2 Months Old Already!

I can't believe it, but Baby Krew is already 2 months old! Man, time sure does fly when you are so busy with a newborn!!!

Here are his stats:

Weight: 15 lbs, 15 ounces

Height: 25 1/2 inches

He's in the 95th percentile in both. Such a BIG boy (but what did we expect with where he started!)

A little bit about him...

He's definitely been my fussiest child - but he is coming around. I think he was maybe just really hungry and I wasn't feeding him enough! As of right now, he is sleeping pretty consistently from 8pm - 6am, then eats and goes right back to sleep until about 9am. Then, he eats every 2-3 hours during the day until bedtime.

He loves to smile and coo now, which is so fun and LOVES to be held. He is already wearing 6 months clothes and seems to grow out of things in just weeks! He does the best when we are just at home - because it is so hot right now, when we are out and he is in his car-seat he just sweats and sweats!

When he gets mad, he GETS MAD and has a very distinct, low and LOUD cry!

All in all, we love this boy and are having so much fun watching him grow!!!

Krew's Blessing Day

We blessed Baby Krew on Sunday, June 5th at our ward here in Tyler, Texas. It was a special day. Troy gave a great blessing and then we finished off the day with family pictures and a barbecue at our house.

The crazy "Hill clan"

The proud parents

The 3 "Brother Bears"

Grandma & Grandpa Hill

Grandpa Poppers & Grandma Mimmers

Jessica's infamous sugar cookies

The Yummy Cupcakes with Toppers Made by Jess

All in all, we are so happy to have this little guy in our family and feel so blessed to have such great families! Thanks to everyone that came to support us in this special event!

Bubble Party!!!

With Troy's parents, my parents, Christy & Greg and kids, and Jess & Matt and kids all in town, we decided to throw a party to celebrate Baby Krew's birth and his blessing! The party was held at Linda's Backyard Bunch and it was a puppet show and Foam Party.

For the first hour, there was a cute puppet show and then after that, there was a big swimming pool type thing full of bubbles that the kids could play in. They had a blast! Darrin kept saying, "This is SO fun!" They would get covered in bubbles, then come out and run in the field to get some of them off, and then jump right back into the bubbles.

Then, we finished the party off with pizza and ice cream sundaes. It was a BIG hit! Thanks to Linda's Backyard Bunch and everyone that came out to celebrate Baby Krew. We feel blessed to have such great family and friends!

The MAN CAVE!

We have a loft area in our upstairs that we decided to turn into the kid's play area where they can watch movies, play with toys, and play video games. So, we went out and bought some big bean bags for them to sit on.

Well, once we got the room together, I found the 3 boys hanging out on the beanbags watching the NBA Playoff game. They then informed me that this is their MAN CAVE and that NO GIRLS ARE ALLOWED! Pretty rude, figuring that I am the ONLY girl in the house!

Hanging out with Mimmers & Poppers

We were so excited to have Grandma Mimmers and Grandpa Poppers come to town to visit us! It was GREAT to see them! One thing we did while they were here was visit the Texas Fresh Water Fisheries in Athens, Texas. It is a fish hatchery that shows some of the biggest fish ever caught, and you can also catch and release fish.

The boys had a grand old time fishing with Grandpa and Dad while Mimmers, Krew and I hung out in the shade.

It was a grand old time!

Darrin & Max in front of the HUGE catfish that you can feed

Max & Grandpa on a Nature Walk

The Infamous Jackhammer!

So, I just had to post this picture that I found on Troy's phone (he took it to send to his brother Daryl to make him jealous). It's called a Jackhammer and it is from Andy's Frozen Custard. Basically, it is frozen custard, blended with whatever toppings you want (this one has cookie dough and reese's peanut butter cups). Then, they drill a hole down the middle of the shake and inject whatever topping you want (in this case, it's liquid peanut butter).

They are VERY tasty and are definitely a stop we have to make whenever people come into town so they can try them out!

Darrin's Pre-K Graduation

Darrin graduated from Pre-Kindergarten at Oak Tree Academy on May 18th! It was a very cute Graduation Ceremony and Darrin did a great job! They sang various songs about things they learned throughout the year.

When they handed out the Diplomas, the teacher announced what each child wanted to be when he or she grows up and Darrin's was that he wanted to be a Football Player. It made his Daddy proud!

I can't believe that Darrin is going to be in Kindergarten and am actually a little scared to send him off to the big elementary school with lots of kids (especially older ones)! But, I think Darrin is excited. He's definitely a little social butterfly and will hopefully make lots of new friends at his new school in August!

The Houston Astros

This was Darrin's first year playing baseball and he got to be on the Houston Astros team. He loved it and has a real knack for it. He can hit the ball far and has a great throwing arm. Max and I enjoyed cheering him on from the sidelines while Troy helped the coach out on 3rd or 1st base. Pretty Intense!!!

Welcome Baby Krew!

We are excited to announce our 3RD baby boy...Krew Louis Braithwaite. Weighing in at a whopping 11lbs, 15oz and 21 inches long (although his length is up for debate because he looks MUCH longer).

Mr. Krew (or Krewbie as Max calls him) was born on April 14th, 2011. His due date was April 7th and since my lovely Doctor wouldn't induce me before 41 weeks, he came out at 41 weeks by induction. My children are SO stubborn and will NEVER come out on their own...it's CRAZY!!!

His labor went well. We went into the hospital @ 5:30am and they started the pitocin around 7:00am. I was still dilated to a 3 (had been for weeks) and he was really high.

I got my epidural around 10:30am and then my water broke around 11:15am. I slept/relaxed for a few hours and then he came out after a few pushes at 2:14pm. When he came out and they put him on my stomach, the first thing I thought was that he looked just like Max when he was born. Then, they took him away, got him to start breathing and then put him on the scale. He looked big, so I was expecting around a 10lb baby. When the nurses put him on the scale and said that he weighed 11lbs, 15oz, I was SHOCKED!!! I couldn't believe that he was that big and that he just came out of me! I was just so grateful to have him out and to have him out safely!

After 41 weeks of pregnancy, I was so happy to not be pregnant anymore and to hold my sweet baby in my arms! Here are some pictures that were taken the next day in the hospital before we left. So sweet (besides my scary face)!

Soccer Madness

Both Darrin and Max played Spring Soccer this year. They were in different leagues - Max played on the little field with the 3 year-olds and Darrin played on the big field with the 5 year-olds. This year, Darrin learned more about the strategy of soccer and different positions on the field. He mostly played defense and goalie and really enjoyed both. He has quite the leg and had a really fun team!

Max was one of the bigger kids on the team and had fun playing. At his age, they don't play positions - they all just run around huddled around the ball trying to kick it in the goal. It was fun to watch him and cheer him on!

Little Creatures in Texas

One of the boy's favorite things to do is go out and look for little creatures. Since we have lived in Texas, they have found many different creatures in all shapes and sizes.

Troy has caught a few turtles while he has been golfing. Darrin has caught a few frogs and Jon even caught a mini turtle while he was out for a walk.

Once they are caught, the little creatures spend a few hours (of days) living on our balcony in a storage tub with Darrin and Max hovering over them, picking them up, putting them in water and feeding them lettuce.

At first, we let them keep them for a few days. But, once we lost a few of the creatures due to drowning, we now have a rule that they can only keep them for a few hours!

Sorry to all of the past creatures that haven't survived and the future creatures that will be caught by the Braithwaite Boy's!

Basketball!

So, we signed both Darrin and Max up to play basketball at the YMCA this year. They were supposed to have a 3-4 year old league, but not enough of that age signed up so Max ended up being with the 4 and 5 year olds. They used an 8 foot hoop and a youth-size basketball, so needless to say, there was no way that Max was going to make a basket!

It was challenging at first because Max wouldn't even go into the game - he was the official "bench sitter". But, after a few games, he worked up the courage to play in the games and had a great time.

Darrin enjoyed it as well. Since he is a little bigger, he could make a basket and got to learn the basics of Offense and Defense.

All in all, the boys had tons of fun and probably their most favorites parts of the season were getting to go to the Dallas Mavericks game and have GREAT seats in the lower level and also getting their season-end trophies. Oh, and don't forget the after-game treats! Those were definitely highlights for Max!

Darrin's Basketball Team

Their Season-end Trophies

Darrin & Max at their First Dallas Mavericks Game

2010 Family Pictures

Here are our official 2010 Family Pictures that were taken at Bear Lake in August!

Christmas 2010!

Christmas this year was spent all by ourselves in Tyler, Texas. Because we had just moved the month before, we were definitely not up to driving back to Utah for the holidays! It was fun to have our own little family Christmas; however, we definitely missed family nd friends aand all of the family parties and goodies that come along with them!

The boys favorite present this year that Santa brought them was a Black Ford F-150 Power Wheels truck. It is a 2-seater with a working radio. They love cruising the roads in it together and look ridiculously cute doing it!

Here are some pictures from Christmas 2010: