Busy, Busy Weekend

And the boys did great! I'll start off by saying that. We went on Ethan's first road trip, our first trip as a family of four, to go to my mom's for the weekend. We celebrated my Grandma's 80th birthday and it was wonderful to see all of the family!

Braden and Jay sang happy birthday to GG and she looked so beautiful! She had all three of her great-grandbabies there!

It was really special to see GG meet Ethan for the first time, he was wide awake at the party!

And that little Abby is such a ham!

Not only is my little Abbykins a ham...she is such a little beauty and a daddy's girl at 7 months!
 

I love seeing my brother as a dad. He's such a wonderful daddy to Abigail and an amazing uncle to my boys!

 Uncle Steve even got in on some Ethan snuggling action!

And Auntie Jess got some Ethan lovin' too! She's been dying to meet him and I'm so glad we finally all got together and that the weather cooperated!

Speaking of Auntie Jess, she threw us a "Meet Ethan" party on Sunday! In Canada, at least where I'm from, we don't typically have baby showers for every baby, only our first...but I really wanted my Edmonton friends to be able to meet Ethan, so it was really nice to have a "shower" for him - thanks again, so much, Jess!

It was so great to see my girlfriends and all their babies! That's one of my forever besties Natalie and her little boy Reid. He's only 6.5 weeks older than Ethan! That's the part that is the hardest for me living at the farm - the most bittersweet part of my life - is being away from my girlfriends and their babies, and Ben & Jess too, especially since they've had Abigail. Sure, I've made friends here and they have kids my kid's age...but it's just not the same. I wouldn't trade my life on the farm for anything, it's just very bittersweet sometimes!

The spread was amazing! And just check out these adorable whale cookies!! They were so cute I didn't want to eat them...but then I got over it and did!


Thank you again, my beautiful girls, for this awesome party! And Ben too...he did a lot and I know that! And just a few more pictures from the festivities...


None of my candid pictures from the party worked at all - but thank you Natalie, Keri, Katie, Marjorie, Mom, & Mrs. N for coming as well! I loved seeing all the babies together (Abby was the only girl) and missed everyone who couldn't make it!

And, for my friends who love Friends...a little humor featuring Reid & Ethan!

Mother's Day & Abigail's Shower

Yesterday we got to celebrate two wonderful occasions. Mother's Day and Abigail's baby shower! I co-hosted the shower with Jessica's Auntie Roxanne and it was a lot of fun! We had a loose theme of a Mother's Day tea, so almost all the guests brought their moms and it was a lot of fun. Abigail slept through almost the whole thing and was a little angel when she was awake.

But before I get more into the shower. We went to visit GG yesterday morning to deliver her Braden's handmade card which she loved!

It was nice to be with all my "mommies" on Mother's Day, other than my MIL but we did give her her card the day before so it was nice to do that. Then it was off to Beaumont for the shower!

Jess and her mom:

And me obviously making a silly face or noise to try to get Braden to smile...

And me and my handsome little man! I'm just so happy he looked at the camera! And here's a look at Mother's Day's past. Sad I couldn't keep up with the flower frame, thanks a lot Picnik!

Baby Shower #3

Braden's stash from the Strathmore girls!

Beautiful, and delicious, cake made by Lindsay. (Yes, I know my son's initials are "BS"...small price to pay for a great name, in my opinion!)

Chillin' with Auntie Laura

So we had our last baby shower on Wednesday evening from the lovely ladies I work with in Strathmore. We waited so long so that Joy would be able to come, and I'm glad we did. They spoiled Braden rotten, as I knew they would! The girls were so thoughtful and bought a lot of stuff off of Braden's registry that he hadn't gotten yet, like a baby food processor and supplies so that I can make and freeze my own baby food when Braden is old enough. He was a bit fussy that night, I guess that's the difference between having a shower when he's 3 weeks or 5 weeks old and now 8 weeks old! He likes to cluster feed in the evening so I think he just wanted to eat!

BUT...

We got home late after I stopped at Joy's so I could really give him a good feed, and then he SLEPT 7.5 HOURS!!! It was just amazing! I had to check on him twice because I couldn't believe it! He also had slept 7 hours the night before, and kind of by fluke I put him in his cloth diapers for nighttime (I was scared to before as he was sleeping so well in disposables at night)...but maybe that's the difference maker?! I was down to one disposable per night and after he slept his long stretch I would put him in Fuzzi Bunz as he would only sleep a few more hours anyway. Well, on Tuesday night we did our nighttime routine and to my surprise he woke up only 2 hours into his sleep. I thought we would be up all night eating and having a growth spurt, so I just put Fuzzi Bunz on him right away...and to my surprise he slept 7 hours! No leaks, nothing in the morning too!

I am a 100% cloth diapering mama now! We will probably still use disposables for longer trips or weekends away where it would be too difficult to do laundry, but I'm proud to say that we are on the cloth!

Baby Shower #2

Braden and I took our second trip to Edmonton this weekend sans Daddy for his second baby shower hosted by his Godmommy Natalie. It was a lot of fun to see lots of friends and family, and of course Braden got spoiled with lots of wonderful gifts. Braden and I went into the city on Friday for his first trip to Safeway to see his Grandpa and be oooo'ed and awwww'ed at by the staff and customers too! Then we headed over to Becky's house and visited with her, Katie, and Julie. I miss you girls so much, you have no idea! Becky is 37 weeks pregnant and looking fabulous...my prediction is girl, another girlfriend for Braden!

Speaking of girlfriends, congrats to Kathleen and Tom on their new baby girl Norah Elizabeth, born on March 11, 2010! This is baby girl #2 for them, hope you are all doing well and we can't wait to meet her!Braden is giving TONS of smiles this last week, but he gets camera shy...so all I can get is this "stunned" look, but I'll keep trying, I promise! He's also staying awake for longer periods during the day and he is getting more patient and can be content for 10-15 minutes after he wakes up while he waits to eat! He also stays awake in his car seat now and is quite happy about it.

Honest to Blog!

Wow, I don't think it's been this long between posts since Braden was born. I've been either too tired or too busy to post, so this will be a humdinger of a post! I last posted that Braden had had the best night of sleep and then had a not-so-great night...well that continued for another two nights, hence me being so tired. He just wanted to eat and sleep wasn't really topping his priority list. Jay was gone overnight on Thursday to Lethbridge for a farm show, and I had finally melted down. Lack of sleep and I do not get along, never have, so not getting more than 2 hours sleep in a row for over 72 hours finally hit me and the tears were flowing! What a horrible time for Jay to be away, but through all of it Braden always had a smile on his face and was still as content as can be. Thankfully my Mom was on her way down to the farm for the weekend so she got here on Friday afternoon. I have been hesitant, but wanting to try Braden on a bottle just so that one day I could have some freedom to go and get my hair done or go out for dinner with Jay or something. I ended up pumping and Mom gave Braden his first bottle successfully! He ate 3 oz no questions asked! I was very happy because he's never even had a pacifier yet, let alone milk from a bottle! It's just nice to know that I can have some freedom once in awhile, and I'll continue to give Braden a bottle once or twice a week so he'll get used to it.

And on the 4th night...he slept! He was finally back to his old self (as much as a 5 week old can be!) and slept a 4 hour stretch and has done this consistently since. It has much improved my sanity and overall well-being. One of the girls on my message board suggested Braden might need a pacifier just because he wants to suck. It made a lot of sense, especially the last night he was up so much because I'd go to feed him and within a few minutes he was back asleep and hadn't eaten anything at all! As a nurse I know to make sure breastfeeding is well established before introducing a pacifier, I wanted to hold off altogether if I could, but 5 weeks of really good breastfeeding with Braden and I gave it a try. He only takes it if he reeeeeeeeeally wants it, which is fine by me!

Braden had his first baby shower on Saturday in Rosebud. It was a lot of fun and he was wonderful! He slept the whole time and boy did we ever get a lot of gifts! Lots of cute clothes, books, and some wonderful nursery decor from Auntie Laura!

Grandma and Braden in matching froggy green!

Beautiful handmade quilt from Auntie Deah.