4 months and growing...

I have come to the realization that these blog posts are just going to have to be few and far between. I have tried to be better about posting stuff more often but the duties of motherhood really take precedent :) Not to mention, trying to juggle getting ready to go back to work in Aug! Now that Brayden is napping and I have some down time, I will post his 4 month milestones!

Time sure has flown since March 5, 2010! Just seems like yesterday that he arrived! I really didnt believe people when they told us to enjoy this time because it goes fast...now I believe it! Brayden has changed so much in his 4 months of life, and I can hardly keep up! His latest milestone...discovering his hands and voice. He LOVES to scream. Although we are loving his sweet little voice right now, we may be more reluctant to allow him to be so vocal the older he gets :) For now, have at it little buddy! Also, he rolled over for the first time the other day! Of course I wasnt expecting this so I didnt get a photo, but I am sure there will be more rollovers to come :)

It's a joy to see our little man growing! Andy and I love watching every minute we are with him as he changes himself and as he changes our life. He is a joy to have as a son and we are blessed to have such a wonderful gift. Here are a few recent pics. Enjoy!



It's very hard to catch him while he is smiling because as soon as he sees the camera he is more interested in that and has to concentrate. This is the best smile pic I have gotten of him so far!


The 3 guys in my life...LOVE THEM!


This is his new jumparoo that some friends from back home had sent to us. He loves it but is just a little too small for it still...not for long though!


Tummy time has really done him good. He is lifting his head soooo well!





His beginning attempts to rollover! Almost there!

Shot update...

Glad to say that Brayden did EXCELLENT with his shot today! He whimpered for a second then was fine! I will have to say though, I held him for his oral vaccine (Rotavirus) and I had to call Andy over to take over for the shot...my heart just couldn't handle it in case he had a lot of pain. Thank you daddy for being stronger than mommy today! Here are some pictures from the day...he was the same ol' happy boy he is everyday! Thank you Lord! Please continue to pray for no adverse reactions as he can experience them 0-7 days after they were administered. Also, please continue to pray for no long term adverse reactions! Thank you Lord for being in control...enjoy the pics :)

Brayden's first shot...

After much research and praying and worrying and debating, etc...Andy and I have decided to get Brayden vaccinated. We just feel the Lord is laying it on our hearts that the risks of not vaccinating outweigh the risks of vaccinating. Also, the Lord continually brings me back to the fact that He is in control and He loves Brayden more than Andy and I ever could (if thats possible!), and that Brayden's little body will be protected by Him :) However, we are vaccinating him on a staggered schedule in which he will get no more than 2 shots at a time. We were going to wait til he was 3 to 4 months old to begin his shots, but with us traveling a long way in a few weeks, I did not want to risk him catching anything. Pertussis is a very scary and deadly thing for a newborn to catch and I would be devastated if something like that came his way. He goes in for his first set of shots tomorrow...please, please, please say a prayer that Brayden's little body will take to the shots well and that he will have no adverse side effects. And pray for mommy that my heart will be strong for him as I try to comfort him during the process! Updates and pictures to come after his appointment!

Life at home...so far :)

I realize I am
posting 2 posts on the same day but I am trying to get up to date on our blog. Since we brought Brayden home on March 11, a lot has happened and there has been a whole lot of growing going on! By the way, I told Brayden he is not allowed to get too big too fast, but as my mom told me...they never listen :) He is growing so fast and becoming so much more aware of his surroundings more each day! He is a spoiled little man too! His grandmas and aunties are to blame for this too! He enjoys his new Disney playmat from his auntie Sarah and he looks so adorable in all of his new clothes that from all of his other family members and friends! let's see...updates, updates. well, Andy and I have been in MUCH prayer about what to do about vaccines. With all the controversy over them, we are just at wits end with how we should make a decision on the issue. After a lot of research and stories from others we know, we have decided to go ahead with the vaccines but administer them at a slower rate than what is recommended. My heart is just not comfortable giving such a little person that much at one time! It's insane! We are praying for little Brayden to take to the vaccinations well and that there will be no harmful side effects. Andy and I know that we are children of God and that we have to let him take over. We are doing what we feel is best for our son and the rest is up to the Lord...we are comforted knowing that. Please keep us in your prayers regarding this. Here are a few pics from his milestones since he has been home! An Easter picture, his nursery, his one month picture, 2 month picture, and some pictures just lounging around the house. Enjoy!

Brayden is here (plus all the details)!!!

I realize it has been since February since I have posted anything new! Ok, so let me just give a quick update for all of you who do not know what has happened in our life up until now...A LOT! Above are some pictures to sum up our lives at this point...Brayden's birth, Andy trying to frantically put the car seat and stroller together before his arrival home, Dr. McGowen who did the amazing delivery, and some pics of our stay in the hospital as well as our farewell group shot with the AMAZING NICU nurses who took such good care of Brayden in the hospital. Ok, so February 19 was the day that Andy and I closed on our house...we finally became homeowners! YAY! With that finally behind us (buying a house is a LOOOOONG process), we thought we had a little over a month to get settled in and get baby Brayden's nursery set up. March 4 at around 3:00 am, I began to have a lot of pain in my upper stomach. My thoughts were that it was just heartburn so I popped some tums and tried to go back to sleep...nope, the pain persisted and with a VENGEANCE! I woke Andy up and told him I thought something was wrong and we called the doctor on call. She thought it to be a gallbladder issue and told me to go to the ER asap. Off to the ER we went and they sent me directly to labor and delivery since I was 36 weeks pregnant...after lots of waiting, blood work and tests, the OB/GYN on call came into my room around 6:00 PM (yes I was in the hospital from 4:00 AM to 6:00 PM...gotta love hospitals) and informed Andy and I that I had HELLPS syndrome. In a nutshell, it is a problem with elevated liver enzymes and low blood platelets...it's strictly pregnancy induced. She informed us that and the only way to get rid of it is to delvier the baby, otherwise I could start hemorrhaging and having seizures and the baby could get really sick as well. Andy and I looked at eachother and said...WHAT??? Now??? We just bought a house and we aren't ready! I am supposed to have a baby shower this weekend and we have our maternity pictures tomorrow! This can't be happening! So to no avail, I asked the doctor if we could wait till Monday to deliver. She laughed and said, no honey...NOW. WOAH, WOAH, wait a minute! I said I am not ready! Well, baby Brayden is ready and we gotta get him out. Needless to say, they scheduled an induction that evening at 9:00 pm and I was due to have him the following day. Andy frantically got on the phone and called my mom and his mom to inform them of the news. My mom hopped on the next flight out and was able to get there right after baby Brayden was born. Andy's family got in the car and left just in time to make it for the delivery. What a huge blessing that was! The delivery went SO smooth and it was virtually painless. I couldnt believe how easy it was! I told Andy that if labor and delivery was going to be this easy for me I could do it a hundred times over...of course he looked at me like I was crazy ;) Needless to say, Brayden is here happy and healthy. He did have to go to the NICU for a week because he was having some intestinal issues that he had to be put on IV's for. Gosh did we hate seeing him in there! We knew though, that God was going to be taking good care of him in there and we just had to trust Him. After a week, he finally got discharged from the hospital and he was all ours...wow. So many emotions were running through mine and Andy's bodies...how do we care for this precious baby?? Well, as parents, you just figure it out as you go. Brayden has been such a good baby and such a huge blessing and we are enjoying each new day with him! I love to watch Andy be a daddy to our little boy. He is so incredibly wonderful with him and I thank God for such a wonderful partner in this journey called parenthood! Thanks to all of our wonderful family and friends for helping us in such a time of need. We had NOTHING for Brayden when he decided to come early and our new house was in shambles. We feel so blessed to have those people who organized our lives for us during the chaos! We love you guys...you know who you all are!

Another baby update...

Once again, sorry for the gap in posts. I am trying to be one of those consistent "bloggers" but to be honest...I just want to relax when I get home and blogging is really not on my top list of things to do (sleeping is). I figure that these next 7 weeks I am going to take full advantage of sleep since it will be a thing of the past soon enough :)

Anyway, things are going rather well! I am 33 weeks and ready to pop! We had another ultrasound the other day because at my last visit a couple of weeks ago they told me I was measuring small. At this point, I am thinking to myself, "is this lady smoking crack?! Small?? Not possible lady!" But, to steer on the side of caution, they wanted to do an ultrasound to make sure little man was growing normally. The ultrasound showed good progress and that he is in fact growing and healthy :) Praise the Lord...I love good reports from the doctor :) As the ultrasound tech did her job as we watched the screen, we got to see yet ANOTHER 3d pic of him! His has filled out A LOT since our last ultrasound and we are in shock about how much we can see that he looks like his daddy!

Needless to say, we are so excited to meet him and feel like 7 weeks is FOREVER away, but really its not. I look back to last summer when we first found out I was pregnant and can't believe how far I've come. God has really blessed this family...good jobs, good health, embarking upon home ownership, and a precious baby boy coming right around the corner!

Outside of pregnant life, things are going well for us too :) Andy is FINALLY in the down season of his job and can finally relax...its been a long time coming and we are so glad for him to be able to have some down time for the next 5 months...perfect timing with all the new events about to submerge here! Teaching is going well...a little stressful as I am taking my leave soon and trying to get my students ready for TCAP. Lots on my plate with my job but just taking it one day at a time. Really disappointed with public education, but remembering that I am there for a reason and all I can do is my best :)

Levi is doing well...we think he is starting sense something big is about to happen (poor guy). He is still our "baby" though and we are praying for a good transition into brotherhood for him :) He has had some rather expensive health issues come up but we are thankful that God has provided for us to be able to take care of him :) We are hoping we have finally found a "cure" for his problems. To make a long story short, it started with a HORRIBLE case of ringworm that spread to a chronic staph infection due to the ringworm and his 50 million allergies...we are hoping the allergy shot they are making based onhis blood work will give him a better quality of life...he is just MISERABLY itchy! Pray for us and Levi on that!

More to come later...

Baby Update #2

Ok, so we know it has been a LOOOOONG time since we have posted anything on this long lost blog, but we figured since I am only about 10 weeks from having the baby then we would start to be more regular about it :) I guess we can call this the "Baby Blog" from now on since our lives are about to dramatically change (for the better of course!). We may put a few things in here and there about our chaotic lives outside of pregnancy and baby preparation though...don't worry :)

I am currently almost 30 weeks pregnant..and feelin' it too! Here is a recent picture of me and I continue to tell Andy that I am not sure if my stomach can get any bigger. I have gotten to the point where its a struggle to shave my legs because I can NO LONGER see my feet when I look down. I look back and remember when I first became pregnant that it was going to take FOREVER to get to this point...well it's here :) It amazing the changes your body goes through during pregnancy, but I can honestly say that I have enjoyed every minute of it. Andy is enjoying feeling our little man kick at night before bed (did I mention it's a boy and that we have named him Brayden??). It's so special to see him take such an active role in taking care of Brayden and I as he grows and develops in preparation for this crazy world! He is going to be such a good daddy! God has truly blessed us during this pregnancy and we look forward to the weeks to come (even though I know they are going to get more and more uncomfortable...all for a good cause!).