Scrambled Eggs and Hat

Brax had eggs for Breakfast and as I came down the stairs to check on him he kept saying "hat"

This is what I found.......

What a Day

After a weekend like the one we just had I really needed a day like yesterday!

A recap of our weekend......

Thursday I had my last day for pediatric clinicals! We started the day off at Head Start where we did a health education lesson on teeth brushing, classroom safety inspections and a few "physicals" which ended up being more like a basic head to toe assessment. We then headed over to Shriners hospital where our wonderful instructor gave us a tour. I have never been up there before and honestly didn't even really know what it was other than a hospital for children. Can I just say that place is AMAZING!! We got a personal tour of the are where the orthotic/prosthetic supplies and limbs are made. It was mind blowing to see. We also got a personal ........ on the niddy griddy of wheelchairs. We then ended our day at Primary Children's Hospital - another AMAZING facility for children! I spent my first clinical at PCMC in the NICU and this week was on the Neuro Trauma Unit. I learned so much and saw so many wonderful/heart wrenching things. After a 12 hour day of nonstop I was tired and already partically sleep deprived and thanks to my wonderful hormones I had a little tears in the eyes moment! I was walking down the hall headed to the bathroom before our clinical post conference when I saw I cute young lady sitting on a little chair in order to be at the height of most of the children there playing a beautiful song on her harp. Right in front of her, at quick glance, was the spitting image of Braxton! A cute little blond haired, blue eyed, chunky cheeked boy, he looked to be his exact age, weight and size, laying on a pile of blankets in a plastic little red wagon. He also had one blanket in the corner for him to lay his head on and one over his body. He had a neck brace on and didn't move a muscle. He laid in front of that harpest and watched her play with the most tender eyes I have ever seen almost as if he were lost in the beautiful music. I don't think he ever looked away from her! His parents stood near by against the wall probably grateful for the break and chance to get out of the room. I don't know that little boys story (what his life was like, what brought him to the hospital, how long he was going to be there or what his life would be like after he left) but seeing him in that moment so relaxed and at peace in his little red wagon filled with blankets and a brace on his neck riped at my heart. My eyes filled with tears and I had to quickly walk by. I luckly was able to compose myself before I got to the bathroom and upon arriving there I had to say a quick little prayer expressing how thankful I was for my blond haired, blue eye, chucky cheeked almost 2 year old! For the joy he brings to our family and espeically for his health! It seems like our litte guy is ALWAYS sick with something - sometimes more serious than others - but we have never had to hospitalize him. When he is sick we have always been able to keep him home with us to comfort him and nurse him back to health and he has always ended up okay in the end! I was so grateful that despite the illnesses Brax has had we have never had to be in the position of that sweet little boy watching the harpest or his parents and it really made me ache for them.

Okay, so getting to our actual weekend now........

Baby Girl's First Outfits

I am almost ashamed to admit that I have had a hard time getting into the idea of having a girl! Don't get me wrong, I am so excited and already love her to death - it's just the "girl stuff" that scares me! With having Braxton first I have gotten used to the simplicity of boys - levis and a shirt, you don't really have to do their hair, tennis shoes or crocks. With girls everything has to match and they don't always wear levis, they have bows and actual hair do's to match every outfit, they also have shoes to match every outfit-and they aren't jsut tennis shoes! Needless to say the trasition from baby boy to baby girl has me a little overwhelmed.
I was hoping that if I could just find "that one outfit" it would help to get me excited and in girl mode! I spent about a weeks time at different stores looking for that one outfit and what did I find in it's place? Yep, lots and lots of cute boy stuff!! I knew I was in big trouble. The only things I was able to notice was all the adorable baby boy clothes. I didn't end up with "the outfit" or any for that matter! I was feeling really quilty and discouraged. Thursday night with Braxton in tow I decided to give it one more shot and boy am I glad that I did for I ended up with not only 1 of "the outfits" but 3!



I was so excited and very releaved! I must admit that after finally finding something and bringing it home definately helped to get me in girl mode! I'm pretty sure I can do this now!

New Years Resolutions

I haven't spent a whole lot of time thinking about resolutions this year! There are a couple of things that I would like to work on and get done but with school being as crazy as it's going to be this summer I'm not worried about getting to them until summer.

One thing I have decided that I can do to hopefully make my life as well as my families life better is to not worry about the future so much. Nate and I are always talking about the future and all the things we want to accomplish and have and all the things that we look forward to years down the road. We spend so much time worrying about tomorrow. Instead of enjoying today we are always wishing it away. Sure, these aren't the most ideal times. We are super busy, poor Braxton spends more time with Grandma's and Aunts than he does with his mom and dad but these days are shaping our future. There is still good times to be had, fun moments to share and memories to make. Sure, I want school to be over for both Nate and I, I want us to progress in our careers but by the time that comes by little guy will be 3 and my baby will be 1. They will both be so big and if I wish it all away I will have missed out on a lot of exciting milestones as well as teaching and learning moments!

The other thing I want to work on now is to better prioritize my time making more time available for my family. Last semester I had a hard time with this one. I would get so overwhelmed and not work on things when I should have and my family, home and school work all ended up paying of it. I want to be better about doing school stuff when I'm alone, at lunch breaks or breaks I have between work and school leaving more time for my family when I am with them instead of school stuff. I want to spend more time getting down on the floor and playing with Braxton, more down time with my hubby and much much more needed time on my poor house and being better at just keeping it straightened. I'm not so worried about the deep cleaning of rooms at this moment but keeping floors and tables clear would be lovley!

I know if we can enjoy today and have more quality time together we will be so much happier and hopefully things will go a lot more smoothly at the Nuttall home this year!

Midnight Snack

Well, Almost!

I needed to do a physical assessment on a toddler for my Pediatric class and luckily I live with one which made it very convenient. Of course I still put it off and had to get it done tonight. Nate and Braxton were playing on the floor and wrestling just before I was going to do it putting Braxton into his crazy mood! I told Brax that if he was really good and helped mommy we could maybe go get some ice cream after. Well, he was as good as a 22 month old can be when you are trying to shine a light into their eyes, listen to their heart and lungs and other forms of poking and prodding with weird looking toys!

I was able to get enough information from him to work on the paper that goes along with it but by the time I was done (it only took a couple of minutes) Nate was asleep on the floor. By the time he woke up and we got of couple of other things finished it was bed time for Brax. We put his pj's on, said prayers, turned on his music projector and put him to bed.

As I was walking downstairs afterword I was feeling so guilty we didn't get him any ice cream. I had told him we might if he was really good and helped mommy and he did his best! I'm sure he didn't remember or care if he even understood the promise I made to him but I knew, remembered, understood and cared and I felt horrible. I felt so bad I went and got him out of bed and had him help me make and orange Julius. He got to sit on the counter help pour the ingredients in the blender and watch the blender work it's magic. I think his most favorite part was helping to put the ice in the lid. If it was up to him, we would have added double the ice it called for just to be able to put it in!

It was his first experience with helping to make something and his first try of an Orange Julius! IT was all a success! He LOVED his "orange shake". He thought it was so yummy. Nate, Brax and I all sat at the table and enjoyed our midnight (for Braxton at least) snack together talking and being silly. It was so much fun! Braxton kept talking about how good his drink was as well as pointing out "mama's drink", "dada's drink", and "Braton's drink"!

After we finished our drinks, we got cleaned up and then it was off to bed - for real this time!