Braden is 5 Months Old!

Where has the time gone? I find myself asking that a lot lately. My baby boy is 5 months old as of Saturday!! I think this boy is always going to throw me off since he was early. I still can't quite wrap my mind around the fact that he joined our family in October instead of December. Things have been a whirlwind with trying to get him healthy and happy. He is doing much better health wise - although we are still battling severe reflux and what I think is probably a milk allergy of some sort. This is just me as "mommy doctor" talking, though. We are waiting on some lab results before anything is "official". I'll keep you posted. Other than that, Braden is a happy little fella. He sleeps well - about 10 hours at night and two wonderful naps during the day. When he is awake, Braden loves to watch his big sis play and sing songs. He is mesmerized by her. Maybe it's because she gets right in his face and talks so loud that it makes him blink really fast. Cracks me up every time. Braden has really started to notice everything around him and he LOVES to play on his play mat where the toys dangle down over him. Life with this boy has been non-stop and fun! We love you big little man!

This guy will flash a smile to almost anyone who will stop and take the time to talk and smile at him!

My big boy sitting up....

...with the help of a bumbo seat anyway. I love this thing. I can't believe he's big enough to actually use it!

And here is Braden grabbing for his toy. I know even more active days are in our future!

Thumb or Pacifier?

Pretty much from birth this boy has been trying to find and figure out how to suck his thumb. I was a thumb sucker too, for way longer than I actually want to admit. Sadie was a pacifier girl and gave it up with no problem at all around 8 months. From the day he came home from the hospital, I've been trying to offer Braden the pacifier over and over, but all he wants to do is gnaw on his hand. Well, the other day it happened. Braden found his thumb - but he gets super frustrated and sometimes even ends up gagging himself. So, when he was fighting with his thumb the other day during naptime, I went in to offer him the pacifier and found him like this...

...but I was able to exchange his thumb for the pacifier. I was so happy he actually took it.
So, what do you think? Should I keep trying so hard to make him take the pacifier or should I give in and let him have his thumb? He does look so cute in that first picture though doesn't he?

Home, Home on the Range

Before I get to the actual post, here are some pics of our big little guy. I figured if I just did a post about Mersadie I would really hear it. Braden is doing great. Still spitting up like crazy, but the prilosec makes him comfortable at least. He is sleeping really well and is a very happy baby. I have a lot to post about our trip to MO and new things this little guy is doing, so stay tuned!!

Okay, now to the reason for the "Home on the Range" title. A couple in our church invited us over for dinner and they wanted Mersadie to be able to ride one of their horses! Man, was she ever excited! She told me before we left that she wanted to ride the purple horse. I think she was thinking we were going to ride another carousel.

Here is Sadie sporting her cute helmet.

At first she was a little timid as you can see. Not sure what to think of that big fella. By the way, look at the eyes on that horse - beautiful!

Pretty soon, with Miss Jackie's help, Sadie was ready to pet the horse.

Here are the loves of my life. Sadie was just about to hop on!

This is Mr. John. He is Jackie's husband (they are the horse owners). I totally cut Braden out of this shot on accident!

Up on the horse - not scared at all!

She's having a great time thanks to Miss Stacy! Stacy is John and Jackie's daughter and probably the best horse trainer/teacher ever! She did such a great job with Mersadie!

Sadie felt like a big girl holding on by herself and everything!

Sadie is patting "Lily" telling her thank you and that she is a good horse.

Stacy hopped on with Mersadie so that she could ride a little faster and Sadie loved it! She just giggled and giggled.

And then it was Brian's turn to ride! I think he had just as much fun as Sadie did!

Love is in the Air!

Love for my babies that is! I cannot get over how Sadie looks like she's 12 in this first picture. "They grow up too fast" has never been more true in the past few months! Wow!

My beautiful girl!

Sadie loves Braden (most of the time). She really tries to help me and pays a lot of attention to him. I think they'll love each other!

My beautiful (and big - almost a whopping 12 lbs now) boy!

This is Sadie's "ta - da" pose to show off her Valentine outfit that Mimi sent - "Thank you Mimi!"

Love this picture of Mersadie's face after her Valentine party at Pre-school today. Can you tell she enjoyed the punch? Gotta love a good "kool aid mustache"!!

I've Been Outsmarted!

So I put Braden's pack 'n play in our family room and put his playmat in it so Mersadie can't terrorize him anymore and he can play in peace. I thought I had come up with a great solution! Well, this morning I walk into the family room and see the ball that I distinctly remember putting in the pack 'n play last night sitting on the chair. "Hmmm", I thought. How did Mersadie manage to get that ball out? Did she climb on the chair and lean over? She would have fallen in. Did she climb in the bed? No, she couldn't have done that. Well... I walked in a little further into the room and found it. The step stool. The girl carries that thing EVERYWHERE these days! She is definitely in "I do it, I do it" mode! I guess I'll have to find a new hiding place for Braden to play peacefully until he's big enough to defend himself!

See the white stool? Sadie's ticket to the world. She thinks she can reach and do EVERYTHING with that stool!

Sadie and one of her best buds - Audra!

A little teaser of the Disneyland post that I will do next - yes, folks, we finally took the little lady to Dizzy-wand and she LOVED it!

I forgot to put this in the "We Love Reece" post - little Braden LOVES Reece too!

We Love Reece!

My sister came to visit over Christmas with the rest of my family and let me tell ya, she's a hit with Mersadie! The girl LOVES her Auntie Reece - here are a few pictures of them having fun together!

So cute! This is frameable!

Man, so is this one!

Maybe I should just make a storyboard and have it framed! I think they look alike in this one. The only difference is my sister's tan - poor Sadie looks ghostly!




Oh, and how Mersadie LOVES to talk on the phone these days! She even asks to use my "ear piece". This is how I found her the other day...


...yep, it's so big on her that she still uses her shoulder to hold it up like she does the phone.

Precious, just precious. Oh, my little Mersadie - please don't grow up so quickly! And, if you're wondering what happened to Sadie's face - she met the concrete while playing outside. She didn't like it too much!

Me and my wonderful sis - I love her! Wish we didn't live on opposite coasts!

At home with Braden and Sadie!

I know it's been way too long since I've posted - but as most of you know, we have been dealing with a baby with severe reflux and a milk protien allergy (both which have been found out through trial and error of medications and switching to a special formula from breastmilk). It has taken what seems like an eternity to figure everything out and poor Braden had to suffer while we tried EVERYTHING in the book to make him feel better. So, since Braden is finally doing better (taking prilosec twice a day and sleeping upright in the swing), here are some long-awaited pictures of the kiddos. I am finally getting some sleep as of the past 4 days, so I am able to stay awake all day without a nap and get some things done. Enjoy!

Sadie loves her little bro, but lying on him like this won't help the reflux issues, I'm sure!

"Cheese"

Smiles! I thought we'd never get smiles out of this little guy!

Don't know who he was rooting for last night - but here is Braden's "touch down" pose!

This one is for Grandpa Moore - I just know this is Braden's favorite shirt ;)