And Happy New Year to Brent!

Sayonara truck! Meet Brent's new baby...2008 Chevy Impala.

Our New Year's resolution...apparently to gain as much debt as possible before it begins. Not really, but it does look like it. After debating whether or not to further spending money on the truck and mountaineer or just trade them both in, we decided it was best to finally part ways with old Elizabeth (Brent's truck). Hitting the end of the year inventory sales we got a deal we just couldn't turn away from. It's amazing the difference in gas mileage in a sedan vs. the guzzler.

Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas Everyone! We hope that everyone enjoyed their holidays however they were spent. Whether with family or friends the holidays bring a spirit of togetherness that I love so much! We enjoyed the holidays spending Christmas with my family. Not everyone was here since we spent Thanksgiving together. Shonda had to work this year and Teresa spent the holiday with Brad's family. Brent's parents were able to go down to North Carolina to be with his brother Michael. Somehow, some way we are trying to find a way we can spend Christmas with them next year. Brent has been unable to go home since he's joined the military 8 years ago. We enjoyed this holiday season trying new traditions and the first as a family of 4! We went to the River of Lights for the first time and enjoyed watching Keely look at the lights and mostly rock out to the live music! Christmas Eve we enjoyed my tradition of eating pizza from Dions. Then we each opened one gift and watched "Prep and Landing". Christmas morning was so much more exciting this year with Keely being a bit more aware of her surroundings. She was so excited to find her new kitchen all set up and ready to play with. Brayden spent most of the day sleeping but we know next year will be filled with excitement from both of the kids. Christmas afternoon we moseyed our way to my parents house to open gifts and enjoy a wonderful Christmas dinner. For those we couldn't be with, we missed you and love you all!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Craniosynostosis

About two weeks ago we had Brayden's 2 month well-baby appointment. While we were there our pediatrician noticed that their was something going on with the shape of Brayden's head. What he was noticing was that the front of his head showed a rather large bulge coming out of his forehead. The second thing he noticed was that he could not find his soft spot. He was concerned that Brayden could have craniosynostosis. This is a condition in which one or more of the skull sutures closes prematurely leaving little room for the brain to grow and causes the head to have an abnormal shape. So he sent Brayden to have x-rays and the results showed that the saggital suture had fused together.

The next step was to meet with the neurosurgeon. Today we met with the pediatric neurosurgeon at UNM Hospital. Basically, the way to fix the deformity is with surgery. What the neurosurgeon does is opens the skull and removes part of the bone so that the brain is given room to grow. This surgery takes about 30 minutes (2 hours with prep, ect...) and about 2 days in the PICU. After surgery Brayden will be fitted for a helmet that he will wear for about 6 months-1 year to help re-shape his head.

Brayden's surgery is scheduled for January 4th. We are grateful that I have family that is close by and able to help out. They will watch Keely for us so Brent and I can both stay in the hospital with Brayden and help when we come home. Brent's folks will be back out in February to check on the little guy and spend some more time with the family. We are so grateful for the many family and friends we have around us for support. When we first heard the news that we were looking at surgery on our little baby's head it was a bit of a shock. We've been doing lots of research and reading these past few weeks to have time to process what was about to happen and deal with all the emotions that come with it.

The bad news of course is that he is having surgery and he will be put under. The good news is that this actually isn't that uncommon of a procedure and that the recovery is rather quick. Brayden is a healthy boy (about 15 lbs) which should help him bounce back to his happy little self. We are confident with our doctor that our little Brayden is in good hands. We are thankful that we have a thorough doctor who went ahead and followed through with his concerns instead of waiting several more months to see what would come out of it. We are also thankful that Brayden is not in any pain, this isn't affecting his brain growth and he is continuing to do everything he should be doing.

We will keep everyone posted throughout each step as we go. Next Tuesday we go back for Pre-Op. Brayden will have some blood work done and meet with the anesthesiologist. The following Monday will be the surgery. For now we need your thoughts to be with our family. Although this is a fairly common surgery, it is still surgery and on his head at that. And of course like any other, there are always risks involved. We are confidant with our doctor and hopeful for a great outcome for our little Brayden.

Merry Christmas to Me :)

My new ride...2008 Dodge Caravan! A bit different from the Journey we intended to get. When we pulled up to the dealership I took one look at the Journey and realized it was WAY too small for what we need these days. After looking at a few other vehicles we couldn't deny the space, comfort, and practicality of the mini-van. Yes, I'm a proud owner :) I never thought I'd be married, two kids, and a mini-van before 30 but here we are and I couldn't be happier. Looking forward to future family car trips, soccer games, and room for visitors to pile in!

I can just see the kiddos jumping in!

View from the inside :)

Catching Up

Since Brayden has come home we've taken many video's of the kids that I never got around to posting. So I wanted to catch up on some of the coverage that we've taken. I made two videos, one of Keely and one of Brayden. Keely has really mastered learning her body parts and is still such a little Mama! She also LOVES to talk on the phone, well the pretend phone. When we let her try to talk to anyone on the actual phone she usually freezes up. However, this week for the first time Keely had a long conversation with Nana and Pop Pop. It was hilarious watching her talk up a storm.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Brayden is such a big boy these days. We love watching him look at everything around him and observe everything he sees. It really is such a joy trying to take in each moment with him now that we see how 'fast' fast really is. It's incredible to see where Keely is now and how quickly we got there. Makes each moment with both of them so much more special. Can't get enough of these two.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Well Baby Appointments

Tuesday we had well baby appointments for both kiddos. One word to describe the experience...Interesting. Thankfully Brent was able to join me for the appointment to have an extra hand. If he wasn't there I'm sure I'd be describing the experience as stressful and challenging. Of course I managed to have the appointments scheduled on the same day we had a winter storm come through New Mexico so that just added to chaos.

On to the important stuff. Here is where the kids stand:

Keely 18 Months

23 lbs 13.5 oz

31 3/4 inch.

44.5 cm head circumference

Brayden 2 Months

13 lbs 13.5 oz

23 3/4 inch

41.5 cm head circumference

We have a BIG boy! I was pretty sure he would be about 14 lbs when we went to his check up and sure enough he's pretty close. This week we also hit a new milestone when Brayden rolled over from tummy to back the night before the appointment. Just like Keely did I put him on his belly and walked away for a minute or two. When I returned he was on his back and I thought "I didn't leave you like that". So I put him on his tummy again and immediately he rolled over again! Very exciting. He's laughing and smiling all the time and sure knows the voices of Mom, Dad, and Sister.

Keely of course was a great patient again. She is doing great with her growth and development. She even earned a sticker. She had a great time exploring the doctor's office waiting her turn to be checked out.

Having appointments for both kids back to back was a little chaotic. We had Brayden tired since it was nap time, so he'd start crying. Then Keely would try to talk over his crying and in the meantime the Doc is trying to talk to Brent and I all in a small space. But we made it through and won't have another appointment for Keely until 2 years and Brayden's next appointment will be at 4 Months. Whew!

On a side note, I had several people ask me how to leave comments from 'anonymous' name. Apparently I had not enabled that setting so I went ahead and changed the settings to allow other friends and family comment on our page :)

Mr. & Mrs. Claus

Today I took the kids to see Santa and Mrs. Claus. Auntie Shonda's work was having a PR event at the Lowe's parking lot and they had Santa there too. This made for a special and fun day seeing fire trucks, helicopters, police cars and the man himself! Keely went to Mrs. Claus but she wouldn't let Santa hold her. She didn't mind taking a candy cane from him though, and she was sure to mention that she wanted a "dog dog" for Christmas.
It was VERY cold and the wind did not help, but I had Brayden bundled as much as possible. He got a chance to see Mr. & Mrs. Clause too.
Auntie Shonda got to show Keely her helicopter. Keely really wasn't sure what to make of everything. She held on to Shonda for deer life, but she was a good sport and took all the pictures that the 'momariazzi' wanted to take.
She even tried her hands out at driving the fire truck. This girl is ready to go out for a drive.
They even had a fire truck from 1920 out. Keely got to ring the little bell and were her own fire hat.
Even though it was so COLD (have I mentioned that it was cold) we had so much fun checking everything out and supporting Auntie Shonda. We were so glad that Keely got to see what Auntie Shonda does and was able to see Santa this year. Unfortunately Daddy couldn't be there since he had to work again. But he was eager to hear all about the day!

Elf Yourself

It's that time of year again...and this year we get to add Brayden to the fun! Merry Christmas everyone!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

It's Beginning to Look A Lot....

like Christmas! I just love this time of year. Like a lot of American households we spend Friday morning after Thanksgiving setting up our Christmas tree and decorations. This year presents many more challenges with an 18 month old in the house. Keely had oodles of fun helping decorate the tree and is having so much more testing our patience trying to take the ornaments off (especially the candy canes). The house always feels so much more cozy this time of year and makes me remember how grateful I am to be here with my wonderful family. What can I say, I'm a sucker for the Christmas spirit!

Brayden's first glimpse of the tree.

Look at the big tree!

Helping Daddy.

Did I mention she LOVES the candy canes?

Our Christmas Tree

More Thanksgiving!

Since we had everyone together and never know when the next time will be we made sure to get a family picture of the whole Hillard family. Considering this was the end of the day and we did not have a very good napper that day, I thought we got some pretty good pictures.

Top Brent, Keely, Damian, Cheryl, Dad, Shonda, Jaccob, Brad

Middle Lorena, Brayden, Domilyse, Mom, Simon, Teresa

Bottom Patricia, Lydia

Mee-Maw and Paw-Paw with all the Grandkids

The Duncan's. Poor Keely was D.O.N.E. and Brayden was ready for bed too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebrating with the ENTIRE Hillard crew. Teresa and new hubby Brad came in from Oklahoma, and the Armijo's came up from Carlsbad. Needless to say we had a packed house but a wonderful time with family. Keely enjoyed some mashed potatoes and turkey. She also had a BLAST with her cousin's Simon and Domilyse. They follow her around like Patricia and I used to follow Lydia around when she was 1. So interesting to see things come in full circle.

Aunt Teresa, Uncle Brad, and Lydia checking out Brayden for the first time.

Keely tried out marsh mellows before they went on the sweet potatoes.

Keely flying with Uncle Damian

Mee-Maw and Brayden

Patricia addressing graduation announcements while Keely and Simon "help."

Hope you all enjoyed your Turkey, we sure did! Happy Thanksgiving :)

Brayden and Keely

This happy boy likes to stick his tongue out at his Mama.

Handsome smile

I call this look "This is for the birds Mom!"

Growing so fast.

Someone forgot to tell Keely she's a big girl now.

Breaking out the winter hat.

She actually kept the hat on for more than 2 seconds!

Mom: "Keely what are you up too?"

She had some kind of objection, still not sure what it was though.

Happy Birthday Pop Pop!

Today is Pop Pop's (Brent's Dad) birthday. Since he's in Virginia we can't celebrate together but we wanted to let him know that we love him and thinking of him. We've loved having Brent's parents get to come and spend so much time with Keely. She knows who her Nana and Pop Pop are! Here is a little video for you Pop Pop, We love you!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

MIA

Yes, I know it has been a while. Well, as you can guess life is a bit busy lately in the Duncan house. Mainly, a toddler and a new baby...enough said right? So I apologize for not being better about updating the blog lately, but I'm going to try to make a better effort. So here's some moments from the past few weeks. Starting off with a few baking sessions Keely and I had. It was so cold it actually snowed for about a second. Cold weather gives me an itch to bake. We made cookies, pudding, and yummy chocolate chip pumpkin bread (recipe on Chow City). We also have a guest in our house that Keely is having a blast with. We're watching my parents dog, Boots, for a few days while my Dad is in the hospital. I mentioned before that my Dad had been sick, and it turned out that it was a little more serious than we thought. Thankfully, he is doing great and everything is going to be just fine. But in the meantime we have Boots and Keely is in heaven. She enjoys chasing him around the house and letting him give her kisses. Brayden is doing great and growing like a weed. We have his 2 month appointment on Dec. 8th and I'm sure that we'll hear we have at least a 13 lb baby. He is HUGE. But healthy. I love watching him take in his surroundings and smile when we talk to him. It's so amazing how much changes in such little time. Tomorrow he will be 7 weeks old already. I wish so bad I could slow down time to hold on to this moment (with the exception of the sleepless nights) but I guess that's what pictures and video camera are for.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Brayden and Paw-Paw

Brayden finally met Paw-Paw! At 6 weeks old we finally were able to get these two together. My Dad has been sick for quiet some time now. When I was in labor, he was at the ER. But finally, Paw-Paw is better and so I took Brayden over to meet him. Precious!

Smiles

Sweet smiles from a sweet boy...

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Halloween

My how so much has changed from this time last year. Last year we had just moved into our home and had one little girl. This was her then...
and this is her now. Let me just tell you how much easier it was to set up the photo last year. This year Miss Keely was not digging the photo session, AT ALL. But somehow we managed to get a few photos. Miss Keely was a little witch for Halloween. We also took her trick-or-treating for the first time. Nothing crazy, just a few houses around our block. Mostly wanted Keely to see the kids in the neighborhood. She had fun walking around and was even brave at the scary houses. She wasn't a big fan of wearing her hat, but she did sport it around for a little while. When we were done we sat on the front porch and she helped Dad pass out candy. She sure did make everyone stop in their tracks thinking she was a pretty cute witch. Brayden was our cute little pumpkin. He stayed alert enough for some pictures and then crashed in the snuggie as we walked around the neighborhood. A great Halloween experience in the Duncan house. Hope you all enjoyed your Halloween as well!

Brayden's 1st Halloween

Striking a pose

Ready to get some candy

Brayden, Mee-Maw, and Keely

One Month Old

It's hard to believe that a month has passed since this little guy has come into the world. Here we are already at one month old. We've really enjoyed the past month bonding as a family of four. Keely has done great adjusting to having a baby in the house. She's become more and more curious and observes each move Brayden makes. Her newest sign is "cry" and does it each time we here Brayden cry on the monitor. Brayden is so much more alert throughout the day. He's up for about an hour at a time and takes about 2 hour naps. When he's up he enjoys looking around taking in the surroundings. He's not a big fan of the swing, but doesn't mind sitting on the floor.

Over the past couple of weeks we've had many visitors in our home. Last week Whitney brought over some dinner and got to hang out with Brayden. This weekend Aunt Cheryl and Cousins Jaccob, Domilyse, and Simon came up from Carlsbad to meet their new cousin. Lydia came up too but ended up spending the weekend with her friends in Edgewood that she hasn't seen in a year. She'll get to meet him at Thanksgiving.

All in all it's been a busy month. As we enter this last week of October I'm bracing myself for life to kick back into reality. Next week Brent goes back to work, after having him home since mid-September it will be an adjustment not having him home everyday. Keely sure has enjoyed having so much time with her Dad. I feel like I've got a good routine set to get me through the day, however I know that kids are unpredictable and I'll just have some of those "off" days. Each day is getting a little cooler which also means more time indoors. That adds up to a cage crazy toddler who is into everything these days. Time to get ready for winter and become more creative with at home activities. I'm going to take advantage of this last week with help at home and time to take some cat naps throughout the day.

Lil' Mama

We have another Mama in the house. Miss Keely has been helping me out with the cleaning (as usual) knowing that I need an extra hand these days. She is such a great helper! She also has been busy with her own little baby. We found a baby doll with a car seat at a garage sale before Brayden was born and gave it to her after Nana and Pop-Pop left. She has made sure to take care of her baby like Mommy takes care of Brayden. She walks around with the car seat putting her baby in and out of it and makes sure to take a break to change her diaper. It really is just too cute. Luckily we got some footage of it today.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

First Bath!

Today we gave Brayden his first bath. This guy sure does love the water. Whenever I gave him a sponge bath I would wash his hair under the sink and it would calm him like you wouldn't believe. I remember the first bath we gave Keely, she did NOT dig it at all. It was nice to give a bath to a baby who wasn't screaming :) Thankfully Keely loves the water now, hopefully Brayden will continue to love it too.

Maternity Photo Session

About a month ago we went to the Botanic Gardens to have some pictures taken while I was still pregnant. Originally my sister, Patricia, was going to do the photo session but unfortunately she got sick and could not take them. Thankfully she called in a favor from one of her friends, Knate Myers, who helped us out by capturing some precious moments..here are a few.