Brayden's 2 Month Wellness Visit

Today I took Brayden to his 2 month wellness check up.

Weight: 13lbs 2oz (75th percentile)

Height: 24.5 inches (90th percentile)

Brayden looks great! He's growing like a weed, eating, pooping and sleeping well. More often than not I'm getting 4-5 hour stretches, which is awesome. Brayden has really begun to smile a lot and we're constantly trying to make funny noises and faces to make him smile. The doctor says he should start giggling soon. I can't wait!! Brayden is very alert and can focus on objects and watch things move. He is also tracking very well, which I think is because he needs to always have one eye on his big sister.

The hardest part of today's visit was the shots Brayden had to get. He got 2 shots and it was heartbreaking to hear him cry. I remember when Katelyn was that little and got her shots for the first time. I think she remembers too because I'm pretty sure she cried more than he did watching him get his shots today. In fact it took her till we got home to calm down. She doesn't even cry like that when she gets shots. 

Please continue to pray that Brayden's acid reflux keeps getting better. We didn't have to increase his medication dosage, but I would love for him to be fully off the meds by his 4 month wellness visit.

Brayden made the wall again

I was excited to see Brayden's 1 month picture framed and on the wall at Picture People when we were there last Friday to have his 2 month pictures taken. What a handsome little man!

When it rains...

Last week we had a week of terrible rain storms. So bad that we even experienced a tornado at one point! Who knew that such bad weather could ever hit Southern California, the land of beautiful sunshine. I've never seen storms like this in the 7 years I've lived here. In fact I moved from OR to CA to get out of the constant rain. 


Needless to say we didn't make it out of the house much last week and had to find fun activities to do at home. Katelyn was such a trooper, especially since she's used to being out of the house and playing with friends several times a week.

So when it rains we...

read books in the rocking chair

cuddle on the couch under a blanket

help Daddy vaccuum

We also colored, watched Elmo, danced with the Imagination Movers and Ke$ha's song "Tik Tok." And when the rain stopped Wednesday morning we went to Bible study and on Friday morning, we went to have Brayden's 2 month pictures taken.

Just for a comparison

Here are both my kids at 2 months old!

Brayden is 2 Months Old

I had Brayden's 2 Month pictures taken today at The Picture People. After having Katelyn's pictures taken every month her first year I've finally found a photographer there that I love and have now used her 3 times. She's great with the kids and Brayden responds well to her. If you ever head over there to have pictures taken ask for Rhonda.

Look at how handsome my little man is?! I can't believe he's 9 weeks old already.

Relief, Sleep, an Answered Prayer

I'm so excited to report that the last 2 nights Brayden has slept a 5 hour stretch. This has been such an answer to prayer as I was feeling as though I was at my wits end. I was exhausted, trying to figure out how to run on less sleep, take care of Katelyn, spend time with Kyle, and still feel like I had some of my own time. You Mommy's out there know what I'm talking about. But having the past 2 nights of a 5 hour stretch has given me a renewed energy and has helped my patience level to increase (for lack of a better word). I owe this all to the Lord, who has answered my prayers. My prayer for more patience, my prayer for sleep and my prayer for time with my husband. I hope to report again soon that this wonderful stretch of sleep only increases and that pretty soon he'll be sleeping through the night just like Katelyn. Ahh! Won't that be nice!

Well I'm off to bed! Love, A

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New Year's Resolutions

I normally don't make New Year's Resolutions. Not that I don't make them because I can't keep them, I just don't make them. This year I decided to turn over a new leaf and make some resolutions or goals as I'm going to call them. So here I go:

1. Do NOT get pregnant in 2010!

2. Loose weight. tighten stomach. My goal is to get down to 120lbs, right around where I was when I got married. I'm going to be vulnerable and say that right now I'm 137lbs. I feel ok with this since I just had Brayden 8 weeks ago.

3. Work on my prayer life. I'm finding solace in prayer these days. I'm at peace and loving watching God work in my life and my families.

4. Continue to market and grow Rags to Stitches Boutique.

I know that 4 doesn't seem like a lot, but it is for me. I'll keep you posted on how I'm doing.

What are some of your New Year's Resolutions?

Day filled with parties

Today was a busy day for us. We were invited to 2 birthday parties.

After getting my cuties all dressed up and ready to go I had to get some pictures of them in their outfits. Here they are before we left. I love the picture of Katelyn with her hand on her face propped up on her elbow. Doesn't she have the face of a bored and ready to go toddler?

The first party we went to was for Katelyn's friend Landen. He turned 2 today and had a pirate party at his Daddy's house. They had a huge bounce house out front, fun toys inside, and yummy treats to top it off. Katelyn loved driving around in the Little Tykes car.

After Landen's party we headed to Katelyn's friend Ashlyn's birthday party. She turned 1 today and had a princess party. My friend Steph did a great job decorating her precious baby girl's birthday party. She even made the cake, cupcakes and cookies. The cake was delicious!! Katelyn had so much fun jumping around in the bounce house with her little friends. I might have to rent one of those for Katelyn's 2nd birthday.... well.... if we have a house by then. Happy 1st Birthday Ashlyn!!

Brayden's 1st smiles

Katelyn loves playing with her baby brother. He can't do much to interact with her, but he loves to watch her. He even gives her plenty of smiles!

Visit with Uncle Josh

My brother was in town for 4 days this past week visiting his good friend and college roommate. He will be back next month when my dad, his wife Siobhan and my grandparents visit, but we got to go out to dinner with him while he was here. He hasn't seen Katelyn since she was 5 1/2 months old and he'd never met Brayden. Brayden loved meeting his Uncle Josh, look he's smiling at him in the picture. Katelyn also loved spending time with her uncle, so much so that yesterday afternoon she was sitting on her little toy car saying, "bye, bye, Josh, Josh, Josh." When I asked her if she wanted to go see her uncle she said, "yes, Josh." So cute!! I'm so excited for my family to visit next month.

I wish I would've taken more pictures, but I didn't get a chance to.

Apron Sisters

I was just on Joy's Hope's blog recently and she blogged about her "Aqua Apron Sisters." Friends who she can count on always, who enjoy sharing their creative genius' together. I want that. Not that I don't have wonderful friends... I absolutely do! What I want is to gather together and become Apron Sisters. Anybody up for banning together, sharing our creativity, and of course let's not forget the cute aprons we can make. Thanks Joy for your suggestion!

Joy's Blog Post:

I truly have the most wonderful friends.

Rare friends.

Real friends.

We even have our own little club.

The Aqua Apron Sisters

A long time ago the White Apron Sisters were founded.

Among them is Alicia's mother.

They are a group of women who love to entertain, yet hate to entertain alone. Together they pool their talents, gifts and abilities to be an unstoppable force.

When Alicia grew up she founded her own branch, The Pink Apron Sisters. After being a guest at many a Pink Apron party we decided to start our own branch.

Of course it was going to be aqua...

Together we plan parties. Showers. Brunches. We each bring our unique skills, sit over coffee brainstorming and delegating. If one of us is having a birthday, a baby, an anniversary, the other six plan the party.

Oh the parties they plan.

Let me just tell you it is the best thing in the world. We have known each other for so long and are so familiar with how each other thinks that we are a crazy, productive team.

These are the kind of friends who will happily work together and leave the house cleaner than when the party started.

Don't get me started on the decorating, the food. Oh, the food.

Plus, we all share dishes, tablecloths, serving pieces.

Each of us has cute stuff, imagine cute stuff multiplied by seven!

When all of our kids get married, watch out. They are going to have Martha worthy weddings.

We have only been around for two years. In those two years we have thrown some unbelievable parties. Parties that we would never have been able to pull off alone. Parties that are special and fun. Never stressful. Isn't that how it should be?

So grab your dearest friends.

Make some aprons and plan some parties.

Read more: http://www.joyshope.com/2010/01/aqua-apron-sisters.html#ixzz0cWwJYpqy

Brayden's 6 week check up

Today I took Brayden in for his 6 week check up. I know it's weird since he's almost 8 weeks old, but that's what they called it. Brayden is doing great and growing steadily. He weighed in at 12lbs 10 oz (75 percentile) and is now 23.5 inches (75 percentile) long. He grew over 3 inches in the last 4 weeks. We had evidence of this as he's outgrown all his Newborn and 0-3 month clothes. Thank goodness for gift receipts as I just exchanged a bunch of his Christmas clothes from BabyGap for a bigger size. He is strong and can hold his neck up very well when on his tummy and is still rolling over from his back to his tummy during "tummy time." The medicine has really helped his acid reflux and I'm still praying that he'll only have to be on it a short time longer. Since we started the medicine I finally got my 4 hour stretch of sleep between 9pm-1am. However, the doctor suggested that I sleep feed him at 11pm so that I can get him to sleep till 3-4 in the morning. I'm praying it works! I'll keep you posted.

Thank you for your continued prayers, support and encouragement! We are loving watching Brayden grow and change each day.

Katelyn was such a wonderful big sister. She waited patiently in the office while Brayden had his check up. She kept pointing to the truck on the wall and saying "truck."

Katelyn was playing

with the kitchen gate and it swung and hit her in the face.

She started crying... poor baby, there were so many crocodile tears. As I comforted her I could already start to see a black and blue forming on her cheek.

She wanted to cuddle with her daddy, it made her feel better. She even let him put an ice pack on her cheek for 10 minutes. Despite her tears she was happy to smile and say cheese when I pulled out the camera. What a little ham!

I love her so much!!

Kyle went in to get Katelyn up from her nap

and this is what he found. We had a box of old receipts (our first mistake) sitting on Katelyn's hamper next to her crib. While Katelyn is really good at going in her room and getting in her crib when I say it's nap time, it doesn't always mean she falls right to sleep. Guess this was one of those days when she found another way to occupy her time before she fell asleep.

When Kyle asked her what happened, she said, "Uh Oh." Uh Oh is right, look how many receipts are in her crib with her. hahaha

Guess we learned our lesson.

Peaceful Sleeper

Look at how adorable my little peaceful sleeper is. We finally set up the pack and play in the living room so Brayden can get used to sleeping in a "crib." He seems to really like it and I'm even getting 3.5 to 4 hour stretches since he started sleeping in there. I hope those stretches only continue to lengthen. I've found that he seems to prefer sleeping on his tummy, just like his sister. I was worried about doing this at first, but he's so strong and has been rolling from his tummy to his back for weeks so that helped calm my nerves.

Of course, seems like these days you can't take out the camera with out taking a picture of Miss Katelyn. She came running up to me saying "cheese!" How could I resist this face?

Playtime

I pulled out the play mat today for Brayden because I noticed that in the last couple days he'd been enjoying watching the lights and the fish on his swing. He's becoming so much more alert and already beginning to notice his surroundings. Brayden loved the play mat and even attempted several times to bat the monkey and the elephant above him. I think Katelyn was a little jealous of him getting all the attention and she came over and laid next to him. She leaned over, gave him a kiss and said, "aaww."

On a different note, the medicine seems to be working and Brayden is sleeping so much better. I even pulled out the pack and play for him to sleep in rather than sleeping on me all night. I've found he is preferring sleeping on his tummy. Sshhh! Don't tell my pediatrician! =)

"Buddy"

Katelyn can't say Brayden yet so she calls him Buddy. It's so cute! It's usually one of the first words she says in the morning. She'll call for me in the morning, but once she's out of the crib she goes running into the living room saying, "Buddy, Buddy!" I love that she loves her new baby brother so much!! Here are some pictures of my 2 monkeys.

Sleepless Nights

I miss

Sleep!

I forgot about the days long ago when Katelyn was born and I was up nursing everything 3 hours, hoping, praying for a 4 hour stretch or longer. Now here I am again

hoping,

praying

that Brayden will begin to sleep a 4 hour stretch or longer. About 2-3 weeks ago Brayden started struggling with colic and acid reflux. He would have several crying episodes during the day and at least one in the middle of the night. He would scream, arch his back, kick his feet and it seemed as though nothing would soothe him. Having 1 baby I could sleep all day, but with 2 I couldn't.

I was loosing my sanity!

Finally, after spending 2.5 hours one night crying almost as much as Brayden I decided to have him checked by the pediatrician.

Colic. She confirmed my suspicions. She gave me a prescription and it's working. She told me I had to give up milk, my most favorite beverage. Brayden went back to sleeping 3 hour stretches, the crying uncontrollably stopped, and I was able to get more than 45 minute stretches of sleep. He still only sleeps in his swing or on my chest at night, but we're working towards "back to sleep." Katelyn was a tummy sleeper right from the start, she was strong, Brayden is even stronger, maybe I'll try tummy sleeping with him too.

All I know is that being a mommy of 2 is hard. My attention is constantly divided and there are times I just want to cuddle and enjoy my new baby - he's growing so fast - but it's hard because Katelyn has more needs right now than he does. I know this too shall pass and it will get better. I tell myself that often. Along with, "God help me be the best mother to both of my babies that I can be." Then I remember not to expect so much from myself. But at the end of the day I can't help but strive to be super mom.

Please pray for me, pray for Brayden. Pray that the meds will continue to work and that he'll grow out of the need for them soon. Oh and that I can drink milk again soon. The cravings are worse than pregnancy ones.

Circle Family Christmas

Every year we gather as a family to celebrate Christmas with Kyle's dad's side of the family. We draw names from a hat for a gift exchange, eat a yummy dinner, and enjoy one another's company. This year we have 2 new additions to our celebration - Brayden and Brendan's fiance Ashtyn. We are so excited for our new additions and can't wait till August when we can officially call Ashtyn family.

So I'm bummed this picture didn't really turn out well. My nice camera's battery died just as we were getting ready to take the picture. Since I had everyone posed I had no choice but to use my point and shoot back up. As you can see it didn't come out well.

Look how big our little buddy is! At 6 weeks old I'm guessing he's around 10lbs already.