The long road ahead

To be honest with you, when Alyssa was born Katie and I thought she was the cutest girl to be born into this world, and we were even reassured constantly by the nurses who (though they likely tell this to all new parents) told us that our baby was the cutest of the group they had in the nursery. While birth is no cake-walk, Alyssa was relatively small and so she came out fairly unscathed. She wasn't as beat up as I remembered my younger brothers being when they came home for the first time. She has never let us down in her continuing cuteness, and I hadn't realized how grown up she now looks until I saw the following picture.

Wow, what a cutie!

Brianna on the other hand came into this world weighing practically 2 lbs more than Alyssa did, and the trip, while faster, was a little rougher on her. She was a little swollen coming out, and we later found that her collar bone was fractured along the way. Out of the gate Katie and I had the same silent opinion that she maybe wasn't as cute as Alyssa (I know, we are terrible parents). And so the comparisons begin. I am beginning to realize that this will be one of the curses of being a younger sibling. Katie and I of course are the oldest and so do not know the pressure that is put on younger siblings, especially when the elder is so perfect (as in Katie's case, not mine). To tell you the truth it is difficult to avoid comparing them, but it reminds me of Jeffrey R. Holland's talk about being careful with that, so we will have to work on it. Fortunately Katie took back her comments and now claims that Brianna looks just like Alyssa did. I disagree, but think she is just as cute (now that the swelling has gone down) in her own way. I had to pull out some old pictures and compare the two, and I think there are some similarities, but they are by no means identical. I decided to post them here for your consideration.
Now, one of these girls seems to be saying "Errrrgg DAD!". That would be the one who later learned that exact phrase from an old mission companion of mine (she now uses that phrase all too regularly, thanks a lot Pitt).

Here's a good side by side comparison, Alyssa on the left and Brianna on the right. You decide, as for me they are two of the three most adorable girls in the world!

Brianna Lynn

Well, we had a baby today. Brianna Lynn May was born this morning at 11:51. She weighed in at 8 lbs. 5 oz. and was 21 inches long. Katie started having contractions this morning at about 4 am, and we got a call from the hospital at 5 to be there for an induction at 6:30. She got set up and they started the pitocin at around 8. Everything went smoothly and both Katie and Brianna are doing great. I'm sure Katie will want to do a post on here about when she gets home. Here are some pictures.

The Big Day Has Arrived...But the Baby Hasn't

Well there is no way this baby is coming on her due date. Even if my water broke right now I don't think she would make it before midnight, so looks like another late baby for me. I am scheduled to be induced on the 24th, but I am really hoping she comes before then. It would be really nice not to have to face all the people at church again, but I guess we'll see if I can go into labor before Sunday afternoon.

Ten days before the due date with a glimpse of the babies room.

Five days before the due date.

And here is today on the due date.

I love Alyssa in the last two, that girl cracks me up. Well I sure hope this baby arrives quickly. I wish she would listen to the pregnancy count down ticker on the side 'It's go time!' I'm not really that uncomfortable, but the anticipation is killing me and I'm just ready to have this baby. Atleast I think I'm ready, we'll see what I think after she actually arrives.

22 Point Underdog BYU upsets No. 3 OU!

Wow, that's all I can say. Mostly because my voice is completely gone. I had the amazing opportunity to have good seats with some friends at the BYU vs OU football game in the Dallas Cowboys version of Disneyland. Let me just start by saying that before the game I looked at tons of pictures and videos of the stadium, and none of them do it justice. The place is ridiculous. The exterior, the interior, the screen. That screen (the worlds largest HD screen that stretches for over 160 feet of the field) is huge and crystal clear. Everyone there was joking "I have got to get one of those at my house". OU has a great tradition in football, and they created a great atmosphere for the game.
To be honest, I was telling myself all week that BYU was going to lose, and could lose big. I had a lot of hope that they would pull it off, but was wary from the end of last season and knew that if we did get blown out I would be sent spiraling into a football depression if I wasn't prepared. So I told myself it was possible but BYU would have to play perfect and OU would have to have an average game. I was wrong. BYU played lights out, especially on defense. The place was loud and rowdy and hanging on every play because BYU's defense stepped up and won the game, despite 3 offensive turnovers and a muffed punt.
I am still reeling from the experience and will never forget that game. I took a few pictures, more as proof that I was there than anything because like I said before, pictures don't do that place justice. We were way outnumbered as BYU fans, but the OU fans were pretty classy, even while drunk. They weren't insulting at all, but they definitely cheered hard for their team! We had a group sitting in the row behind us and they were very respectful fans. Much rowdier than your average BYU fan, but no hateful cheers or yells with the exception of the following. It seemed like every 30 seconds one of them would Yell Boomer and the rest would reply Sooners as below:
"Boomer!": "Sooners!"
"Boomer!": "Sooners!"
"Boomer!": "Sooners!"
"Texas!" : "Sucks!"
I can definitely respect a good rivalry.
Katie and Alyssa stayed home mostly because Katie didn't want to be going to the game with 2 weeks left until her due date.
Well, I may get some more pictures or comments on here after I get them from the friends that I went with, but this is it for now.

P.S. Unfortunately the pictures uploaded in reverse chronological order and my browser freezes every time I try to re-arrange them, so since I don't want to upload them again they stay as is.

Didericksen Family Pictures & David's Call

We took pictures with my family recently because my brother, Scott, just got back from his mission and is off to BYU and my other brother, David, is preparing to leave on a mission. This one is probably the best one out of the bunch.
The last two times we have taken pictures with my family I have been pregnant and this time I'm practically nine months pregnant. I guess I should have timed it a little better.

My brother David got his mission call on Friday, so it is a good thing we got those pictures taken. He has been called to the Fresno, California mission and reports to the MTC November 18th. We are super excited for him and know that he will be a great missionary.

Astros Game

Thanks to the G. family, we were able to attend an Astros game. Sarah's dad used his frequent flyer miles to get a suite and it was definitely sweet!

We had awesome seats, lots of yummy food and all the soda and water we wanted.

We even got ice cream in that hat Alyssa is wearing on her head. Needless to say, we ate way too much.
Alyssa absolutely loved the game. She barely wanted to leave her seat on daddy's lap to go and get ice cream. I don't think she understood what was going on in the game, but she wanted to be right in on the action.

After games held on Friday nights, they open up the roof of the stadium and blast off fireworks. It was a pretty good show and they played music in tribute to Michael Jackson.

One More Month of Pregnancy & Elder Didericksen Returns

I know that now I have less than three weeks until my due date, but I had Jesse take a profile shot at exactly one month before and am just now getting to posting it.

Getting close to looking like I'm about to pop. I definitely like black maternity shirts. From the front you don't look so huge.

My first bread making experience using my own home ground wheat (Thanks mom and dad for that wheat grinder for Christmas--we didn't get to take it back to Provo so I'm just now getting around to using it). This is half white flour half wheat flour. It turned out pretty good and I recently made two more 100% whole wheat loaves which turned out pretty good as well.

My brother Scott just returned from his mission in Brazil. He served in the Cuiaba mission until the very end when they switched him to the Manaus mission. He already headed back to BYU, so he had to adjust to being back in the states pretty quickly.

This is what Scott brought us back from Brazil. It is pretty sweet having a hammock in our back yard. Jesse especially likes to use it while talking to his family. I think Alyssa has spent the most time in it she gets in it with either of us and has been in it by herself as well. Scott also brought us home some T-shirts and Alyssa got some shorts as well. We'll have to take some pictures in them.