Water Babies

Vannessa and Brooklyn came over today for a play date. The babies hadn't seen eachother since the end of April. We made it a swim day, because Vannessa and I both spend so much time at the river, these babies need to be used to the water!

"What does this chick think she's doing touching my toys?"

I think we need to work on sharing already!

It looked like he was trying to hold her hand. Cute, right?

Nope, he just wanted to suck on it!

I love baby booties!

Tummy time

Yeah, they both were having some drool issues.

Braysen loved the pool, as always. He was cracking us up, because he just would not hold still. Brooklyn looked like she was just tolerating the water, especially when Braysen kept splashing her with his kicks.

She started to get into it a little more at the end. Maybe we'll try again when they're able to sit up a little better.

You want him to do WHAT!?

My dad broke his wrist at the track today. Here is the picture my mom sent to me. It's not the best picture because she took it on her phone. They were going to do surgery, but they're going to hold off until next week once the swelling has gone down. 

And everyone thinks I'm crazy for not wanting Braysen to ride dirtbikes?! HELLO!!

Braysen's First River Trip

I should have posted these pictures a long time ago. Whoopsie!

He was such a happy camper all weekend. I was a little worried with how he would do, but he loved it!

Heading out!

I had a little mishap with the pasta salad that was

supposed to be part of our dinner that night

Mandie spent a few hours after dinner telling Braysen all about each of the dirtbikes on his mobile. As you can see, he was listening when she was telling him which one he will ride when he's big enough. :(

Braysen's first life jacket.   

     

The last day we were there, some of Tony's family that lives in Havasu came to meet Braysen for the first time

Aunt Tracey, Logan, Grandma Billie, & Braysen

Tony & Grandpa Dave

Paige & Braysen

Logan & Braysen

Aunt Tracey & Braysen

Grandpa Dave & Braysen

Two on Tuesday

I borrowed this idea from a friend's blog. Thanks, Shann!

1. I really would like one of these for my new camera. So cute! If I ever get my sewing machine repaired, I think this would be the first thing I would make.

2. Something else I'd really love to make is this cake. If we weren't going to the River for the 4th, I'd totally do it!

Our New House - AFTER

Four days before Braysen was born, I posted pictures of our new home before we did anything to it. At the time I promised to post the after pictures as soon as we finished. Here they finally are. We still have a few things we want to do, such as change out all of the appliances to match our stainless steel refrigerator, install granite countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms, and replace all of the bathroom lighting fixtures and faucets, but that will happen when our budget allow it. You can click on the pictures to make them larger.

The bar

Entryway

Guest bathroom

 Kitchen

Living Room (And yes, I realize how sad-looking our TV is in this house. It fit perfectly in our media niche in our old house. We eventually want to get a built-in unit with shelving. Someday.)

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

Braysen's Room

* I can't post pictures of the guest bedroom yet. It is finished, but it is currently housing my many boxes of classroom stuff until we find somewhere better to store them.

*Next up is finishing our front yard, then onto the back! I wasn't thinking and forgot to take "before" pictures of the front yard, so when I post, it will just be the "after" pictures.

The Wagon

Ok, I'll admit it, I've fallen off the wagon. After I had Braysen, I was doing a pretty good job of monitoring what I ate. I had gone through phases before I was pregnant and I tried to do this, but it at most lasted for a few days. I was doing well for about the first two months after he was born. I also started working out daily as soon as I got the ok from my doc.


Things sound like they were going well, right? And they were, until... I went back to work. I know this is a really lame excuse, but it's the truth. I was lucky if I had the opportunity to even take my makeup off at night, let alone have the time or energy to work out. And eating good? Ha! Most nights I ended up just eating dinner at my parents' house when I stopped by there to pick up Braysen. My mom always made something that I really liked, but they meals were definitely not friendly to my diet.

I vowed that once school got out, I would get back down to business. But I have been just as busy every day since I was off.

Tomorrow is the beginning of a new week. I am getting BACK on that wagon! I hosted Bunco at my house last night, so I had a smorgasbord of unhealthy treats. This morning as we were getting ready to go to my parents' house for a BBQ, I packed up all the leftovers from Bunco and hauled them off to the BBQ so they won't be staring at me every time I open the fridge.

It's a start, I guess. Braysen is finally on a schedule, as much of a schedule as a 3-month old can be on, so I should be able to find some time to myself for meal planning and exercise. I still have 2 pounds until I reach my prepregnancy weight, and then there are 7 more pounds I would like to lose after that. Here we go...

Happy Father's Day!

3 Months Old!

Exciting Friday Night!

Well, really not that exciting because I was home by myself again while Tony was at work. What was exciting is that last night was Braysen's first night sleeping in his crib. He's been sleeping in the Pack n Play in our room. When he was first born, it was the plan to transition him to his crib at 6 weeks so he'd be in his own room by the time I went back to work. 6 weeks came and went and I still felt no need to have him that far away, so I thought maybe at 8 weeks I'd be ready. 8 weeks also came and went. I talked to some of  my friends who have babies that are several months older than Braysen, and they all told me that their babies are still sleeping in their rooms, so I didn't feel too bad about chickening out with his transitioning. But he's coming up on his 3-month birthday, and I've noticed that his Pack n Play has been bowing in a little in the middle where he lays. It was then that I dug through all my baby gear manuals and found that there is actually a weight limit on his Pack n Play, so, ready or not, it was time for his big boy crib. He's been pretty much sleeping through the night since right before I went back to work, so I thought maybe it would work. Sooo, last night, we did our same bedtime routine, but instead of putting him down in our room, I put him down in his crib. He sometimes naps in his crib, but other than that we did no transitioning at all. And guess what?

He did great! Much better than I did! I was up every hour to check him on the video monitor to make sure I could see his little chest or tummy moving to make sure he was breathing. But he, on the other hand, slept, well, like a baby. He of course had done a complete 180 and was facing the complete opposite direction from where I laid him down, but he does that every night anyways. He woke up at around 5am for a feeding, and went right back to sleep, but that's kinda my fault because that's what time my alarm goes off and wakes him up on work mornings, so I think it's become part of his routine. We'll have to work on that now that my alarm is no longer going off.

I guess it's time for me to get moving, we have to get ready for Braysen to go to his first birthday party!

An Update

So I had to go back to work 3 weeks ago. As you can see from how often I have updated my blog, I have been a little busy. Yesterday was my last day of school, thank goodness! I'm back at home now with Braysen and that's where I feel like I should be. I was very angry that I had to go back to work. But I have learned from previous experiences that everything happens for a reason. I honestly didn't know what the reason was that I would have to leave my baby to go to work all day.

Before I went back to work, I was really worried, because I already felt overwhelmed with everything I had to do in a day. Now that I have had to do everything around the house and work all day, I now have a much better appreciation for my time at home. I feel like my time management will be so much better now that I had that experience and I'm thankful for that.

So here I am, on a permanent vacation from work. While it will be really nice to be a stay at home mom, I really wish it woud have been something we chose. The fact that I am not working wasn't a choice we got to make. I would feel much better if we would have been able to sit down, look at our finances, and say to ourselves, "I think we can do this." But that's just not the case. Like I said, everything happens for a reason, and I guess I'm supposed to be at home right now. Everything will hopefully work itself out.

My aunt was bugging me a couple weeks ago telling me that I needed to update my blog because she hadn't seen Braysen in awhile and wanted to see some new pictures. So, here, Aunt Jennifer, is an quick review of the last 3 weeks:

After his 2-month shots. He ripped both bandaids off about 3 minutes after I took this picture.

Yes, those are rolls on his legs! Finally!

Getting ready to go shopping with Grammie.

Fight night at the Plunks' and Braysen and Sawyer were watching TV. I swear he doesn't do this at home! For some reason he really likes what Ryan and Valerie watch. Their channels must be more interesting.

Sawyer going down for the count.

And...TA-DAA! She's up again!

She is so strong!

Braysen watching TV. AGAIN!

He finally figured out that the crinkly sound was coming from the flower petals.

We also had a river trip last weekend, but I'll post those pictures later.