3 months old

Falling asleep in my car seat.

I like sitting up...

and laying on my change pad!

Isn't my hat cute!

Braden was 3 months old on the 29th. It's crazy how time flies. It's exciting to see how much he is changing and developing. He's much more observant and responsive. We played peek-a-boo yesterday and he would smile at me when I appeared from behind the blanket! He also has a frog toy that hangs on his car seat and he loves looking at it. He continues to smile and coo and adds little sounds to his vocabulary regularly. He sleeps through the night consistently going to bed between 8 and 9 and getting up between 6 and 7. He also loves his bath. Naptimes still can cause some challenges, but when we get him down before he gets too sleepy, we're generally ok. He naps like a champ in his car seat when we are out and about.

I start back to work full-time on Tuesday. I am not looking forward to it at all. Having these 3-months off makes me want to become a teacher, but I would want the months off in the winter here! I was supposed to ease back into work by going in some this month and building up my days, but couldn't do it and only worked one-day last week. We'll see how things go and I'm going to keep a positive attitude about it. God has been really good in helping with the daycare situation. We do have a great daycare, but I feel that he is still too young to go with a bunch of other kids. Ideally I would like to wait until he's 6-months old. It looks like we get to wait until he's 4 1/2 months, which is ok. I think people think Braden is older than he is because of his size. He is going to stay with a family who is the pastor of a church near us (it's a church plant of Scottsdale Bible where we go) for the first 2-weeks of September. Lisa is great and they have 2 girls, Kate and Natalie, who are 4 and 2, so I'm excited about Braden being around some other kids. Then my Mom gets here on Sept 15th and will watch him through mid-October. I know he'll be better with all of this than I will! Anthony will have him Thurs and Friday of this week and hopefully they will be able to come down and see me at work!

I'll probably blog less once I start back to work, but we'll see.

More Pics

Cuddling with the soft blanky Grammy JJ got me.

Don't even think about squeezing my cheeks!

Yes, I'm ready for bed.

I love hanging with my Daddy!

Another picture, Mama!

A Few Pics

Daddy is starting me early on my flying career.


Here's a little smile and a BIG yawn!


I'm having a great visit with Grammy Harmon. She reads me books (this one about Maine!) and gives me lots of kisses and hugs. We got to go and stay at a really nice hotel while Mommy was at a meeting and I walked all over charming everyone I saw!

Couple Other Things

Getting ready for a nap this morning.

Forgot to mention a couple other things that I wanted to remember. At Braden's 2-month check-up he got his 4 shots. That was awful for both Braden and me! Not only did the shots hurt, but he was really out of it the rest of that day and night. Hopefully Anthony will be here next time. Also, his measurements were:



Weight - 16.02 lbs (>95%)
Length - 24" (75%)
Head - 16" (90%)

Braden caught his first chest cold and the nurse thinks he might have picked it up when he was at the doctor. He went back to the doctor last Monday just to check and make sure it was just a cold and he weighed 16.14 lbs! So, we're guessing that he's 17 lbs at 11-weeks (he was 11-weeks on Thursday)! We call him our "chunk of love!"

I think a benefit of his good size is that he has the weight to get him through the night sleeping. He dropped his 9 pm feeding and now eats 5 times a day and generally goes to bed by 8ish and sleeps until 6 am. So that's nice! We told our Dr. that people ask us what he tells us to do about Braden's weight and he just laughed. He said "Am I supposed to put him on an aerobics routine or tell you to starve him! He's fine!" So in case anyone else was wondering about that - there's the answer.

First "out of the womb" video!

Just hanging out.

Taking a nap on Mommy and Daddy's bed.

I'm not always happy or sleeping! Look at that lip!


I've been trying to capture some of Braden's personality on video, but always seem to miss the sweetest smiles and warmest coos. So, the two videos below will have to do for those of you who don't have the opportunity to interact with him everyday. Still images just don't capture who he is. He is so sweet and his smiles melt our heart just as much now as they did at first. The first video shows three of his "activities" - cooing, getting his hands in his mouth, and his newest thing of blowing spit! The second is a quick coo!


Anthony's Mom is here for a visit and Braden is sure enjoying his Grammy! He talks to her and smiles for her. I'm sure enjoying her visit, too! This has been a rough couple of months for Anthony with his flying schedule. He will literally be gone more days then he is home this month. Not fun, but better that it is this month then next month when I start back to work full-time. Still not ready to write about that topic! 2 days part-time this week was hard enough. I am hoping that I will be getting a new position within my department at work that will require a lot less travel for me. I'm so hopeful that that will come through as it will make things a little easier at least. Please keep that in your prayers.


On another note, we are so enjoying the Olympics and watching the amazing Michael Phelps as he swims into history. Braden has been practicing his strokes during his play time! I'm sure the Olympic theme song will be ingrained in his memory because we've had it on quite a bit!

My Mom created another Smilebox of Braden's pictures. I, of course, think it is super cute and the song is perfect. However, I have to admit it makes me cry to listen to it, especially since we visited the daycare where Braden will soon be going this morning. I am not looking forward to taking him there at all... don't get me wrong, I think it's a great place, just can't imagine spending the day at work rather than with my baby. Especially now as he gets more and more fun!

We went swimming this morning. I think it was a little chilly for Braden and he got tired of swimming fairly quickly and showed us with his adorable little pout. It was only 6 something in the morning when we went since he got up at 5:15! However, he went to bed at 10, so we think that's a pretty good night for a baby who isn't yet 10-weeks old!

Braden goes to the doctor tomorrow for his 2-month well visit. I'll post an update after. He gets some of his vaccinations tomorrow and I'm not looking forward to that at all. Unfortunately Anthony has to fly, so I have to be there for the shots. I was planning on leaving the room!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Faces of Braden

Braden and I went to the mall yesterday. When it's 100 out it's really the only place to get some exercise! After eating (in the great women's lounge at Nordstom's), I got a few different pics of his "after-eating moods."

Pretty happy...

Really happy...

Ready to take a nap!