Christmas Season in St. Louis.

There are always lots of Christmas festivities leading up to the actual holiday.  Before we left St. Louis we...went to two Christmas breakfasts (the kiddos saw Santa at the Park Forest club house), made spice kits for neighbors and friends as well as some chocolate-drizzled popcorn, watched "Frosty the Snowman" a bajillion times with Brie, went on a horse drawn carriage ride, caroled with Ed & the Hintzes, went over to Alaa and Abdul's for a delicious Middle Eastern dinner, took turns with the stomach bug :0(, celebrated our own Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, had Alaa & Abdul's family over for a special Christmas dinner, shared the story of the nativity and said our last goodbyes to them before they moved home to Saudi Arabia.  Other than getting sick (being pregnant + throw up bug = wanted to die!), it was a fun and special time of year with our little family.

this year's version.

(I didn't design this, just got the layout from a friend and typed in our info.)

Since we're not really great at mailing out Christmas cards, here's ours for the year.   Oh how I love this magical time of year and being reminded of the MANY many blessings we each have.  I'm grateful for our Savior that came humbly to Earth as the greatest gift of all.  I hope that gratitude, peace, joy and the love of Christ blesses your homes this coming year.  We hope you all have a WONDERFUL Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Brie Joyce.

The year Brie was born my Mom affectionately called her "Brie Joyce" (like rejoice)...fitting for the Christmas season and for this joyful little bugaboo of ours :0)

On Sunday Brie will be FOUR.  Where has the time gone?  It's crazy to think that she was Alex's age when we moved here, and now she's learning her ABCs and talking up a storm.  In any case, I want to write a few things about Brie, in honor of her big day.  If I were to sum up Brie, I would say that she...

...has so much personality!
...is our little fashionista, by choice dresses herself first thing in the morning, and often comes up with unusual yet cute ouftits.  When she finds one that she really likes she wears it over and over again.
...carries on a conversation like a grown-up and says the cutest, most creative things.  Like talking about an imaginary snake, Harry Hazard :0)  She says the darndest things and I wish I could just follow her around with a video camera recording every little thing. "Can I watch a special movie so I can fill my spirit up?" (she just asked that as I was sitting here typing.  Prime example of the cute things she says.)
...is my little kitchen assistant.  She loves to help me cook!  She prefers washing her hands with the "yummy smelling soap" in the kitchen then we get to work.  She pours ingredients into the bowl, stirs, washes fruits and veggies, does some minor chopping and so on.  I hope that she'll grow up with the love of cooking.
...is SO helpful!  Usually when I ask her to help me (please grab a diaper and wipe, throw this away, pick that up off the floor, straighten up the pillows) she'll say, "sure thing, Mom."  She truly is a great help.  This frequently comes in handy with her little brother and will be such a blessing when this little guy arrives.
...is fascinated by all things baby--cribs, strollers, car seats, diapers--and usually has a little "baby" that she is carrying around and taking care of.  She really does have a sweet, nurturing spirit and will be a wonderful mother someday.
...so energetic and fun!  She loves to jump, run, dance and play!  I love how she's such a girly girl, but has a bit of her Aunt Rachie's "tom boy" spirit in her too.
...is generally sweet and patient with her little brother.  He is the one that does the teasing, taking toys and hitting, but she often talks to him gently instead of getting upset.
...is a fun and happy girl!  She has her moments (especially if her Mom is having grumpy moments ;0)), but is so often cheerful and brings light and laughter into our lives.
...is so observant and has a great memory.  It amazes me what she picks up on and remembers!
...is learning her ABCs and can be found looking on the box of cereal, at signs, on envelopes...sounding out the letters.  Before we know it she's going to be reading.
...LOVES dressing up and doing tea parties and if she could she'd have me dress up and do a tea party with her every day ;0)
...is our little singer.  She seems to sing wherever she goes, especially when washing her hands in the bathroom, it's cute :0)  She also makes her own medleys, listening to them cracks me up.
...appreciates the simple beauties around her.  She often will stop to smell a flower, touch a tree, point out a sunset, lay down to look up at the sky.
I'm sure there's lots more I could say, but I'll end it here.

We love you Briana Joyce Graden!  Happy Birthday my little Sweetsie...here's to another wonderful year watching you embrace life and the world around you :0)

the stockings were hung...

This year I decided it was time to have some Graden family stockings.  So after hours of crocheting I came up with these beauties.  J/K!  Don't even know how to crochet.  Actually on Pinterest I saw the idea of taking an old sweater (I got mine from "the Outlet"), cutting out the form of a stocking and sewing around the edges.  So that's what we've got here.  I wanted each one to have a little personality...they definitely do, some even bordering on a little odd ;0)--especially Bry's--but oh well.  Instead of stitching a name into each one (I was tired of sewing after stitching them all up by hand), I decided to print out a picture.  Plus, I can change out the picture with an updated one each year.  A bell (from the Dollar Tree) a few scrap ribbons and voilà, our stockings...

(had to include a baby bump picture of me for this year's stocking)

P.S. Does anyone else LOVE opening their stocking Christmas morning?  It's one of my favorite things ... probably because my Mom always finds the cutest, most thoughtful things.

Third times a charm.

(18-24 November 2012)

I've decided that we need to get Em a "frequent visitor" punch card...she came all the way out to visit us THREE times this year!  This last visit was such a fun one, filled with projects, good food, and celebrating.  Some of the highlights include:

making our pineapple turkey baskets * Brie telling Em how grateful she was for all the cute things (clothes, shoes, belts, nail polish, etc.) that she had bought for her * Em & I eating out at My Daddy's Cheesecake then spending the evening chatting * getting a storage shed ordered, bins bought and LOTS of organizing done * hitting up good ol' Target * Pizza Party from IMO's pizza * making mini pumpkin cheese cakes with Ed & Ruth Anne * having a lovely Thanksgiving dinner together * hearing about the blessings of the year for each person * celebrating Em on her birthday * Hoot the night owl * lots of M & Ms and gummy bears :0) * Em's thoughtfulness and generosity (getting new clothes and shoes for the kiddos, buying lots of groceries, getting me snuggly & cute postpartum jammies and a home-from-the-hospital for this little guy...) * having "leftover" crêpes for breakfast (leftover breakfast burrito, leftover streusel cake, leftover turkey and mashed potatoes...j/k ;0)) * Brie taking Em to Lion's Choice for ice cream cones (paying with her own money, getting her very first receipt) * watching Em guide Brie in learning her ABC's (Bbbrrriiieee--Brie) * Em making play dough creatures with Brie * Bry braving the COLD to assemble the storage shed * Alex & Brie snuggling up to Em and her phone on the couch to watch "Blues Clues" or "Wonder Pets" * just having my big sis around

Not only was she here for Thanksgiving Day (she & Bry prepared the delicious feast that we had), but the following day was her birthday.  Now if you don't know this about Em, she is one thoughtful and generous person.  She is forever using her creativeness and spending her time and money to make other people feel special.  Although our tight little budget didn't allow for much, I was grateful to have her all to ourselves on her big day and to spoil her a bit.  And spoiling, in my book, most often involves food :0)

(pictures from our two "feasts" of the week)

Bry made his traditional streusel cake for breakfast and we made some extra chocolatey cocoa to go with it.  Then for dinner we had mini tart appetizers (sweet & spicy pepper and cranberry nut), a green salad with grapes, pomegranates and walnuts, lasagna, and then German Chocolate Trifle with peppermint ice cream.

Emmie, thanks for spending your Thanksgiving break with us!  

We all loved having you here ;0)

Tender Mercy.

Yesterday I started looking into cameras, and found one that was a {much welcomed} step up from my current camera*.  With a $250 instant rebate that this store is offering, it'd come to just over $500.  I've been saving up with each photo shoot here and there, but was still short $150...wondering where I would come up with that money, especially in time for Christmas.

Well, a sweet tender mercy came in the mail today.  A few months ago I had taken some pictures of my friend's house so that she could put it on the market to sale.  She had mentioned paying me, but I left that ball in her court and then forgot about it.  Today an envelope from that friend arrived a little bit ago.  I opened it to find a sweet note and a check for $150.  I couldn't help but cry.  Little did she know that she was an answer to prayer.  What a sweet testimony that the Lord is aware of us...and as Bry said, "it's important to Him because it's important to you."  God is good and I just had to share!

*side note: with my camera being over 3 years old (an eternity in this day and age, and no doubt having taken tens of thousands of pictures in its little life ;0)) and the repairs probably costing more than its current value, I'm thinking it's time to upgrade.

Not again.

Yesterday at the tail end of a photo shoot for my friend Alaa I went to grab my camera from the coffee table, the strap caught on something, the camera fell on the tile floor and is no longer working.  I called Bry to tell him what had happened and he probably thought that someone had died in the family...I was sobbing on the other end when he answered.   (Now the shutter doesn't work properly, throws an error, and I'm afraid it'd be another $250 to repair it!  Really?  REALLY?!)  Did this have to happen and right before Brie's birthday and Christmas? :0(  I have been needing to update my camera body anyway, so maybe now's the time...just wish that I had $500 lying around.  Santa, want to bring me a new camera?...a few weeks early?!  I wish ;0)

11.22.12

Blogging about Thanksgiving would not be complete if I didn't include the birth of my friend's baby boy!  With her permission, I'm sharing my epistle of an account ;0) At the end of September or so, Laura mentioned that she had decided for her third child's birth she wanted to try going naturally and felt like she should ask me to be her "doula" for the birth.  Several weeks before I had had the same thought and told her that, even though I had no real training and just the experience from Brie and Alex's births, I'd be honored to be there.  So for the last several months we'd been talking, exchanging emails, prepping for the birth, and in October even did a double date "lamaze class" with our hubbies :0) (Bry and I sharing thoughts, tips, breathing techniques, etc. that we thought would be helpful.).

The Wednesday night before Thanksgiving Laura called (around 9:30?) to tell me that her water had broken...two weeks before her due date.  I took a quick shower then she, Jon and I headed over to St. Mary's Hospital.  By the time she'd passed through triage (3cm) and was finally admitted and assigned a labor & delivery room it was just about midnight with no signs of labor.  The staff at that point didn't want her walking around for fear of the cord prelapsing and suffocating the baby.  She tried bouncing on the medicine ball, but that didn't work.  A few hours later her Doctor came in and said that he was OK with her walking the halls.  The nurse on shift, Nikki (who was so friendly and supportive), got her wireless monitor and IV hooked up and we hit the hall.  Within twenty minutes or so contractions had started which was great!  We ended up walking the halls through most of the night.  There were windows at the end of the hall and it was fun to see the sun rise over the city and to chat with Laura & Jon.  As long as she kept walking the contractions kept coming.  Things weren't too intense yet so I kept my camera close and tried to document little moments here and there.  Little by little they got stronger and she'd lean against the wall railing and breathe as Jon did counter pressure (on her hips and lower back), I did effleurage on her upper back and talked her through each one.  It seemed like it worked well for Laura and I was impressed by how well she did with her breathing then would "resurface" and continue walking and talking between the contractions. 

I want to say by 5AM she had progressed, but wasn't yet to a 5cm which was discouraging to her after the hours of walking.  At that point we went back to her room, the contractions slowed way down (may have even stopped?) and the three of us took cat naps.  

A little after 5:30 we decided to walk the hall again and once again the contractions starting coming and picking up fairly quickly.  We were still walking the halls when the nurses switched shifts...through the doors came Tiffany, the nurse who had delivered Laura's other two children!  We were flabbergasted, especially since she typically only works weekends AND that it was a holiday.  She was able to select Laura as her patient, ended up seeing Laura through til the end, and was such a blessing to have with us!  It was definitely a tender mercy that she was on that particular shift.  

Another tender mercy, that Laura reminded me of, is that the doctor that came in for the day (Doctor Martin) was LDS.  He happened to walk in right as Laura was asking Jon for a priesthood blessing and was able to assist in the blessing.  He was great to work with and ended up delivering Jacob.

At this point I can't quite remember the timing of things (probably because I had only had twenty minutes of sleep), but I seem to remember Laura's contractions really starting to pick up by 9 or 10am.   She was still laboring in the hall, but now Tiffany was out there walking with us, helping with counter pressure and adding her words of encouragement.  It definitely felt like a team! 

By noon or so Laura was checked again and she was only at 6cm.  It was great that she had progressed, but we had all hoped that she'd be farther along, especially after the intensity of her contractions.  Around that time Jon, Laura & I decided that she should try pitocin, and within a half hour the contractions were definitely picking up.  She was leaning against a rocking chair and breathing through each STRONG contraction as it came.  By this time it was especially hard to watch her go through each one....I could tell what pain she was in and remembered the intensity of contractions around that time in my labor.  Tiffany had stepped out of the room so it was just Jon & I trying to encourage her and cheer her on.  I really felt like transition was just around the corner, she had been managing the pain SO well, and wanted to do my part in encouraging a natural birth...I think Jon must have felt similarly because we both told her to keep going, that she was getting so close and that she would make it.  Although I knew how exhausted she must have been and wouldn't have blamed her for getting an epidural at that point.  Tiffany eventually came in to check her, and after laboring that way for over an hour she was still at a 6cm.  Such intense labor with NO progress :0( I think it was around that time that she requested an epidural and I really didn't blame her...she had walked through the night and most of the morning and had been laboring intensely for hours with no progress.

She had to be pumped full of fluids before they could administer the epidural, so she must have labored for at least another 30 minutes or so, the contractions REALLY coming on strong and becoming unbearable.  As soon as the fluids were done Tiffany checked to see where she was at...8cm, 90% effaced (she had been at a 50% since she came in) and the baby was at a +2 station instead of a -3!  She had done an amazing job and had made SO much progress!  The anesthesiologist came in, and I stepped out into the hall.  I'll admit, I kind of had a mini break down at that point and started to cry.  It had been such an emotional journey for me (especially with my own pregnancy hormones going on! ;0)) and I started to pray...why had Laura and I both felt prompted to help her in a natural birth if her labor would be SO long and intense and she'd needed an epidural in the end?  As I sat there, a stream of thoughts came to my mind...it hadn't been a mistake, things hadn't flopped, the Lord was mindful of us and that perhaps if she hadn't attempted to go naturally her body wouldn't have gone into labor like it needed to and could have resulted in a C-section.  (Of course a C-section is not a horrible thing, but it was a wonderful thing that she had avoided it.)  I was so grateful for that gentle reassurance from the Lord.  

Twenty minutes later the anesthesiologist left and I returned to the room.  Within 10 minutes Laura was complete and ready to push!!  Unfortunately her epidural didn't work very well (she could feel LOTS of pressure and some pain, and was to feel and move her legs).  She pushed for about an hour and her sweet little Jacob was born! (as soon as he was born I "changed hats" and grabbed my camera to document the happy occasion :0))  I've given birth to two children, but it was incredible to witness a birth.  And let me tell you that after such a long and rigorous experience it was an especially amazing thing to see him crown, be born...hear his first cry and see him placed on his Mom.  What a sweet finale.  I was so grateful to have been there from start to finish.  (Laura felt so bad that I had been there through the night and into Thanksgiving day, but I really did feel privileged to be present and to help throughout.  Plus, Bry picked me up from the hospital around 3pm, I came home and crashed for an hour on the couch and woke up to a beautiful Thanksgiving feast that Bry & Em had made.  Not too shabby.  Definitely a Thanksgiving never to forget ;0)) 

I need to add is that I felt really blessed to be inspired with ways to aid Laura during the birth...memories from Brie and Alex's births...things that I thought would be helpful to her as well.  Such as pinning her hair back, effleurage, keying her in on her progress at every stage in the game (pushing included), etc. AND it made me SO much more appreciative for the people that assisted me for my kids' births, and reminded me how much their attentiveness and care saw me through both times!

Congrats again, Hintzes!!

Give thanks. Walk.

Two weekends ago (17 November 2012), our family participated in the St. Jude's Give Thanks Walk here in St. Louis.  As Bry knows, I was just eating up the fact that... we were spending time as a family, helping to raise funds for these sick little children, getting out in Nature, getting into the Thanksgiving spirit, taking part in our community and walking 6K :0)  Win-win-win-win.... 

Thankfully we bundled up because it was a nice but pretty chilly morning, the kids were good sports.  Alex napped for most of the way, Brie rode for awhile then walked alongside of the stroller.  Before we'd even walked a mile I could tell my almost-six-month-pregnant-self was going to give me some grief so we walked at a pretty leisurely pace. (It gave me time to take some pictures along the way of beautiful Crêve Coeur Park, the cute signs that dotted the path, the rowing teams on the lake, and all of the cheerful lime green paraphernalia )  The goal was not to win, but to walk :0)  I'm pretty sure that we were last to finish.  Ironically enough, our neighbor Zach was the 1st place male runner!  First and last, gotta love it.  In any case, it was a delightful morning, and fun to think of all of my siblings participating in the same cause in SLC, Utah.  What a great way to kick off Thanksgiving!