Strike a pose!!!

As discussed earlier, daddy and I decided to have Brayden both baptised and dedicated. He was baptised in the Methodist church on June 17th. In 2 weeks (August 9th) we will have him dedicated at our current church. They show a picture of them as they are being presented to the church and daddy and I really wanted a current picture of Brayden to be shown. We tried desperately to get a good picture of him smiling. But they never do what you want them to....

He looks confused...

Duh...

Eyes WAY too big here!

Eyes too SMALL here...

Watching the dog walk by...

HA!

Eyes shut...

Falling asleep...

Eyes shut again!!!

No smile at all...

The winner is...

This is the picture we are going with! No smile, but still precious! And you can see his big beautiful blue eyes :)

Living in the Sunshine!

CAUTION: The whiteness of my body with no tan may be blinding!

It is obvious that I have a little boy who LOVES to be outside! When he is fussy or crying, we can usually take him outside and walk the sidewalk to calm him. He likes to sit in the garage, or back porch, or walk to the neighbors house with daddy. Last week, daddy took us to Wal-Mart and bought us a covered baby pool, so I could take Brayden outside and play with him! We love our turtle pool! Brayden probably doesn't like it as much as me, but that's okay...next year he will!

*Credits to daddy for being the photographer :) Love you!

Serious father/son conversations...

I gave Brayden to daddy this afternoon to get some work done for school. While I was working, I had to stop and laugh at the conversation going on between the two of them...

During the baseball game...

Daddy: Okay son...you are a cubbie fan. That means you cannot like the Cardinals, or the Pirates, or the White Sox. Do you understand?

Brayden: Coo

Daddy: Cubby's don't like those teams, so you can't like them either.

All dressed up...and no place to go!

I just love Brayden's new hat! I love it so much, that we got dressed up to go OUT to lunch yesterday and show it off!! Don't you just love the simple pleasures in life?!?

Ooooohhhh, Aaaaahhhhh!

While we were in Louisiana visiting Nana and Granddaddy, Brayden got a new toy! Nana bought him a tummy time toy, which converts up to a hanging toy as well. It plays 5 songs and lights up. When Brayden hits an animal the songs change. He hasn't gotten the hang of hitting it yet, but he LOVES the lights! We've enjoyed watching him play with it so much, that daddy went and bought him another light up toy this week!!

Do you know what time it is?!?!

Tummy Time!!!

We have been trying to get Brayden to use his hands more to push himself up during tummy time. However...he just wants to eat them!!

Mommy's Favorite Time of Day!!

No matter what kind of hectic day we have had, our nighttime routine never changes. At 8:30 or 9:00 Brayden gets his last bottle of the day. After his bottle we play on the floor for about 5 minutes. Then it's my favorite time...BATH TIME!! Brayden has really learned to love the water and mommy really loves to watch him. He coo's and smiles during bath time. I love those precious sounds! He is starting to splash a little bit and never cries or gets upset when water gets in his face. He is such a joy to watch! After bath time, we dress him for bed and comb his hair. We place him in his crib, cut on the mobile and walk out. Within 10 minutes Brayden is out for the night! I'm so glad he goes to bed so easily. I think it's because he feels so relaxed after his bath...or maybe that's just me :)

Books, books, and more books...

It seems like everywhere I turn people are recommending books I should be reading!!! Not that research isn't important, but every baby isn't the same people!! I've been so stressed out trying to do the "right" things for Brayden that I haven't stopped to listen to my mommy gut telling me I'm doing okay. A certain book I've been reading which talks about how to get your baby to sleep throught the night...doesn't do crap for you when your child has a cow's milk protein allergy. Another book I'm reading that talks about amounts to feed your child each day when they are formula fed...doesn't work when the book has the weights listed 2 pounds lighter than they should be!!! And the third book I'm reading which tells you benchmarks your child should be at each week is totally UNREALISTIC!

Brayden is eating, growing, pooping, peeing, and sleeping through the night most nights. So I have to be doing something right! The newest stress of the week has been that one book said Brayden should be sitting up with his head fully supported when I hold him at the waste. Now...he is only 3 months old and this seemed like a hard task for him! He holds his head up unsupported and can lift it on his tummy, but wasn't doing what this "book" said he should be doing! I was so stressed about it that I called the pediatrician.

Yes, I'm one of those moms.

She assured me that he was well and healthy and not to worry. Then the next book I read said he shouldn't be eating more than 30 ounces a day. WHAT! He was taking 5-6 ounces 5-6 times a day. Usually around 32. So again...I called the pediatrician. They assured me that he could have up to 36 ounces in a 24 hour period so we were doing fine.

I'm so over the book thing. I'm done over analyzing things and I'm doing what my gut says. I love the website "babycenter" because it gives me great benchmarks for Brayden but doesn't stress me out! I also like the book "your baby week by week" because it lists games to help with development.

I just know I want what is best for my baby boy! I'm going to do whatever I can to make sure he is where he is supposed to me...healthy, happy, and loved! No book needs to tell me how to make my baby happy and loved!

The letter you never want to get...

Last week, I was delivered the most terrible mail!!!

JURY DUTY!

One of the exemptions for Jury Duty is if you have a child under 7, and you are the primary care taker. So I'm thinking "That's me, I'm exempt!"
So I get my excuse notarized and mailed in. Then yesterday I got a phone call....

Lady: Mrs. Bridges, a teacher is considered an occupation that should have childcare at all times. You are not exempt, see you in court.

(Let me mention that this jury duty is 2 weeks, and the last 2 weeks of my summer)

Me: You don't understand. I have a 12 week old son. I'm not able to get him care until the school year. My husband coaches all summer and my mother works. There is no one else to watch him but a day care.

Lady: I have heard every excuse in the book, you must be here. Day care will be fine.

Me: (Breaking into hysterics) I'm not ready...I can't...He's so little...please please help me!!!!

Lady: Maim you are breaking my heart. I can transfer you to another week, what about Aug. 24th?

Me: I teach! That's the first week of school. In first grade you can't have them start with someone else and expect a good year! Please, he is so little and I'm not ready!!!

Lady: I'll see what I can do...

I'm still waiting to see what is going to happen, but I'm hoping I cried my way out of jury duty! Whether I have it or not, it was apparent to me that I have no accepted the reality that summer is coming to an end. That means I won't get my precious all day long like I'm used to. Like I said to this lady one million times...I'm not ready!!! I want to wake up with my baby boy and have all day with him. I know what he wants when he cries, and I know what he needs by watching him. I know we have great care for him, but I'm just not ready!!!!!!!!!!

Baby Feet!

One of the things I wish I would have known about when Brayden was born, was the plates made by the Mad Platter. Since having Brayden, I have had lots of friends get them done. This weekend I decided to go ahead and get one made of Brayden, even though he is 3 months old. His feet are bigger than when he was born (obviously) but they are still precious! We took him today after church and got his footprints put on a plate. I got them done in red so I can display it in the china cabinet in my kitchen. (our kitchen is black and red) Brayden's plate will be ready next week and I cannot wait to go pick it up! While I was there I couldn't help but look around and get ideas for Christmas gifts! They have such neat things! So to my family who thinks this plate is too precious like me...don't worry, we will get you something cute too!

Three Generations...

One of the most exciting things about being pregnant, was that I got to share it with my good friend Jessa! Almost every baby picture I have of myself (up until I'm like 6!) has Jessa in it! Jessa's mom and my mom were pregnant together and lived next door to each other. They took walks together every day, and shared advice when feeling scared. They were able to share their pregnancies together just like Jessa and I did. It's was so nice to have someone to talk/relate to when you body is doing crazy things! Yesterday she had her precious baby girl...Annie Parker! 7 pounds 13 ounces, and 20.5 inches...Born 3 months after Brayden! Brayden and I were going to wait until she got home to go see her, but mommy got too excited!!! So we took a trip to see her at the hospital today. As you can see in her picture, she is a gorgeous new mom and all are doing great! I'm so grateful she had an easy labor and delivery and everyone is healthy! I can't wait for us to take Brayden and Annie Parker to the park, and airport, and zoo to get pictures in the same places we have pictures together! And I couldn't help but notice during our visit with Jessa today....Brayden was smiling and flirting with Annie Parker! ;)

Jessa and I (both pregnant) with our mom's

Jessa and I with our new little ones...Brayden and Annie Parker

12 weeks!

Brayden is 12 weeks!

At 12 weeks he:

• can tell the difference between mommy and daddy's voice
• loves to listen to music
• sucks his thumb when he gets tired
• sleeps in his crib-this is hard for mommy!
• likes to get high 5's
• smiles at funny faces
• laughs out loud a lot
• coo's a lot more
• starting to recognize his name
• likes to be outside
• raising his head during tummy time
• has moved to 7 ounce bottles, 5 times a day
• drools!

Brayden's new toy!

Brayden has really found his hands this week. In discovering his hands, he also discovered his thumb. I really should probably discourage this, but it's too darn cute!!! He really is only doing it when he is tired. It's a good signal for mom and dad to know it's nap time!

My road trip in pictures!!

I was so excited about my trip to Nana and Granddaddy's that I got mommy and daddy up nice and early! 5:30 am!

I met my Uncle Ryan! He's a funny guy!

The first day, Nana and mommy took me to Wal-Mart to take my 12 week pictures.

I got to meet Papaw Moss!

At the mall, we rode on the double decker carousel. Granddaddy rode the sea horse, daddy rode the elephant, and mommy, Nana, and I sat on the bench!

Nana let me lay on the blanket that used to be hers and play!

Then when I spit up all over her blanket, I got to lay on daddy's baby blanket!

I played with Uncle Ryan some more...

Mrs. Debbie let me borrow her swing while I visited Louisiana. Mine was too big to carry with us!

I wore my new hat...

I played with Nana and her neat light up fan...

While everyone ate dinner, I ate my thumb and watched the cubs game! (seriously, he laid there for an hour and a half watching the game!!!)

Daddy took me around town to show me off...

I wore my shades...

I played in Granddaddy's lap...

Nana got up early to play with me before I left.

Wow! I'm pooped!

It's such a long drive, that we stopped in a hotel on the way home! It was my first time staying in a hotel!! I like the big bed

Now we are back at home! I can't wait to go back to Nana and Granddaddy's!

I thought I loved you then...

Chad,

You are absolutely the love of my life! From the moment I met you, I knew there was something special about you. My love for you was instant. I remember thinking "I have never loved anyone this much!" And what made it even more special, was I knew you felt the same way!

Then we were married and my love grew even stronger for you. You became a husband who made me feel loved and protected. We built a beautiful home together and were led the the church "just right" for us. I remember thinking "I love him more than the day I met him! How is that possible?!"

Then I became pregnant. I didn't think it could happen, but I loved you even more than the day we were married! You were understanding and helpful as I went through 9 months of new feelings! I remember thinking just days before birth, "I have never loved Chad more!"

Then we had Brayden. The most amazing experience of my life, and you gave it to me! Once again I find myself saying "I can't possibly love you more than I do at this time in our lives!"

Thank you for being you and all the amazing gifts you bring to my life. I love your love for our family and the Lord. I love that you hug me every day as soon as you get home. I love that you work so hard to give us things you think we deserve. I love how we know each other inside and out, and there is no pretending. I love that you know how I feel, before I even tell you. You have become my spirit and my joy.

I look forward to our long future together and to all the experiences that will make me love you even more than I can think or imagine!

Happy Anniversary Baby! It has been an amazing 3 years!

Brooke :)

The List of Importants

We are preparing to take our first road trip with Brayden! I have probably over packed for him, but I don't want to get 15 hours away and not have everything I need! I have his clothes, formula, diapers, you know...the necessities. I am also taking his bouncer, nice stroller, and baby carrier. To all my mommy friends-anything you think we should take besides the obvious basics? I'd love to hear your advice about packing!

Brayden's Wubba!

Q: What is a wubba you ask???

A: It's Brayden's new paci which is attached to a puppy dog! Because Brayden is having a hard time keeping just a paci in his mouth, the wubba makes it easier for him to hold onto it! Since he has found his hands, I thought he may be able to hold his wubba now. Isn't it too precious!!!!?????? (My husband says I say "precious" all the time....and after reviewing my blog, I'm afraid it's true!!)