The Laugh of a Child

"I love it, I love it, the laugh of a child, now rippling and gentle, now merry and wild. Ringing out on the air with it's innocent gush, like the trill of a bird in the twlight's soft hush. Floating up on the breeze like the tones of a bell, or the music that dwells in the heart of a shell. Oh the laugh of a child, so mild, so free, is the merriest sound in the world for me."

Isabelle Athelwood

(this video also premiers the "booty scoot" and getting from a laying to a sitting position :) )

Another quick note: Susie and I flew to Utah last weekend for a short trip and we flew over the Grand Canyon! It was awesome!

(from the plane)

Paul and I have been wanting to go to the Grand Canyon since we moved to Arizona and he has this next week off from school so we're going to head up there tomorrow. Which is perfect because Susie's birthday is Tuesday. We are using a gift card we received for Christmas from Paul's family in DC to pay for the hotel. Thanks Jon and Kylee! We're so excited!

I Havva Everything

A favorite quote of mine-- I found it in an Anne Geddes book and think of it often.

"If you havva no babies, you havva nothing."

Italian immigrant woman

A Mother's Love

I'm so grateful to be a mother. There are many days when I sit back, look at my little girl and I know that no other happiness can compare to this. Being a mother has brought more joy in my life than I ever thought it could. I love waking up knowing that I get to spend my day with my little Sue. I love comforting her when she bonks her head and explodes into hysterical tears. I love to reach back for her when someone else is holding her and she just wants her mommy. I love singing to her before bedtime and seeing her look back up at me with those drowsy eyes. I love watching her play and learn new things. I love watching her face light up and feel her wiggle with delight when Dad walks in the door. I love snuggling with her when she is in a snuggling mood. Her head fits perfectly next to my heart. I love knowing that I will always be her mother.

So I've always been a sentimental schmuck. Sorry if that was way to much mush for you!

Here's a Susie update:

- She is coming up on 11 months. She will be one year the end of February. (!?!?! already!?!?!)

- She is getting around.... not crawling or walking but some how when she is on the floor alone she gets from point a to point b. I think she just sort of scoots.

- She has 2 teeth on bottom, and two coming in on top.

- She loves to eat whatever we are eating. I got a mini food processor for Christmas and throw whatever we are having for dinner in there, chop it up a bit, and feed it to her. Yum!

- She loves going outside and is a good little running buddy in her stroller.

- She takes 2 naps a day, goes to bed a 7:30pm and wakes up at 7:30am. (Yep I'm one lucky woman)

- She weighs about 17 lbs now. Last appointment we had she was in the 5th percentile for weight and I think 80th for height.

- She says lots of babble words. Most often it's Da.

-She likes to be read to and can turn the pages for mommy.

And lots more fun things! She is a joy to be around!

I'll love you forever

I'll like you for always

As long as I'm living my baby you'll be.

Christmas Memories

First, a few pictures at our house:

Susanna ate a whole sugar cookie!

Ok lots of it was in her neck...

Paul had two whole weeks off of school and boy did we make the most of it! First we headed to Rexburg. That's a 15 hour drive from Phoenix, thankfully we found a nice bed and breakfast on the way in Cedar City to cut the drive in half (thanks Mom).

It wasn't hard to tell we weren't in Arizona anymore due to the freezing temperatures of Idaho. Paul and I have so many sweet and lasting memories of Rexburg that is was quite tender to be back. We took "memory drives" and reminisced about our dating and first married days. Paul's parents spoiled us the whole time we were there--- babysitting so we could go to the temple, treating us to Fongs and Mission Impossible 4 (it rocked!), cooking our favorite meals, financing an eye exam at Today's Eye Care (where I used to work), not to mention the Christmas gifts! We all scored. Especially Susanna!

I loved spending time there, especially when it comes to watching them with their grand daughter. They are such great grandparents. It was hard to say goodbye!

We left on the 27th where back in Cedar City they were celebrating Christmas Eve. My family decided to postpone Christmas a few days so that we all could be together. My grandparents, Aunt Mandy, and cousin Morgan were able to join the Braden clan for a late Christmas. It was a full house! Christmas Eve was quite magical and I was grateful to feel the Spirit of Christ in abundance. We celebrated New Years Eve there as well which included tormenting Olivia who feel asleep early this year (again) with loud blow horns and silly string in the face.

(4 generation picture)

There is so much joy to be found in spending time with family. This was Susanna's first Christmas and we made some pretty amazing memories.

A week or so before Christmas we found out that Paul did not get accepted into the Healthcare Scholarship program for the Air Force. We knew it was a long shot-- they were only accepting 25 students nation wide this year but were still disappointed when we found out. Dang it! We might try again next year. To help combat student loan abyss Paul is looking for a Pharmacy intern job. He can actually get paid pretty good money... I just didn't want him to have to work during graduate school. The silver lining is that because we won't be receiving income from the Air Force while going to school, I have decided to open an in-home preschool! So we've made some great goals for the new year and are excited to get going! I hope everyone had a great Christmas and Happy New Year!

Thanksgiving Vacation

We are back home now and things have started to settle down. We've been having so much fun lately I wasn't even sure I wanted to go back! But now that we're all settled, I remember how much fun everyday is, too. For those of you who didn't know, we like to do a family vacation once a year and thanks to my dad who flies for Southwest and shares his free passes, we have done some awesome things in our three years of marriage-- for free! This year we decided we just missed Jessica, Dustin, and Thomas so much we needed to fly out Florida for our family vacation. And it turns they were able to get us into three parks in Orlando for free! :)

Here's a recap of the AMAZING time we had!

We went to SeaWorld the first day. Jessica lives about 5 walking minutes away so we didn't even have to pay for parking. SeaWorld had some fun roller coasters and Jessica was nice enough to watch the kids while Paul and I rode all the rides. That was until I couldn't take them anymore. That's right! I'm turning into my mother!! After the 3rd roller coaster my stomach was in knots. But perfect timing because we wanted to see all the of marine life. We watched the dolphin and whale show, touched the sting rays, saw penguins, sharks, polar bears, and watched the Shamu show which was the best.

Dolphin show-- the were so neat!

stroking sting rays

The next day we went to Walt Disney World which I was so pumped for. DISNEY! There are four parks in Disney World but we only had one day so we soaked in as much as we could. We got to go to Hollywood Studios and ride the Tower or Terror and such. Then we went to the Magic Kingdom. It was... magical! Very much like Disneyland so of course we hit all the classics. Pirates, Splash Mt, Big Thunder, etc. And we were able to take Susanna on lots of fantasy land rides like It's a Small World. It was so much fun. The Cinderella Castle is breathtaking, especially at night.

The next day we took off in order to recuperate from the last two. We got to hang out with Jennifer (another of Paul's sisters), watch movies at Jessica's, went to downtown Disney at night, and just relaxed for a day.

Next came Universal Studios, home of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Sweet! The Hogwarts Castle was so cool! We ate at the Three Broomsticks, shared a Butterbeer, and went on the rides. We didn't run into any death-eaters.. whew.

The rest of Universal was pretty neat too. I liked the Jurassic Park ride a lot, the Mummy ride, and Jaws!

It was fun to have Susanna and Thomas together. They are only three months apart and enjoyed splashing together in the bath tub. They both did a great job with all of our running around. Susanna slept in her stroller whenever she needed a nap and did great with the two hour time difference. We were so lucky!

This may seem long but it's such a brief summary of all the fun we had! It's a trip I'll never forget. I loved getting to spend some time with my sister in law. She was so hospitable and made our trip very special. I married into a great family!

We flew home, spent the night in our own bed, did lots of laundry the next day, and left the following morning to spend Thanksgiving in Cedar City with my family. This time we drove. It's an eight hour drive from Phoenix to Cedar and once again Susanna was a trooper. She just goes with the flow. I loved being with my family for a few days. No matter what, being with my mom, dad, and siblings is precious time for me. Following the lead of our fearless-black-friday-shopping-Tiffany we ventured out Thanksgiving day at 9:30pm. We returned 8:30am the next morning. And wow. I was a zombie after about 4. But I did my best to make my sister proud! I think we did alright for ourselves! Despite the insanity, it was pretty fun.

"Turkey" Vegetable Tray (as seen on Pinterest)

Mom always does such a great job on the table. Those are acorn candles we lit. We each said our favorite Thanksgiving memory then blew out our candle.

We have so much to be thankful for. I am very grateful we were able to take these two weeks to be together with our families. It was great to have Paul, all day, everyday for those two weeks. He has started a new quarter and I miss him already! We are happy the Christmas season is here! Our Christmas tree and decor is up! Merry Christmas everyone!

(PS: In regards to the new picture of Susie at the blog title--- are you kidding me!? Have you ever seen anything so cute in your LIFE?!?! Yeah. I get to be her mother.)

Makeup

If she wants to starting wearing makeup when she's four, we'll know who to blame.

Our October

We've had a really fun October. It is finally cooling off here and I am more than happy about that. We still have 90 or 95 days here and there.. right now it is 87. Not too bad. It doesn't feel like October weather but I'll take it over 120. We'll be in Idaho for Christmas so at least we will get to see some seasonal weather there!

Susanna and I went and visited my parents and siblings in Cedar City for two weeks. We left Paul to fend for himself and had ourselves a great time! It was Susanna's first time on a plane and she did pretty well. A little fussing but not too bad. While at home we made homemade donuts and cinnamon rolls, went bowling, hiking, to an Apple Fesitval, spent a day shopping in St. George, crafted, had a birthday party for Mom and Dad, and Olivia and I even got to go to a Yellowcard concert (it was her first concert and we had a blast!). It was such a great trip filled with fun memories. I love spending time with my family. Coming home was pretty fun too. :)

on the plane

Yellowcard

bowling- Olivia begged for the bumpers. She threw it straight into the gutter almost everytime. I think she bowled a 38.

bath time

Also this month was the prestigious Midwestern White Coat Ceremony where each of the first year students in all the medical programs receive their white coats.

Jon, Rob, Seth, and Paul. Future pharmacists of America.

For Halloween I couldn't come up with anything coordinating and inexpensive. :( So Paul was a Pharmacist (he wore his white coat), I was a pirate (Tiff let me borrow hers), and Susie was a pumpkin (Goodwill- $3). All of our costumes begin with "p" so that's as coordinating as we got this year. We dressed up '50's style for a murder mystery party we went to, and our "p" costumes for the ward trunk or treat. I'll tell ya- our ward knows how to throw a party! They have the best ward parties I've ever been to! Today we went to a Midwestern-Halloween-get-together.

We are excited for the approaching holiday season! We have our Halloween decorations up and light our pumpkin candle every chance we get. And there is more fun to come! Paul likes to make fun of me for starting to celebrate Christmas a few months early, however, it was his suggestion that we watch a Christmas movie this Sunday (Miracle on 34th Street). So he is just as bad as I am. We are flying out to Florida in two more weeks for our Orlando-parks-extravaganza with Jessica and Thomas, spending Thanksgiving in Cedar, and Christmas in Rexburg. We can't believe 2011 is wrapping up. It's been a great year and we are going to make sure it goes out with a BANG!

A few of our halloween decorations:

My witness

Often when I feel an inclination to share my testimony or what I believe, I am hesitant. Especially with those that I know do not agree with me, I am afraid of being pushy, preachy, or offensive. Sometimes I think of these occasions and afterwards the scripture in Romans always comes to mind, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.."

With that in mind I do want to share my testimony. My testimony of the truthfulness of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has grown immensely in the last year as what I have believed all my life has been tried and tested. The experiences I have had have caused heart ache and confusion, however, and thankfully, I was able to turn to Father in Heaven. I remembered the many times in my life that Heavenly Father had answered my prayers. I knew for certain that there was a God who heard and answered my prayers. I knew that I could ask for direction and so I did. It is amazing to me the answers that I have received since then. As I have acted in faith, I have grown so much. I have been given many silent witnesses. These experiences are precious and I can not deny them.

What a happy thing to know what I know! What a peace in brings in my life to know that I have a loving Heavenly Father who is always going to help me in my effort to live a righteous life. I know that I am a child of God. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know that when we trust the spiritual witnesses of the Holy Ghost we are blessed, line upon line, and are able to become more than we could on our own. I'm so excited to know that as I do my best I can be made better-- not just by my efforts alone. I can become the woman Heavenly Father would have me be with His divine help.

As much as I want those I love to have this for themselves, it is difficult for me to describe in words the testimony that is in my heart. But I will do my best because I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It is the power of God unto salvation and fills my heart with so much joy.

Loved General Conference by the way! Here just a few of the things I jotted down:

-reading the Book of Mormon consistently will bring a greater light and peace in my life

-having children is what the Lord wants us to do

-the things of God matter most. The clock of mortality is ticking-- use your time for what matters most

-It is better to look up

-have charity, be a witness, and endure to the end

-wait on the Lord with patience and diligence

"Believe in God, believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth, believe that man doth not comprehend all things which the Lord can comprehend."

Mosiah 4:9

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Photo Shoot

We recently discovered that Susanna knows exactly what to do when we pull out the camera. The other day when she was doing some pretty adorable babbling so I pulled the camera out in hopes of getting it on video. As soon as she saw the camera, she stopped babbling, and started showing me her biggest smiles. I thought, "how funny! She knows to smile for the camera!" I've tested my theory several times, and sure enough, whenever she sees the camera, she knows its time to smile! Isn't that the cutest thing?! That, and a 7 month old birthday today called for.. a photo shoot!

7 months old today!

I thought it would be fun to get her dressed up but I knew she wouldn't think changing outfits was fun so I just slipped on some mismatching things.

We had some fun trying to get a standing pose.

She loves to scratch things with her fingers and listen to the different noises it makes.

I'm one lucky girl. :)

LIfe is Good

Nothing really new here! This semester is more difficult than the last, so Paul is studying quite a bit more. Susanna and I are just enjoying every day together! She has started babbling consonants, which I think is exciting. Mostly dah-dah-dah and bah-bah-bah but I'm pretty sure I heard a ma-ma in there somewhere. She is cutting her first tooth and is getting more frustrated about not being able to move around as much as she'd like! She rolls over and over but no crawling yet. She is so fun to be around. I love to see her every morning and know I get to spend the day with her!

Here are a few pictures...