My Hero this Memorial Day

I'm very proud of Aaron and for all the service he has given to keep our country safe. I'm also grateful for those that have served before him in the history of our great country and the sacrifices they have made to give us what we have today!

This is from when he was deployed in Afghanistan the first time with his crew.

One of Aaron's friends took this picture of him and I'm not sure what he was doing and he didn't know either! This is also from his first deployment 3 years ago in Afghanistan. It just makes me laugh looking at it because he was in the middle of something!

Happy Memorial Day!

Sadie Lynne Phillips

My new niece Sadie Lynne Phillips was born today!

My sister Melissa was induced this morning and after 10 hours of only being at a 2, she started progressing fast and went from being at a 2 to a 6 to an 8 within a very short time. Unfortunately, too fast to get her epidural AGAIN!

Here's the info:

Born 5/15/09 @ 5:37p.m.
8 lbs 5 oz, 21 inches
Looks like a mini baby Ava except more dark hair.

Here's the new family pic sent from her phone.

Big Sister Ava is excited!

More pics to follow I'm sure!

C'mon Baby Tomato.......Ketchup (Catch up)

Ever heard that joke about the Mommy and Baby Tomato????

It's corny and for some reason Aaron and I always say that to each other when the other is lagging behind. Still amusing to me............

Anyway, I really am a Baby Tomato these days.

I'm in desperate need of catching up on EVERYTHING! (Cleaning, organizing, laundry, blogging, the list goes on) The last couple of weeks have gone by in a blur even though we've been having loads of fun and excitement.

So, if you will just be patient and read the next couple of posts that have been building up for several weeks, I will have done all my ketching up --oops, I mean catching up on my blog :) Sorry, I couldn't help myself!

Blind leading the plastic-eyed Blind..........

Brady loves his Elmo doll (yes I am calling it a doll). About a month ago (that's how far behind I am), he wanted to take care of Elmo just like I take care of him.

So he decided Elmo needed a diaper. (He also wiped him with a wipe but I didn't have my camera out yet to capture that.)

Then he decided he would give Elmo a chance to try and be a big boy too. He brought Elmo into the bathroom and put his potty seat on the toilet. I came in and closed the toilet lid so Elmo wouldn't fall in. He put Elmo on the potty seat and was telling him "Elmo....pee pee potty.....nem nem nems (M&Ms)" Brady gets 2 M&Ms if he goes on the potty. He then proceeded to get the toilet paper out to wipe him.

And then he wanted to give him a bath. So he did with pretend water in the tub.

I took a little video clip after this had been going on for about 5 minutes or so.

Then it was time for Elmos reward. Brady insisted on giving Elmo some jelly beans (around Easter Brady wanted jelly beans instead of M&Ms and we had plenty to give).

So he puts his jelly beans in Elmo's mouth.

And then moves his mouth up and down for him to get him to chew them up! Crazy kid!

I guess Brady has the idea down of going potty but we're still working on it. He definitely knows what he is SUPPOSED to do but he just needs to decide to do it all the time. I am patient, so I can wait. Just getting him to do all this so far is good I think.

Trip to UT

Aaron's sister, Erica, was graduating from her Aestetics School in UT at the end of April and I decided we (me and Brady) were going to make the long drive to go and be there. Grandma Gray and Aunt Lauren were also going to be there but Erica didn't know that Brady and I were coming too! I asked my friend Allison and her 2 kids, Chris and Sammy, to come with us so we didn't have to go by ourselves and she could visit her family in UT too.

So with 3 kids in the back, we were on on way..........

Playing with their McDonalds toys and then sleeping somewhere through Northern AZ.

So we showed up in Provo, UT Monday night and really surprised Erica! (She came for a surprise visit to AZ for Brady's b-day and we had to get her back!)

Here's some highlights from our trip:

Sundance
(still had some snow there)


Beauty Treatments

Spoon Me
(Erica's fav frozen yogurt in Provo)

Graduation

The Mayan Adventure

(that's what the sign says but it's a restaurant kind of like Rainforest Cafe with a dive show)

Watching the divers-by the end of the night Brady kept saying "No more Divers!" I guess he got scared watching them jump in the water.

This is one of the divers that hovered at out table in between shows. We think he liked Erica and Lauren helped the situation by telling him that he had a big stick! Way to go Lauren! :)

We tired him out!

Brady playing

at Erica's apartment-he entertained us for over a half hour!
He started doing it on his own and couldn't stop and we couldn't stop laughing!

We had such a great time and it made the long trip well worth it! Erica and Lauren, you will have to post some more pics, I didn't have as many as you girls did on my camera!

Keep reading..........there's another new post below!

Purcell visit

My parents came to visit us and we decided to take a short weekend trip to San Diego while they were here because they've never been. The weather was perfect! 68 and sunny. Who could ask for anything better than that?

Here's some of the pics from their visit:

Brady and Grandpa riding the train at Reid Park Zoo.

BBQ in the back yard.

Sight-seeing and snacking in the back of the Jeep in La Jolla, CA

Grandma and Grandpa with Brady at Sea World

Daddy Brady riding the Elmo fish ride. Yes, that's Grandpa in the fish behind them!

Daddy, Brady and Mommy riding the Oscar's Eel ride.


Waiting for the Shamu show to begin.


A little cheesy but that's why everyone comes to Sea World right?

Brady LOVED Shamu!


He liked that his lunch came in a little Shamu lunchbox with a Shamu cup.

Don't look now but there's a big shark behind your head!

(You can't see very much of it but its glowing eyes!)

This poor kid........for the last 2 weeks we have tired him out! He fell asleep before we were out of the parking lot at Sea World and he stayed asleep all through dinner and all night!

(Why is he always falling asleep on me when I am wearing this pink shirt??? Hmmmm.....I'll have to use this to my advantage!)

On our way back to AZ.........Our morning started a little later due to a dead battery at the hotel. Followed by us having to stop and get a new battery before we left for home. Thank goodness it happened in civilization rather than somwhere in the middle of nowhere! Here's Brady in the car sleeping on his little stuffed Shamu. He still wants to sleep with it every night.

Bye bye Grandma and Grandpa Purcell! We had fun! See you soon!

I cannot take any credits for any of these photos-my Mom is the photographer!