30 Days of Thankfulness

I thought I would track 30 days of what I am thankful for the month of November and share on the last day.  They are not in any particular order.

I am thankful for...

1.  MY FAMILY:  I love being a wife and a mom more than anything.  I love Wade and Brax with all of my heart.  I love that we are a family, and no one else really knows what life is like between us.  Being a family is what makes everything else in life bearable.  It's so fun to watch Brax grow up, and I can't wait for what is in store for our family in the future.

2.  GOD:  I am not sure where I would be without having faith in God.  I know there is a certain path for me and always being able to pray to God has helped me get through tough times.  He has provided so much in my life, and I will be eternally grateful.

3.  MY PARENTS:  They have loved me unconditionally and always supported me.  They instilled the importance of religion, education, and work ethic in me.  They are examples of how to be a good parent and a good person.  They would do anything for me.  They are wonderful grandparents.  I would not be who I am today if I didn't have my parents.  I am so glad they are such an important part of my life.

4.  MY FRIENDS:  I don't have very many really close friends, but I cherish the few close friends I do have.  I don't see my friends as often now with a baby especially during the school year, but it is so nice to know other people care about you even if I stay mainly in contact by text.  I cherish the times I do get to see them.

5.  MY EDUCATION:  I am so glad my parents emphasized the value of education.  Earning my degrees at such a young age and sticking with my teaching career has provided a good solid job that I enjoy.  Education can change situations in many positive ways, and I got to experience that firsthand when my dad went back to school when I was in junior high.

6.  MY SIBLINGS:  Even though we all live so far apart, my siblings are the only people that know what it was like to grow up in our family.  We will always have a connection that no one else can share.  I always look forward to seeing them.  They love Brax, and I am so glad he has cousins for fun play time.

7.  THE MEDICAL WORLD:  After going through infertility and Brax's heart surgery, I am so so thankful for medical advances.  More importantly, I am so very grateful to the people that dedicate their life and time toward making these advances.  Without current medicine, we would not have had the opportunity to have Brax nor would we have had the opportunity to fix Brax's heart so he could grow and be a healthy child.

8.  SPORTS:  Playing sports has really affected the person I am today.  Growing up I was involved in sports at a very young age.  I was able to develop my athletic ability and felt very successful at something besides academics.  It gave me the opportunity to make friends and form a bond on a team.  Also, playing sports helped me understand sports so I know what is going on when I watch them.  Wade is very interested in sports, and it gave us a common bond when first started dating.  It really helped that we are both Husker fans.  Today, I still enjoy shooting around and playing horse, and more than anything, I enjoy golfing.  Wade taught me how to golf, and I know all the time I spent playing sports made it easier for me to learn.  It is one of our favorite things to do together.  I can't wait to teach our children how to play sports.

9.  OUR HOME:  I always said I was not going to buy a house until I was married.  My parents especially my mom made our home such a warm and comfortable place.  I still love being able to go home to the same place I grew up as a child and share that place with Brax.  I was so proud and happy when Wade and I bought a home together a few months before we were married.  I love decorating and organizing our home and still have so many ideas for it.  It is so nice to have neighbors near us with young children that we have become friends with.  Even though I am sure we will outgrow our home eventually and move to a new one, I really enjoy making this a safe and loving place for Brax that he enjoys.  This home has such special memories.  It is where Wade proposed and where we our raising our child who fills this home with more joy and laughter and sleepless nights than I could ever have imagined.

10.  MY IN-LAWS:  I am very fortunate to have married into such a wonderful and caring family.  Everyone has welcomed me with open arms and were very excited to make me a part of the family.  They are always excited to visit us and to have us come visit.  They love Brax more than anything!

11.  U.S.A.:  I am extremely grateful I live in a country where we have so many freedoms especially as a woman.  Thank you to all the service men and women who make this a possibility for all of us!  They make such a sacrifice along with their family members.

12.  TARGET:  We live so close to a Target, and it happens to be where we go almost every Friday night after dinner.  It is so nice to be able to stop at one place to do grocery shopping, baby shopping, me shopping, and everything else.  I have a feeling "Target" will be in the top ten of Brax's first words.

13.  BASIC NEEDS:  Every time I pray, I always pray for the people who are without the basic needs of water, food, shelter, and love.  I can't imagine growing up or even being an adult who has to really worry about these basic needs.  I am thankful that I didn't have to grow up worrying about basic needs and that Wade and I are able to provide for Brax.  Most importantly, I am so happy that Brax feels safe and is loved by so many people in his life.

14.  TECHNOLOGY:  It is so nice to have such great amenities thanks to technology.  I am able to update our family through this blog.  It is nice to be able to be able to take pictures of every day things in life and have them available right away.  Emailing and texting is an easy and fast way to stay in touch with family and friends.  We found our nanny through Facebook.  I am anxious to start skyping with Brax and the grandparents soon, too.

15.  CHOCOLATE:  I enjoy anything chocolate flavored as my favorite dessert.  I love chocolate candy, brownies, chocolate cake, chocolate cookies, etc.  The list could go on and on.  I really try to limit the amount of sweets I eat so it is such a treat when the holidays come around, and there are so many sweet things to choose from.

16.  AIRPLANES:  I love to travel, and I am so glad it is easy to go places in a short amount of time.  It is especially nice to be able to fly back to Nebraska instead of driving now that we have a child.  I have airport security down to a science with Brax.

17.  BEACHES:  My favorite place to visit is a beach.  I love laying by the water with a fruity drink and listening to the waves.  I'm not sure how I ended up living by the mountains compared to a beach.  I am excited that Wade and I are going on a beach vacation for spring break and that we get to go on another with my family in June.

18.  NEIGHBORS:  Before we had Brax, we generally would just spend time doing things by ourselves or with our friends.  We didn't take much time to develop relationships with our neighbors.  I am so glad we have become closer to our neighbors over the past year.  It is nice and very convenient to do things with our neighbors especially when you have a child.  Also, most of our neighbors have young children that will grow up with Brax.

19.  MARGARITAS:  It is my absolute favorite drink- a frozen margarita.  It is very hard to find a frozen margarita that is well done.  My friend, Kirsten, and I use to go to happy hour almost every Friday in Kansas City at a place called Rudy's.  We would have two baskets of chips with queso.  I would order a chicken taco salad, and she would order a chicken burrito.  Of course, we would have frozen margaritas.  We always had such a good time.

20.  RUNNING:  After college, I needed to find a challenging exercise for me.  Team sports weren't readily available anymore.  I tried Jazzercise, but it was a little too light for me so I decided to start running.  I never had run long distances.  I started by running a 5K.  Then, I decided to run a half-marathon.  This was a big decision for me.  After my friend, Kirsten, started running, we ran a half-marathon together.  Then, we decided to run the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco.  It is still one of my greatest accomplishments.  Again, this was all pre-children.  I still enjoy running even though I don't get to run as often, or I am now running with a jogging stroller.  One day, I hope to run another marathon.  In the meantime, I will try to do a few half-marathons a year.  Running is challenging, but I enjoy it, and it gives me time to just relax, think, and clear my head.  Also, it's nice the only expense for running is shoes.

21.  OUR NANNY:  It is such a good feeling to go to work and know that Brax is happy and safe all day.  Our nanny takes good care of him, and he gets one on one attention.  Every penny we spend on her is so worth it.

22.  MUSIC:  I love listening to music and singing.  If I could do anything, I wish I was able to sing really well.  It gives me such a good feeling.  I mainly only sing in the car.  Sometimes, I will put on music while I give Brax dinner.  He thinks it is pretty funny to watch me sing and dance.

23.  EXTENDED FAMILY:  I have such a wonderful extended family.  It's so nice to have aunts, uncles, and cousins who really care about us and Brax.  Even though we don't see them very often, it is always such a good time when we do.  It's nice getting updates from my mom about everyone, too.

24.  SUMMER DRESSES:  I love summer, and I love wearing summer dresses and sandals.  I have way more summer dresses than I will probably ever need, but I love buying and wearing them so much!  Hopefully, one day, I will live somewhere that I can wear a summer dress every day.

25.  NEBRASKA FOOTBALL:  I will always have fond memories of my dad watching and listening to Nebraska football along with discussing the game after church every Sunday.  It is nice to have a game to look forward to watching every week.  It has been especially nice being married to someone who cares as much about Nebraska football as everyone else in my life.  We are brainwashing Brax at an early age.  Go Big Red!

26.  SLEEP:  I really never knew what true exhaustion was like until I had Brax.  I had never been so tired in my entire life.  Now, that he sleeps 12 hours at night, I am getting 7-8 hours of straight sleep.  I feel like a new person!  I still miss the days of being able to sleep in and take naps when I want.  I figure those will come back during retirement.

27.  MY JOB:  I would rather not have to work, but I am glad that I enjoy my job and all the people at my job.  I really enjoy being around kids all day.  After experiencing unemployment with Wade, I am so thankful that we both have jobs now.  Work is a good thing.

28.  HEALTH:  Besides infertility, I am thankful I have not had any major medical issues.  It is sad to see people that have to endure such hard health issues like cancer especially children.  I am thankful that Brax is now a healthy baby.

29.  BRAX'S SMILE AND LAUGHTER:  This is the best sound in the world to me, and it always warms my heart that Brax is so happy, and I can make him feel this way.

30.  HOLIDAYS:  The best part of holidays is having time off of work and being able to travel and see family.  They are the people that will always be there for us and love us unconditionally, and it is always nice to spend time together.

I finished the list!  That took a lot of work and thought.  Happy almost December!

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving with Wade's mom's side of the family.  It was great to see everyone and catch up.  Brax did very well and was very happy all day.  Here is a picture of all the the kids of the first cousins in order from oldest to youngest- Lia, McCoy, Emme, Lincoln, Grady, and Braxton.  I am impressed all the kids are looking at the camera and smiling!  The kids all enjoyed playing with Brax.  Emme thought it was quite funny that Brax has most of his hair growth in the center of his head.  She kept making her hands wet with water to give Brax a stylish mohawk.

Izzy

Wade's mom has a dog named Izzy.  When Brax was sitting on the floor, Izzy went and licked his face.  He made a cringing face and put his head down, but he was laughing hysterically.  It was pretty cute!  Now, every time, Izzy comes near Brax he makes the same face.  Glad we could catch it on video.  So funny!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2nd Date with the O

Braxton met his Nebraska girlfriend, Olivia, for a date at Dairy Queen today.  They had a good time together and shared about a whole can of puffs.  It wasn't as easy to get a photo of them since they like to move around quite a bit more.  They make quite the cute couple!

Turkey Time

A person that went to my high school lives in Valley, and her family created this turkey at the edge of their yard.  We stopped by to get some pictures before we went shopping.  Dad was watching Brax so he didn't get in on the photo.  Wade joked that there were three turkeys in the picture.

 

Yes!

Brax can hold his own bottle!  Thank goodness.  We both actually ate lunch at the same time today.  Also, he did army crawl to his bottle and started feeding himself.  Aunt Ali takes credit for this since he first did this last night while she was feeding him.

Batman and Robin Pics

Here are the rest of the photos from the Batman and Robin shoot.

Nuggets

We took Brax to his first Nuggets game!  He did so well!  At first, he was a little taken aback by all the loud noise.  However, every time there was music playing, he would bounce to the beat.  He liked looking at everything.  At one point, he was standing up on my lap while I was talking to our neighbor, and he reached behind me and grabbed the straw out of someone's drink without me knowing.  When I pulled him back towards me, he had the straw in his mouth.  Oops!  He was happy all during the game until the last 20 seconds when he was really tired.  The game was close, and they kept calling timeouts.  However, the Nuggets pulled it off and won!  Three in a row!  Brax fell asleep on the way home, and I was glad we put him in his pajamas in the car before we drove home.  It was an easy transfer from car seat to crib.  A fun family night for all of us and our neighbors!

???????

Now, this does not look like a comfortable sleeping position to me!  I managed to take a picture before I moved Brax.  He wasn't very happy, but fell back asleep after a few cries.

9 Months

November 13, 2013

You turned 9 months old on your Uncle Matt's birthday.  You are 27 inches long and 15.5 pounds.  Your head is about 18 inches.  You are still really skinny and short compared to other babies your age, but you are making good growth for you.  On the other hand, your head is in the 45% compared to the 8% for height and under the 5% for weight.  The doctor says you will catch up this summer.

Daddy started a full-time job so we have Danielle (DeeDee) come to nanny for you during the week.  You seem to be doing really well with her.  She takes you to Gymboree class a lot.  She helped us get you on a nap schedule, finally!

You really like to eat food most of the time.  You like finger foods such as puffs, cookies, and veggie sticks.  You eat breakfast at 9:00 and dinner at 5:30.  Sometimes, you think it is funny to spit your food out at me.

You go to bed around 7:00 during the week.  On the weekends, you stay up a little later.  You get up once to eat about 8-9 hours later, and you wake up around 7:00.  When you were 8.5 months old, we dropped the night feeding.  You weren't very happy for three days, but now sleep through the night 90% of the time!  I am so glad.  We both feel better so rested.

You are finally on a napping schedule.  You take your first nap at about 10:30 and the second nap around 2:30.  You usually sleep for an hour and fifteen minutes.  We can put you down awake, and you usually go right to sleep.

We have stopped breastfeeding.  You had 8 full months of breast milk.  I fed you breast milk at night and in the morning until you were 8.5 months old.  It was hard for me emotionally to stop breastfeeding you, but I wasn't making very much milk, and it was hard on my body with work.

Grandpa and Grandma came to watch you for a week since DeeDee went on vacation.

You roll all over the place.  You will army crawl sometimes if there is something you really want.  You seem to move a lot more when there isn't an adult in the room looking at you.  Sometimes, I will hide and peek at you so you will move more.

You started to like being up on your knees and look in your toy and book boxes although you need some help to get up on your knees.  You will even raise yourself from your knees to your feet sometimes on your own.

You can sit up on your own for as long as we leave you there.  You don't quite know how to get down from sitting up, yet.

You celebrated your first Halloween by being a devil.  You had many costume choices!

You have the best smile and smile all the time.  You know how to pose for the camera.  When you hear a click on a phone, you turn and pose.  It is so cute.  Many people have commented that you could be a model.  :)

You like to make grunting noises a lot.  I have no idea why.  Then, we will make a grunting noise, and you will make them back at us.

You still say "Mama" easily.  You have started saying, "Dada."

We had your heart echo check-up, and you passed with flying colors.  Now, we only have to go for yearly appointments until you are five years old.

You love to read books.  You can turn the pages on your own when a book is on the floor.  If you have the choice of a book or a toy on the floor, you will go to the book.

You like to bang your hand on surfaces to make noise.

You like going outside.  We feed the dogs and look at the chickens.  You like to swing some, now.  We still lay on the blanket and play outside, too.

We just love you more than anything!  You bring so much joy to our lives!

Like Father Like Son

I thought it'd be fun to compare some pictures of Wade and Brax.

Look What Brax Can Do!

Brax will army crawl some and can scoot and roll to get whatever he wants.  The other day I walked back into the room, and Brax had his hands on the rim of the black box of books.  He was trying to get a book.  I gave him a little nudge, and he got up on his knees to look in the box.  The next day he went from his knees to his feet on his own.  Also, he likes to stand and hold onto my dresser drawers.  He can't get back down, and he can't get down from a sitting position, but he is making "moving" progress since he seems to be a little behind other kids his age.  Our nanny said everyone was very impressed at Gymboree.

Batman and Robin

The neighbor across the street, Dax, was Batman for Halloween.  I found these Robin pajamas at Target so we had to have a photo shoot of them protecting the neighborhood together.  Here are Dax and Brax a.k.a. Batman and Robin.  I will have to post the rest of the photos when they are done being edited.

Reading

Brax has always been interested in books from a very young age.  I started reading to him when he was born, and he will always sit and look at the books.  He really likes flap books and touch and feel books.  At about 7 months old, he could easily turn the flaps and pages in a book.  Here are some videos of him reading.  In the first video, he was turning the pages to the tiger book on the floor on his own.  I was only quick enough to video him when he was at the end of the book, but he had turned each page up until then.  This is the book we got from the hospital when he had his surgery.  In the second and third video, I am reading his pet flap book that he got from Wade's mom, Nana.  It is one of his favorites!  The worn out pages are proof.

Uncle Adam

When Adam was a baby, he would put a bowl over his face while he stared up at the ceiling fan in our living room.  I clearly remember it was a yellow bowl.  Today, when Brax was on the floor, he dumped out his puffs and put the bowl over his face.  It brought back memories.  He's taking after you, Uncle Adam!

Mickey Mouse

When I was in college with Stephanie, we decorated our freshman dorm room in Mickey Mouse.  We had wall decorations, bedspreads, and a phone.  It was a bit overboard, and I don't think Stephanie and I really care for Mickey Mouse anymore these days.  However, Brax may change my mind.  :)