Saturday, December 31, 2011

Sick Baby :(

Brayden began getting a cold a few days ago and let me just say, a sick baby is not any fun at all!! The first night Brayden was sick, he didn't sleep in his crib at all! He would only sleep on my chest which meant I was very uncomfortable and barely got any sleep myself. Of course Chance had to work overnight that night so I was all alone! I called Brayden's doctor in the morning and they gave me some suggestions to help him. I have been suctioning his nose like crazy and giving him saline drops in his nose to help break up all the congestion. He has been sleeping better so I think it is working. At first, Brayden would scream when I had to suction his nose. He absolutely hated every second of it and would try to push my hands away! Well last night that all changed!! He thought it was downright hysterical!! Of course we had to get it on tape because I was cracking up! He was laughing so hard! While that was very funny and all I really hope he gets better soon!! A sick baby makes for a very tired Mommy (and now a sick one!).


Christmas Madness!

Brayden's first Christmas was great!! And by great, I mean absolutely-fan-freaking-tastic!! We got to see so many family members and celebrate Christmas THREE times...yep, three times people! That's a whole lotta Christmas!
To begin our holiday festivities, we received a package from Brayden's Sittie (Chance's mom) and put all the presents under our Christmas tree! It made our tree look even more beautiful. Then came Christmas Eve where we ventured over to my parent's house to spend the night. My parents definitely had a house-full because not only did the three of us sleep there, so did Samantha and Mike! It was so fun for us all to be there to celebrate together Christmas morning. (For those of you that don't know, my sister and I have spent the night at my parents house every year, except last year, and we have always slept in the same bed.) Anyways, on Christmas Eve, my dad always gives us girls our first present which is always matching pajamas for us to wear that night. (They are so cute!!) We put those babies on and then it was time for bed.
On Christmas morning, we all walked down the hallway together as my parents videotaped everything....just like we have been doing since I can remember. We went straight to the stockings while Brayden went down for his morning nap! After the stockings were opened and the lottery tickets were scratched, we headed to the kitchen to make some much-needed coffee and I had to make my breakfast roll. We decided to just hang out for a bit because Brayden was sleeping and I wanted him to be awake for the presents. Finally I actually went in to wake Brayden up so we could get things rolling for the day. We opened all of our presents and everyone got spoiled!! Brayden got so many cool toys and obviously super cute clothes! I am completely excited about my Crock Pot, Bundt pan, and bissell sweep and steam! I guess I am officially a wife and mom when I ask for very practical gifts(and am actually excited about it!).
After opening all of our fantastic gifts, we headed back to the kitchen for our breakfast. My mom makes a mean breakfast casserole and we each made a breakfast roll. To say the least, our Christmas breakfast was amazing!
Finally, it was time to go over to my grandparent's house for our big family Christmas celebration. Things were comical as usual! We got to spend time with our whole family (on my mom's side anyways) and eat another amazing meal and once again, Brayden got spoiled when we opened presents!
To say the very least, we had such an amazing Christmas and I can't wait for next year. Brayden obviously does not grasp the concept of Christmas yet and I know he won't next year either but by next year he will at least be excited to open presents and actually rip into them himself!
Here is my massive photo collection from the holiday festivities! Enjoy!

Our beautiful tree!

Loves his Grandma!

So excited!!

Ready for Santa!

Our cute PJ's!
Early morning nap

Ready to open presents

Ripping into it!

A new toy!!

And a new bouncer!!

Hanging with Daddy!

GiGi and GiGiPa!!

The bouncer wasn't the easiest thing to put together!

Finished product!

He loves it...despite that facial expression!

Spending time with cousins!

Feeding time with Momma!

The whole family!

Monday, December 19, 2011

5 Months (Belated)

Brayden officially hit 5 months on December 11, 2011 so clearly I am a little late to post but oh well!! He has been becoming so much more active and really loves his voice now. In the mornings he will mostly just hang out in his crib talking to himself until I come to get him. He absolutely loves talking in the morning and will just play in his swing, watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, talking and talking!! Brayden has become Chance's wake-up call because he is so loud. And let me tell you, its AWESOME!!! He just cracks me up all the time and I could not have a better son. I am completely enjoying every second being a mother!
As for Brayden's updates, he is now on formula exclusively and he is doing great. He eats 7-8 ounces every 3 hours and on top of that, he eats 3 tablespoons of rice cereal or oatmeal about 3-4 times a day! He is quite the little eater!!! He is also much more active these days and will just roll around on the rug forever! He actually gets his feet all the way under him and then basically stands...except his head is down! I have a feeling he might be pulling himself up onto things sooner than we expected. Brayden is also completely fascinated by his hands! He will stare at them and of course smile and giggle because his hands are so funny! Oh and us humans, we are even funnier!! He will smile and giggle and then turn his head away like he is shy or something!! So funny! Like I said, I am totally loving being a mother to Brayden and I can't wait for Brayden to continue growing and developing.
Happy Anniversary!

Charger's Game!

Our first family Christmas tree!

Brayden slept through my birthday dinner!

Such a sleepy and cuddly boy!

His first pair of boots! :)

HEY!!!

Love this happy face!

Cousin Maggie!

Loves her singing voice!

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Thanksgiving

Hello again...finally!! Let me just start with letting you know how crazy my life has been the past month or so. I have been student teaching full-time which means I am teaching 5-year olds all day every day. On top of that, I just completed 2 very gigantic assignments (28 pages long prior to me answering any of the questions!!) and I am trying my hardest to keep a clean house. So to say the least, I have been a pretty busy lady and updating this blog is something I just haven't had time for. However, I am done student teaching in 2 weeks and hopefully I will be able to update more often.

Now onto the good stuff, Brayden has experienced his first Thanksgiving and Black Friday!! Thanksgiving was so awesome this year not only because we got together as a family but because we got to celebrate TWICE!! Yep, we got to eat amazing Thanksgiving food two times...and then we got to eat all the leftovers too! Also, I actually felt like a grown-up this year. I brought two desserts and one side dish and let me tell you, everyone should just start calling me Betty! I made a pecan pie and bought a pumpkin and I also made corn bread pudding! Both of my homemade dishes were a hit with the family on our first Thanksgiving and I was even requested to bring the pecan pie again for our second Thanksgiving. I am thinking I just started a new family Thanksgiving tradition :) Brayden did a great job entertaining all of us for Thanksgiving and he was kind enough to sleep through our meal both times so the whole family could eat together. How do I have the most amazing baby?! He was very happy that there were so many people there for him to entertain and boy did he do his job! This little boy of mine can be quite funny! He was talking and smiling and of course showing off his rolling skills. He has become quite the little ham!
As for our Black Friday experience, we took Brayden to Bass Pro Shop to take a picture with Santa( and so his dad and grandpa could do a little shopping) and he did a great job! We only had to stand in line for about 15 minutes and we even got to ride the merry-go-round! Once it was our turn, we all went into Santa's Workshop and there we saw the best Santa ever!! We plopped Brayden down and took a few pictures and then Chance and I stepped in to take one as a family. Brayden didn't cry at all but he almost had a meltdown when Chance and I were not in sight. As soon as we stepped in to take the picture, Brayden grabbed Santa's beard and made a cry face but then he stopped, we got a couple of pictures, and it was all over. We got some really cute pictures of Brayden in his denim overalls and camo shirt with his Converse on...yep, that happened! Then it was time for the boys to do some shopping so Grandma and I stayed behind to feed Brayden and pick up the pictures. The store really wasn't too crowded until it was time to get in line to pay....it was a madhouse!! Thankfully, the checkers moved pretty quickly and we were out of there by about 12:30. After our Santa and shopping extravaganza, we were all starved so we went next door and ate some lunch (where Brayden kindly fell asleep so we could eat!). Then we all headed home and Brayden thoroughly enjoyed the bumpy ride!!
So here is my photo throw-up from Thanksgiving and Brayden's first picture with Santa! Enjoy!
Sweet Roll!

End result....amazing!!

Corn bread pudding and pecan pie!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Family photo!

Hanging out with Great-Grandparents and Grandpa!

Very interest in the convo!

Chocolate Martinis with dessert!

GiGi and GiGipa!

Grandma!!

Sporting a camo Santa hat!

Best Santa ever!!

Oh yes, in need of some shades on the way home!