The Pierce Family

Summer 2011

2011-09-28T12:20:00.000-07:00

We're still here....I just haven't updated our blog in a looooong time. Here's a quick update:
Caden is talking nonstop, climbing and jumping off everything, and basically keeping us on our toes. He loves singing - we hear him singing "Baby I like it" -Enrique Iglesias, Twinkle Twinkle, Tonight Tonight, and the "booty song" in the car. :) He's got some amazing dance moves too. He's really into playing frisbee, baseball and golf. And he's getting really good at making us laugh. He's been saying "Yoink" after doing something really good (he got that from Bolt). And he's pretty funny at his timing when he says "boing", like when he saw a really pretty girl crossing the street. haha It has given me sanity to be able to have conversations with him now. He makes me laugh so hard!

Danika has been giving us quite the scare lately. She held her breath this past weekend until she turned completely blue, fainted, and started twitching (seizure-like). It took us at least a minute before we got her to come to again. It was the scariest moment of my life. We thought we were going to lose her. We're testing her for seizures this week to make sure everything is ok. It might just be Breath holding spells, but either way I wanted to rule out seizures for sure. She's being so fun lately. She turns 1 next week. It's crazy. She loves singing at church (her idea of singing is just making one loud noise for the whole song). She also loves exploring every cupboard right now. She's extremely fast at crawling and walking around furniture. She's also very brave at getting off beds and couches by herself. She's a BIG talker and talks our ears off. It doesn't make any sense but it's super cute. Especially when she thinks she's talking on the phone. Lately we've noticed when she's around kids her age, she's super social and talkative.

She loves Caden and keeping up with him. It'll be interesting to see them once Danika gets the confidence to let go of furniture and start walking. She's still super sweet and a big mama's girl. I love it!

Brandon is still working hard at Fidelity and he's started taking a GMAT class to start preparing to go back to school for his MBA. It's been keeping him very busy. I'm working from home part time right now as an Executive Assistant for the fire department's Leadership Coach. It's nice to make my own hours and work from home when the kids give me a spare minute. I recently started playing piano again too. It's a very relaxing thing for me and I enjoy it. I've been wanting to play again but haven't until just recently when I got called as the Primary pianist in my ward.

Doug, my brother in law, did our family pictures last month. I think they turned out super cute! Check these out:

There's a quick update on our family. It's been a fun, busy summer. We went to Colorado this month to throw my mom a surprise 50th birthday party, which turned out amazing. We also went to Omaha for my sister's baby blessing - which I was pleasantly surprised with how beautiful it was there, and we did some fun camping/boating trips. We've been finding all the splash pads and parks in Utah and enjoying the summer.
Feels like there'll be a lot of changes in the next couple months with our contract running out and Brandon going back to school. It'll be interesting to see where we end up. Meanwhile, I just try to keep up with the laundry, keep the house somewhat clean, the fridge somewhat full and the kids and husband happy! Shoot, this sounds more like an annoying Christmas card now. haha sorry! :)

Caden's Birthday

2011-05-31T14:15:00.000-07:00

Caden had a great birthday this month. He's 2 now and definitely following suit with the "Terrible Two's", but he makes us smile and laugh a lot to make up for it. :)

For his birthday we went to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point and then we had dinner at Pirate Island then came home for cake and ice-cream. All of Brandon's family came, Jamie and Doug, and Chris and Emily were all there. We had a blast and Caden loved every minute of his big day!

Emelia Fae Clarke

2011-05-10T13:26:00.000-07:00

My new niece was born on May 7th at 11:55pm. She was only 4.88lbs and 17 1/2 inches long. She was 6 weeks early. It looks like she'll be in the NICU for at least a week but she's doing great. I told Annie that one thing that'll be nice is she can go home and rest and get all healed and recovered before baby comes home. Wouldn't that have been nice?! She looks like a cutie! We're all excited and very proud.

MAY?!?!?! Really?

2011-05-10T13:24:00.000-07:00

I can't believe we are already in May! What's crazier is Caden turns 2 in a week! It's been crazy the last couple of months. We moved out of my in-laws basement in March and now we live in Lindon. It's been working out great for us. We are in another basement apartment. The kids that live above us love Caden. Anytime Caden hears them outside he runs to the door and shouts PLAY! They have a great backyard and we're lucky that we get to take advantage of it.
Danika is getting big. She sits up on her own and grabs things. She's starting to say dada, which is cute but it would be way cuter if she said mama! She's getting more hair, which makes me happy! :) It's coming in very blonde. So I guess we have blonde hair, blue eye babies! So to adjust to Utah and stay busy we got season passes to the Hogle Zoo and to Thanksgiving Point. We've gone twice to both now. I'm sure we'll go a lot this summer to really make it worth it.

Finally all Healthy Again

2011-02-18T10:21:00.001-08:00

This was a much better week now that everyone is healthy again. They are both happy and all smiles again. Here's a picture of Caden bringing Dani for a ride in his little car.

I LOVE this picture!!! Mainly cause it's such a big smile on Dani. She's so funny with Caden. He smacks her and squeezes her too tight and I wish she'd cry so he'd understand he needs to be gentle but she just smiles and coos at him. They are the best of buds already!

Sickos

2011-02-04T10:06:00.001-08:00

This week has been the longest week of my life!! Both kids have been so miserably sick. They both wanted to be held 24/7 and my arms are so jelloie and tired now. This makes me appreciate their healthy days 100x more! But why couldn't being sick slow Caden down at all? That's my big question. I wish he was more mellow, but he was just as crazy and busy. I got him to rest for a little bit and snapped these photos!

Last week when the sun came out for a couple days, we took advantage and walked to the park. This may be the reason both kids got sick!!! oops

Life as I Know it...

2011-01-24T12:11:00.000-08:00

Life is getting easier and I feel like I'm starting to get things down pretty good with 2 kids. I still got to watch Caden closely with Danika but now it's because he likes to try to pick her up on his own. He picks her up great, both hands under her armpits. The problem is as soon as he lifts her he drops her down. I don't know if it's cause she's heavy or if he doesn't want to get in trouble for picking her up.

Danika is getting very smily and happy. She loves kicking and splashing in the bath tub, watching Caden, and singing patty cake with mommy. She also really enjoys our down comforter and I'm trying to think of ways for her to like her own bed.

Caden enjoys our wii more than we do! He loves playing basketball and Just Dance. His dancing has gotten pretty amazing! Soon he'll keep up with Uncle Doug! He's also gained a new love for horses and Mickey Mouse...we are sad that it started AFTER we moved away from Disneyland. :( He's starting to get a little more comfortable in nursery but daddy still has to accompany him. Hopefully that won't last too much longer.

We moved to Utah in November and we're living with Brandon's parents. It's nice being close to family. I especially love having Jamie and Annie close by. I'm loving being near them and watching their pregnant belly's grow!! Hopefully I'm not messing up any announcements for them. They are due a month apart. Annie in June and Jamie in July. Annie's having a girl and I think Jamie will have a boy....we'll see!

Hopefully we'll have news of a new car soon... I'm praying we'll get one by February.

Our New Addition: Danika Avery

2010-10-30T11:48:00.000-07:00

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She's finally arrived! Our little sweet pea! Life has been so wonderful with her these past 3 weeks. We're still trying to get used to waking up in the middle of the night and we're getting really good at jumping up to save her from Caden's tight squeezes and loves. He sure loves his little sister. He loves to run to check on her if she makes any little peep or squeek. It's been a fun month. And I'm excited to be able to get out of the house again, although I haven't gone out too much since it's a hassle with a little one and Caden. I'm working on that. But at least I can walk around my house and dance and do things without having problems! :)

Long needed update

2010-09-17T17:53:00.000-07:00

So I noticed it's been a VERY long time since I've updated our blog. We've had Annie and Jamie&Doug visit us, so I actually have cute pics to post, I just haven't gotten around to it.
I've been on bed rest with this pregnancy for the last month now and its only getting harder and more boring...
The RS has really been saving my life the past couple weeks. Someone comes everyday and takes Caden for a couple hours. He loves getting out of the house and it makes him much happier. I feel indebted to a lot of people now!
I'm pretty much at 34 weeks now. The doctor wants me to try to get to 35 weeks and then he says I can be off bed rest and I can start to do whatever I want. Maybe Caden and I will go swimming and shopping and do things together that we won't be able to do just the 2 of us after baby comes. Who knows maybe I'll really venture out and try to go to Disneyland!! But then if baby was born at Disneyland, it might lose it's 'happiest place on earth' feel to me. :)
I'll post pics of Annie and James' visits soon...

Memorial Day Weekend in Vegas

2010-06-11T11:35:00.001-07:00

For the past couple years, Brandon has gotten together with all his old apartment buddies. Last year we all went camping at Zion's National Park and this year we all went to Vegas. Everyone was able to come except for Greg, who's going to school in Chicago and couldn't make it.
We had a lot of fun! We stayed at the Embassy Suites and played games, talked, saw Prince of Persia, went to the Bodies Exhibit, walked around the strip, and had a lot of fun. Since I was on "bed rest", Brandon rented me a wheelchair and pushed me around. I had fun with it, even though I felt stupid.

At Cheesecake Factory

Statue of Liberty made entirely of jelly beans!

Chris, Brandon, Caden, Royce, Micah, and Jason

The whole gang!

My boys were all worn out!

Caden's Birthday

2010-06-11T11:01:00.000-07:00

We had a lot of fun with sweet Caden. He totally knew it was a special day for him because he woke up especially hyper and excited. He was happy to be sung to because he loves the birthday song and got to hear it all day long! He also liked that I put a candle in all of his meals.
The big celebrating was after dad got home from work. We ate dinner together, opened gifts and then ate cake. I made an Elmo cake for him and he really liked it. He kept wanting to look at it all day. He was hesitant at first to eat it and then I think he liked our reactions and started going crazy with the cake. It was a long clean up afterwards, but it was hilarious and totally worth it!!!

2010-04-08T14:00:00.000-07:00

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Easter Weekend

2010-04-05T12:02:00.000-07:00

This weekend was wonderful with General Conference. It was very relaxing and nice being together at home. Mom gave me an amazing recipe to try, Creme Brulee French Toast. I had to prepare it the night before and it soaked all night long. It was delicious! It actually surprised me. It was just super sweet so we couldn't eat too much of it. I enjoyed the talks all given. The importance of the family and home seemed to be the general theme for most talks. I'm glad that my new job position is esteemed so highly! Yay Moms!

This was Caden's 1st Easter! We had more fun with it than he did. The night before we hid all our eggs and we worked on making his basket look all cute and hid that as well. Then Easter morning we followed him around with a video camera but he was more entertained with random objects he would find instead - like a marker, his stuffed monkey, and our shoes. Next year maybe we should just hide those! All in all he did a good job humoring us.

My little nephew is STILL not born yet. He was due last Monday, the 29th. Maybe he's holding out to be born tomorrow, April 6th. That's not a bad birthday, eh? Me and Caden are SO anxious to get little Kingston here though. We annoy Shane with calls everyday. I'll probably be cursed and have to wait past my due date next time. I don't know what it's like waiting for the baby to come. Caden came 6 weeks early for me.

I'll work on posting new pictures soon of my little munchkin...

Dare Devil

2010-03-15T13:22:00.000-07:00

Caden is getting so big! I just watched him crawl from the bed onto his football toy box and use it to slide down onto the ground. What a genius!! I need to catch it on camera for proof now.
So I was able to get a free disney pass right before they ended the volunteer thing. Caden and I are going to run over this afternoon to upgrade it to a season pass! I think he'll LOVE disneyland! I'm excited.

Ready for the SUN!

2010-02-03T10:08:00.000-08:00

I'm starting to really get antsy for the sun to come out again! I know it sounds like I'm a total Californian but I'm freezing in this mid 60's weather. I want the sun to come out and for the weather to be in the high 70s and low 80s, doesn't that sound nice?
Caden is getting ready! He acts so cool in his sunglasses. I love it! He used to hate these but he wants to be like his momma and daddy, i guess.
It's so funny to me. He won't smile, he just does that "cool" face! hahahahaha

We're debating whether or not I should get a Disneyland season pass. You think it would be fun/worth it with Caden? He LOVES being outside and I think he would like the colors and people watching with his momma!

Finishing up 2009 and Starting 2010!

2010-01-21T11:03:00.001-08:00

WOW! I am WAY behind on this blog. oops.

1st. Christmas:
We had a BLAST! Here is a slideshow of the Christmas vacation...

2nd. Family Pictures over Christmas with EVERYONE!!!!

3rd. I'm just chugging along trying to do well on my New Years Resolutions as long as I can. :) We've been working out, spring cleaning our apartment, organizing everything, I've been cooking healthier meals, (COOKING frequently is kind of a newer thing for me)and trying to enjoy the beach and outdoors more with Caden.

4th. Here are some more cute pictures of Caden

Thanksgiving

2009-12-07T12:01:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was so much fun in Utah. Caden and I went out to Utah for over a week so we could spend more time with family. We got to visit Shane & Ashley, Annie & Brett, G&G Alldredge, Chris & Emily, G&G Pierce, Tish, Gabe, Taylor, and all Brandon's family. It was so much fun.

Thanksgiving morning Brandon and I ran a 10K in Bountiful. We were excited about it. Really just because it was the longest we've ran together. I used to have something against paying money to run but now I think it's worth it for the motivation it gives us to run everyday in preparation. It kept us from gaining too much weight...so far for the holidays. We might be in trouble around Christmas though.

Caden is growing fast. We're currently working on getting him to sleep through the night. I don't think he's a typical baby. He can be much more stubborn than me. He can outcry my patience. We decided last night to move him into the other bedroom and it helped a lot. Well it either worked or he was just really tired last night! I hope to have him sleeping through the night by the time we go to Colorado for Christmas. Wouldn't that be a nice Christmas present for me! :)

Besides that he's loving bouncing still and attempting to get around on his own. He gets pretty creative in order to get things he wants without actually crawling. It's funny to watch him get to stuff on the floor he's interested in. He'll roll, scoot, spin around, and eventually reach something I put just a couple feet in front of him. haha

We're working on getting Christmas cards sent right now. Please send me your addresses!!!
This is us after the 10k run. We were feeling pretty good.
At the Jazz game with Justin & Amber, Matt & Camilla, Kenny and Nick.
Caden all bundled up to walk around Temple Square with Shane & Ashley
Temple Square all lit up with the Christmas lights - it was beautiful!
Caden has found a new best friend! He loves bouncing in front of mirrors. :)

Baby Bungee Bouncer from the Bowens

2009-11-19T12:01:00.001-08:00

The Bowens are letting us borrow this bouncer and Caden LOVES it! He can jump in it forever.He gets really into it when we turn music on and cheer for him. I love it more than he does! This is the best thing ever! Thank you Bowens!!!

8am

8:45

9:00

Santa Ana Zoo

2009-11-19T11:50:00.000-08:00

Caden and I went to the zoo with our friend Cindy while she was visiting from Taiwan. This is at the Santa Ana Zoo. It was a lot smaller than we expected. We walked through it 3 times. Caden loved their monkeys though. He also loves seeing ducks and water. There was an exhibit of a bald eagle and he stared at the waterfall the whole time.

pouncing lessons...

Beach Family Pictures

2009-11-04T15:31:00.000-08:00

The Month of October

2009-11-02T14:55:00.000-08:00

Hi! This is Caden! October has been a pretty eventful month. Since mom got so behind - I decided I would do the blog to catch her up! To sum it all up there was Halloween, a trip to Utah, my first horse ride with Grandpa, a trip to Colorado, saw my first snow, started eating real food, and carved a pumpkin! If you want to see even more pictures - check out my facebook account! I post all my pictures there lately for my friends and family. What can I say? This computer thing is too easy.

This is me Halloween night - I was pretty dog tired -- well until mom and dad tried to put me to bed. haha

I was a pretty cute puppy for Halloween!

This is me and my mom. She tried to fit me in the pumpkin but I was too big! Silly mom. She thought she was being so funny.

This is me with my carved pumpkin. Uncle Shane says me and the pumpkin have the same smile!

I started eating solids for my first time. Mom finally gave it to me because I wanted to eat all of her food. Look how exhausted I look. haha I was stuffed.

We carved a pumpkin and got all messy! That was the fun part.

We went to the LA Zoo with some friends. My favorite things were the ducks and the sea otter. As you can see the goat was kind of scary.

Got to play in the snow for my 1st time! The snow brings out my wild side. tee hee hee

Mom and me in Colorado snow

Flew on an airplane to Utah and to Colorado to visit everybody! I love plane rides. Mom says I'm a big boy on the plane.

Caden on the Horse with Grandpa Alldredge

2009-10-12T13:01:00.000-07:00

We were not prepared for the cold weather in Utah! We had to layer Caden up like CRAZY to keep him warm. He was a good sport.

ME AND MY BUDDY

2009-09-29T07:21:00.000-07:00

Me and Kevin got to hang out with our dads Saturday night when our moms both went to the Relief Society broadcast.

DOCTOR'S RESULTS ARE IN

2009-09-22T19:58:00.001-07:00

I love how precious my little guy looks when he's sleeping!! I love this picture because he looks like the frog on his jammies.

Today Caden went to the doctor for his 4 month check up. He jumped from being in the 6th percentile to the 25th percentile for his age and size! Yay Caden!! He's growing. She kept saying how active and strong he was. He stood on the doctor's bed (with little support), he was lifting up on his arms and cooing to the mirror, and he was rolling side to side while kicking his legs. He was even making the nurse with the shots laugh. She hesitated quite a bit to give him his shots but we finally did it. He let out a good cry and then he was back to smiling at all the nurses before we left. What a ladies man!

JACIE'S LASIK AND CADEN'S FIRST ANGELS GAME

2009-09-15T13:31:00.000-07:00

I had lasik on Thursday, Sept 10th. It went great and I'm SOOOOO glad I did it. It's especially handy when I wake up in the middle of the night with Caden - and I'm sure that's just the beginning of late night feedings.... (Brandon wants 6 kids)
I had it done at the place I worked at. Everyone was so sweet to me and giving me pep talks and being extra meticulous with all the testing. It was really nice because they had done lots of trial tests on me while I worked there and they were able to compare my results to tests I've had done while working there. It was a good sign that I was consistent with all the test results and it helped Dr. Manger have an easier time choosing numbers for my surgery. Yay! No more glasses/contacts or squinting! It was money well spent!
I had to wear goggles the rest of the day, which I've also had to sleep in for the past 5 nights. Whenever I wear them Caden looks at me like I'm a freak. It does make him laugh now and then, which is cute coming from a baby. Anyone else would deserve a smack. ;)

Last week we also went to an Angels game - I have been bugging Brandon for a while to take me. He goes with the guys a lot and I have to remind him how much I want to go. So we finally went. It's a whole different experience with a baby. Caden was scared to death of all the noise and cheering. I had to comfort him throughout the game. He did fall asleep eventually, which I don't know how he manages to do it - I'm just grateful he does! But we did get a sweet tatoo for him! :)

ZION'S NATIONAL PARK: ANGEL'S LANDING

2009-09-15T13:22:00.000-07:00

HERE'S THE STARTING GROUP...

HERE'S WHO MADE IT TO THE TOP...

THIS WAS OUR VIEW FROM THE TOP

HERE'S ME POINTING TO WHERE WE HIKED TO AND BRANDON SHOWING YOU THE CHAINS WE HAD TO HOLD ON TO.

THIS WAS A APARTMENT REUNION FOR BRANDON WITH HIS BUDDIES. WE HAD A BLAST!

Adjusting to a New Schedule

2009-08-21T12:33:00.000-07:00

So I've been reading a lot on line about getting your baby on a schedule for naps and feedings. I started to log when he naturally wanted to eat and sleep so I could get an idea for a good schedule and this week he's been so different everyday it's been difficult to determine! Yesterday he took a 3 hour nap in the morning but every other day he's up most of the morning and takes his 3 hour nap in the afternoon. He might even be having a growth spurt because he's eating more than usual this week too. How do people decide on schedules? I swear once I think I have it down he seems to change and need more or less of something.

I went out and bought a couple things so I can set him down more. I'm trying to break him from always wanting to be held. He likes the mat and the bumbo until he notices I'm doing other stuff and not paying attention to him. I'm in trouble huh? Well, he is my little buddy and I like him with me but I know that'll be a problem soon.

I love how relaxed and cool he looks in the Bumbo.

Morning Blowout

2009-08-17T11:33:00.000-07:00

Caden had a HUGE mess this morning that the only way I could see to clean it was to bring him in the shower. I rinsed him off and scrubbed him clean. I think the whole fiasco was amusing to him because he was in a great mood, smiling and cooing the whole time! It's like he was laughing at me.

Caden went Swimming!

2009-08-15T14:59:00.001-07:00

Ok so we decided to bring the little guy swimming. The water was way too cold for him though. We'll just have to try again soon!

Caden Loves the Jogging Stroller

2009-08-12T10:39:00.001-07:00

Thanks to mom and dad, I can start getting out again running. Caden loves the little bears on the straps. And it always seems to put him to sleep. YAY!

Caden's Photo Shoot with Lori

2009-08-04T12:18:00.000-07:00

Caden's Blessing Day!

2009-08-04T09:16:00.000-07:00

We were so lucky to have both Grandma & Grandpa Alldredge and Summers here, Uncle Dave, my parents, Jake & Mollie, Shane & Ashley, and all of Brandon's brothers with their wives. Caden is very loved! He looked so handsome and was the life of the party! What a stud!

Here are pictures from when we went to Disneyland, Balboa Pier, and hanging out at home. We tried a couple blessing outfits on Caden. The one he wore was also worn by my dad and my brother, Jake. Caden didn't like this one...

Small World-Mollie was holding Caden in the front row of the boat.

We went to Balboa and got frozen bananas. Here was a cool store we saw - perfect for Jake!
Caden playing nintendo with Uncle Shane

Little Munchkin

2009-07-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

Caden LOVES when Mollie visits....

2009-07-27T16:35:00.000-07:00

Caden has cozied up next to Mollie and LOVES snuggling up with her. I don't know how I'll peel him off when she goes home!

5 Generation Photo

2009-07-27T16:32:00.000-07:00

Grandma Jiny, Brandon, Caden, Great Grandma Doney, Great Great Grandma Jenson

2009-07-15T11:54:00.001-07:00

Ready for the Sun

2009-07-09T16:54:00.000-07:00

Caden's Visit to Colorado

2009-06-28T17:59:00.000-07:00

Happy Baby!

2009-06-12T17:51:00.000-07:00

I love this picture! Caden already has a LOT of personality and he likes to tease me and joke with me. I think he'll have a great sense of humor. :)
Caden smiles randomly whenever the camera is not around so I was excited to catch one of his smiles finally with my camera...

CADEN SAMUEL PIERCE born May 19th, 2009

2009-06-04T12:05:00.000-07:00

The Long Story of how we got sweet Caden so early..... here it goes:

Caden came as a HUGE surprise coming 6 weeks early. I thought I was just having really bad cramps all weekend because of a stressful work week and I was pretty stressed about speaking at a seminar for work on Saturday as well as doing Sharing Time in Primary with my Sunbeams on Sunday. So when Monday rolled around and I was still having the cramps and I wasn't stressed anymore, I started to wonder if there was something wrong.

I had a late lunch around 2pm and called my mom to tell her about the strong cramps I was having about 10 minutes apart and I wondered if I should call the doctor. She said it was probably all normal and to take it easy the rest of the day. Well I started to get more and more nervous when I went home for lunch and laid down and the cramping continued. So when I got back to work I called the doctor and left his nurse a message letting him know what was going on. The nurse called back about an hour later and said I should come in to the hospital to have it checked out and to get a shot to slow down the cramps.

Asking to leave work early is a huge no-no at my office. So instead of asking, I just told my boss I was leaving to go to the hospital and I didn't think I'd be back the rest of the day (it was 3:30pm). Brandon came to get me and we went in. We hadn't had our tour yet so we didn't know where to go or where to park even. People saw how confused we were and pointed us in the right direction. The nurses were very calm and did the routine check up, asking me questions and hooking me up to machines to test for contractions. Sure enough the cramps I was having were contractions and they were shocked I had endured them all weekend. They said they were pretty strong ones and very close together. So they gave me a shot to slow them down.

Next they decided to check if I was dilated. I guess I shocked the nurse again because she said she thought I was already dilated to a 6 and wanted to confirm it with other nurses. So I got "checked" like 3 or 4 times - everyone confirming I was at a 6 or even a 7 by now. By the way, getting checked HURRRRRRTS!!!! They told me since I was already dilated I was pretty much staying at the hospital until the baby came out.

Brandon and I were so surprised by this, I started to cry. We didn't have ANYTHING yet. We weren't prepared at all for this. The only thing we had was a stroller/car seat combo, luckily. The nurses and Brandon were great at making me calm down and feel better about everything, but I was scared and felt completely unprepared - a feeling I HATE.

Monday night was long, nurses and doctors came in frequently to check how I was doing and to monitor my contractions. My water had broken but I wasn't getting any more dilated because of the shot they had given me. They also had to hook me up to penicillin since I was going into labor so early - and the penicillin hurt more than the contractions.

Finally Tuesday morning the doctor came in and broke my water completely. After that the contractions got stronger and were right after another. It was more painful than I imagined and exhausting. Sweet Brandon had to be reminded to not copy my breathing - it was starting to make him lightheaded watching me. I kept asking for the epidural but they were waiting on the new shift change and they told me I was one of the first in line to get one.

By the time he came in to give me the epidural (which was like an hour later) I was totally exhausted and in so much pain, I hardly felt the needle. It kicked in fast and I fell asleep for a couple hours. When I finally woke up they made me start pushing. After about 45 minutes of pushing baby Caden was out! YEAH! Caden was born at 12:42pm that day. We are so happy to have him. The doctor and nurses were pleasantly surprised how big Caden was for is "age". They were expecting him to be much smaller. They thought maybe he was closer to being 36 weeks along rather than 34.

As soon as he was born they were concerned about his jaundice, sucking and breathing, and hearing. Luckily he slowly passed all his tests and spent most of his time in the hospital with us.

We love our baby Caden!

26 week update

2009-03-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

Shane's blog is inspiring me to update my own.... I've decided I don't have to have anything way exciting in order to post. So here's my update.

I've been counting down to yesterday being the end of my 2nd trimester and my little widget thing on the side says i still have some time before my 2nd trimester is over. Oh man! Well, at least it will give me something to countdown for...again.
My tummy is growing and growing. It's sometimes cute to me and sometimes disgusting.

Right now I'm stressing over getting all the legal stuff all filled out so I can have some money for maternity leave. I think I've decided to start my maternity leave on June 12th - Joe's birthday. Might as well take a couple weeks to relax before baby comes! (I have a countdown to that day on my computer at work!)

My biggest problems right now in the pregnancy is sleeping, staying cool at night, and fitting into clothes. I think that's a life long struggle for every woman though, pregnant or not. :)

2009-02-23T20:55:00.000-08:00

Vegas with Shane and Ashley

2009-02-23T19:11:00.001-08:00

We met up with Shane and Ashley in Vegas and had a great weekend!

Ensenada Cruise

2009-02-11T20:14:00.000-08:00

Ensenada Cruise

2009-02-11T18:48:00.000-08:00

On the Cruise the weather was kind of overcast.

Check Out Our New Place!

2009-01-24T20:24:00.000-08:00

We did a much more thorough video of the place but it was too big to upload! :) Hopefully this is good enough to get you excited about coming to visit us soon.

IT'S A BOY!

2009-01-23T09:43:00.001-08:00

We're having a boy! We're due June 30th and we're thrilled to start our little family. We moved into a new place to better accomodate visitors - so EVERYONE is expected to visit this year to make it worth the move! :)

San Diego Trip

2008-11-16T20:32:00.001-08:00

(Brandon and I finally learned the difference between blackberries and boysenberries!)

This is at the San Diego zoo!

We stayed at a nice hotel that provided complimentary ferry rides at night with music and dancing. I also had Brandon take a picture of me from our deck so you can see the fun view we had! It was gorgeous.

2008-11-03T12:37:00.000-08:00

Halloween

2008-11-03T12:01:00.000-08:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

He/She walking into the grocery store

2008-09-09T20:58:00.000-07:00

Today I actually did a double-take and continued to stare when I saw a lady/man today. I was leaving the grocery store and he/she was coming in. He/She was wearing small spandex shorts, and a halter top. The weird part was he/she was HUGE! I think she was a girl because there were some breastesses. I've never seen a woman with muscles like her. I had to keep staring to see if she was really a girl or not. Her arms and legs were SO muscular, it was more manly than anything else. I don't think the Gladiator women are even that big. WOW!

I still don't know if she was really a woman or not.... :*

Catalina Island

2008-09-06T18:28:00.001-07:00

Me and Brandon went with some friends to Catalina Island for Labor Day weekend. We had a lot of fun, it ended up being very relaxing. The weather was gorgeous!

On the boat ride to Catalina Island - the wind was so strong, we were holding on so tight!!

The hotels were all pretty expensive there so I set us up to camp for $25! We ended up getting one of the best sites there, but our tent was way crappy. Brandon worried it would fall on us during the night...

We went kayaking just like on our honeymoon. It was fun but exhausting!

Running the Disneyland 5K

2008-09-04T16:13:00.000-07:00

We all went to dinner the night before the big run! The Michel's weren't able to make it, so we'll just have to go to dinner with them another time. There was only one restuarant left at Downtown Disney that even had space that night for reservations, but it turned out to be pretty yummy pizza!

Here are pictures of us after the 5K!
Now I just need to convince all these girls to run the 10K with me on Thanksgiving Day! Anyone up for it????? :)

August Events

2008-08-19T20:25:00.001-07:00

These are pictures of Shane when he came home from Samoa, Jamie's wedding, and some pictures of Brandon's family at a BBQ.

Shane surprised us and came home early so he could be there at Annie's wedding. I couldn't post these pictures because he had a layover in LA and Mamacita wasn't supposed to know he was home for another couple days. I kept it a secret... even though it was painful! :)

Jamie got married August 16th to Doug Goodwin in the Salt Lake Temple. She looked gorgeous! It was a fun day.

Getting Practice.... :)

2008-08-13T10:20:00.000-07:00

Brandon's cousin, Steph had her baby last weekend: Nicholas Ryken. Isn't he a cutie???

Brett and Annie's Wedding Day

2008-08-06T21:52:00.000-07:00

Annie and Brett coming out of the temple

At the reception center

My beautiful little sister and Mamacita holding the bridal bouquet

Annie and Brett

Me and Brandon

Jamie and Doug

2008-07-27T20:50:00.001-07:00

2008-07-27T20:43:00.000-07:00

I decided to put up the latest picture of my goatee. The poll is neck and neck, and I'm trying to win over any of you that have been on the fence. I think it's lookin' pretty sweet, not to mention the shirt and tie too!-Brandon

2008-07-23T22:36:00.000-07:00

This is my first attempt trying to make a Diaper Cake for a baby shower. Fun huh??

Next time I'll have to try more tiers and more fun stuff dangling from it....

Brandon's Manliness

2008-07-20T12:42:00.000-07:00

Please go to the poll on the top right hand corner to vote which one looks better!

With the facial hair:
Or without the facial hair: (P.S. please take into account that Jacie does NOT like it! Thank you)

-+

In Memory of Ronald S. Pierce Jr.

2008-07-09T20:07:00.000-07:00

Ronald S. Pierce Jr.
Ronald S. Pierce, Jr. Clinton, Utah Ron passed away peacefully at his home on Wednesday, July 2, 2008, following an extended illness. He was born April 16, 1962 in Ogden, Utah to Ron S. and Judy Child Pierce. Ron graduated from Roy High School. He married Virginia Doney and they had three beautiful boys together. They later divorced. He then married Lori Jo Edwards and was blessed with a sweet little girl and a loving son. They, too, later divorced. Ron met the love of his life, Natisha, and spent his happiest days with her and her two loving children. Ron loved Tish, and he thanked God for her. He was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was a computer wiz and could fix anything put in front of him. Ron was a certified millwright. He enjoyed basketball and coached many youth teams. He loved spending time with his family and driving his truck. Ron was an adamant collector of Star Trek memorabilia and had a passion for putting together models. His collection was something he took pride in. He worked for Fresenius Medical Care in Ogden as a maintenance technician and was loved by all who knew him. Ron is survived by his wife, Natisha; his children, Ronald Brandon (Jacie) Pierce, Irvine, CA; Dee Justin (Amber) Pierce, Salt Lake City; Matthew Joshua (Camilla) Pierce, Salt Lake City; Sammie Jo Pierce, LaPeer, MI; Wesley Kirk Pierce, LaPeer, MI; Gabriel Leota, Clinton; and Taylor Leota, Clinton; his parents, Ron and Judy Pierce, Farr West; his mother-in-law, Michele Lorentzson, Pocatello, ID; two sisters, Sheryl Lynn (Kevin) Layton, Marriott-Slaterville; Cynthia Kay (Dan) Florence, Perry; a grandmother-in-law, Tauave Leota; sister-in-law, Dana Leota, Tampa, FL; brother-in-law, Isaac (April) Leota, Pinedale, WY; and a sister-in-law, Tana (JD) Christensen, Pocatello, ID. He was preceded in death by his father-in-law, Sile Leota and his grandparents. Ronnie, you are beautiful, brilliant and will always be remembered for your great sense of humor and kind heart. Even though your body gave out, your kind heart will forever beat in the hearts of your family. Funeral services will be held Tuesday, July 8th at 11:00 a.m. at Lindquist's Roy Mortuary, 3333 West 5600 South. Friends and family may call Monday from 6 to 8 p.m. and Tuesday from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m. at the mortuary. Interment, Lindquist's Memorial Gardens of the Wasatch, 1718 Combe Road. E-mail condolences to the family at www.lindquistmortuary.com Published in the Salt Lake Tribune on 7/6/2008.

Family Reunion

2008-06-26T20:14:00.000-07:00

Last week me and Brandon took the week off and went out to Altamont, UT for an Alldredge Family Reunion. (Jacie's family) We stayed in a sweet Lodge, Hidden Springs Ranch . We spent the week wall climbing, swimming, playing horseshoes, basketball, sand volleyball, ping pong, air hockey, foosball, shooting clay pigeons, hiking, canoeing, paddle boats, card games, you name it! We had so much fun! It was great to see the family, and meet our future brother-in-law!
My only regret is that through all the fun, we didn't take any pictures. SAD!

Beach with Mollie

2008-06-16T08:44:00.000-07:00

THE TIDE WAS HIGH!! :)

Just another fun weekend....

2008-06-09T18:29:00.000-07:00

This picture is another one at the Santa Monica Beach! That beach was so much fun. They had swings, and those ring "monkey bar" things, and gymnastic bars everywhere. I had to try a couple flips and ended up just looking like a moron! The sand was SO soft though. I was cold that night because we just left Six Flags Magic Mountain and our last ride was Raging Rapids and me and Bran got SOAKED!These pictures are all at the Los Angeles Temple. The sun was going down, so it looks pretty dark! I didn't think it was that dark outside though! :)

I had to put a picture of Brandon on here! Isn't he cute?!

Santa Monica Beach

2008-06-09T18:25:00.000-07:00

Suite at Big Bear Lake

2008-05-26T21:20:00.000-07:00

This was an early anniversary get-away! It had snowed the night before and was extremely cold! It was kind of fun since we aren't use to snow anymore! :)

2008-04-30T22:39:00.000-07:00

Whale watching on the boat with Brandon and his mom, Jiny. We saw one whale, 50+ dolphins and like 15 sealions. It was so much fun!

2008-04-30T22:29:00.000-07:00

2008-04-30T22:26:00.000-07:00

On the 3 hour whale watching boat ride. We saw one grey whale, 15 seals and like 50+ dolphins!

2008-04-06T22:15:00.001-07:00

Isn't this absolutely gorgeous!!! This is the beach I'm bringing you to!

2008-04-06T19:58:00.001-07:00

The Montage Resort Hotel

2008-04-06T19:41:00.000-07:00

This is out on the rocks in the middle of the beach. It's so beautiful there! The sun was setting and it was a little chilly today. Don't you fret, anyone who comes to visit us will get to go visit this beach! We love it!

2008-02-18T18:00:00.000-08:00

Here you go MOLLIE!!!!
Love you, wish you were here!!

2008-02-13T09:59:00.000-08:00

Brandon and Jacie have been married since June 2007. We met in Colorado through my older brother. They were good friends in High School and roommates in college. We were in the same ward growing up and just happened to be in the same ward again at BYU after my mission. We both graduated from BYU and are now living in California.