{Welcome To Bergen-Topia...}

{I figured I should post an actual update as to whats going on with us lately.}
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Ryan: is working away, he is taking Microbiology which is twice a week. He also applied for, and was accepted to the Banner Hospital Volunteer Program, which is a huge step in the door for him. There were 500 other applicants and he was one they chose, so Monday afternoons that's where he will be providing his services. Ryan also decided, today, that even though it looks like a pretty sure thing for nursing school in Coolidge, he will also apply to EAC, in Thatcher AZ. Between the two, it looks promising he will start in January. He starts Psych 101 on Mon through Rio Salado. He is also considering becoming a licensed interpreter (Spanish), he thinks that will give his resume a big boost, and is looking to classes to do so.
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Lynette: is getting bigger by the day! And excited to be doing this baby thing again. I am trying to de-clutter our lives, in every sense. I also am working on catching up on my scrap-booking. I am currently reading "The 5000 Year Leap" and "Simplify." I will be starting "The Shining" next month! Between the kids, the house work, and my little hobbies, the days are flying by! Ryan and I still serve in the Primary, and will until the little lady makes her appearance next month.
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Alenna: is just as talkative as ever. She has a larger than life personality and keeps us on our toes! She, daily, is saying new things and astounding us by concepts she is putting together. Alenna loves princesses, and really that is a huge understatement. She loves getting her nails and hair done. (Good thing I went to beauty school!) Her most recent thing is wanting to speak Spanish like daddy. She hears daddy talk to various people everyday in Spanish and is perplexed by it, today she said to me, "Mommy, I speak Spanish. Watch...HOLA! SEE! I speak Spanish!" Alenna is getting great at her shapes, letters and numbers. She is the perfect older sister and adores her little brother.
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Brady: is just as adorable as ever. He has learned to go down stairs now, and we have to watch to make sure he doesn't face plant into the carpet. He gives kisses now, and waves (and says) "Goodbye." He also calls us "momma" or "dadda" when he wants one or the other parent. Brady is so strong, it seriously surprises me how strong that little guy is! He is so happy, and constantly is laughing. Brady will run along furniture, he will stand, and even has taken a couple steps. We expect him to be sprinting any day now. He has 10 teeth, and luckily hasn't had any new ones come up in a while, (he gets like 3 or 4 at a time!) He is so cuddly, the most cuddly baby I have ever meet. We love it!
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Baby Girl: we have a couple names on our list, still haven't agreed on the 'right' one yet. She is constantly moving, flipping to and fro. Its so fun to play with her, she'll kick, I'll poke back and on and on. Lots of Braxton Hicks, getting ready for action time. Its been great to be able to do this again, I'll be sad when it's over.

{Ravioli Mania..}

Tonight, after arriving home from a Visiting Teaching appointment, I realized Ravioli Mania was well under way! This is Alenna helping daddy roll out the dough, than we stuffed them.

In an effort to save time and money, (and to be healthier too!) Ryan and I have decided to start making batches and batches food, like Ravioli, and freeze them.
{Tonight was practice for that.}

The stuffing included Racotti cheese, bacon, mozerella cheese, chives, mushrooms, and lots of other yummy things!

Brady found a Shakoti mushroom and was chewing on it all night.
{How could I possibly discourage eating food off the floor when he eats his veggis??}

This is the Ravioli ready for their journey. It didn't take too long, surprisingly, to prepare.

Smellin good!

Ready to eat....will the kids go for it??

In the surprise of the night, the kids LOVED the ravioli! Asking for 2nd's and 3rd's.
{Yes! Score one for mom & dad....}

Bon Apetite!

{Happy Burfday Dear Mommy!}

{Its not my birthday}

Alenna is obssesed with my birthday! She sings the birthday song constantly to me.

Today, she lined these little things on the window sill and came to get me screaming,

"ITS YOUR BurfDAY!! HAPPY BURFDAY! To dear mommy!"

Along with these, her gifts to me over the past week have included:

-A very old family picture of Ryan's family, where she stuck Chiquita Banana stickers all over the back of.

-She piled about 50 straws into stacks of about 10 and placed the stacks in a large circle

-She covered her whole body in fish stickers, called herself a bird, jumped onto my bed and told me that was because it was my birthday

I can only imagine her obssesion with it being my birthday is because of our countdown we have began. She knows it's my birthday next, than her's, and shortly after that her baby sister will be arriving.
Slow down there, girly. Mommies don't like too many birthdays (it means we're getting old!)

{Apple Pie & Fireworks!...}

In celebration of Constitution Week, the city of Gilbert held a carnival-type celebration.
They had an art competition my father in law entered, the art above and below, and he won. Tonight we went out to support him and have a little fun of our own on a beautiful September night.

This is his second art piece. The Hispanic baby in the picture is my parents' current foster baby, Bella, she's Brady's age.

This was another piece if art in the competition, i SO want to buy it!!
**Click to enlarge.**
Its Jesus comforting the children of fallen soldiers in a graveyard. I literally welled up!

They had so many booths and alot of music going on. But more importantly, So much for our kids to do!
**Alenna insisted on going in a HUGE bouncy castle they had going, and she loved it!**
It's fun that she's getting to an age where she can participate in fun things.

This is dinner, right after we found out Ron won... "Best Of Show".
**Brady inhaled his hot dog!**

And, of course, it wouldn't be a true American celebration without Apple Pie!
*Brady's first bite of Heaven...it really was heavenly!*

Fireworks in September??? You better believe it! Our kids enjoyed it more this time than for the 4th, I think. We were much closer to the action!

Killing time...{he attacked her.}

Wait for it....Wait for it....

{WOW!}

Brady, during fireworks, was clapping his hands and yelling "WOW!" Sweetest lil guy!
Alenna kept saying, 'this is amazing mommy!'
It was a lovely night. Weather was perfect, even for a fatty like myself.
Can't wait for next year!

{The Pounds Will Melt Away!}

She decided she was a princess and will tell you all about it.

Have stubborn belly fat?
No matter what you do, just can't shed that last 5 pounds?
Introducing: The Princess Diet-The 1st 300 calorie diet you can stick to!

All you need to do is fight your parents tooth and nail every meal time!
Results guaranteed!
warning: may cause extreme fatigue and mood swings. Not recommended for anyone.

{Training Wheels....}

So what is a parent to do when their child refuses to walk? Mr. Braids will walk with your hands, but the minute you let go he loses all confidence and drops to his knees and back to his crawling ways. Its so silly, I give him no support whatsoever, but just knowing that I have his hands gives him the confidence to walk.It reminds me of the concept of training wheels. You raise the training wheels up a peg, up a peg, up a peg, until the wheels no longer touch the ground. But it gives the child comfort, even though it makes no practical sense. We're his training wheels I guess!
Until today. Brady stood by himself, and than took 2 steps by himself. Than, realizing he did it himself, he drops to the ground real quick as if he was betrayed. Come on Braids! We know you can do it!

Today over breakfast, Brady found his Cheerios alittle too exciting and totally fell asleep!

Who is this child? My little guy would never choose sleep over eating...

{Countdown Is On!}

{31 weeks in my size 8's.}
Probably my last week in them though!
Starting last week, I go to the OB every 2 weeks! Wow it's flying by!
This pregnancy is going so fast, I can hardly believe it!
Don't have a name yet, but that's ok, I'm LOVING my belly ripe with life!
*Today, Alenna was looking at my belly, that has started showing some little stretch marks (it is my 3rd kid!) and she says all concerned.. "Mommy, why did you cut the baby?"*
Oh Alenna, I love you and the way your little mind works!
Here's to the home stretch! 9 weeks in counting!

{Everybody Loves An Activist....}

Because we live in a world where silence is considered consent, Ryan and I took our children to the 9.12 Tea Party where we marched on the State Capitol. Yes, it would have been easier to sit in our air conditioned house, or do something else as a family, but as history is being made how could we possibly sit idly by and do nothing?

There should be NO QUESTION, when push comes to shove, where we stand when it comes to political (and Gospel things-yes they are the same) and we feel it important to pass that national pride on to our children. If actions do speak louder than words...than ours' should be screaming!

Besides it was a lot of fun! Alenna loves Tea Parties, this was her 3rd one. She's so cute!

Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Libertarians....whatever your belief, you could find a group with similar views, people who have had it with big spending and big government and those who are sickened by the idea of socialized health-care. Regular Joe's like you and me.
I don't believe it dividing down the politcal line, thats been over done to death.
There is more that unites us than separates us.

They were giving out buttons, and bubbles and candy and beads. That, I think was Alenna's favorite part. Ryan and I signed petitions as she gathered loot!

And because the media is biased, let me tell you the actual turn out. There were Tea Parties all over the nation, and close to 2 million people that marched on Washington, (more than the Million Man March) What I would have given to be there!
The one in Phoenix probably had about 10,000 people.

Being married to someone who is so passionate about politics can only have one outcome. Many find political ramblings annoying, but I find it fascinating. If you look at it through the eyes of the Gospel, everything is so crytsal clear. Like pieces to a puzzle of the Last Days...

Brady & Alenna, I hope that you always stand for whats right, and not just let someone else do it.
Some might call us activists, some might think this is silly; that we will never change anything, some like to bury their heads in the sand and let others deal with it. Not us. That is not what this family is about.
As of late I have been reading "The 5000 Year Leap" which is phenomenal. I recommend any political thinking person to read it.
This is an exciting time to be alive. Joseph Smith prophesied that the Constitution of the United States would hold by a thread in the last days. Truly, his prophesy is being fulfilled.

{Sugar & Spice...}

My baby won't look like this, but aren't these announcements just the sweetest??

Alot has happened this week, and I'm just now getting around to posting ultrasound pics...

I wanted to post her ultrasound picture of our "proof" but the shot is so clear, I didn't think she would appreciate me blasting that all over the internet. I cropped it down to the above. Sorry its all you get...

So I broke out an extra photo album left over from when Alenna was born, and have started it for her.

{***This is her***}
Eyes open. Chipmunk cheeks. And she's waving, if you can catch it on the left side...she looks like Alenna to me.

Alot of my friends have had their babies this week and it makes me so eager to have mine!
Though. I must say, I'm really not through with the whole pregnancy thing yet. I am really enjoying it this time around. Even though I'm a house... That's ok. This is temporary.
But I am excited to have her, I love that first time you hear them cry, the first time you hold them...that instantaneous falling in love feeling... And wondering, even though you just met, how it is you lived your whole life without them.
Its heaven on Earth.

{Our Miracle Wrapped In Pink}

Ultrasound DAY!
We went for another ultrasound today. In the beginning of the ultrasound, Ryan asked how accurate the Intelligender tests were at predicting gender, which the tech had never heard of. After looking around for a couple minutes she says, "well, do they give refunds? because...
YOU'RE HAVING A GIRL!"
I bawled like a baby, not because I was disappointed but because I was so shocked. Beyond shocked.
Our little girl is bigger than where she should be, but we think my due date is off anyways. She has lots of blonde hair, the tech said, and big chipmunk cheeks!

Here Ryan is sharing the big news with Alenna, who was less than thrilled to be hearing it. She was very upset to be hearing she was wrong, that it was a girl after all. She came around though.

Luckily, the baby was very friendly and gave a perfect, crystal-clear shot of her goods. I'm happy that Alenna will have a sister, who will only be 3 years younger than her. They can share clothes, and friends, and go on double dates!

It still feels very surreal to me. I went to the appt today anticipating that we wouldn't find out anything, so now just knowing what it is feels strange!
So. Our family's pattern must go girl, boy, girl....I'm also excited that I can break out all the cute things that Alenna never got the chance to wear because she grew too fast!
Little girl Bergen coming on or around Nov 20th!

{Don't. Call. Me. A. Baby!}

Several people as of late, including myself, have called Alenna a baby, a term of endearment. Alenna has decided she is not a baby anymore and hates being called one...if you call her a baby, this is a typical response, "I am NOT a baby!!! I'm a BIG GIRL!" When Andres, the guy who tends our lawn, called her a baby, she yelled and him and went on for DAYS about how she is not a baby.
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Alenna is just downright adorable when it comes to my belly and the new baby. She will pull up my shirt, put her head on my belly and say, "Hi new baby, I love you and can't wait to meet you."
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The other day, she pulled up my shirt, looked through my belly button like a peep-hole, and says, "I see it! And it's a BOY baby!"
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She has also been calling the baby by a particular name that we have tossed around using.
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Alenna has been learning how to say prayers by herself. She's so silly and gives up too easily, but when she really tries she does great at it!

{All About My Braids...}

Tonight we celebrated Brady! Boy what a time he had!

It was just family, nothing fancy. But a blast still!

Brady made out like a bandit! and of course, he gets a mountain of presents, but what is his favorite thing?? The bags and paper it all came in!

Look how happy he is! Brady enjoyed his 1st birthday much more than Alenna enjoyed her's.

The presents TOTALLY kept his attention! I thought he'd get bored.

He adores his Ahma. And his mommy. And his sister. Already loves the ladies, he he he...

This was the best gift of the night! My parents made him these blocks with our pictures on all 6 sides of them, like dice! And the best thing is, it has a special coating on it, so Brady can chew on them all day and not damage them or hurt himself! I laughed alot at these....

Happy Birthday, dear Brady.....

He grabbed the flame! I did the same thing at my first birthday, guess we all need to learn that one the hard way!

He is so sweet, I just love him!!!!

Tonight was so lovely after the stormy day! We ate cake and ice cream under the misters.

Ryan and I are very strict about what we give our babies, we don't want them developing food allergies. So, tonight, was Brady's 1st experience with cake! He was in....

*** H-E-A-V-E-N!***

Me and my babies. Happy Birthday Brady! (don't grow up too fast!)