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!

A few days of pictures and catch up!

It has been a busy weekend! I thought I'd recap with a pic and caption of what's going on! See below!

So, after Brax's 6am feeding I like to bring him into bed and cuddle! (no one turn me into the authorities for having him near pillows :) We usually fall asleep again for another hour or so and Daddy lays beside us and watches football! Here is a pic Daddy took today of my son and I cuddling! We hold hands and have our foreheads touch when we do this. It is so precious!



Here is a picture of my screaming Banchee after his nice warm bath. We go from total relaxation in the bath to red face, screamin' lungs, and crocodile tears while we get him changed!

Brax's Aunties Barbara and Sara came to visit him! I just love them so much and it was so wonderful to catch up with them! We've been friends for so many years and no matter how long it has been since we were all together it always feels like it was just yesterday. I love you girls! Brax couldn't ask for Aunties to love him more than you do!

Brax's first bath with Daddy! He loves it and is cool as a cucumber in the warm water!

Auntie Michelle came over last week when Blake was gone and showed me her perfected swaddle! He was wrapped up like a cute little babooshka and stayed warm and cozy all night!!!!

Daddy and Brax doing what they do best ....... SLEEPING! But it gave Mommy a chance to catch up on pictures so it worked out perfect!

Brax's first Thanksgiving!!

Happy Turkey Day!!! We had a great day! Myself, Blake, Braxton, Mike, Gloria all celebrated the holiday at my parents house! We had such a great day! ... and could it be a holiday without some engineering from the boys? Blake and my Dad rigged up a pulley system on a ladder to drop a turkey in to be deep fried using Uncle Al's famous recipie (PS - Wild Dave says THANKS to Crazy Al!!!! ... we love you Unc!)

We ate sooooo much great food and Braxton sat in his bouncer and just watched us eat! I even had a glass of wine which tasted soooo good after 10 months of water and apple juice! All in all it was a great day and we all left stuffed! ... and what made the day even BETTER was I cleaned our bedroom! First time since he was born! WAHOOO :)

Gobble gobble!

Brax

Mommy and her baby that is growing WAY too fast

I had to get a pic of me and my baby in! I'm always taking it and rarely on the other side these days, so I had to post one that Blake took! Brax sleeping on my chest is the single best feeling in the world!!!

My baby boy is growing so fast and while I am super happy he is so healthy, I am a little sad at the rate of his growth! He's going to be taller than me before I know it and won't even fit on my chest to snuggle!!! Took him for a weigh in last week and he has grown TWO AND A HALF inches since birth and gained almost 2 pounds! Yep, my three week old is 23.5" long and 10 lbs 10 oz!!! Maybe he can cuddle me on his chest soon :)

Sleeping just like Daddy!

My two favorite boys in their favorite sleeping positions!

Braxton's First Play Date :)

I met up with my friend Jenni today to have coffee and talk birth and boys! Braxton and Chaz are only one day apart! Jenni and I have been friends since Kindergarten so it's so fun to see our little boys together! You can tell they enjoyed their play date at Starbucks :)

We miss you Daddy!

Hi, Daddy! Mom and I are just chillin' watching Judge Judy! We miss you and can't wait for you to come home!

Love, Brax

Daddy's Mini Me

wow ... I was looking through some old pictures today and how crazy is this! The top pic is Blake at 2 days old, and the two pics immediately below it are Brax at 2 days old ... the one below that is Brax at 10 days old!! Like father like son, huh?!?! And I found another pic of Blake sleeping with his hands above his head just like Brax does!!! How precious!!! I sure love my boys!

My little muse ...

So my newest pastime is just posing Braxton each day into new positions and taking pics! Grandma got to see me torture him today :) I did newborn pics for friends of ours and since everything was set up, I thought Brax should have ANOTHER turn :)

PS - the second one is so precious to me because that is exactly how Blake sleeps (the shape of his mouth!) I love that my two boys have the same expression when they sleep!!

Our first family pictures!!

Our good friend Meg Borders came over to take our first family pictures :) ... it was actually fun being on the other side of the camera for a change and now I know what I put the poor parents thru during a newborn shoot! Both Blake and I were peed AND pooped on ... but it was worth it. The pics are amazing, thanks Meg!!!

From hospital to home

I FINALLY got around to uploading pics (and captions) about our hospital adventure! Below are just a couple you'll find in the slide show. Can you believe in twelve hours I went from the top picture to the bottom picture? Best day of our lives ....

Click here to see the rest! (don't forget to read the captions below the pics so you know what is going on in the picture!)

Braxton's first photo shoot with Mommy!

Today was the first day I broke out my big camera to snap a couple pics of our precious baby boy! We are doing "official" newborn pics tomorrow and I will post those as soon as they are done! I love the one of him winking because he's a hard core pirate! And the one of his sleeping is just too precious. Nice diaper too, huh? He was a peeing machine so I couldn't take it off. We'll strip him for the offical pics though!

Braxton's Debut.....

I can hardly believe my baby is a week old today. It feels like it was just yesterday that I was pregnant now all of a sudden the days are starting to zip by.

I know I have been promising to write about his birthday, but somehow my days seem to be getting filled up with feeding, diaper changes, clothes changes, naps …. and more diaper changes! Brax is asleep with Daddy right now, so I thought that since today is his week birthday, now would be good time to fill you in on the exciting events of 10/28/09! It’s not too graphic, but if you’re not interested in reading about a birth check back for the next post tomorrow! 

Tuesday 10/27 started off with Blake and I going to our Dr (Dr. Mark Mulholland (Dr. M) – we LOVE him!) for an 11:20 appt. He had told us the previous week that he highly doubted I would be pregnant through the previous weekend, but look who surprised him! During the appt Dr. M told us I had dilated even more (3 cm) and was still sitting at almost 100% effaced. He couldn’t believe I hadn’t gone into labor. He decided to strip (what was left) of my membranes, and that seemed to do the trick! That essentially was the tipping point that put me into labor! Once Dr. M realized that contractions were actually happening he called the hospital and “reserved” a room for me! He told us to go grab a light lunch and head to the hospital in about an hour.

We went to Stone Soup for my favorite Veggie Sandwich and that was when I noticed that the contractions were starting to hurt. It was so exciting knowing that the next place we were heading was to have a baby!! We got to the hospital about 1:30 and got checked in to Suite 12. They had me “gown up” and then we got registered, I got the IV-holder in, and they hooked me up to the fetal monitor to monitor his heart beat and my contractions.

Between 1:30-4 I had dilated 1 cm more and contractions were sort of painful, but not getting super close together. So at 4pm, Dr. M came in and broke my water. This was crazy!!! It literally felt like I was just peeing the bed! I also happened to be peeing all over Blake’s shoes! (not the last time that would happen this night!)

After my water broke my contractions started coming a lot faster and harder. About an hour later I realized I was ready for an epidural. They were really painful and I didn’t realize how tense it was keeping my body. My Dr said that while I stayed tense like that it would be hard for labor to progress as naturally. So I went ahead and went for it and am soooooooooo glad I did! I asked for a really low dose and the anesthesiologist did amazing! (Meg and Ty – we had Bill Smith too!!!!!) I could still feel and move my legs and toes and could still feel all around my hips, it just make the pain go away and I only felt pressure. I got the epidural at 5pm and that was what I needed to zoom my body even further! I went from a 4 to a 7 in about an hour and a half!
I stayed around a 7 for awhile and actually fell asleep for an hour or two because I was so relaxed! By 10pm I was really close to 10cm, but we found out our Dr got called into surgery, so here came the hard part. I had to “hold” at a 10 until he was done. Any woman who has been through labor and knows the “I have to push” feeling can sympathize with me. It is the biggest, most natural urge I have ever felt to “push” every time a contraction came on. But to keep the baby where he was at, I had to do everything in my power not to push every contraction (about every minute or so).

Finally a little after midnight Dr. M got out of surgery and came to check on me. Time to go he said! The room transformed before our eyes and about 12:45 am I started to push. It didn’t hurt, just felt a lot of pressure and got really tired after each push. Blake said he was amazed at watching the process of his son being born. At 1:48am Braxton Hunter Kluse made his way into the world! It was the most amazing thing to see him! He was blueish-grey and covered in the white vernix. He was so soft and I just was holding him and kissing him and saying his name over and over! Blake and I couldn’t stop smiling!

A few minutes later, the nurses cleaned him up and weighed him – 9lbs and 21in! I had a little gorilla in there! The best sound was hearing him cry and knowing his lungs were working like they were supposed to!

All in all, the experience was amazing. Blake videotaped the birth and he and I watched it our last night in the hospital. I have to say, a woman’s body is pretty amazing with respect to what it can do to push a child out!

Now Brax is a week old and I can’t believe how fast the time is flying. I just want to stop time and savor every second with him this size. The best feeling is him warm and cuddly on my chest as we nap together. That will never get old. I also love hearing all his squeaks and sounds! He is truly a little miracle and Blake and I couldn’t be happier that he chose us to be his parents !

We love you, Braxton
-Mommy & Daddy

A little sleepy sleepy time with Nana and Papa!

Here is a pic of Brax chilling with Nana and Papa! They love this little cuddle bug and got to see him take his sponge bath which he HATES! He screams like a banshee!

Hanging with Uncle Mike!

Here are today's pictures! Blake's brother was in town for a couple of days before a hunting trip and we are so excited Brax is here to meet Uncle Mike! The top picture is one from this morinng when our little monkey was waking up! He just gets cuter and cuter every single day! We are sooooooooo in love!!!

PS Uncle Mike - Baxter says to shoot the deer in the mouth!! ;)

My Squeaky Sqeakerson!!!!

Here is a video we took in the hospital of him with the hiccups! We should have named him Braxton HICCUPS Kluse for all the hiccups he had when he was in my belly! It is soooo cute to hear them in real life! He is such a little sqeak toy!!! We love all his little sounds!

What's a pirate's favorite letter .... Arrrrrgh

That title goes out to Uncle Matt :) .... sorry I am late posting these, it's amazing how having a baby can fill your day!!! :) Since he was a little too big for his lion outfit, Mommy decided to make him a pirate for his first Halloween! He was the most cuddly little pirate I have ever seen!!

Below is a pic of Blake took of Brax and I eating dinner together (I love his smooshed face on my chest!!!) and below that are two that my friend Meg took while we are at the hospital. He is only 5 days old, how is it that he is already looking bigger!?!?! Stop growing Brax!!!

We're home!!

We are home! We got relased from the hospital today and are spending our first night as a family at home tonight!! (Friday 10/30). I'll have a little more time tomorrow and blog about the birth story and add a few more pictures in. For now, Mommy, Daddy and Brax are heading to bed to catch some Zzzzz's ... at least for a few hours :)

PS - this is the coming home outfit I was talking about earlier! I got the idea at a conference where everyone has to wear those funny stickers with their names on them and I thought it would be hilarious as a coming home outfit, so I made one! Thank goodness I ironed it on a 0-3 month size onesie and not a newborn onesie!

Love to all!