Carving Pumpkins

I realized in my last post about Saije that I forgot to mention that my friends Mike and Char live up here in Dickinson, North Dakota because Mike also works in the oil field. He drives water truck and Brogan fracs for a different company. Brogan lives out of a company paid for hotel, but Mike and Char actually reside here because Mike works 6 days a week all the time. Brogan has two weeks on and one week off. Anyway...that is how I was able to compare Ryan and Saije's size. It's nice having her here, along with a bunch of other girly friends because of their husband's jobs in the oil field. Because Brogan works 3 AM to 9 PM and we're staying at the hotel, I get pretty bored. I watch ALOT of TV! ha ha! With Char right up the road I've been going over there every day to chill. The other night we made sugar cookies and frosted them like pumpkins. The night before that we went to the tiny mall here and went shopping and got some great deals on baby clothes! And then last night we carved pumpkins!

So I had a super cute face drawn on the pumpkin before I cut it out, and well my knife didn't agree with me when I went to cut out the nose! Needless to say, it looks TERRIBLE! Ha Ha! It was fun tho! Me and Char got a good laugh out of it :-)

Ok...so I totally suck at carving pumpkins! But it was sure fun!

Fun in North Dakota!

10 weeks old today!

I love taking pictures of her cuz she is so damn cute! Her little personality comes out more and more each and every day and she is so fun! Such a pleasant baby. I got REALLY lucky to have such a sweet spirited baby girl to love on all day and be best friends with!

9 weeks and 5 days old

Trying to stay warm! It's been in the low 30's the entire time we've been here and it's supposed to get colder this week! Like 11 and 13 degrees!!!

9 weeks and 4 days old

This picture totally looks like Saije took it herself because of the way her arm is up! Ha Ha!

Always smilin' from ear to ear!

I'm pretty sure her hair gets more and more curly every day. It's so easy to do and only takes like 30 seconds! :-)

My good friends Mike and Char had their little boy the day Brogan and I got engaged, September 29th. He's barely a month old and Saije is just over 2 months old, but look at the difference in size! Saije is a monster compared to little Ryan! One of the big things is that Saije was 6 1/2 lbs when she was born and Ryan was barely 5 lbs. He was a little tyke from the get-go and has had trouble gaining weight so I think Saije will always be bigger than him unless he hits a massive growth spurt! He just might!

Just as a side note: All the outfits Saije is wearing now are all 3 month outfits. They are just a TINY bit too big but all her newborn stuff and 0-3 month stuff is way too small. She has a long body like her Mama so all the onsies were way too tight. She barely hit 2 months last week but she's already wearing 3 month clothes! She's growing up! The day before we came to North Dakota I got a box and boxed up all her newborn clothes to put in storage. It was really sad! They were all so cute and I remember her wearing each and every one of them for the first time and thinking she looked absolutely adorable in them! Her clothes keep getting cuter and cuter tho! Probably cuz Brogan has a shopping addiction ;-) Ok...maybe me too! Lol!

My Beautiful Baby Girl!

North Dakota

Mommy and Saije getting ready for bed in North Dakota!

After 12 hours we made it to North Dakota! We drove for 11 hours and then between stopping a few times for gas and what not, it was 12 hours exactly. We left Saturday night at 7:30 and just drove straight thru the night. Brogan was a trooper and drove the entire way. Saije slept the entire way except for the times I changed her diaper and fed her a bottle. She did soooo good! The hotel Brogan stays at is beautiful! His company was the first booking for this place so no one had ever stayed here before. I'm pretty sure it's rated four stars. They pay out $75,000/week for 79 rooms 7 days a week. That's a TON of money considering they are only in their rooms for like 4 hours a day!

Saije just chillin' on the bed in the hotel!

We got really lucky. Brogan would have normally started work at 3 AM Monday morning but they had been having problems with the rig they are working on so he got the day off! We went to lunch at a delicious steakhouse called JD's, took a nap (we were still tired from the trip), went to Walmart for groceries so we don't have to eat out every meal for two weeks, and then watched the Ravens vs Jaguars Monday night football game in our room with his coworker Roberto. Roberto is a really good guy. He lives in El Paso, Texas. On Sunday I met a few other coworkers of Brogan's and man alive some of these oil field workers are CRAZY! They come from all walks of life that is for sure! A bunch of ex-druggies all the way down to good family men (like Roberto). Brogan spends 20 hours a day with these guys! Lol!

2 months old!

My baby girl is 2 months old already! Where has the time gone?! We took her in for her 2 month checkup with Dr. Graham last week and here are her stats: she was 11 lbs 1 oz and 23 inches long! At birth she was 6 lbs 10 oz and 18 1/2 inches long! She's a growin girl and FAST! She is 100% healthy, she just has a few issues that can be easily resolved. See in the picture how her head leans to her right? She has a condition called torticollis where the muscles on one side of her neck are tighter than the ones on the other side of her neck. This causes her head to lean to the tight side. Dr. Graham sent us to physical therapy where they showed me excercises to do at home with her to help loosen up those muscles on the tight side. No biggie. He says it's very common and it's caused by the way she was positioned in my belly.

She also has a cross-eye issue. All babies go cross-eyed when they are first born because their eye muscles aren't strong enough yet. As she started getting older she was still going cross-eyed from time to time. She hasn't in a couple weeks now, but Dr. Graham says one of her eyes is still weaker and slower than the other. He says he will check it out when I take her back in for her 4 month checkup and if it's still a problem, he will send her to an eye specialist. Sometimes some babies just take longer to build up those eye muscles. Saije's father Joe has a lazy eye so maybe it's the genetic side of things. Who knows. You can do it Saije! At this appointment she got her first round of shots and boy did she scream bloody murder! I knew she would, but still. It's hard for a Mother to see her sweet baby be in pain and cry so hard and not be able to do anything about it! I didn't outright cry, but as I was kissing her little cheeks trying to calm her down while the shots were being given to her, I got really teary eyed :-( I know they are for her benefit and that's the only reason I did it.

Look at her curly hair! When she was first born her hair was straight straight straight and dark dark dark! As she's gotten older, it's lightened up ALOT and goes really curly! I've started putting hair gel/wax in it so it stays that way during the day and I get TONS of compliments on how cute her and her hair is! What can I say...I have a BEAUTIFUL little girl!

Mommy hadn't done her hair yet this day, but her outfit was adorable. Brogan bought it for her...of course! I swear everything this girl owns says something about Daddy on it! Ha Ha!

I've been crafty!

I bought this little craft kit from my "Mama Cris". She's the sweet lady I lived with in Utah. She owns a craft boutique store in Ogden, UT where she sells finished and unfinished crafts that she comes up with on her own. She is THE MOST creative person I've ever met in my life! This little kit came with the wood block and the metal "I <3 Fall" piece. All I had to do was paint the wood block brown, glue on scrapbook paper on the sides, top, and front, and find a cute embelishment for the side. I found these cute fall leaves at a local scrapbook store and then got some orange and brown ribbon for the little bow. It didn't take long to make, but it is sure cute! It's the only Fall decoration I have in my apartment! Ha Ha!

I made these cute picture frames for Saije's room. I got these frames at Walmart for .97, painted them brown, and then hot glued the pink/yellow flowers and ribbon on the front! Easy as that! The whole project only cost me about $9!

Now I REALLY have to marry him! Ha Ha! I bought these 4" wood letters from Mama Cris as well. I just painted them brown, glued cute scrapbook paper on the front, hot glued buttons and wood hearts on, tied some ribbon on a few of the letters, and then antiqued them by sponging on some black ink around the edges. They turned out sooooo great! Way better than I even imagined in my head! YAY! I picked scarpbook paper that matches our home decor: red, black, and brown. I thru in a little mustard yellow just for fun. :-)

Here are the letters up close so you can see details.

Between the wood letters, scrapbook paper, buttons, wood hearts, ribbon, and paint I think this project cost me about $25. Not bad!!!

Brogan's Birthday! The big 2-5!!

We celebrated Brogan's 25th birthday on Thursday the 20th! He is NOT a fan of his birthday at all. He hates gifts and he hates the attention. Ha Ha! Well that doesn't get too far with me! I got him two 1-hour spa massages because he's been complaining of back pain from work. Plus he just deserves it. He works really really hard putting in 250 hours every two weeks. He had never had a professional massage in his life so I thought it would be fun for him to experience it. I scheduled his appt for the first massage the day of his birthday. He says he liked it, but he's not a big fan of them rubbing him with their elbows and stuff trying to get certain pressure points and whatever. He prefers just a good 'ol back RUB! He also isn't a fan of lotions and oils being rubbed on him. He's a freak about his skin and keeping it clean so that kind of bothered him. All in all, he said he did feel better afterwards than he did going in, and he did appreciate it, however he would let me use the other 1-hour massage. Ha Ha! I can't win with this guy when it comes to gifts! Lol! We went to lunch at a Mexican restaurant with his cousin and her husband. Of course we sang to him and they made him wear a sombrero. Oh...and the shot of tequilla! It was really funny cuz Brogan doesn't like the attention.

Channing had to get his turn in with the sombrero too! What a stud. Once it was on his head he didn't quite know what to think! That night we had Brogan's Grandma, Aunt, and cousins all come over to the apartment for cake and games. I cheated and just got a Dairy Queen ice cream birthday cake! Ha Ha! Brogan's Uncle and Grandpa couldn't make it because beat harvest is going on right now and Grandpa works for Uncle Rick driving beat truck. This is their busy season. We sure missed them tho! We also missed Brogan's Dad too but we know he was there in spirit. He passed away 2 1/2 years ago of MS. We know, Brogan especially, that Ronnie is with us everyday and watches over us and our kiddos. It was a good day all in all! Happy Birthday baby!

My Man!

This man rocks my world in every way! He can make me laugh more and harder than anyone I've ever met. He is always sarcastic and jokes around alot. I kid you not, there are days I go to bed with a belly ache and sore abs from laughing so hard at him throughout the day! Not only is he hilarious, but he is sweet. He always thinks of me first when it comes to anything. He loves to give me random kisses and back rubs thru the day. My favorite! He stands behind me 110% with whatever decision I make. It's been really hard dealing with the emotions brought upon me with the situation with Saije's father Joe. It's hard. Brogan knows how much I loved him and how bad alot of the things that happened affected me. He knows and understands that although he is Saije's Daddy, he isn't her father, yet he doesn't let it affect anything between us or his relationship with Saije. He'd give his right leg for that little girl! In fact, the other day he was holding her and they were smiling back and forth at each other and Brogan says to me "She's only 2 months old and I can already tell I'm gonna be wrapped around her little finger for life!" Ha Ha! I never have to ask him for help, he just does it. Before I can act, Brogan will already be changing her diaper or fixing her a bottle. He really is the greatest. Such a blessing in my life to have such a wonderful man that is faithful and 100% devoted to me and our kids! Working out of state for two weeks at a time is definitely hard for him, but he does it for us! He can't make the kind of money close to home that he does in North Dakota. Not even close! Plus all the benefits...full health, dental, and vision insurance and also his 401K and life insurance. Most people with degrees can't make $80,000/year! I like me a hard workin' man! I love you babe! Thanks for being so great!

PLUS...look at how sexy he is!! ;-)

Not only is he an incredible Daddy to Saije, but he is to his own son Channing also. Channing mimmicks everything Brogan does. That kid lights up when we go pick him up from his Mom and cries and cries and cries when we go to drop him back off at the end of the week Brogan has off. Channing is definitely a Daddy's Boy. Thru and thru! Here is a funny thing about Channing: He is SUPER protective of Saije. She'll be laying on the couch and if she starts crying Channing will run over to her and pat her face, rub her hand, or put his head right next to hers like he's trying to hug her. The other day he even tried to pick her up off the floor when she was crying. He loves her and is so sweet and gentle with her. He calls her "Sissy" like Brogan does too. It's so stinkin cute! I snapped this picture last week when Brogan was home on his week off. He fell asleep while he was watching Cartoons with Channing. Channing was wide awake, but didn't even care that Brogan was asleep. He just wanted to be with his Daddy!

By the way...

Brogan gets home tonight! His two weeks is up! He'll be home right around midnight! YAY! I have missed him so much! It's hard to get engaged 2 days before he leaves for 2 weeks! I want my fiance' home! And it gets better...when his week off is up...WE ARE GOING WITH HIM BACK TO NORTH DAKOTA FOR TWO WEEKS! We won't see much of him since he works 18-20 hours a day for the entire 14 days straight but we will get to snuggle in bed with him! I hate waking up alone when he's gone :( When those two weeks are up we come home for his week off again! All in all, we get four straight weeks together. I am so excited! The only downside is we can't take Channing with us to North Dakota so we only get to see him for the time Brogan has off and we're home.

I'm totally counting down the hours! 10 more to go!!!

Extensions

I've been trying to grow my hair out since I cut it like 3 1/2 years ago! Cutting it a little while before Alex and I moved to Hawaii was the worst decision ever! I did like having a short A-line haircut while in Hawaii because of the humidity, but it has never fully grown back! I know alot of it has to do with how damaged it is from all the hair dye and bleach, but still! I want my REAL hair back! Brogan's cousin Alissa works at a salon here in Burley and she hooked me up with these cute extensions. They are just clip in ones, but it's real human hair so I can curl them or whatever. I haven't quite mastered how to put them in myself because I feel handicapped reaching behind my head trying to do something I can't see happen! Ha Ha! Hopefully one day my hair will grow back! Until then these will have to do! (if I cant figure out how to put them in that is!)

8 wks old today!

Look at that contagious smile of hers! Isn't it sweet? If this girl isn't sleeping or eating, she's smiling. I was walking thru Walmart yesterday doing some grocery shopping and every single person who would look in the carrier at her would get a big 'ol grin back! I kid you not I had at least 3 people say "she is a happy girl!" I love it. On the days where I feel overwhelmed or emotional for whatever reason, Saije can turn my frown upside down in a heartbeat just by looking at that smile :-) In fact, these pics were taken right after I had felt like I wanted to kill her Father, Joe, who out of nowhere emails me after more than 3 months of dropping off the planet. What a coward! Anyway...that's a whole 'nother story in itself that I won't bore you with. But seriously...I wanna kill him! Grrrr!!! I couldn't be mad for long tho cuz look how happy she was! I love my girl! (7 weeks and 5 days old)

 Awwwww! I love her! We went to the High School soccer game so I had to make sure she was warm enough. Brogan bought her this freakin cute beanie with little ears and my friends Amber and Liza gave me the little peacoat as a baby gift! LOOK AT THOSE CHEEKS!!! (7 1/2 weeks old)

This picture was taken at 6 1/2 weeks old. Don't ask! This girl likes to sleep in the weirdest positions! It's what suits her fancy I guess! She's kneeling on my leg!

About two weeks ago, right as Saije was 6 weeks old, she started sleeping thru the night. Just out of nowhere! The most she was sleeping at a time was like 4 hours. Maybe every once in awhile 5 or 6 hours. Then one night I put her to bed and she slept for 8 hours. The next night 9. The next night 10 1/2. And the last two nights 11 hours! I am soooo happy! The last two weeks have been amazing when it comes to getting enough sleep! She even is takind pretty decent naps during the day too. Makes life alot easier for Mommy :)

Saije has her 2 month checkup tomorrow with Dr. Graham. She'll also get all her shots...I'm trying to prepare myself! Dr. Graham is the doctor that found my little brother's cancer about two years ago. He lives right up the road from my parent's house actually. He is such an amazing doctor. Although he isn't a pediatrician, just a family doctor, he has a special way with babies. I wouldn't want anyone else!

Saije used to hate the bathtub. I don't know if you remember from one of my prior posts when she was just tiny, but everytime I'd get her near the bathtub or she could hear the water running she would FREAK OUT and scream her head off! I finally ditched the baby bather and just put her directly in the water that is like 2 inches deep and hold her head up with my hand. Man alive! That girl loves the bath now! She kicks and kicks and kicks in the water so it splashes and she just giggles and giggles! It's so fun to watch her! I actually video'd it but I haven't been able to figure out how to put videos on here yet. We've been doing it this way for the past three weeks now. Thank goodness we figured it out cuz having her freak out everytime I needed to bath her was a pain in my butt!

Saije is TOTALLY not a binkie baby. I could never give her a binkie again and she could care less! The ONLY time she will take one is if she's being a little fussy for no reason and I pick her up to cuddle her. I'll stick the binkie in her mouth to help soothe her and put her to sleep and it honestly only take like a minute. The binkie falls out of her mouth at that point. Just another thing I don't have to ween her of I guess!

Halloween Decor

I LOVE decorating for the different Holidays! I am ashamed to say that what you see is the ONLY Halloween decoration I have :( I might just have to work on that for next year!

Engaged!!!

A couple days before Brogan came home I got a surprise delivery: these GORGEOUS flowers from him with a note that said "You are amazing and this week is going to be even more amazing!" I thought he was just referring to him being home because that in itself makes for an amazing week!

What he REALLY meant by that was that he was going to propose! And he did! WE ARE ENGAGED! No date yet, but we are thinking Springtime. I know that makes for a long engagement, but who cares! I've always wanted a Spring wedding!

 This is how he did it: He convinced me to find a babysitter for Saije, which I did...(thanks Amber!) We dropped Channing off at his Grandma's house and Saije off to Amber and then headed to Twin Falls where Brogan told me he was going to take me to dinner and a movie. I was so excited because I haven't been to a movie in the theater in months! We walk into Johnny Carinos (for those of you who don't know what that is, it's like an Olive Garden or Carabbas but way better) and Brogan informs the host that he had a 6:00 reservation. That kind of made me laugh because no reservations are neccessary on a Thursday night! Ha Ha! She then takes us back and seats us at a table covered with rose petals and candles! The honest to goodness truth is that I wasn't even tipped off that something was up because I just figured all the side tables were like that since it's a nice restaurant. I'm so dumb! Ha Ha! We eat our meal and get to talking and right when I think our server is bringing us our check, he sets down a piece of caramel cheesecake right in front of me with a HUGE diamond ring on top of it! A whopping 3 karats! I looked up at Brogan and he had a big 'ol grin on his face. He then stands up, walks around to my side of the table, gets down on one knee, takes my hand, looks me in the eyes, and says "Jayne Lyons. I love you so much! Will you spend the rest of your life with me?" At this point I'm smiling bigger than I've ever smiled before and I say "ummmmm....YES!!!" He gives me a big 'ol kiss and all the onlooking waitresses/servers and restaurant guests start clapping and going "Ow Ow" cuz we were still kissing! Lol! It was one of the greatest nights of my life. People may say that dating for 3 1/2 months isn't a long enough dating period to be ready for marriage, but for us we just knew that we wanted to spend the rest of eternity with each other! I knew a long time ago, but apparently it took Brogan a little longer to figure it out ;) JK! I went from thinking I was done with men for awhile, because of Saije's father, to being engaged in about 4 months! Right when I was about to give up, Brogan came into my life totally and completely unexpectedly and changed me for the best! He took me on regardless of me being 6 1/2 months pregnant with someone else's kid. He truly is my angel. He has to be one of the greatest, most caring, loving, selfless, and incredible human beings and I get to be the lucky one to call him my husband! I love you Brogan Lee Anthony Gransbury! I can't wait to say "I DO!"

I'm engaged!!!

I'm gonna be Mrs. Gransbury!

P.S. We went to the movie afterwards like planned and saw 'Abduction'...It was actually really good! The night was perfect! Thanks honey! I LOVE YOU!!!

Us and Our Crazy Kids!

Brogan is the best Daddy in the world! I am so blessed to have found such an incredible person, fabulous Father, amazing best friend, and love of my life! Saije just loves him and his son Channing loves him so much too!

Kisses from Daddy!

Mommy and Mommy's Girl! I love this girl with everything I have! She is my world!

Saije Update-the last two weeks!

Saije discovered her belly at 4 1/2 weeks and it has been the greatest discovery for Mommy as well! Since the day she was born she has been a TERRIBLE sleeper! When I say terrible, I mean she only slept for like 2 hrs at a time during the night. Then we discovered she sleeps wayyyy better on her belly! She sleeps for 3-6 hours at a time now guaranteed! It's about time Mommy gets some sleep. Ha Ha! With Brogan only home for 6 nights every three weeks, I am the only person available to get up in the middle of the night to feed her or change her. I really don't mind. Yes I don't feel so "rested" the next day, but that's just another reason I am so grateful for a wonderful and incredible man who allows me to stay at home with my daughter and be a Mom. He will not allow that to change either! I am sooo blessed! I don't have to worry about getting up early to get ready for work. Being a Full Time Mommy is the best job in the world!

Saije isn't as big a fan of the swing anymore like she used to be when she was first brought home from the hospital, but sometimes she's ok with it as long as I don't leave her in it for too long. She still looks so tiny in it cuz the swing is so big! (4 1/2 wks)

Saije at 5 wks old! She looks like a little bunny! I call her "Mommy's Chubby Bunny" cuz she's starting to fill out A-L-O-T-!-!-! Just look at those cheeks!

When Brogan says "Babe...you have to wake up with her every single night when I'm gone so go ahead and sleep in and I will get up with Saije." OF COURSE I'm not gonna turn that offer down! The above picture is what happens when Daddy is in charge of getting her up, bathing her, dressing her, and doing her hair! The product is a VERY clean baby in a pretty dress with a HUGE fohawk! LOL! I think Brogan likes playing dress up with her more than me...almost....not quite ;) He always makes her look soooo good! (5 1/2 wks)

Summer is over and Fall is here! I had bought Saije an adorable little dress for summer and it never fit her until now! Thank goodness Fall so far has been warm and nice so I could put her in it at least once! (5 1/2 wks)

6 wks and a smile that is contagious! The great thing about it is SHE DOESN'T STOP! All you have to do is look her straight in the eyeballs and talk to her and she grins from ear to ear! She doesn't stop until you stop! I can honestly say that even before Grandma or me, Brogan can get this little girl smiling the best! He must have the secret touch because he can also calm her down better than even I can! I call him the "Baby Whisperer" Lol!

Boise State!

We LOVE our Broncos! Every single game day I sport my Boise State Broncos t-shirt and fly my Boise State flags from my car windows! Brogan isn't home for most games, but you can bet your bottom he sports his Boise State t-shirt in North Dakota all the time! Ha Ha!