Brady's 4 month stats:

15 lbs. 10 oz.

25 3/4 in.

Basically, he's growing like a weed! The picture above is typical of our little tyke- the kid's a drooler and a bubble blower. He has a bib on most of the time simply to soak up the drool. Actually, a bib is one of his favorite things to suck on. Since everything he can get ahold of goes straight to his mouth, it's convenient that he likes his bibs so much!

His latest trick: Brady has discovered his higher vocal ranges. He used to be a growler, and he LOVED it when you growled back. But as of yesterday, he is now a squeeler. The higher the better, as far as he's concerned. He has rolled both directions, but I can't call it a trick yet, as I think it's usually an accident! We love Brady to pieces, and are having so much fun watching him grow and learn new things every day!

Just a little sample of our family pictures...

The Boy Scout, the Fairy, and the Frog

Brady was a sweet little froggy for Halloween. We went to a ward party on Wed. before Halloween- it was FREEZING! He stayed nice and warm (and asleep) in his costume pretty much the whole time.
At Richard's family's ward party on Halloween. What kind of fairy am I? Your guess is as good as mine- I was just throwing stuff together, and I had to wear those tights!

Our sweet boy before we put his costume on. I was finally able to catch his smile on camera!

Marybelle

Marilla's youngest little darling. We had fun having a toddler around! OK, so she doesn't exactly "toddle" yet, but she obviously knows how to get around!

October fun!

We took Morgan with us to California for Fall Break. We walked to Lake Park and found this mystery fruit on a palm tree. Richard thought it was a date, but nope, we ate it and was definitely NOT a date! It looked kinda like an apricot, but I've never seen an apricot on a palm tree! I don't know what it was, so I guess it was pretty brave of us to eat it, but it was actually really good! (Don't let my face fool you... I just had a sour moment)
Check out that big belly! Must take after his dad.

It's not often that we get a smile without his tongue. Brady thinks his tongue is pretty amazing, and he LOVES showing it off to everyone. He even plays "the tongue game" (as I call it) with us, and will copy us when we stick our tongue out at him. He is getting to be so much fun, and turning in to quite the talker! (if only we knew what he was saying...)

This and That

Blessing Day
Our first family picture (besides the nasty ones of us in the hospital and my hair's still in a shower cap thingy)

They're home!!!! YAY! Grandma has already been a huge help, and we love them both so much! Welcome home!

Smiley face. Can you get any cuter? He is getting more and more expressive, and it's soooo fun! Love this little guy!

Happy Birthday, Richard! Granted, socks are not the most fun gift, but hey, we're practical around here. At least they were wrapped in fun paper!

Those cheeks!

Almost as common as his smiley face!

August in a Nutshell

Cute Cole with Adorable Audrey

Valora and LaceyWho needs "Bump-its" when you have Lindsay around to tease your hair?

The awesome food spread at Brady's shower. The dump trucks were an idea my amazing mother in law stole off someone's blog! Thanks, Linda!

The kid likes to be free, what can I say?
Brady LOVIN' the bath. At least he's modest!

I couldn't resist him in this outfit. He loves laying on his tummy!

August went by in a blur. It was so fun to have Valora and Audrey down here for a few days. Valora was a huge help, and Audrey is just adorable! Brady is now smiling (although we haven't captured it on camera yet- we're trying), and still just growing, growing, growing! It's unbelievable. I already have a huge stack of clothes that he has grown out of, some of which were never worn. We are trying to figure out how much he knows- like is he being a pill on purpose in the middle of the night? He is starting to settle into kind of a schedule, thank goodness! Still working on those nights, though, the little stinker! I have been walking laps around the mall a few times a week, and finally just bought an exercise video. We'll see... Life is amazing!

Our Sweet Stinker

What Brady has learned in the past month:

1) Never, EVER stop wiggling. If you do, you might accidentally fall asleep and Mom will put you down.

2) If Mom does put you down, just kick your legs. This will wake you up, and she will have to pick you up again. (works every time...)

3) No matter how tight Mom wraps you, if you can just get one finger free, you'll be out in no time. (hint: it's always better if Dad wraps you)

4) The second you get a messy diaper changed and you have a fresh one on, mess it again. Mom loves that!

5) Always grab a handful of whoever-is-holding-you's shirt if they are trying to rock you. This makes it more difficult for them to put you down should you accidentally fall asleep. (see #1)

6) Smile! That's really all anyone's after anyway, plus it makes anything you've done seem just angelic.



Hard to believe he's a month old! Richard was laughing at me the other day because in the same 5 minutes I called Brady a stinker and a sweet boy. So, he'll grow up thinking he's a sweet stinker! Works for me. I have found that everything I have ever heard about having a newborn is absolutely true, which means there are NO rules! These little guys can really keep you on your toes! It's amazing to me that I thought I could get him on a schedule decided by me. Silly me! We sure love Brady though, and can't believe how big he's growing. Slow down!

I Just Can't Get Enough...

Well, there is not much to update, since I haven't done much the past few weeks except take care of Brady, but I did want to post a few more adorable pictures. He had a few rough days this week (and so did Richard and I), but for the most part is a GREAT baby. He's just starting to smile a little, and stay awake to play for a while. It's truly amazing how fast they change! These are some pictures of Brady's Photo Shoot, which we were trying to get a good picture for a birth announcement. Thanks Morgan for the basket idea! He happened to be wearing a red onesie that matched his quilt perfectly!

A first...

This morning, Richard took Brady for me after I fed him (as he often does) so I could get just a few more minutes of precious sleep. After indeed just a few more minutes, he comes back and says, "Honey, will you hold Brady for just a minute?" I took the baby, and then on his way out of the bedroom, Richard said, "Now I'll go kill the scorpion..." Excuse me? The WHAT?!?! For the first time in my entire life, we saw a scorpion in our house. Now of course I feel like I have to shake everything out when I pick it up, and move very carefully. (as if that will do any good) On kind of a funny note, Richard apologized before he left for even telling me about the scorpion, since he knows I'll be freaked for at least a couple of days. He even asked me how I wanted it disposed of: flushed? in the trash? No- straight outside to the garbage that got picked up today. Ewww!

Life with Brady

Why didn't anyone tell us this wasn't a piece of cake? OK, OK, so we kinda knew what we were getting into, so it hasn't been much of a surprise: feed Brady, change Brady's diaper, feed him again, which means another change, put Brady down for a nap, feed Brady, play with Brady, etc., etc., etc. I didn't add shower or get ready in there because there are no guarantees! Seriously though, we are LOVING getting to know our little man. What a sweetheart! He is such a good baby, and we are so very blessed to have him in our home. My recovery has been remarkably fast, and thought I'm not 100% yet, it's been so nice to be able to take care of him and be up and around. I was so worried, especially having a c-section, that it would be all about recovering instead of about my beautiful son, but once again I have been extremely blessed.

Brady's hands while nursing one day...

He's just so darn cute!

He's Home!

Our family is finally all home together! We were so blessed to be able to go to the hospital this morning and pick up our sweet son. On Tuesday, Brady was moved to a different wing of the NICU, into a private "suite." It was a nesting room, meaning that we could spend the night there if we wanted. As much as I wanted to stay with Brady, I had just been released that day and didn't think staying on a couch was going to help my recovery any. He stayed there for 2 nights, and then we brought him home! In the hospital, they were feeding Brady formula, and I was pumping whatever I could. They would feed him what I could pump, but it wasn't much, so he got a lot of formula. Also, they didn't let me try actually nursing him until Tuesday, so he is used to a bottle. I won't give up easily, but he sure puts up a fight every time I nurse him! Richard has been a huge help in the process, so I am very grateful that he has some time off from work to help me get used to being a mom! It has been a very enlightening, and sometimes frustrating day, but I know it will only get better. Welcome home, Brady Mark! We love you!

Brady Mark Heywood

Brady Mark Heywood

July 24, 2009

5:17 p.m.

20 1/2 in. long

Grandma Heywood finally gets to hold Brady when he's 2 days old! She held him for almost 2 hours, and loved every second!

Daddy with Brady. He's in there somewhere! Brady took a nice big breath of amniotic fluid as he was born, so he's been in the NICU trying to get rid of it from his lungs. He's doing so much better now, and only has one little oxygen tube in his nose. Everything else, including this little contraption, he pulls out himself because they make him so mad! Way to go, little guy!
We can't get over his chin! It's just sooo chubby! And when he's making a pouty face, it's even cuter! We are definitely in love with our little man!

Mommy and Brady very shortly after delivery. Pre- NICU

Our first family photo. Brady was born via c-section, so that's why I'm flat on my back.

We'll post more (count on it) when we finally get to take him home and he is without all the extra tubes and wires. We love our baby Brady! He is such a sweetheart, and I LOVE that he gets so mad at the nurses when they try to put more tubes/wires, etc. on his face. It's just hilarious, and gives me hope that he'll be free very soon. Very strong willed!

The Quilt! Finally!

I finally finished the quilt this morning. My hands have been falling asleep really easily the further I get into this pregnancy, mostly at night while I sleep, but as I was finishing the binding, my fingertips kept going numb! That makes it really awkward to hold a needle! Anyway, it turned out so cute, and I am SOOOO excited to give it to my new baby! Whoa, that'a a lot of exclamation points!

Funny Tie at Walmart

I know it's hard to read, but this is a "Dear John" tie. The entire thing is a letter from Jane telling John all about the new man in her life. Richard and I saw this and thought it was hilarious. Would anyone wear this?

Baby Update

We are getting so close! This little guy is due exactly 2 weeks from today! I can't believe he's almost here! At my last appt., we discovered that he is breech (the little stinker), so we are hoping and praying that he will turn around. My doctor doesn't feel trying to turn him is the best option, so if I want to do that, he will send me to a high risk doctor. Otherwise, I'm going to have to have a c-section. I don't particularly want to have a c-section, but as I've thought about this, I've decided that obviously whatever is best for the baby is what needs to happen. My sister tells me that I will know if the baby turns on his own, but I can't really tell. I'm wishfully thinking that all the movement I've felt in the last few days is him turning, but I really can't tell. So wish me luck, and please pray that he turns!

WICKED!

For those of you who live in AZ, you are probably aware that Wicked is currently playing at Gammage. Before every show, there is a "lottery" that you can put your name into, and then they have 20 tickets available for $25 each. If your name gets drawn, you can get front row seats for two people! So, Richard and I went on Monday to try our luck, and found out that... the show isn't playing on Mondays. Bummer! Strike one! So, I tried again tonight, and actually got one step closer (my name went in the drawing this time), but no luck. Strike two! Actually, I saw 2 former students there, one of whom had $32 with her, and the other had $1. What were they planning on doing? I have no idea. Anyway, of course one of them got drawn, and was about to take only one ticket, since that's all they had money for, but me, being the charitable person that I am, stepped in and helped them out. The more tragic part is that one got to see it last weekend, and the other has a ticket for later on this month! Life is not fair. Oh well, they paid me back after going to an ATM, and I will try again. I have actually seen the show, in LA, but I really REALLY want to see it again, and I would also love for Richard to see it. I think he'd love it!

One Year of Forever

You may think this is CORNY, but I wanted you to know... I'd put you on the HOT TAMALE train over and over because my

heart BURSTS with love for you!
I'm so grateful that I got a MR. GOODBAR like you!
MIKE AND IKE have nothing on you!

You're going to make a fantastic daddy to our SWEET KIDS

(even if they are sour every now and then) and

I'm completely NUTS about you!

Yesterday, Richard and I celebrated our one year anniversary! It's so hard to believe that it was an entire year ago that we were sealed for time and eternity in the temple. This past year has been a roller coaster for us, with the passing of our sweet nephew Brandon, moving, being pregnant for the majority of it, etc., but I feel so blessed to have shared all of that with my eternal companion. He's a blessing in my life, and I love him so much!

We will be celebrating tonight for dinner, since we have time- you know how that goes. For our anniversary, we got a new camera (yay!), Scrabble Upwords, and Richard got a new battery for my watch, which came around a beautiful bouquet of lilies. Such a sweetie!

Off with June, bring on July!

Richard and I have both been working on projects this summer- Richard outside, and me definitely inside. Although, I have spent lots of time in the mornings outside walking or observing my amazing husband. He works so hard! He has been working on leveling out the driveway, digging down the dirt around a couple trees out front so that the irrigation can get to them, building new berms (sp?), keeping up with the pool, mowing the lawn, and most recently, leveling this patch of dirt so our new (to us) storage shed had a place to go. Honey, you're amazing!

Thanks to Richard's dad and Uncle Roger for their help in unloading the shed! It'll be nice to get some things into storage and create some space around here!

My projects: crafts, mostly. I decided to make a quilt for my new little one. Not exactly a baby quilt, but I love the colors and I love this pattern. I will post a picture of the finished project when it's... finished. If you didn't know this about me- I LOVE making quilts! Seriously, I find it so fun and frustrating, yet incredibly rewarding. It's a great way to spend time in the summers, out of the heat.

A friend of mine told me how to make these cute flowers for hair clips. Of course, I went immediately to get the supplies for them, and made A BUNCH. I sent most of them up to my sisters for their girls' hair, but these are what I kept for myself to wear in my hair. So cute!