A Day in the Life of a Bman.

Mom's been telling me I can write a post for a long time now, so I think today's the day...

So, you all know me as Brayden, but I really like to be called B-kinz. My mom thought it'd be a neat idea for me to tell you how a day in my life goes. I really like to type on the computer so I decided to share a day of my life with you.

Every morning I scream really loudly and say "Dadadadadaaaa!" until mom comes to get me. She tells me that her name is Mama, not Dada. Secretly, I know this but I think it's really funny to get her riled up.

My cat Gracie (she thinks shes moms but really, we both know she is mine!) waits for mom to get me and bring me out of my room. I wave to her and momma tells me to say hi. I don't. But I do wave.

Then we go downstairs and my other cat, Roscoe is there. I wave to him and then mom takes me to the big mirror at the bottom of the stairs and I wave to her in it, and she waves to me.

We go to mom and dads room and I play for awhile and then I get my breakfast. Mom usually puts me in my walker after breakfast and I zoom around the house. Mom can't believe how fast I am! I can also back my walker up, turn around corners etc...I really think I'm ready to drive a car. My 'rents say I have to wait though.

After mom gets ready (it takes her f-o-r-e-v-e-r) we usually go for rides in the car to fun places like the grocery store, the mall, Grammy's house. I really like to ride in the car. And I love it when strangers stare at me and say how cute and smart I am!

When Dad comes home from work I like to show off for him and do all my new tricks. I shake my head No-No, wave, say Dada and Baba, make my "Popeye" face and some other stuff. He really eats it up.

At night we usually all play. I crawl all over and mom and dad chase me. I think they get more tired than I do. My favorite time is at night when I get my bath. I sure do love bath time. Then it's time for bed. Mom and Dad take me back to my room, feed me and rock me and they put me to bed. I really like that they are both there.

That's really all I have time for...my walker is calling my name! Bye!

It's Official

Jon and Kate are now a thing of the past....TLC is renaming the show, Kate Plus 8.

I've been reading that Jon is going to be on a new reality show with Michael Lohan called "Divorced Dads Club" which explains that sudden friendship.

I really hate that all of this is playing out in the media and that harsh words are being slung from both sides. What will their kids think when they get older?

Your thought?

Oh and here's the link to the People article:
http://tvwatch.people.com/2009/09/29/jon-gosselin-dropped-from-jon-kate-plus-8/

Another food post

Last night we went to dinner at a friends house (and if you're reading this, I still want your recipe from last night!) and I brought banana pudding.

Now, it wasn't just any banana pudding, it was the Eagle Brand milk recipe. Oh yum.


Here's how you make it:

Ingredients
1 (14-ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk (NOT evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups cold water
1 (4-serving) package instant vanilla pudding mix
2 cups (1 pint) whipping cream, whipped
36 vanilla wafers
3 medium bananas, sliced and dipped in lemon juice

Instructions
In large bowl, combine EAGLE BRAND® and water. Add pudding mix; beat until well blended. Chill 5 minutes.
Fold in whipped cream. Spoon 1 cup pudding mixture into 2 1/2-quart glass serving bowl.
Top with one-third each of the vanilla wafers, bananas and remaining pudding. Repeat layering twice, ending with pudding mixture. Chill thoroughly. Garnish as desired. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.

So if you need something to make for a friend or a party or whatever, try this recipe out. You won't be disappointed!

Ochocinco

I'm really not a sports person. I know that may come as a shock. In fact, watching any sport on tv is just about a guaranteed naptime for me.

Then, 2 years ago, I discovered...Ochocinco. Aka, Chad Johnson...but I guess he legally changed his name to Chad Ochocinco. Whatever.

Him:

I've come to find out that most people find him irritating and such. Not me. He cracks me up, and better yet, keeps me awake. I even bought a Chad Johnson jersey (which totally irritates Chris). Before B, we used to go on Friday or Saturday to a local wing place and eat chicken and watch football, him in his Dallas Cowboys jersey and me in my Bengals attire.

So should I get B an ochocinco onesie?

BBB and Yummy Goodness

Today we ran some errands and then came home to watch the game. I decided to make quesadillas for dinner and oh my word they were good. I sliced up some chicken and threw it in a pan with 1/3C of water and a package of fajita seasoning and then let it cook. I had just bought some jalapeno cheddar tortillas so I put some cheese on them and then the chicken and baked it. SO GOOD!

Then we headed to Bikes, Blues and BBQ to see my brother play - he's the one in the white shirt.

B loved the music! We also got to see some friends who have a hot rod company and they had some beautiful cars there.

A few things that B has been doing for awhile that I keep forgetting to mention:

- He waves

- He reaches for who he wants to hold him

- He gets shy and puts his head down

- He shakes his head "no-no!"

Yet another reason I love fall

(note to self: learn how to make the heart symbol on here).
(another note - to reader Rachel - I tried to email you about the invisalign, but it came back to me!)

Onto the post...

Here are four more reasons to love the fall...

Rachel Zoe - though it's almost over. Sigh.

SYTYCD is doing their first ever fall season! Yay!

Biggest Loser...of course!

Say Yes to The Dress! Love it!

What are your favorite fall shows?

How to clear out a waiting room in 10 seconds (or less)

So Chris hasn't been feeling too hot lately. Today he called the doctor and they were able to fit him in on an early appointment. He walked into the office and they were going over his symptoms and handed him this:

I guess they thought he could have swine flu! He texted me and said "They made me wear a mask. The nice thing is I have the waiting room to myself...I sat down and people slowly started moving..."

I can see why! Thankfully it just turned out to be a viral infection - he got a shot and a special diet for the next 2 days (called the BRAT diet, haha).

So if you ever want a little privacy in the waiting room, take one of these with you...

Monogrammed Stuff for BOYS

I seriously love all things monogrammed. Brayden has a couple of monogrammed things - a diaper bag (well, I guess that ones for me) a big and a couple of burp rags. But finding things that are monogrammed for boys can be, well, a little difficult. Especially because I like really boyish things for B. I love seeing him dressed in jeans, shoes and a button down or matching Daddy (when Chris lets me get away with that!).

So my Mom has been on a Brayden Buying Spree lately and getting a bunch of monogrammed stuff! I thought I'd share in case you have a little boy in your life who needs some of these things!

A little stool with B's name on it!

A blanket from the Dr. Seuss collection (PB kids):

And you might remember his toy basket - she ordered one for our house too! LOVE this!!! (It's from RH Baby and Child):

Have you seen any cute, boyish monogrammed stuff I'm missing? Let me know!

Marriage after 1 month?

Has anyone else read that Khloe Kardashian is getting married this weekend? She's known Odom for 1 month!

I was talking to Chris about it last night and he said that they're probably getting married before he heads off to training camp and basketball season starts. But still, one month doesn't seem like very long...

So what do you think of this? Would you do it? Personally, I think I'd wait until maybe basketball season is over - that would give them more time to get to know each other.

Mr. Mullet Man

Help!

My child has a mullet! Well, okay, maybe it's a micro mullet. But it's still a mullet!

Want proof? (FYI, the car was parked and off - we were finishing our Chickfila before heading into Wal-Mart).

This one's not proof, it was just funny:

I think a trim might be in order sooner than later. Maybe next time we see Julie to get Chris' hair cut, she can just take a little off the back for B! A mohawk, I'd be fine with but a mullet's gotta go!

Big News in Our House!

TWO big things happened last night while Chris was at the game.

First, this (ignore my high pitched excitement):



And then after he crawled and I got it on video, he crawled again - this time over to his chair where he not only pulled up to his knees but ALL THE WAY to standing!

Chris is SO upset that he missed it, but at least I had the camera nearby!

GO B!

Halloween Sneak Peak

I bought a few cute onesies when I was in Tulsa at BRU and I had to share them!



For Halloween...




This one I picked up today at Wal-Mart:

Some Turkey Day cuties...

Is it wrong to call them cute when there for a boy? I sure hope not.

Don't forget to join the discussion in my BlogFrog community on holiday traditions!

I Don't Have Swine Flu...

Chris and my dad are going to the big Razorback game today. I refused to take B because it's a late game (starts at 6:45) and it's gross outside. But B and I went with Chris to get what he needed for tailgating and we found a t-shirt that Chris just had to have...

It says "I don't have swine flu. I have Hog fever!"


B dressed up for the game:

His new paci clip!

So B and I were going to go buy Chris' birthday gift but it's just plain nasty outside and I don't want him out in this weather. So, right now we're watching Toddlers & Tiaras (Chris would die if he knew that!) and playing! I'm sure we will watch a little of the game later on!

Be sure to stop by my BlogFrog community and tell me about your holiday traditions!

Did You Know???

Actually, there are two things I wanted to mention today.

1 - Did you know that you can visit my BlogFrog community and chat? It's true. Use the widget on my lefthand toolbar that says "Visit Community" and you can discuss whatever you want through my online community!

2 - That you can help out Arkansas Children's Hospital by going here: http://xbox.childrensmiraclenetwork.org/default.aspx
Register and vote for them to receive a new gameroom!

I'll post more later!

First trip to the Balloon Room

That title is misleading. It actually sounds like the balloon room is some sort of fun house. Nope. It's the sick kids room at the pediatricians office.

B isn't technically sick. But, the other night we were at my parents house and my dad was playing with Brayden. Then the next day, dad ended up at the doctors office sick. And, he had been contagious, but we didn't know it! So I took Brayden in for this little cough he's had just to make sure he's okay.

The doctor gave him a rx for a cough medicine, and we can give it to him as we see fit. So, technically, he's not sick - the doctor couldn't find anything wrong with him.

I also ended up at the doctor today (not for being sick) and they took the largest vial of blood from my arm that I've ever seen in my life. Seriously. I almost passed out. Fun times.

Calling 911

Last night we had a bad experience. One of many to come I'm sure. It's all part of being a parent I guess. We were getting Bman ready for bed. I had to take him to our pediatrician Monday to go over his test results from ACH. By the way, for those who know about thickener, we were able to switch him from Thick It to Simply Thick which means it no longer takes me 5-10 mins to make one bottle. Yay.

Anyway, back to the story. While we were at the pedi's office, I mentioned that Brayden had a dry cough at night and in the early morning. At night sometimes he would cough enough to wake himself up. He checked him out and he thinks that B's having allergies because the weather is changing. He told me to give him infant Claritin. Easy enough, right? Not so much.

It's really, really hard to thicken baby medicine (or maybe it's not, and I'm missing some sort of trick out there) and get it all back into the syringe. Finally, I thought I had it thick enough (another thing that is hard to tell in a small amount like medicine) so we gave it to him.

Brayden started choking really, really hard. Chris was holding him, and he did exactly what they taught us in the baby cpr class. He flipped him over and did the thrusting motions on his back. A few min's later, Brayden was fine and headed to bed.

But I learned something - I am not good in an emergency situation. I totally lost it and started dialing 9-1-1. Chris finally convinced me he was okay. But what if this happens when I'm alone? Maybe I'll be able to pull it together.

Baby Shower and Big Games

I'm very excited to be planning a baby shower for a friend of mine. I've planned wedding showers many times, but not baby showers, so I think it's going to be a lot of fun! She is having a little boy (yay for team blue!).

So I need your tips/advice/ideas. What have you done at showers and had a great time with? Any websites you like that have planning ideas? Pictures? Suggestions?

I am just so excited for her - I want this to be very special and memorable!

Last year at this time, this is where we were:

Arkansas plays at 6:45 or something late like that this Saturday and I was fearing that B and I were going to have to go. Thankfully my Dad stepped up to the plate and he's going with Chris which means that I don't have to keep B out late, I get to go shopping with my Mom and I don't have to get angry with the people that cannot seem to get out of their own way when leaving the stadium! Yay!

Fall Home Tour!

I finally got my fall decorations up, so I thought I'd share a few pictures with you! And, at the end, I'll put up a MckLinky - if you want to share a post on your fall decorations, just add yourself to the list and link back here so your friends can join in! I'll leave it open through tomorrow!

Here is the wreath on my door - I'll have to get a new one for next year. This one's been beaten up by the sun!

Some of the scarecrows in my foyer - and Bman!
This little tin pumpkin hangs in our hall bath:

Our breakfast table:

More of the foyer:

Our fireplace - my favorite thing...

A table I have in the fam room:

That's about it! I do a lot more at Christmas time but I sure love fall! So show me what you did to decorate!

8 Months Old!

Today is Brayden's 8 month birthday!

What are you up to this month?

- You weigh about 17lbs.

- You are almost crawling.

- You shake your head "no-no" back to us when we do it or say it.

- You sometimes wave hi and bye.

- You've gone from thickening your food from honey to nectar consistency.

- You are OFF YOUR PREVACID! That means the only rx you use is the thickit now.

- You've started to get mad if we take something away from you - really mad - that you're not supposed to have.

- You still won't say Mama...but we hear Dada constantly.

- Granddaddy is your very most favorite person.

- You can zoom around the house in your walker.

- You enjoy watching football with your Daddy...

- ...and riding in your sling with Mommy.

- You're in a size 3 diaper and wear 6 month clothes. Sometimes you can wear bigger clothing, it just depends on the brand.

More as I think of it...

Makeover

Not for me - but for my blog. If you've used a company to design your blog, who and did you use and did you like them?

Today Chris and I were running errands and we stopped at Chickfila. We had accumulated some free meal coupons and so we spent a whopping $1.83 for all this...

In case you can't tell that is 2 Chickfila sandwiches, a large fry and 2 large teas! Oh I just love Chickfila. Tonight we went to the Catfish Hole to celebrate my parent's first Grandparents Day (which is tomorrow). I'd actually never heard of Grandparents Day so I had to run around to get things ready!

Buh-Buh-Buh-Bump It

It's always been a not so secret aspiration of mine to have big ole southern girl hair. You know what I mean. Hair that's been teased within an inch of it's life and stands so tall it defies gravity. That's what I want.

So my husband, who is so sweet to remember my not so secret hair goals in life, decides there is a magic cure for my ultra thin, fine hair that refuses to so much as hold a curl from a hot roller. And, out of his (and my) character, orders from an infomercial.

The product? Bump-It. Have you seen them? It's a plastic device you put under your hair and it instantly gives you the volume any Southerner would envy. He surprised me with it and I was so excited! Years of hair anguish could be resolved with one simple product!

But, alas, it was too good to be true. I'd post pictures but I looked too ridiculous to show you. I even tried the mini bump its and couldn't get those to work either.

So I guess it's back to hopelessly teasing my hair so that it can look good for 5 minutes and then fall out. But it was worth a shot.

Return to Children's Hospital

Yesterday we drove to Little Rock for Brayden's swallow study.

Back at the NICU:

We were so fortunate that Dr. Arrington (the doctor God used to heal B) was working! He and Sayward (the world's best nurse) came out to see Brayden, and talk to us for a little bit! (Hi Melissa from WI - I'm doing a shout out for your Dad!):

Then we headed down to B's test...which is where the fun began...

Not that fun - that was B playing with his socks. The fun I'm talking about is the fact that our appointment got moved to Sept 9 of NEXT year! What?! I had called Wednesday because I had a bad feeling about this appointment so I wanted to confirm it. Everything was confirmed for yesterday at 1:30.

Well, they had cancelled us and had no openings! So we ended up waiting....

And waiting...Mom bought B a Scout dog - he's an icon at the hospital. Everyone took turns entertaining him and now I have further proof that he really is the best baby. He handled 8 lonnnng hours in the car and many more sitting in the hospital without issue!

Finally, the radiologist agreed to stay late and do the test at 4:30. Unfortunately, Brayden did not pass as much as we hoped he would though he improved. Everytime he has any liquid I have to thicken it until it's the consistency of honey. Now, he moved up one level to the consistency of nectar. We will make another appt for April/May and then we are hoping he can just take straight liquid (all of this was because of his silent aspiration).

We finally got home and went to bed around 10:30. Thanks for all of your prayers!

A toy basket that isn't just for toys

I took B to my mom's today and she had bought him the cutest toy basket ever.

So instead of putting toys in it, we put B in it!

Hey! That's my name!

He took his "first steps" in the basket - he walked with the assistance of the side of the basket from one end to the other (about 3 steps).

And he was very pleased with himself.

I sat him down:

Tomorrow we go back to Children's Hospital for B's swallow study. B is fine - but there are hundreds if not thousands of other kids who will be there who aren't fine. We are so thankful to have only been at ACH a short time compared to so many others. Please join me in remembering them each and every day in your prayers. Thank you!

So I Ordered a Sling...

Anyone have a Baby K'Tan?

I ended up ordering this one from Target - they carry a ton of baby carriers for a LOT cheaper than the actual site - I saved close to $20 by not ordering it through the maker.

I ordered this one in black...NOT camo!

The thing I like about it is there is an extra piece of fabric that you can use to really secure baby in the hip carry position...
Or the front carry...
And there isn't extra yards of fabric for me to get caught on/in something (I am possibly the clutzyess person you will ever meet in your life!).

And the great thing is that if I don't like it I can take it down to my local store and return it.

Our Weekend

We had a very busy weekend...look how worn out B was! I went looking for a sling yesterday without much luck. I tracked down a Balboa sling but we couldn't get it to fit well enough. B kept trying to climb out!


Brayden and Daddy watched the game...well, part of it. Cox managed to not get the game on the tv until it was almost half over.

This was yesterday after we finally finished all of our running around. I cleaned the house when we got home but only managed to get a few of my fall decorations out so I dont have pics of it all yet.

Brayden talking to his doggies.