Thanksgiving & Black Friday

Thanksgiving was delicious this year, as always. We went up to my grandparents house in Battle Ground, WA. We are all trying to eat healthy, so we had more of a light Thanksgiving dinner and it was great. I didn't feel stuffed and gross. We spent the day with my cousin Stephanie and her kids, as well as my Uncle David. It was nice visiting with them. I made my first apple pie, from the apples I picked and canned. It was pretty good if I say so myself.

BLACK FRIDAY: My sister and I woke up at 4:15am to go to Fry's (an electronic store) 25 miles away. We get there about 10 minutes before the store opened and the line was 6 feet wide, wrapping around the whole building. This is the size of Costco mind you. We took one look at this line and turned around. Fred Meyer's 50% off sock sale started at 5am, so we thought we would hit that up. We made it back to Oregon City by 5:10 and had a glorious time at Freddy's. It was busy, but very relaxing. Not only did I get socks for everyone in the family (at 50% off), but I also got a running watch. Originally $50, but I got it for $34. I was quite happy.

My little sister Kalen joined the OCHS Flag Team (the first year in existence). They marched in this year's Macy's Day Parade. Unfortunately, Braden wasn't up in time to head down there, but my parent's got good pictures and we watched it on tv. Kalen was the only person from the flag team that was shown. She looked amazing. (She is the girl in the back with the black scarf.)

Kalen in action.
Later that night we went to the mall. We had 30 minutes to kill so we let Braden play in the kids area. I have never seen a happier boy. He was all over the place.

He loved these tunnels.

Friday was a fun, but exhausting day. We went to The Grotto's Festival of Lights that evening (post to follow). Braden couldn't be more happy to be visiting and playing with his family. I just wish I wasn't so sick. That has really put a damper on my trip. Blake has even banished me to the couch at night so my coughing doesn't wake up Braden. I guess that's ok because (minus the coughing) I have slept better.

Catching Up

I know some people have commented on how it has been over a week since I have posted. My parent's computers and Internet has been slow. I did make a previous post about Braden crawling, but now I will let you know what I have been up to since being here in Portland. My mom drove up on Friday to pick Braden and I up. We headed back to Oregon City on Saturday night. I have just been relaxing since being here. Blake finally joined us this evening.

Uncle Blair is working at D.I. and got his favorite nephew a cool present. (This scares the crap out of Baxter, Toren & Audrey's dog.) It wouldn't be Oregon City if we didn't hook up with my best friend Jennie and her son Blake.

We just couldn't keep Blake out of the cage. (Seth & Jennie wanted me to note that this is the first time he has been in a cage. This shouldn't be familiar to him)
I have such a wonderful family. My sister's and dad were helping bath Braden tonight. When Braden is upset, he has a favorite song. Just remember, Forsberg's aren't musical.

Completely Mobile

It was Friday night around 7:45 pm. Braden was eager to get to mommy. She just kept scooting backwards, but he was determined to get her. It was not a traditional crawl, but mom and dad were so excited. The great thing is my mom knocked on the door right after and got to enjoy of the first crawling bliss with us.

Later that night Blake watched Braden crawl out of his room, down the hall, and into the bathroom. He proceeded to shut the door so Blake couldn't get in. I guess he had to use the restroom and wanted some privacy.
Now it's Monday. I am down at my parent's house. Blake will join us on Wednesday. I have soon come to realize crawling isn't the most exciting. Braden is now into EVERYTHING. I finally got a good video of him crawling at my parent's house. All parent's out there. Don't encourage crawling. Wait as long as possible. I can already tell our life has changed, mostly for the good, but also for the worst.
My mom said this morning she set Braden down so he could play with his toys in the family room. She started to prepare breakfast in the kitchen. Less than a minute later she noticed that Braden had followed Frisbee (her dog) into the kitchen to eat breakfast with him. Fortunately my mom caught him before he shoved the handful of dog food into his mouth.

Baby Sounds & Apples

Old Diaper boxes make great toys for a 9 month old. He can spend hours in there.

I thought these were some cute videos of Braden's new sounds and movements. The video doesn't show it too well, but he likes to bear crawl.

His other favorite thing is eating apple slices. He can spend at least 30-45 minutes chomping down on these slices.

They are great for him to eat while I prepare dinner. He can even do baby yoga while eating, how impressive.

Look at how hard he works to eat it.

It's Back...

Baby B's ear infection that is. He has had a runny nose the past couple days, followed by a 101 degree temperature yesterday. At P.S. this morning, he was pleasant (as long as he was in my arms). My friend Laurel decided to be pro-active and scheduled a doctor's appointment for me so I didn't have to wait in the Urgent Care (which is what I was planning on doing). Thanks Laurel, it was nice to just walk right into the doctor's office.

Dr. Mike was so helpful and gave me the bad, yet good news that he had some pretty bad ear infections. It was only good news because we know what is wrong. Hopefully with a different antibiotic and a couple of days, Baby B should be feeling better just in time for Thanksgiving. I love my son and hope he gets better.

I also thought I would throw in this FHE Board I made at Super Saturday last week. I am NOT crafty at all and was impressed with myself for not screwing it up.

Back to my Baby

An update on my baby from the last post about him. I love him again. As stated in the post, he had just gotten a tooth on Sunday and I have just discovered another one. That's 2 bottom teeth for my boy. He hasn't been as clingy, in fact, he has been rather pleasant. I attribute this to a long sincere prayer to my Father in Heaven. (Firm testimony of prayer right here.) I thought it would be fun to post some pictures of what Brado's been up to lately.

He is completely mobile. He doesn't have the crawling thing down quite yet, but he can definitely get from point A to point B. His new favorite place is under our coffee table.

He thinks he's pretty hot stuff under there. He has also mastered pulling himself into a standing position using the coffee table, or anything else for that matter.
What a messy eater. He still loves to shove the food into his mouth, thus sticky hands go everywhere. Notice the rash on his upper and lower mouth. That's what happens when you feed him anything with cheese in it (ex: broccoli & cheese, mac & cheese).
This is a cute video of Braden and some of the things he likes to do. Beat his chest like King Kong, tap toys together, you can even see his exaggerated crawling movement. Enjoy!

Overall, I am in love with my baby again. For those parent's who haven't entered the teething stage, I am so sorry already. Last night we attended the temple and he got to play with my Primary President. I guess he was only irritable for the last 30 minutes, but her kids did a pretty good job entertaining him. What high school boys will do to keep a baby happy. Thanks George's.

The Great Thing About a Doug...

...is that he is a Dentist, almost. Which means he can do dental stuff. As I said from a previous post (from LA), I had something really fun done. Doug whitened my teeth. I have wanted to do this FOREVER, but couldn't justify the $250-$300 to do so. But when you have a cousin-in-law who is a Dentist, then you can have it done for $31.50 (cost of the bleach).

Ok, so I tried to find a good before picture, but couldn't find one. I will also refrain from showing you the closeup picture my cousin took. It is pretty gross. Here I am getting a mold of my bottom teeth.

Mold of the top. There is stuff ALL over my face.
Here are my teeth. Doug said they are beautiful. Thank you braces.

After a week of bleaching, here it is. My friend Jessica also dyed my hair. I am going to get it cut next week. I don't know if you can tell, but they are getting white. I still want to do it for another week because I want really pearly whites.
Next to meeting the Executive Producer of Medium, this was the favorite part of my trip.

KitchenAid It Is

I am thankful for all the thoughts on my Christmas purchase. Since I will mostly be using it for basic home needs versus large batches of bread I have determined that I will be getting the largest size KitchenAid. I know it's a little more money, but from what you all said, it is well worth the investment. I have just one more question, do you recommended the Tilt Head Mixer or the Bowl Lift Stand Mixer?

KitchenAid vs. Bosch

For Christmas I really really want some kind of kitchen mixer. The two big names I know are KitchenAid and Bosch. I know there is also Cuisinart. I just wanted every one's opinion on which one's the best. I have read reviews online, but I would rather know from you. If you have one, let me know what you think. If you have a parent or friend who has one, can you get their opinion?

For now we aren't worrying about money, I just want to know which one's the best. Money will come in to play later. I would use it for around the house stuff like making cookies, cake, mashed potatoes, etc. I don't think I would use it for extremely large batches, as I mostly cook for just Blake and I. I hope this helps you help me. I look forward to your thoughts.

Picture Tag

My friend Megan picture tagged me. I typically don't do these, but this picture reminded me of some good times. This was taken in Leicester, England. My group of friends and I were on the way to go dancing. The thing I loved about this group is they represented 6 countries, 7 if you count me. They were so fun and made my time in England just great!Some fun facts: I went to a formal dance with Ben (the first guy on the left) and spent every minute of everyday with Francois (S. Africa) and Julia (Canada) who are on the right. My friend Brinder (very front) came to visit me for 2 weeks a couple of years ago. It was his first trip to America. I like to think he had a good time. England was such a fun experience. I got to meet a lot of interesting people and learn a lot of new things. I was grateful for this opportunity.

Okay, so here's the tag:
1. Go to your fourth album
2. Choose the fourth picture
3. Post and explain
4. Tag 4 people...so I tag Nicole, Audrey, Lyndzi, & Sara

Overwhelmed with a Face Like This?

Braden,

What happened to my cute and sweet little baby? I read over previous posts where I am just so happy because you were such a perfect baby. Well, you are definitely NOT perfect anymore. In fact, I am just so tired and overwhelmed with you. You want to be held ALL the time. I have to be right next to you ALL the time. You won't even let me run to the bathroom or get you food without a fuss or cry.

I mean, I love you most of the time, but there are the times when I don't. Does that make me a terrible mom? You started to get fussy about a month ago and my mom assures me this will continue for at least another month. I just hope happy boy comes sooner rather than later.I guess I have to give you a little bit of sympathy because you did just get your first tooth on Sunday which means more teeth are coming, but it seems like all the Tylenol and Orajel in the world won't help you be happier.

Am I doing something wrong? Are you just bored, sick, tired, hungry....? I wish you could just tell me what you are feeling and I would fix it because I am your mommy and I really do love you. Just sometimes (today for example) I get overwhelmed with you, even with a face like that.

Love,

Your Mom

Finding Friends

Isn't it fun to find old friend's blogs? I love this blogging stuff and keeping up-to-date with friends and family.

Happy Birthday Blair & Jennie

I want to give a shout out to my brother, Blair, for his 19th birthday. He just had is wisdom teeth out, so is feeling pretty miserable. Get better soon little bro. Fun story about Blair.

My older brother Toren used to open up his Christmas presents and strategically re-wrapped them when my parent's weren't home. One year (when Blair was younger) Toren opened up one of Blair's gifts. He was sworn to secrecy. However when my mom got home he ran up to her and said, "Mom, I didn't want the Red Power Ranger pajamas, I wanted the Blue ones." Oh Blair, we love you!

It's also one of my best friends' birthdays (JENNIE). I need to post some fun pictures of our life together, because we have had some great times. She is practically family, as noted from the picture below. (Picture below: Jennie, my Grandma Evans, & me). I love this girl. I hope you got to celebrate your birthday last night. Can't wait to see you at Thanksgiving.

LA Day 5 & 6: The Getty & Medium

Really cool story located at the bottom, don't miss it. It is one of the most exciting things of my trip.

Day 5: The week has finally come to a close. We bathed the kids and got them ready for a fun filled day.

Kara decided to take me to The Getty. For those non art people (like me), The Getty is a large art museum in the LA area. It was so large, beautiful and peaceful. Overall, a fun day. Enjoy the pictures.

View of Downtown LA & the Ocean One of the many many buildings They had a small children's exhibit. Braden loved the mirror and reading room

Braden on the train When Doug got home from school, we headed back down to Westwood and decided to get a yummy cookie sand which at Diddy Riese. A little bit of Heaven for only $1.50

Braden and Evelyn had a blast playing with the newspaper that evening.

DAY 6: Our flight left LAX at 6:30am this morning. Considering that I didn't go to bed until midnight and woke up at 5:00 am, I was glad Braden slept most of the plane ride from LA to Seattle.My favorite part of the whole trip came at the end. We had a little 45 minute plane ride from Seattle to Pullman. I sat down by a nice gentlemen who complimented my adorable baby. Braden fell asleep right away (testimony of prayers right here). This man happened to be coming to WSU for father's weekend. We got to talking and guess what! He is the Executive Producer of one of my favorite shows, MEDIUM.

If you haven't seen it, watch it, you will really like it. We talked the whole ride (hardly about the show, although he did tell me some fun things to expect this upcoming season. He also let me take a peek at episode 9. Looks good!). I was almost embarrassed when he told me because I really do love this show and was just looking yesterday when the new season was starting. When we finally landed, I thanked him for the wonderful conversation. He went and got his rental car and then came back to formally introduce himself, as we never told each other our names. He also gave me a handwritten note with his name and e-mail and told me to the next time I was in LA I could come to the studio. He also said if I have any friends that want to come check it out, I should let him know. Any takers?

Not only do I want to go back to LA for the weather and friendships, I want to go back to be on set. How cool would that be! Overall, I had a blast. I am usually ready to come home, but I could have spent a couple more days, although I don't know if my cousin would have wanted me. Thanks Kara and Doug for putting up with my little terror. I already miss cute little Devin and Evelyn.

LA Day 4: Playgroups & Grumpy Kids

Day four was just as beautiful as the day before. I woke up at 6:30am (that's what Daylight Savings has done to me, ah!) and I knew the day wasn't going to be good. Braden was already grumpy. I was grateful when he went down for his morning nap and I got to go running. I have found that this really relaxes me.

When I got back I helped Kara get ready for Evelyn's playgroup. It actually sounds like a sweet deal. There are kids in the group. Each of the mother's take turns hosting the kids at their house. While the kids are playing, the free mother's get to do whatever they want. I am already planning a group in my mind for when Braden is older.

Look how cute little Devin is. He loves looking at books. He is the size that Braden was when he came out. I don't know how I had that baby in my tummy. Braden relaxing in Evelyn's Princess Chair. I need to get one of these, he loves it. (Just maybe not the Princess one)
His other favorite toy was this plastic chair. There is a little lap, crayons & book on the shelf. They are all interactive.His favorite part was standing up. It was so cute to watch him do this.

Here's where advice is needed. I don't know if it is just Braden's age, but all he does is whine. He has been doing this now for about 1 1/2 months. It's not a cry, but a whine. He wants to be held ALL the time and I just can't do that. It also makes me mad because he won't play with anyone other than mom or dad. How can we modify this behavior? Is it his age or can we do something to help him be more friendly? Even if I am in the room he will cry if someone else holds him to play. It drives both Blake and I crazy because we don't want him to be shy AT ALL. Any advice?

As the title indicates, both Evelyn and Braden were grumpy the rest of the night. Kara was grateful when Doug got home. I made some yummy Cincinnati Chili and then Kara, Braden, Devin and I headed off to Costco to grab some stuff. Mostly we just wanted out of the house. Why can't Braden be as good as cute little Devin here. I miss those days.