My Teenage Toddler

Dallen is growing up WAY too fast!! He is constantly surprising me with the smart things he says like when choosing a toy for the pool or bath "Mom, this is definitely waterproof" or the other day after he swam across the pool came up and said "I was swimming awfully fast!!" How about tonight when he said, "Yea Dad, that's part of the plan" Where does he come up with this stuff?!?! It cracks me up how adorable it is and shocks me with how smart he sounds sometimes.

Dallen is such a little observer, and it is definitely how he learns. He watches people around him, and figures out how to do and say things based on what he sees other people doing. What scares me is that he is ALWAYS watching me and picking up on things I do. Luckily some of those things are good. We were at the book store one day when he was searching and searching for a book to buy. We asked him what he was looking for and he said "I'm looking for one that's on sale" :) His mother, the crazy couponer, has taught him well. When we go to the grocery store and he is looking to choose some fruit snacks he always asks, "which ones are on sale today?" or "do we have a coupon for this?" Such a smart shopper.
Dallen is SO independent. He loves to do things all by himself. Everyone was cracking up at book club watching Dallen insist on blowing his own balloon until he was cross-eyed and red in the face. It was a good 20 minutes until he gave in and let me blow it up.
A lot of Dallen's friends are starting Kindergarten this year and he is feeling so left out. So I signed him up for some toddlerschool classes with the local parks and rec and one of his classes is a soccer class. He is so excited and tells everyone that he is playing "kindergarten soccer" and asks me all the time if I will come cheer for him. Of course, he will someday be embarassed that I will be the loudest cheerleader in the stands!!

One of my favorite parts of Dallen's personality is his worker mode. I can tell he is going to be a hard worker like his Daddy when he grows up. He gets so serious and "fixes" things around the house or in the yard, and is always so proud of his accomplishments.

I am loving everything about this age and am having SO much fun enjoying these last few months of just me and my boy. Sometimes I get really sentimental when I think about how fast he is turning into a grown boy but I am so proud of him and all that he does. I am soaking up every moment he is this way before he really is my teenager!!

Halfway

At 20 weeks pregnant I have so many emotions. I am so excited that I am halfway to meeting my daughter, and I am so sad that it is already half over. Having wanted this pregnancy for so long, I am so grateful to be pregnant that I am loving every minute of it. Not that I think I am any more grateful than any other pregnant woman, I just have a different perspective. I am not as anxious to get it over and just living in the moment and loving every one.

It is hard to compare Dallen's pregnancy with this one because it has been more than 3 years and I am in a totally different place in my life. But the one thing I can compare are pictures:I think they look pretty much the same, but I still have 20 weeks to go so we shall see :)

First Graduation

We are so proud of our little swimming school graduate!! Dallen started swimming lessons in the beginning of June and was not so excited about it at first, if you remember the crying thumbs-up picture from this earlier post. After a few short weeks of crying through it, Dallen grew to love his swimming lessons and his teacher Larry. Within 8 weeks Dallen graduated his once a week swim class. Some other kids in his class had been in it for a year and a half, so it was kind of fun to be the proud Momma watching Dallen ring the graduation bell :) Dallen loves to swim every day, except Sundays, in our backyard. He swims across the pool, does cannon-balls off the side, dives to the bottom for leaves and goes down the slide all without floaties and without fear. He is such a little fish and I am so glad that I get to swim with him in our own backyard every day, we have so much fun together!!You can read all about the school and Dallen's gradution here.

BIG BROTHER

little sisterWe are over the moon happy about having a daughter. We would have been equally happy to bring down a little brother for Dallen, but every time I think about having a little girl it just feels so right. I grin from ear to ear whenever I think it, hear it or say it, WE'RE HAVING A GIRL!!!

Better than Christmas

The week of the 4th of July has been my favorite running holiday for nearly a decade now and for one good reason...BEACH HOUSE!!! For an entire week we enjoy sunshine, sand and ocean air, lots and lots of food and so much family fun. This is the most pictures I have taken in a while so bare with me, they are probably a little sporatic and random, but each one carries with it a great memory of my favorite week of the year!!{The cutest face on the beach}
{Down in the sand with my little man}
{My beautiful sisters}
{Ice cream sandwiches}

{Bubbles galore}
{Anyone for a game?}
{Dallen and his new best friend for the week, my 13 year old cousin Mikey. These two dug holes every single day together}

On the night of the fourth, we watched a beautiful fireworks show and roasted delicious marshmallows for s'mores. When I asked Dallen what his favorite part of the whole trip was he replied with "marshmallows on fire"!!


When we needed a break from all the junk food at the beach house, we went out for fabulous dinners. We even got to go to my favorite restaraunt Ichibiri's in San Clemente. The SC location is right across the street from the beach and we got to watch and capture the beautiful sunset.





Another night my parents took us to try their new favorite Hawaiin place, Hapa J's which is right across the street from Scotty's favorite surf shop, Stewart's where we had to stop and take pictures in honor of our little Korean missionary.

{We handed the camera over to Dallen who snapped the next adorable picture of my parents, I love them}
A trip to California would never be complete without a visit to Irvine Spectrum for dinner at Ruby's with our best friends from law school
We got to try a new Mexican restaraunt, El Ranchito as we try to familiarize ourselves with San Clemente, our new city. Dallen was such a ladies man with Mark's mission companion's beautiful daughters. These 3 had as much fun as the adults did :)

The last day with the beach house was spent with lots of friends and visitors...
{Our first time seeing beautiful Kenzie since Scotty left}
{Dallen and his betrothed Siena playing in the sand}
{And in the "pool"}
{We got a spontaneous photoshoot, to please the Mommy's and turned out some of the most adorable photos}
{Dallen played photog for Siena}
{And of course, I had to snap some of Dallen}

Such an amazing trip, just like every year!! Can't thank my grandparents enough for doing this for us each Independence Day. Time to start looking forward to next year's trip, when we'll get to bring a new baby with our little family :)

A Mommy's Job

The other day we went to lunch with some friends. They had to leave early so their Mommy could go to work. Dallen argued with me the whole way home that “Mommy’s don’t work, Daddy’s do” I tried to explain that sometimes Mommy’s work to help their families, but that was just unacceptable to him. I am so blessed that I get to stay at home and be a full-time Mommy. I get to spoil my little man with lots of fun things and we always get to do them together. Being a Mommy really is the best job in the whole world. Instead of corporate dinners, we get to host peanut butter and jelly sandwich lunch playdates. Instead of going to meetings, we get to meet our friends at the pools and the parks. And instead of attending conferences and field trips we get to go to fun places, like the Children’s Museum in Phoenix...

As a full time Mommy, instead of wearing formal attire to work, we get to make paper and sticker ties and hats.Instead of treking to work in the concrete jungle, we get to play in noodle forrests.
Our commute is never bad either.

And when we travel with friends, we get to carpool
One of my favorite perks are the bonuses, the paychecks may be small but the rewards are endless!!
I have the best job in the whole world!! As much as I love my job, I am looking forward to my vacation when I have the help of Aunts, Uncles, Mimi, Gigi and Grandpas and even Daddy. We will see you when we get back from the beach :)

Being a Big Boy

When I was struggling to get pregnant, one of the hardest things for me was that each month I wasn’t, Dallen was getting another month older. I always thought I would have kids about 2 years apart. But I have completely come to terms with the fact that my children will be more than 3 years apart and I am so excited for it. In preparation for a new baby, Dallen is growing out of all his baby-ness. He has moved into a big boy bed. At first when we got Dallen's bed all set up, I looked at it and teared up almost immediately. I can't believe how fast my baby is turning into a big boy. Now that he has spent some time in his new bed, I LOVE it! I love that I can lay by him until he falls asleep. I love that I can sneak in and cuddle him in the middle of the night. I just love how close I can be to my sleeping angel.Also in the process of becoming a big boy, Dallen is taking swimming lessons. The first few weeks he cried the whole time. Although through his tears he would turn around and give me a big teary eyed thumbs up! He is doing better now and embracing the swim lessons. We get to practice every day in the backyard and he is becoming a little fishy :)

Also in big boy news, Dallen has been potty trained. He is doing SOOO great and looks so cute in his big boy underoos.

Dallen is going to be such a GREAT big brother and we are so excited for that day!!

Our Story :: His Plan

For all those who have shared their story of infertility with me, I am so grateful for their courage and for that reason I wish to share mine. Many may not know it took a year for me to get pregnant with this second baby. We had no problem with Dallen, as soon as I wanted to be pregnant, I was. So it came as a huge shock that that was not the case the second time around. Although I have had MANY health problems over the last 2 years, I still really don’t know what caused my infertility. The first few months were not so bad, I didn’t think anything was really wrong, I just wanted a baby. After about 6 months, I started to really worry and wonder. After about 9 months it seemed unreal when the doctor told me "we're gonna have to help you get pregnant". It is hard to convey the feelings that overcome you when faced with such a trial. One night I was watching an episode of one my favorites, Grey’s Anatomy, where one of the main characters, Meredith, who was struggling with infertility finally breaks down and cries about all the girls in the world who get pregnant by accident, and those who don't want their babies and how hard it is on someone who tries and tries and TRIES. I recognized that I knew how she felt. Although I was genuinely happy for those receiving the blessings of Motherhood, it doesn't mean it's not hard to wonder what’s wrong with you. It completely consumes you at some point, you can't help but think about only that. Often times I felt like I was walking a thin line between keeping the faith and fighting depression. It's hard not to feel like you're broken when this is the purpose God created you for. Each month’s negative test was like re-reading a rejection letter over and over. I was so grateful for the sweet reminder that Dallen was every day of how blessed I already was, he definitely helped me through this more than he will ever know. I knew that if I never got anything else in life, I would be ok because I already had the greatest blessing imaginable. That fact helped me through but this was definitely a trial that made me turn to the Lord.Now that this trial is over for me in my life, I can see why the Lord had me go through it. I learned so much about faith, patience, the gospel of Jesus Christ, my Savior and myself. More than anything I am so grateful for the reminder of what a miracle my Dallen is, and this new baby too!! I am already so much more grateful for this little miracle and I am trying not to take a moment for granted. I have so much gratitude for encouraging friends, supportive family, the words of prophets and modern medicine. I am grateful for having had this trial and I know now that this plan for our family was not my own.

Private No More

We tried the private blog thing for a while and I did not like it one bit, so here it is for everyone to see...the other thing that is no longer being kept private, that we are having another baby!! Baby Bracken #2 is due to arrive December 21st and we couldn't be happier :)

Everybody was...

KUNG FU FIGHTING!!Dallen was so excited to go see the new Kung Fu panda movie with his best buddies, Hunter and Hayden. These 3 boys just LOVED it, can't you tell?!?!Just look how big my little kung fu fighter is getting!! Such a cute kid :)