Play time with Gpa

Photos, photos, photos

Videos

Photo Time

Okay, enough writing...time for photos.

Trying solids....for the first time. Didn't like it.

Messy face

Time to burp

The guys watching the Twins game.

Time to eat

Visiting mom at work....he's a hard worker huh?

Hanging out with dad at the cabin.

Typical man already

Oh, and don't forget the Coke.

Love bath time

"Mom, I'm nakey."

Gma Joni and neighbor Belva entertainment!

"I think those are my feet."

Happy in my car seat.

After a full meal and a good burp

I'm cool in dad's hat.

Chillin' in my chair.

I need a bigger head for this hat, Dad.

Gma Joni calming a fussy Brandon.

Dinner at Applebee's- look at Brandon eyeing that steak!

Update

I will throw a bunch of pics and videos up in a little bit...for now a quick update.

Brandon is doing great! We did a follow up with the ER visit at our pediatricians office and he is fine. He gained a half an ounce and his medicine for his tummy seems to be working.

He is talking A TON and now laughing. He laughed for the first time on Friday.

This past weekend we headed to the cabin again. Dad likes playing golf up there and poker in the garage with Grandpa. We came back early on Sunday so mom and Gma and Auntie Nicole could go see Little House on the Prairie at the Guthrie. It was a nice night out.

Hospital Visit Update

Hello-

I am on a different computer and our lap top at home is ready to crash so we need some time to fix it before I add photos. I have lots of photos and videos to add.

So as our title of this blog says...we had a hospital visit with Brandon.

Yesterday was a tough day for our little love. He was crying more than usually and at times would just scream. It became difficult to calm him down. At 3:00 in the afternoon he was sleeping on me when in less than a second he belted out a loud scream. I knew something was wrong. Without a thought I strapped him in his car seat and headed to our pediatricians office. The physician consulted with another physician and they told us to get him to Minneapolis Children's. They were concerned he had a condition with his intestine where it is like a sock turning inside out. It also could have been acid reflux but because of his screaming onsets happening quickly and constantly they wanted us to head to the hospital to get more tests done. We drove straight there and they got us in immediately despite the busy waiting room. The physician was great and agreed we needed to rule out the intestine issue. He screamed a lot in the car and at the ER even if one of us were holding him. They took x-rays (which he calmed down for and didn't even scream when Rob held his feet down and I held his arms down). The x-rays were normal! AMEN! They had me feed him (he hadn't eaten much) and we waited to see how he responded to the feeding. He cried again signaling it was still his tummy. The doctor said he is showing signs of reflux. Acid reflux is common in all babies (however we knew it would come at some point since it runs in my family and I have already had surgery for it). We have medicine for him that we give him twice a day which should help. As of this morning he is doing well and didn't scream all night or morning! We have a follow up appointment on Friday with our pediatrician to make sure he can stay on the medicine and that all is well. We will of course share more. Brandon was a very brave boy at the hospital. We are both very proud of him. We are also very glad that everything is normal and he is feeling better. He has been healthy since birth and we want to keep it that way!
I will add more photos and videos from the weekend soon. He is talking more- the last few days. He will have a whole conversation with you. He likes to share his thoughts on the gas prices and all about Campaign 2008! :)

Take Care

Thursday Date Night

Thursday night was date night for mom and dad. Brandon went to Gma and Gpa Herbsts. He did great there. We went to Kobe for dinner and then played Sequence. That is our new game we are addicted to. Here are a few photos from the last 2 days. Brandon is starting to hold his bottle on his own. He only does it for a few seconds but he is learning.

Brandon and Dad hung out together when he got home from work. Ash kitty decided to join them.

Not Again...

So Tuesday Brandon and I went to have lunch with Auntie Nicky and Auntie Elena (soon to be Aunt). We went to Don Pablo's and as soon as we were paying the bill Brandon once again had World War III in his diaper. I decided to just head home and take care of it instead of juggle everything in the bathroom. We got home and did a bath and cleaned him up. Our baby bath and laundry are getting good use. He is such a stinker. He gives us looks like he knows what he is doing. Goof!

Wednesday morning Brandon stayed with Gpa Tim while I (mom) went to work. I am going back part time and working a lot from home. He did great while I was at work and mom missed him a little but it felt good to be back to work. We aren't going to do day care yet. That time will come soon but having family watch him one day a week really helps.

Here are a few more photos of Brandon from this week.

Nap time on daddy...holding his hand.

Wiping his own chin after drooling. Such a 'gifted' child. :)

I'm ready for my bath mommy!

Smiles as he plays with his hands.

Moms thoughts...

So I have been sharing with Rob (dad) lately about how fast life seems to be going lately. The other day we went to Babies R Us and noticed there were lots of parents with infants in their car seats. I peeked into the car seat noticing these tiny little bundles. Some of them weren't even a week old. Some you could barely see their faces, some barely fit in the car seat. I remember that so well. The day we left the hospital we thought about stealing the hospital blankets to put around Brandon when in his car seat because he looked so small in it. Even though he was in there safe and all was well it just seemed that one little step on the brakes and he would go flying out. During our trip to the store and seeing all these babies makes me miss our little newborn that was only 8 pounds and so tiny. Don't get me wrong....I LOVE Brandon and how he now smiles and watches you with his eyes and is engaging. There are times when he just wants his mommy...I love all that. I would change nothing. It has just gone so fast. I try to remember his delivery and it seems fuzzy. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat...pain and all.
It is true that you totally fall in love with your child. Some days I can't believe we are parents and that I am a 'mom'. I keep thinking about growing up how I always wanted to be a wife and mommy and now I am. I try to suck it all in and love every moment but it is still going by so fast. Rob and I still wait for the doorbell to ring and his real parents to come and pick him up. When others are holding him and say, "Do you hear your mommy?" or "There's your mom." I look around for his mom forgetting that it is me. I can't believe that I am his mommy. I remember in junior high/high school being the typical teen getting depressed wondering what my purpose in life is and what I was to do with my life. Now that I am a mom and knowing there is another human that needs me is THE BEST FEELING! I never knew it was going to be this amazing. I love being his mom and I tell him that every day. He brings so much joy to me- even when he is sad. I love that he isn't sleeping through the night right now because I get to see him in the middle of the night. I have no problem letting others watch him so Rob and I can have date night or I can run errands but I do miss him during that time. I miss him at night when we are sleeping. I also love that Brandon doesn't care if my hair is messy or I have no make up on. He just wants his mommy some times and he doesn't care what she looks like. When he first came home from the hospital and woke at night I would run and brush my teeth so I didn't have stinky breath for him. That soon changed because I learned he didn't care...he just wanted his mom (maybe just for food- but he still wanted mom). All this makes me think about our next child. I know for a fact if our house size and finances weren't always an issue we would be trying right now for another. (FYI- no one is financially ready for a kid but you should never use that as an excuse). I know we want to have at least 2 kids....I am thinking more than that now. The question is when??? If we were to try for another one right now I feel like we would be jipping Brandon out of some of our attention. I really want to enjoy our time with him right now so I think it will be a couple years before our next one comes. However, we know there will be a next one (despite what I said when I was pregnant being sick and all). I know in another couple of months I will miss the time I have now with Brandon so I am going to continue to suck up what I can with him...every moment.
I thought I would post a few photos taken about 2-3 weeks after he was born. Look at how much he has grown. My sister took these photos- some of my favorites. Do you think if we decide to have lots of kids that she will continue to take all these photos for us?

Monday

Monday night we joined Gma and Gpa Herbst for dinner at some new pizza joint. It was all going well until Brandon needed to use the 'facilitites' at the table. We let him do his thing and then I decided to go change him when I noticed he left me a treat not only in his pants but his entire car seat too. We are very glad Grandma was there to help. We got him changes and taken care of.

Brandon slept a lot on Monday. We think that because of his lengthy naps it caused him to have a rough night. He woke up every 20-30 minutes. We tried everything and finally at almost 4am this morning I brought him into bed with me. I had no other option because I needed to get some sleep. I let him feed and he fell asleep so I could get some sleep. He still woke frequently but it was just easier to care for him and for me to get some sleep too.

Brandon is starting to catch on to a few things. Yesterday I was singing to him and his eyes were wide open watching my mouth. He started opening his mouth like he was trying to sing with me. When I stuck my tounge out to say "love" he stuck out his tongue. He was smiling a lot too. We have started baby signing to him. This morning I was signing 'Good Morning' and 'mommy' and his hands were in a fist. When I opened my hand to sign 'mommy' he opened his hand and waved it. I signed a few things and he was moving his hands and fingers in different positions. Now it could just be that he was doing that for no reason but we like to think our son is gifted...like every other child in the world. It is just fun to see him so engaged with us. Over the weekend Brandon and Dad were laying on the bed on their backs. Dad stuck his legs in the air and pretty soon Brandon was doing the same. He likes to see what you are doing and then copy.

It is fun to see...lets just hope he sleeps tonight.

Here are bath pictures.