from people magazine to parenting magazine. from sleeping in to early rising. from designer purse to diaper bag. from spare free time to absolutely no time.
in the last 5 weeks, life has drastically changed but in the most wonderful way! i have been meaning to update with words rather than pictures for quite sometime. however this is what my life has come to as of lately...a bunch of failed intentions. i wake up every morning with a run down of what i need to accomplish for the day, but for those who have kids, you know that your day never goes as planned! I mean did you really plan to be sprayed all down your shirt during a diaper changing session while running errands, or to leave the house only to realize you left your wallet on the counter, or as soon as you think you've done all the laundry you could possibly do for one day, you end up with more? aside from readjusting to a completely new lifestyle, waking up to brayden's precious smiling little face and coos every morning make the millions of times i have been peed on all worth it!
from day one, i don't think i could have ask for a more wonderful baby! he's so sweet, he even decided to announce he was coming while i was at the doctor's office when my water broke. it's funny how things work. as many of you know, i went almost 2 weeks thinking "today is the day." after many days of nothing, i began praying for the big sign....that my water would break so i would just know! i kept telling jared, 'you just watch, as soon as my mom and sister get into town, i will go into labor." sure enough, my mom arrived wednesday night and that night i began feeling really crampy'. i suppose it was a mother's intuition that set in because thursday before leaving for our weekly check-up, i packed the car with everything from the car seat to the video camera.
after being called back at 2:15pm, just as i was about to step on the dreadful scale, i paused.
me- "ummm, excuse me, i think my water just broke"
nurse & jared - "are you sure?"
me - "well, i just went to the restroom so i'm pretty sure i didn't just pee my pants"
nurse - "umm ok well lets go back to the room"
walking back to the room
me- "yep, pretty sure my water just broke otherwise i just peed my pants 4 times."
after that, we were on our way to meeting brayden in just a mater of hours. my contractions didn't really begin until 6pm. when they decided to finally arrive, they arrived with a mad vengeance! after an hour of the most excruciating pain i have ever felt in my life and ripping out my IV (trying to cope with the pain, i guess i was flailing my arms around, who knows), i demanded the epidural. i wasn't that woman who wanted to be the hero and go "a la natural." i mean really, it's not like any one was going to be giving me an award of accomplishment because i suffered through pain that can not even be described. all i have to say is that epidural was the most wonderful thing i have ever decided to do! once the drugs were in, i was one happy camper. I took a nap and even watched grey's anatomy. At 11:45pm they came in to check if i was dilated and sure enough it was time! with the action the nurses began taking, it was like a full on production was taking place. nurses came in from all directions! Dr. Graham arrived at 12:20. with my entourage of 8 nurses and Dr. Graham, after 20 minutes of pushing and laughing in between (the most difficult part was having to hold my breath!) i was holding my little boy. it truly was the most amazing moment. As they placed him in my arms, tears began streaming down mine and jared's face. brayden ended up being bigger than we expected, a whopping 8 pounds, 8 ounces and 20 3/4 inches.
Coming home was a breath of fresh air but taking a step into the unknown as my entourage of nurses was not available with the push of a button. We had a few sleepless nights, and diaper changes where a bit traumatic.
we survived.
moving 5 weeks ahead, yesterday was brayden's 1 month check up and he is now 10 lbs. 6 oz. and 22 in. last night he slept 8 hrs. straight. i'm guessing that is why i actually have the energy to sit down and update. brayden is already lifting his head and holding it up, making eye contact, sucking his thumb/fist, and learning to smile. he loves baby einstien and music! it's exciting to see his little personality starting to come alive!
and so i digress......with him still napping, if i wish to get things accomplished, i better get to work!
He likes his space!
Sportin' his preppy out fit from Memaw
notice a common sleeping habit?
he has his daddy's ears
i'm thinking this little guy is a little more advanced than he is supposed to be at this age....lets just say that he rolled over last night! It's kinda sad...i don't want him to grow up too fast!
he loves his daddy....except when he's hungry
hmmm, this is kinda nice...reminds me of a place i once lived
enough with the camera mom!
he goes for the closest things in sight when it's feeding time!
i know i'm cute!
kamyrn and zoe with baby brayden - my favorite little ones!
a typical day
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for some reason i decided to take a walk down memory lane and read my past bloggings. HOLY CRAP!!! my grammar and spelling are atrocious!! i'm pretty sure a first grader would be able to type with less errors. as sad as it may be, it's true....i'm a horrible speller. thank goodness for spell check...that is when i actually use it.
now in my defense, my brain has officially been on vacation for almost 10 months. i've become as dumb as a brick. i remember a lady i used to work with who said that she couldn't do her job because her brain did not communicate properly with her fingers in order to type correctly. oh, how foolish i was to laugh at the poor woman! i just told jared the other night that i truly have become a disgrace as i reread my emails before i send them off to clients...only to find that i type actual words but they do not pertain or have any relevance to what i intended to say.
really what i'm trying to say is i apologize for my never failing spelling and grammatical errors. If you are a elementary teacher, i hope i have not been your daily source for teaching material....you know, those sentences your teacher would write on the board and you had to find all the errors and write the sentence correctly......
oh, how i have regressed......
i don't know what in all of god's creation is going on, but my ankles and feet look like they've been beat with a sledge hammer! i actually have creases from the skin that is hanging over my feet!!! I've learned that when you are pregnant, certain body parts tend to disappear. if you never had the pleasure of experiencing kankles before, don't gloat in thinking you never will. trust me, i know from experience! all I have to say is thank goodness i only have 3 more days!
there's a full moon tonight and i'm going back out to walk my 11th mile for the day....hopefully these feet can carry me!
one thing i look most forward to is having my good friend genya of vue photography take pictures of our new little one and family when brayden arrives! i can't wait!!!! ahhh!
i might just have to snag this idea now that i have my very own peanut sling! i love this!
how hysterical is this picture?!for 3 days now i have been have irregular contractions...until tonight. around 9:30 they began to be 4 minutes apart....and still continue to be 4 minutes apart. groveling and debating whether or not to call the doctor, i finally decided to after 3 hours of non-stop contractions. the nurse informed me thanow all i have to do is wait the consistent sharp pains to where i can barely breathe through them.....which i'm pretty sure are beginning to make an appearance. let's just say that if this is only the beginning, i'm afraid to find out what the middle and end have in store!
time will tell.....only i'm tired and wish it wasn't 1am!
yep....barely breathing! OUCH!
i now can say that it excites me to purchase gas! gas has dropped below $3.00/gallon. it's a miracle! i'm slightly shocked that such words would ever come from my mouth! i remember strongly stating that i would resort to riding a bike if gas ever reached $3.00/gallon. sad to say i was still driving around my suv when gas hit $4.00 a gallon. all i can say is i'm a prisoner to the convenience of air conditioning...especially these days! what a sorry sight it would be to see a hot, sweaty, pregnant woman peddling her little heart out in 95 degree weather down back beach.
at least there's something to be excited over with the state that the economy is in. so much for my stock in mcdonald's.....i guess i should have pulled all 10 of my shares 10 years ago. eh, i'm not stressed.....$600.00 is nothing compared to $600,000.00.
baby update: no baby yet.
with all the constant, never ending contractions i continue to have, I've been hoping that all the walks jared and i take would start to have an effect. my body is becoming so worn out that i'm beginning to become concerned about my mental stability.
with the beautiful weather we've been having the past 2 nights, jared and i have gone to the beach. i really do love it here this time of year! last night all our long walks did were cause more contractions that ended up being the bridge to no where....hence my writing at such an ungodly hour in the morning. i just couldn't take laying in bed any longer! we have a doctors appointment today and these contractions better not have all been in vain....there better be something going on!
being that i have been quite the slacker when it comes to documenting those monumental "belly shots," i suppose i am trying to make up for lost time now. nothing like having your picture taken at 9 1/2 months pregnant (i had to go and get a new drivers licence on friday.........no comment needed). 
