What happened to my baby?

Well, everyone warned me and I guess now it's here. My perfect, sweet, angelic baby who slept perfectly for the first three weeks of his life has been replaced by a screaming, angry, bored child who can't decide if he wants to be held or left alone. Oh the joys of parenthood. :-)

He's becoming more of a baby and less of a newborn. As his nervous system develops and he becomes more aware of his discomforts and shows more of his irritability it's easy to think "I just want this transition to be over!" I just want to sleep. I just want a shower. I just want to brush my teeth...maybe even brush my hair. A pedicure and a tan seem like a far-off dream. Yes, this transition period is hard. Not only is Braxton transitioning into babyhood, but I'm transitioning into motherhood and realizing that now a little baby comes before even my most basic needs right now. And I think those words "right now" are key and have helped so much with my attitude toward the last 72 hours. He won't always need me 24/7. One day he won't need me at all. As hard, as sleep deprived, as unclean I feel right now, deep down, I wouldn't trade this times and experiences for the world. As I'm up all night holding, rocking, singing to him, I think of how fast these days are going to pass. When I snuggle him and try to comfort him by holding him close, I think of the day when I try to give him a hug he'll roll his eyes and say "oh mom! stop!" When I kiss his screaming face I think of the day when I'll kiss his cheek at his wedding. When I sing the same lullaby for the 139th time that day, I think of the day where he'll rather listen to his ipod than my simple (and sometimes off-key!) songs. When I carry him around all hours of the night, I think of the day when he'll be taller than me and threaten to pick me up!

These days are hard and long, but they are priceless. He is going to grow up so fast and I'm going to look back and kick myself for wishing these moments away!

Happy Father's Day!

The shirt says it all!

Braxton's First Rain Shower

On June 15 we had a beautiful evening thunderstorm. Not too severe. Just a gentle rain and distant thunder. A perfect evening in my opinion. :-) We took Braxton outside for a change of scenery and to enjoy his first rainshower. He loved it! He turned toward the thunder and was so content (even when we put him in the rain! :-)). He is his mother's son.

Look how intrigued he is by the storm! For a kid who sleeps 90% of the time, we were amazed at how alert he was!


Daddy keeps him safe.

My favorite moments from the first two weeks

Here are just a few of the precious moments I was able to capture during our first two weeks as a family. Justin had two weeks off work, so we got to experience a lot of the "firsts" together.

A picture next to my (Laura's) hospital picture. See the resemblance? He's already changed so much though, it's hard to see it now!

Tummy Time!

He lost his umbilical cord! Our kid has a belly button!! We're so proud! :-)

Daddy likes to give him Mohawks

Mommy just likes to cuddle him

Warms my heart!

Snuggle/Play time after bath

Sunbathing to help with jaundice! It worked too! He's completely over it! No more creepy yellow eyes!

First big nasty diaper. We learned to be well prepared!

First bath! He screamed and then showed us his anger by peeing all over a strainer full of clean dishes!! (I think the water was a little too cold because now he loves bathtime!)

More pictures from Grandma's Birthday

For some reason I could only post 5 pictures in the previous post. Here are the rest of the pictures from the evening.

The grandsons with their matching blankets. We're 99.9% sure the right blanket made it home with the right kid.


Spending time with Oma (great grandma)


Grandma's birthday present! Two grandsons! She's holding Silas and Dad is holding Braxton.

An evening with the cousins...and grandparents...and uncles...and aunts...and great grandmas...

On June 11 we celebrated my mom's ?? birthday (ok...I actually do know her age, but she would kill me if I posted it). It was the first time we got the cousins together. In fact, it was the first time there were cousins in this generation of the Paine family. Of course, lots of pictures were a must.
Braxton and his cousin/buddy Silas are less than 4 weeks apart (Silas was born the beginning of May, Braxton the beginning of June!). It's amazing to see how much difference 4 weeks can make though! They like to cry together. I think they're consoling each other on how tough it is out here in the wide, scary world.


Two uncles and 3 cousins. All great friends!

Really?!

Our little guy's first piece of mail...his social security number. Seriously?? Our kid doesn't even have his birth certificate yet! He isn't even legally born and they can tax him?

Warning! Picture Overload!!!

Consider yourselves warned! I'm preparing SEVERAL posts with LOTS of pictures. I know you all will be heartbroken. :-)

Braxton, Week By Week

I love taking pictures of our little man! Even though we already have several hundred of him, I thought it would be fun to take pictures specifically documenting his growth week by week. It's already crazy to see how fast he is growing. His little buddy in each picture is the bear Justin and I made for him the week before he was born. Hopefully before too long he'll be able to hold it and play with it in the pictures. But for now, Mr. Cuddles (his temporary name until Braxton names him) works well as sign holder. :-)

Showers of Blessings!

Saturday was my first official shower. My friend Anna threw me a "Mommy Shower" in celebration of my transition to motherhood (and my growing belly!). Guests brought maternity clothes or items that would help me stay more comfortable throughout the remainder of my pregnancy. It was such a blessing! I got several very cute items of clothing, as well as gift cards, money and other goodies! Thanks to all my wonderful friends who were able to attend and make me feel so very special!


The host, Anna opens the shower with a fun game!

After playing several games and eating (my new favorite pasttime!) , I started opening gifts. Below are just a few pictures of the adorable things I received.

A beautiful, springtime top from Sarah! Will go perfect with a cute pair of jeans or a black skirt!
A body pillow from Mom! Just what I needed to help me stay on my side at night! I can't even tell you how much sounder I sleep at nights now. By the way, you've got to love my expression! I'm opening the body pillow cover in the picture. :-)
A super cute maternity coat from Kayla. Its the perfect weight for spring, and the best part is that it looked cute on several of my non-preggo friends so I can wear it post-baby. :-)
I was able to get a few snapshots with some of the guests. This is me with my sister-in-law, Crystal (who happens to be preggo too! due one month before me!) and my 4-year-old niece, Kathrynne. Kathrynne wasn't quite sure what to think of the whole shower concept at first, but after a cupcake she was all smiles and giggles!

My friend, Ivy! Pseudo-aunt to Braxton. Ironically enough, she already has a real nephew named Braxton! Yay for confusing lives! :-)

My sweet friend Sarah. Buddies since freshman seminar!

Kayla!! This little bride-to-be took time out of her crazy busy schedule to drive up to my shower! I was so happy she could come!

Overall, the shower was a huge success! I feel so blessed and honored that my friends went above and beyond the typical baby showers and threw me this mommy shower. I can't wait to return the favor when all of them have babies!

WHOA...baby!

Ok! Seriously. This is why you take pictures every week. We missed last week but look at the huge difference in two weeks! My eyes about fell out of my head when I saw these two side by side! He's certainly growing...and so am I!

20 weeks

22 weeks

And so the spring begins...

In all was except the weather. All of my major spring activities started this week (AIC, CCCC, CHFM, CYT...thats a lot of acronyms!) but the weather still declares it to be winter. The cold does get annoying, but it hasn't been very windy so it hasn't been unbearable...its just cold. :-) And if we stick with our plan and move to Colorado Springs in a few years, I guess I'd better adapt to life as an eskimo.

The little guy gave us quite a show this morning. He's gotten much stronger in the last week and his kicks are getting harder and easier to distinguish (no longer do I get the "its probably just gas" statement from my OB). After months of poking and prodding on my stomach, Justin was finally able to feel a series of kicks from Braxton this morning. Then we watched my stomach and every time he kicked it bounced a little. It was the most amazing thing! Apparently I'm going to have to start looking for daddy-and-me karate classes. :-) Only a few more months till we get to meet our little man!

Well, I'm off to do laundry, dishes, mopping the entryway...again (yay for snow/ice storms) and other wifely duties.

FIGHT FOCA!

Alrighty people. President Obama is officially in office. Even though I do not agree with him and am proud to say I did not vote for him, I will respect him as the leader of this country. The power of God is greater than any power of one individual...whether he be republican or democrat.

That being said. We do need to exercise our rights as American citizens to protest laws Obama is trying to pass that are clearly in opposition of God's laws. Obama has promised to pass FOCA (Freedom of Choice Act) as one of his first movements as President. FOCA would essentially release any ban on abortion, including late-term abortion. If you are pro-life, please please please take a minute and sign the petition protesting this act. www.fightfoca.com It takes less than 30 seconds.

As a Christian and as a mother I cannot sit back and let our president try to pass a bill stating that the rights of one human being are more important than the rights of another. I can't help but think, Wasn't equality and hope one of the things Obama promised the American citizens? Think about it. All humans are created equal. At what point does a baby become human? Conception? When it has a heartbeat? When it looks like a human? Birth? A baby has a heartbeat at 18 days. Anything that has a heartbeat is alive. Doesn't being alive qualify you as a human? At our 6 week sonogram he looked like a seahorse, but he had a strong heartbeat. At our 9 week sonogram he had developed legs and arms and was using his reflexes to kick. At our 13 week sonogram he looked like a human. And at our 20 week sonogram it was so obvious that he is fully formed, moves, has a strong heartbeat, responds to my touch (or pokes!) is developing his sense of hearing. In 4 weeks my baby could survive outside the womb (granted, he would be in the NICU for months and need lots of medical supervision), but still! He is a little miracle, fully developed and fully human!

No human being ever has the right to kill another human being. We Americans need to stop begging people to stop killing trees and the environment and start pleading with people to stop killing innocent babies who don't have a chance to defend themselves. Please exercise your rights as Americans and Christians and sign this petition.

Put a Helmet On!!

Honestly, I don't think I fully understand the concept of that phrase. But for some reason, Justin always finds it necessary to tell me that when I complain that life is hard. When he says that, I envision myself strapping on a helmet and then banging my head against a wall repeatedly in a frustrated rage, praying the helmet spares me from any permanent brain damage. But then I started thinking; who wants to walk around with a helmet on their head because life is hard? Not I! For two reasons. Number one, you look like a dork. Number two, you look like a dork. So... * deep breath * I am resolved to take off my helmet, stop complaining about how hard life is and start enjoying it! I know life is not going to magically become easy...but its better than helmet hair!

Here is my list of everything I am very excited about this coming year.
1. Obviously...bringing the baby into the world in June. I can't wait to meet this little guy!
2. Teaching at CHFM. I absolutely love being with the girls and teaching them how to use dance to praise the Lord (and have a lot of fun at the same time!)
3. Being on AIC staff again. Yay for directing! I'm very excited to be involved with this children's ministries again and work backstage. Almost as much fun as being on stage!
4. Helping found Christian Youth Theater division here in our town. This is a dream of mine to be part of a team thats founding a Christian theater program for children. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us during this busy year.
5. Possibly moving to a bigger house. This is probably number one on my frustrations list too...but once it happens, its going to be so much fun to feel like we can spread out and sneeze without worrying about waking up our neighbors!
6. Start taking dance lessons again after the baby's born. Oh how I miss my pair of tap shoes!
7. GRADUATION! Woohoo! Can't wait to wear that moomoo gown and walk across the stage for my 30 seconds of glory!

TEAM BLUE!

At 8:15 yesterday morning, Justin discovered he was no longer the only man in my life anymore. He took the news surprisingly well, but I think its more because he was overjoyed to get his hunting/camping/sports buddy! Thats right people....

IT'S A BOY!!!!!

The ultrasound was by-far one of the most incredible things I've ever seen. My heart melted as I saw my little boy swimming around, kicking, wiggling his fingers and toes, playing "peek-a-boo" (he would cover his face anytime the tech tried to get a picture of it, then he'd move them as soon as she wasn't trying anymore) and opening and closing his mouth (doesn't he look like he's smiling in the picture?).

Current boys name: Braxton Scott. Sounds like a quarterback right? :-)

Below is another picture of my ever-growing belly. We took it last night and as you can see, I'm finally having to wear maternity tops. Still in my pre-preggo jeans, but I have a feeling that is going to change by the time we take next month's picture.