Silly Baby Boy

These 2 videos show how fun and how silly our sweet baby boy is!

Back In the Saddle Again

Where do I even start? With Braxton's latest developments, Blake's big work projects, or with another school year as Mrs. B? We'll start with what you all rather read about...Mr. Braxton Edward.

Our little baby boy is almost 8 months old! He is acting more and more like a little boy every day. We are really starting to see his personality, and boy do we have our work cut out for us! :) He actually is a really good baby. The past two nights we have kept him up late with some friends that are in town, and he was just happy and giggly the whole time. We have taken him shopping and out to eat and to get ice cream, and he just sat in his high chair or stroller and played with no major melt downs.

Braxton is very close to crawling. He gets up on all fours in the crawling position and holds it there for a bit and then falls to his tummy. He really wants to be mobile. He will see a toy just out of his reach and he will scream at it while reaching for it but just can't quite figure out how to get there. I am excited for him to reach milestones, but I know how much our world will change once he does start crawling. However, I don't think Blake and I will be the ones most affected by this crawling business. Big Sister Chelsy is in for it once Baby Brother can come after her! He just adores her and thinks she is soooo funny!

Braxton is really starting to babble. Today he actually said "Mama." Well, I think. He said it several times today, but I don't think he is actually calling me "Mama." He presses his lips together and makes the "Ma" "Ma" sound. Does that count? I don't see why not! He has never done that before! I tried getting it on video, but he stopped once he saw the camera. That's what he always does!

Braxton is doing really well at daycare. He really likes Ms. Rita, and she really likes him. I think she thinks that he is the cutest and sweetest baby she has ever taken care of. She didn't tell me that, but I'm pretty sure she thinks that. She has him on a great schedule. Right now there is only one other baby, so he gets plenty of attention. She is an older woman though, so I am having to keep my eye on her!

Other things in Braxton's world

• He is loving his solid foods. He likes vegetables such as peas, avocado, sweet potato, and squash, but he LOVES fruits, especially bananas!
• No more teeth yet. Just the two on the bottom which is fine with me since I am still breastfeeding. :)
• Braxton was sick for the first time a couple of weeks ago. It happened right as Blake left for London and my first day of school with kids. Perfect timing! Luckily Mimi was in town and took care of him. It wasn't too bad though. It was a runny nose, sneezing, a little cough, and maybe a small fever. You could just tell he didn't feel well. I think he caught it from me because I had it first.
  
• His Pops hung up a swing for him in the backyard, and he loves to sit in that and swing while watching the puppy run around the backyard.
• He loves electronics. We gave him an old remote control, and it's one of his favorite toys. He also has a baby cell phone which he likes a lot too, although he rather have Mommy and Daddy's phones and remote controls. He also loves to type on the keyboard. However, Daddy usually won't let him type on his nice new Mac computer. I'm not sure why.
• We had to lower his crib all the way because he was grabbing on the side and trying to pull himself up. Yep, he's already working on pulling himself up.
• He still loves bath time. He has toys that he splashes and plays with, although he is a boy so he likes to play with his own built-in toy, if you know what I mean. I just don't understand it!
• He loves to play "Boo!" He likes it when we hide and jump out and scare him. Braxton will jump a mile high and then just start cracking up!
  

Braxton is so much fun right now because he just thinks that Mommy and Daddy are the funniest and greatest things in the whole world. Words cannot even begin to describe how much I love this little thing. Sometimes I will just sit and watch him and just tear up at this overwhelming feeling of love that I have for this child. I never knew I was capable of loving somebody so much. (I am crying as I type this.)

In other news, Blake just got back from England! Computer Blake has gone international! He and his business partner flew there to meet with some University of Nottingham professors about some code that they will be using in one of their software projects. Blake got to fly first class, ride a train, subway (or the tube as the Brits call it), and even ate foods such as duck liver, fried sardines, port, fish and chips, and of course tea. He has some pretty funny stories to tell, mainly ones stemming from his being a country boy exposed to some new culture! Here are just a few pictures from the trip. You can check all of the rest out on our smugmug.




Blake is really, really, really busy. They have actually had to hire 6 other people to help with the work load because Blake can't get it all done. However, he spends a lot of his time telling those 6 people what to do and and how to do it. He will be going to Boston in a couple of weeks for a big medical conference called ACEP where they will be signing up other big physician groups to use Shift Admin. Blake is working really hard to get additional features added by then! Please pray for his work, stress, trip, future of Shift Admin, and just balancing all of that while being a father and husband.

I am officially back to work. I don't know how I feel about this year. It is definitely different. It's hard knowing that I have a little boy that I could be at home playing with, but I know that I am in the right place. I have had a really hard time balancing work and being a wife and mother. I just haven't gotten into the swing of things quite yet. I am just too much of a perfectionist in everything I do, so I just feel like I am not getting everything done up to my standards. The hardest part has been having to leave school everyday no later than 4:15 to have Braxton picked up by 4:30. My school doesn't get out until 4:00! When am I suppose to get anything done? Most of you are probably thinking, "Just get to school earlier!" Ha! That means I have to get up earlier which means I have to go to bed earlier. I'm just not a morning person. Plus it takes me about 35 minutes to get to school, so I would have to leave at the crack of dawn to get to school. Plus, Braxton can't be dropped off any earlier than 7:30. I have really been thinking about other working Moms out there. How do you do it? And single Moms? Hats off to you! I couldn't do this without Blake's help!

My kids are pretty good this year. I am teaching two pre-ap bio classes and two regular bio classes. One class is quite the doozy! I already have some funny stories! Sad really, but you just have to laugh about it because it's almost too hard to believe. Please pray that I can be patient with some of these kiddos because it's going to take a lot.

We really are doing great. Just busy. In fact, I am typing this while my boys and dog nap. I also have a big stack of papers to grade and lesson plans to work on, but a part of me just wants to enjoy this long weekend. Sometimes this adult stuff is hard!

For those of you that are still reading this post, sorry this is so long! I'm off to grade some papers.

Love and peace to all! Enjoy the pictures below!

We're Still Here!

Just wanted to let those of you who still read our blog that we are still here and just trucking along. We are trying to get into the swing of things. I have a lot to post about...Braxton's new discoveries, Blake's trip to London, my back to school, and so on. I will try to get to that sometime this week. Until then, here is a picture of our precious little boy. Notice I didn't call him a baby? He is growing up so fast!!!

4th of July, Cousin Sawyer, and Staycation

I told you that I would try to update again this week. Braxton is napping right now, so I am going to type as fast as possible.

We got to spend an entire week in Canyon at the end of June/first of July. This means we got to enjoy the great 4th of July festivities in Canyon, TX! 4th of July was one of my absolute favorite holidays as a kid because it meant a parade, a party in the afternoon that usually consisted of swimming, and fireworks in the evening. EVERYBODY goes to the parade in Canyon, so I wanted to take Braxton to show him off! However, the heat made us cut out a little sooner than expected. Here is our little man watching the parade. He was stylin' in his sunglasses and red, white, and blue outfit!

We also shot off fireworks at Kent and Teresa's. Braxton loved them! He would just watch with his eyes WIDE open!



While we were in Canyon, we got to spend a lot of time with family and friends. My girlfriends and I got together with all of our little ones. We tried taking a picture with all of them. This is the best one we could get. When you have toddlers, it makes picture taking a little more tricky! Isn't it amazing to think that we graduated high school just 7 years ago and now here we are?


Canyon was where we discovered that Braxton was teething. I bought him a teething ring and chilled it in the refrigerator. He didn't like it!


After we got back from Canyon, we packed up again and went to Cleburne, TX, for a family "staycation." We stayed at a little cottage that this couple rents out. It was a lot of fun. We mainly just relaxed, swam, and ate. It was nice to get away as a family.

Our cottage. It use to be a barn. Sorry, it's dark.

My boys swimming!

This was upstairs in the loft.

Family pic the BBQ lady took for us after we ate!

This was the sign across the street from the BBQ restaurant! Notice anything?

As soon as we got back from Cleburne, we go the call from Brock and Meg that Baby Sawyer had decided to come a little early. (She wasn't due until July 29th.) We packed once again and headed to College Station to meet Cousin Sawyer Marie. She was born July 14th at 1:57 p.m. She was 6 lbs. 1 oz. and 18 3/4 in. She was tiny, precious, and healthy! We can't wait to see her again and look forward to all of the fun family holidays that we will get to spend together!

Cousins!

Birkenfeld Clan!

This is Cade. His parents are friends with Brock and Meg. They will be moving to DFW so maybe we will have a new playmate! They are just a couple weeks apart in age!

As you can see, we have been quite the world travelers! We also got all of our pictures in from our family phot session with Melissa Darst. Here are just a few. If you want to see all of them, then go to our smugmug page. Thanks again Melissa Darst! Love and peace to all!

6 Months

I am way past due for his 6 month update, but it is better late than never! We have had a lot going on lately and been out of town a lot, so I am going to try to catch up on my blogging this week. I have a lot of adventures to share...4th of July in Canyon, first family vacation, baby cousin Sawyer, and so on!

Let's start with the 6 month Braxton update:

Braxton weighed 15 lbs. 10 oz. at his 6 month appointment. That put him in the 25th percentile. However, he was 27 1/2 in. long! That put him in the 75th percentile! So what does that mean? He is long and lean! The doctor said he is very healthy and even commented on how strong he seemed!

Braxton is really starting to develop into a little boy. He now has his first two bottom teeth, he is sitting up (for a little bit at least and then he topples over), and he is eating solid foods! Wow, that has been a messy adventure! Braxton is a really good eater and picked it up immediately. Some foods that we have tried have been rice cereal, bananas, sweet potatoes, avocado, and peas. He has loved them all! However, Mommy and Daddy have not loved the poopy diaper changes! Although less frequent, they are much more disgusting and stinky!




Braxton has such a fun personality, but really what baby doesn't? He giggles and makes tooting noises with his mouth all of the time. He is so much more aware of everything. He recently discovered Chelsy. He will watch her and laugh at her all of the time. Chelsy likes to eat her dog food when Braxton is eating in his high chair, but Braxton gets too distracted watching Chelsy that a lot of times the food ends up somewhere else besides his mouth. I know I have shared this video with a lot of you, but for those of you that haven't watched it, you are in for a treat!



Braxton is really good at grabbing things. He is always reaching for the remote control, the food on our plates, or anything else near by. Not only does he like to grab things, but he likes to grab things and then drop them on the floor. I am not sure how to handle this though. Do you tell him no and not give the toy back to teach him a lesson? Or do you just keep picking up the toy and handing it back to him? Any suggestions?

Braxton is sleeping pretty well. Last night he slept all night. The night before he woke up at 2 a.m. but then cried himself back to sleep. The night before he woke up and didn't cry himself back to sleep. (Mommy had to get up!) It just depends on the night. A lot of the problem is because we have been out of town and out of our routine. Hopfully we will get back on track this week!

Like I mentioned earlier, I have a lot to blog about because a lot has been going on. Instead of making one giant blog post that would take forever to read, I am going to post several times this week...hopefully. :) Until then you can go here to our smugmug website to see the updated pictures and vidoes. That is it for now. I'm sure I left something out. I've got to help Blake go make the baby food. Yes, we make our own baby food! It's easy, cheap, and healthy!

I'm going to leave you with a look at the past 6 months and how much our baby boy has changed! Love to all!

Family Pictures

We got professional family pictures taken last Sunday. What we have seen so far have turned out great! We can't wait to see the rest! Thank you Melissa Darst for a fun and great photo session! Go here to view some of the pictures and scroll down to the title "Meet Mr. B."

July 4th and 6 month update will be coming soon!!! :)

5 Months

Here is Braxton's 5 month picture, a couple days late. I know that I have been slacking on the blogging lately. It's been a busy end of the year at school. My summer officially started at 3:00 today! These professional developments/trainings have been never ending! While I'm on the topic of school... (Don't worry I will get to the Braxton part soon. I know that is why you are all reading this.) We have decided that I should work this next year. I had mentioned in a previous post that I wasn't feeling a peace about the decision of staying home. I know it's because God is not done with me at L.D. Bell. We also decided that it would just be a better financial decision. I feel very good and confident in this decision. The goal is still for me to stay at home some day, but it's just not time yet. Trust me! I want to stay at home with my babies!

Baby Boy is doing great and growing and discovering new things every day! He is just so much fun right now! Here are some things he is doing right now.

• Rolling over from his back to his stomach. Most babies roll from their stomach to their back first, but not Braxton! Braxton gets onto his stomach and then starts to scream. He gets too mad to even try to roll back over. Hopefully he'll get it down soon.
• Squealing when he is happy. I took him to school on our workday last week, and Braxton squealed the whole time my principal was giving a presentation. Everybody thought he was so cute!
• Pulling my hair or anything else he can get a hold of
• Wanting soooo badly to sit up on his own but just not quite there
• Still loves baths, going outside, and watching his mobile
• Typically sleeps about 6-7 hours solid through the night. I usually just have to get up one time during the night.
• No teeth yet but drools enough to fill a swimming pool full of spit
• Braxton loves to ride in the jogging stroller when we go for walks. He is now big enough to sit in it facing forward. He is totally chill and content the whole time looking around at the world. He looks hilarious though all strapped in! It looks like he is about to go parachuting! (See picture below)
• Fights naptime. We usually just have to let him scream until he finally gives in and goes to sleep, but putting him to bed at night is easy.

Braxton is much longer than he is wide! He needs 6-9 months in footsie pajamas for the length, but the rest of the pj's swallow him. If he keeps growing like this, he's going to be over 6 feet!

Braxton did great on our trip to Canyon. He slept the whole time in the car and loved being held by family the whole time. Here are just a few pictures from our trip. If you want to see more, then go to our smugmug. We do plan on making another trip to Canyon at the end of June/beginning of July.



Chelsy girl is doing great too. She still goes to daycare once a week and loves it and is still one of the favorites. She also still follows me everywhere Braxton and I go. Sometimes when I get up in the middle of the night to feed Braxton, she will be laying by his door waiting for me. She'll just look at me like, "What took you so long? Don't you hear him crying?"

Blake is doing great. I think he is most excited about summer because that means daddy daycare is officially closed. :) I think he loved the experience, but it was just getting too hard with Braxton being awake more often. Work load increasing with Braxton sleeping decreasing was not a good mix here at the end. I would like to especially thank our mothers (Nana and Mimi) and our church small group for helping us out! Next year Braxton will go to a woman's house for daycare. She just keeps 4 babies, and they are all under the age of 2. She is a very nurturing, Christian woman, with a wonderful home, and 17 years of experience. I think it is going to work out well, although I will proably ball like a baby that first week that I have to drop Braxton off.

Our summer plans consist of a couple of Canyon trips, a mini family staycation to somewhere around this area (any suggestions?), and a trip to see our niece that will be born sometime in July!

I hope all is well with everyone. I hope to see everyone very soon! I will try to be better about blogging now that it is summer. I'm off to go get ready for my Zumba class! Peace and love!