Brave Little Girl!

Our sweet little Braelyn Boo had to have surgery last week to have a cyst on her head removed. We've been the typical procrastinating parents waiting almost a year and a half to get it done. Don't judge quite yet; it wasn't life threatening or anything. =) I just hate the idea of kids going under anesthesia. It's nerve racking. At least she had already been through it before with getting tubes in her ears, so I knew she should be okay.

We prepared her for surgery day by telling her that she was going to take a nap at the doctor's and the doctor was going to fix her bump. Once she was all prepped and ready for surgery the nurse came in to walk her away. I thought she was going to freak out. I told her the nurse was going to show her her new bed. She looked up at me with a smile and said, "Oh! Okay!" Then she grabbed the nurse's hand and skipped away.

The real heart breaker was AFTER surgery. When they brought me back to her she was waking up from the anesthesia. She couldn't even open her eyes and I think she was hungry and thirsty. She was just crying and holding me so tight. Yes, me, Mrs. Unemotional, got all teary eyed trying to calm her down.

Alas, this didn't last too long. As soon as we got back to the house she was back to her normal self . . . nonstop talking and nonstop energy. After inhaling a bag of popcorn and watching her new Chipmunks movie (courtesy of Grandpa Cal), she couldn't be contained. The nurses said she would be groggy and laying in bed most of the day. Um, think again. Between chasing her out the front door and down the street to constant explanations of why we couldn't go to the park, I had a regular old Braelyn on my hands. No relaxing day for us!

Probably the only two moments she was not running around:

Needless to say, I am so proud of my little pooper. Hopefully we won't be seeing another doctor anytime soon!

Vegas Baby!

So every year around this time we get the perk of meeting up with Ben's parents in Vegas. His dad works in the movie industry and attends a huge film festival each year with popcorn and candy bliss. Although this year Ben couldn't take time off work for the festival part, we did meet up the weekend before for lots of food, fun and sun!

First things first, I totally wore Braelyn out before our road trip by taking her to the neighborhood pool. My plan worked! She slept for two solid hours. Boo yeah!

And when she awoke, we entertained her with the biggest Rice Krispies Treat we could find at the gas station. Desperate times call for desperate measures!

Once in Vegas we had to check out the beautiful arboretum at the Belagio hotel. Once again, they really impressed!

Smelling the flowers.

This girl LOVED being with her grandparents! They sure do spoil her rotten!

The second night we were there Ben's parents send us out on a date night to see Elvis Cirque de Soleil. It was amazing just like the other shows we've seen.

This was the best shot we could get. Oh well. I promise we were there!

Quick question: Is there anything wrong with stripping your child down to their underwear in public to eat an ice cream cone . . .

. . . or to sit by the side of the pool after dinner? Please say no because that's exactly what we did!

We did actually put our swimsuits on the next day and played in the pool. It was a blast! Braelyn sure has turned into a little fishy . . . well one that doesn't like to get her hair wet. Maybe she gets that from her mama!

And finally on our trip back home we ran into this disaster. A semi crashed and was on fire in the middle of the only road back home. But alas, the firemen came to the rescue and we were on the road again! What a wonderful time in Vegas. Until next year!

Summertime . . . I Mean HOT April Fun!

Yes, I know that it isn't quite summertime yet, but have you looked at the temperature?! Holy moly it's almost 100 and it's only mid April. Now I'm the first to say that I LOVE summers here in Arizona. Just stick me in a swimsuit and throw me in the pool. I'm happy. But, four months is long enough. We don't need to start that quite yet! We haven't gone to the pool yet, but we've found lots of other fun things to do.

We finally busted out the apron Grandma Melene gave Braelyn and I've been teaching her some mad baking skills. Cupcakes, cookies, and banana bread are our favorites!

I snagged a great deal on a bowling Groupon which Braelyn loves. I love the cute shoes she gets to wear!

We go out for frozen yogurt at least every other week after mom's boring shopping trips.

Can you tell she loves it?

Nah!

We've been to the Mesa Children's Museum where Braelyn discovered the hand or head puppets.

We still hit up the parks in the mornings and late afternoons. From the moment this kid wakes up in the morning or after naps she's asking, "Can we go to the park?!" Her new thing is to either push her toy stroller with her baby doll or ride her scooter. Either way we're looking at at least 30 minutes to get to the park which is a block away. Patience!

We opened up the Christmas Playdough from Grandma Kaye.

Braelyn is obsessed. Me, not so much. I HATE Playdough!

But I love my kid so I do it anyway!

I've been hiking a lot with a good friend of mine. One Saturday I actually talked Ben into going with Braelyn and me.

We're pros!

She loved having her daddy come with us.

And of course we go to the zoo all the time. I've definitely gotten my money's worth and sanity's worth out of my season pass.

Brushing the stinky ugly goats. If only she knew better and I could avoid the petting zoo part. Oh well.

Playing at her favorite farm playground with her bestie Drew!

Riding in the safari car in the "Jungle of Uco".

Loving the splash pad at the zoo! The first time we busted out her swimsuit this year. Now she wants to put it on everyday.

I love this picture! She was having so much fun jumping and splashing in the little stream. What a cutie!

So I guess it looks like it's gonna be a looooong summer, but at least we're making the best of it thus far. Bring on the sun and bring on the water! We're ready!

Oh and last but not least, we're just watching this baby GROW. Braelyn loves hugging and kissing my belly. Every time I pick her up she says, "I be careful with mommy's baby." She'll be such a good big sister. Besides our name dilemma, everything is going swell.

22 weeks

23 weeks

24 weeks, which means only 16 weeks left!

Easter!

Can I just say that Easter was so much fun! If there is anyway to spread out Easter over an entire week, we did it! From Easter egg hunts to dying eggs, we had way too much fun.

First we crashed yet another Johnson holiday and went Easter egg hunting with this great group of friends/adopted family. Braelyn ran out of the back door like a bull out of it's cage ready to grab her eggs.

Later that week we headed back up to Anthem for more Easter egg hunting with Braelyn's bestie. Although the egg hunt was LAME (they only let the kids find ONE egg!) those two still had a blast.

And who couldn't be happy when you end the hunt with a soft gooey Subway cookie?!

This girl sure is!

After naps these two got busy decorating eggs thanks to Katie.

We celebrated Easter festivities the day before on Saturday thanks to 8 am church. Braelyn was ecstatic about her Target dollar section (1/2 off from post Easter last year) loot. Way to go Easter Bunny!

Then we headed off to the ward Easter egg hunt, which by this point Braelyn was a pro. She could even run, open her eggs, and pour the candy in her mouth all at the same time while still holding her Easter basket. What a candy fiend!

The day was so beautiful that we decided to fly her new princess kite.

With a little help from daddy she was able to fly it all by herself. I think what she actually liked most was pretending that the streamers from the kite were her scarfs.

Of course we had to do a little more egg dying before the day was over. She was serious about decorating her eggs.

We also got to have Braelyn's birthmom over for all the fun. We're so glad she put up with us for the weekend because Braelyn couldn't have been happier to have her there.

And before the day was over we managed one family picture. I guess we could have at least put Braelyn's shirt back on . . . nah!!!

Even though we had so much fun with everything we did, we do know the true meaning of Easter. We are so grateful that we have the atonement and that Jesus Christ was able to sacrifice his life so that we can return and live with Him again someday. I am so grateful that our sweet little family is eternal. I couldn't imagine my life without my wonderful husband and beautiful big girl! Happy Easter!