Everything is changing..

Things have been so different since Ellie has come home. They haven't been bad...just different. We have a different schedule, different things to do and it has been a lot of fun. Dawson still hasn't gotten that jealous bug yet and I'm hoping he doesn't. He loves to hold Ellie and I've caught him picking her up twice (scared me really bad!). He always wants to play with her and loves to throw balls at her....he has a hard time understanding that she can't catch them!! But he makes sure she is in the room when we say prayers at night ( he tries making her fold her arms....still working on that!) and he loves to have her lay in bed with him while we read books.

Ellie is a such a good baby. She sleeps at least 4 hours at a time and usually only cries when she wants something. She likes to cuddle but she doesn't mine being by herself either. Our biggest problem is the cat being jealous of her. He is use to getting a lot of attention and we've neglected him lately.

We took the kids (wow, that looks weird) to the Quad to play yesterday. It was such a pretty day and we had a great time. Dawson chased squirrels around the trees and Ellie caught the attention of everyone who passed by.

I did accidently bloody Dawson's nose the other day. He was jumping over my leg, a game we play alot, and I moved my leg and he landed face first on the ground. His nose bleed so badly! He cried for a few minutes and I cried for a while. I felt so bad! But now we've had our first bloody nose. I tried taking a picture of it but they didn't turn out to well. Oh well! We'll have to be more careful next time!
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Flowers Dawson picked for Ellie James playing Dawson like a guitar

She's here!

I know this has taken almost a week for me to do but Ellie is finally here and we have pictures!

On Thursday morning I started having contractions but they weren't to bad so I went and finished my exams and folded some clothes and I even spot cleaned the carpet in our living room. We went to the hospital aorund 2:30 that afternoon. By then I was almost 7 centimeters. Thankfully Megan came and took Dawson for us. (Such a life saver!) Things progressed normally from there. We decided to speed things up a bit and we broke my water around 8:30...then everything nearly stopped. But after some medications, my contractions came back and Eloise Michelle Brannon entered the world at 11:52 on May 8th weighing 7 pounds, 1 ounce and 19 1/4 inches long!!

We are really glad to have her here. And thank you so much for everyone who came and visited us and has brought us meals. You guys are truely a blessing! Dawson has really taken to Ellie too. He knew exactly who she was when they brought her in the room. He said "There Ellie, I lub you" So sweet! He tries holding her all the time and loves to sing to her.

We'll post more later but enjoy the pictures of our newest member!

Friday is the big day!!

We went the doctor today and we decided to have Ellie on Friday. I'm at 5 centimeters today and I don't want to want any longer. Actually there is a good chance we won't even make it until Friday according to the doctor. As long as it's after lunch tomorrow, I don't care at all! Reality is finally setting in. There is still alot that needs to be done before she gets here and not much time left to do it all. My biggest thing is to make tomorrow extra special for Dawson. I really hope he doesn't feel left out when she gets here. I keep telling him that everyone is coming to see him and Ellie, not just because she's going to be coming home with us. I"m not really sure he understands. I do know that the other day he was sitting in my almost nonexstience lap and had his hand on my belly when Ellie kicked him really hard. He jerked his hand away and said "What's that for Mommy?" He didn't care for her moving under him very much!

We took Dawson swimming today again. James and Dawson usually go everyday while I cook dinner but today I decided to go too. It was a little cold but very fun. Dawson said he was going to drink the pool and I think he really tried!


He was so proud of himself for walking down the first three steps all by himself. The water was almost to his shoulders at the bottom.

James wanted to take pictures of me and Dawson but at this point in the game, I don't think so but here are a few of my favortie pictures of the two of them.


James tried splashing Dawson too. I think the picture turned out pretty cute.


Finals are almost over. Only one left to go and so far I've done good on all of them...I'm so glad this semester is almost over!

***This is not for those with weak stomachs....we will be talking about poop.***

This week has seem to hold a common theme for us. Up until now, Dawson has never been concerned about what comes out of his bum but now it is a real fanstination for him. We've been potty training (again!) and he won't poop in the potty. He'll ask for a diaper than do his business. Twice this week he has rubbed the poop all over his walls. We've had sme serious talks about how yucky that was and how it might make us sick. After the second time, I thought I was done cleaning up others poop. Wrong! We woke up this morning to a horrible smell coming from the bathrooms. Apparently the sewer had backed up into our bathtubs and overflowed one of our toliets. It was the grossest thing I have ever seen or smelt! It took them until after lunch to finally get the drains working again...but we still had to clean the mess up. After about an hour and a half of scrubbing ever inch of both bathrooms, I think we got it all. I have never used so much bleach and Comet at one time but I feel assured that there isn't the slighest bit of anything left. James is cleaning the carpets for me right now just so all the floors are clean and there's no chance any germs are around. Hopefully we won't wake up to this ever again!

But other than our adventure this morning, today was fun. We met up with some friends at the park. The boys played soccer and I even had a few minutes of adult conversation without hearing "hey mommy, hey mommy...". The boys even went swimming after we got home and all the elders came over for dinner. Poor Dawson was exhausted by the end of the day. But he's sleeping so soundly now! This is a picture of Dawson and Will from today. Will is our neighbor across the hall and Dawson's adopted big brother.

One Down, Four to go..

This week has flown by! Tuesday we had a cooking class at church which was so much fun! We learned how to cook light and I have been craving salads ever since. I went to the store to find some fresh lettuce but it was gross looking. I haven't had a chance to go back and look again.
Wednesday we had our doctor's appointment. I am glad t o say that everything is going good (other than the 2 pounds I gained this week...what happened to losing the weight?) and we are currently at 4 centimeters and PRAYING nothing changes before next Thrusday. My last test is at 11:30 that day so if she could just hold off one more week....If it weren't for finals, they would have induced me yesterday. But the Doc said if we wanted to (and assuming she hasn't made her appearance) we could have little miss Ellie next Friday. Reality hit when she said that. I could have another child by next weekend..crazy! I'm excited for her to get here but I hope she waits till I finish this semester.Plus my doctor was kind enough to go on vaction this week. I really don't want anyone else delivering her.
Today I took one of my finals. At least that one is done and it wasn't as painful as I thought it would be. But it's off to study for tomorrow's...I'll post some new pictures up this weekend when life calms down a little!