2 Weeks Old!

Wow! The last 2 weeks have flown by! They have been busy in our home. Kudos to my friends who have more than one child and keep their blogs updated. You are amazing. So, a recap...we brought Brigham home from the hospital, after being with us for 6 months Heidi left us for Arizona, Grandma went back to Seattle, we had a baby shower, celebrated Father's Day, and put our house back together after our water heater leaked all over our bedroom. Hooray for Bradley on that last happening. He replaced the unit and did all the repairs by himself! He continues to amaze me at how handy he is. I had no idea until we bought our trailer.
And so, being a mother of two...thus far I have learned that no two babies are alike. I have felt like a first-time-mom many times over the last couple weeks. Brigham is wonderful but has presented us with some challenges, or opportunities to learn, that we never experienced with Allen. He was jaundice so the hospital sent us home with a bili-bed. We had to do that with Allen, but for Brigham they sent out a nurse every day for 4 days in a row to draw his blood and check his bilirubin level. Doesn't seem so bad right? Well, they would take a whole vile of blood and have to milk his heel for 5 minutes to get it...while my newborn was screaming bloody-murder in my arms. I cried a lot. We've also been introduced to a new word: Colic. He seems to be getting a little better, but for a while there little Brigham would cry whenever he wasn't asleep or at the breast (I say crying but it's more like wailing...you know, when you wonder when they'll gasp for breath again. It makes me nervous.). So far chiropractic adjustments have proven the most effective. We've tried mylicon drops and even learned a bit of baby message. It's coming a long but still can be unnerving because Allen never cried like that. Beyond these challenges, he has been a very adorable baby with plenty of wonderful moments. We've caught some sweet little smiles and had some fun interaction between the boys. We truly love our new little family. Enjoy the photos!

Here we are at Logan College where we met Daddy for lunch.

I love the way Allen is so interested in counting Brigham's toes. It makes me laugh.

Not the most accurate scale! Brad was having some fun. I'm actually impressed with this photo though...I took it on my phone and emailed it to myself.

Doesn't he look like a thoughtful little sleeper? :)

We call this Brigham's spa chair. It vibrates and he really seems to enjoy it. We love it for those moments when we need some hands free.

Here is Allen with his 2nd tricycle. Grandma bought him the first one and we all agreed it was a little small for him. Then we found this one with higher handle bars and bigger wheels. It fits him perfectly and he's had a lot of fun on it.

Here is little Brigham in his car seat. I love the little jean head rest because it has a hole cut out in the back. Its suppose to help keep his sweet little head shape. It worked well for Allen. I highly recommend this product.

What a handsome Daddy!

Happy Father's Day! To celebrate we invited some friends over for dinner and the 2 Fathers enjoyed a treat...crab legs!

Grandma!

We were lucky to have my mom in town for two weeks to help out. I think Allen was the luckiest though, Grandma spoiled him rotten! She bought him toys (too many to list), took him on walks, played with him constantly, took him to the park, and helped keep life normal while we were all on crazy schedules. We all enjoyed her visit very much and feel greatly indebted to her. Thanks mom!

Here is mom playing with Allen and the train set she bought for him. It is Allen's new favorite toy. He assembles the track and plays with it for a good couple hours everyday! I've never seen him play with a toy for so long. He is very into trains right now. He loves the Thomas & Friends series. Grandma also bought him 2 Thomas books and 2 Thomas DVD's. He's in train heaven!

Allen even lines up his cars and plays with them like trains. It's really fun to see his little imagination at work.

Grandma took Allen to the park several times during her visit. This particular time she took our camera and captured quite a few adorable poses of him at play. I can't believe how big he's getting! Also notice the Seattle shirt Grandma brought him from home. I think he's adorable in yellow.
Did I mention he is also very bold? Grandma kept having to move him from the big-kid size toys to the toddler appropriate toys. Here he is climbing the mini rock wall. I love it.

Those blue eyes!

Grandma also got some quality time with Brigham. Here she is soothing him while he had to stay on the bili-bed.

Another method of clearing up the jaundice--sunbathing!

Karma has taken really well to the baby. She likes to lay near him and occasionally she'll lick his head. She does have to battle a bit more for our attention but I'm thankful that she's been so gentle with Brigham.

Another sunbathing moment.

Clinic!

Bradley is in trimester 7 now at Logan and that means he has started seeing his first patients in the student clinic. He has looked forward to this moment throughout the past 5 years of intensive science classes! This trimester he sees students and their families in the student clinic and the next 3 trimesters he will see patients from the community in Logan's outpatient clinic. Brad loves giving chiropractic adjustments and can't wait to get out into practice.

Here is one of Brad's business cards (the part that would scan in) that Logan gives interns. They were presented to the new Tri 7 students at a breakfast I got to attend with Brad. We are so proud of him!

Baby Shower!

My mom collaborated with my visiting teacher and a few of my friends to throw an open house for Brigham and I. It was really nice to visit with friends and celebrate Brighams arrival. I loved having the baby there at the shower. It was a great opportunity for people to meet him. Thank you everyone!

This is Jennifer, one of my faithful visiting teachers. The shower was held at her beautiful home. Thanks Jennifer!

Goodbye Heidi!

Brad's little sister Heidi came to live with us last January and she left us a week ago. She quickly became part of our family and we all miss her very much. Karma especially, she's been acting out this week, we think shes going through Heidi withdrawals. Allen likes to sing a little song he made up that just lists the members of our family in different keys. It still goes, "Daddy, Mommy, Heidi, Karma, Allen!" He's added Brigham now too...but I think it will be a long while before he drops Heidi's name. I'm mostly going to miss having another female in the house. It was almost like having a college roommate again--lots of laughing, girl talk, chick flicks, and sharing clothes. Heidi really became one of my best friends. There's a small chance that she could come back in the fall. We hope she does. Here are some photos of us all saying goodbye. Sad times.