To my 5 month old

To Braxton:

How are you already 5 months old? The black and white picture you were only 10 days old and in what feels like is a blink of an eye you are growing up before me. This past month has been one of a lot of changes for you! I am so proud of all the new things you learned and as a parent am amazed at what children are capable of learning in such a short time. I've fallen even more in love with you and I know that will only continue to deepen! Your Daddy and I love you so much and here are just a few of the things we have come to love about you this month!
* you rolled over at 19 weeks! Daddy and I were laying on the blanket playing with you and right in front of our eyes you just rolled yourself over! We were so happy to have been there to witness it together ... we were so proud of you and started kissing you and clapping for you immediately
* you suck on your bottom lip and make a funny little grin
* you like to grab your ... ahem ... "special part" in the bathtub, and then scream when it hurts (go figure!)
* you laugh out loud so cute when Daddy sings you "Pants on the Ground" (thank you American Idol for that diddy)
* you smile and laugh when we sing you your "Braxton Hunter Kluse" song we made up
* you sleep now from 7pm - 330am (eat) - 630am (twice this month you even slept 7pm - 5am ... we're getting there!)
* you love to look in the mirror, but always look behind you to try and figure out who that baby is!
* I think you know you're lullabye (stay awake, don't rest your head) because when I start to sing it you calm down
* I love the way you feel when I hold you (and yes, you actually feel light to me!) and I hope I never forget what it feels like to hold you. I know I'll miss it when you're 6' 6" one day looking down on me.

More than anything you are the best little boy in the world and you have made your Daddy and I so happy!

We love you, Braxamus Maximus!

****and I still love the way you hold my hand when you nurse!!!

Our first family car!!

We did it! We have a family car now :) We got a screamin' deal on this 2010 Mazda CX9 (only $200 over invoice thanks to a hook-up with the commercial fleet manager at McCurley!). It has so many bells and whistles and I love love love it! Blake is now driving the Accord and "Old Blue" is parked with the boat and has been retired to strictly a hunting/fishing/boating vehicle!! I think Blake feels like he got a new car out of this too!

The first time I put Braxton in he was looking around like, "where am I???" It is so nice having so much more room!!! Now I need to come up with a name for her .... :)

Kauai and Catch Up

We're alive! I didn't fall off the face of a cliff! Life has been soooo busy lately and I am really behind on my blogging. I promise to do better in April! So here's a quick update on everything!

We spent a week in Kauai with Blake's parents which was amazing! We were at a Marriott resort that M&G bought a time share at and it is soooooo pretty! Thanks to Grandma, Blake and I actually got to make it a vacation and sleep in and lay on the beach! With 3 plane rides there and home I was nervous about Braxton, but he did wonderful! We were so proud of him! The last flight from SLC to home he had pretty much had enough, but 5 out of 6 is great!

While we were on the island we basically read books, laid by the beach, got burned (well, ok, only me) and swam! One of my favorite things was snorkeling with Blake. I'm always on the lookout for Jaws when snorkeling in 4 feet of water!

This was also my last full month off from work :( ... I'll be returning in April, but only three days a week. I hope that I can find it to be a nice break rather than be sad I'm missing time away from my baby. Fingers crossed!

Aloooooha! See all the pics HERE.

Big bouncing boy!

Brax is in his bouncer now and he LOVES to bounce! It is so cute seeing him bounce up and down. He giggles and talks to himself in it and just watches me as I clean and do stuff around the house!

We are getting ready to leave in a couple days for Hawaii!! I can't wait to have some nice relaxing time with my fam on the beach! It will also be fun to take him into the water and see how he likes it! He loves bathtime now, so I'm hoping the same goes for the ocean!

I think we've hit the teething mark too. He is constantly drooling, sticking hands in mouth, and yesterday he went ballistic screaming and putting his hands to his mouth. It almost made me cry because I feel like I can't do anything for him! It must be so painful. Thank God for infant Tylenol. I also got some baby Orajel that said was good for babies over 4 months. Not sure if I'll see a tooth poke thru soon or what ... is this early??? I know some kids who are a year old and don't have have teeth!

Love to all!

My cool dude!!

Are you kidding me? Could this boy get any cuter! Thanks Aunt Jamie for picking up my new FAVORITE hat for me! I look RAD :)

I had a newborn shoot today and my good friend Jamie watched him and they had a fun morning! He was laughing and smiling and playing with Jo!

PS - we miss you Daddy! We love you!

Boys & Bellies

Hey all! It's been a busy last week! Blake and Lesli came into town and I took some maternity pics of Lesli ... the sun was perfect! I love a good sun flare :) ... And Braxton got together with his lifelong (ha!) friend Chaz! They were born only a day apart so Jenni and I get them together for play dates! Check out how long Braxton's arm is compared to Chaz? Speaking of that ... he had his 4 month check up and everything looks great! He's in 100% for height and 90% for weight! He's on his tummy a lot and is close to rolling. After a push from us he'll pull his arm out, he just hasn't figured out why he'd WANT to roll :)

And since I'm always behind the camera, I had to get one of me and my sweet, sweet baby boy!!!!!!! In fun news we leave for Hawaii in a few days and I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!