Friend Party

Blowing out his candles Being shy as they all sing to him
Payton & Francesca (Payton said he was going to marry her:) Payton and his best buddies from his babysitter's house

The whole gang eating a snack

Graham getting in on the fun

Payton with his buddies from preschool

We had wanted to put off a "friend" party until Payton was in Kindergarten but with Brady being born we felt that we wanted to give Payton something special around that time so we offered it up and he took it! He requested a party at Airtastic, a jumpy place by us. He was allowed to invite 10 friends and we let him make the list. I had such a hard time with letting go of the list and letting him totally choose who he invited. We have only had family parties up until now so I really wanted to invite all of MY friends and their kids but I soon realized that he IS 5 and I should probably let him decide who he invites. He had a hard time keeping the list to 10 but in the end I think he did a pretty good job of inviting kids from all different groups. I did not influence him at all and Graham just wrote down the friends he picked. In the end there were 8 boys and 2 girls at the party and they really were all of his close friends. Even though parties at these places are expensive, they are so well worth it. The people there ran everything!! I didn't have to clean or cook, all I did was bring some decorations and the cupcakes. Payton loved every minute of it, which made it all so worth it! This Saturday is the big family party:)

Birthday Boy

Payton's class

Listening as they sing to him

At Choo Choo Johnny's

Birthday pancakes

On February 22nd, Payton turned 5-years-old! I can't believe my baby is 5!! Graham had to work that day so I made him some special birthday pancakes, took him to McDonald's for lunch and played lots and lots of games of Sorry. When Graham got home we took him to Choo Choo Johnny's for dinner. He, of course, had a hot dog and fries and we brought our own cupcake for him for dessert. When we got home he opened some of his gifts from us, which included Starwars Trouble, a transformer shirt and the game War.

On February 23rd, I brought in birthday treats to Payton's preschool class. I had a great time and even got to read a story to his class.

Sneak Peak

Here is a sneak peak of the great pictures Becky took of Brady and some with Payton & Brady together.

Brady

Newest Member of the Family

Getting ready for the big game Graham & Brady (playoff beard is now gone:)

Proud big brother

Looking at Brady after his bath

Minutes after he was born

On January 18th, Brady Graham Brown was welcomed into the world weighing in at 8lbs 9oz and was 20in long.

After a three day weekend, we went to bed Monday evening thinking I had another week to go. Graham's second semester was starting on Tuesday so he was going to be greeting new students in new classes the next morning. Little did we know that at about 1:30am my water would break and we'd be off to the hospital. We called my Mom and she came and sat at our house with Payton. We got to the hospital around 2:30ish and were checked in by 3am. I was only 2cm dilated so we had some waiting to do. At about 9am, I was about 4.5cm and got my epidural on the advice of the nurse. The epidural pretty much halted all progress and by 11am I was still only 4.5cm. They started pitocin at 11:30am and the progress went fairly quickly after that.

Unfortunately, from my experience last birth and with the one this time, the Dr. told me that my body does not accept epidurals completely and that is why I could move my legs up and down and could feel every contraction, even after two doses of the epidural! I have to admit it was pretty painful during each contraction from about 6cm on. After 45 minutes of pushing, Brady was born at 3:24pm. He was over a pound smaller than Payton was so to me he was a little peanut:) I was still debating between 2 names for both a girl and a boy so he was knows as "baby boy brown" for the first few hours and on all of his hospital bands. Graham told me I had til Payton came to see him to decide on the name:) No pressure!

Payton and my parents came around 5:30 that evening. Payton was so excited and couldn't wait to hold and kiss on Brady. He is such a great big brother!

Graham went to work the next day since he was feeling bad about missing the first day of 2nd semester. He got things started with his kids and then took off Thursday and Friday. We went home on Thursday and had a couple of days to get situated. Graham's parents came on Friday for a week. They were a lot of help with Payton and the cooking:) My Mom took a couple of days off before we went home and after Graham's parents left which was also a lot of help. Today as I write this I am home with Brady, Payton is at the babysitters house and Graham is at work. It is nice to get into a routine and to spend some quality time with just Brady.

He has been a great baby so far. He sleeps well at night, anywhere from 3-4hr stretches and usually is easy to put right back to bed. He is up more during the day now which is fun. Payton enjoys spending time with Brady and giving him lots and lots of hugs and kisses. Payton is great about helping Graham and I out by getting diapers, picking out Brady's outfits and making sure he isn't crying. I am so blessed to have two perfect little boys.