Our New Home!

Here is our new home!! Wahoo! I couldn't back up enough to get the whole house and yard all in one shot, so imagine these first three pictures all side by side and you get the idea of what it looks like.

Big side yard with lots of FRUIT trees! Yay!

Front of house

Other side-full size basketball court, and behind that another yard with a little jungle gym for B-rax

Close up of jungle gym. Braxton already loves it!

Pool in back of the house. We are loving this amenity, thats for sure!



Doesn't quite feel like "Home" yet, but it is starting to slowly as we get more settled in. I'm sure it will take awhile before it really feels like home. It is so nice being close to family again and being withing 3 miles of pretty much everything. I went to relief society for the first time this last Sunday and really enjoyed it. I think I am going to like this ward alot and will enjoy being friends with the women in it. Its definintely a different scenario than in Maricopa. Our ward out there was twice as big and had so many wonderful young couples our age with young families. Relief Society was just one big party with all my friends! Here, almost half the women are mothers of kids I went to school with. Interesting and weird to now be on their same level, but fun at the same time. There are only a few young families, and I haven't been able to meet anyone my age yet. Thats ok though, I am excited to be able to make friends with more "seasoned" women and see what wonderful lessons I can learn from being part of their lives.

New York was fun, and it is so beautiful there. It was nice to get away from this heat for awhile and enjoy the beauty of nature. Its nice to be back home though. We were able to go to Boston for a few days and spend some time with one of Justin's good buddies from his mission. I actually really enoyed it there. That was probably the highlight of the trip for me. Pics to come soon hopefully.

Bella's Blessing, Moving

We blessed Bella Rose in our home in Maricopa the Sunday before we moved. My family and a few close friends came and Justin gave a sweet blessing of happiness and health. It was more special to me because I finally got to dress my baby girl in the same dress that I was blessed in when I was a baby! I have been saving it for YEARS just for this day, and it was so neat to be able to finally use it and see how pretty she looked in it. I am glad we did it before we moved and went to New York (where I am now!) cause she would definitely have been too chunky for it if we had waited even another week or two. She BARELY fit, my little chunky marshmellow. She's a beauty though, eh?

I can't get enough of her smile!

The move went well. It was a long weekend, but we had so much help from my family and some good friends and neighbors. We were completely packed up and out of our house within 3 1/2 hours, then had everything unloaded probably within an hour at the new house. Our friendly neighbor grabbed his boys and called the EQ prez of our new ward and with everyone's help it went so quickly. Many hands make light work, thats for sure! I am so grateful to everyone, especially my wonderful family, for all their help and hard work. They stayed for awhile after everything was unloaded to help unpack boxes and makes sure all the food and beds were set up and ready so we could at least sleep in peace that night in our new home. Then the next Monday, labor day, they spent all day helping us do yard work (a HUGE task with an acre of land!) to get the outside in decent shape. I don't know how anyone does something like this without family to help. How blessed we are for them!!

We are so excited to be in our new home and are already loving how close we are to family and, well, pretty much everything. I underestimated how much I was going to miss my Maricopa friends and the wonderful ward we have there though. Thats been the hardest part so far for me. Braxton seems to have adjusted well enough and loves his new big room and swimming pool and all the space he has to play in. Nursery in the new ward is going to be the biggest challenge, as he would barely even go into his old nursery where he knew everyone and had friends. Any suggestions on that one? Our next priority is to get a fence up around the yard so our dogs can run free and enjoy all the land we have. Until then, they are stuck in the "play room" with a doggie door that leads to the back patio. Pics of house coming soon!

B-rax, taking all the dvds off the racks that Justin has just so neatly organized. He had to stay busy somehow!

Me papa, enjoyin our lunch break

My wonderful mother and sister, orgazing my kitchen for me while I ram-rodded the setting up of the rest of the house

My brother Johnathan helping set up the living room

My brother Joseph, all tuckered out from the long day

Changes

So, its official. We are moving! We have been looking at this house for the past 3 months and have been in the process of buying it for the last 2, and everything is FINALLY coming together. We closed last week and as soon as the funding goes through, we are off! We are really excited to get into a bigger house with lots of land and A POOL and fruit trees (wahoo!) and much more goodies. Its close to my family and right in the middle of the valley and only 15 min from Justin's work. But, we are also sad to be leaving our friends here in Maricopa. Its been a great past two years and we will miss everyone we have come to know and love. The only drawback is finding something to do with this house. We are trying to rent it first, so if anyone out there is interested in a great, relatively new home in awesome condition, let me know! Pics of the new house to come soon! (Well, probably not SOON cause we are a little busy around here...but as soon as I have a spare minute!)

Families are Forever

Braxton was "helping" me do the dishes last week, and I turned around for a second and when I turned back around, this is what I saw. The little turkey. All well...its a new way to beat the heat, and at least this way I don't have to worry about him getting a sun burn as he plays in the water. And how can you not love that smile??

Bella is filling out. Way out. She is in the top 95% of her weight class. She is a little chunker! Thats ok, that means there is just more of her to kiss and love on. She is so precious. She has gotten kind of fussy over the past few weeks, which is hard at times, but she has also started smiling. I can't get enough of her beautiful smile. It just warms my heart and makes me want to kiss her all over. I think any mother can agree that seeing your new baby smile for the first time is one of the most endearing moments and it makes an imprint in your heart. I love her so much.

My beautiful cousin Lena got married this last weekend to her Tongan sweetheart, Sifa. The ceremony was really special and they both just glowed all day long. It brought back alot of memories from my own wedding and how special and fun that day was. I love weddings! The feeling of love just permeates everything and everyone around and everyone is happy and in a good mood. Not to mention all the good food you get to feast on all day long. :) Even though I had to deal with a tired toddler and a grumpy baby through it all, it was a fun day. I am so grateful for eternal families and the opportunity we have to live together forever with them. My siblings and my cousins (and of course my husband) are some of my best friends in the world and I am so grateful we get to spend forever together. What a wonderful blessing!!

Happy Anniversary!!

Yesterday was our 4th anniversary. I can't believe we have been married for 4 years already! Sometimes it feels like we were just married a few months ago...but then sometimes it seems like we have been married forever. (In a good way. :)) Like he has always been a part of my life and I can't imagine it any other way. Justin was able to get out of work early, so we went shopping for some new clothes for me (thanks baby!) and then we went to Flemmings, a really nice steak house in a ritzy part of town. We had a good time together and it was so nice to be able to spend some time alone away from the kids.

I didn't get to buy a present or a card or anything for Justin, but I want him to know how much I love him and appreciate all he does for our family. He works so hard to make sure we have the things we want and need. He is a wonderful husband and father and loves playing with Braxton and making him laugh. There are many things I could say, but for our 4 years together, here are 4 reasons why I love my baby:

1. I have always had a weakness for big, strong hands, and Justin has wonderfully big and strong hands. :) I always feel safe and protected when he is holding me or my hand.
2. Despite his rough and tough exterior, he has a soft heart and has a special weakness for the innocent and for big dogs.
3. He excels at everything he attempts to do. He is smart and has a keen mind and just knows how to do things, even if its his first time. I have always admired that characteristic about him.
4. He loves me and the kids so much and works hard to show us that. He is extremely loyal and protective of us and would do anything to keep us safe.

Happy Anniversary Sweetheart! I sure love you!!

Daily Life

Its taken some time to get back in the swing of things. I am still learning every day how to do old routines with a new baby. Like putting Braxton down for a nap. Its taken some time to learn the best way to do that with with a baby who seems to wake up just as Braxton is going down every day...and I'm still figuring it out. But overall we have managed to get back to daily life.

Braxton has done better than I expected him too. At least where Bella is concerned. He mostly just ignores her, until she is taking up attention from me that he wants. Feedings are the hardest. That is when he suddenly wants all my attention, and he has also figured out that is when he can get away with anything since i can't get up to stop him! He has had a couple melt downs and its so hard to just sit there and listen to him scream and not be able to do anything about it. Hopefully those will be over soon as we all adjust. On good days though and when he is happy, he loves giving her hugs and kisses and is always ready to be there to put her binkie back in her mouth when she starts to cry. He gets very concerned when he sees her without it! He is such a goof. He is also always is anxious to point out her eyes and nose and mouth and hair to me.

Bella is such a good baby. She of course has her fussy moments but overall she is just happy and loves to be held and talked to. I could swear that she is already trying to smile. Nights vary but usually she lets me get at least 4-6 hours, sometimes even a full four without a feeding. When she sleeps she makes the cutest noises and smiles at least once every minute when she is sleeping lightly. She is just a happy baby! We love her so much and can't wait to see what other joys she will bring to our family.

My beautiful boy and his lifeline...the binkie. :)

One thing is for sure...Justin and I make beautiful babies!!! :D


So pretty in purple... what an angel!

More of My Bella Rose

Some of these are kinda blurry...but you get the idea. No matter how many pictures I try to take of this precious girl, I can't seem to take one that does her justice. (May have something to do with my outdated camera..) She is just a doll! Hopefully I will catch her in all her beautiful glory soon, but until then these will have to do.

She looks so tiny layin on Daddy!

One of my friends/visiting teacher in my ward brought me dinner one night and with it this beautiful cake! It was so cute I had to take a pic. Thanks Tammy!

I just love it when she smiles! Which she does often in her sleep, and even sometimes a little when she is awake. She is such a happy baby (so far!) and always seems like she is on the verge of smiling. I love it.

You gotta love her long dark hair! I just sit and pet her head all day long...I am so in love.

Here are a few of B-rax when he was a baby. The first one in the stocking looks the most like Bella to me. They both definitely have their Daddy's nose!

And here is my baby boy all grown up, eatin his fishies and waiting for the doc to come and release me from the hospital. We ended up waiting about 4 hours for her to finally get there, and he was SUCH a good boy the whole time. I was so proud of my little man. I love my babies!

Bella's Story

My beautiful baby girl is finally here, and I truly feel blessed in how everything happened and how the labor and delivery went. It was seriously almost perfect. I started having contractions at about 4:00 Friday morning, and after about 2 hours, when they didn't stop, I started getting really excited. I literally was PRAYING for the next one to come cause I wanted it to be real and happening so badly! At about 8:00 they started coming about 5 min apart and getting stronger. Justin was going into work for just a little to make sure his team was set and ready for the weekend without him and then he was going to meet me at the hospital. Thankfully my sister was staying with us, so we got everything ready to go and left about 9:00.





ON OUR WAY!!





Braxton was going to go home with my sister and stay with my fam for the day, or however long he needed to. So we got to the hospital around 10:00, met Justin, said goodbye to B-rax and my sis, got checked in, and was in triage by about 10:30. The nurse checked me there and already I was at a 5.5 almost 6! Wahoo! The contractions were still about 5 min apart, and although they were definitely uncomfortable they were still manageable. I was so excited to hear I was at a 5, because that meant this was truly happening! I was for sure going to have this baby. Thank goodness! I was given a room and got the IV going, I got the epidural about 11:15, and the waiting game began.





Nice and Comfy and Pain free...just the way I like it! :)





Justin and I had a nice, relaxing afternoon and just enjoyed the moment and what was about to happen. Around 3:30 the doc (who I had never met but LOVED) broke my water, and at 3:40 I started to have alot of pain on my lower right side. I started freakin out, thinking maybe the epidural was wearing off, but the nurse checked me and said, "Nope, she is right there and its push time!! Lets have a baby!" Thats when the nerves set in for the first time that day, and I started getting a little emotional, knowing THIS WAS THE MOMENT!! I gave a few pushes, the doc came in and got ready, I gave a few more hard pushes and BAM she was out! I could never describe the feeling of that moment when they take your baby out and lay him or her on your chest and you get to finally see them for the first time in 9 months. Its one of the closest things to heaven here on this earth. What a special experience it is to be a mother and be able to have moments like that.








The nurses kept exlaiming how beautiful she was and couldn't get over how much hair she had! She did swallow a bit of fluid which had some meconium in it so that was a small worry for awhile, but she ended up being just fine.


Right after the birth. I'm such a baby! I couldn't help it though...and I question any woman who doesn't get emotional at the sight of her newborn child!





I tore a small amount so after the the doc stitched me up we got to just be with the baby for about an hour until we were moved into the recovery room. There my fam came to visit and brought Braxton to see his baby sister for the first time. He didn't really know what was going on, but loved seeing the baby and having all the attention on him for a few moments while we watched his reaction. :)





My dad and Bella Rose



All in all it was a great day and a relatively easy delivery, and I am so thankful it happened that way. I guess there was a good reason why I was put on hold on Wed for the gels! Maybe things wouldn't have gone so smoothly. I didn't really like being in the hopsital on the 4th of July, but it was worth it to have her here and in my arms. At least I had a cute outfit to put her in for the day!

Happy Birthday Bella Rose! We love you and are so glad you are here and part of our family!

Bella Rose Caruso

Introducing ......

BELLA ROSE CARUSO!

Born July 3rd at 3:48 pm. Weighed 7 lbs, 12 oz and was 19 1/2 in. long.

Its amazing how much I already love this little baby girl. She is so beautiful and there is such a special spirit about her. Labor and delivery went great - full story and more pics to come later! Thank you for all your prayers and support! We are so glad she is here and can't wait for everyone to meet her!