Christmas with the Kluses

Whew ... sorry it has been so long since my last post! Life has been hectic, but good hectic! All of Blake's family flew in to be with us for Braxton's first Christmas! It's been about a two week visit and we have been so happy for Braxton to get to spend this much time with his aunts, uncles, and cousins! His cousins love him and love to help me take care of him! They are always bringing me blankets, wipes, and diapers!

Here's a quick recap of the past week: Christmas was noisy and wonderful! We barely got a shot of all the kids in their Christmas outfits looking ... but at these ages, we'll take what we can get (fyi: Brady (4), Jodi (2), Cami (2), Carli (7 months), and Braxton (2 months). Then the 26th we had Braxton baptised! We asked Nicole (Blake's sister) to be his Godmother, and my brother, Blake, to be his Godfather. It was a beautiful service and I bawled like a baby. We all had a one-big-family night with the Kluses over at my folks' house which was so fun and resulted in a lot of "celebration" shots :) .... If you know the Kluses you know that sports follow them where they go, so we had to get a basketball gamed lined up! And my sisters-in-law know how to use connections and I took family pictures for each of them. Grandma told us all of our wedding photos are getting 86-ed and we needed to get replacements with family pics .... that's where I come in!

Everything was wonderful and we feel more blessed this year than any before! Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Tummy Time!

Braxton is actually really good at tummy time and doesn't seem to mind it! We do about 15 minutes a day and he moves his head back and forth. Sometimes he gets tired and just lays there but for the most part he wants to/tries to look around!

Braxton smiling and riding his Harley

When Braxton is in his bouncy chair he always puts his arms out and Blake and I call it "riding his Harley" cause it looks like he's hanging on to the handle bars of a hog!!! :) I finally got him on camera smiling and talking to Mommy! He is such a happy baby!! I love him to pieces!!!!!!!!

7 weeks!

It's hard to believe tomorrow, Brax will be 7 weeks old!!! My baby is getting so big! Here are a few pics I snapped of him this morning after changing his diaper :). In updated news, we found out the rash thing on his face wasn't baby acne but instead infant eczema. I think I was more upset than anything. It's hard being a first time Mom and you just want everything to be perfect, so when something like this comes along it really got to me. We talked to the Dr and he told us to use some hydrocortisone cream for a week along with Eucerin lotion and that should hopefully zap it. I just have to be dilligent now about staying on top of him with creams to avoid it coming back worse. Right now it's just on his face and a little on his chest. If anyone has advice or a child with it, let me know what you have found to be successful/helpful!

He is doing such a good job holding his head up and he seems to like tummy time ok too! We took a long nap together today which was GREAT since it was cold and yucky outside. We were cozy and snuggly inside!

Leavenworth 2009!

This weekend was so fun! Jordan and Katie came with us to the Christmas Tree Lighting in Leavenworth! There was a little snow on the ground and it was gorgeous as usual! It was fun going through the shops and wine tasting!!! Little Braxy stayed with Nana and Papa at the house because it was pretty cold and we didn't want him out in it. They weren't complaining!!! Here are some pics from the adventure :)

Me and my darling husband!

Wanted to post a pic of me and my darling hubby ;) Can't show you the family one, cause that's going on the "special" Christmas card .... look for it in a mailbox near you :)

Updated pics with Mommy and Daddy!

Look how big our little man is getting! Hard to believe he'll be 6 weeks this week!!

Update on Brax

Sorry it's been so long since my last post! I have been sick (got a breast infection) and it basically came with all the flu symptoms so I have been out for the count for a few days. The biggest update is that Brax is smiling now! It started at 5 weeks and is the CUTEST thing in the world! My favorite is when he gets up in the middle of the night for a feeding and when I peek over his bed and say, "hi baby!" and he gets this big smile across his face!!!!!! I love it!!!

Blake and I had our first official date night after having him! This last Friday we went to the NSD Christmas Party and it was so fun to get dressed up and go out for a big! Braxton got to go stay with Aunt Juliannem, Uncle Jeremy and the kids :) They loved watching him! Bryce loves to play with him and Morgan is a little Mommy and brings the blanket to cover him up and helps Julianne feed him!! And you'll see by the pics at the end of the night he was spent! He was fast asleep sprawled out on their floor --- sooo cute!!! :)

To my son...

Brax. In your one month of being my son, here are the things I have learned about you and love about you:
• the way you honk like a goose when you eat ... and the way your breath smells when you're done
• the way you give me "pirate eye" (closing your left, keeping your right open)
• how BIG your hands are! and how they feel when they grip my thumb
• how you have 12 random long hairs on the back of your head
• the way your mouth feels when I kiss your lips
• how you have Mommy's color eyes, but Daddy's face
• the way you take three fast breaths in the middle of your sleep
• how your like to sleep with your arms above your head
• how you scream like a banchee and your face gets all red when I change you!
• how you can stare at your friend "fred" for an hour (fred = a drawing Aunt Julianne did for him!)
• how we touch foreheads when we cuddle in the mornings
• and last, but not least, how you feel curled up on my chest when we take a nap together.

I love you so much, baby balooga!