Branson's Blessing Day in Las Vegas

Beck and Rhett were pretty excited to see Baby Branson

Doug and Pam came to Preston and Devin's house when they got into town. I'm not sure who had more fun, Nolan or Grandpa Bailey!

I finally got to meet Baby Logan! He's a cutie. Also, it's crazy what a difference 2 months makes in a newborn. Branson looks huge!

Some of the guys at breakfast

Gm Mathews stealing a hug from Nolan

Gm Bailey and Branson

Warren and Branson

And just for fun, here's what the scene looked like 2 years ago in February (when we were all in LV for BJ and Kirsten's wedding).

little Nolan (l) and little Rhett (r)!

It's seriously so fun having all these babies so close in age!

 That Warren is such a heart breaker! He's so sweet and will just lay there and watch you whenever you're near him, but then when you actually look at him and acknowledge him he tilts his head to the side and gives you his biggest, flirtiest smile. It's irresistible! ♥

The older boys making triangles with magnets. Cue the cutest video ever!

It rained a ton while we were there. Is this Seattle or Las Vegas?!

Saturday evening we went to Kids Club Las Vegas and let the kids run around. They had a blast!

Nolan finally got to try out Wiggle Cars

This might be the only time during the trip that Nolan and Rhett weren't fighting haha.

Gm and Gp Bailey playing air hockey. Apparently Gp always wins ☺

Nolan loves building towers, mostly so he can knock them over.

Rhett

Beck

Somebody's thirsty!

Oh ya, this was how Nolan was eating his dried blueberries. It had to be out of daddy's hand, cookie monster style - complete with his head going from side to side and "nom, nom, nom" noises haha.

Aunt Mallory holding Bran-man

It took about 8 shots to get a semi good picture of the three older boys where they were all together (Nolan kept bolting back into the play area), looking at the camera (sort of) and that wasn't blurry.

Branson was all smiles

After playing we met my parents and Granky at Cafe Rio for dinner. Devin and I were joking that the boys looked like a bunch of teenagers the way they were casually sitting on the table and chatting haha.

Getting into trouble I'm sure.

Gp Mathews and Branson

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Sunday was a joyful day as Branson was given a name and a blessing. Justin of course did an amazing job and the Spirit was felt by all. We are so grateful for everyone who attended, especially Pam and Doug who came a long ways just to be there!

Special pictures with Great Grandpa Mathews (aka Granky)

The blessing took place at the chapel I spent all of my teenage years attending, on 8801 W Alexander Rd. in Las Vegas, NV

Now there's a whole 'lotta  handsome in this picture!

The Bailey Family

The whole group (minus Daren Stewart who was so sweet and came all the way across town to participate. He said, "there's just something extra special about baby blessings").

The boys had a blast playing in the landscape ☺ Oh, and we were a little surprised to be asked if the boys were triplets haha. No, no, but I can see why they'd think that!

Gp B and Nolan being silly

Oh my gosh, I almost forgot to mention...nursery. We were debating whether we should attempt to take Nolan and Rhett to nursery or if it just wasn't worth it. But our friend Fae is the nursery leader and we're always up for torturing her (just kidding Fae!) so we thought we'd give it a shot. Apparently Rhett was an absolute angel and the only notable thing with him was when he got a little nervous when he was cornered by a little girl (our high school friends, Will and KT Scarlett's, daughter) haha. Nolan however, was a different story. He was the terror of the nursery and was, of course, trying to push Rhett and and steal toys from him the.whole.time :\. I guess at one point he even knocked over a table? Oey, kid. So embarrassing ☺ But Fae still seemed to have a good time with them in there so I guess it worked out haha.

 

♥ ♥ My very favorite pictures from the trip ♥ ♥

We headed back home on Monday afternoon. Nolan was really being a pill before we left, but we were sure it was mostly because he was just really tired (bed times always seem to end up much later on vacation ☺). We gave him some milk and he was asleep before he could even finish it! So he sat in his carseat with a partial bottle of milk right next to him. We thought about reaching back and grabbing it, but didn't for whatever reason (laziness?). Plus, we've left his bottle in his bed all night long and he's never tried to drink it in the morning so we weren't too worried.

Oops! He woke up in the middle of the Nevada desert and drank some multiple hours old milk. Blech!! I didn't realize it until I heard him stirring, looked back, and he kind of gagged. Then a minute later he gagged some more and started throwing up! Poor guy! We pulled over and tried to clean him and the seat up as best we could.

He enjoyed the phone while mom cleaned up the back seat. Luckily it wasn't too bad, and he really just needed to get it out and then he was fine (well, mostly, by the time we got home it had come out the other end as well :( Poor guy!)

Besides that one little mishap (that was no one's fault except maybe mom and dad's) the boys were absolute champs in the car! No crying and we only had to make one long stop in Cedar City to get gas and food and get the wiggles out. Nolan was so excited about the BIG McDonald's in CC ♥

Valentine's Day

This questionnaire for couples has been going around Facebook recently and I thought it'd be fun for Valentine's Day ♥

1. Who's older? Justin (34) Me (31)

2. Who was interested first? I think Justin, but it didn't take long for me to fall HARD ☺

3. More sarcastic? Probably Justin, and he'd probably be more sarcastic if I wasn't so darn sensitive.

4. Who makes the most messes? Nolan haha - but probably me because I don't know what to wear and put clothes all over the bed, which then end up on the floor when I'm inevitably too tired to put them all away before bed.

5. Who has more tattoos? No tattoos

6. Who's the better singer? I think we're both equally not good.

7. Hogs the remote? Justin! But we have a lot of shows we watch together too. Currently we're watching the new 24, Timeless, Hunted, Suits, and This Is Us.

8. Better driver? I'm going to say Justin. We're both good drivers, but he doesn't speed or tailgate quite as much as I do ☺

9. Spends the most? Me for sure. Justin has very few needs and I kinda love that about him.

10. Smarter? We both have knowledge in different areas I think, but he's got an amazing memory and one of those minds where he can read something once and retain it. I have to work a lot harder for it haha.

11. Most common sense? Hmm, not sure. But Justin would probably say him, haha.

12. What are your middle names? Melissa and Douglas (like the toy company! I just realized that haha)

13. Whose siblings do you see the most? It's about even these days, leaning more towards mine though now that Brianna is in NYC. All of them live in a different state than us.

14. Do you have any children together? 2 super cute and super sweet boys ♥

15. Did you go to the same school? Yes, BYU, but we didn't meet there.

16. Who is the most sensitive? Ugh, ME, without a doubt. I wish I wasn't. But Justin is sensitive in a positive way - he's very tender with me and the boys, even when our behavior doesn't deserve it.

17. Where do you eat out most as a couple? Our favorite place is probably the Old Spaghetti Factory. That mizithra cheese...yummm!

18. Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? Cancun (our honeymoon), then probably Hawaii, then Connecticut.

19. Who has the worst temper? Me for sure

20. Who does the cooking? Me 

21. Who is more social? We can both be very social when we need to, but I think we both have more introverted tendencies. We need to go home and recover after a bit!

22. Who is the neat freak? Justin is a very neat person in his every day habits and isn't guilty of the 'typical things husbands do that annoy their wives' (as in, he doesn't leave socks on the floor, or shavings in the sink, and he puts the entire toilet lid down every.single.time #blesshim), but I'm the one that insists on cleaning the apartment, doing the dishes, mopping floors, etc. And I do all the organizing and rearranging and purging (although full disclosure, I probably bring in most of the crap anyway haha).

23. Who is the most stubborn? Me

24. Who hogs the bed? Justin says me, but I don't believe it for one second.

25. Who wakes up earlier? Me! If Justin has a flaw, it's that it's like pulling teeth getting him up in the morning!

26. Where was your first date? I say it was when I asked him to come to my hockey banquet on May 2, 2012, but HE says it was 3 days later when he asked me to go to a Real Salt Lake soccer game on May 5 ☺

27. Who has the bigger family? My immediate family is bigger. As far as extended family I'm not totally sure, but I definitely see and interact with a much larger number of family members on a regular basis. I think Justin gets overwhelmed sometimes by how many cousins and second cousins and parent's cousins, and great aunts and uncles, etc. that I have and know personally.

28. Who does the laundry? Justin takes it down and switches it more, but I'm usually the one folding and putting it away.

29. Who's better with the computers? Justin, without a doubt.

30. Who drives when you are together? Justin, but I do a lot of driving on road trips.

31. Who picks where you go to eat? It's always a struggle. He usually wants me to decide (which is sweet), but I rarely know what I want and hate the pressure haha!

32. Who wears the pants in the relationship? It probably depends on the scenario. I defer to him on a lot of topics, but when it comes to going out and doing activities, making sure household chores are happening, things I feel we need to buy for the boys, etc. that's me. One thing I love though is that we parent together and we're very much on the same page about how we want to raise our boys/children.

33. Who eats more sweets? BOTH! Justin can't resist if there are Red Vines, Reese's Pieces, or Sour Patch Kids in the house ☺

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I'm so torn on Valentine's Day. On the one hand, I love that it's a day set aside to show extra love to those closest to us. Sure, I get that you should show love every day, but life gets busy and it's easy to get into a routine and take for granted the people around you. So I like that we specifically remember to show love on Valentine's Day. But at the same time I don't like the pressure and expectations and expense. We've decided that for Valentine's Day and our anniversary it will be best to alternate planning responsibilities so that the burden doesn't always fall on one person. Plus it makes it easier to give reminders a week or two before so that the day is not forgotten. Anyway, this year it was my turn to plan V day and to my annoyance, lots of dinner places were already fully booked (3 weeks in advance!) and most had a 'special' menu (read: limited and more expensive) for that night. Not to mention it's kind of hard to get a babysitter when everyone else is trying to get one for the same night. Thank heaven's, once again, for Jeanni and the fact that Dan was out of town so she didn't seem to mind keeping the boys for an extra couple of hours ☺

So anyway, after thinking a lot about it I decided that I do like Valentine's Day and I want to celebrate it, but I also want to keep it simple. A nice dinner for Justin and I, maybe a small gift or flowers. And for the kids, a little treat and maybe a special breakfast (this year it was heart shaped pancakes for Nolan).

Here's what Nolan woke up to this February 14th. He didn't really understand why he was getting treats and a card from Gm and Gp Mathews, but he wasn't complaining ☺ And Branson just got extra hugs and kisses! XOXOXO

(sorry the pic is so dark, I didn't have a chance to turn on a light)

After checking out his treats he was back to his normal, silly self. Here he is watching cartoons with his blanket on top of his head.

Jeanni sent me this pic of Branson on his first Valentine's Day. He seems to be excited about the cute little bear that Jeanni got for him. Nolan got one too.

I got Justin a BYU golf hat, which was a little lame compared to the awesome-sauce gift he got for me! I have been wanting one of those digital photo frames for my desk at work, because how can I choose just one picture of the boys when a zillion in rotation would be so much better?! I love it SO much! In fact, it's kind of distracting because I basically have to look each time the picture changes and sometimes I linger if the picture is particularly adorable. You understand, right?

After work I had Justin meet me in the lobby of the JSMB where I revealed to him where we were going to dinner. The Garden Restaurant! So here was our view for the evening ♥ (again, sorry for the dark pics) 

I love this man and am super lucky he keeps asking me to be his Valentine! 

We sent out a cute picture of Branson to the family for Vday, and just as we hoped we would, we got some cute pics in return ☺

(Beck, Warren, and Rhett)

(Baby Logan)