Unsure/New Blog

So we have kind of lost a member of our family....and I'm unsure what to do about this blog. This blog holds so many memories and photos that I want my boys to be able to look at and that I would still like to look at. I plan on making it into a blog book some day so I don't want to delete it. So for now, if you would like to continue following me and the boys, come to our new blog http://threegpies.blogspot.com! 

Braxton 10 Month, 11 Month and 1 Year

Oh Braxton----you are 1 year old today!!! This has been such a fast year but such an amazing year with you in it! I truly believe that you were born at the perfect time in my life. You are the happiest little kid I know. You wake up smiling and fall asleep smiling! You laugh all day! You make me want to be happy! There are many moments during the day that I just look at you and feel happiness-and I need that right now!

 You are such a boy! You love to get dirty, you are loud, you scream, you make noises! You have no fear at all! You love to climb up on things and jump off couches and beds-all while laughing! You saw a potato bug crawling around today and just picked it up! You love water and don't care that it gets in your face-unlike your brother! You get into everything and love to make messes! You love loud noises like the vacuum.  You are very much the opposite of your brother and I love that! 

You eat everything-except for black olives! You love trying new food and I love feeding you new foods! I love to see your reaction and I just love the way your fingers move as you try to get the food into your mouth. You love pasta fruit, vegetables, bread, cheese, pizza, sugar...anything!!! And you even like to eat things that you shouldn't like toilet paper, grass and anything else your tiny hands can pick up! We have to keep a close eye on you! 

You are a mover! You love to crawl and are super fast at it. You drag your right leg behind you a little bit but you move quick. In the past 2 weeks you started walking!!! You don't do it all of the time, but will shortly. I started holding your hands and walking around with you about 2 weeks ago and you are already taking steps by yourself and yesterday and today you started standing up in the middle of the room by yourself and walking! I have no doubt that you will be running around soon. You are always active! You have to be crawling or moving in some way! You do no sit still ever!  And this includes when I change your diaper-that needs to stop soon! And you love to crawl up the stairs and are trying to figure out how to go down! 

Although you grunt, scream and make lots of noises, you aren't really talking. You have said Mom and Da Da but don't do it regularly. You just smile a lot and that's ok too! You wave hi and goodbye and smack your lips to blow kisses! You always bob your head like you are dancing! I will look at you and say your name and you dance! I always say that you must have a song that plays all the time in your head! 

I can honestly say that our lives would not be the same without you Brax! I hope that you always stay happy. I hope that you always keep your "zest" in life! We love you so much! 

Happy 1st Birthday Brax!!!

 ** His 1 year appointment is next week so I will add in his stats then! 

At 1 Year Braxton-

-Wears size 3 diapers

-Wears size 4 shoes

-Wears 12-18 Month Clothes

Braxton 8 and 9 Month

Braxton is at such a fun stage of life right now! He is learning so much, growing so quickly and trying to do everything his big brother is doing! He and Conner have such an amazing bond that is so cool to see-I will have to write a post about it one day! Braxton makes me smile every single day and I love him so much! 

At 8 and 9 Months Braxton:

-wears size 3 diapers and mostly 12 month clothes. I have not put shoes on him though-well only a couple of times so I'm not actually sure what size shoe he is

-loves to move! He crawls so fast and when he does crawl, he drags his right leg behind him, it's funny to watch. But he's fast.

-loves to be with me. He hates when I put him down and will cry. Or he will crawl to where I am. 

-LOVES FOOD! He is such a good eater! He eats anything that I am eating and is trying to grab at my drinks when I have one with a straw. He loves to drink out of cups, but I rarely let him do this because it's a huge mess! 

-loves to dance-move his head to music. 

-loves to do whatever his brother is doing-like playing cars. He will grab the cars and try and play with Conner. Conner is not such a huge fan of that. 

-love to play with stuff more than toys. Brax has rattles and lots of toys, but he would rather suck on my phone, the remote, keys, anything besides toys! 

-puts EVERYTHING in his mouth! 

-is still not sleeping well. He is up several times a night and usually requires a bottle to go back to sleep. 

-loves to smack his lips-I call it blowing kisses. 

-loves to stick out his tongue when you smile at him

 Showing his serious side 

I love this picture---Mom stop taking my picture, this is getting old! 

I've spent 30 minutes trying to turn these pictures and I can't, so sorry! 

Life

I don't even know what to write in this post right now. A huge change is about to occur in our family and has pretty much consumed my life since October, so this poor little blog that was neglected before has been even more neglected. So many moments that I have wanted to document in the boys lives are undocumented and maybe even forgotten at this point. We, or should I say I, am just trying to survive each day right now. I don't really sleep between Braxton and the thoughts in my head and things that I do late at night. I live off diet coke and chocolate right now and have the worst diet ever. I have a horrible attitude and am a very unhappy person right now. I just took Braxton's 9 month photos, the poor kid is almost 10 months old. So as soon as I get our cord back, I will upload those pictures and get his post up here. I want to do a post about our Monkey, Conner, but am waiting until he finishes preschool next month. So that's our life right now!

Braxtons 6 Month Photos

When Braxton was 6 months old, we had one of our favorite (we have a couple) photographers take his pictures! She took a couple of the boys and some of me and the boys as well! I love photography so much and capturing their fun stages of life. I wish I could take better photos or that I had more money to get their pictures done more often. I cherish every photo of my boys!!! If you need a photographer please check out Julie Burton Photography! 

Braxton 6 and 7 Month

I hate missing months and trying to catch up and remembering what happened in what month, so for month 6 and 7 I am just going to combine them, sorry Braxton! This little boy is the happiest kid ever! You just say his name and look at him and he grins from ear to ear! We love him so, so much!

At 6 and 7 Months Braxton-
-Wears size 9 month clothes (so pretty much 6-12 month clothes, just depends on the brand)
-Wears size 3 diapers
-Wears size 3 shoes
-Is teething!! He has 2 teeth that are coming in on the bottom, but haven't officially broken the gum yet.
-Loves food! There has not been 1 single thing this kid hasn't liked-total opposite of his brother! He has had little pieces of pizza, bread, egg, bacon, bagel, chicken, banana, fruit cocktail, applesauce, pureed carrots, peas, apple juice, yogurt, a few drops of diet coke, cereal puffs, yogurt melts, cheerios and pretty much whatever we are eating we feed him little pieces of. He loves pouch food! He loves to hold the pouch but hasn't figured out to squeeze it out yet.
-He is a mover! He crawls fast everywhere and tries to follow Conner around the house. He likes to hold onto the couches and walk along them. He will also walk around the house if we hold his hands and help him. I really think that in the next month or two he will be walking.
-He loves to do whatever Conner is doing! He will sit by him and hold a car while Conner plays cars. They love to play in this pop up tent together. They have a special bond between and I think it started before they both came to Earth! Conner is really fond of him too! First thing Conner does in the morning is hug Braxton and tell him good morning and he always to touch his face, it's funny!
-He loves to babble and just make sounds.
-And like is said before is just so happy! No matter what is going around him, he just smiles and is so content in life!

5 Months Old

Blogging was just not my thing in 2012, hopefully I can do better in 2013. Braxton is now 6 months old, but here is his 5 month post. 

At 5 Months Old Braxton-

-Wears size 3 diapers, 6 month clothes and no shoes

-Eats 4-6 oz. at a time

-He also loves to eat real food! He loves applesauce, Baby rice and oatmeal cereal, mashed potatoes, steamed and mashed carrots, yogurt and yogurt melts. We have also given him little bits of most everything we eat-bread, chocolate, ice cream-pretty much whatever we are eating. 

-Last month he didn't like being on the floor, but now he loves it. He isn't officially crawling but he rolls, lunges forwards, scoots forward and backwards and can sit up but still leans on one hand. It's hard to entertain him because he can't fully move like he wants to but doesn't like to sit in his exersaucer or walker for too long. 

-Loves to put everything into his mouth! 

-Still doesn't sleep well.

-Is the happiest baby! He is always smiling and will go to anyone who wants to hold him. 

-Loves to talk! 

4 months Old

Braxton is almost 5 months old, so I figure I better get his 4 month post on the blog quick. We love this little guy so much! I was so worried when I was pregnant that I wouldn't love this baby as much as Conner, but we really do! And he makes it pretty easy for us! He is the happiest baby I have ever been around! Every single time he sees me he smiles and it just melts my heart! 

At 4 Months Braxton:
-wears size 3-6 months clothes and size 2 diapers
-Smiles most of the time
-Either wakes up happy as can be (which is most of the time) or screaming his head off
-Sucks at sleeping! He is up 3-4 times a night, can't put himself back to sleep, hates to be transferred once he falls asleep (like from my arms to the bed) and is a horrible napper as well. Once he goes down for a nap during the day he will sleep for about 20 mns. Sometimes, usually around 3pm, I can get him to sleep for 1-2 hours.
-Is a mover! He loves to be in his exersaucer or the walker and moving around. He hates to sit on the floor and play.
-Loves to walk around. Chris will hold him and pretend he is walking around and Brax just smiles.

Fall Craft

I made a bucket list of fun fall-ish type things for us to do this fall so we when we were bored we could pick one. Today was such a nice day outside that we crossed a few of those items off our list. We went on a nature walk around our neighborhood and gathered leaves. Conner loved picking up the leaves and we made sure to name the colors of the leaves as we picked them up. When we got home we put Braxton to sleep then Conner and I made 2 crafts. Our first craft was leaf rubbing. We placed leaves in between two pieces of paper and colored over them to reveal the different shaped leaves. Then we used the leaves to make a turkey. As we were making the turkey I tried to teach Conner about why we celebrate Thanksgiving-he didn't get it but that's ok. His art work was too cute to not display so I grabbed a frame and we put the extra leaves in a little orange bucket and put them on our bookshelf as fall decoration! A great day and activity in my book! 

Conner at 3

    These are things that I want to remember about Conner at age 3! I've been trying to write this post for awhile, but I just can't get the right words to express how much I love him. He is my best friend and sidekick in everything that I do. I am just so in love with him! 

                                                  

-I love when he runs into my bedroom every morning, usually smiling, carrying his pile of blankets and his frog. And how he always sits next to me, nuzzles up to me and asks me for a peanut butter cup and apple juice.
-Loves to help me and Chris do everything that we are doing. The dishes, mowing, laundry, holding Braxton. He wants to be right there in the action.
-Is getting over being shy. Whenever we are around other people, Conner used to take at least 20 minutes to warn up to the people and surroundings. Now he just starts talking and playing. I truly believe that the couple weeks of preschool we have been to have helped that.
-Loves school! I love picking him up and hearing about what he did and ate for snack. He has only been in preschool for a couple of weeks but I can tell it's already bettering him! I was excited and worried about putting him in school but I know it was a great decision.
-Loves to tell stories. And I love hearing how he tells them. The way he repeats things, lists things in the right order. Rarely uses names and says peoples and add an s onto the end of words.
-Loves his brother so much! It's so cute to see them interact with each other, make faces at each other. Conner loves to hug Braxton and kiss him. Every morning when he comes into my room he has to make sure Braxton is happy and ok. He always says, "Braxton's eyes are open, he's looking at me, he loves me."
-He also loves his Dad. He anxiously waits for him to come home from work and hates leaving his side. He loves to go anywhere with Chris and help him out with anything around the house or outside.
-He is really smart-or so other people always say. He can spell his name, mom, dad, cat, Pam and Kim. He can count to 20. He knows the alphabet. He remembers songs and can sing along with them. He has a great memory as well, which I hope he keeps because he will need it in real school.
-He loves to dance around to music, sing, run and just have fun! He especially loves to play outside.
-He is currently obsessed with making piles, usually in the living room. He gathers anything and everything he can find in that room and piles it up. One day he started piling things up around Braxton. I had to stop that pile quick!

3 Months

I ALWAYS say this when I do these posts about our kids, but they really are growing up so dang fast. I swear that Braxton is growing up and doing things quicker than Conner did. It makes me sad and I need to do a better job at living in the moment and enjoying those moments, especially since I'm pretty sure that we are done having kids. 

At 3 Months Braxton:
-Is wearing size 2 diapers, 3 month clothes, no shoes-just socks and ways 13 pounds according to my scale at home.
-Loves to "talk." And especially loves to get talking with Conner!
-Is chunking up! He is such a solid boy. I call him my linebacker.
-Nicknames: Cuters, Brax, Bubbas, Tank-occasionally
-Loves to hold things in his hand, but can't pick up things on his own yet.
-Loves to put everything in his mouth
-Loves to watch TV
-Can sit up in the bumbo but after a while his head gets wobbly so I usually put something behind him like a blanket, or push him against the couch cushion in case he needs it.
-Loves rice cereal

2 Months

So far behind in blogging!! Braxton is 3 months old and here I am posting his 2 month post oh well! 3 month post coming really soon! 

At 2 Months (really 2 1/2) Braxton-

-Wears size 1 diapers, 3 month clothes and socks-no shoes yet

-Has a super strong grip and loves to use that grip on my hair

-Is what I call a good sleeper. He only wakes up once at night (usually in between 3-5am) and takes 2-3 naps during the day. He falls asleep easily, but has a hard time actually staying asleep.

-Is a Pee Pee Machine just like Conner was! We are going through diapers like crazy over here. Which also means that he is a great eater! He drink about 3-4 oz. at every feeding.

-Is still sleeping in our room-usually in the swing or on our bed

-Loves to be upright when he can. He doesn't like to lay down for long periods of time. He like to be held upright. We have put him in the exersaucer a couple of times (surrounded by pillows and blankets) and he loves it!

-Loves to coo and make sounds

-Has me mesmerized by his big glossy eyes and half crooked smile!!!

Braxton's Nursery

It's funny that we had Conner's nursery finished months in advance and here Braxton is, 1 month old, and we are still trying to finish his nursery. Oh well, such is life. He probably won't be in here for another month anyways, so it's ok. 

After looking on blogs and Pinterest for nursery ideas I decided on an airplane theme after seeing one of my friends nurseries. I don't like to do "babyish" nurseries and figured the airplane theme could last awhile. I love how the nursery is turning out. We still need curtains, 2 large picture frames above the crib, a pillow for the rocking chair and we need to print pictures. But at least you can get the idea of the nursery from these pictures! 

 The view when you walk in

 Wall to your right when you walk in

Still need to print pictures

 Clipboards used to hang pictures or art

This art was drawn by neighbors and family that watched Conner while I was in labor. They brought them to the hospital after I delivered Braxton and they came to visit! 

 Metal planes that my best friend April gave to me. They were used in her son's nursery 8 years ago

 Metal bucket that I spray painted red, it was originally white

 Crib

I love the bedding! 

 Shelf above the dresser

 Letter "B" that was plain wood. I used modge podge to put the map paper on and distressed the edges

 Frame that will hold a picture, not his age. This was also plain wood and I used mode podge and chevron paper. 

Shadow box using the same map paper and a plane that I printed. 

1 Month Old

Our little baby is already 1 month old! I have a feeling this is going to be a quick year! Braxton has been such a blessing to our family and we love him so much! 

At 1 Month Old Braxton

-Weighs 6 pound 8 oz.

-Drinks 2-4 ounces, usually 4

-Is awake every 2-4 hours

-Braxton is not the greatest sleeper right now. He wakes up, we feed him and change him and sometimes he goes right back to sleep, sometimes he is awake for hours. He has no schedule yet. He does love to be awake at 4am though, which none of us like! 

-Hated his swing at first (just like Conner) but is learning to like it. 

-Is wearing newborn clothes

-Is strong! He has a strong head which makes it hard to burp him. He is already trying to roll over! 

-Looks a lot like Chris's grandpa! 

Photos of My Boys!

Most of you saw these photos on Facebook, but some people that read our blog are not on Facebook so I thought I would post these pictures here too! I took these pictures at our house and I am in love with them! I am so lucky to have these boys in my life!