Baby Girl's First Outfits

I am almost ashamed to admit that I have had a hard time getting into the idea of having a girl! Don't get me wrong, I am so excited and already love her to death - it's just the "girl stuff" that scares me! With having Braxton first I have gotten used to the simplicity of boys - levis and a shirt, you don't really have to do their hair, tennis shoes or crocks. With girls everything has to match and they don't always wear levis, they have bows and actual hair do's to match every outfit, they also have shoes to match every outfit-and they aren't jsut tennis shoes! Needless to say the trasition from baby boy to baby girl has me a little overwhelmed.
I was hoping that if I could just find "that one outfit" it would help to get me excited and in girl mode! I spent about a weeks time at different stores looking for that one outfit and what did I find in it's place? Yep, lots and lots of cute boy stuff!! I knew I was in big trouble. The only things I was able to notice was all the adorable baby boy clothes. I didn't end up with "the outfit" or any for that matter! I was feeling really quilty and discouraged. Thursday night with Braxton in tow I decided to give it one more shot and boy am I glad that I did for I ended up with not only 1 of "the outfits" but 3!



I was so excited and very releaved! I must admit that after finally finding something and bringing it home definately helped to get me in girl mode! I'm pretty sure I can do this now!

New Years Resolutions

I haven't spent a whole lot of time thinking about resolutions this year! There are a couple of things that I would like to work on and get done but with school being as crazy as it's going to be this summer I'm not worried about getting to them until summer.

One thing I have decided that I can do to hopefully make my life as well as my families life better is to not worry about the future so much. Nate and I are always talking about the future and all the things we want to accomplish and have and all the things that we look forward to years down the road. We spend so much time worrying about tomorrow. Instead of enjoying today we are always wishing it away. Sure, these aren't the most ideal times. We are super busy, poor Braxton spends more time with Grandma's and Aunts than he does with his mom and dad but these days are shaping our future. There is still good times to be had, fun moments to share and memories to make. Sure, I want school to be over for both Nate and I, I want us to progress in our careers but by the time that comes by little guy will be 3 and my baby will be 1. They will both be so big and if I wish it all away I will have missed out on a lot of exciting milestones as well as teaching and learning moments!

The other thing I want to work on now is to better prioritize my time making more time available for my family. Last semester I had a hard time with this one. I would get so overwhelmed and not work on things when I should have and my family, home and school work all ended up paying of it. I want to be better about doing school stuff when I'm alone, at lunch breaks or breaks I have between work and school leaving more time for my family when I am with them instead of school stuff. I want to spend more time getting down on the floor and playing with Braxton, more down time with my hubby and much much more needed time on my poor house and being better at just keeping it straightened. I'm not so worried about the deep cleaning of rooms at this moment but keeping floors and tables clear would be lovley!

I know if we can enjoy today and have more quality time together we will be so much happier and hopefully things will go a lot more smoothly at the Nuttall home this year!

Midnight Snack

Well, Almost!

I needed to do a physical assessment on a toddler for my Pediatric class and luckily I live with one which made it very convenient. Of course I still put it off and had to get it done tonight. Nate and Braxton were playing on the floor and wrestling just before I was going to do it putting Braxton into his crazy mood! I told Brax that if he was really good and helped mommy we could maybe go get some ice cream after. Well, he was as good as a 22 month old can be when you are trying to shine a light into their eyes, listen to their heart and lungs and other forms of poking and prodding with weird looking toys!

I was able to get enough information from him to work on the paper that goes along with it but by the time I was done (it only took a couple of minutes) Nate was asleep on the floor. By the time he woke up and we got of couple of other things finished it was bed time for Brax. We put his pj's on, said prayers, turned on his music projector and put him to bed.

As I was walking downstairs afterword I was feeling so guilty we didn't get him any ice cream. I had told him we might if he was really good and helped mommy and he did his best! I'm sure he didn't remember or care if he even understood the promise I made to him but I knew, remembered, understood and cared and I felt horrible. I felt so bad I went and got him out of bed and had him help me make and orange Julius. He got to sit on the counter help pour the ingredients in the blender and watch the blender work it's magic. I think his most favorite part was helping to put the ice in the lid. If it was up to him, we would have added double the ice it called for just to be able to put it in!

It was his first experience with helping to make something and his first try of an Orange Julius! IT was all a success! He LOVED his "orange shake". He thought it was so yummy. Nate, Brax and I all sat at the table and enjoyed our midnight (for Braxton at least) snack together talking and being silly. It was so much fun! Braxton kept talking about how good his drink was as well as pointing out "mama's drink", "dada's drink", and "Braton's drink"!

After we finished our drinks, we got cleaned up and then it was off to bed - for real this time!

Balloon Bonanza

Braxton absolutely LOVES Balloons!

The other day I was cleaning out a closet and found a big bag of balloons that I had bought for Nate's Birthday last year and never used! Braxton also found the bag and was thrilled to see so many in one place! Since the day we found the bag we have had balloons at our house non stop! And we can't just have one - it has to be 3 or 4 or 5 or 6! Some of that is me wanting to blow up one of each color (there are 6 different colors). The other part is that Braxton doesn't want just one! The balloons are fun to have around and we are all enjoying them, yes, even Chloee, Nate and myself!

The frustrating thing is that Braxton has learned to put the end in between his teeth and pull real hard to make a hole letting all the air out! He also loves the sound of the "POP" when they really pop! We're working on getting him to keep them fully inflated.

Baby Lovin' Practice

And he did such a good job!!!!

~HUGS~

........AND........

~KISSES~

Little Paisley is almost 4 months old! We had Nate's family over for dinner last night and while we were all sitting around talking after Braxton went up to Trista and said I hold baby. Once he got her in his arms he automatically got down and cuddled with her - giving her hugs and kisses. He was so sweet with her and was sad when it was no longer his turn to hold "Pasey"!

Hopefully he'll be that cute with and excited about his sister.

Simple Pleasures

If you were to ask Braxton what we did tonight you would probably hear something like this - not in any particular order though!

• I eat nuggets and fries


• I ride Train


• I see Buzz


• I see woody


• Bouncy Ball


• Dance


• I see bear


• Ice cream


• Go Jazz

My interpretation of those words is that we took Braxton to his first "bouncy ball" (basketball) Jazz game tonight! We parked behind the Conference Center so that we could ride trax one whole stop just to get Brax on the train! We mentioned riding the train on the way down there and he wouldn't give up on the idea! We ran over to the food court in Gateway and got some chicken nuggets and fries before the game. While we were at the game an advertisement for Disney on Ice - Toy Story came on a slide on the wall entertaining him for a little bit! During half time we got ice cream. He loved seeing the Jazz bear and dancers as well as dancing to the music that would play.

We weren't planning on making it through the whole game especially considering it started at 7:00pm (a half hour before his bed time). We got there right on time and heard the national anthem sung as well as the announcement of the starting line up. Braxton was really nervous when the house lights when off and it got really loud with crazy colored lights. Nate and I both tried to talk it up and get him excited and it slowly worked. With in a few minutes he actually let go of Nate's hands and started clapping and cheering. He sat through the whole first half without any problems (other than needing a stick of chapstick for entertainment!). During the second quarter he kept pointing to a little boy behind us who looked to be about 5 year old and saying "my friend, my friend"!

We got some ice cream during half time which also kept Brax busy. He also enjoyed being able to run around! We ended up leaving with about 5 minutes left in the game. It was about 9pm, Braxton was tired and restless and the Jazz had won the game.

Since we left the game a little early there wasn't a train waiting for us and instead we got to wait for the train! After waiting for a few minutes in the cold Nate decided to run ahead and get the car and meet Brax and I at the Courthouse stop (the last stop in the downtown free zone) that way he would have some extra time to get to the car and then to us and also so that Brax would be able to ride on the train for about 5 stops instead of just 1! There was a nice man who gave up his seat to Brax and I when he saw us and Brax LOVED it! It took him a stop or two to feel real comfortable but once he figured it out he was hooked! He loved looking out the window at everything passing by. When the train would stop he would stand up but the second it started moving again he would get scared and quickly sit back down!

As we got off the train to meet up with Nate Braxton said "bye train" and then talked about it as well as all the other fun things we did the whole way home. That is until he fell asleep about 10 minutes from home.

It brought so much happiness to my heart hearing him talk about all that we did and how much fun he had. He kept saying "I fun", "train fun" etc. A lot of what we did was so simple and some of it was things he just happened to see and yet it meant so much to him! It was fun that he enjoyed it so much and that he actually remembered and understood a lot of what was going on.

It turned out to be a very much needed, very enjoyable, family night!!

Baby Nuttall #2

We found out the week between Christmas and New years that Baby Nuttall #2 is a ........

GIRL!!!!!

It's crazy how the feelings and thoughts that go through your head differ so much from hearing "It's a boy" to "It's a girl".

We are so excited to be able to have one of each.

I have to admit though that I am a little nervous/overwhelmed!

Boys are just so easy.

Their clothes don't have to match.

It's okay if they are dirty or messy because their a boy!

You can get away with not doing their hair -

and when you do do it it takes about 1 minute.

Their clothing and accessories are simple -

sun glasses and hats (no ruffles, bows, jewelry).

With that said, I am very excited to give the girl thing a try. It will be very different but so fun! I'm so excited for Braxton to be a big brother to a little sister. He's going to be such a good big brother!

I had a little hutch that it may be a girl based on the differences with the two pregnancies.

Differences:

Pregnancy #1

- I craved fruit especially oranges and fruity drinks Jamba Juice and Orange Julius. Poor Nate, we had homemade Orange Julius with our dinner quite often.

Pregnancy #2

-I have been craving salt!

pickles, potato chips, french fries - anything with salt

Pregnancy #1

-I was sick during the 1st trimester but never threw up. When I was sick it didn't last to long and I could usually sleep it off.

Pregnancy #2

-I still never threw up but was sick way more with this one and when it came on it lasted a long time. I was much more sensitive to tastes, textures and smells.

The little ones between the two pregnancies sat different and I could feel it in different places

Pregnancy #1

-I could feel it more in my back

Pregnancy #2

-I have felt it a lot in my hip and down my legs (especially the left side).

Some similarities are that I was exhausted with both of them during the 1st trimester with I know is totally normal!

I have had heart burn with both

and

I woke up to my first charley horse the other night (I got them quite often with pregnancy #1)

Proud Mommy Moments

My baby is getting so big and I can't believe how fast it is happening! He is doing many things everyday that just amaze me. I wanted to quickly jot down a few of the things that me smile about Brax and some of the new things that he has picked up on. With school starting up again in a few days life is going to be getting really busy again and I want to make sure I don't forget these things!



This week Braxton said his own prayers for the first time. We kept the sentences short and simple and he did such a good job repeating in his sweet Innocent way what I was saying. It brought a little tear to my eye.

Hearing Braxton say I Love You for the first time on his own (him initiating it and saying it without hearing someone else say it first) It made me feel so good and brought a big smile to my face.

When asked what he wants for lunch, Braxton is more than likely to give the response - chicken and fries (occasionally he'll add sauce to the chicken and fries)

Braxton went through a little phase when he called sauce soup and he wanted to dip everything in any kind of soup he could - catchup, ranch, BBQ sauce, sprite - any form of liquid with in reach of his tiny little hands and the food he was eating.

Braxton is the door police at our house. All doors have to be closed at all times if he is around! It doesn't matter if he has to pull it closed or push it closed, it will get closed. If your in a room with the door open he'll tell you "bye bye, see you later, love you" over and over again until he gets it closed leaving you alone in the room.

Hearing him sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" by himself for the first time. He has a music projector in his room that we play at night as he is going to sleep and that song is one of the songs it plays (music only, no words are played) When we walked into his room one night this week to get ready for bed he looked down at the projector and started singing it. I was shocked!

Braxton asking for kisses. He'll walk up to you, look up to you, say "I kiss" then pucker up! SO SWEET!

Yesterday morning when Braxton saw Nate after getting out of bed he said "Hi dad, How ya doin'?" Later that afternoon while crossing paths with Chloee said, "How ya doin' Chloee?"

Braxton is super polite - most of the time. He is always saying "please" and either "Thank you" or "Thanks". Nothing is sweeter than giving Brax something and him saying "Thanks mama" with out having to be reminded! If we say thank you to him he'll say thank you back.

Hearing Braxton read a book out loud to himself for the first time! He as been doing this one for a little while but it is so fun to see. He'll read the same book for different amounts of time each time. He skips pages and goes back and forth until he decides to be done. He then closes the book and says "D end".

Braxton has recently started calling basket ball "bouncy ball".

Braxton enjoys running around our landing in the kitchen saying "fast, fast, fast" or "run, run, run". He likes it even more when he can run around with a foot ball in his hands and say run or fast!

Last night while driving to a wedding reception Braxton was having a conversation with himself and said "kidding me" then something about throwing a foot ball. Where does he get these things

Braxton LOVES to jump! Jump around on the ground, jumping off of things into our arms - stairs, changing dresser, couch, jumping from our couch to foot rest. All of his jumps usually consist of him saying "1, 2, 3, jump".

Braxton also LOVES to dance. He enjoys playing the wii dancing games at Grandma Donna's and Grandpa Jeff's. One day this week we were watching a show with some fun music and I told Braxton to dance. He walked over to our wii charger and took the controllers off of it. He kept one and gave one to me then started dancing. One morning this week we were watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while eating breakfast. When the hot dog song came on at the end he said to me "I out." I said "you want out?" He said "I dance Hot Dog!" Sice it's such a short song I quickly took him out and ran him over to the TV. He danced his little heart out. When the song was over, the clubhouse disappeared and Mickey closed the gate on the show braxton said "Bye, Bye Mickey."

Braxton has started the idea that if he is hiding his eyes you can't see him. He'll put his fists over his eyes and hold really still! He's such a good hider.

When Brax gets out of bed in the morning one of the first things he loves to do is find Chloee and give her a hug. If she is still in her kennel he loves being able to be the one to let her out. This morning he was determined to give Chloee a kiss. He tried so hard but Chloee was to excited to be up she wouldn't allow it. He loves to play with Chloee - catch, tug and chase. They are such good friends.

It amazes me that Braxton knows our family members and who belongs to each family. He knows who is in my family and who is in Nate's family and will name all of them when we are going to be seeing one of the families.

Jason got a pet lizard named BoBo. Braxton LOVES BoBo. When we got to Jason's house he will ask to see BoBo. He'll sit and stare and laugh at him and when it's time to go back upstairs he always remembers to say bye bye to BoBo. One morning at breakfast he was taking away and said "BoBo is cute." I'm not sure what made him think of BoBo but it was cute.

Braxton loves to laugh and say things are funny! When someone does something he thinks is silly he will say "Chloee so funny" or "Mama so funny." His FAVORITE right now is "Jrinch so funny!"

Today in Sacrament Meeting while we sang the songs Braxton like always decided that he needed a hymn book of his own. But instead of flipping through the pages like he usually does he sat and sang with us. It was so sweet to hear.

The last few weeks when he notices that we are passing an LDS church while in the car or as we are pulling into the church parking lot on Sundays he get super excited as he says "temple." When we are watching a Disney movie at the beginning with the princess castle he also gets very excited as he says "temple!" The excited sweetness in his voice makes it fun to hear.

I know there are many more things I just can't think of them at the moment and this post has gotten very long. This is a pretty good list of things to remember and will definitely bring a smile to my face when I come back and read it later. We have been so blessed to have such a fun, smart easy going little one in our home.

Braxton, mom and dad love you so much! We are so proud of you and are so thankful that you are in our family. Thank you for making us so happy and doing silly things to make us smile. Thank you for being you!

November - December pictures

One night after dad got home from work he decided that he wanted to finish up the last little bit of winter proofing for our backyard. It was getting dark and cold fast so and of course Brax wanted to go out and help! We hadn't bought him any winter things for this year so I raided his dresser for items I could find from last year. I was all bundled up and enjoyed it a lot more than I thought he would.

When Nate got the bike trailer out Braxton was so determined to go on a bike ride!

Brax modeling dad hat!
After we came back inside Brax decided that he wanted to give dad's hat a try!

While setting up the Christmas Tree Chloee decided to take a little power nap on Braxton's couch.

Let's just say, Braxton wasn't pleased!

For dinner one night we had pasta with spinach

I was TOTALLY thrown off when I went to get Braxton washed up and found this....

(yes, those are spinach pieces hanging from his chin!)

Because of everything going on - school finals, Braxton having pneumonia, and only having a few weeks to get ready for Christmas I didn't get to our family Christmas cards until the Monday before - yes, only 6 days before. I had thought about it many times just never got around to it. Because I was so late at deciding to do it for sure I knew I had to get to it and FAST! Monday morning after we woke up and had breakfast I got Braxton dressed and took some pictures around 9:30. I got into Walmarts photo center made the cards and ordered them through their 1 hour photo. I then picked them up around 4, stamped and addressed them that night after getting home and got them in the mail the next morning. It was a little crazy and I think if it ever gets that close again I'll just forgo the cards. I'm glad I was able to get them done though.

I tried to take some pictures with Brax outside the day before but he was way to distracted!

I got one really cute one with Braxton
but the only way I could get Chloee to sit and stay was to put a treat on the floor and tell her to sit and leave it and of course she was staring down her treat!!

So... we settled with this one!

We went to the mall with the Lamberts a few days before Christmas so that the boys could see Santa. After sitting in line for about 20 minutes and not even getting half way through the line we found out that we couldn't take our own pictures. We decided we didn't want to pay $25 for the cheapest package. We ended up getting Hot Dog on a Stick and spent a little time playing on their rides. The boys had a ball!!

Braxton was really into the Jim Carey version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas this Christmas season. One day while getting socks out of his drawer he found his mittens from last year and got really excited calling them "ginch." He was so excited to be able to wear "Ginch" on his hands!