To Braxton, Love Mama

My Dear Sweet Braxton,

Today is your 2nd birthday.  You are already 2 whole years old.  I step back while watching you play and wonder how so much time has passed since you were born.  I swear you were my brand new baby yesterday.  You bring me so much joy, and I hate that the years of your childhood are slipping by so quickly.  I wish with everything in me that I could keep you tiny enough to sit in my lap for forever, yet I dream daily of the man you will become.  Motherhood is tricky like that.  You will always be my baby, and it hurts me to watch you grow, but at the same time that growth brings me so much excitement.  Gone are the sweet innocent baby days, and here are the wild, testing, hilarious toddler days.  You are so amazing, you really really are. You have a very sweet and cheerful disposition, yet you have a way of standing your ground and really fighting for what you want. Though this is testing at times, I know that it is a great quality. It assures me that you will always fight for what you believe in, which is so important. That quality combined with the loving heart you have is a powerful combination. You are exceptional, and I am so honored to call you my son. 

Throughout my pregnancy with you, I was reassured by the Spirit that you are a choice spirit of our Heavenly Father. I was comforted in times of anxiety and told that you would be a source of great happiness in my life. I knew that you would be a happy, pleasant baby. A good baby. And you most definitely have been a happy child. 
Right now there are so many memories of you that I want to write in black and white so that I can always remember who you were at 2 years of age.  I do not know that my writing will do the memories justice, but it is my prayer that one day years from now, when you and I may be having a bad day,  that I can look back on these entries and smile and remember my sweet little Braxton.  After all, you will always be my baby. My sweet, adorable, silly baby boy who literally stole my heart the moment I saw you.  

Braxton, at two years old you wake every morning calling my name. And if Daddy goes to get you, you will not be picked up until he assures you that he is taking you to Mama. Your ideal morning starts with fruit snacks and a movie- usually Bambi, sometimes Winnie the Pooh. After about twenty minutes, we have had enough time to wake up happy and we turn off the TV to go play. You love to read books and point to the pictures. Your little board books will take us 5-10 minutes to get through. You are definitely an artist. We draw multiple times a day. Sometimes you ask for me to draw you tractors, fish, bugs, or deer. Lately though, you have started drawing your own pictures. Fish, sunshine, and spiders-- then you smash your spiders. It is hilarious to see. You are definitely a boy, as such you have the innate gift of sound effects. Whether it's guns, tractors, airplanes, or elk, you know its noise. You make them so much better than I can. You also love animals. You love to visit Grandma's house and see the ducks, chickens and horses. Papa even lets you "drive" the tractor. 

As boyish as you are, you still have a little bit of a soft side to your personality. You love babies and little kids. Whenever you spot a baby, you will stop and point, saying "awww beebee." It completely melts my heart. You will sometimes sneak Nessa's baby to hold and give kisses. I have no doubt that you will be a wonderful and loving big brother someday. You don't like it when people fight or wrestle. In fact, you will cry until it stops. You love to give kisses and hugs. Last week, when Daddy and I took you to the doctor, you asked him for "more" after he finished checking your heart, ears and mouth. When he left, you waved and blew him a big kiss. I am sure you made his day. 

You have turned out to be slow at talking, but have recently started repeating a few words. It is very exciting. You say mama, dada (sometimes), ham, hat, hot, baby, yes/yeah/yep, and most recently NO. Although your NO stage hasn't been too bad yet, I hear it often enough to worry about your upcoming toddler years. Please, don't test me too much! 

 Braxton, I pray that we will always be close.  I promise you that I will do everything in my power to build you up throughout your life.  I will always be here for you to talk, cry with, play with, run away with on bad days, and dream with.  I will be the person always cheering and supporting you wherever your life leads.  You, my sweet boy, mean so much to me. It is truly a privilege to be a mother to you, and one that I thank God for daily. I pray that I will have the strength, the knowledge and the faith to be the best mother I can be for you; that I will teach you to be strong in the gospel, to love yourself and others, to be kind and compassionate to all you encounter. I love you so much and wish you the happiest of birthdays today.

Love you,

Mama

Almost Two-Year-Old Braxton

Our sweet little Braxton is growing so big! It is amazing how much he has grown and changed since we moved just over six months ago. He is getting so smart and we love seeing his silly personality become so strong. At his 18 month appointment, Braxton weighed 24.4 lbs and was 32.5 inches tall. He still has a tiny little noggin. Since then, he has gained a little under a pound and grown about an inch taller. Here are some things that Braxton has done in the last few months. 

Braxton loved the first snow of the season. He built his first snowman with Daddy and slowly got used to walking around in his boots and snow gear.

Braxton is very in to hygiene and taking care of himself. He steps on the scale every morning. He also likes to "clean" his ears, brush his hair, put on lotion, wash himself in the bathtub, etc. The only things he does not like are cutting his finger/toenails and brushing his teeth. He tells us when he poops and will come get us to change his diaper when it gets too soggy. Also, he will smell his feet if we ask if they are stinky. Hopefully we will be potty training soon! He can point to 15-20ish body parts as well.

Braxton started nursery a few months ago and loves it. He had a rough time starting out, but is doing so well. He loves Brother and Sister Miller. He waves to them all the time during sacrament meeting and blows them kisses when we say goodbye after church. Here is his class learning about Lamanites.

Braxton is a very happy, silly boy. He loves to smile and laugh. Lately, he has started smiling on command. I will say "show me your cheeser" or "cheese face!" and he will give me the cheesiest smile. See above and the two pictures below. 

This little fish still loves swimming in the tub. Often, I will drain all the water out of the tub and he will still be playing when it is all gone. Sometimes, the only way to get him to get out is to offer to blow dry his hair. ;)

Another cheese face. Braxton loves his little Cars chair that Papa Kent bought him last Christmas. 

Relaxing in his car seat. He sits like this on a pretty regular basis. Cracks me up every time.

A month or so ago, Braxton and I went shopping with my mom. He started fussing so I let him out of my dressing room while I finished putting my shirt back on. He didn't see me come out, and laid on his stomach to peak under the door. I sure hope the girl that went in there after me didn't notice!

Braxton loves his little red car. Apparently this is the cool way to ride. He can also use his feet to push him forward and backwards.

Other noteworthy accomplishments:

Words: mama, grandma (said amma or mema), yeah, uh oh, yes, hi, mine, more, bum (pumpkin), bump, ouch regularly. Sometimes says dada, hot, please, ball (ba) water (wa).

Noises: trucks, cars, planes, trains, tractor, boats, 4wheelers, motorcycles, dishwasher, bear, deer, guns, bow and arrow, snake, tiger, monkey, elephant, lion, owl, cow, horse, sleep, pig, duck, chicken, dog, cat, bug, frog, fish, goat... and a few that I can't think of. (I include noises because his ped. counts them as words. At this age, any noise repeatedly used to name an object is a word.)

Other skills: high fives, waves, blows kisses, gives knuckles, noggins (like the turtles in Finding Nemo), jumps with both feet off the ground, gallups like a horse, runs, crawls up and down stairs, climbs all over the furniture, points to objects in books, identifies things around the house, points to objects while I count them, dresses and undresses with help, shoots everything with his cap gun (not people-- Daddy is already teaching him firearm safety :), kisses owies and moles (because he thinks they are owies too), sometimes sleeps through the night.

ANYWAY...

We love our sweet little boy. He brings so much joy to our lives and we seriously cannot imagine what our lives would be like without him. Our lives revolve around him completely. I love watching Kyle be a dad and teaching Braxton new things. Braxton is always laughing and happy-- unless he is hungry or tired. Typical man behavior already ;)

Big Fat Update

So, we are alive. Just in case anyone was wondering. Life has been so hectic that I haven't written a single post since we moved almost six months ago. So get ready for a photo bomb (reverse chronology. This new blogger is weird).

August

 

Kyle and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary. We ate dinner at the Davenport (we stayed there on our wedding night) and even sneaked into a ballroom to slow dance together. Think Beauty and the Beast castle. We also walked around Riverfront Park. 

Also in August, Kyle came home from his internship and started grad school at Gonzaga. His classes are a lot easier than what he had to do at BYU. I started working more hours this month. I am now working 35-40 hours each week. 

 July

My sister Kelsey and brother-in-law Josh got married! Their reception was held in my grandparent's landscaped yard. It was beautiful. I still can't get over how happy they look. 

Kelsey looked amazing in her dress. And Mya followed her around the whole time.

The Spokane Washington Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The same temple Kyle and I were married in. And my grandpa got to seal both of us. Very cool. 

Braxton and I went to Lake Powell with my family for a week. We went with all of my mom's brother and sisters and their families. Braxton loved playing on the beach and swimming. He wasn't a fan of his life jacket though.

The Main Channel. The water is so beautiful and warm.

The only time B didn't mind wearing his life jacket was on the wave runner. Here he is on his very first ride with Grandpa.

We also went to the Boardman Family Reunion in Parowan, UT the weekend before heading to Powell. My cousin Bentley loved playing with Braxton. She would be a fantastic big sister.

My grandpa's crazy hat. We got a kick out of it.

I have the coolest family ever. Playing life-size angry birds. 

June

Kyle left on his internship on June 1, and Braxton began spending a lot more time with Grandma Lou and Papa Kent. He was also my mom's little side kick. We are very grateful for free babysitters!

Our crazy little rider.

Braxton got a lot of tractor rides from Papa Kent. He LOVES the tractor and knows how to work all the knobs and even turns the wheel. 

Kyles route to Marietta, GA. It took him 2.5 days to get there. We had skype dates almost every Sunday so that he could see Braxton. I also sent him a gazillion pictures. Despite all of this, Braxton still didn't remember Kyle when he came home, but warmed up to him quickly when Daddy took him to see the ponies at Grandma and Papa's house. 

May

We bought me a new car!! A 2013 Hyundai Elantra. I absolutely love it! It is my other baby. 

 

We spent ten days in Maui with Kyle's parents. I don't have any more pictures up because they are all on Kyle's computer. But we had so much fun and would love to go back someday. The weather was perfect while we were there and we came back with awesome tan lines. 

And just for fun. Kyle teaching Braxton how to pet the ponies. 

Also, Kyle received a job offer from Ernst & Young so we will be moving to ATLANTA GEORGIA next August or September. We are so excited and grateful that he has a job lined up pending graduation. Life is a lot different outside of the Provo Bubble. I miss it. I miss Mother's Group and all my mom friends (Brittany, Marianne, Mandy, Karen, Keilani, etc etc.) I miss having young moms to socialize with and kids for Braxton to play with. We don't have a play group up here, and it stinks. We miss our student ward and our cute little apartment and neighbors. However, we love being close to family and that Braxton gets to spend so much time with his grandparents, aunts and uncles. Stay tuned for another update soon.

The Mess Maker

There is a new song being sung around our home these days. Tune: Matchmaker from "Fiddler on the Roof." Our version: Mess Maker, Mess Maker; making a mess. throwing his food, digging through trash. Mess maker, mess maker; it's not a game, quit making our home a mess.

I could continue singing, but I'll get to the point. Braxton is a little stinker when it comes to making messes. He is so curious and sneaky, which makes for a dangerous combination. This little turkey is so good at sneaking away and finding something that he shouldn't be playing with and making a huge mess.

Exhibit A:
Shredding toilet paper. The TP in our house is not in the dispenser anymore. Stinky figured out how to spin it off the roll. I got so sick of rolling it back up every. single. day. so I eventually took it off the roll and put it on the back of the toilet. I thought I had outsmarted him. Point: Mom.

A few days later I was getting ready and Braxton kept walking back and forth between our bedroom and the bathroom. It got very quite (always a bad sign) and turned around to see Braxton sitting on the bathroom floor with the TP in his hands. Only this time, he had discovered that while spinning the roll was fun, tearing the roll into teeny, tiny shreds is way more fun! Point: Mess Maker.

Exhibit B:
Braxton also has figured out how to open the cabinet doors in our bathroom. It took him a while since they don't have handles. However, once he got the doors open, he realized that Mom hides all the "cool toys" under the bathroom sink. "Cool toys" being nursing pads, Lansinoh wipes, Tucks, and extra shampoo. Point: Mess Maker.

Exhibit C:

In the mornings, if I'm still tired, I will lay on the couch while Brax plays for a bit. When he's hungry, he will come whine at me and I would go get him some cheerios to eat. One morning, Silly Mama left the box on the dining room chair (only thing you can reach while laying on the couch). I must have dozed off because Mess Maker got a hold of the box, and this is what I woke up to:
Point: Mess Maker.

Exhibit D:

Just this week, the Mess Maker has taken things to a whole new level. Yes, this week Mess Maker figured out how to open his box of wipes. No biggie, just the little flap on top. He'd pull out a wipe or two and get distracted by something else. UNTIL... DUH DUH DUH... He figured out how to open the entire top, take out every single wipe, and tear them all to shreds! I've had to start putting his wipes up on his dresser so he can't get to them . Here is the first time I caught the little stinker in the act:
Point: Mess Maker.

Other points earned by the notorious Mess Maker: taking all the clothes of of his dresser, throwing every tupperware and washcloth out of the drawer in the kitchen, taking all of Mommy's socks out of the dresser, taking trash out of the can, pulling out all of the shoes by the front door, removing the outlet protectors from the wall and hiding them in the shoes for the owner to step on...

Current Score

Mom: 1
Mess Maker: 10

Easter Sunday 2012

I love Easter Sunday! We started off the day with a wonderful church program. It was beautiful. The words and songs were a wonderful testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ. I always think about my family members that have passed away on Easter Sunday-- Grandpa Hy and Grandpa Joe. My cousins Devin, Austin, and Jessica. I think about what they are doing and how they must feel knowing that the Savior has provided a way for us to all be together again.

I also love to commercial side of Easter. Let's face it-- Easter candy is the best holiday candy. Easter decorations and outfits are always so cute, and who doesn't like dying eggs? Get ready for a photo overload...

Braxton after church in his Easter Sweater

Discovering his Easter basket

Blowing bubbles with Daddy

Popping all the bubbles

Haha! This picture makes me laugh. This is the face he made after he ate a piece of sidewalk chalk.

The weather was perfect so we went for a walk.

We had Easter dinner with the fam- Kelsey, Chad, Holly&Kyle, Braxton, my Kyle, and I all got together and pigged out. Ham, deviled eggs, twice-baked potatoes, salad, rolls, creamed corn, and apple pie.

And these are the people that ate too much!

The Sucky Sleeper

Pun intended. My baby likes to nurse to sleep.

Many of you know that my dear sweet boy that is such a sweetheart during the day is a stinker at night. Yes, it's both sad and true. My 13 month old does not sleep through the night... not even close.

It was not always this way. Braxton was a great sleeper as a newborn. He would wake two, sometimes 3 times at night to eat and go right back to sleep. By two months, he was sleeping through the night (11pm-6am). At three months he was sleeping 13 hours at night (7pm-8am). Life was good. This was back when I was going to school full-time and working part-time, so thankfully we were getting rest at night because our days were BUSY. However, after I graduated, Braxton started getting teeth in September and the sleeping through the night ended.

I have not slept through the night since the beginning of September. That's eight months! During this time, I have become a fanatic about baby sleep. I would like to say that I am somewhat of an expert-- at least I have plenty of tactics ready for when Baby #2 rolls around someday. I have read and learned a LOT about baby sleep. I have read just about every link that comes up under a google search for "sleep training," "how to help xx month old sleep through the night," "night weaning," "baby sleep cycles," "sleep associations," etc. I have also researched Ferber, Pantley, Hogg, Dr. Sears and others about their views on baby sleep habits and healthy ways to encourage night sleeping.

By now, I am guessing 95% of my dear readers have no idea what I am talking about... ;) Anyway, I have done a lot of research. Read books, blogs, scholarly articles and other forms of research, subscribed to sleep experts... I have tried several different methods trying to get this boy to sleep and still... NO DICE.

I first tried Hogg's EASY method. However, it quickly became clear that my stubborn little man was not falling for pick up, put down. I finally called it quits on night when I spent 2 hours picking up B, comforting him, then putting him back down when stopped crying. It. was. not. working.

At Braxton's 9 month well check, his CPNP Sue Ann suggested cry it out (CIO). I had debated about trying this before, but was always hesitant because it's not exactly the gentlest of sleep methods. Somehow talking to her reassured me that it would be okay, albeit difficult, and that my baby was waking up out of habit, not because he was sick/teething/colicky, etc. So we tried CIO. And it worked... kind of. You see, Braxton did eventually cry himself back to sleep. However, after two months of this he was still waking up at night and would cry himself back to sleep. I guess I should count this as an improvement, but I felt like such a terrible mom laying in bed, listening to my baby cry. every. single. night.

Then we had Christmas Break. Staying with the in-laws. Couldn't let him cry all night if he woke up since it would wake everyone in the house (except Topher-- his pants could be on fire and he would probably sleep through it). So I would go feed him and rock him to sleep. BIG MISTAKE. Once we got home that was the only way he found acceptable to fall asleep.

January was awful. Cold. Stomach flu. Teeth. Another cold. Ear infection. AHHH! I'm pretty sure we didn't sleep at all that month. (Confession: I fell asleep in the Mother's Lounge at church one Sunday in January. For over an hour. Church had been out 10 minutes by the time I woke up).

March: More research. More books. Started testing out "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" by Pantley. Found more valuable knowledge about baby sleep. The Pantley Pull-Off was somewhat successful. No more nursing to sleep and fewer night wakings (down to 3-4 instead of 6+) but he was STILL waking up and STILL needed my help to fall back to sleep. Even though I was only spending 5-10 minutes with him before he was back to sleep, I take much longer to fall back to sleep...

Now: Ordered a new book last week on Amazon. One penny. Seriously?! I will be impressed if I can purchase a full nights sleep for that price! It has shipped and will be here soon. Tonight: Round 2 of Cry It Out. Checked on Braxton four times. He is finally back to sleep. I am praying that he starts sleeping through the night before we move home and in with my family. They might not let us stay very long before kicking us out if he wakes everyone up.

Anyway, that's a record of the most notable sleep training methods I have tried (there were others, but these are the three that stand out the most). Wish us luck with our new endeavor!

Hometeaching according to Tom...