Merry Christmas!

Christmas was a very exciting time for our little guy.  First we had Christmas Eve at Grandma & Grandpa Westvig’s here in Minnesota, then we traveled across Wisconsin to visit Grandma & Grandpa Stephany.  All in all, Brayden did really good and scored some pretty good gifts!

Chris, Brayden and big cousin Maddie.  Brayden was putting out some pretty big smiles, they’re just really hard to catch on camera right now.

 

 

 

Maddie was really enjoying Chris’ new phone, he was showing the Chipmunks Squeak-uel trailer to her.  She loves her technology!

 

 

As you can see, Brayden didn’t do much of the present opening this year, he was quite content to sleep on Uncle Brad.

 

 

We had a lot of help opening presents from cousins Maddie and Annika.

 

 

 

 

Talking to Grandma & Grandpa Westvig.

 

 

 

Proud Mom & Dad!  This is our unofficial Christmas Tree picture.

 

 

 

Enjoying some cuddle time with Grandpa Stephany.

 

 

 

 

Snoozing on Great-Grandma Connie while visiting Aunt Kim & Uncle Tim’s new house.

 

 

 

This stocking is the stocking that I came home in from the hospital.  Brayden fills it out a bit more than I did.

Best friends!

 

New best buds(at least we’re hoping!) Mason and Brayden.  It looks Brayden is showing a little attitude by sticking his tongue out!

 

 

Now it’s Mason’s turn show who’s boss! 

Two Months!

Brayden had his two month check-up appointment today:

23” – 50th percentile

11lbs 13oz – 50th percentile

The doctor was amazed at how strong he is!  She is predicting that he’ll be walking early and possibly crawling by 6 months!  She put him on his tummy and he rolled right back over.   He also had his shots and did pretty good, one little scream and then he fell asleep.  I think I had more tears than he did!  Thank goodness Daddy was there to help out!

I’ve been working on trying to show his smile on camera, here is the best I have gotten so far.

Here is Brayden snuggling with Daddy, his favorite spot right now!

Lunch with Suz

Today Brayden and I had lunch with Suz, my former boss at D56.  It was so great to see her and catch up!  It’s really weird going from seeing someone every day and then going to rarely seeing them.  She was a great boss for a few years for me!

She really enjoyed getting to meet Brayden, and I think Brayden like her too!

Happy Birthday Mama!

So today is my birthday, and what a difference a year makes!  Lots of changes….two new jobs, and of course a baby!  Brayden is really starting to show his fun side now.  As you can see in the video, he loves to kick!  The funny thing is how he used to hate diaper changing time and now that seems to be one his favorite times.  He is definitely the most alert and active on his changing table.

Baby Whisperer

Our Stout friends from Brainerd stopped by to visit Brayden this morning.  Apparently, Chris is called the Baby Whisperer….he is pretty good at putting babies to sleep!  Although Michelle was the one who held Brayden most of the time on this visit. 

D56 Babies

My former co-worker Jessica had a baby just a couple weeks after Brayden was born, she was actually due a couple of weeks before I was but our little guy just couldn’t wait!  Today we got together with our little ones, our first little playdate.  It was really fun to hang out with another new mommy and trade advice!

Her little Elouise is absolutely adorable and quite the talker!  Brayden just slept like usual.

Tree Cutting Adventure

Today we went with our friends Scott & Emily to find a Christmas Tree.  After a few wrong turns and some disappointing tree lots, we found a lot about a little way out of town.  It was sort of like someone’s back 40, but we both found beautiful trees! 

Just goofing around!

Scott & Emily found theirs!

And we found ours!  We usually go back to Oshkosh and find a tree with Grandma & Grandpa Stephany and their friends, maybe we’ll be able to continue that tradition next year!  

More Family visiting…

The Marschners and Great-Grandma Betty came to see our little guy today.  He  has some very excited cousins!

Great Aunt Tanis gets to snuggle.

Four generations!!

  

Cousin Bethany had to make sure this picture was just right, hopefully I picked the right one!

First Big Trip

We traveled back to Oshkosh this weekend to celebrate the life of a great man, Great Grandpa Elden.  He passed away unfortunately before being able to meet Brayden, but we know how much he would have loved him!  He will be missed!

Great Grandma Connie with Daddy & Brayden.

Cousin Charlie only a few weeks older than Brayden, should be fun to get together when they’re a little older!

The Stephany cousins at Grandpa's funeral.

First Turkey Day

Today was Brayden’s first Thanksgiving, it was also his first trip to Grandma & Grandpa Westvig’s house. 

Uncle Brad is excited to have a nephew to spoil and teach boy stuff!

Grandpa Dale trying to wake up the little guy.

I’m not exactly sure what was so funny, Brayden was probably tooting!  

Family visits

The Stephany side of the family came to visit us this weekend.  Brayden has some very proud Wisconsin relatives!

Aunt April enjoying some cuddle time.

Sleeping on Aunt Kim.

Great Aunt Kay & Great Uncle Fred even stopped by for a visit.

Here is a pic of the First Thanksgiving outfit Grandma Deb got….she’s a little biased, the bib says “Thankful for Daddy!”  Pretty darn cute, don’t you think?  

One Month!

Brayden is one month old today!  I don’t think he was particularly happy about this picture though.  It will be fun to see how much he grows over the next couple months!

Newborn Pics

We had a photo shoot for Baby Brayden today! All in all, he did pretty good, considering! Mom and Dad had to hold him between shots to warm him he up. He just does not like to be naked! i suppose that's a good thing though, right? Enjoy the pictures! Thank you to Stacy for taking such great pictures of our little angel!

Due Date

Today is actually Brayden's due date, how is that possible?? I can't imagine not having him around for the past 3 weeks...yep, Brayden is now 3 weeks old! Unbelievable how much you can love someone this much!



We also had Brayden's newborn pictures taken today, which I will post later this week when we get them. All in all, he was pretty good for Stacy, she was able to capture some neat images of him!

Favorite Cousins!

Auntie Sarah and cousins, Maddie & Annika, visited us today. Brayden's cousin Maddie loves him very much, and always asks about "Baby Brayden". Before Brayden was born we told her how there was a baby in my tummy, at first, I think she thought we were crazy! Eventually when you would ask her where Nikki's baby was, she would point to my tummy. Now she gets to hold her favorite cousin! We also made one of our first ventures out into the world today, to Target. We were quite the group! Luckily they are containable in the cart right now, just wait until cousin Annika starts walking though, look out world!

Trick-or-Treat!

Happy Halloween everyone! Here is our little pumpkin on his first Halloween. I'm not sure that he loved the outfit, but it's so much fun to dress him up right now!

Rub-a-dub-dub!

We gave Brayden his first spongebath today. I think he actually liked it, we wrapped him up all cozy in the bath towel made by a friend, super soft!

Dr Visit

Our little man had his 2 week well check up today (even though he is only 11 days old):

Height: 20.25" - 50 percentile
Weight: 7 lb 13 oz - 25 percentile
Head: 14.5" - 50 percentile

Overall, pretty average! The doctor told us everything looks great! He's a healthy little boy. It looks like he's gaining weight very well too, he's quite the eater!

Home at last!

We brought Brayden home today, and he seems to like it so far! I can't believe how little he is in his carseat! Just a little munchkin!

Visitors, visitors, visitors!

In the past couple of days our new little guy has had many visitors. Everyone is so excited to meet him!

Grandma Greta & Grandpa Dale Westvig were so excited to meet their first grandson!

Proud Grandma Deb & Grandpa John Stephany came all the way from Oshkosh to meet their first grandbaby!

Great-Great Aunt Elaine (Great Grandma Betty's sister) came to visit and go for a walk in the halls of the hospital.
Uncle Brad, Aunt Sarah and only cousins Maddie (in the background) and Annika were one of the first to meet him.

Great Uncle Warren (Grandpa Dale's brother) surprised us too!