Favorite Spot

Today I am three weeks old! My mom spent the morning holding me on the bathroom scale. We must have stepped on and off that thing a dozen times. She is now convinced that I have regained my birth weight and am close to weighing 8lbs 6 oz again.

In the three weeks that I have been here, I have spent a lot of time trying out different baby furniture. I have a crib, which I like. I will sleep there at night and be fairly happy. I have a bassinet which is okay too. I have a Boppy, which I don't like as much. I will only lay in it for a few minutes. Mom only puts me in here when I am awake. After a few minutes, I holler for someone to pick me up.

I also have a bouncy seat which I do not really like. I will only tolerate it for a short time. Here I am sitting nicely so I can get my picture taken with my sisters and cousins, Mya and Adam. I definitely do not like to have the vibrating feature turned on when I am in this thing. That just makes me mad. Dad got out my swing a few days ago and I like that much better than the bouncy seat. We have also been going for stroller rides almost every day. I do kind of like to ride in that too.

But what I have discovered over the course of the past three weeks is that this is my favorite spot in the house. Laying on my big sister, Marley.

Marley has the most comfortable belly in the house. I once took a two hour nap right in this spot. She is so good to me. She has already learned what my different cries mean. She knows when I need picked up, when I need my pacifier and when it is time to hand my over to Mom so I can be fed. It is so awesome to have someone in the house who understands me so well.

4th of July

Wishing everyone a happy and safe 4th of July.

The Bradners will be taking it easy this weekend. Mostly hanging out around the house. We plan to have a BBQ on the patio, build a fire in the pit and make some s'mores.

Most importantly, we will be watching in awe at our newest little firecracker.

Thank you, Diane, for making Trey this beautiful blanket and for the gift of the outfit. It is a very special heartfelt gift we will always treasure.

Trey's First Week

I am one week old now. The doctor said I am doing well.

Today I weighed 7 lbs 8oz.

I've gained 4oz since I left the hospital on Saturday.

This made the doctor happy!

This week my sisters have been showing off their new tattoos.

Aunt Kim created the tattoos. I really like this Aunt Kim person.
She is spoiling me rotten. Buying my clothes and toys.
Cooking for my family and bringing my cousins over to play.

This is four generations of my family on my dad's side.
It sure was special to be held in the arms of Oma.
She has lived a very long time and I understand she has been waiting forever for her first great-grandson.

This is my cousin, Abby. This is the first time she held me!
She is as pretty as my sisters. My world is just full of beautiful girls.

I also enjoyed meeting this guy. My BIG cousin Zack. I hear he is an All-Star Baseball player! I bet he can teach me a thing or two about sports. Sports are something my Daddy keeps talking about. I have a feeling they are something really important in this new world I have entered.

I have also had to play dress-up with Ella. For some reason she really enjoys seeing me in different clothes. I have seen all the clothes in my closet and the closet seems to be getting fuller everyday. I'm not sure I can handle it if she needs me to model ALL of them.


Everyone keeps asking my mom about sleep. I sleep a lot. But apparently Mom is in need of more sleep. She says our nights are rough but getting better. Mommy and Daddy are just very grateful for my health and they keep using the words "sweet" and "perfect" and "angelic". Overall, I think I have had a pretty great week.

Welcome to the World!

Trey Alexander Bradner

8 lbs 6 oz. 21 1/4 in

June 24, 2009 12:15pm

This is me in the recovery room waiting to meet my mommy and sisters.

Daddy was right by my side the whole time my mom was in surgery.

It gave us time to bond....and time for Daddy to calm down a little.

Man was he excited to see me!!!!!!!!!!!

Here I am about 2 hours old. Mommy was finally feeling well enough to hold me and my two sisters were smiling so big. They have the prettiest faces. I just love those girls.

Ray and his little buddy, Trey.


The nurses gave me this plastic thing to suck on because I cried for two straight hours. I REALLY like this thing. It is my best friend. I can hold it all by myself.

After three days in the hospital, my family told me we were going to a new place that they called "home." I am not sure where it is, but everyone sure is excited to be taking me there.

My first car ride. My sisters can sit right beside me in the car and we can look at each other. They tell me where we are going and sing me songs. It's a little crowded here in the back seat but I can live with that.

My sisters brought these flowers to my mom in the hospital.

She said she really loved them. The light pink rose represents Marley. The bright pink one is Ella and guess which one is me. Mom says they are all uniquely different but equally beautiful. Isn't that nice? Even though I think mine is the cutest.

Ella wrote the message on the card.

Welcome to the world!

I am not sure what this world is all about, but so far it has been pretty cool.

Bridging Ceremony

Ella has completed her first year as a Brownie Girl Scout.

She proudly shares the pledge sign with the "right" hand! ~Finally :-)

I thought she would never get that "right".

Marley and Ella were in the same troop this year.

Here they are singing one of their camp songs.

"The Beaver Song"

Ella earned some badges, some pins and other awards.

Here her leader, Michelle, pins her.

Marley receives her awards and honors as well. You can see that her vest is very full. Hopefully, we will find room on there to add her latest achievements.
This also means it is time for Marley to move on to the next level of scouting.

Here is Marley symbolically crossing the bridge into Junior Scouts.

She is welcomed on the other side of the bridge by an older Junior and a new friendship is made.

All of these girls were Brownies with Marley and are now ready to move onto the Junior Troop.

They are also all moving on to the Intermediate School next year.

They are not babies any more.

Graduates of elementary school and Brownie Scouts they are very ready to be big bad fourth graders!

Birthdays

All my babies are born in June!

We celebrated Marley and Ella's birthdays last week with a combined roller-skating party at Magic Elm Skateland. Here the girls are opening a gift before the party from our family friend, Deb. They got new plates with their pictures on them! How cool! And totally usable. They have been used everyday for at least one meal.

Ella's group of friends pose for a photo before hitting the rink. Unfortunately, my rink photo's did not turn out because of the bad lighting and the fact that I still haven't learned to change the settings on my new camera so action shots are hard to get. The kids just kept moving on those skates. Everyone was a blurr.

Ella's princess cake with 7 candles.

Marley's beach cake with 9 candles.
One party but two themes!
And two sets of friends.

Here are Marley's friends all smiles because they are ready to dig into that cake.

The girls agreed to have the joint party to make life a little easier on their mother who is 9 months pregnant. This was not their first choice but when the day was over, they both agreed that it was a great party. I highly recommend this place for parties. The party was easy, affordable and fun!
And we got free tickets to go back some day soon.
Oh, and we only sent one kid home with an ice pack on her head. Poor Anna took a bad spill on the hard concrete. She never once cried even as the goose egg kept growning on her forehead.

Hit-A-Thon

Our Youth Baseball League recently sponsored a Hit-A-Thon Fundraising Tournament. Ella, and her cousins, Abby and Zach participated in the event. It was such a fun day at the ball park and a really nice way to raise money for the league. I hate trying to sell pizzas, subs or candy bars. This was a far better idea. I love the idea that the kids were out exercising!

Here is Abby taking a swing.

The Harrisburg Keys, our local minor league team, sent their mascot to help get the kids excited.

Uncle Mark gives Ella some last minute pointers before it is her turn at bat. She raised enough funds to get 10 hits.


A little help from one of the organizers.

And she gets a hit.

In fact she got several hits.

One landed on the #9 circle which was worth a $50 prize!

This is my nephew Zach helping to field balls.

He batted earlier in the day. While Ella was the biggest winner of the day in our family, all of the kids received some great small prizes, like free meals at local restaurants, free ice cream cone coupons and discounts at local retailers.

Zach and Ella did very well in the speed pitch competitions. Each holding the best speed for their age group for part of the day.

Ella had a great time at the Hit-A-Thon, but I think she had a better time baby sitting her youngest cousin, Mya. My how Mya has grown!

She is six months old now and she spent her first weekend away from home while Mom and Dad went to celebrate their anniversary.

We had a great time with her. Ella is so ready to be a big sister.

Thank you Mya for letting us practice bottles and diaper with you.

Before we know it you will be running bases on the ball field.