2 Months Old!

So I still haven't found an easy way to upload our super fancy camera pictures so i took a few pics from our old camera so that i could at least have a few pictures on the blog!  Here are a few of Braxton a day after 2 months old.  He weighed 13.8 lbs and was 24 1/2 inches long on his 2 month check-up - both in the 90th percentile!  Such a big boy!  He has been wearing 6 month clothes now for several weeks.  Growing like a weed!

I couldn't get him to smile for the camera, however i got him chewing his hand.  He discovered them last week and has a daily feed on one of them several times a day. 

I wish we had some digital photos of Brooklynn when she was this age as they look so much alike.  Maybe one day when i have some decent time i will scan one to show the comparison. 

Hi! I'm Braxton Garner Bailey!

Hello there!  I am Braxton Garner Bailey, born October 7th at 1:06pm.  I weighed in at 9lbs and 2oz and 22 inches in length.  I had a good amount of brown hair which is longer in the back.  I was cut out of my momma's tummy and boy did I stretch her out!  Here is a picture of my arrival. 

I know I look like E.T. here but I'm pretty cute once I was cleaned up. 

The first 5 days or so I was a happy baby and slept well for my parents.  However once I got home my little tummy hurt from whatever my momma was feeding me in her breastmilk.  After 3 long weeks of screaming and little sleep, she switched me to hyperallergenic formula.  My screaming has stopped and I sleep just a little more than I did.  I have lots of energy - I usually only take one nap a day.  I love to be held and coddled and I am very vocal if I'm not getting what I want.  I often get cranky for no apparent reason but I have great parents who continue to try to figure it out.  Although I need to be held all the time, I am not very cuddly.  I require a lot of attention and keep my momma very busy.  They say I am the opposite of my sister in every way! 

I am now just over 7 weeks old and I am over 12 lbs and 2 feet long.  I am already in 3-6 month clothes!  I wish I had more pictures but our new camera is too big for our computer to download at a decent speed and the disk wasn't formatted so some of my pictures won't show up at all.  My parents are working on it and if I didn't take so much time to take care of I'm sure it would be done sooner.  I'm glad I am their number one priority!  Mom does have some pictures on the shutterfly account that you can see - look at Braxton's 1st day. 

Nothing New...

There is no baby yet - doctor has been saying the last few weeks that he just doesn't show any signs of coming out!  So other than being 39+ weeks pregnant there hasn't been very much going on.  Wonder why?!  :)   Although there is not much progress on a baby, we do have some progress on a baby name!  There are now a few options so I am feeling so much better about that.  Maybe that is why God isn't bringing him into this world early because he knew we needed the time to finalize a name! 

Brooklynn is now healthy and back to school.  She had to be retrained into routine again after being off of her schedule for 9 days!  I have been really proud of her with both school and AWANA.  She has developed a love for drawing and coloring and we have TONS of her art work everywhere!  She has done super with memorizing her verses for AWANA; earning her vest, book, patch, wings and a red jewel already!  She has continued to play soccer although she still isn't very aggressive or competitive on the field - she has three weeks/games left.  I guess she wants to try karate next.

Heath has moved from baseball playing and watching to hunting and watching football (yeah football!).  He has the big OU/Miami game this weekend.  He was originally going to the game before they moved it from September 12 to Oct. 3rd (can't be in Fl that close to due date!).  His brother is a HUGE Miami fan so it makes some fun family competition.

Our beloved camera has been on the fritz...makes sense seeing how many pictures we have taken on that baby!  So we broke down (or is it became broke) and bought an DSLR.  WE LOVE IT!  Heath has been playing around with it all week and we are excited to use it for baby's arrival! 

My brother is moving to Memphis so we will see him off this weekend....it brings tears to my eyes as I write!  I will miss seeing my nephew and hanging with Benj and Aimee.  So now we offically have no immediate family in the area!  I know it will be hard on Brooklynn too.  She and Nolan have a close relationship (as much as you can for a 18 mo old).  They will be back early November for Nolan's surgery and will stay with us.

That about sums it up!  I'm sure next time I write I will have much more exciting news!  :)       

Flu, Flu, Go Away!

My dearest Brooklynn has been struck by the terrible flu.  In the first full month of school she has missed 6 days already!  We are on day 7 of the virus and the doctor said to expect 10-14 days....we have cabin fever!  She has been a trooper through it all but it breaks my heart to see her sick and miss out on school, soccer games (not to mention her big picnic for soccer tomorrow), Awana on Wednesday nights, Sunday School, and of course playing with the neighborhood friends (her best friend moves tomorrow so they couldn't play together all week - especially during the beautiful weather)!  Yet times like these remind us of all we have to be thankful for and not to take it for granted!  Our praise has been that Heath and I both have not gotten it (my OB put me on some preventative meds) and our prayer is that Brooklynn recovers back to health and that all the germ bugs are out of our house before baby boy arrives in less than 3 weeks or sooner!  I think God is teaching me that there are some things that you just can't control but have to leave in his hands!   

Maternity and Family Pictures

On Labor Day we had Mare come over (http://www.photosbymare.com/) and take some maternity pictures along with some general family pictures.  All of the pictures are posted on our shutterfly account but I put some cute ones on here too.  There were some great pictures however I LOOK TERRIBLE!  For some reason my eyes look bad and I look so pale and blah...so disregard me.  I think she did a good job though! 

Alaska Photo Book

Since I haven't taken the time to add and comment about our Alaska trip, I have put the photo book I made on our shutterfly site.  If you scroll down it is towards the bottom.  Enjoy - there are some beautiful pics! http://drebailey.shutterfly.com/

Less than a month to go!

So I am officially 9 months preggo and feeling every inch of it!  Baby boy still has no name (please pray for that one) but is definitely a big and healthy baby.  I am going on 45 lbs of pregnancy weight and fortunately it is all belly (and boobs)!  During the holiday weekend we had a photographer come out and take some maternity pictures along with some family pictures.  As soon as I get the CD I will be sure to post the good ones and add all the pics to our shutterfly account for all to see. 

The nursery is completely painted with sand, water, islands, a boat and palm trees to go along with our Ahoy Mate theme.  Now we just need baby!  :)  My next appointment is Sept. 14 when the doctor will check me and also the position of the baby.  Heath is going along and will finally meet the new doctor!  My old OB left us in July when she moved to NC.  We will be delivering (or I will be) at Community North Hosptial.  I can only hope that baby boy will arrive early like Brooklynn did at 2 weeks early.  Any day now!  :)

Babies-R-Us

So I decided to do a small registery at Babies-R-Us for the items we have yet to get. I thought this would be a fun and easy process but found it to be the opposite! I looked at all these products that I have no clue about or if they are needed. I am now extremely nervous because I have realized that I truly remember nothing of having a newborn and what it takes. I know from Brooklynn that everything falls into place and motherly instinct takes over but right now I'm just not feeling it! We still have no name and the days keep getting fewer and fewer until baby boy is supposed to be arriving! Keep me/us in your prayers!

It's Official!

It is official - my baby has done gone and left me! She will now spend her days with Amy - Amy Beverland Early Learning Center that is. I was utterly surprised that no tears were shed although I have been preparing myself for this for a few months now. She officially started her public schooling full time today on August 18th, 2009. It is the beginning of the end. For the next 13 years she will spend most of her days in school only to leave for college after that! I can't believe that she is 5 and out the door already. Okay, okay...I'm done venting...on with the story...

Miss B isn't used to being woke up so she was a bit cranky this morning, especially since we had a camera in her face. It was only after threatening her with missing the bus did she finally pop out of bed. Yet then she was afraid of missing the bus and wanted to skip breakfast. I hope we can find some middle ground here...she finally agreed to eat a bagel but all the while worrying that the bus would leave her. At least I know now what it will take to get her moving! I'm sure things will settle down and fall into place as the year goes on.

We took the .2 mile hike down to the bus stop. She was so excited to meet up with the kids and to see her good friend Katy. They are like peas in a pod. They have different teachers which will be good for meeting other kids, but have one another on the bus and to play with at home. After waiting for about 10 minutes the bus finally rolled around.

We were greeted by the friendly and agreeable bus driver who agreed to pick the kids up closer to the house (PRAISE GOD!). Now we will be able to see the bus from the house and not have to hike it down to the original stop. This truly is a blessing from the Lord because now I won't have to drive her down in the snow and rain and can leave a sleeping newborn at rest too!

She has a packed lunch for today: PB&J, grapes, goldfish crackers, an oreo and a capri sun. Tomorrow she will eat at school since they are having Chicken Nuggets,Mashed Potatoes and Applesauce. I have a feeling she will be packing it more than eating there but she seems to be okay with it. She only knows packing a lunch because of her time at preschool.

Riding the bus home is a different matter though. The kindergarten gets out 40 minutes earlier than the elementary school so it would take her over an hour after she is released to get home. For today I am going to pick her up, especially since we have to be at soccer by 6 (which is a whole new start for her as well - truly a day of beginnings)! I can't wait to see her and to see how her day went!

Zoo days are over!

As Brooklynn starts school in a few days we took a last trip to the zoo while our pass was still active and while we could beat the busy weekend crowds. It was a nice day, while cooler in the morning it got hot as the day went on, and the slower and sweatier I got! It was a great last family outing before school. I am becoming quite emotional as I deal with the release our daughter to full time Kindergarten and soon "losing" the family of 3 that we have been for so long!

Brooklynn and Heath rode the small roller coaster. They are the two in the second "car" back with their hands up! She got her daddy's adventerous side!

Brooklynn loves to take a ride on the ponies. I remember her first ride when she was only 11 months old! They told her she was a natural (because of her balance).

Brooklynn enjoys spending time with the goats and petting them.

Earlier in the summer we took some friends with us to the zoo. Here are Lydia and Brooklynn in front of the meerkats.

Brooklynn's 5th Birthday!

I now have a 5 year old daughter!!! Oh how the time flies! Her birthday fell (June 18th) on the last day of VBS so she sang upfront with the big kids! That Saturday we had family over for pizza and gifts. Following the family lunch she had several friends over for birthday cake and ice cream. They spent "party time" in the back yard running through the sprinkler, throwing water balloons, and playing on the swingset. Heath was the organizer in the games as we women (me and the moms) sat in the shade and watched! It was a nice day. Only Uncle Ben would get her something like this for her birthday! I just can't believe that she is 5! But she will always be my baby!

Carb Day

As a family we went to Carb Day at the Indianapolis 500 Speedway. We got there in time for the final practice of the Indy 500. Brooklynn enjoyed watching the pink car (which wasn't a woman!) and Heath and I rooted for our neighbor, Tomas Scheckter, even though we don't know him. He ended up placing 12th in the big race though. (Here is Scheckter's house with a sign that someone put up for him.) Benj, Aimee and their friends Scott and Ashley joined up with us for the "mini-race". My brother decided to fit right in with the crowd - yuck! We brought a picnic and just ate in the stands. It was hot and sunny! We stayed for the pit-crew challenge before we called it a day.

Billy Joel and Elton John Concert

On May 19th Heath, Benjamin, Aimee and I went to the "Face to Face" Concert. This was Heath's second concert for the two legends together. We met up at the Chathem Tap Restaurant and Pub (http://www.chathamtap.com/) to eat. I would recommend it - we all enjoyed our food. The concert was great when both men played - they both opened and closed the show. It was kind of slow with Elton John....piano, piano, piano but Billy Joel was good by himself. It was a nice evening and we had good seats. I can now say I've seen them once but I wouldn't pay the price to see them again!

Catching up...

It has been a long time! Lots of things to update! Now that we have a working computer again and downloaded pictures, I can begin!

Let's see...Baby update: I am now in my 3rd tri-mester! Everything is going well so far. My doctor of the last 8 years is moving so I have my first appointment next week with my new OB. At my last visit I was measuring a week earlier so it sounds like he is growing just fine! I have a big ol' belly now - I guess I'm glad the 18 lbs that I gained in 7 weeks is going straight to my belly instead of other places! We are still working on names. Heath and I are having a hard time coming up with anything agreeable. We welcome any suggestions! :)

Brooklynn: She LOVES to play outside. It doesn't matter how hot it is, she stays outside for hours. She loves to swing (thank God that she has learned to do the pumping this year and can do it all by herself) and to catch bugs. We have been busy going to daddy's softball and baseball games and once or twice a week we go to the free kids movie. It is hard to believe that she only has 5 more weeks until school starts! She will be going full day, everyday. I am struggling emotionally with it but I know it will be good for her and she will just love it.

Andrea: I watch a lot of CSI. I am officially an addict. Nothing much here - playing with Brooklynn when she is actually inside (mostly on rainy days) and trying to get everything organized and ready for baby. I worked the week of VBS doing registration. I have been reading for book club. I finished Middlesex last month - it was okay. Right now I am reading Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy - it is okay.

Heath: When he isn't playing softball, baseball, out on the water or fishing he has been working now and then. He has had wonderful season thus far in baseball - leading the home runs and RBI's for the league! The church has won most of their games so that has been a lot of fun to watch. Although this weekend he pulled his hamstring and is most likely out for the season...so I guess we will see him around more often! He enjoys having the water at his fingertips and has caught some big fish! He is so good at everything he does!!! What an incredible guy.

Well, that is about it for the updates. I will be working this week on posting our Alaska vacation pictures and Brooklynn's birthday too!

Singing Super Star (kind of)

Brooklynn had her bi-annual school program. We weren't able to attend but Meemaw took our place (thank you MeeMaw)! Here are a few pics from the "concert". We were informed that she did her usual...looking around, partly participating. You can only get away with that when you are that cute! She is in the middle row, far left with the blue dress. Seems she is singing and acting here! Yeah!

Nolan was there and was her biggest fan (he has been to the last three programs)! What a supportive cousin!

I love to ride my bicycle, I love to ride my bike...

Brooklynn LOVES to ride her bike this year. We have tried to get her to learn to ride it for the last two years but I guess she was saving it all for now. Here is her in action!

Happy Birthday Mom!

My moms birthday is today! Happy Birthday Mom! We took the 2hr 45min trip up north to spend the weekend with her, celebrating both Mother's Day and her birthday. She took us to her mother/daughter brunch at church on Saturday morning. The three of us had a nice time. There were even puppets there that Brooklynn enjoyed seeing. It was a very relaxing weekend. I hadn't been "home" in a long time!

Settling in...

As spring is here and the weather is finally cooperating we have really enjoyed our new home! Brooklynn has met many neighbor kids and if the weather is nice she is outside for hours playing with the "boys". However, we just found out last week that a little girl her same age, going to the same school next year, same grade, lives only four houses down! I am so excited! The only girl on our cul-de-sac and she is just perfect for Brooklynn!

Heath got his boat in the water last week and has taken a few rides and thrown a few casts since. We are in the slow process of looking for a used family boat that won't capsize in the busy part of the lake and has a bit more cushion for your bum! His fishing boat does well for him but not so much for me!

We have designated May a month of working. Slowly but surely our house is becoming more settled. The trees in our back yard have come in and it has taken on a new look. Each day we are more and more excited about our choice of house. God blessed us so much during our move and purchase of our home! We go to the specialist on Thursday and will hopefully find out if we are having a girl or boy so the nursery will be next on our list!

Sweet (Home) Alabama

As our family vacation we spent a week on the beach in Orange Beach, Alabama (basically Gulf Shores). It was a great week with lots of sunshine and water fun! I won't go through each day but we spent most of our time at the beach. Heath enjoyed getting up early and going to relax and/or play his guitar on the beach. We would fix something for breakfast and then head to lube up with lotion and off to the pool or beach. The pool was right outside our sliding glass door and the beach was just beyond the pool. The view from the beach of our condo.

And now a view from the condo of the beach. It was also nice for Brooklynn because the pool was heated so she could swim in the morning and night without being too cold. And even I got in a few times! That is Brooklynn in the life vest and our room is right behind the person laying out. A very convenient location! One thing that stood out at the beach was how many shells there were. We spent hours looking and digging for seashells. We brought home some great ones. The waves were different each day and Heath was able to body/boogie board a few days. Even Brooklynn surprised us and joined him the last day, which was the day of the biggest waves while we were there!

Here is Brooklynn boarding on her own. She doesn't hit any waves for awhile, but she is patient and it pays off! As you can see, the waves are pretty big in the background. We were able to use this shallow part for her to board easily. She was up and out again!

There were some highlights away from the condo as well. We ate at the famous Lambert's Cafe where they throw rolls across the room to you as well as come around and offer random food (like you see here - fried okra). We tried to take the Dauphin Island ferry from Ft. Morgan but after waiting an hour and a half we were informed that they steering broke down! So instead we played putt-putt and Brooklynn got in a few laps at the track. She was awesome at go-carts. Impressed us very much with her driving (quite different from her Barbie car at home).

Lambert's wasn't the only exciting place we dined at. We spent a wonderful coastal evening on the Intercoastal dining at Lulu's (Jimmy Buffett's sister's restaurant). Brooklynn was a guest of honor as she went to sing on stage with the two-man band (watch it until the end as she gets control of the mike).

Her and daddy danced along with the music too. It was a great family place and Brooklynn couldn't stop talking about it. You will have to ask her all about it.

On our way to MS we stopped in Mobile, AL to see the U.S.S Alabama battle ship. Although we didn't take the time to go through it was neat to be on the bay and see some of the enormous battle vehicles and ship.

One of the main reasons we visited MS, where Heath was born and spent most of his early years, was to visit his father's grave. He hadn't been back to the coast of MS since his father's death so it was a long overdue visit. We put one of the bats that we got in Louisville on the grave (where the flower vase was supposed to be). It was an emotional time for him.


There were some more positive places he took us to as well. Here is a picture were we ate lunch - on the "beach" park. We got his favorite food, Ed's drive through (surprise, surprise it was cheeseburgers, fries, and a coke) and came to the coast. He reminisced about his mom bringing him here when he was a kid. However everything was new thanks to Hurricane Katrina.

We spent most of the day stopping in to relatives and close friends of his father to reconnect and catch up on old times. It was quite an emotional day for Heath, but a good one and well needed.

Although we drove straight through to get home on Sunday, we made it a two day trip on the way down, stopping to enjoy several places. The first place (it was a spur of the moment choice as well) we visited was the Louisville Slugger Bat Factory. We were able to see bats being made in the factory and learn about the history of the company. Heath was in high heaven as we were able to see and even take batting practice using famous Major Leaguer bats. Here Heath is holding Mickey Mantle's bat - they made him wear gloves!

Heath has trained her well - she found a Cubs bat in the gift shop!

We even got mini-bats with the tour. It was a nice time but I think going through once is enough in a lifetime.

After a couple more hours on the road we stopped and took the historic tour of Mammoth Cave. Here we are outside the cave entrance.I have been there several times but it was a first for Brooklynn and Heath. We were able to see a couple bats - luckily they were sleeping high above us on the walls. I'm not sure what kind of bats they were but Brooklyn thought it was a chicken nugget on the wall! Ha, Ha! Here is Brooklynn inside the cave.On our way out of the parking lot we ran into a few scrawny deer. They let us within feet of them! We fed them some of my Subway sandwich bread and an apple (which they didn't even eat!). I would have thought they loved apples?!

We were supposed to hit the Grand Ol' Opry Hotel before hitting the sack in Nashville but after all our walking (several miles) I was pooped! I wasn't the only one either! So instead we checked into our hotel, ordered pizza, and were asleep by 8:30! We got up the next day to visit the hotel before we headed the rest of the way to Orange Beach. Brooklynn really enjoyed the hotel and all it's beauty. She had been there twice before, once at 2 1/2 months and again at 9 months, but obviously she has no recollection.

Overall it was a WONDERFUL trip. Brooklynn has been asking many times to go back. Feel free to check out all our pictures at shutterfly: http://drebailey.shutterfly.com/