Funny Faces

Our little boy is so animated! It seems like every time we turn around he has a new face, new sound or something to make us laugh! :-) Here are a few highlights from the last month!

"Ooops! Busted!"
By the way, check out the fat rolls where his wrists used to be! :-)

Bathtime is his favorite time of the day!
I couldn't get a good picture of the huge smiles we get when he hits the warm water!

Showing off his fat rolls...uhh...I mean, muscles! ;-)

This one's for Uncle Stephen in honor of Night at the Museum 2. "Firepower!!!"

But no matter how old he gets, this will always be my favorite facial expression picture! :-)
1 day old and he already had a little stinker attitude!

Once in a lifetime!

Happy 123456789 Day!!!

12:34:56 07/08/09

Enjoy! This won't come again for another thousand years...and I'm guessing none of us will be around to see that. :-)

Two Blissful Years!

Two years ago today I married the most incredible man in the world. At the time, I thought I was the happiest woman in the world and I thought I loved him as much as I possibly could. Now two years later, I'm so blissfully happy and my love for him has grown by leaps and bounds. He truly is my best friend and I still can't wait to see him every day when he comes home. He is the most amazing man I could have asked for and I'm so blessed to call him mine. :-) Happy anniversary Justin! I love you more than you could ever know!

5 Weeks Old!!

Here is the weekly picture. Now for the big news...our little guy weighs almost 10 lbs!!! What a chunk! :-) As I pack up his newborn clothes and give away the newborn diapers I am in awe of how quickly he is growing. I thank God every day for this beautiful blessing! I am so undeserving!

I moved him to the boppy pillow to give him better head support. We may keep doing weekly pictures there until he holds his head up better.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the last week!

Such a sweet face!

This picture really makes me laugh! The only thing that would've made it funnier is a bottle of spilt milk!

I just adore him! He's learning to use his arms and is so much more communicative through coos and other pleasant sounds!

Happy Birthday!!

Happy 1 Month Birthday, Braxton!! I can't believe you've been making us smile and bringing joy to our lives for a whole month! Time flies when you're having fun (or sleep deprived!)! :-)

Sleep in Heavenly Peace

Sleep. It's such a beautiful thing. I'd almost forgotten! While Braxton typically sleeps an average of 16-20 hours a day, I'm lucky if I make it to 4 (and usually those 4 hours are divided between several feedings). But last night was like a breath of fresh air! Last night my little baby slept from 12:30am until 6:00am! We may need to credit that prolonged sleep cycle to the Loritab I took earlier in the day to help me cope with a kidney stone (never any fun!). But whatever the cause of the 5.5 hours of uninterrupted slumber, I was certainly thankful!

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. :-)