Time Files!

Brayden reached up for me to pick him up for the first time on Friday.. melted my heart! And made me realize how much he is growing up..

It seems like having a baby in our lives has made time fly by even faster!  He is growing and changing so much all the time it seems like just when we get used to something, it changes.  This past week I packed away all of his 6 month clothes (and discovered his 9 month clothes *just* fit), finally got him to switch to his new 6+ month binky, he's practicing with a sippy cup every day and we let him feed himself puffs now.  He is trying new foods all the time, and loving new flavor combos.  These are some of his new favorite foods/combos: Oatmeal with Apples and Cinnamon, Apple and Blackberry, Cherries, Pears, Avocado/Banana and Sweet Potato with Corn.  He also has started feeding himself small chunks of banana.  Up next week are cauliflower and broccoli!

He has also discovered how much fun playing with his feet can be!  It has made diaper changes a little easier because he will now hold his own feet.. and it's pretty much the cutest thing.

Happy Boy! Friday morning 2/17/12

Swimming lessons are still the highlight of our week!  This past Tuesday he went under water for the first time.  The first time was definitely the scariest on this mommy, but seeing how great he did and just came up spitting water and smiling two seconds later made it all okay.  We will bring our video camera to the pool next week to capture some of the cuteness.   

My hopes for this blog is a way of reflecting and sharing all the little milestones to remember to enjoy the little things in life!

Finally the right binky!

Sippy Cup Practice..

7 Months

Such a big boy!

On January 29th, our baby boy turned 7 months! It's hard to believe we have made it that far already... in some ways it seems like yesterday we had just brought him home from the hospital.  However in other ways, it seems like he has been in our lives forever!  Brayden is turning into such a funny little guy, who loves to laugh, blow rasberries and snuggle with mommy and daddy! Two weeks ago he started swimming lessons and has a blast playing in the water. 

Lately he has also been eating a lot more solid foods, which we love making homemade baby food for him.  After doing a taste test to compare to a jar of food, he MUCH prefers homemade as well!  We are hoping to set him up well with eating habits by exposing him to a wide variety of foods from an early age.  So far these are the foods he eats (in addition to breast milk): brown rice, oatmeal, carrot, peas, green beans, spinach, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, asparagus, avocado, prunes, bananas, apples, mangos and pears. 

Seven Month Stats:

Sits up unassisted for long periods of time

Likes to play on his tummy

On his tummy, he will only rotate clockwise to get to toys

Loves music and banging on his "piano"

Blows raspberries and plays with his tongue

Drools more than our dogs!

Takes 3 naps a day

Wears 6-9 month clothes

Favorite food is mango

Starting to hold his own bottle

Dinner Time!

Ready for his first Superbowl

Didn't quite make it to see the end of the game.. Fell asleep on Daddy

Time for an Update!

I can't believe how much has changed in the past year since I last posted on here!

For a quick summary.. We spent the Spring 2011 getting ready for the birth of our baby!  We found out on March 21st that we were expecting a boy... and spent the remaining months decorating the nursery and preparing for his arrival.  We decorated his room with green walls, espresso furniture and a jungle theme. 

In May Jeff's step-mom, Misty, threw a beautiful baby shower that I was so thankful to have many family and friends attend to celebrate the upcoming birth!  Coming home with everything for the baby made it become more and more real...

The photo to the left was taken at the end of May when we had family over for a Memorial Day party.  I was 7 months pregnant and thought we had at least two more months to prepare...

Much to our surprise, my water broke a month early!  I was just about to leave work on a Tuesday afternoon when it happened.  Thankfully our bags were already packed and we were off to the hospital in no time. Within nine hours of getting there our baby boy was born on June 29th.. he was 5lbs 14oz and 19inches!  After a relatively quick delivery, he spent the next nine days in the Special Care Nursery while his lungs grew strong and he got rid of the jaundice. 

Brayden - One Day Old

Brayden Patrick Richmond is now our happy, healthy 7 month old!  Our lives have been forever changed by the birth of this sweet little boy.  We have enjoyed every step along the way, watching him grow (way too fast!) as we grow as parents right along with him.  He has celebrated his first Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, went on a road trip (to St. Louis), attended his Uncle's wedding and many more!  From now on I will make my best effort to post on here at least once a week.. but I will admit, being a full-time working mom, on top of attending school and taking care of the house leave little time to spare anymore! 

For now here are some of our favorite pictures from the past seven months:



Daddy and Brayden



Bath Time



Happy Halloween

Three Months

Merry Christmas

Happy Thanksgiving

Go Bears! 7 months



Go Cubs! 6 months





Baby's First Pictures

Our Christmas came two days early this year! On December 23rd we got to see our little growing baby for the first time.  We were both very excited to see the baby and hear it's tiny heart beating!!  It was an incredible sound and brought a huge smile to our faces!  They said the age was a little younger than they originally calculated.. so the ultrasound says 11w2d, but at this point it was actually 9w3d.  So the due date has changed to July 27th, 2011.  We were happily surprised to find out my doctor has an ultrasound machine that does both the regular and 3D ultrasound, so they can switch back and forth  (makes it much easier to SEE the baby!).

3D Ultrasound of Baby Richmond - 9w3d

Ultrasound of Baby Richmond - 9w3d

The rest of our Christmas was wonderful as well!  We spent a lot of time with all of our family and friends, got some very nice gifts and had fun giving our gifts to everyone.  Feeling very lucky right to have such wonderful people in our lives.

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and have a safe and Happy New Years!

Thanksgiving Surprise!!

This July we are expecting our first baby!!  We are so excited to share this news with everyone.  From what we have seen and heard, it is going to turn our world upside down, and we are looking forward to every minute of it!

Last Thursday I took a test and it came up positive but I thought it was too good to be true, so I took another one later that day.. and within 30 seconds it also came up positive!  We were pretty convinced they were true, so I made an appointment for Monday and took a third test over the weekend just to make sure.  When I was at the doctor on Monday, there was a tornado siren going off in St. Charles, which sent everyone to the basement and I thought I was going to have to wait even longer for confirmation! Luckily, they were still able to fit me in before the doctor left for the day.  It was confirmed with a due date of July 12, 2011.. then they took a bunch of blood.

The next step was sharing the great news with our family, and what a better time then Thanksgiving?!

I made these onesies for all of our siblings and parents to tell them.. over the holiday weekend we gave them to our family at various times when we saw them all.  At Thanksgiving dinner that we had at our house, I rolled the onesie up inside the dinner napkin and made place markers for everyone.  When they went to open their napkin to eat turkey dinner, they saw it!  It turned out great and everyone is excited, needless to say!

 

I am currently 7 weeks and 5 days pregnant and my doctor's office does not do an ultra sound until 12 weeks, so we have to wait until December 23rd to see this little blueberry!  Just in time for Christmas!!

While we are still in disbelief, the symptoms have definitley hit me but I am adjusting my diet to help ease the morning sickness (which by the way, is NOT just in the morning!).  It's all worth it when I think about what is causing me to feel crumby! 

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with their family! 

Yummy Dinner!

Just had to post a picture of what was on the menu for tonight.  It was so tasty and super easy!  We will be making this again soon for sure.

Balsamic Chicken and Mushrooms with Baked Potatoes and Steamed Broccoli

Rating 7

Dinner Makeover!

About a month ago Jeff came home with an idea.  A co-worker of his told him about an online program that you subscribe to and they send you a menu and shopping list every week for dinners.  Since I started going back to school and working later, I haven't had time to think about making a weekly menu like I used to.. so we thought we would give it a shot!

Four weeks in and we're hooked!  They make the menus based on what is going on sale for that week, at the store we picked.  Not only is it really nice to have a shopping list for the whole week organized for you by departments, it's great for the budget!  The average week is about $40, but we buy the expensive items in bulk when they go on sale (like meats, rice and pasta, etc.) so it's usually less than that! 

I have all the menus and shopping lists saved so we can make them again any time we want.  So far everything we have made has been really easy and tasty (not bland though!). 

We used to dread coming up with something for dinner, since we didn't have a plan.. now I look forward to coming home from work and cooking dinner for us!

Here is what was on the menu tonight:

Stuffed Chicken Breasts (stuffing, roasted peppers and spinach) with Brown Rice and Green Beans

Rating: 8

If you would like the recipe, e-mail me!