~It's All About the LITTLE Things~

*** BRAXTON AND CHLOEE PLAYING ***

The other night after just finishing off a water bottle Braxton decided that it would make for a fun toy! I set him on the ground to allow for more space to play. Not more than a minute later I heard Nate say "Babe look - Braxton is playing with Chloee". I was a little confused as I looked down to find this.........

*************************

*************************

*************************

*************************

Chloee was SO good and SUPER careful with Braxton. She mostly just followed the bottle around with her eyes as Brax waved it around. There were a couple of times though that she went in for the bottle but only if Braxton's hands weren't in the way. If Braxton's hands happened to get in the way as she was getting ready to bit she would resist and keep following it with her eyes instead. The couple times she actually did get it in her mouth, if Braxton tried to wave it around some more, Chloee would again let go so he was able to!

It was so cute to watch! We can't wait until Braxton is a little older and they can play together - for real!! I have a feeling they are going to be BEST buds....

~It's All About the LITTLE Things~

~LUNCH DATES WITH DAD~

Nate left his wallet at home and has a big test in school tonight so Braxton and I decided to meet Nate for lunch. He didn't have much time so Brax and I put in a pick-up order at Cafe Rio and after we picked it up meet Nate in the Smith's parking lot on 40th West and 47th South. They have a nice patch of grass at the back of their parking lot where we sat and had a little picnic. It was a little random but so nice to get out of the house and spend a little time with the best dad in the world!

Hanging out

eating leaves while waiting with dad

Dad sharing his lunch - Brax LOVES Cafe Rio!!

--- Thanks for a fun lunch date ---

Word-LESS Wednesday

- Look at those BLUE EYES -

(at Cousin Brynnlee's 2nd Birthday party on September 11th, 2010)

Our First Halloween

This Halloween was pretty special for us.

It was Braxton's First Halloween

and

Nate and I celebrated our First Halloween together 7 years ago while on our First Date!!

This weekend was the first full weekend I haven't worked in two weeks and we definitely took advantage of it!

On Saturday we went to Chili's for lunch for my wonderful mom's Birthday

followed by some Trick-or-Treating at Great Grandpa Davis' house,

Stopping by Grandma Gerrie's annual Halloween Party

-complete with soup and pictures of all the Grand and Great Grand kids-

(you will find pictures of only some of the costumes below)

- Our Relaxin' Lion -

-Our Family of Oz -



-The Grand Kids -

-The Great Grand Kids -

-The Cutest Lion and Monkey you'll ever see-

- Tanner the Monkey-



-Emily and Tanner the Zoo family-
(Brad was also a Zoo worker)



-The Ninja Turtles-
?????????????




-Oh, it's just Logan and Natasha-

-Gabe the Batwitch-

-Kyler AKA Dwight-

Then it was off to Grandma Carolyn's house for some Trick-or-Treating

And finally to finish off the night

Dinner and games with some friends.

It was a very long and very eventful day!

Poor Braxton was definitely done by the end of it all. When I was putting him in his car seat to get ready to go to the last couple of houses he gave me the saddest "what are you doing to me" look and would start to cry. I think he was pretty sick of having his costume taken on and off so many times! He was such a trooper though!

Sunday we decided to have my family over for my mom's birthday dinner and cake

- "47" -

-She got lots of help blowing out HER candles-

And Braxton got his THIRD hair cut

Thank you so much Aunt Sami. It was MUCH needed!!

-What are you doing to me Grandma? -

(Don't worry, Braxton forgave Grandma really soon after)

and then we just hung out the rest of the day! We all needed a good day for relaxing after the crazy Saturday we had!

I really wanted to pass out candy and since we weren't home on Saturday to do it I figured we would get some in case anyone came by Sunday night. I was so sad when we only had 2 young boys - probably 8 and 10 years old- and they came together!!

What a great weekend filled with lots of time with family. I can't think of a better way to spend a weekend!

Our First Sick Doctors Visit

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Two weeks ago Braxton was sick with his first ever horrible cold (cough, runny nose, sad cries). He never really got a fever from it and was pretty much better about a week later. I wasn't expecting him to get so sick again so quickly. He was supposed to be getting better! On Saturday night he had a little bit of a runny nose and by Sunday night he was choking on food he could normally eat just fine (almost like his throat was swollen) a little bit of a cough and runny nose and was not his absolutely happy self. On Monday night when I picked Braxton up from Grandma Hollie she said the had pulled at his left ear a couple of times through the day. When I got him home I noticed that his cough had become very wet, he was wheezy, had a yucky nose and a little bit of a temperature (around 99 degrees). By Tuesday night when I picked him up from Grandma Donna's he sounded so much worse. The poor kid had a horrible wet, deep cough - the one that hurts your chest. He was still a little warm and had the saddest sick eyes I have ever seen! I wanted to take him into the doctor so bad but I didn't want to come off as a "paranoid mom" and it was almost 7:30pm. I kept telling myself "He'll be fine. Give him until the morning and if he's not better take him in then. It's just a bad cold." I got a cold with Braxton the first time 2 weeks ago and was still suffering from it at this time so I figured we just happened to have the same thing and it unfortunately was a never ending cold! Then another part of me kept thinking about RSV and how scary it is. I wasn't sure if it was the right season for it but that didn't keep me from worrying. As I was fighting with myself about whether to take him in or not my sweet dad said "I really think you should take him in tonight. You'll sleep a lot better if you do." I was so glad that he said that. It made me feel like not such a paranoid mom and helped me to realize that it would be okay to take him in. Luckily our Doctors office has a night clinic and they were able to squeeze him in "if I wanted him to be seen that night." One of the Doctors in her group were working or I could wait until the next day at around noon and he could see his doctor. I of course wanted him to be seen that night!

Well, a long story short - he had a really bad viral infection and RSV was not in season. The doctor did say though to watch him and if his cough got worse or his temperature got higher to bring him back in. Luckily neither of those happened! He also had his first two ear infections! He said that both ears looked red :( We got a prescription for some amoxicillian for him to take which he happened to LOVE! That made it really easy for us when it came time for him to have it.


Now two weeks later he is pretty much all better! Which I am so thankful for~

October at Garnder Village

October 15, 2010

I wanted to get some cute pictures of Braxton in his costume and from things that I have heard I thought that Gardner Village would be the Perfect spot - and it was!! They have such cute setups and a lot of fun things! The only mistake was unknowingly going during UEA weekend! Lukcly my family (mom, dad, Jason and Lexi) joined us and were so helpful! Our little lion wasn't such a fan of his costume. Warm weather and a tired little boy make for some interesting pictures!

It ended up being so much fun!
I think we might have a new tradition - except we'll go a week earlier next year!!!

Sometimes you just CAN'T win

Pros of a doggy door....

- those dogs who can't ever decide if they want to be inside or outside, you don't have to let them in and out continously until they decide!

- you don't have to worry about accidents in the hosue when your gone for 10+ hours a day or waking up to a surprise in the morning as your running out the door for work because she just couldn't hold it until you woke up.

- your dog seems to sence a little more freedom being able to go in and out as they please - whether to go to the bathroom, take a run around the yard or just to get some fresh air. While they can be stuck home alone for many hours during the day, they don't have to be stuck in the house.

Cons of a doggy door......

- a trashy yard!!!!!!!

We thought that putting in a doggy door would be so good for Chloee. Giver her a chance to get some fresh air on the days we are gone ALL day and give her no excuse for messes in the house anymore!

But we didn't realize that having a doggy door could be such a bad thing!

Only some of the things we have found in our back yard due to Chloee deciding to entertain herself while we are gone...

• shredded plastic bags
• cereal boxes (box and plastic torn open = cereal covered yard)
• box of dryer sheets (our yard smelled like dryer sheets all night)
• tupperware
• shredded paper plates and Ziploc baggies
• box of fruit snacks
• Braxton's toys (especially stuffed animals)
• Braxton's treat cups

As you can see..... you can't win everything

Braxton meets a witch

With the help of my family I took Braxton to Gardner Village on Friday to take his picture in his Halloween costume using their fun props. While there, my mom needed to put a deposit on the Gathering Place for my sisters wedding. We waited in the lobby for her and when she was finished she came out and said "There is a real witch in there that I bet would take her picture with Braxton." Gardner Village decorates using a lot of hay squares and pumpkins and of course theirever famous stuffed witches. But a real witch...... that would be fun! My first response to her idea was "Is she a cute witch?" My mom went back and asked if she would mind and she agreed. She was SO sweet and SO cute! She was 100% in character from her clothing to her make-up to her accent to what she talked about! She was incredible! She said she got asked by someone who is having a Halloween wedding if she would dress up and come to her reception. She cackled and said that witches aren't allowed out of the area!

...Thanks mom for the great picture idea and thanks Witch for humoring us...

(More of Gardner Village pictures to come)

WORD - LESS Wednesday

--- YAY!! I finally get it ---

Home Sweet Home

Since the 'U' has their Spring Break this week we decided to take advantage a little and go out to dinner together as a family. We haven't been able to do that on a week night for so long! Brax and I met Nate at TGI Fridays by South Town Mall unfortunately a little while after By the time Brax and I got there Nate had already gotten us a table so we headed inside to find him. As I sat down Nate set two bags on the table and said "thank you for everything." It was so sweet. He had gone over to the mall while he was waiting for us and got me some shirts from Aeropostale and Abercrombie and Fitch. What a stud! Then a little into our meal he said "Do you know why we're celebrating tonight?" I was so confused. I didn't know we were celebrating anything and I felt horrible. I quickly ran some days through my mind

- our anniversary isn't for a while
- our first date was in October but not until Halloween
- our first kiss was in March
- we got engaged the middle of November

I was completely clueless and I felt horrible about it. Nate gave me a hard time about it for a little bit and then said "we got our house two years ago today! I can't believe you forgot!" Oh my goodness, I HAD totally forgotten! To give me some credit I actually had thought about it about a week before. I knew that it was sometime the middle of October and I meant to look through our paperwork to find out the exact day - and then never did!

I can't believe it has been two years - but even more, I can't believe all that we have been able to accomplish the last two years. We redid a our entry way, kitchen/dining room, all 3 bathrooms and our laundry room floors when we first moved in. We put in the front and back yard, "painted" our garage floor, got a puppy, and had a child. All of that on top of all the little things that we have been able to do, learn, and experience. We are blessed with such awesome neighbors and have a wonderful ward! One scary thing about buying a house is that you can't pick your neighbors and we definitely lucked out!

Nate ended up admitting later that night that the only reason he remembered that special day was because our awesome Realtor had sent him an e-mail reminding us and checking up on us!! What a stinker~

A dog born to hunt - we hope

After a few months of decide when would be the best time to get it and trying to find a decent deal, Nate just bought his second gun - a rifle - and was so excited to bring it home and show us. After taking it out of the box and getting it all put together Chloee decided to join in the admiring and ended up getting super excited!

Nate really wants to try and get into duck hunting with Chloee. With how scared she is of everything lately we both were really worried that she would end up being gun shy! I think it kind of upset Nate. We paid a lot of money for a pure bred lab who has champion field dogs as parents. She has to like it!!!

Well, to kind of get an idea of how she might react he put the gun up to his shoulder and bouncing it up and down a little bit in his hands said "Bang" a couple of times.

Much to our surprise she freaked out - and in a good way! While barking she jumped up and down and tried to jump on Nate and get to the gun, her tail wagging the whole time! He tried it a couple more times at random times and she did the same thing every time. She would get SO EXCITED!!!!

After seeing how she reacted we are a little more hopeful about her enjoying the duck hunts!

Our only concerns
- she likes the gun as long as it's not really being shot. He'll get her out there and totally freak her out when she hears it fire for the first time!! If that happens we're hoping she'll get over it quickly.
- If she decides she needs to bark every time she sees the gun those that go hunting with Nate aren't going to be to thrilled when she barks and scares all the ducks away!

Nate is taking her out this weekend to try out shooting with her - We'll have to keep our fingers crossed!

Word-less Wednesday

My 2-year old Niece, Brynnlee, wants to do EVERYTHING "Baby Braxton" does!!!

... Play with his toy ...



... Sit on the floor ...



... Sit on something ...



... Sit in his chair after he's done with it ...


*also laying down on the pillow and with the blanket that Braxton was using after he was put down for his nap*

(all of this moving around during one 30 minute show!!)

It has FINALLY paid off

Nate has been wanting to get a doggie door for Chloee for quite some time now but I never really have been a fan of the idea, until recently. The last couple of months Chloee has had more accidents in the house than she has the whole year and a half that we have had her. I think that might be her way of getting attention with the new little one in the house who is taking most of our attention. Nate and I were getting so frustrated and have tired many different things to get her go outside. We knew she knew better - we had her potty trained in less than a week and whenever she did have an accident and we found it her tail would go between her legs, and she would cower away! We had had just about enough and then remembered the doggie door idea. Once I realized that Nate was going to put it in our back door instead of in our wall I was all over the idea!

When we finally got one and put it in (about 2 weeks ago) Chloee wouldn't use it! I'll take that back, she would only use it if Nate held the plastic flap up for her - what a girl! About a week ago though she finally caught on to the idea and we ALL LOVE it! She can go in and out now as she pleases whether it's to go to the bathroom, run around or just to catch a little sun and some fresh air and we don't have to let her in and out all day or clean up her messes in the house. It is a total win/win situation. Plus, the door doesn't look to bad and I haven't noticed a draft from it yet either! The kids love going in and out it too!

Braxton - a week in review

This last week Braxton has done so many things to surprise me! It's amazing that such a little guy can learn to do so much in only a week!

• He learned to sit up on his own!!!
• Started eating puffs and dehydrated fruits!!!
• He has started saying "Hi"!!!
• He has started to show an interest in crawling!!!
• His first tooth broke through!!!

Bud, you amaze me everyday! We are so grateful to have you in our family and are so proud of you and the things you are learning! It's so much fun to watch you learn and grow! We love you~

6 months ..... Really??

****I have been so bad at keeping up with Braxton's monthly posts! I get them done but usually about a week before his next one should be done!****

I know I say this just about every month but it's always true - I can't believe my baby is 6 months old! He is turning into the cutest, most fun little guy!







At 6 months Braxton is....

finally getting the rolling over thing down but isn't a huge fan of being on his stomach. If he can't get back over to his back quick enough he gets a little upset.

eating rice cereal and LOVES it

giggles really well and can giggle for quite a long time

drooling like crazy

still spitting up and sometimes quite a bit

Braxton LOVES

to eat

Chloee

his Cousin Brynnlee

to be scared

snuggle with a blanket (especially when it's bed time)

toys

Sesame Street and Blues Clues

to look around

Braxton's FIRSTS

First Otter Pop

First trip to the Zoo

First Mather Family reunion

Braxton's LAST

Last ride in his swing

Lately Nate has been the only one using the swing. He would put Braxton in it when he would get tired and let him take his naps in it. I figured he was getting a little to big for it and I really wanted him to have his naps in his crib so I decided to put it away - after getting one last picture of him in it though. Of course now that we're putting his swing away he can finally reach the toys on the front. He would not stop playing with them.

,