Brayden's First Camping Trip

Warren Dunes....here we come! Sean, Brayden and I made the trip out to the dunes for a day for some sunshine, family and friends. We had a blast! And to say that Brayden loved it was an understatement. In fact, he screamed almost the whole way home. Mom and Dad, Erin, Chad, Grandma and Grandpa were all out there for the weekend camping. The Walden's also made the trip to enjoy the beautiful weather. We played out in the sun, went for a bike ride, tooks some walks, made some good food over the camp fire, and my favorites....s'mores! Brayden is definitely going to be a camping guy! Here are some pictures from our day!

With Nana and Papa and their new coffee mugs.

Going for a bike ride....with some Dr. Pepper. Thanks Uncle Chad!

Me and Momma ready to go.

Playing with my new ball with Aunt Erin.

My new camping chair! Just my size!

Chilling with GiGi.

Happy 8 Month Birthday Little Guy!

It is so hard for me to believe that our baby is 8 months old today! Yikes! Where has the time gone? He is getting so big. He is crawling all over the place now. He cannot be left alone for even one second! He loves getting into trouble. He will crawl to and get in to anything that he knows he isn't supposed to. He loves trying to climb up the tv stand and loves trying to get the fireplace tools. When you tell him no, he just looks at you and smiles and does it again. When you go to get him, he laughs and quickly crawls away. It is just too cute. You try so hard not to smile when you get after him for doing something he isn't supposed to be doing, but his little face looks so cute and innocent that it is hard not to smile. He is such a stinker....just like his daddy! :)

Brayden is going to be walking in no time! He can pull himself up to a stand with ease. He can walk really well if he is holding on to something. He is quite brave and determined, so I am sure that he will be walking soon. Sean walked when he was 8 months old, so if Brayden is anything like him, it won't be long. Then we will really have our hands full!

Here are some recent pictures of our little guy in action!

Trying to help Mama load the dishwasher.

Look at all those toys!

What Mama? I'm being good.

Playing at Nana and Papa's on Mother's Day.

Nana and Brayden playing.

Playing with Papa at Kirstin's tennis tournament.

Technical Difficulties

It has been two weeks since I have last posted a blog. I am so sorry! I have had some technical difficulties here. My laptop decided to stop working. The battery died and it would not take a charge from the wall charger. So I was without a laptop for a week or so. Sean got tired of hearing me complain about not having a computer, so my birthday/Mother's Day gift was a new laptop! I love it! It feels so good to be back up and running on my own computer. So, now that I have a computer back, I will get going on my blogs again!

So much has happened in these last two weeks. We have been overly busy. We can't catch a breath! I had noted in a previous post that Brayden had another double ear infection and was on antibiotics again. By the end of that week, we felt that his ear infections still hadn't gone away. So I took him back to the doctor on a Friday afternoon. We were right. His right ear drum was bulging. So they decided to do rocephin injections, which is like an antibiotic only in injectable form. He had to have one Friday night, Sunday morning and Monday morning. They are very painful injections, but he handled them so well. He is a tough boy! So, that was a week and a half ago that he had those....and he is going back to the doctor today....because we still don't think they are gone. They had talked about doing tubes in his ears, but I am sure we will hear more about it today!

Last Saturday we had Brayden dedicated at Granger Community Church. It was a HUGE event! There were about 200-300 babies that were dedicated that day. It was amazing. Brayden did so well. Pastor Mark Beeson was the one that prayed over and dedicated Brayden. It was definitely the best birthday present I could get! After the dedication, we had everyone over for cake and punch. We had about 30 people in our house! I am so grateful that so many of our family could spend that special day with us. We are so very blessed! Thank you to everyone that shared our special day!!

My very first Mother's Day was wonderful! Erin, Brayden and I surprised my mom by driving home and meeting them at their church. Then we had a wonderful lunch at mom and dad's house. We also celebrated my birthday that afternoon since the day before, my actual birthday, was so busy with Brayden's dedication. Thank you to my wonderful husband and family for making my first Mother's Day so memorable! I love you all!

This weekend Sean and I are doing our very first garage sale. We have been busy so far this week with getting everything around and marked and set up in the garage. We have a ton of stuff...our garage is filled and we don't even have all of it out yet! My parents and grandparents and sister have also brought some stuff over to put in the sale. It starts on Thursday and goes until Saturday! The money we make from it is going to go to finishing our basement! I am so excited to get started on the basement, so lets hope that we do well this weekend!

Ugh....jury duty. I hate jury duty. I have been called to serve in the month of May. That is right...I have to have it one day a week for the whole month of May!! I call the night before to see if I have to appear. So far, the last two Tuesdays I have had to go. The first week I got called to be a juror, but got dismissed because the case was invloving parents and their child. Since I was a parent, they dismissed me because they didn't want the fact that I am a parent to sway my decision in favor of the parents. Yesterday I didn't get picked and I was released. Yay! Two more weeks and two more possible times of getting picked to serve...ugh. Did I mention that I hate jury duty? :)

Whew...I think I covered most of it. :) So here are some pictures of Brayden's dedication and his new toy from his Nana and Papa!

Family picture before the dedication.

Waiting our turn to have Brayden dedicated.

Praying over Brayden with Pastor Mark Beeson and his wife, Sheila. Brayden did so well!

In his new swing from Nana and Papa. He LOVES it!!

Look at me, look at me!

Hmmm.....I think I need to go higher!

He's On The Move!!

Round 3...In my last post, I mentioned that Brayden has been sick. I took him to the doctor on Monday and once again he has a double ear infection and an infected throat. Poor baby. He just can't catch a break! His fever finally broke last night and he went to daycare today for the first time in a week. They said he did pretty good, just a little fussy. His teacher said that almost all the kids in his class are sick, even the teachers. Gotta love daycare!

Yikes!! He's on the move! My little baby is crawling! He is all over the place! At first it was just a couple crawls at a time and now he can cross the room with no problem at all. The funny thing is that he will only crawl toward the remote control, a cell phone, a computer or one of Milo's toys. If it is one of his toys, he doesn't want anything to do with it...only things that he knows he isn't supposed to have. Typical boy, huh? Well, at the request of Uncle Chad, I have posted a video of Brayden crawling. Enjoy!

Here We Go Again

Brayden is now 7 months old! Eek!! Time needs to slow down right now. It is going way, way too fast. He has almost 3 teeth now. Two on the bottom and one getting ready to pop through on the top. He is starting crawl. He will get on all fours and rock back and forth. A few times he has crawled forward a few steps. He can pull himself up to a stand. He can hold onto your fingers and slowly take a few steps. He always wants to be on the move. The child cannot sit still for more than 30 seconds. He is great at giving hugs and is always smiling or laughing. He is such a happy baby!

Well, I think he might be going to the doctor tomorrow. I have been kind of holding off to see if this is just a cold. He has had a non-stop fever for almost a week now. We cannot get it to break, even with Tylenol and Motrin. Also, he has a bad runny nose and a nasty cough. It is starting to rattle in his chest, so I think it is time to take him in. I'm praying that all is well.

We had a little bit of a scare this past week. Sean was informed at work that they were going to do another round of layoffs. They did one about 3-4 months ago and he was safe then. He found out that they were doing them Tuesday morning between 9 and noon. That was a very nervewracking time! So many prayers went out during that 3 hour time span! Once again, Sean's job was spared although 120 people at his company did lose their jobs. So, he is safe again until next quarter. We are praying that the economy turns around soon so there doesn't have to be another round of layoffs!

Here are some updated photos of the little guy!

At Sean's baseball game. His first time at a baseball game....and he slept through the whole thing!

With Uncle Chad and Aunt Adie, playing in the yard.

Sleeping in Great Grandma's arms.

Ready to roll. On our way to Aunt Adie's graduation cook-out.

Daddy's baseball bat and baseball. I think Daddy is getting him ready!

Watching Daddy work outside in the yard.

Snug as a bug in a rug!

Playtime!

Kirstin's prom date! :)

Brayden's First Easter

Brayden's first Easter was a busy one! He loved all the attention, but he gets it all the time, so it wasn't any different to him! We started out by finding Easter eggs and his Easter basket at our house. He obviously didn't grasp the concept of looking and finding the eggs or his basket, so mom had to help him out! He loved the eggs and loved to put them in his mouth even more! Then it was off to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Schiedel's house for a bit. He got another Easter basket from Nana and Papa. After that, we spent the rest of the day at Grandma and Grandpa Fischer's house. It was a fun day for everyone! He passed out in his carseat shortly after we got in the car. Such a busy day for a special little boy!

I found it, I found it!!

Oooh...another one! Hmm...I think I like this candle more!

My Easter basket. A new book and some trucks!

Looking handsome in my new Easter outfit! Mom says that I'm adorable!

Look at me, look at me! I am standing...almost all on my own!

Mmmm...what's this?

Thanks Nana and Papa!

Me and my Aunt Keri!!

Coloring Easter Eggs!

We had our first experience with coloring eggs. And of course, Brayden had no clue what was going on. He loved the eggs and the cardboard wraps that went around them. He ended up eating most of the cardboard wraps. I guess it is a good thing we didn't use them! :) He loved looking at the eggs in the dye, but kept wanting to put his hands in the dye. So, it ended up being more of a hassle "helping" him color eggs, so Erin ended up coloring all the eggs. Brayden loved the final outcome! Pretty, colorful eggs!

More to come later on Brayden's first Easter!

Oooh....look at the eggs!
I think I would rather chew on this cardboard thing....

Whoa...look at all the bright colors! I want them!

Dad is trying to hold me back!

Baseball Anyone?

Not a whole lot to report around here. Things are going pretty smoothly for the most part. Brayden is cutting another tooth, which means fevers, ear aches, and sleepless nights. Last night was the worst so far. He woke up around 2am and just wanted his mama. I picked him up out of his crib and he wrapped his little arms around my neck and wouldn't let go. He was holding on so tight. He laid his head on my shoulder and just wimpered. I am so ready for this teething phase to be over. I need some sleep!

In other news, Brayden is now sleeping in his crib...in his own bedroom. Yup, I finally moved him. It was so hard. He did fine, of course, but I didn't. In fact, it has been over a week and I am still having a hard time. I miss him sleeping in the cradle next to me. I felt like he was safe and protected next to me. I could get him quick if I needed to. I could listen to him sleep, listen to him breathe. He is just across the hall, but he seems so far away. I am sure it will eventually get easier, but I am still struggling! My baby is growing up!

He said his first word the other night....Uh oh. :) It was so cute. Sean was laying in bed working on his laptop. Brayden LOVES computers and was trying so hard to "help" Sean on the computer. He hit a button and closed the window Sean was working on. Sean said "uh oh" and Brayden repeated him. He said it 2 more times after that. It was pretty funny. I was kind of hoping his first word would be "mama," but no such luck.

We are so ready for spring and warmer weather to get here. We have taken a few walks when the weather was nicer. Brayden LOVED it! He just sat in his stroller taking in everything around him. Occasionally he would squeal or giggle...mostly at Milo running around in front of him. He did not want the walks to be over. I am sure we are going to be spending a lot of time outside this spring and summer!

Here are some updated pictures of Brayden!

See my tooth??

Welcome to the World, Little Cousin!

An anxiously awaited little guy has finally entered our world! Jaiden Scott Hoeksema was born to Scott and Rosalie at 4:08am on March 20, 2009. He was 6 pounds, 1 ounce and 20 1/2 inches long. He is absolutely beautiful! We are all so excited for Scott and Rosalie! Congratulations! We love you all!

Jaiden Scott Hoeksema

Who is Mama holding?

Erin holding the precious little Jaiden!

Brayden and Hailey.