Jacob Alexander Bragg!!!!

Jason and I are proud to announce that we are having a BOY! We could not be more excited. Baby Jacob is looking great! They pushed back my due date to March 5, 2009 - bummer! It actually works out great because of the school year. I may not have to come back at all once Baby Jacob arrives. In two of the three pictures he has his hand by/in his mouth - just like Addie. We have several ultrasound pictures of her sucking her thumb. I keep thinking about my life and where we are, WE ARE SO BLESSED! We have a perfect little girl and a perfect baby boy on the way. I am just amazed at God's grace and love for us. Please pray that Baby Jacob will continue to be healthy and that Addie will adjust well to being a big sister. I know that they are going to be great siblings and friends. We can not wait to welcome our new addition!

The Wind Storm!

Oh, how thankful I am to have power again! We were out of power for 5 days. I really can't complain because it was not too bad - until we ran out of hot water. Then we headed to my moms for warm showers and tubby time for Addie. The next street over is still without electricity so we are counting our blessings. We spent tons of time outside, going to the park and zoo. It has been nice having the extra time off from work - schools were closed all week.

We were lucky because we did not have any damage to our house. All over our neighborhood were trees on houses and fences, along with wind damage to gutters, siding and roofs. We were pretty fortunate. We did have a branch from a tree in our front yard land on our power lines - connected to our house. We called LG&E and it stayed like this until yesterday afternoon. I am sure our neighbors were thrilled because we had to drive through their yard to get out of the driveway. The fire department came by several times and closed off the street. It is hard to see but one of the lines is down so low that only small cars could make it under.

What a storm! Addie did well and only asked to turn a light on about 50 times! We tried to lay her down early so she would fall asleep before it got too dark. She loved spending the extra time outside and loved all the chicken nuggets from McDonald's! We are a little tired of going out to eat and are looking forward to a home cooked meal tonight, after I go to the grocery! I will keep you posted, we are off to the doctor on Monday. It is already time for the ultrasound. We are so excited and can hardly wait to find out what this precious baby is going to be!

Busy, Busy, Busy.....

We have been very busy! I started back to work, which has been an adjustment on all of us. Addie, however, has taken it pretty hard. She actually started climbing (falling) out of her crib the second day I was back to work. She cried in bed "more mommy, more mommy". That about killed me! Since her new discovery of being able to get out of the crib we headed to the store for a toddler bed. Needless to say we had some rough nights. She told us that she did not like her new bed and then slept on the floor the first night, poor baby :( This has been going on for a couple weeks and Jason and I thought it was getting better but the last two nights have not gone so well. I am not sure why but she gets up, runs to the gate - as if she is looking for us, then runs back to bed (she did this pretty much all night last night). What a stinker! I am sure she will adjust soon. Here is a picture of her cute little bed. She received many new toys for her birthday and she loves playing with them. The first picture is a motorized jeep - which she loves! She drives all over the place and laughs the whole time. This is a dress-up outfit that she was given and she loves this too. She puts it on and then checks herself out in the mirror. Too funny!
We also signed Addie up for gymnastics. Jason takes her on Fridays - when I am at work. I hate to miss it but it has turned out to be a great activity for them to do together. She tells me that she gets to jump high, swing high and tumble! What fun.

I want to say thank you to everyone who said a prayer for me regarding my job this year. I really appreciate it. 2nd grade is a huge improvement and I am so thankful for the change! I have a couple stinkers but that just comes with the job. :) I hope everyone has a great week!

Thank You!

I just wanted to say thank you to two of my good friends, Jennifer and Abby. They both nominated me for The Smile Award! We are in a playgroup together and have become great friends because of it. I have really enjoyed the time we get to talk and enjoy each others company and children. I appreciate all of the kind words and encouragement. I am so blessed to have a great circle of Christian friends and moms. They both love their children to pieces, it is fun to experience that with other people. Thanks girls!

I realize that I have not blogged since Addie's birthday but as many of you know, we are approaching the first week of school! Busy, busy! I am looking forward to this year because I have been placed in 2nd grade - really looking forward to the grade change. My kids were sooo excited at our open house, which is a big change from years past. Please keep me in your prayers! I am trying very hard to start this year with a positive attitude. I had a very frustrating year last year and I just pray that this year will be better. I have done a lot of growing, spiritually, over the last few years and I am so thankful for all the amazing things that are going on in my life. I am working very hard at not sweating the small stuff and relying more on God and not myself. What a blessing to really grasp all of God's love for us, it is much easier to let things go when you truly believe that God is in control!

I also want to say thank you to my wonderful husband. As you all know, I do not mix well with pregnancy! The person who came up with the phrase morning sickness, is crazy! I do not get just morning sickness - mine is all day sickness - literally. Jason has stepped up to the plate and has helped me so much. He comes home from work and takes over. Feeds Addie dinner (I am not cooking right now), plays with her outside, does the laundry, picks up around the house, and he even headed to Walgreen's at 10:00pm to get my nausea medication! I wanted to try to make it with out taking anything I did not have to but it was time. I am down 7 pounds and counting (it was 18 with Addie and I know that is where it is headed if I don't start taking it). He has been a saving grace, I am so thankful that he is so helpful and understanding! I love him dearly!

Addie is doing great! We are so thrilled to announce that Addie is going to be discharged from OT in about 2 weeks. She has been in OT for over a year and she has made such great progress. When we started therapy she could not eat solid food without choking on it - very scary! She eats great now - like a typical 2 year old. She had the best OT ever, Shelly was great! Very patient and informative. She was a blessing to our family and we are so thankful that God choose her to work with Addie. It is going to be bitter sweet because we are going to miss our weekly visits with Shelly but we are so thankful for that Addie is doing so much better.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Birthday Party Fun!

We had a wonderful birthday party on Saturday, August 2 (Addie's actual birthday). We had about 40 people (all family, except a few). We have such a close family! My dad, Grandpa John, Aunt Bev and Uncle Dan, and Uncle John and Aunt Sheila drove all the way from Columbus, Ohio (four hours one way), just to celebrate with us. A lot of family lives about a half hour away and they all came in too, how great is that! We set up a little water park in the backyard (3 baby pools, a sprinkler, a slip n' slide and water guns). This was great because all the kids were entertained the entire time (12 kids to be exact)! Addie had a ball and kept saying "Addie's party". I guess she wanted to make sure we all knew that this crazyness was all for her (like we could forget!). Jason and I took her to the store and let her pick out the theme for the party and with no surprise, Dora was the winner! So we had a Dora cake, Dora hats, Dora plates and a Dora table cloth (we are crazy, we know). As I was preparing for the party I kept telling myself that next year I am going to tame this down because it gets pretty expensive and overwhelming but once the party started it was so much fun! Addie had such a great time and it was all worth it. So needless to say, next year will be just as crazy and fun! The new baby is due in February so I have to start being creative for entertainment because there will be not water park in my backyard in February! Bummer! Here are a few pictures of the party.

This is a picture of Jeffrey (my nephew), my dad and Addie.
Jeffrey, Jessie (my sister) and AddieThe backyard!Addie opening gifts...Look at those nice silver shoes! They have been worn everyday since. :)Eating birthday cake. Yummy!Addie was a little concerned because a sprinkle (from the cake) was on the ground. Why can't I eat that?
These pictures were not taken on her birthday - I just think they are adorable!

Thank you so much to all our family for everything. We are so blessed to have such a loving and supportive family. We are thankful for each and everyone of you. I hope everyone has a great rest of the week. Love you.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Addie!!!

More birthday pictures to come...this one is just too cute! We are headed to another 2nd birthday party for a little girl born the same day as Addie. We are very thankful to our family - thanks for coming and celebrating a wonderful 2 years with Addie!

California Adventures

Overall, I would say that Addie did a pretty good job on our trip. We had a great time! The flights went rather smooth (thank you Lord!) We took Addie to Sea World, Palm Springs Zoo, the pool and mostly visited with family. Here are a few (not really, a lot) pictures of our trip. The first picture is at the zoo, it was soooo hot - look at Addie's pink cheeks! This is a picture by the pool. Jason's grandparents live in a condo in Palm Springs so we took advantage of the pool one day. Addie loves to swim and look at the view.
Sea World. I think this was Addie's favorite day (mine too!) We spent the entire day there (minus her nap). This first picture is Addie and I trying to pet the sting rays (they don't sting). I think she would have stayed here all day. She loves playing in water.

Addie with her grandpa (Jason's dad).
This is a moving sidewalk - one of the exhibits. She was more excited about that than the exhibit!

Waiting in line to eat breakfast with Elmo! This was wonderful! She had a great time as long as the characters kept their distance. The whole crew was there - Elmo, Zoe, Cookie Monster, Bert, Ernie, and Big Bird. What a great way to start the day! Thank you grandpa and grandma. The sunglasses, purse and shoes were a gift from Addie's great grandparents (Jason's grandparents). It came with coordinating outfits but this is as far as she got!
Out to eat to celebrate Jason's grandpa's 75th birthday.

We had a great time! We are so thankful for a nice time with family and a safe trip! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.