Blake's 1st Father's Day!

Blake had a great 1st Father's Day yesterday! The day started with Brax and I going to get him coffee (his typical routine on Sat & Suns with Brax!) ... which was more work than I expected, so I'm eager to let him have his job back! Then we had breakfast, Blake did some yard work, we ran errands, and topped off the evening by making a homemade veggie pizza! Ohhhhh was it delicious!! And of course, had to go to Dairy Queen for Blizzards!

Below is a pic and video of Braxton eating. He is doing this new thing where he blows rasperries when you put a bite of food in. Well this time it backfired, and he blew before the food was in his mouth, so he blew it up off the spoon and it went backwards and landed on his face! HA - serves him right! Blake and I wear 1/2 of his dinner each night! Had to capture this :)

Love you Braxers!!!

Jumping in June

Hey, everyone! June has been a really fun month! This is my FAVORITE age for Brax! He has so much personality and is so fun ... but still not mobile! YAY! :) ...he loves to babble now (started on this 7 month bday) and says "dadadadadadadadadadada" all the time with a very stern look on his face! I wish he'd say "mama" more, but at least that was his first word!

He had his first ride in the big boy seat at Target! I was so proud! I basically walked around the store just taking pics of him in the cart and forgot half the stuff on our list! Oh well ;) The other pics are some I snapped of him playing! When we get up in the morning we spend time playing with all his toys, then use the afternoons to go on walks and run errands! Mommy gets to watch the Today show that way ;)

I also love the pics of Blake and his parent's dog, Winston. They were watching Baby Einstein together. How cute!!!

Mine and Blake's favorite new pastime is badminton! We have it set up in the backyard and when Brax goes to sleep Blake and I go out and challenge each other! It's really fun for us to do ... and he gets to see my superb athletic skills. Or something like that ... :) There is a pic of Blake showing off his mad jumps. Yes honey, you're amazing.

Below are a couple of vidoes too! Brax loves to bang anything he can get his hands on together, but for some reason he was a little shy when I put the camera on him. Better get over that one kid!

Good ole fashioned BBQ for Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day, everyone! We had a great weekend and nice and relaxing! This was the first weekend Blake has been home in a while, so we had some great family time and even set up a badminton set in the backyard! I have negative athletic ability and proved that fully last night. I am the girl who swings and the birdie thing flies right by her ... oh well. I know how to shop and take pictures, so that's gotta buy me something 'eh?

Below are some pics from our weekend! I went with some friends to see SATC2. Not as great as I was hoping for, but a chick flick nonetheless!

*The first picture below is for my ole' father in law. I saw this painting and couldn't help to think that it was a "Mike of year's past" ... wonder what he thinks?!?! look at all that hair!!! Love ya, pops!

Way too long without a post

Hey everyone! Wow, I really need to get back in the hang of things. Over a month? How unlike me .... so here is to catch you up on the last month of our lives!
1) I started back to work in April part-time; a couple days a week gives me enough time to be a "professional" but most of my time to be a Mommy!
2) Braxton started eating solid foods at 5 1/2 months and two days later slept through the night for the first time!! WAHOOOOO! Our schedule has been amazing since I started this kid on food. That was just what he needed!
*He loves all foods except green beans. He will spit those out every chance he gets! (I hate them too, way to go Brax!)
3) Braxton started swim lessons with his friend, Chaz! They go once a week and he is a waterdog! He loves to go under and we are so proud of our boy! I am in the water with him and proud Daddy stands on the side with video camera in one hand and camera in the other!
4) Braxton started sitting on his own right before 6 months and even though he knows how to roll, up until yesterday (2 days shy of 7 months) he hadn't done it a lot. Now he rolls all over his blanket ... namely when you are trying to change him!
5) In mid-May we flew to Lexington for Pete & Julie's wedding (we set them up!). Brax did great and he was a hit at the wedding and in Columbus (where we went first) so he could meet family.
6) At 6 1/2 months he said his first word --- MAMA!! (I am so happy!)
7) Today (one-day shy of 7 months) he has started babbling like crazy (lalalalalala and ahga ahga ahga are his favorites).+
9) In early April we got our first family car! A Mazda CX9 and I adore it! It is just the space we need for now!
8) Here's Braxton's day at 7 months
630am - breakfast (5 oz BM)
9am - nap
11am - 1/4 c rice ceral and 4T fruit and 6oz BM
1pm - nap
4pm - 1/4 c oatmeal and 4T vegetables 1 T meat
7pm - book, naked jaybird, bath, jammies
730pm - 8oz BM and off to bed
(sleeping thru the night!!!)

All in all life is amazing. It sure is busy, but routine helps make it great. Blake and I find that we can just spend time playing with Braxton on the floor and minutes turn into hours! We love to sing him songs and make them up all day (many of them include his name since we love it so much ;))

As I am writing this I'm thinking back that 7months ago I was in labor. If I remember correctly I was probably dilated to 9cm and I kept thinking ''in just a few hours I get to meet my little boy" ... and now not only is he here, but I know so much about him! Here are a few of things I love about Brax at 7months:
*I love how he sucks in his bottom lip
*I love how he flirts (will give you a big smile then turn his head away shyly)
*I love how he sticks his tongue out of his mouth and curls the tip of it up towards his nose
*I love how he gets super excited when he's playing and takes deep breaths and flails his arms and legs in a crazy way
*I love how he likes to cuddle on my chest and lay his head to the side right under my chin
*I love how he STILL holds my hand when he nurses
*I love what a HAPPY HAPPY baby he is (we feel proud that this is the thing we get the most compliments on)
*I love how he has my blonde hair and blue eyes and that the strands on the top that stick up like a peacock are still longer than any other hair on his head and have been like that since the day he was born!
*I love how he has a tiny strawberry patch on his left eyelid that has been there since the day he was born
*I love how he has learned to put his arms up in the air when he wants up and gets excited when he sees me coming
*I love how he laughs when I tickle his underarms and side
*I love the look on his face when he's milk drunk from his bedtime feeding and he is so sleepy his head bobbles all around
*And as always, I love being his Mommy more every day. He is truly the best thing Blake and I have ever done and in 7 short months I can't even remember what life was like without him.

I love you so much Baby Balooga. You will forever be our Braximus Maximus!
Love Mommy & Daddy

Sit, sit, sit ... I like to sit!

How lucky was this? I was getting ready for a shoot and Blake was helping me prep the studio room. We had Braxton in there and all of a sudden before we knew it, he was sitting!!! He was balancing with his arms on the ground and as he would start to wobble he would correct himself! He did take a couple of dump-overs, but Daddy caught him and sat him back up! My baby is such a big boy!!! (he's 6 months next week). We'll have to keep practicing and let you know!

**I think he did it cause my good camera was in there and we were in the studio so he knew I could take some great shots of his newest trick!!!

We love you baby!!!

My silly peanut!

Check out Braxton's newest game! It's called COVER MY FACE! He will cover his face with anything and he thinks its so funny! The other picture has a funny inside joke to it, but basically it's me, in my evening attire, enjoying my wine!!! :)

Braxamus Maximus!

Hey everyone (not sure why this is underlining!). Well, I started back at work this week and it wasn't as bad as I was thinking it was going to be. A couple of breakdowns, but I got through the day! There is no way I could work more than 3 days ... by the middle of the afternoon on Thursday I started getting realllly ancy to get out of there!

Blake was gone today on travel, so Braxton and I had a nice day! My cousin, Christine came into town to meet him, so we had fun hanging out with her! We played, went to lunch, took a nap, went on a walk ... it was a great day!

April should be a fairly low-key month. I have a lot of photo shoots, but we are in town every weekend (something kind of out of the ordinary!), so we are hoping to have lots of family time! Every Saturday Blake and Braxton (following his Dad's tradition) go get coffee and bring it back. Usually I wake up two hours later to a slightly watered down iced skinny hazlenut latte... but good nonetheless! It is so nice that I get to sleep in on Sat morning and Blake and Brax get to have Daddy/Son time. This usually consists of going outside and checking on the lawn or watching golf or basketball!

Below are some pics I took for Braxton's 5-month pictures! Hard to believe my baby boy is that old already ... I am treasuring every SECOND with him.

Easter & Reflections ...

Happy Easter! What a difference a year makes ... last Easter was when we surprised our parents by wrapping the ultrasounds in Easter Eggs and telling them we were pregnant! Now, in the blink of an eye we already have a 5 month old?! How did that happen! He went from a little gummi bear on a piece of paper to my beautiful, happy baby boy!

Easter was terrific! This year we went with my parents to their church (we switch years with the g-parents) and then met up with Blake's parents and all 6 of us had brunch at Meadow Springs. It was great...and after 4 trips thru the line, I was finally full! Sooooo much good food! Nana and Papa made up a cute Easter basket for him (with candy we ate!). Good thing they did, cause we didn't!! As my friend told me last night, "after this year, you'll have to do one EVERY year, so enjoy your last year off!!!" ...AMEN!

Also, last week I had my first day back at work. It was better than I thought it was going to be. I still missed him, but to be honest, I was so busy it really did make the day fly by! I am going to do Tues-Thurs and my best friend, Aunt Julianne, will be watching him! She has her background in early childhood education, so I joke that he'll probably learn more with her than me anyway! Plus it will be good for him to be around a couple more kids on a regular basis. Bryce and Morgan love him and love to "babysit" him so I know he's in good hands!

Also, I'd like to make note of something. For all you people that nodded your head along in agreement to me last October when I said, "I can't wait to be home for 5 months --- I am going to get so much done around the house." .... well, now I know you were just being polite. The ONLY real accomplishment I got done in the last 5 months was giving birth to my beautiful baby! Everything else out the window. I didn't get my attic organized, I didn't go through all our files and purge stuff, my bedroom still has not been simultaneously clean at the same time as my house, I am still behind on laundry, and to make matters worse, now there are balls of diapers randomly around the house waiting to be taken to the "big" garbage. So this is what being a mom is, huh?

For any of you Mom's who DO have it all together, please do tell.

Below is a quick pic we snapped of him getting ready for Church! What a stinker with that tongue!!! I wish I had my better camera, but iPhone had to do!

We love you Braxamus Maximus ... next year dying eggs will be fun!

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's "boy-hawk" time!!!!

I have been waiting so long for this!!! Finally Brax has enough hair for me to give him little mowhawk!! I just snapped with my little point anf shoot so Ihope you can see it well enough!!! Once it grows in a little more I will trim it up! :)