Hello!

Howdy friends and family!

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the start of summer! Where does time go? Every time I contemplate that age old question it helps me to re-commit to cherishing every single day and all of the beauty and joy that life has to offer, especially when it is coupled with God, family, friends, and freedom!

I've been excited to email out an update on Bryton because she is growing up so quickly! Colter and I just can't get enough of her and we feel so very blessed. She is now 7 months old and has been healthy and strong all the while, and progressing well in her baby stages. She is determined in every curious little venture of hers, and has been crawling for about a month now (well, what is and has developed into a real crawl from a slither, and is more developed going backwards), and she loves to try and stand on her own. If you give her any help at all, she'll pop right up and start stamping her feet because she's so excited and she'll also take a few little steps on her own if you hold her hands. She is very social almost to the point that she has sensitive feelings about it it seems :) At 8 weeks old, Colter blessed her in church and it was a beautiful and unique baby blessing. The first thing that came out of his mouth, unbeknownst to what he thought he was going to say, was that she's been blessed with a strong personality :) We think, hope, and pray that means she will be a strong influence for good in her life :) Since about that age of 8-10 weeks, she's been so expressive in loud gasps, and big eyes, and so often a big smile. And now over about the last 6 weeks, she's developed a very loud baby talking voice too. She has a good disposition (as long as she's not hungry) and is patient with Colter and I as we learn together how to be parents and as I work from home with her by my side as my "personal secretary." She is in the 10th percentile for weight and 90th for height, her eyes are sky blue, and she's still bald but with a little blond/auburn hair. She got both her bottom front teeth at 4 to 4.5 months! And though it may not look like it, she loves to eat (man, all this is starting to sound like I'm describing Colt and I... the "loves to eat" part :). And, most people still say when they see her, that she is a "little Kelsee". I agree and that is fun, but I often see Colter in her too which I adore. We've taken her on several road trips, horserides, and fourwheeler rides of course, all of which she seemed to enjoy. She loves animals too and will stretch as far as she can to pet any horse, dog, or other. She is daddy's little girl, and my little buddy.

Our Little 10 week old cutie!

This pic cracks me up! But, this is her sometimes-- give me what I want, or else... haha. Than she'll give you a big smile. Grandpa Brady loves this pic, as he is a boxer.

Hello! Time has quickly passed and our little Bryton is now over 10 weeks old. She makes us smile, laugh, cry, proud, tired, perplexed ;), and over all, incredibly happy! She looks different every week. When she was born and throughout the first few weeks or so, she looked exactly like my baby pictures. But now, her look is changing and she's starting to look a lot like Colter sometimes too. She is vibrant and healthy, and has a strong personality developing with a lot of heart, you can tell. Here are some pictures as she has grown:

Nanna (my mom) gave her this adorable little Santa dress with rhinestones and it was so great. My nephew Bradyn (3 yrs) on Christmas when he saw her started laughing hysterically and said, "Silly, little, Santa, Baby Bryton!" :)

Baby Bryton Bradshaw has arrived!!

We are honored and humbled to announce the birth of our sweet baby, Bryton Odile Bradshaw!! She was born Nov. 9, 2009 at 6:06 a.m. at 8 pounds, 4 ounces, and 21 inches long. She is healthy, strong, adorable, and sweet, yet sometimes "spunky" I guess you could say :) I am healing well and Colter and I have enjoyed learning how to be parents together. It has been a welcomed challenge, but we are so touched every day that the Lord blessed us so greatly with this precious little girl! I will tell more of her story as soon as I get some more time. Gotta go-- its feeding time for sure!

Almost time for baby!! :)

Colter & I before my baby shower 9/25/09

Well, we're down to the wire now with this baby girl on her way! She's due in 2 weeks from yesterday. We're so grateful it has gone well thus far. It has flown by and I have enjoyed being pregnant. My baby shower that my family and friends threw for me was so beautiful and unforgettable. I was touched by the kindness of the many people that attended or have stopped by and showered us with well wishing and beautiful gifts. The shower had a farm animal theme, as her nursery will be farm themed with pink, green, and hair on hide/black & white (cow print). In the background of the above picture you can see some of the decor theme and 3 cakes my sister Shanda made that were farm animals: a cow, a pig, and a sheep. They were so very adorable (and delicious)!! She also made sugar cookies with cow print that said "thank you" for the favors. Though there were fun touches like this and good food, the people made it special. We even got to have Diane Williams (and husband Doyle, ... after the all the many girls left, him and Colt came to check it out) as a guest all the way from Bradford, MA- very dear friends of ours from Colter's mission. Thank you to everyone!!!

Goofy pic Taryn took last week at about 37 weeks :) Whoever said black is a slimming color, was wrong! :)

Colt and I are keeping busy. I'm still working at my job full time for Wild West Performers and will until I have the baby. After which, I will see how we adjust to the new lifestyle and glorious addition and discuss with my boss what work schedule I'd like to work back to up to. I know my priority will be to enjoy and live in every minute I can with her, but I also have the opportunity to work from home, and to further assist our family, we feel I should take advantage of that. Things are going well for Colter and the Fire Dept. He has a good crew and a nice station, and enjoys it. I've now been sending him to gigs for my job without me (as it is not the most ideal image to have a nearly due pregnant girl running the mechanical bull equipment or supervising an event, lol) and he does a great job representing the company, but I have to admit, I miss going with him. We are still on the lookout for a piece of property and have made some potential progress and have learned a lot.

As for a family update, we had a big scare almost 2 weeks ago with my dad. He was just riding his horse Freeway in the arena and no one was out there, and than Colt and my mom happened to walk out a few minutes after apparently (as dad can not remember the whole accident) the horse overreached at a loap and clipped himself so bad that he fell down and we think rolled all the way over dad. It was very scary to see dad so out of it and in so much pain. It made my heart ache literally and my stomach turn. Colt, mom, and Kellan rushed him to the hospital and after a sleepless night for all of us, we found out he had a punctured lung, 7 broken ribs, a broken vertebrae, a concussion, and a lot of swelling and brusing. After many prayers and much faith, the puncture closed up, he was able to come home, and has now been recovering pretty well here. There is much recovering to do, but he is the toughest man I know and will be okay. We were all reminded of the fragileness of life and to appreciate our lovedones around us every day!!

Colter and CJ 10/09

(Now a positive horse story to end on...) Last Saturday, Colt entered a saddle ropin' in Queen Creek on my dad's horse CJ, and he won that sweet saddle above. I almost always like to go but this time being this pregnant and thinking of sitting in the bleachers in the sun and not getting to rope or ride almost deterred me. But, I'm his number one fan so I went :) I'm really glad I did because I know its important to spend time together while its just the two of still and it was fun to share in his excitement of winning the saddle. Colter and CJ are becoming quite the partnership and he's won something on her just about every time he's entered. She is an awesome mare but was just a reiner and Colt has done a great job working with her and now she's a pretty sweet head or heel horse. Way to go Colter!! :)

Well, the next time I write, we will most likely be two proud parents by than! I had a nurse tell me as I was on the monitor (I went into the hospital last month having a lot of contractions, but tribunalene slowed them down and I went home just fine), that our baby was very "spastic" because she is a mover and shaker :) But I'm sure she's just getting that out of her system now and will be a docile and perfectly behaved little girl.... lol! :) Welcome to parenthood Kelsee and Colter! We'll take it!! :)

Buckeroo Bradshaw Update

Happy Labor Day all of you laborers! :) Okay, so these pics might seem a little off for me to be holding a 30/30 while pregnant (might as well live up the God given right to bare arms while we still have it) but we thought it would be funny, and so would Colter's silly ear plugs. About 2 weeks ago, we went up north on Colt's 4 days off to get away from the heat. It was what I wanted to do for my birthday, but we had 2 events last weekend on my b-day so we went up early. We stayed in Show Low for a couple days with his sister Tavi and her great fam, and enjoyed spending time with them and making visits to friends we have there. Tavi and Brian have 5 boys- 2 of which are twins, so their home is always exciting :) and we love it. We appreciate their hospitality in always taking us in. Colt, nephew Denton, and I went out to shoot and it was a lot of fun. I did shoot the 30/30 so I hope Bryton doesn't have hearing problems when she is born. We tried to put those cool ear muffs Colt is wearing on my belly but they just wouldn't stay. :) Than, Colt and I went spotlighting on a back road from Show Low to Pinedale and saw... nothing. But it was still fun. Than, we stayed the next 2 days at the Bradshaw cabin in Forest Lakes, and there we did see some elk, one of which being one of the most impressive 7 points we'd ever seen. We also went fishing which is one of my very favorite past times. But, I think I have lost my magic touch as a trout fisherman because all I got was some bites (most of which I think may have been crawdads...). But, I enjoyed every minute of it. There's something about hooking a worm and casting a line that is empowering :) Colt and I just enjoyed the cooler air and relaxing together. He has some great memories from the Bradshaw cabin that I always love to hear. I'm grateful we got to take that get-away together!

I also got to go to Oregano's for my birthday with two of my best friends in the world, Carli and Amy. We had a blast as we always do chatting and laughing and sporting Oregano's pazookie. I love you girls and thank you for your friendship!

I am now 31 weeks and still feeling well, but starting to forsee the physically uncomfortable side of being pregnant in the last downhill slope. Also, I tested positive for gestational diabetes so I had to take the more involved blood tests on Friday and we'll see what they say next week. I'm not too worried about it because it is common and managable, but I will admit that I was quite surprised. We were all joking that I wasn't allowed to eat my own birthday cake and that it was for "non-diabetics."

As for Colter and I, the biggest update besides the baby on the way, is that we are renting our house in Coolidge and temporarily moved into my parent's guesthouse a few months ago. Although I was initially sad to leave Coolidge, it has worked out very nicely for us and I have so enjoyed being close to family, especially while being pregnant and often home alone when Colt is on shift. The reasons for us to be in Mesa right now immediately began to unfold and we are grateful. Given this opportunity, we're now able to look at taking advantage of the market and buying some land, which is the goal.

Well, I hope all is well for my friends and family and I'll tune in again some time soon with some more "bigger and better" pics of the bump! Happy trails!

"The big bump!" :)

Okay, I've had some lovedones that live out of state that have requested I post a pic of "the big bump" :) so there she is in all her glory! :) That's at about 28 weeks. I am grateful for the big bump because it means growth, which is a blessing! However, you get comments such as one of my favorites, from my adorable 3 yr. old nephew Bradyn, who asked if he could "have the ball I was hiding from him under my shirt." Lol! Its awesome.

A Lil' Buckeroo is on the way! :)

Brady Fam Reunion, 7/11/09, 23 weeks

Man alive, the summer has flown by! And, as you can see, my high hopes for my blogging ability have deflated somewhat as I have forgotten to make an entry for a while! :) But, I couldn't put off posting our news any longer.... Colter and I are having a girl!! I am just about 26 weeks so I am due Nov. 7th. It has already been such a blessing and we are so grateful. Things have gone just right this time and I have even felt pretty good for most of it; still working, riding horses, and trying to be active but all while being cautious, of course. Colt is a good regulator of that and I appreciate it because it reminds me that he cares (plus he has a lot more medical knowledge than I do-- I just compare everything to equine (horse) pregnancy because of my studies- lol). I also appreciate how proud he is to be an expecting father. He makes me laugh because if anyone ever compliments me on looking a certain way while being pregnant, he always says "thank you!" like they're talking to him. He's a character :) Though I've been blessed with no complications as of yet, I won't beat around and say that it has been easy 24/7, or that I think it will be easy to cope with the changes physically/emotionally, but what good thing doesn't come with at least some challenges and experiences that can make you a better person/couple if you let them, right?!
The name we have picked out for her right now is Brighton (or Bryton). We think it sounds good with Bradshaw and I have been set on using that name if we had a girl for a couple years now. We think the middle name will be Odile, after my middle name and after my Grandma Odile Brady. She is due around my grandmother's birthday and that name has always meant a lot to me, as my Grandma Odile is one of the dearest women in my life- so kind and beautiful, elegent but yet a cowgirl, so warm and patient. I want to be more like her.
When we got the ultrasound pictures, there were some really fun things that we learned. First, the doctor said she has my nose (kind of the "BeWitched type nose" he said... which I still have not decided if it was a compliment or not, lol) so that was kind of fun to think that she was already developing traits from her parents. Than he asked if we had a "well built, athletic body type" in our family and we'd both really like to think so, so we said yes, and than he said that he could see muscle fibers developing already in her legs which he said was very early to see that. :) (I think at the moment Colt was picturing her scoring the game shot in a basketball game down the road and I was picturing her at the same time performing in dance/gymnastics attire). After that appointment, I called my mom and I couldn't hardly talk because I was so overcome with emotion from my gratitude that at this point, we have a healthy baby. I'll never forget that feeling.
My prayers go out to all of the women that are expecting, having difficulty getting pregnant, or who have had pregnancy that has led to heart aching loss. The good Lord made us the bearers of life for some reverencing reason... come good and hard times, I think we'll realize fully why one day.
I better try to get to sleep now-- this lil' gal feels like she is doing cartwheels inside me! But I have a lot more updating to do soon! Until next time!