A Child's Prayer

One day while playing at Grandma Nancy's house, Mason was looking for a specific marble he had previously played with there.  The marble was not with all the other marbles and my mom had no idea where it might be.  Mason, with total and complete faith suggested, "Let's say and prayer and ask Heavenly Father to help us find the marble." My mom was pleased that Mason had thought to turn to Heavenly Father for help, but was extremely nervous because she was not confident she could find the marble for him.  So while he said a sweet little prayer to Heavenly Father, my mom was saying her own heartfelt prayer asking that she could find the marble so Mason would know that prayers are answered.  Once the prayer was finished they resumed their search for the marble. Just minutes later my mom had a very distinct thought to go check in a bowl in her sewing room.  There was absolutely no reason why the marble should be there and she normally wouldn't have thought to check there, but decided to go check it out anyway.  Upon looking in the bowl, what did they find? The marble. My mom was very emotional when sharing this story with me because she knew that Heavenly Father had been listening to a child who prayed in faith, even if it was for something as insignificant as finding a lost marble, and had answered his prayer.

It's a BOY!

We got to spend a half hour today watching this little BOY squirm and wiggle around inside of me. I couldn't have asked for more. I haven't been feeling him move nearly as much as I remember with my other pregnancies at this point and honestly I have been a little worried the past couple of weeks. So today I was surprised, and very much relieved, when he didn't stop moving and kicking his little arms and legs around the entire 30 minutes we were watching him. Turns out my placenta is anterior which makes it so you don't feel as much movement early on. Phew! He looked so precious as he stretched out his arms and crossed and uncrossed his legs. Most importantly his growth and development looked absolutely perfect.

There is something about seeing him that has already made this pregnancy seem more real to me. Scott is very excited to be having another boy, Mason is thrilled to be getting a brother, and Brynn is completely clueless as to how her whole world will be turned upside down in a few short months. We are so grateful for a Healthy Boy!

The End of an Era

For the last 4 years we have lived 10 houses down from my brother, Chris, and his family. Cannon and Kennedy were Mason's first friends and remain his best friends. Kacie has always been like the older sister I never had. Chris has always been just a phone call away, like when Scott was out of town and I was home alone with a two week old baby and a broken A/C in July and he came to fix it. Mason wants to name our baby, boy or girl, Chase after his little cousin. We have loved living close and sharing so many aspects of our lives together. So yesterday afternoon when I drove by their house and saw the For Sale sign in the yard (which I have known for a while was going up), I couldn't help but feel sad thinking how Mason and Kennedy won't be walking to Primary holding hands every week. We will no longer be taking turns watching each others babies out in the hall at church while the other teaches a lesson or does sharing time. Mason will not be riding his bike down the street to play with his cousins. We will not wave out our window to them almost every day as we drive past their house. Scott and Chris won't be going on campouts with the priests and leave most of the food in the car at home. I can't take Brynn down to swing in the shade of their backyard rather than the hot park. No more carpools to preschool. The list goes on and on. We are so glad they will only be 20 minutes away, but compared to 2 minutes we have now that seems so far. It definitely is the end of an era in our lives.

So if anyone wants to be our new neighbors...

I Do Myself!!

This seems to be Brynn's motto these days. We hear these words what feels like 100 times a day. It is usually accompanied by folded arms and a foot stomp to emphasize her point.

getting dressed -- "I do My-Self!"

combing hair -- "I do My-Self!"

stirring chocolate milk -- "I do My-Self!"

mom trying to hold hands in parking lot -- "I do My-Self!"

getting in and out of car -- "I do My-Self!"

buckling her car seat -- "I do My-Self!"

Potty Training -- "I do My-Self!

and that's just what she did.

For several months, Brynn has been taking her diaper off randomly throughout the day and going potty on the toilet by herself. Then several weeks ago it became nearly impossible to keep a diaper on her so we changed to pull-ups. She started going potty more and I began to notice that she would keep her pull up dry for a good part of the day without any prompting from me. I knew she was ready to potty train but was dragging my feet until one day Scott took the kids over to his parents' house in Orem that they are getting ready to sell. Scott was busy helping his mom with several projects that involved all the toilets being unhooked from the bathrooms and put in the living room while they worked. Mason came running in stating he needed to go potty. Scott told him he would have to go outside in the backyard because there were no toilets. Mason then informed Scott, "Well, Brynn is using the toilet." And sure enough, she had dropped her britches, climbed up on the toilet sitting in the middle of the living room, and gone potty. When Scott told me this I almost died, and then I decided it was probably time to bite the bullet and get her in underwear. We went to the store and she picked out Minnie underwear. When I put it on she acted like it was the greatest thing that ever happened to her. I didn't have any real game plan, just figured we'd see how she did. She did great. One accident the first day. Two the second (figuring out the pooping was a little bit of a hiccup). Now one short week later I dare say we are potty trained. We are still using pull ups at night, much to Brynn's dismay, but even then she wakes me up at least once a night to go potty (honestly I wish she'd just stay asleep and pee in the pull up). Everyone who said girls are easier than boys wasn't kidding!

Allred Reunion

Last month all of the Allred clan (my mom's family) gathered in Zion for the biannual Allred Reunion. We stayed at an awesome place called Clear Creek Ranch in a beautiful lodge that was actually big enough to house all of us and provide ample entertainment for everyone. We had so much fun for 4 straight days that I don't really know where to begin. I guess a thanks to my Grandma and Grandpa, aka Pooky and Papa, would be appropriate since it was all thanks to them.I love this picture of my Grandpa, because it wouldn't be an Allred Reunion without a horseshoe tournament.

Here are my Grandparents with all the great-grandkids who were there...and this isn't even all of them. The amazing thing is Pooky and Papa have a personal relationship with each and every one of them. They never miss a birthday, blessing, baptism, or anything else important that goes on in any one's lives. They are amazingly supportive.

Our days were spent canoeing, swimming in the pond, slip n' sliding, hiking in Zion, playing minute to win it and other games, talking, doing crafts, exploring, and most importantly spending time with all our cousins and friends. The most amazing thing was even with the kids outnumbering the adults, it still felt like a vacation for all of us. The kids were so entertained and had so much fun playing with one another that in 4 days I never heard anyone say they were bored or ask for something to do. There was also not a single minute of TV, movies, or video games the entire time. I didn't know that was possible anymore, and I absolutely LOVED it. Someone mentioned that one sign of a good extended family reunion is when you can't tell which family the kids are from because tehy are all running around together and will run up to any adult when they need something. That was definitely the case there.

Mason and his second cousin, Braden, who are just a couple month apart in age had fun together and thought it was pretty cool they had the same jammies.

I stole this collage from Whitney's blog because it generally sums up the reunion. Click on it to enlarge.

The the hundreds of pictures taken (thanks, Dad, for being the group photographer) there is not a single one of our family together. I'm not sure whose lap Brynn was sitting on for the wagon ride, but here are the rest of us.

We spent a lot of time rowing around in the "dingy" as Mason called it. It was definitely his favorite part of the trip. We could hardly get him of the pond long enough to eat.

Brynn did not share his love of the canoe.

But she did love the bouncy house Grandma Nancy brought. We hardly ever worried about where Brynn was because if the bouncy house was up, she was in it. And there was no shortage of friends for her to play with.

Mason gave the oversized slip n' slide a try and decided it was pretty fun.

Brynn was happy to give it a try but was quite upset when her swimming suit got wet. Apparently she didn't know that was part of the deal.

I mentioned how the adults had as much fun as the kids did. This was especially true for the big boys. Scott, Chris, Brandon, Anthony, and Jordan channeled their inner child and entertained us all with their stunts down the slip n' slide and canoe swamping.

Another collage of Whitney's that shows some of the boys' shenanigans.

It was a great reunion. Can't wait for the next one.

Siblings

I know I haven't been the best at documenting what we've been up to this summer, but trust me, we've been having a lot of fun. The highlight of my summer has definitely been watching these two kids become best friends. Brynn is Mason's little side kick and is always following his lead. I find myself turning to Mason for help when Brynn won't obey me because she'll do whatever he asks her to do. When she is hurt or sad she will often times turn first to Mason for comfort. A hug and kiss from Mason can fix anything.

Mason has become Brynn's protector. He is always looking out for her and trying to make her happy. If anything makes Brynn upset Mason instantly tries to remedy the situation. This can be helpful, like when Brynn is having a hard time going to sleep and Mason will go lay by her to help her settle down. It is not so helpful when he sneaks chips under the table to Brynn when we've told her she can't have any more until she eats the rest of her lunch, or when Brynn is crying for her binky and so Mason goes and gets it for her. It makes me so happy watching these two love each other and it makes me so excited to see them both love ANOTHER SIBLING just as much.

That's right, Mason and Brynn are going to have another sibling the beginning of next year. I am currently 16 weeks and this little one is due to arrive sometime around January 10th. We told Mason and Brynn a few weeks ago and Mason really wanted to keep it a secret. So we've been keeping it our little family secret that we whisper about when no one is around. My body is no longer keeping the secret very well, so we decided it was time to tell family and friends. My pregnancy has been just like Mason's in that it's been pretty easy and completely opposite of Brynn's when I was sick sick sick. Because of this I am 90% sure this little one is a boy. My biggest complaint has been my allergies which have been worse than ever this year and I was unable to take anything for them for the first 12 weeks. Now that I can pop a Zyrtec when I need one, I am much happier.

We are so grateful and excited for another addition to our family.

Two Wheeler

Mason has conquered his two wheeler bike. Thanks to some wonderful advice and generosity we received from our friends, the Sommerfeldts, it was really easy. You see, Mason has been anxious to take his training wheels off all summer to be like his friends in the neighborhood, but he wasn't quite confident enough on his bike, yet. That is, until his little friend Benson learned how to ride a two wheeler and his mom let me in on their secret. They bought a little bike from DI and removed the pedal system, creating a balance bike. After riding around on it for a short time, it was a smooth transition to a bike with pedals. They were kind enough to leave their balance bike behind when they moved to Maryland for Mason to use. The day we picked up the bike Mason spent about 20-30 minutes riding it down the driveway over and over. It didn't take long before he was able to lift up his legs and balance really well. He then confidently declared he was ready to ride his bike without training wheels. I knew that his confidence would be the key to success so I took off his training wheels and the rest is history. He took of riding down the street and has never looked back. Now if only Brynn could reach the ground on the balance bike like she wishes she could. A huge Thank You to the Sommerfeldts. We miss you guys already.