mindy made skirts and sold them at the Novemberfest. They are so adorable and I was lucky enough to sit with her all day on Friday and sell them. It was so fun and I saw a lot of people I knew so it was a double bonus. We had a Rock Band party with the Gittins which you can't beat. We were able to watch Texie dance and I am just amazed by her. She Rocks!! Best of all we went to the Utah State vs. SUU basketball game at the spectrum. Man I miss those games. Needless to say Utah State won by 40 so we returned home to Cedar proud to be Aggie fans! A little update on Braxton...he is everywhere!! He has been crawling for a couple weeks now and can now pull himself up on things so he has torn my house apart a few times to say the least. He has his first tooth and it did not really effect him at all. He is still as cute as ever and still very big. I just took him for his second hair cut and man is he handsome. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!!

A Month of Firsts!!!!

Wow! October was so crazy for us here in Cedar. We had a lot of firsts happen for our family. We started with my knee surgery at the beginning of the month. It has not been a great experience for me and I just keep hoping that someday my knee will be normal. I have experienced my first with Physical Therapy. Now I know why I never have wanted to go!! Braxton got his first hair cut! So cute and now needs another one already. He also experienced his first Aggie football game and loved it! (Really) While at the football game he was on the jumbo-tron for the first time. And finally Braxton experienced his first Halloween. He was sick so we just put on his costume to take a picture and him and Ryan stayed home while I followed the girls around in my car while they went trick or treating. November has started out much better. The greatest part about this week is it is the first week I have walked without crutches for over a month. It feels amazing and I feel like maybe I can be a normal mom again. I have lots of cute pictures to make up for lost time so I will post them soon.

6 Month Check-Up

I am still in shock that Braxton is already 6 months old!! He has grown up so fast and I swear he does something new everyday. He can sit up by himself and he will roll from his stomach to his back. He has learned how to throw a fit pretty good already too. We just love him so much and love watching him grow.....and I mean grow!!!! He is now currently 21 lbs 8 oz and 28 inches long. Yes he is huge but cuter that ever!

I'm not 19??????

Well it has been a crazy couple of weeks here in the Hess household. My husband has helped me realize that I am not a youngster anymore. Some of my friends in Cedar asked me to play in a volleyball tournament at the Cornfest in Enterprise. Of course I was more than excited since I have not been able to play volleyball FOREVER.... well that excitement was very short lived. The very first play of our very first game I go to spike the ball and the next thing I remember is I am on the floor in the worst pain ever. My knee was killing me and not to toot my own horn but I tolerate pain pretty darn well and I could not believe this pain. So to make a long story short I got the news I did not want to hear from the ortho. I tore my ACL!!! On top of that I had a really bad bone contusion which made it so painful to walk. So yes I have been on cruches for a week and half trying to take care of a 5 1/2 month old wiggle worm. Thank goodness Ryan was able to take a few days off and his wonderful mom came and spent several days with me not only taking care of Braxton but cleaning, cooking, and doing laundry. His sister also was a huge help in keeping the girls entertained. I don't know what we would have done without them. So now I am preparing myself for surgery. Attempting to get all the swelling and fluid off my knee so that they can operate. CRAZY!!! Wish me luck!

Back To School

Today I sent my girls back to school. I am still a litte confused about what happened to summer?? They were so excited and I had to beg them to let me take them for their first day instead of riding the bus. We had back to school night on Tuesday so it was nice for them to see their class and meet their teachers so that they felt a little more comfortable. They both seem to have great teachers. So now Braxton and I are going to have to figure out ways to keep ourselves entertained. Braxton will prob be really happy that he can sleep in peace and play by himself without his sister's trying to smother him. Me on the other hand am going to be pretty bored. We will see how it goes!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BAY-BAY!!!!!

Today my precious little girl is turning 9 years old!! I just can't believe how old she is getting. The thing I am having the hardest time accepting is that she is in fourth grade.....two more years and she will be in middle school!! Where did my little baby go? As most of you know Bailey is one in a million. She has the cutest and most outgoing personality. She always has us laughing and can always make you smile. She is such a good sister and always such a great help to her mom! She is a great example not only to her friends but to her family. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIS! We love you so much and hope you have an awesome day! We are headed to Seven Peaks with my fam tomorrow for her birthday and spending the weekend playing in Park City so I will have lots of fun pictures to post once we get back. We love you Bay!!!

A Boy and his Crazy hair!!

This picture just makes me smile so I thought I would share it! We bought a new swing out on our porch and Braxton loves to swing on it. He is definitely just like his mom! We sit out there just about every night and I just love it! He also hates his veggies but chows his fruit. Just like mom. He is now eating his food so we have made some progress. Bay and Brin are starting soccer and we are really excited about that. They both have great coaches and it is going to be a lot of fun watching them play. I can not believe school starts in 2 1/2 weeks!!! Where did the summer go???

Hooray for Food.....Or not??

Braxton had his four month check-up on Monday and man is he a chunk!! His official stats are:

18 pounds 10 ounces 97%

25 3/4 inches long 80%

17 inch head circ. 75%

The doctor was laughing at him because he says most kids are 20 pounds when they are about a year old and he is pretty sure he will be past that mark next time he sees him. I love it though! He is so cute and such a happy baby. So I was all excited to finally feed him some real food and he will not eat it!! He spits it out and gags all the time. I am getting a little frustrated because I don't know what to do. I guess I will just wait a little bit longer and then try again. Maybe then he will be ready???? I just knew he was going to chow down but I guess I was wrong!!

5 Years and Counting!!

Today is our 5th anniversary and I can not believe how fast time has gone by. I have the most amazing husband! He is such a great dad and has been that rock for me in my life. We have been through a lot together. A lot of trials and also some great times. Here are a few of the many reasons why I love Ryan:

He makes me laugh!!!

He is my best friend!
He is an awesome DAD!!






I could go on and on. Thanks Babe for being such a great husband and dad. I love you so much and can't wait to see what the years ahead bring for us. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!

Softball, Softball, and more Softball.....

So there is one thing that has not changed since we moved from Logan. We are still at the ball park three days a week and believe it or not only one of the three is because of me. The girls have games every Monday and Wednesday and I play co-ed on Thursday. It has been so fun to watch them play and progressively get better. Brin got knocked in the face her last game by a grounder that took a bad hop. We thought she would get a black eye but her nose just swelled up on the side and that was about it. They have learned so much just in the few weeks that they have played. It was also the opening ceremonies for the summer games last week so we went to watch the fireworks. They were actually pretty good and Braxton loved them. I was worried that they would scare him but he just sat and watched in amazement. The girls invited Aunt Des to come and watch the fireworks and have a sleep over. Thanks Des for making their day!!! Friday we took them to St. George and did some shopping and swimming. It was a lot of fun and it was just what I needed. A little get-a-way with the kiddos. We are headed up to Logan on Thursday once again. I just can't get enough of that place! JD and Sarah are coming up from Iowa so we are really excited to see them. My mom says it has been raining up there for like two weeks straight so I hope it stops before we get there!!

Too Busy to Blog.....

Snugglin' with Sissy!

Dad setting buddy up to watch T.V.

Well we have been having so much fun lately that I have been slacking a little on the blogging. We went to Logan for Memorial Day weekend and it was so much fun!! We did a lot of relaxing and hanging out with family and friends. Friday we rode the LTD bus up to Fredrico's for lunch and then walked to Aggie Ice Cream for dessert. The kids get such a kick out of riding the bus. Nancy came up to spend the day with us which was great. We even got my dad to ride the bus with us. Wish I would have got a picture of that! Meagan met us there and had lunch and ice cream with us. Then that night we were able to watch Takesha play softball. Her team is amazing!! I think they ended up winning the whole tournament. Saturday was a lazy day and we just hung out all day. Sunday we had a family bbq and my second family the Gittin's joined us. Dinner was followed up by a great game of wiffel ball and a bonfire with smores!!! It was just like old times! Man I miss it up there. We were even able to go to church there and it was great to be back in the ol' ward. It was a wonderful weekend.

The girls have started their softball and it is so fun to watch them. They do such a good job. It is machine pitch so they were a little intimidated at first but they got a hit every time they got up. Bailey plays short stop and Brinley plays second base. Can you tell they have a proud mom! It has been nice having the girls out of school and spending more time with them. We took them to Mesquite on Saturday swimming and I have a feeling we will be doing a lot of that this summer. This is also one of my favorite times of year not only because of summer but it is the College Softball World Series and man has this year been a blast!!! There has been some amazing games and it just reminds me how bad I want to attend it one year. I swear I will before I die. Anyways that is a long update on what we have been up to. Oh yeah....Braxton is still as cute as ever and it growing like a weed. He is our little man! Hope you are all doing great and enjoying your summer!

Summer is in the air!!

Well we have been really busy the last few weeks but we have been busy having fun so I guess it has been a good thing. It was Desiree's birthday on the 7th so we headed to St. George for dinner. We left a little early and took the girls to this park..I guess that is what you would call it. Anyways it has fountains the kids can play in and also these little rivers and waterfalls. It was 95 degrees that day so it was a great day to cool off and have some fun. The girls loved it!! Of course we had to eat at Olive Garden while we were there to make Bay and Brin happy. Then on Saturday we headed to Mesquite. The girls went and got a pedicure and manicure which was heaven for me. Those of you that know me know I love getting my feet done up. It was also Patti's company party at the city pool so we went and swam Saturday afternoon. It was a blast! Sunday we just relaxed for Mother's day. After church Ryan and the girls made me waffles for breakfast. My favorite! But for the most part of the day we just sat around and relaxed. Ryan had training up in Salt Lake all this week so he left Sunday night and will be home Friday. So I have been a single mom all week! I have great kids so it has not been to bad other than we miss him like crazy. We are headed up to Logan next weekend again and this time Ryan is coming with us so it should be a lot of fun. I hope you all had a wonderful mothers day and I am so grateful for my mom and mom-in-law! They are both amazing women. Thanks mom for always being there for me through thick and thin! You are not only an amazing mom but one of my best friends! Love and miss ya lots!

Blessing Pictures

Braxton's Blessing

My heart is so full of gratitude to my Father in Heaven. I don't mean to get all churchy on you but I have had such a wonderful weekend and want to share my feelings. We blessed Braxton on Sunday and it made me reflect back on the road of getting him here. It was a rough one as most of you know. I am so grateful for the power of prayer and for all of you that prayed for us during that time. I can't imagine not having his special spirit in our home. We love him so much and he can always make us smile. The day went great and he behaved perfectly during his blessing. Ryan did such an amazing job and my kids are so lucky to have such a great dad! My mom and dad were able to come down and spend the weekend with us and it was so much fun. It is the first time my dad has been able to come so it really meant a lot to me to have them here. I wish my sister's and their families could have been there but I know they were thinking about us even though they were not able to come. Aaron was at a wedding in California so we missed him too. Ryan's parents, sister, and grandparents were also there to support us. It was such a great day! Of course Braxton looked as handsome as ever and the girls were so proud of their little brother. I am one of the luckiest people in the world to have such amazing kids and husband. I love my family(even my in-laws)and I am so grateful for their love and support in my life.

More PIcs from our trip

I love my Shak!!


What is my mom doing?

Nancy and Braxton