A Trip to Grandma and Grandpa Heaton's

March 20-23 I took the kids down to Hurricane to visit my parent's and my sister Shannon and sister-in-law Janice came up for their spring break with their kids! 8 kids and 5 adults for a couple of days was a lot of fun! Kael and Eden absolutely loved playing with their cousins! Kael finally had some boys who could keep up with him and Eden had some much needed girl time. She had her Auntie's do her hair and made her look pretty. With the 8 kids running around I was certain someone was bound to get a little beat up and sure enough Eden was that child... The first day we were there Eden must have fallen off the couch or something and came crying to me and I couldn't figure out what was wrong and my Mom finally said, "Um, look at her forehead". She had a goose egg the size of a small egg on her head! It stuck out so far! She wasn't crying that bad, so I didn't think it was bad, but the poor kid got the first battle wound. She kept walking around out back without her shoes and wouldn't learn her lesson, so by the last day she came in with 3 slivers and hives... I have no idea what caused the hives, but they were gone the next morning after some benadryl thank goodness. I'm pretty for certain Eden was the only one who got a little beat up...

This trip was much needed. We sure missed Derek though! I was so so so sick. After Disneyland my immune system must have been shot or something because I got the worst cold that I just couldn't get over. I couldn't sleep at night from coughing so much and I was just exhausted, on top of being pregnant and being nauseous. I was just kind of surviving. So, my Mom being the nurse she is nursed me back to health! Whew. It was so nice being able to sleep in and not stress about feeding my kids and just to relax and get the rest I needed. After some amazingly good drugs and several days rest I was almost feeling human again by the time we got home. However, by the time I got there the coughing was so bad I ended up with pleurisy (Pleurisy is inflammation of the lining of the lungs and chest (the pleura) that leads to chest pain (usually sharp) when you take a breath or cough.).

Yup, it was painful! How do you treat this? Ibuprofen for the inflammation. However, being pregnant, I can't take that. Blah!

I still am plagued with this pain to this day and I'm hoping very soon it goes away. This has been my hardest pregnancy yet! I considered myself quite blessed with Kael and Eden. They were probably considered easy pregnacies. I have to say I have so much more respect for women who are high risk or have difficult pregnancies. This pregnancy should hopefully get a little better in the next few weeks, but man I can't imagine a whole pregnancy like this. Kudos to you women who rock the pregnancy world!

More on the trip though. We got their Tuesday night and Kael loved having a sleep over with his cousins. It was his first! He had a hard time falling asleep though because there was so much going on. Grandma was awesome and each night laid by him until he fell asleep so that I didn't have to worry about him and I just got to go to sleep. Eden slept in a pack in play with me because she is the baby after all. :) Wednesday the kids played outside ALL day long. They dug in the dirt and looked for worms (which they found many). They loved exploring the backyard (aka the jungle). They did chalk and bubbles, and ran around with cousins all day long! Everything was new and fun! I got to go with Shannon to walmart and bought Kael a bike helmet finally (Yes, he's had his bike for almost 2 years now)... It was fun to go shopping with Shannon and just hang out. Then we just relaxed all day. Thursday morning the kids just played and played. After naps we went swimming at the rec center. I think this is a must do every time we visit Grandma and Grandpa. The kids love it so much and it wears them out! The next day was clean up and get ready to go home. I had a head light burn out, so we had to get that fixed before we left. We made it home on Friday night around 9ish and we were excited to see Dad! Thanks Mom and Dad for a fun break! And thanks for visiting us cousins!

You can see the huge bruise on her forehead above her left eye.

 The cousins outback blowing bubbles.

 Kael was loving outside! He got really good at the bubbles.

 Eden's cute hair do that Aunt Shannon gave her.

 Eden found this bucket and walked up to us.

 Then she said, look Mom I'm a turtle!

Clever girl.

Aunt Shannon went to town cutting everyone's hair. Eden, Kael, and I all got our's trimmed.

This was Eden's first haircut ever!

 Before Picture

 Before Picture

 After Picture

Still nice and long, but now it is EVEN! She snipped about an inch off the back. Now the top needs to grow in. Eden did pretty good. Glad it only took a few minutes because I don't know how long she would have held still otherwise. :) 

 Kael and Grandpa got their hair trimmed too. I was surprised how well Kael did! Probably because he sat on Grandpa's lap. This was his first hair cut since last July when I buzzed it. Ya. It was time for a trim.

 Grandpa with the cousins.

 Eden and Kael LOVE going swimming at the Washington Rec center with Grandma and Grandpa and all the cousins! We found life jackets this time and the kids wanted to take off on their own! Kael tried swimming a bit with his jacket off too and actually made it to Grandpa a couple times! The both really love the water! Eden loved floating on her back. She just kicked her little legs and tried swimming so hard, it was too funny.

 Eden, Kaylee, and Sharice

Eden might just need a sister...

 Grandpa and Kael and Isaac. The boys all love being with Grandpa. Kael just loves, loves, loves Grandpa! As soon as he came home from work, all the kids went to Grandpa! I don't think Kael left his side for the most part. He wanted to drive with Grandpa in Grandpa's car the entire trip, or else with the cousins. Our car was just too boring.

  A little work mixed with fun on the trip. We hung up picture frames for my Mom. She is going to have an awesome family wall! Hmmm. Maybe I should send her an updated family photo.... The last picture was when Kael was 6 months old...

 Heaton girls. We were exhausted! It was also almost 11 by that point and I haven't stayed up that late in a while... Well, since Disneyland.

Aunt Shannon didn't just do the kids hair, I got a trim and my hair braided out of my face. It was nice because being sick and feeling yucky, it was nice to just not worry about having to do my hair and have my hair out of my face! She learned how to do the Katniss braid from the Hunger Games and I sported that around for a few days. 

A 2 Year Old!

Dear Eden,

I hope that you know how much Mom and Dad and Kael love you! We didn't do much for your birthday this year, but you didn't know, so it worked out well. You really want a bike, so in a month or so we will get that and call it your birthday present. For your birthday Mom and Dad weren't feeling great, so we took turns going to church and you and Kael stayed home and just played in the house. Really that was it. We didn't do a thing else. Then, on Monday I started feeling kind of guilty. We really have spoiled Kael on his birthday's with him being the oldest, so we went to the store and I let you and Kael pick out cupcakes. You of course picked the princess! You went around all day saying it was your birthday and you were so excited for your cupcake! It was hard waiting for Dad to get home from school. It was fun seeing you blow out your candles and singing. The best part of your birthday was the next Sunday at church. We finally were able to go and at nursery all of your friends sang Happy Birthday to you and you got to pick a treat (a sucker), and wear a birthday hat! You would not take off the hat and kept saying, "My birthday hat, my birthday hat!" You were obsessed and quite frankly still are with the hat. You wore it to bed for your nap and then wore it the rest of the day. I think you just wanted everyone to know that you were 2 and had a birthday.

You have brought so much joy to our family. I could not imagine these last 2 years without you! You and Kael are best friends. You have to do whatever Kael is doing. You are such a big kid it seems like. You ask me questions and speak your mind. You call yourself a princess. Sometimes when Dad gets home from school you come up and hug him and say, "Dad, I a princess!" Seriously, who could deny you that?! You still love to eat anything put in front of you to which I will always be grateful for. You can dress yourself completely by yourself and love doing everything by yourself. You are so independent and want to prove it to the world. You are obsessed with painting your fingernails and toenails. You are 100% girl. I LOVE IT! You love bracelets and necklaces and dressing up. You still love babies and all these girl things are just your personality! I'm going to try to keep up with you over these years.

You are basically potty training yourself lately. The other day you took off your diaper went to your potty and peed and brought it in to me to show me, "Look mommy I go pee pee"! Yup, it's time to potty train you. Yesterday was going to be the day, but I'm a slacker... I need to up my game I think. Today we got you a potty chart and explained how things work. After you already peed on a chair and pooped on the floor. It upsets you a lot, so I am hoping it doesn't take you long to figure this out... You insist on wearing your princess underwear or nothing! It was so fun having you pick out your big girl underwear at the store. It of course was princess again.

You have your 2 bottom 2 year old molars, but the top have yet to show themselves. I really think this is why you've given me so much grief lately. Usually you are the most pleasant person. However, lately from midnight to 4 am you have given me a crazy journey the past week, until last night! Grandma told me you were probably teething and to give you some medicine before bed, and sure enough I numbed you up and you slept all night long for the first time in who knows how long. When you wake up at night you say, "Mom, rock me"! It's gotta stop. I love cuddling you because you are my baby, but it really isn't helping your sleep habits... I'm really going to miss holding you at night and just loving on you. It was our special time and I loved it.

Your favorite rides at Disneyland were Dumbo, and The Teacups! You were such a trooper and hung out with Mom a lot while Kael and Dad did big kid rides. I love our little adventures and you are such an amazing little person! You make life so enjoyable, rough moments and all! I am so proud of who you are!

I love you so much Eden Marie Bradley!
Love You Always,
Mom

I don't know how to tell you this...

BUT, Baby Bradley #3 is coming October 2012!

Sea World

You can't beat free right? So, we packed up on Thursday morning and drove to San Diego. We got to Sea World around 11 am. We got in for FREE from Derek's military status. The kids loved the animals. They were done by this point in the trip, but we still had a great day! We were able to see tons of animals and lots of shows. We watched the sea lion show, the pet's rule show, the dolphin show, and last the shamu show. All were worth it in my opinion! We were in the splash zone for the dolphin show and we learned really quick that the kids did NOT like getting salty water all over them. Every time a dolphin came close they would turn and hide. It was really funny, but the shows were amazing! I can't believe the things animals can do. After the shamu show the kids were about done, but we found an awesome splash pad that Eden fell in love with and got soaked from head to toe. Dolphins splashing=not ok, choosing to get soaked on your own terms=AWESOME. Then, Kael found the jungle gym type area where he climbed and did slides. They really have added a ton of stuff since we came when we were first married 6 years ago! We were totally beat by the end of the day around 4 or 5 and we decided to drive home all night. Derek was AMAZING! The kids slept practically the whole way, but if we ever do anything like this again, we will not drive the whole way. We will stop to sleep for sure. Our immune systems couldn't handle all the craziness, and as soon as we got home we were sick! The kids did fine, but poor Derek was just exhausted and sick, and a couple days later I got sick... We needed a vacation from our vacation!

This trip was amazing and we are so glad we got to take the kids! Disneyland, the beach, and Sea World were a completely different experience with our kids and I loved every moment! Sure love our little family and we can't wait for our next adventure!

Day 4 The Beach and Tommy's!

Loved every minute of this day!