Bridger!!

Here's what happens when you put the camera too close to your grumpy kid (or should I say, what happens when you leave Daddy in charge):

Graham's baby blessing

Graham had his baby blessing on November 28th. It was a snowy day and Graham looked like a little snow bunny in his blessing outfit and hat. He was given a wonderful blessing by Jake and we had lots of family there to support us.


I dreamt a few nights before the blessing that I forgot to dress Graham in his blessing outfit and he was wearing this outfit with robots on it! Luckily, my dream didn't come true.

As we were getting Graham dressed we had deja vu 'cause it felt like we were getting Bridger ready for his blessing all over again. They look so much alike!

This is the best family picture we could come up with.

And forget about getting a picture of two little boys together! Bridger wouldn't cooperate so we had to give him a sucker and a snowball to keep him happy.

My mom and dad were nice enough to let us use their house for a luncheon after the blessing.

Jake's family was in town for Thanksgiving this week so we had almost the whole family at Graham's blessing. We missed Zach and Vernon.

Here is Graham and Bridger with their great-grandparents. Graham's middle name is Stanley and he's named after his great-grandpa Smith who is in this picture.

Mommy and Graham. I just love this little boy! He is so happy and cuddly and has brought such a sweet spirit into our home. I don't know what we'd do without him! We are very blessed to have two healthy, beautiful boys.

President and Sister Hart

We found out today (Thurs. Dec. 2, 2010) that my mom and dad have been called to be the Mission President and companion in a Portuguese speaking mission (most likely Brazil). I wasn't surprised at all. In fact, I feel like I already knew it was coming. Here's the story on how we found out:

Bridger, Graham, and I usually go over to my mom and dad's house to play on Thursdays since Jake has school. Today we went over in the afternoon. When we got there no one was home but I could tell someone had just left because the garage door light was still on. My mom's van was there but my dad's car was gone. Marge, the cleaning lady, told me "they" just left so I knew my mom and dad were together because Brooke has school.

I sent them both text messages to ask where they were but they never answered me. I was starting to get suspicious because my dad had to have taken work off to go wherever they were and he doesn't take work off often.

Finally, my mom called me around dinner time and told me that she and my dad were having dinner at the Garden downtown. She told me they had been downtown for a meeting. By this time I was putting things together. Who goes downtown for a meeting in the middle of the day and takes work off for it? Someone who is getting called on a mission.

When they got home I saw they were all dressed up and when they came and sat down in the family room I said, "You're a Mission President, aren't you?!" They tried to avoid the accusation by saying, "Well, let's wait until Barry gets home before we talk about it." That just confirmed it. Brooke was in the kitchen and I yelled to her to come in and told her they were going on a mission. We just hugged and started to cry.

My parents were very overwhelmed with the calling but they are going to be the best mission President and wife in the whole world! I'm so excited for them. But sad for us. They'll be gone for three years. They also invited Jake and our family and Brooke and Skyler to live in their house while they're gone which we are so grateful for. It'll be so nice to have a yard for the kids to play in and we'll be able to save up for a house of our own while they're gone.

The reason I wasn't surprised at all at their calling is because a few weeks ago Jake and I were talking to my mission President and his wife and I told them I thought they'd get called once my dad was out of the Stake Presidency. Well, that was supposed to end in September but they decided to call him a little early. My parents have known for a few years that they would be called soon but they couldn't tell anyone. I'm sure it's a relief for them to finally be able to tell everyone.

They will leave about July 1, 2011. They'll find out exactly what mission they'll be over in a few months. I know that they will have the best experience of their lives! I love missionary work and I wish I could go with them and serve another mission. I'll miss my mom and dad like crazy but our family will be so blessed because of their service. I'm mostly sad for my kids to not have their grandparents here for a few years. Bridger will be 5 when they get home and Graham will be almost 4. Who knows? We might even have another baby while they're gone. Hopefully, the time will fly by.

Baby Graham

My cousin Jenny Turcsanski took some newborn pictures of Graham for me. They turned out SO cute even though Bridger was having a fit while she was trying to take Graham's pictures. See more of Jenny's work at http://jennyturkphotography.blogspot.com. Here are some of my favorites:

Graham Stanley Meets His Namesake

Graham's middle name is Stanley and he was named after his Great-Grandpa Smith (my mom's dad), Stanley. Here they are meeting for the first time.

Bridger playing, me, Grandpa Smith, and baby Graham

My mom with her dad and Graham

Grandma Smith was having a nap but we wanted her to meet Graham too. She thought he was a cutie!

Halloween 2010

We had such a fun Halloween party again this year! My mom and I spent the day making treats and getting the house ready for our guests. These are some cute witch hats we made.



We decided to be vampires this year. Bridger's costume was adorable! He looked so different with his hair dyed black.

Graham and Joshy were twinners in their skeleton costumes. We didn't get a very good picture of them but this is good enough. The skeleton part of the outfit was glow in the dark which was awesome!

Whitney and Madie

Brooke, Snow White (my mom), me, and Kath

The Phantom (Skyler) and Brooke

Barry was an awesome biker dude. Check out his sleeve tattoos!

Grandma Donna was a Hobo. Her bag said "Will work for food."

Graham as a skeleton

My dad grew pumpkins for us all to carve this year. We had a blast carving them with Makenzie, Eliza, and Ivy

Bridger's 18 month pictures

My friend Laura Milne took Bridger's 18 month pictures for me. They turned out darling! I love having talented friends! She captured Bridger's smiles (and crusties) perfectly. I will treasure these pictures forever. You can see more of Laura's work at http://www.lauramilnephotography.com She is awesome!!

This is one of my favorites!

I brought his basketball and horses just to make him smile but they turned out to be great props!

He got offended somehow in this picture. Too cute!

Back to his happy old self!

This is his, "I'm an angel, Mommy, and I didn't do anything wrong" face.

Another one of my favorites. How will I ever choose which ones to print off and hang up?

I wanted a few pictures of me and Bridger. Too bad I had to be 10 months pregnant at the time.

Can I just say how much I love this kid?

More pictures of Graham

At the hospital Bridger got a Buzz Lightyear for becoming a big brother. He was excited!

We got the leave the hospital a day early since Graham and I were both healthy and doing fine. It was so nice to go home and not be in the hospital anymore!

Here's Jake packing Graham up in the car to go home.

What a cutie!

This is what a typical morning looks like at our house at about 7:30 am.

I had to hold Graham in the sun for a few days to get rid of his Jaundice.

We're trying to get Bridger to hold Graham in this picture. Could he look any less interested?

Graham Stanley Nielsen is here!

Graham Stanley was born on Tuesday, September 28, 2010 at 12:34 pm. He weighed in at a whopping 6 lbs. 13 oz. (just 7 ounces bigger than Bridger was) and he was 19 inches long. He is adorable and we are in love with him! Here are some pictures we wanted to share:

Here he is just minutes after being born. He looks pretty chunky in this picture but he has chicken legs and tiny arms.

The proud parents. We feel so blessed to have two healthy boys.

My dad got to come visit on his lunch break and my mom brought Bridger over to meet his new baby brother. Bridger didn't know what to think but he was happy and thought the hospital was a fun place to play!

Jake and his new baby, Graham.

Here's our happy little family. I love Bridger's face in this picture! He's looking at Graham like, "What is that little thing and why is my mommy holding him?"

We're home from the hospital now and we're enjoying spending time together. Bridger finally acknowledges Graham and says "baby" when he sees him. He also likes when Graham has an outfit on that has a ball on it or a dinosaur. He thinks that's really cool! I'll post more pictures and updates soon!