What Can I Say, I'm a Slacker!

So to state the obvious... it's been a while since we last wrote a post. Our lives have been CRAZY busy over the past couple months. So I will do my best to catch you up on our lives lately.

October- definitely had its ups and downs. We moved into our new house(which use to be Matt & Beth's 1st house) out in Queen Creek. It is 2 stories with 5 bedrooms + playroom and 3 bathrooms. Our favorite part is the backyard(and the dogs like it too!) It has pool, which we can't wait to use in the summer, and a nice sized grass area for the kids to play. It is just big enough to put a swing set, eventually! We look forward to having family and friends over to enjoy this new house and backyard with us!!! Jesse has done an amazing job painting, fixing and organizing everything in the house and garage! I didn't know I married such a handy man until we lived in this house. He built the shelves for our family room. He also painted stripes in his "Cardinals" office and put up crown molding. It looks AWESOME! We will post pictures soon (which means as soon as the house is clean! lol) Towards the end of October, we got the sad news that Jesse's Granny had passed away. Granny was someone who was very special to Jesse. I remember him talking about her often before we were even married. She was such an amazing person. I was blessed to have known her the couple years that I did. We only wished that she could have met Braxton. We were lucky to be able to travel to Utah for her funeral. It seemed like a family reunion SOOOO many Ruckers were there. It was nice to be able to see all of them again and meet some of them I never have before! Despite the circumstances, I know Jesse had a great time being around all this family. We even got to see Kira!!! Even though it was nice to see everyone I couldn't help but be sad that we were missing Braxton's first Halloween. My parents took him to their ward's Trunk or Treat so he could go around and get candy!! Here are some pics of him in his Halloween costume. He was a skull, of course.

Braxton in his Halloween shirt

In his Halloween Costume

At Trunk or Treat with Mimi & Papa

Mimi pretending to feed him chocolate (I about died when they sent this pic)


November- was filled with lots of out of town guests and lots of runny noses!!! Braxton got sick for the very first time this month. It was so sad to hear him cry. He had basically lost his voice and you could tell that he didn't feel well. He had laryngitis, then Bronchitis and 2 ear infections. So 2 antibiotics, a million breathing treatments and a month later he finally seemed to get better. Of course while Braxton was sick, Jesse and I both got sick too. Man, it was one rough month for all of us! Despite us all being sick, we did have a pretty good month. Our good friends Tiffany and Jared came to visit and stayed with us for 10 whole days! It was so fun getting to catch up with them and see Brighton. (She's a month older than Braxton) And we found out they are expecting #2! We are soo excited for them and can't wait to meet the new baby! Matt and Beth and the boys came out to visit for Thanksgiving as well. It was so fun to have the whole family together again. This year we had Thanksgiving with my family (Yes, it has finally reached the point where we have to alternate families on holidays)I was so excited that it was Braxton's first Thanksgiving and what did he do, he slept through the whole meal (and so did Jesse!) I did let him try some real sweet potatoes. He loved them... probably cuz they are full of sugar! So while the whole family was in town, Madisen had her baptism. It was so special because Maddie is such a special girl. She is so smart and already knows so much about the church. She is going to be a great missionary. I just can't believe how grown up she is.







December-was filled with holiday cheer and multiple hospital trips. Come on, what would the holidays be with out trips to the ER and yes, they were all for me. So needless to say, we have had better months at our house. We did have some fun though. Jesse decorated the outside with lights and I put up the tree and stockings! Christmas day rolled around and we couldn't have been more excited for Braxton's first Christmas. We tried to have him open one of his presents but he just liked the paper. Go figure! We spent the morning with my family and the afternoon with Jesse's. We LOVE that we are able to spend Christmas at both sides of the family every year! It makes it so much more special. Braxton was definitely spoiled by EVERYONE! He got tons of toys and clothes! He had already gotten his big presents months early, a highchair and his new carseat. He got WAY too big for his infant one. Next came my birthday. I'm 26.. man, am I old. I spend the day in bed with my headache I'd had forever. But at least I wasnt in the hospital like I was Christmas night. (and would soon be the next day, and then 2 days after that)Jesse took me out to dinner at Brio. Yum! and my parents watched Braxton ALL night! So we rented a movie and got to sleep uninterrupted. yay! New Years rolled around and we spent it at home with Jake and Madi. It's so sad... the only one who didn't fall asleep before midnight was Jesse. But he woke us up in time for the countdown!





January
Not much has happened this month. So I will just end this post with Braxton's newest stats. He is now 10 months old. He weighs 24 lbs. He is 30 in tall. I can't believe how grown up he is! He definitely already has a personality. He is happy ALL of the time and he lights up the room with that smile of is! Jesse is constantly trying to get him to say "Da-Da" But so far he sticks to "dadadadadada" He is "talking" all the time, which I love. He even sings in the car with me! We are working with him in physical therapy on crawling and standing (and of course the main reason we are there... working on getting his head straight instead of tilted) This big boy NEVER stops eating. He eats all day long, I swear! He is eating more and more different foods each day and we are gradually working towards more and more "people food" He really is such a good little boy! We love him SO much!