5 years ago today...

5 years ago today, I was in the hospital awaiting the arrival of our little boy Braden. I was induced at 5:30 am and was ready to start pushing at 1:00. I was so excited and anixous to see him. I thought it wouldn't take very long once I started pushing but I was wrong. I pushed for 3 hours and then my doctor decided it was best to have a C-section. I was so disappointed but was so exhausted I could not push any longer. So around 6:00 that evening I was in the operating room and at 6:14 the most beautiful baby boy was born. He weighed 8 lbs, 9 ozs and was 22.5" long. The past 5 years have been so amazing with Braden. He is just the most wonderful son any mother could ask for. So caring, loving, handsome and fun!! I love him so much.

Here is a look back over the years...

My 5 year old this morning!!

Welcome Home little man...

Angie and Joe arrived home from Ethiopia on Tuesday after a long two years waiting for their precious son Silas James Tariku Carley. I was so lucky to be there when they arrived at the airport. It was such a wonderful moment to see them as a family at last. Tears were flowing with complete joy and happiness. Angie and Joe were exhausted after there 24 hour journey home. Silas was a little angel smiling and cooing at everyone. One was the most memorable moments for me was seeing Angie and Joe hugging the girls while Silas was smiling up at Addie. It really hit me at that moment that they were finally together!! Addie kept saying, "he's smiling at me." I kept wondering what was going through Silas' head...who are these beautiful blond hair little girls. It was a night I will NEVER forget as long as I live. It was just priceless.

April showers

The month of April was so fun in the Pierce household. Ansley got her 2 bottom teeth and is growing and "moving" like crazy. Last night she crawled across the bed. We think she will be off to the races this week. She and Braden are best buds and love to play with each other. Ansley's favorite song is "Old MacDonald"...and her favorite animal in that song is a duck. She thinks it is so funny when we say "quack quack", she starts laughing so hard. At times it looks like she wants to skip crawling and go straight to walking. She can pull up and hold on to something by herself. I think once she gets more muscle strength, she will be walking.

Braden is having so much fun playing baseball. He has really improved this year and has enjoyed it. He only has one more month of school and then he will have a whole summer of fun. I cannot believe he will be entering kindergarten this year. He is such a big boy and wants to yurn 5 so bad. Most of his friends are already 5 so that is why he is rushing it...I would like to push a pause button to keep him this age. We are so proud of him and what he is becoming.

Easter fun

We had a wonderful Easter this year. The Easter bunny came and left some good treats for the kids. Braden was so excited when we saw his Easter basket and then he took Ansley's treats over to her. He was super excited to hunt for eggs in the backyard. Ansley slept through that part. She was so tired from the long day at church and pictures. We finished the day with a nice dinner as a family. Here are some of the pictures from our day...

Jumping on the trampoline with his Easter Eggs!! Thought that was the best.

Taking a break to check out what's inside.

Ansley Grace
March 27, 2009


I absolutely love this picture of Ansley. She was playing in the grass and was watching Braden & Bentley run in the backyard. I love the pouty lips. Priceless.

Favorite Photo Friday

This will forever be one of my favorite pictures of Ansley. Her eyes are so beautiful!!

Santa's reindeers

We had 3 deer in our backyard this morning. I was cooking breakfast when I looked out and thought "that is not Bentley (our chocolate lab)" so I yelled "there's a deer in our backyard". Braden jumped off of the sofa and Brit ran to get the camera. Braden said "there's another one and another one". They were beautiful. I was shocked that Bentley had not spotted them. Well, the next thing I heard was Bentley barking and running off the porch. I picked up Braden and we ran outside. We saw them go running through our backyard and jumped over the fence.

After jumping the fence, they looked back at us. The cutest thing about this story was Braden saying....

"I think they were Santa's reindeer." It was the cutest thing ever!!