Merry Christmas!!!

I had an ideal plan to send out Christmas cards this year, but seeing as I am adjusting to becoming a mother of two... yeah that didn't happen!! So, I figure the next best thing is to post the pictures I would have used for the card, on here.  I like to think that the Wood family is going green this holiday season. 

 

We had an amazing Christmas!! I will post all about it one of these days. We just wanted to make sure that everyone knew we were thinking about them this holiday!! Love you all!!

First Bath

Maybe it's just me, but there is something exciting about giving your newborn a bath for the first time. I think it could be one of my favorite milestones that a baby hits. Not only do they look totally adorable soaking wet in the tub, but lets face it the true reason we all love the first bath is, that stinky belly button has fallen off and is completely healed!! I am always reminded of the Sex in the City episode when Miranda's son's (wow I think I just realized he has the same name as Brayden!) belly button falls off and the cat is playing with it. I can totally relate to that panicked, gross feeling.  Anyways these photos were just too cute not to share...

He is so tiny in this tub that we have to hold him the whole time! It's so funny to have a "normal" sized baby!! LOL He did great with the water. He really only cried when he got out...maybe we will have a true water baby on our hands!!

There were times that he was suspicious of our motives...but he quickly got over them.

Hands down my favorite bath photo!! I love how it looks like he is trying to be modest (must take after daddy because mommy is anything but modest).

Oh Christmas Tree...

Every year we have the tradition of cutting down our Christmas tree. However, this year was a little different... we had a 1 week old, are living in a new area, and it has been down right freezing here!! We were lucky enough that Saturday that number one, it was above freezing temperatures, number two, I felt way good after having Brayden, and number three, that everyone was up here already!! We went to Apple Hill for our tree hunting. The weather was actually pretty warm (I was roasting under that sweater and baby!) Another bonus was that dogs were allowed, so Shaniko and Emerson got to come with us. This place was a little funny because when you find the tree you want, you yell "CUTTER!" Then a teenager brings us the saw to cut it down. Now, when we first arrived and heard all this yelling we thought a kid was missing...LOL.  So, it was nice to see that it was just teenagers running with saws rather than a child lost in the woods.

 Here we are as a family of four with our tree!

Jacob loved pulling the tree, he pulled it almost the whole way! He also has a new obsession with pockets. He loves any sweatshirt he can stick his hands in. The top left photo of Jacob just cracks me up because he is so proud of himself to have his hands in his pockets.

After we got our tree, we started a new tradition in our new house... decorating!! Jacob loved decorating and having the lights on the tree. He is especially fond of a Mickey Mouse ornament...whenever he sees the tree he goes up and gives him a kiss. He liked the ball ornaments because they were fun to throw into the tree, needless to say they are way up high now.

Jacob was the honorable member of the family that got to put "Stewie" on top of the tree. Stewie is a stuffed owl that Mike and I got a long time ago, from who knows where. It's one of those things that makes us chuckle every time we see it, and we have no clue why.

With our tree hung and our lights outside, we are officially ready for Christmas! I am so excited for Brayden's first Christmas and Jacob's first Christmas that he can really understand! It's gonna be so fun!!

Thankful...

Now that it is almost mid December, I figure it would be a great time to write about Thanksgiving!! Our week of Thanksgiving got a little busy, you know with the addition of our fourth family member and all. However, we did not let a life altering event to allow us to miss one of my favorite holidays. This past Thanksgiving will go down in history as the most casual Thanksgiving we have ever had. I think everyone was in sweats and I'm pretty sure none of us left the house (well maybe we went to the park). We had great food! As if with Debbi cooking that was in any doubt. I should mention that there were both a ham and a turkey for 10 people (in true Burkholder fashion!). I may say that this was my favorite Thanksgiving ever!!  There is so much to be thankful for this year. 2013 has been really nice to us. We are so thankful for our healthy children, family, friends, and being a family everyday.

As you can tell by my hair...Thanksgiving was a very casual affair. This is my first photo with just me and my boys! (I can't believe I can say that!! I love it!!) 

 

Jacob really enjoyed his dinner. I can't believe how big he looks now!! 

This is what Brayden did all through Thanksgiving dinner. It was actually his first time in the swing.

Big Brother

 

I think one of the greatest fears about becoming a mother of two is, "How will the first child react to the new baby?" Jacob being so young when Brayden made his arrival, it was a genuine fear of mine that they would not get along. Mike and I having kids so close together, has always been the plan because we wanted "built-in" best friends. So, as you can see if the kids don't get along from the beginning, then our best friend plan goes out the window!! I should have known that Jacob would make an excellent brother, but I'm sad to say I underestimated his sharing abilities as a 21 month old. However, Jacob is all about Brayden! The first person's name he says when he wakes up in the morning or from a nap is "Brayden." He constantly wants to "pet", kiss, and hold Brayden.  He somewhat views Brayden as his own personal fan...he is always saying "Brayden watch Jacob!" LOL it's pretty adorable. Our morning routine has turned into Jacob reading to Brayden...

I love this photo because Brayden looks so happy to be sitting next to Jacob (probably just gas, but hey I'll take it!)

This photo was the first time Jacob held Brayden. We have been trying not to push Jacob to do things with Brayden, so the jealousy factor wouldn't hit, so to my surprise when he asked to hold him!! This picture makes my heart melt!

Having a second baby has also meant adjustments for my routine... nap time used to be Jacob and I reading to each other, then laying down and falling asleep. The above picture is our new routine. We still read, but in bed now and both Brayden and I lay on the floor and fake fall asleep while Jacob truly falls asleep. I think these two are destined to share rooms because Jacob always wants Brayden to nap with him. In fact, Brayden is probably the best motivator for Jacob to do anything! "Jacob, Brayden wants you to take a bath." "Jacob, Brayden wants you to eat your dinner." "Jacob, Brayden wants you to go night night." Oh how parenting two changes things!!

Twins!!!

From the time that Brayden was born, Mike and I could not help but realize how much he looks like Jacob!! Honestly, we somewhat expected it because really, how much different do Mike and I look? As we have gotten to know Brayden even more, he is even more like Jacob with his temperament. I think I could count on both hands how many times he has cried in his two weeks of life!! He is a great eater and sleeper (well as good as a newborn can be). And even things like his belly button falling off early is the same!! LOL. I realize he is his own person, but it is fun to see the similarities.

It's also fun to see how Mike and I have changed/stayed the same in 20 months... (Jacob left, Brayden right)

Both of my boys love/loved being held skin to skin (and it's Mike and I's favorite time too!)... Jacob is right, Brayden is left.

They both sleep the same... (Jacob left, Brayden right)

Minus the chunkiness of Jacob, they look so much alike!! I must say though, the way Brayden eats, he is going to catch up to Jacob's chunkiness pretty quickly here. (Brayden top, Jacob bottom).

These two boys have really changed our lives for the better. We could not be happier or more proud of our little family!

Brayden Tyler's Story

Two weeks hiatus from blogging and I'm sure all our "fans" are eager to read something!! LOL

I'm going to bore you with a birthing story, so you have permission to just look at the photos. Brayden arrived very quickly on Friday, November 22nd at 7:19 pm.  I say quickly because I didn't start getting contractions until 3:45pm, of course it was right when I went to take a nap!! Seeing as I have never been in true labor outside of the hospital, I was not prepared to time anything. So, as I lay in bed with what I thought were contractions, I decided that I better download an app for this (what would we do without Iphones?). To my surprise they were 2-3 minutes apart lasting 45 seconds!! And as I remembered from nursing school, that's pretty close!! I called Mike and told him to come home and then went downstairs to tell Debbi it was time (yes, thank goodness Debbi had a random day off to be in Rocklin, oh that Italian timing!!). 20 minutes or so later (it felt like an hour) we were off to the hospital!! The car ride was of course painful, but Mike made me laugh the whole time. We got to the hospital at 5:15pm and they said "Oh my you're 7cm!" Right then I replied "I'm not having this baby naturally!" LOL. About an hour after that I got my epidural and things were looking up!! My doctor broke my water and within 5 minutes she told me to start pushing. I will never forget her placing Brayden on my chest...my first response was "He's so little!!"

He came screaming into this world, weighing in at 8 lbs 2 ounces and 19 3/4 inches. Way smaller than anyone expected. However, he had a great appetite to start and was breast feeding within 10 minutes!!

Here is our first photo together. I may look a little shocked, which I am!! I guess I had 9 months to prepare, but the 3.5 hour labor threw me for a loop, I thought I would have more of a transitioning period! LOL.

One happy daddy!!! He is seriously the best husband and daddy ever...I am truly so lucky to have him as my partner for life!!

Our first family of four photo!! It's a blog for another day, but Jacob has been an amazing big brother!!

Here is the collage of everyone who came to visit that night. Dayton, my mom, and Kiki braved the traffic to get to the hospital that night. Dayton cracked me up when we called saying "Could you have picked a worse time to go into labor than 5pm on a Friday?" LOL!!!

Here we are heading home!!! We only stayed for 24 hours, which was amazing because we were really anxious to get home to Jacob! It's amazing how different this labor was compared to Jacob...I think next time I'll try and have another 8 lb baby rather than 10!! I truly cannot express how good I feel compared to last time (I guess the pictures show it, because I actually have color in my face!) 

Aside from the slight anxiety of having a newborn again, I feel so much more complete as a family with Brayden here!! 

Incredible John's

Due to Jason Adams genius idea we discovered Incredible John's last night. It was supposed to be Gabby and Jason's date night, but they decided since the days of us being a family of three are reaching an end, that we should go out the six of us. I had heard that Incredible John's was a great place for kids, but as with anything new, we are slightly skeptical.  This place is basically a cross between Chuck E Cheese and Dave and Busters. The food was actually really good (buffet style) and the mini hot donuts were to die for!!! We had a blast playing games (I think the boys more than the kids). It was a great time as our "possible" last hurrah as a family of three!!

The games were perfect for the kids!!! There was a few loud noises that Jacob of course didn't like, but he got over it quickly. He rocked it at the basketball game...he had a high score of 28 points!! That's the game that most of our coins went to (surprise I know!).

Here's the super star in action!! He would get very focused making sure the ball went into the hoop.

The dads had a blast playing basketball, football, and laser dodging? I don't know what to call that game, but it required them to crawl all over the floor to dodge lasers. Gabby and I had a great time toting the two little ones around...obviously by the above picture, its really easy to hold a toddler while 9 months pregnant!! The sugar intake of last night was off the charts!!! There were donuts, ice cream, Icee's, brownies, cinnamon rolls, red velvet cake, cheese cake, and cookies (all you can eat style!!!!). Jacob loved it all!! And as parents we soon regretted the decision of all that sugar before bedtime!! 10 pm is a perfectly acceptable bed time for a 19 month old!!

Anxiously Waiting...

 As I sit here 39 weeks pregnant, I can't help but think to 20 months ago when I was doing the same thing.  Being pregnant is something that I have always enjoyed (call me crazy, but pregnancy treats me well). Since I was little my mom always told me "You have child bearing hips and one day you'll enjoy that!!" Well, I must say with the large babies I have...thank you mom for my child bearing hips! It's funny this time around because everyone thinks you should know what to expect, but in some ways I feel like a rookie all over again. When I was pregnant with Jacob, there was always a part of me that knew I would be induced. However, with this baby, I feel like I am actually going to have a cool story to tell (I'm really hoping for water breaking in Target). 

When you have two, you can't help but compare them. So here is my belly around the same week. Jacob is on the left and Brayden is on the right. The more I stare at these photos the more I start to wonder; How big will he be? Who will he look like? What is his personality going to be? Is he going to be a good eater? A good sleeper? I guess I have all the same questions I did last time, but now I feel like I am more on my toes, seeing as he could come any day now. 

As part of my anticipation of Brayden's arrival, I am in severe nesting mode!! Mike actually asked "Do you have OCD now?" LOL. I think I do. My everyday chores that I do is the vacuuming, kitchen cleaning, and laundry. Then I always add weird things on top of it. I don't think this house has been so clean...OH and the most exciting part is that it's finally getting decorated!!

My OCD is rubbing off on Jacob.  He really likes to sweep now. He goes to the closet after every meal and says "Broom, Please!" LOL hopefully he continues to enjoy sweeping after Brayden's arrival. Although I spend a lot of time cleaning, I do recognize that this is the last time that I will be a mother of one. I think Jacob is starting to realize that too. We spend a lot of time cuddling and playing basketball in the playroom.  He has turned into quite the mama's boy lately, which is fine cause I love my "cool guy cuddles."

I think Jacob is excited about Brayden.... which seems to be the number one question people ask. Jacob likes to show people Brayden's room and bed. He still likes to say hi to Brayden in my belly and give him kisses. I'm hoping the enthusiasm stays after the baby is out of my belly...

See he's really excited though!!! (LOL)

Maternity Photos

With 10 days to the arrival of Baby #2, we have our maternity pictures!!! I could not be more happy with how they turned out!! I see why it took a while...she took over 900 pictures! She gave them all to me; I can't even get through that many! (I love the top photo of Mike and I!!!)But here are a few of them...

 She really captured Jacob as his true self. The photo of his belly showing is the perfect photo. I would dare to say that if there was one photo that I could show of Jacob's childhood, that would be it!

I truly can't thank Jenna enough for all these great photos!!! I'm so excited to get our newborn photos going!! The brothers will be adorable!!

Uncle Fevin!!!

 

My brother the Marine!!! although he is a great Marine, he has a very special talent. He can sing, play guitar, piano...and pretty much any instrument he can pick up.  Ever since he was little he just had an ear for music. I always wanted him to go out and do something with it because I think he is just so talented. But alas...he is the shyer one of the two of us. As he has gotten older he has gained confidence and sings for others now, and there is one person who cannot get enough of it...

Since I showed Jacob the video of Uncle Fevin singing, this is our breakfast routine. We come downstairs and start eating and I ask Jacob, "You want to watch Mickey Mouse?" And his response is "No. Uncle Fevin!!" and he says it with a giggle of excitement.

We watch Uncle Fevin average 10 times a day.  These are some of the statements and places we watch the video.

"Uncle Fevin TV?" - upstairs we play it on apple TV.

"Uncle Fevin song"- yup he learned a new word.

"oooooh Uncle Fevin"- when the movie starts.

And perhaps the funniest is when he sees my brother in a wife beater tank top he says "Uncle Fevin sleeves up. Jacob sleeves up!"

Here is the famous video. As much as I love this song that he sings...Kev Boy I am putting a request out there for you!! All Jacob wants for Christmas is a CD of you singing!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!

Jacob's Semi Parent Free Weekend

 As my last blog entry showed, there was much time spent away from Jacob. Yup, that made two blog entries in a row without one picture of the little man!!  I'm sure your all on the edge of your seats to see how he has changed since November 6th!! LOL. Mike and I had a great mostly adult weekend, but don't be fooled, Jacob had a blast without us too! He got to hang out with grandparents and his two BFFs!!!  He went to the park both days and got to have a sleepover with Everett!!

The boys had a marathon bath because the new toy (plastic green cups) kept their interest for forever. Then when Grandpa Dayton turned on the faucet...well things could not have gotten more exciting for them!! Oh our little water babies!!

On Sunday, Jacob got the surprise of the weekend!! Memo was at the same park in Pleasanton as him, completely by chance!! They were both a little stunned at first, but once they got over the initial shock... they both did their shrieking of excitement! The funniest part was when we were leaving...Memo decided to hop in Jacob's car and have him drive her home. LOL

We walked her all the way home like this (which is not that far). I just know that if any other kid tried this with  Jacob there would be a lot of screaming involved...are Gabby and I getting a glimpse into the future?!?!

A Formal Affair

With having a second baby the topic of having another baby shower inevitably gets brought up. there are sprinkle showers for such occasions, but I still have a hard time with that.  Not that I don't want to celebrate this baby as much as the first, but there is something weird about getting presents when you already have everything ready. Therefore, when Kimmy asked me what I wanted to do, I knew the main thing I wanted was one night to hang out with my best girls. We don't often get together anymore due to the fact that we all have very different jobs, live all over, have kids, new boyfriends, old boyfriends, husbands, families,...etc. I could go on forever! But just cause we don't see each other doesn't mean that we are any less close. We can all just pick up where we left off without a hitch. And Saturday night was no different.

We are so lucky to have the men in our lives that we do!! They not only put up with our shenanigans of random events like this, which required them to dress up, but they all participated with smiles on their face. Matt cooked an AMAZING dinner!!! Every single course was perfect! I am very lucky to have a brother in law like him! Kim did great with the table set up...everything looked beautiful! 

 I am still in awe of all the effort that went into Saturday night. When Kim and I were talking about it a couple months ago, I never imagined anything as nice as this!!

 All the girls looked to gorgeous!!! We had a blast catching up and having inappropriate dinner conversations.  There was lots of laughing to say the least! With two weeks left until the baby is due, it was a night that I absolutely needed!! I can't express how grateful I am to everyone that helped and that came!

Another bonus to the day was, I was able o get my hair and toes done!! So now I am ready to go into the hospital looking like Kim Kardashian!! LOL

Date Night

As astonished as you may be to read this blog, I will forewarn, there are no pictures of Jacob!! GASP!!! I know it seems weird to read about a date that Mike and I went on, but I feel like it's such a rare event that it was blog worthy. With only 3 weeks left until our due date (yes, I'm including Gabby and Jason in the our). We have decided to babysit each others children once a week, so the other couple can go out on a date.  It works out especially nice because I think it's actually easier to watch the two kids together than on their own.

Anyways, Mike decided for our date night that we should go to Dave and Buster's. I haven't been there in so long, that the last time, I was carded and I accidentally threw a tampon at the bouncer. (Long story, but quite hilarious!) but needless to say, ID'd and had tampons in my purse...that seems like a lifetime ago.

We had a blast playing all the games. Of course there was major competition at every game...Mike won every game except for the horse race. The game on the left of the collage was way cool!! It tested reflexes, unfortunately it required a lot of tokens, so we couldn't play that many times, but Mike took pride in beating his 8 month pregnant wife. LOL

Well here is the 37 week shot of my belly!!! It's hard to believe we are so close to the due date!!

Mother Goose on the Loose!!!

I wish I could claim the title as my own because it is so cool sounding, but alas that is the name of the class.  Every Tuesday morning a reading/singing class is held at the Roseville Library.  Gabby introduced it to us a couple of weeks ago. Jacob is starting to get more and more comfortable every week that we go.  As you can see above, Jacob likes to pay close attention to her stories (I should say he only pays close attention when their are props involved).

Jacob and Memo's favorite part are the scarves and bells. They go crazy with the scarves!!! You may notice the outlets on the ground...I should also mention that, that is one of their favorite things too. They love hitting the bells on it and polishing it with the scarves. This week they recruited two other kids to do the same thing (their mother didn't think it was a appropriate as Gabby and I did).

They have really become quite the pair. Besides the fact they look like twins in these pictures, they have started copying each other with EVERYTHING!!!  If one falls and gets hurt, the other falls and starts fake crying. LOL it's too funny!!

A bonus factor to this class and this library is that there is a park attached to it!! It's actually a pretty awesome park too. I must say, when they designed Rocklin and Roseville they must have had the best park designers on the planet!! After class Memo and Jacob go and play for a while...just in time for lunch and naps!! (oh we mommies have it all planned out!)

Another sign that our children are twin like is they are not good with sharing with anyone else, but each other!! Jacob always screams at any kids who tries to sit on the bumble bee with him, then he yells for Memo to join him. It's cute to an extent, but I always feel a little weird when their parents look at me.