Mother's Day Tea

Ava's preschool had a Mother's Day tea on Tuesday. The decorations were very cute and fancy, and they served some yummy snacks and a variety of different kinds of tea.
Some very important Mother's in Ava's life... her Great Grand"Mother" and her Grand"Mother".
The kids did a little performance for us too
and of course, I thought she was the cutest one there :)
really getting into their performance :)
All of the kids (minus one little boy who didn't want to be on stage)
Love her little dimple and her smile
We all got to make our own tea bags, which I thought was such a fun activity. Here's Ava dumping the tea into the tea bag.
stapling the top
and putting it into the clear plastic bag.
Great Nana making her tea
then she put a label on it, and voila, her tea bag was complete.
Nannie and her tea bag
Mommy and Ava
4 generations of girls

Happy 7th Bday Cristian Bradley

Cristian woke up Monday morning to find the fireplace all decorated for him!
Close up of the bday boy
Carter handing him the present he got for big brother
A frog and toad puzzle. (Cristian LOVES frogs, and he loves the Adventures of Frog and toad books!)
Ava handing Cristian the present she picked out for Cristian all by herself.
A Wii Disney Cars game :)
Yep, one of his presents was beef jerky. He loves it and asks for it every time we're grocery shopping :)
He was SUPER excited to open this present. I bought this toy when we were at Disneyland because he was really eying it, and he, of course, remembered it right away. He told me I'm a pretty sneaky lady, LOL.
After we took Cristian to school, Ava helped me make cupcakes to take to his class. He wanted funfetti cake with white frosting and colorful sprinkles.
All the cupcakes, Ava did a great job putting the sprinkles on.
Here's the bday boy with his teacher.
Monday night Cristian also had play practice from 6:00-7:30. So his request for dinner was take out Teriyaki. Then after his play practice he opened presents from Nannie, Grampie, and Auntie. The ONE thing Cristian had on his birthday list this year was a bunk bed... and although I have no picture of it (because it hasn't been purchased yet), Cristian's big present from my parents was a new bunk bed. (it'll be Carter's big present too for his 2nd bday because it'll be for both of them). We'll probably get it sometime towards the end of the summer. He can't wait!
A Star wars lego watch!
Indiana Jones Mickey Mouse (again coming all the way from disneyland :) and a purple webkinz dragon.
Lego buzz lightyear.
Yummy cupcakes from Indulge Cupcakes that Cristian picked out after school.
Everyone singing happy birthday to our sweet boy! what a blessing he's been these past 7 years.

May 2, 2003

I know his bday is May 3rd, but I will ALWAYS remember the events of May 2nd. When we left for church this morning, (which was around 9:15am) I couldn't help but think about what this very day was like, 7 years ago. I had already gone to the hospital because I'd been having contractions 3-5 minutes apart since 6pm the night before (May 1st), and I was to the point where I couldn't just "wait them out" anymore because I was so uncomfortable. (and of course I was exhausted because I hadn't slept a wink all night). But, at 7:30am when I was admitted into the hospital, the nurse checked me and I was told that I was NOT even dialated to a 1. So they gave me 2 sleeping pills and sent me home, and told me to continue to "wait it out" at home. I was not happy... but what could I do? Well, 2 hours later... around 9:30, I went back to the hospital because I'd HAD IT! The contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes and were intensifying... and the worst part was I felt drugged (but not in a "relieving of my pain" kind of way). So, they admitted me again, and this time let me stay because I was FINALLY dialated to almost a 2. I had to endure contractions for another 6 hours before they'd give me my epidural (because they wanted me to be atleast a 4 before they'd give it to me). So, by 3:30 I was able to relax a bit (and I say a bit because the epidural didn't fully work. I was still able to feel the contractions, but they became more of a bad "period cramp" instead of the "intense, I can't breathe and I'd rather die right now" cramp. Another 6 hours went by, and I'd only progressed to a 6. So at 9:30pm they broke my water. (at this point I'm so tired it's even beyond description) I'd been in labor for over 24 hours. They checked me again at 10:30pm and I was an 8, at 11:30pm a 9. Right around this point, my epidural stopped working, but I was told it was too close to the end to do anything about it. So I had to endure the intense pain of contractions for another 30 minutes before I FINALLY was a 10 and ready to push. And what a relief that was... when I was pushing, I couldn't feel the contractions! Well, I pushed, and I pushed, and I pushed some more... and Cristian was slowly emerging. It was taking so long because his head was not coming out the right way. (instead of coming out with the back of his head up, he had his head turned to the side. So with every push, they were trying to rotate him the correct way. Around 1:00am (now May 3rd) his heart rate started to drop. They had me roll to my side and try and push that way. But there was no improvement and his little heart rate continued to drop. (turns out the poor guy had wrapped the cord around his neck several times, and as they were trying to rotate his head, the cord basically started strangling him). At approximately 1:15 am his heart rate stopped showing up on their monitors. They weren't sure if the cork screw looking thing they had stuck in his head had fallen off, or if he was rapidly declining. So, next thing I know, the nurse pushes Cristian back up into my uterus and holds him up there telling me "whatever you do, DON'T PUSH" Well, anyone who has been in labor knows that fighting the urge to push is like telling someone not to cough when they are sick. Your body just naturally does it... so fighting it was extremely difficult and insanely painful. I was rushed to the operating room, strapped to a table, and put under general anesthesia not knowing how my little baby was. When he was born, he was as blue as a smurf and not making any noise. His APGAR score was a 1 (out of 10 for those who aren't familiar) which means he was BARELY alive. But thank goodness for doctors, nurses, and the power of Pray! Our little boy survived and rebounded quickly. (I wish I could say the same for myself, but I too survived :) So, there you have it... 32 hours of labor and an emergency c-section later, I was finally holding my baby boy! And now you understand why May 2nd stands out in my mind just as much as May 3rd.

C's Bday Celebration Part 1

Here's my boys all dressed and ready for church this morning.
All three kiddos

waiting for mommy...
to get her starbucks :)
After church we went out to lunch at the Windmill Bistro with Nannie, Grampie, Auntie, Grandma Gina and Grandpa Larry to celebrate both Cristian and Grandma Gina's bdays!
After lunch the kids opened presents from Grandma Gina and Grandpa Larry. (they always bring a little something for the other two kids when it's someone's bday) Ava got a new barbie
and Carter a Lightning McQueen
Cristian was excited to find money in his card from Uncle Ryan
A new Wii game, Super Mario Bros
Indiana Jones Legos!!
The movie G-Force, which he said "Alright, I've always wanted this"
Later that afternoon, my mom and I took C to see the movie, How To Train Your Dragon.
I thought it was pretty cute, and C gave it a THUMBS UP!
For dinner, he requested pancakes, bacon, frosted mini wheats, pineapple, and strawberries :)

(note how pretty the yard is right now... I guess that's the advantage to April Showers... they bring us May Flowers and green grass! :)

Spaghetti Factory

That's one happy boy to have some crayons to color with!
Picture of Grandma Gina (who's birthday is May 2) and Cristian (taken by Ava)
Kyle, Ava, and Grandpa Larry
Here's a BEFORE dinner shot of Carter...

then his spaghetti came...
and oh boy did he enjoy it!
wiping his hands and face
switched from using the fork to his hands
Yum!
Cristian being sung to
Cristian and Ava on the train
UW Tacoma campus

The (almost) birthday boy
Ava

Baseball

Cristian and Ava both started baseball at the beginning of April, and I think it's safe to say, it's both of their favorite sport to play. (well, actually, if you ask Cristian what his favorite sport is, he'll usually tell you which ever one he is currently playing is his favorite). They both seem to have a real natural talent for the game.
Carter joined in on the picture taking too :)