Where's Waldo/Braden? . . . or Our Jailbird . . . or Stunning in Stripes

Thought these were too fun!  Now that we're into the 3 month clothes, I am realizing that  Braden has a LOT of blue and brown apparel from Carter's . . . this shirt and pants actually came in 2 separate sets from 2 different people, and the blanket was a gift from someone else!  We're having fun (well, Mommy is having fun!) mixing and matching the brown/blue shirts, onesies, and pants.  This little striped combo is one of my favorite outfits right now (I am sure one day Braden will look at these pictures and declare me a dork for dressing him like this)!

PS - love those smiles! Maybe he already is thinking Mommy's a little nuts!

More Thanksgiving Fun . . . and a little Merry Christmas too!

Whew!  It has been an action-packed week/weekend, just as predicted.  But what fun to spend it with family!  

On Wednesday night Billy and I spent the night at the Riverside Resort/Casino - I had won  a free night's stay there, and it expired in December.  Since Thursday was not a work day for most, we took advantage of that fact and Aunt Allie spent the night with Braden (our first night away from him - he did great, and so did I). :)  We thought it would be fun to use our free night away now to get a full night's sleep, but actually out of the past 6 nights, Braden has slept through 5 of them!  A typical night these days is a late feeding at 10 or 11, then Braden goes to sleep for the night, waking anywhere from 5 - 8.  If he wakes up too early, a pacifier will often help him go back to sleep for another hour or so. We are loving this schedule, especially since he just turned 8 weeks old on Friday!

On Thanksgiving Day, Braden got to meet a couple of cousins, Ellie and Ben (and their parents Lance and Chloe) for the first time at the Miller family Thanksgiving (my Dad's extended family gathers for all the holidays).  This year we enjoyed a fabulous feast at Dennis and Sally's - here's Braden with his 2nd cousins Ellie and Madi.

After dinner there is always football watching and napping for the guys. . . and here the kids had fun playing with Billy (Norah and Madi) . . .

 . . . and the annual Thanksgiving day Christmas craft for the ladies (and any men who wish to participate). :)

This year's craft entailed making a cute little snowman out of children's mittens - very cute and lots of fun!

Here's my snowman - see Kim, I can be crafty too! 

And Norah with her snowman - looks great (and matches her coat)!

We also broke out the ads from the Thursday paper and planned our attack for the traditional shopping spree on Black Friday - several of the Miller women (and Dad!) were at the mall bright and early to find great deals.  I actually got most of my shopping DONE on Friday, and wrapped gifts all the gifts I have purchased so far on Saturday - yippee!  I think I shopped for almost 12 hours on Friday - we arrived at the mall at 6 (slept in a bit this year!), and met Billy and Braden to head to Holly's for supper at about 5.  We had yummy chili supper at Holly and Josh's (Billy's sister) with the Hartsocks and Josh's family, the Mateers.  But by the time we got home, I was ready to fall into bed - so tired!  Thankfully our little guy is a great sleeper and we didn't get up till 8:30 on Saturday morning - whoo hoo!

Today Braden and I joined my family at Mom and Dad's for lunch (Billy's working weekends now, so we miss him at weekend events).  After lunch we baked and decorated our first round of Christmas cookies - yum!

Grandma, Braden, Allie, and Mom frosting . . .

Allie, me, and Grandma

Cookies with white buttercream icing and chocolate drizzled on top - mmmm!

Cookies with colored icing and sprinkles

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas with the new snowfall and Christmas decorations (we put ours up on Tuesday this year - breaking my hard and fast rule of NOT decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving . . . it was just looking too busy to get the decorating done this weekend - and I was excited/ready to get the tree up).  While I am excited for Christmas, I am so sad by how fast these days are flying by - I have about a week and a half before going back to work - this mommy is not ready for that.  I am sure it will be fine once I am back in the routine, but these weeks at home have been WONDERFUL.  Pray for us as we make the transition soon!

Braden's new favorite thing is the Christmas tree - more specifically the lights on the tree. He still loves to look at lights.  

At 8 weeks old he is: smiling more than ever, starting to babble and coo, lifting his head/holding his neck with more control, liking to hang out in his swing more, eating and growing like a champ, still loving baths, and growing more and more precious to us each day (is that possible??)! 

Thanks Norah . . .

 . . . for the shoes!  :)  My mom really likes to make me wear shoes (I don't mind too much), and I have lots of blue and brown outfits that Ethan's shoes will match!  

Love, Braden

PS - See you at Thanksgiving dinner!

Our Little Turkey

Happy (almost) Thanksgiving!  I have a feeling that this week is going to roll by awfully fast (last week sure did) - so we'll wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving a little early. 

Here's our little turkey ready for the Hartsock Thanksgiving on Saturday. . . don't you just want to gobble him up? (sorry, couldn't resist that one!)

Braden and cousin Addie - she's going to be our best babysitter in a few years! Braden loved hanging out on her lap  . . . she didn't even eat dinner because she was busy entertaining him. :)

We have a lot to be thankful for this year . . .  Braden being the best blessing in 2008!  I'm also thankful for the great Daddy at our house.  It makes me smile to see these two together.

On Friday we reached the 7 week mark! Braden is just about out of the newborn size (especially for outfits that have attached feet).  It makes me sad to pack away some of his cute little sleepers (this striped one was a favorite of mine!), but it is fun to see him grow (according to our scale he is 11.2 pounds!) and to get out new clothes. 

This little green number may have been the first item I ever bought for him - but it too must be packed away - we had to squeeze him in it one more time. :) My mom laughed at me for dressing him in it because it is so short he can't straighten his legs! (He didn't seem to mind though.)

We're having a ball with Braden at this stage - he's really smiling and "cooing" now, and is fun to interact with.  He's developing his own little personality, and definitely lets us know when he is happy or is not. Braden prefers to be with us vs. alone, but is getting better at "playing" by himself and not getting upset if someone is not within reach (I know, we've spoiled him - but how can you not?  I can't help but want to hold him and love on him as much as possible before returning to work).   Sigh. Only 2 1/2 more weeks!

6 weeks!

On Friday our little guy turned 6 weeks old!  I sort of panicked when I realized that (duh! like I didn't know how old he is), and suddenly decided that we HAD to take him somewhere to take newborn photos (I am kicking myself for not doing this a little earlier - but its not like we don't have any photos of him - I think my October file alone on my computer has over 300 pics) . . .  

Anyway, since Billy had the day off on Friday (he is now working weekends - this is the first one and I can already tell I am not going to like it, especially when I go back to work - we missed him today!) we somewhat impulsively made a trip to Flash photography in the mall to take Braden's 6 week pictures.  I was also happy to get a family picture taken.  It was fun to see how "professionals" photograph babies (I learned some tricks), and Braden did a great job, except just as we were done with the naked baby pics (gotta have those!) and the photographer said "we'd better get his diaper back on," of course he peed.  oops.  

You can check out a few photos by going to this link

Other pics from this week . . .

Here's Braden all tucked in his stroller at the mall right after pictures.  He is awake so much more these days (he used to fall asleep instantly whenever he was in his carseat or the stroller). On Thursday he and I were at the mall to attempt some Christmas shopping and whenever I'd look down at him he was just smiling up at me - so sweet! (He's a great shopper - whoo hoo!)

We met Aunt Allie for lunch on Thursday before we hit the mall.

My cuddle bug.  We spend a LOT of time just like this:

Just hanging out . . . recently Braden has become a little more "independent" (meaning he will sort of entertain himself - kick, coo/grunt (the cooing is new this week - love it!), stare at lights, "playing" on this playmat - without crying to be held . . . from about 2-5 weeks he did not like to be left "alone" and would cry unless someone held him or was near him) - we are enjoying this stage!  (Except I find myself peeking at him excessively to see what he is doing and to catch those cute faces he makes! I figure that since I am down to 4 weeks left at home with him, so I will peek all I want to while I can . . .)

Does It get any better . . .

 . . . than days like this?

It's been cold, rainy, and gray the last couple of days (which typically does not a good day make, in my opinion). . . 

But when you're lucky enough to be at home where it is warm and cozy, and are cuddling with your favorite little guy in PJs  . . . (yes, we're both in PJs)  at 1:00 (that would be pm, not am - although sometimes we are up at 1:00 am too - Braden is going through an "I like to be up in the middle of the night" stage - luckily he is usually not unhappy - just WIDE awake . . . hence the need to still be in jammies at 1:00 pm because we need to take naps during the day to catch up on our sleep!)  . . .  it is a wonderful day!

We'll work on straightening out our days and nights . . . and some days I feel more compelled to be sure the laundry gets folded, the dishes washed, and other projects get some attention (like filling out Braden's baby book, switching summer and winter clothes around - and getting rid of the maternity clothes still in my closet, writing thank you notes, organizing photos) . . . but on days like this we just snuggle and I smile, knowing it doesn't get any better than this.

Who wouldn't want to join this little guy for a good snuggle session?

Yep, it is hard to resist that face . . . and is lots of fun to see all of Braden's expressions lately - we love that he is definitely smiling at us these days.

Thoughts on parenting (so far!)

Warning - this post is not the typical here-is-what-we-have-been-up-to/check-out-these-cute-pictures  post . . . for some reason I am in a reflective mood today . . .

I knew that becoming a parent would be a big responsibility . . . I am not one of those people who just wanted to have a cute little baby and did not consider 1) that baby will grow up to be a toddler, child, teenager (yikes!), young adult . . .  2) everything (read responsibility)  that comes with the package . . . (But for now, isn't it an adorable, precious package?)

I also knew that I/we would have a LOT to learn about parenting - and learn we have.  

Here are a few things I (/we - but I guess I can't totally speak for Billy on all of these) have learned so far on this journey of parenthood that we've only just begun (in no particular order):

• unconditional love - we love Braden so much - even in the wee hours of the night when he decides it's playtime and wants to be awake (with our company, of course) or is fussy after his late feeding and cannot be comforted (fortunately neither of these events occurs very often at our house, but sure did last night . . . and it just kills me when we can't figure out what - if anything - is bothering him) . . . we love him just as much when he is interrupting our nightly sleep  (and believe me, both Billy and I LOVE our sleep) as when he is being so darn cute/sweet/well behaved during acceptable waking hours

• call your mom with questions! moms (and dads) are good at helping . . . and so are friends (it takes a village!) - ask lots of questions - I've gotten some great tips/reassurance/advice - thank you!!

(lately I have been concerned about breast vs. bottle feeding, infant chiropractic care, and immunizations - anyone want to comment on any of those things?)

• sometimes you just have to follow your instincts - no book or website (or even your mom) knows your child like you do (that is one bit of advice I got by asking questions) - and it is true

• others won't always agree with your parenting choices, and that is ok - just be sure you know why you make those choices and that you are comfortable with them. . .  and it is also ok to change your mind about your choices as you learn

• we have a lot MORE to learn, and this will continue for a long time - say the next 18+ years! but (another fortunate thing for us), Braden is not only our child, but a child of God that we are just lucky enough to get to spend time with - so we just need to trust Him to help us on this journey - which is so reassuring, because sometimes all of this makes my head spin!