Updates, Updates, Updates!

Wow!  It has been awhile since I have posted!  We have been BUSY - and that might just be a really big understatement :)  Here is some Braden cuteness to get this post started!

House Updates

We finally moved!  We said goodbye to our first home and have moved into our new home.  We really liked our old home and will really miss our neighbors (ok, really just the Morrison's), but we are really happy in our new home.  The thing that I love the most is that it's a ranch!  No more stairs!!!  I will likely NEVER go back to a house with stairs again.  We are almost completely settled in, and I promise to post pictures just as soon as there aren't boxes everywhere!  The neighborhood is awesome and convenient to everything.  Braden likes it too, but more on that later.  We have a HUGE yard that will finally be fenced this week - Rocco will enjoy that I know.  We had a very difficult sale of our previous home but luckily an easy purchase of the new one (after the mortgage documents were in order).  If you need an awesome Realtor, I have one!

Heather Updates

I started my new job at St. Vincent last week.  It's not really a different job, just new hours.  I work Monday to Thursday 4pm to 10pm and Friday 4pm to midnight.  I love working in the evenings because I get to be at home with Braden almost all day but still be able to work.  It's been an adjustment with scheduling, but we are getting used to it now.

I am now 31 weeks pregnant and only have ~9 to go.  Can you believe that?  I can't!  It has flown by!  Still feeling good except for the daily heartburn. 

Kevin Updates

Kevin has been working like crazy getting the house in order - you know, the non-decorating type of things :)  He has been adjusting to life as a single dad in the evenings, but is handling it well!  He braved the Indy 500 this year in the record heat and had a great time despite the fact that I wasn't there.  He will be going to the Iowa race at the end of the month as well.

Baby #2 Updates

Still no name.  He is fairly mellow and has only had the hiccups once!  Hopefully it stays that way.  I love to feel the hiccups, but Braden had them constantly when I was pregnant, and then got them every time he ate after he was born.  I really hope we don't go through that with this baby!  We tried to have a 4D ultrasound done on Sunday, but he is turned toward my back and wouldn't show us his face :(  But we were able to confirm that it's still a boy!  No surprises this time!  His heart rate was 130 on Sunday - he was sleeping.  We have another doctor appointment this week, so we will see what it is then.  Hopefully my doctor will go ahead and schedule our c-section at this appointment.  Not that it really makes much difference because if he wants to arrive early, a scheduled c-section doesn't make a bit of difference. I just like to get things on the calendar!  

Last But Not Least, Braden Updates

Braden turned 11 months old on May 14.  He is now running all over the place.  He tries to climb everything.  He is B.U.S.Y.  He is much more self-entertaining now and really is only crabby when he is hungry or tired.  His development seems to be right on track.  We are working on clapping - he has done it a few times, but nothing consistent.  He loves feeding Rocco.  You know he is done eating when he starts dropping his food to Rocco. His favorite toys are things that he can push.  He is eating strictly table food these days and really is not picky at all.  The only thing I can't get him to eat is blackberries.  He uses a sippy cup and drinks a TON of water.  Seriously, I'm surprised we don't go through more diapers.  He has a new obsession with ducks.  He loves them!  He sees them, gets excited, and says "duh" over and over again.  Luckily, our new neighborhood has a lot of ducks and geese, so we see them almost every time we take a walk.  He will also go look out the window and say "duh" hoping to see them outside.  He loves books.  He doesn't really like being read to yet, but he sure likes to flip through the pages.  If he sees a picture of a duck, dog, or ball, he can identify them.  His vocabulary is growing so quickly!  Here is what he consistently says:  mama, dada, ba (bottle or ball), duh (duck or dog).  He is listening to 'no' much better than before.  

He is such a good sleeper now - as long as we don't mess up his schedule!  He goes to bed around 8:30pm and sleeps until 6ish when he has a bottle and then goes back to sleep until about 8am.  He still takes 2 naps a day, usually one hour nap and then a longer 1.5 to 2 hour nap.  

We got the baby pool out Memorial Day weekend and took him swimming for the first time.  Here are some photos of that and some other Braden photos:

Hmm, it's a really big bathtub!

Not to sure about this Dad...

Getting my feet wet

Ok, maybe this is pretty neat...

Nope!  Let me out of here!

Running around the yard

Wait, I think I want to go back to my pool

I do like this!

Just hanging out!

Having fun with Daddy!

Happy baby eating dinner!

On a walk in my PJ's and I see some ducks!

Eating watermelon - I love watermelon!  I have to be without clothes to eat it though :)

Our New House

Yep, we sold our house! Yay! I was getting really tired of getting it ready for showings with a baby around. Pending the inspections on both homes this week, all should be good to go and we will be moving mid May.

We found a house that we love in Indianapolis, near 96th Street and I-69. It's a ranch, and I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about not having stairs :)

Here are some photos!

10 Months Old!

Braden is 10 months old today! We would be having much more fun if he wasn't feeling so poorly today :( He has had a high fever all day long. The highest it has been is 104, and Tylenol only seems to bring it down a few degrees. He has been miserable. He just wants to lay on your chest, and he even napped on me for about an hour today. Anyone that knows Braden knows that this is completely out of the ordinary for him because he is always "go go go". He has no symptoms other than the fever, so I'm hoping it runs it's course quickly. He has slept the majority of the day today, so we will see how tonight goes...

Anyhow, moving on...

I don't have any updated measurements for him this month since he doesn't go back to the doctor until he is 1 year old.

His new accomplishments are:

• Walking! He started taking steps around March 29 - yes, 9.5 months old. He then began walking a few short days after that. He rarely crawls anymore. It's so cute because he's so little! It doesn't look like he should be able to walk yet.
• Using a sippy cup. After about 12 different sippy cups, he has finally figured it out. But only if he can recline on you. If he's sitting on the floor he can't quite figure out how to tip it back far enough. He still prefers a bottle, but at least we are making progress.

His new discoveries this month include:

• Grass. It was so funny at first because you would put him in the grass and he did not like the texture of it so he would just sit there. He wouldn't crawl anywhere! He would lean forward like he was going to crawl but would then convince himself that it wasn't safe and would just go back to sitting there. He's pretty much over that now and likes it for the most part.
• Shoe laces. If you have shoes on with laces he comes up and pull on them, but only if you are actually wearing the shoes.
• Crawling underneath the dining room table and chairs. This is good fun until he gets stuck trying to crawl through an opening that is too small for him. Henry does not like this new activity because Henry sleeps underneath the dining room table :)
• Peekaboo. He understands the concept now and thinks it's funny.
• Pincher grasp. He is now able to pick up items between his thumb and index finger, as opposed to his entire fist. This has led to him being able to find every little thing on the floor and pick it up. Awesome...
• Running around naked. Diaper changes have become quite the challenge around here. He is FAST. You get the dirty diaper off and he quickly rolls over, stands up, and starts walking away. When you try to get him, he goes faster and just laughs. This is currently his favorite game.

Eating and sleeping patterns:

• He sleeps from 7:30 to 7ish, getting up once for a bottle still.
• He naps for 1.5 to 2 hours in the morning and then about the same in the afternoon.
• He is still not a big morning eater, but does still love his pancakes and waffles!
• We feed him pretty much anything now, and he gets really upset if we are eating and he is not. He loves chicken, green beans, oranges, and bananas. The only things that are off limits right now are: sweets, spicy foods, peanut products, honey, and milk products. We will introduce milk products when he is a year old, to see how it goes, but until then we are playing it safe.
• He has several snacks throughout the day as well.

He is such a happy baby for the most part. He is very busy and gets bored quickly, so keeping him entertained is a must. Luckily, he loves to be outside, so when it's nice we go on several walks a day. This month we took him to the Indianapolis Zoo and he loved looking at the animals. We also celebrated his first Easter! I can't believe it is only two more months until he turns 1. That just doesn't seem possible. But, it seems like every phase he goes through is the best one yet!

Look At Me Go!

Braden's First Easter

We had so much fun celebrating Braden's first Easter! Of course, being my first Easter as a Mommy, I forgot to put out his Easter basket the night before, so I had to rush and do it in the morning :)

He got several books, some bath toys, Veggie Tales DVD's, onesies, and a new toy.
He was pretty excited about pulling everything out of the basket.




However, he was not too excited about the bunny ears - they lasted just long enough to snap a quick picture.
Rocco didn't seem to mind though :)

We then got ready to head up to Kevin's parents in Kokomo. Here is a picture of Daddy and Braden in our backyard.

My happy baby!
Mommy and Braden
We had dinner up in Kokomo and then Braden participated in his first Easter egg hunt! He's excited!
He figured it out really quickly.
It was crazy how fast he caught on. He would see the eggs and just lock in on them - he was really good at spotting them!





It was a great Easter!

My Must Have Baby Items

I seem to know a lot of people who are expecting their first child right now, so I thought I would do a post listing out my top 11 baby items! It was through trial and error to find out what worked for us, but once we did, I found that the following things were life savers! Now, if you are reading this and are going to have a c-section, email me, because I have a whole list of things that were super helpful for that too! And by the way, I LOVED my c-section, and was not at all disappointed about having one.

The first thing that I knew I HAD to have was the Angel Care baby monitor. This monitor detects movement, so it can tell you if the baby is still breathing. Even in the hospital, every time I laid Braden down, I found that I was just staring at him making sure he was still breathing. I couldn't get any sleep! This was a lifesaver because at night I could make sure that the light was still flashing indicating that it was detecting breathing. If it stops detecting movement an alarm sounds. We were able to use this in the bassinet, the crib and the pack and play. Seriously, it was the only way I could sleep!

The next item that we love is the noise machine. Babies seems to enjoy constant noise - especially babies with colic. They say that it is noisy in the womb due to blood flow and your heartbeat, so babies often have a hard time sleeping when it's too quiet. We still use this every night and nap time and I think it's great.

Let me tell you, Swaddle blankets are an absolute MUST have. Braden refused to sleep unless he was swaddled. On the off chance that he did fall asleep without being swaddled, he would often twitch and wake himself up. The swaddling controls that and helps them sleep better for longer. I loved this kind because they were so easy. They velcro, so it was fool proof. And, super easy to do in the middle of the night when you are up all the time :)
The Moby Wrap. Braden had to be held constantly, but of course did not want to remain stationary. He wanted to be moving. ALL. THE. TIME. Of course, I loved holding him and cuddling him, but sometimes, you just have to do other things. He loved this because as I was walking around doing other things, he was moving. It kept him feeling held, tightly wrapped, and moving all at the same time. It does appear a bit confusing to use at first, but once you do it a few times, it's really simple!

Obviosuly, Braden was formula fed after about 4 weeks due to his milk allergy. However, when I was nursing, we supplemented formula here and there because it seemed to make him happier. And, at night he wanted to nurse every 20 minutes, and would take like 45 minutes to eat. So, in order for me to get any kind of sleep, Kevin had to give him a bottle. Anyway, I loved the drop-ins bottles because they work the same way as nursing, so the baby doesn't forget how to nurse. Also, the liners are disposable, so you only have to wash/sterilize the nipple part. So much easier and way less time consuming! You can also push all of the air out of the bottles so that helps with gas. However, after we went to formula, Braden still had reflux and gas issues, so the Dr. Browns bottles really helped with that. Not gonna lie, they are a pain to clean because there are a lot of parts, but in the end you find that doesn't matter if they help make your baby happier!

If you're are a tad OCD like me, everything the baby touches will be sterilized. This craziness faded away once he hit about 6 months old, but at first it was the most important thing to me. Sure, there are electric sterilizers out there, but they are huge, and are usually made to accommodate one brand of bottle. These bags are great. You just throw in what you want sterilized with some water and it steam sterilizes in the microwave. And, you can reuse each bag up to 20 times. Genius.
Hands down, nursing was the hardest thing I have ever done. Ever. Looking back on it, we now know that Braden wanted to eat all the time because his tummy hurt, so he thought he was hungry. Turns out, that was the allergy. Anyhow, sometimes it just hurts from nursing so much. There are all kinds of gels and such to help with that, but I liked these gel pads the best!

Gripe water is great for tummy problems for babies. It helps with gas and such and is safe to give them even when they are brand new.

Sleeper gowns. I didn't buy any of these but was so glad when some friends got us some after Braden was born! They don't close at the bottom so it makes diaper changes easy and quick in the middle of the night. I will be investing in more of these before baby #2 arrives!

And last, but not least, the Fischer Price Rock n' Play Sleeper. This thing was great. I liked that it was slightly elevated to help control spit up. The best thing about it is that it folds up so nicely that it's highly portable. We took it everywhere we went - outside, to the beach, to friends houses, etc. While at home, it mostly stayed in our bathroom which gave Braden a place to sleep while I showered and got ready.