Oh the places we will go...

We are planning our first big vacation with Brayden. Mommy has the travel bug...

We probably won't be going until May/June but where should we go?

Maybe Jackson Hole? Love it...

Or perhaps Tahoe? It's my favorite place on earth...

I'd say Disneyland but I think he's a little young for that. But we will be going. I can't wait to take him to Disneyland and California Adventure. Too awesome. No Disneyworld for us - the rides aren't the same, and they don't have a lot of my favorite rides.

Brayden went to the doctor today and weighs a whopping 11 pounds 2 ounces! He's growing like a weed! Soon he will be double what he was when he was born but we aren't going to talk about that because it makes me sad!

Tomorrow Chris' mom is going to drive up and her, B and I will spend the day together. We're still finalizing Easter plans (it can be difficult because Chris' parents are divorced).

Sunday was Brayden's second church service. He did even better than he did the first time! My mom held him throughout the service and he did so great. Brayden is in love with my brother Jeff, and he just stared at him and smiled and laughed. He loves to laugh! I'll say "ah-boo" to him and he just cracks up at me like I'm looney! Everyday when Daddy comes home he is greeted with a giant smile and a few little laughs and then he chews him out for being gone all day!

Oh and off topic but I am pictureless because our camera broke and we are waiting for the replacement to arrive (my little camera is still good but I have no idea where Chris has moved the battery charger to). Hopefully I'll have new pics soon!

Support

I have to thank you all again for the outpouring of support that you gave us while Brayden was at the hosptial, and even after we got home. So many of you have/had the Team Brayden buttons on your blog and it makes me smile every time I see one!

I decided to remove my Team Brayden buttons now that he is well and home, and replace them with a button for Kayleigh. So many of you already know her story, but if you don't, go here.
She will be having surgery on Monday, so please keep her and her family in your prayers!

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Tomorrow will be a busy day if the weather permits. We have church, then I have a business meeting, and then we are going to a cocktail party/fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald house. During our stay at ACH, we met so many people who were staying at the RM house. It really made an impact on me. I can't tell you all of the good they do for those who have no where else to stay while their precious babies are in the hospital. It's a wonderful, wonderful organization. We are taking Brayden to the event as a former NICU baby and hope to help others understand the good that the RM house does!

I say "weather permitting" because it's currently snowing and I won't be taking the little man out in bad weather. But the forecast for tomorrow looks good, so we will see!

Last night mom and dad kept Brayden. He did pretty well, though he didn't sleep 8 hours for them like he's been doing for me recently. Chris and I went to Shogun (YUM, though not on my diet plan) and then came back home and played Wii. It was fun, but I missed him terribly!

Happy Boy and Praise

My little man is flashing you his toothless grin because he's so excited to be back home with his Daddy! Thanks for your prayers for Chris! The doctors now think it was just a very, very bad case of food poisoning and started him on Cipro and a pain killer. He even went back to work today.

I'm starting to think Brayden has allergies (like he stood a chance of not having them with Chris and I as his parents!). He coughs, sneezes, has red eyes and dark circles. Poor baby. I wish there was something I could do to make him better!

Friday night I think my mom and dad are going to take him for the night. I say I think because I haven't quite decided if I can handle being away from him!

I have a big huge praise. My brother, who for over a decade now has been involved in a lot of things he shouldn't have been has done a miraculous about face. He came to church with us on Sunday for the first time in years and years. He is rededicating his life and totally straightening out so to speak. It is the biggest miracle (well, next to Brayden!). We have been praying for this for years. Praise God!

Dear Annoymous...

I don't have time for a real post - Chris is sick and after spending yesterday having tests run at the hospital we still don't know what is wrong with him so Brayden and I are at mom's. I am exhausted, frustrated that they don't know what is wrong, and sad that I am not with him.



But I do want to take a brief second to address the annoymous comment on my last post...



Dear Annoymous,



Please understand that while I do share a lot of information on this blog, I most certainly didn't share every medical detail surrounding my pregnancy. Therefore, you can't say that my c-section was unnessecary and that my son's condition might have been prevented. It wouldn't have been. Brayden was going to have PPHN no matter what. I talked extensively with his neonatologists about it - because of course I blamed myself. But they all agreed that this was going to happen even if I had been overdue. In fact, had I gone longer before delivering him it could have been worse.



While I'm sure it wasn't your intention to place blame on me, or to infer that I might have done a better job as a mom to wait longer to have him, I did want to take a moment and address your comments.



Thanks for your concern.

Weekend Wrap-up

Saturday was the wedding...and I remembered to bring my camera, but then I left it in the car. Opps. I'll have to get better pictures from my mom, but here are two that I took before we left:



OK, I know I'm partial, but isn't he the cutest?! I told Chris he was striking his "warrior pose" - I've been working out on the Wii Fit and on the Yoga workout there is a warrior pose, that looks similar to what he's doing.

Today we went to church for the first time with Brayden!

He was really pretty good especially considering this is normally his play time. Chris ended up taking him out towards the end because he was a little fussy. Can you see him underneath all those toys?!

At lunch:

Another one from lunch:

Last night Brayden slept (drumroll please...) from 11pm until 5:30am! WOOHOO! Excited doesn't describe how I feel. The last couple of nights he has been sleep for 5-6 hours at a time and so 6.5 hours is fantastic! The last couple of days he hasn't been eating quite as well, but he seems to be getting back on track.

I think we are going to go walk him around the neighborhood and then maybe go grab a salad somewhere (gotta love diets). Hope you all had great weekends too!

5 years ago ...

Yesterday was our 5 year anniversary since our first date!

Back in the day...

Wow, I used to be thin and spray tanned...

And now...

I surprised Chris by taking him out to Ruth Chris. When he got home from work I was in my lounge pants and a t-shirt and he started to hook up our new Wii Fit (woo-hoo!) and I told him to go get dressed up. He looked at me with this blank stare and I said "Mom and Dad are here." He started looking around the house like I had lost it and I explained that they were in the driveway waiting to come in and babysit so that we could have a night out to celebrate! He was soooo shocked, it was great!

Last weekend we took Brayden for his first walk around our neighborhood.

Daddy and the other boys (Mossy is on the right and Buster on the left):

And me with the little man!

We've since been to the Promenade a few times and walked around. Brayden loves his stroller rides! My brother has come over yesterday and today and Brayden is fascinated by him. He just stares and him and follows his every move. It's so cute.

Brayden's other new favorite people, we've never met in real life...you see, if he so much as here's Jon and Kate plus 8 on anywhere in the house he starts going nuts until you let him see the tv. It's hilarious. He just loves to watch their kids on the screen. I have to pause it sometimes when he's taking him bottle because he gets so focused on the show!

Tomorrow if all goes well, we will be going to a wedding...I'm so nervous that Brayden will cry or something (of course, I'd take him out of there if he does). I'll have pics of him all dressed up!

First Holiday at Home!

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Brayden!

Today we went to Brayden's 2 month check up! The doctor was SO HAPPY with his weight gain - he now weighs 10lb 4oz! He is almost 22" long too!

We had to go up on his prevacid because of his weight gain. I will still take him in every two weeks to be weighed so that they can adjust his medication (so we don't have days like yesterday...yikes). He did really well with his shots (thanks for the tips on the Tylenol, that helped a lot!) and no, I didn't cry! But I've seen him endure far worse, so I guess it just didn't bother me too much.

We went to Grammy and Grand Daddy's (my parents) for our traditional St Patty day meal of corned beef and cabbage. Yum ... to the corned beef, not so much the cabbage!

We got home around 8pm and I felt like cleaning so I've just purged a ton of stuff out of my dresser and I am pleased to report that I can now open the drawers! Ha! Hope you all had a great holiday!

2 Months Old!

Today is Brayden's two month birthday! He's been home almost a month now!

Apparently, he wasn't hot on the idea of taking his picture in his boppy...

But was much happier when we laid him on the couch!

We had a big day today - we went to Sam's Club, Mommy got a pedicure, we went to dinner at Market Place and then we went to a store for Chris. Now we are all hanging out on the couch and waiting to give Brayden a bottle so we can go to sleep!

Brayden's started to drool - a LOT, which concerns me a little so I'm going to mention it to our ped on Tuesday. Has anyone else experience this?

I haven't seen anyone talk about Celebrity Apprentice...are you watching? Of course, we watch all things reality in our house (sad, but true) and I was a little disappointed with Clint Black. Now, I am no Joan Rivers fan but I think thus far she has really done a good job. If you are watching, who's your fave?

8 weeks old!

Yesterday Brayden turned 8 weeks old!

Hanging out in his new friend, the Boppy, with his other new friend, Mr. Bug. Everything in our house is Mr....Mr. Fan, Mr. Boppy, Mr. Bug...

This was taken this morning right before we headed out:

The last several nights have been a DREAM....Brayden's been sleeping 4-5 hours at a time! Oh my gosh, I'm in heaven. I hope this lasts! It is soooooo nice to get some real sleep. My third round of antibiotics finally seems to have kicked my sinus infection to the curb which also helps a ton.

All around, Brayden is doing so well. He's eating a little bit better and even beginning to enjoy his baths (well, he doesn't cry anymore at least...he just stares at me like I'm nuts). We go in next Tuesday for his 2 month check up and he will get shots. I've been asked several times if I think I will cry...my answer is no. I've seen him go through soooooooo much worse than shots, so I don't anticipate crying but who knows!

Last but not least, and TOTALLY off topic, did you watch DWTS on Monday? If so you probably saw Ty Murray dance. I think I have a new favorite quote (he said this during his interview):

"You're never completely ready, it just becomes your turn." He said this in relation to bull riding, but I just thought it was great!

Oh and for those who asked, YES! I thought Melissa was fantastic! I expected it though, because of her cheerleading background. Oh, and I thought it was great that everyone boo'ed Jason. Not very nice of me but I'm just being honest!

Pictures coming soon...

I've been MIA for two reasons.

One, Chris just bought a new home computer. Great news...except neither of us could remember our wireless internet password, and all the pics I have on this laptop have already been moved to that computer, which means I am pictureless. The good news is that he has since remembered the password...the bad news is I don't know how to upload pics onto that computer yet.

Two...Brayden is 1000% better! Therefore we have spent many hours playing, laughing and smiling at each other! =)

Reglan appears to have been the culprit behind his unhappiness. I was worried on Friday because he wasn't eating much, but since then he is doing pretty well. He still isn't eating as much as the doctor wants, but we are slowly getting there. And my theory is that since he isn't screaming for hours on end, he won't be burning up a lot of those extra calories.

And on a sidenote, I heard on E News that Melissa (in the below post) will be on DWTS! Yahoo! Oh and she is dating a guy that she's known for 2 years. Jason was on Ellen the other day...so was Molly. Apparently he feels that there wasn't anything wrong with him taking back the engagement on national TV. Ummm, okay.

Last but not least, I am getting one of these.

Apparently, losing weight after a c-section and after sitting in the hospital for 5 weeks isnt very easy. Bring on the Wii Workouts!

Really and Reglan

Ok, really?


All I can say is he doesn't deserve her. She should totally be the next bachelorette!

Yesterday we went to the doctor and and I begged him to let me take Brayden off his Reglan. He did! (Brayden was on Reglan 4 times a day at .7 ml's for those that were asking). It's only been one day but he is a different baby. Chris was on duty last night and he was able to get 7 hours worth of sleep! Today he was sooooo happy. He played with me this morning and smiled and laughed! It was so great! Now I know it could just be a fluke but I'm hoping that the reglan was causing his irritability.

Playing with Mr. Giraffe

Out to lunch at Crumpet Tea Room

I'm on duty tonight and tomorrow night so let's hope he continues to do well!

Brayden's first snow day

Yesterday we woke up to a nice layer of snow on the ground!

Before I post those pics, I forgot to share this one...it's the sign my parents had made for our garage door. It was up the day we came home from ACH! Isn't that cool?

Here's Brayden staring out the window at the snow...and notice, he's in his bouncy seat and he isn't screaming!

Mommy and Me:

Showing Brayden the snow and giving him lots of kisses!

Yesterday Chris' mom and step-dad came over from Tulsa. We went out to our property to show them around and to show Brayden the cabin for the first time (those pics are on my dad's camera which I need to borrow so that I can upload them). He had a really great day.

Brayden's been doing really well lately. Sleeping at night is still an issue but it's improving. More importantly, he's happier. During the day we play and he smiles and laughs. During his bath yesterday he didn't scream...I think he semi-enjoyed it. It seems like he is finally comfortable here. His new favorite past time is to stare at the ceiling fan, aka Mr. Fan (whether or not it's on which is normally isn't). He is totally mesmerized by it.

His next doctor appointment is on Tuesday and I'm anxious to talk to the doctor about his medication. He's only had one big spitup since we've had him home and everything I've read about Reglan is negative, so I'd like to know when he thinks we can start weaning him off of it. He's also on Prevacid but I've not seen very many negative things about that.

Tomorrow is The Bachelor...I am pulling for Melissa (I watched her on the DCC Making The Team show...I can't believe I just admitted that) because I think she is a genuinely nice person. Molly doesn't really impress me...Who's your favorite?