Crossing My Fingers!

Who doesn't want to win something?? Well if you are like me and you like to enter giveaways...even when the chances seem pretty slim (one day I will get that 1 in 33,000 comment chance to get a KitchenAid from Pioneer Woman).
So, please understand why I am straying away from my usual family updates to post about a Great Give Away that I have stumbled upon (more than one to be exact!) it is for a:

Silhouette SD

There are a billion....and I mean a billion things that can be done with it! A few little crafts that I wouldn't mind trying my hand at:

Monogrammed pillows

Etching our last name into our cassarole dish

Making these cupcake liners

I could really make GREAT cards for my card swap group

And I am SMITTEN by this tote...I must have one with an "M" on it!

They also have the heat transfers for T-shirts so I can FINALLY make a T-shirt that says:

"I'm still a Rock Star" on the front & "Got my Rock Moves" on the back...or maybe I'll make the one that says, "I don't want to be a princess" on the front "I want to be a vampire" on the back

I get all of my chances to get one of these little babies from these Awesome Websites:

Kara's Party Ideas

The Shabby Nest

Under the Table and Dreaming

Summer!

It seems like summer has just begun, but yet....it's almost over?!?

We took Brigham on his first trip to Utah and he traveled like a rock star!! It makes his Mom & Dad very happy that he does so well in the car.

Saturday we (me, my Mom & Jeanette) threw our soon-to-be sister in law, Jamie, a bridal shower. We did a fun Food Network theme and she walked away showered with some pretty great cooking gear.

David & Jamie are getting married Septemeber 1st. We are way excited for them and I'm thrilled to have Jamie as a sister, she's great!

Sunday we were also able to bless Brigham while we were down there with all of his aunts,uncles & cousins. It was a very special & beautiful blessing.

Brigham looked adorable (How terrible of a mom am I that I didn't think to take a picture of just Brigham in his blessing outfit...maybe I should squeeze him into it again...) He wore the same shirt that Ryan wore when he was blessed. So sweet!!Ryan & Brigham, Royal & Grant, Ben & Cooper and Chris & Benson

Ryan has a group of friends that have been together since highschool (with the exception of Ben who has been his friend since kindergarten). Well this group of boys now each have a boy of their own....they have created a new generation of themselves!

And then we went to the Steineckert Annual Bear Lake Vacation!We had a large condo, a room to ourselves and three days in and I got the 24 hour bug (blah!) So even though I was down for a day we still had fun laughing, playing, eating and swimming. Anyone up for a friendly round of Battle of the Sexes??

And then we come to Brigham's first time at the pool. We were hoping to do it up at Bear Lake, but with me being sick ....somethings didn't get done. So when we went to Grandpa's house - that has a pool - we made sure to take the opportunity!

Just tilt your head a little and then it will look right-side up :) Brigham seemed to be enjoying it. The bobbing, swishing and a little splashing...it was quite relaxing for him. So relaxing that he fell asleep before we got out of the pool! A quiet pool side nap with Mommy :)

Before we knew it it was back to Burns for us! This vacation went by far too quickly, but thankfully we'll be back in a few weeks to enjoy a longer trip (sorry to the many that we didn't see on this jampacked one!)

I am a SAHM

So, here is how it all went down:

• Awesome job as a legal secretary. LOVE it! Literally LOVE it!! I find the law so interesting (heck! planned on being a prosecuting attorney until I changed my major in college) and here was a great chance to bea part of it - and not have to pay, but BE paid!


• Two weeks after starting said Awesome job found out that I was pregnant YEAH!!!!!!


• Told Awesome Boss at Awesome Job "I'm pregnant". Awesome Boss says, "I don't want to lose you! Please say you will come back after having the baby. You can bring the baby to work with you I don't care!"


• Take up Awesome Boss at the Awesome Job with this Awesome Opportunity. I really felt very lucky to have a boss so willing to do that. Plus I felt I could have the best of both worlds and once Awesome Baby starts to crawl around, I would just stay home.


• Awesome Boss says that he would be willing to pay half of the child care for Awesome Baby if I stayed at the Awesome Job.


• April 23rd Awesome Baby arrives and I am just in constant awe.


• Go back to Awesome Job, with Awesome Baby and feel like it's all awesome, but would rather stay at home.


• Awesome Boss turns to me after our first day, "Would you rather be at home?" I reply, "Yes". He responds, "Do you want me to find a replacement?" and I say, "Yes"


• Go home to tell my Awesome Husband that I'm retiring to stay home and ask him what he thinks. His response, "I went to college to get a job so my wife could stay home with our kids. If you want to stay home - I'm fine with that." Awesome Husband gets alot of points for that!!


• Awesome Boss finds me an Awesome Replacement (a former legal secretary who needs no training - Awesome!) and tells me "I will miss you alot, but I think you are doing something more important." .....how awesome is that?!? So grateful to have such a supportive boss!!


• 
• Friday July 9th was my first day as a SAHM and I would have to say it's all....pretty Awesome!

First Father's Day

I am the luckiest woman on the planet. I have to most wonderful man in the whole world as my husband. He is patient, kind, loving, funny, good-lookn' and my best friend in the whole world. I am especially grateful that he is such a good father to our children. It makes me smile to watch Ryan play with Brigham,

it makes me soooooooo grateful when he wakes up at 2 a.m. to soothe him back to sleep, it makes me worried that Brigham might prefer Ryan to me! (just kidding.....he knows where to get food.....as you can see). Thank you Ryan for being a great Dad, I'm honored to be your wife.

I hope he grows up to be just like you!!

A Burger with "Bacon " on the side

So weekend before last we went over to Bosie to do some shopping, temple work & show off our little guy to the cousins. We met up for dinner at Big Judd's a burger joint known for their enormous burgers (Man vs. Food went there - and we all know how much I love MvsF!!) When my little second cousin (once removed ;)), Cohen, saw Brigham the following dialoge occured:

Cohen: "What's his name?"

Me: "Brigham"

C: "Brigham?"

M: "Yeah, Brigham or you can call him Briggs. Just don't call him Ham."

I start walking Brigham toward the car and Cohen pops his head out of the window and declares:

C: "I know, I'll call him Bacon - that's not Ham!"

And now Brigham will forever be known as "Bacon" to the cousins in Bosie.

A little side note: the outfit Brigham is wearing in the photo above was once worn by his own Daddy!! Ryan's mom gave me a bag full of Ryan's baby clothes - it's so much fun to dress him in them!!

Picture Time

This is just a glimpse of the hundreds of pictures that my friend Leah took of us! It was so much fun and I think they turned out beautifully. Thanks Leah for all of your time, patience and work that you put into these.
Enjoy!

Brigham Tyler Steineckert

He has arrived!! April 23rd at 8:09 am our lives changed completely with the arrival of our little guy!! At 8 lbs 11 oz he is 19 1/2 inches of complete cuteness and perfection. Nothing could have prepared me for this moment or for this new phase in my life. I am overwhelmed completely with this change and I am amazed at the women who not only do this once, but more than once!! What joy, blessings and adventure Brigham brings into our lives. If you want to read the birth story, read on, if not just enjoy the pictures!!

Being two days past his due date we were all getting anxious. My Mom was only going to be with me until Sunday and I really wanted her with us. Around Thursday morning at 1:44 I woke up to what felt like contractions. I laid in the bed comparing everything I had read about contractions to what I was feeling. I turned over to watch the clock and counted as the feelings became minutes apart. I woke up Ryan to count with me at 4 minutes apart I knew it was time to go. By the time we got to the hospital I had exceeded the "deep breathing" and had gone into the "Hee Hees". By the time we got into the room I was into the "Hee hee Hoos" and was 6 cm dilated.......and completely ready for the epidural. It took forever for the anaesthesiologist to come to the room (he didn't think I was far enough along to get the epidural) after being checked I was already dilated to an 8. Finally getting the drugs I needed (THANK GOODNESS FOR EPIDURALS!!) Dr. Spence broke my water and I dilated to a 10 - time to push! Brigham was face up (the wrong way) I was put into all sorts of positions to push in hopes that he would turn. After two hours of pushing he was stuck and wasn't going to move any further. Dr. Spence looked to me and said, "I think we'd better do a C-section". Now, I'm not against a C-section. I was a C-Section baby, but in our tiny hamlet of a hospital their policy is "Once a C-section. Always a C-section" it is kind of a bummer to have that mandate fall on me, but it was a good thing.

They wheeled me into the operation room, I was shaking - totally shaking - with a good mix of fear, anxiety and adrenaline. Ryan got into scrubs and once everything was ready to go he came in to sit with me. I asked him to talk to me and get my mind off of things and so he decided that it would be a prime opportunity to pull out the camcorder and update "everyone" on what was going on - I wanted to kill him - then the Dr. said, "Dad you can stand up and peek over if you want" just as Ryan stood up and moved the camcorder to peer over the sheet they pulled Brigham up and out and the most beautiful sound in the world filled the room, Brigham's crying, which then made me start to cry because, as most of you know, him and all of his sounds of being alive was what I needed/wanted/hoped/prayed/wished to hear the most. I heard one Dr. say, "he's got a pretty big head" and a nurse comment, "He feels like 9 lbs".......it made me happy to have a C-section (the poor kid would probably be wearing my hips as a sombrero today if we didn't). Ryan went with Brigham to the nursery and I stayed there, getting stitched up, trying to talk the Dr.'s into taking out some hip fat while they were poking around in there. By the time they wheeled me into my bedroom my little man was ready to eat - and he hasn't stopped since! We've had quite a first week. Extra days at the hospital trying to get his billiruben count down (jaundice) with billiruben tables and blankets all around, learning how much (and often) a baby needs to eat and learning how much less you are going to sleep .....soooooo tired!!

But I sit in amazement, just looking at my little guy, and thinking about all the time and prayers in took to get him here and just being blown away at the fact that he actually is here!! We are grateful for all of the prayers, wishes and good thoughts that have been sent our way during this whole pregnancy and are so happy to share this joyful moment with all of you!