I opened my eyes this morning to a beautiful baby boy. In fact, for the last 365 days I have spent almost every waking moment with him. It seems that almost overnight Brayden went from being this cute little infant to an even more adorable toddler. In the last month, he has learned to walk, finally say Mama with authority and purpose and copy what he sees Mama and Dada do. I love him… so, please help me wish him a wonderful FIRST BIRTHDAY! Happy birthday, Brayden Bear!

Interested in seeing more beautiful photos of our baby boy? Check them out… courtesy of my dear friend, Krystine! (Thank you so much!)

Friday we left our baby boy, Brayden, for the first time over-night to celebrate our 5th anniversary. No need to travel far… we headed straight downtown Charleston. This is why we love our hometown! There’s always a new restaurant to try out or a new place to go to with friends. On our way, we made a quick stop at Jacob’s Kitchen at the front of I’On Village in Mount Pleasant. Great food, amazing staff and quaint atmosphere. Do not go there without trying their Fried Green Tomato BLT (equipped with a generous helping of pimento cheese)… I mean, all of my favorite foods rolled up into one delicious dish!

After making it downtown, we had a few minutes to indulge our fashion cravings at Urban Outfitters. I scored an amazing Faux Leather Bomber Jacket and skirt, while Chris also picked up a sweet Sweater Jacket and pants. Can I just tell you how much I love this store right now? Tis their season!

A quick stop-off at Stella Nova for a 30-minute couples massage set the tone for a wonderful, relaxing evening together. We checked into our room at Charleston Place Hotel just to discover I left all of my hair supplies at home. But, luckily, I was having a somewhat decent hair day so I tousled it around a bit, got dressed and took off for dinner at Husk. Only great things to say about this new restaurant – except maybe the cornbread… yeah, don’t order the cornbread – as it lived up to all of its glamorous hype.

Last, but certainly not least, we were off to Molly Darcy’s to meet our friends. OK, so this used to be the old Meritage downtown, and honestly it feels exactly the same except there are a bunch of TV’s plastered to the walls. I have tons of memories in that building and apparently we just created one more!

So – to summarize – shopping, massages, fine dining, five-star hotel and friends made for THE MOST WONDERFUL birthday and anniversary EVER. I am so blessed to have my husband in my life. Happy 5 years, baby!

Me & all the guys!

Sarena, Lindsey, me & Danielle

 

We’ll soon leave for California to visit some of Chris’s relatives. I’m so excited about the trip and have researched a lot of information regarding traveling with babies. But, I thought the best advice would come from you guys — my friends and web family.

So, if you have some helpful tips to share, please post! I’m mostly interested in airplane suggestions… what should I bring? What can I leave at home? How should I pack for baby (food and clothes)? Anything!

I know I haven’t updated my blog since Brayden was born, but, frankly, it was a purposeful decision. Despite all of the predictions of my friends and former coworkers, I decided to live out my first several months with Brayden without updating the world via Twitter and my blog. I know… pretty surprising for someone that used to live on these sites.

Nevertheless, here I am. I’m excited to share all of my motherhood insights thus far and update you on my successes/failures. So, hold on to your seats… let’s get to blogging again!

Here’s a quick photo of Brayden to warm your heart. He’s now seven-months-old. 🙂

So technically today is Brayden’s due date, but he decided not to show his face! We had our 40-week appointment today and the OBGYN gave us a few options for scheduling his delivery. We chose this Thursday, December 10, as his due date. We check into East Cooper tomorrow night and the induction will occur first thing Thursday morning. Dr. Bradford told us we should expect him to arrive by that evening!

My mom and dad are traveling in tomorrow to be with us and Chris’s family will join us this weekend. We’re looking forward to introducing Brayden into this world… in fact, I can’t believe it’s finally time! Please keep us in your hearts and thoughts. We’re praying for a safe procedure and delivery.

Chris will be keeping friends and family in the loop during our stay in the hospital. We’ll let you guys know when we’re ready for visitors. Love you all!

We got our Graco Pack ‘N Play yesterday and Chris assembled it today. We ended up moving my night stand to the side of the room and placing the PnP next to the bed for easy access. It comes equipped with a changing table and bassinet; ideal for using with a newborn in our master bedroom.

Take a look! I think we’re only missing one thing… Brayden!! 🙂

Where's the baby?

The baby room is all finished! After weeks and months of hard work I think we’re all finished. Here’s a video tour pre-crib mattress, bedding, and other enhancements. After the video are some recent pictures of the new rocker (painted by the awesome Andrea Rogers), changing table, and crib bedding.

It’s been a busy couple weeks. In our last update, Brayden was breached, and we had to head in for what’s called a External Cephalic Version. Well good news – by the time they went to get started, he had already flipped back to head-down!

Here’s a picture of a happy mommy – all dressed up and no procedure to go!

We finished up the baby room – everything is nice and organized, closets cleaned out, and crib mattress in! Jenn’s been quite the eBay shopper – scoring deals on window curtains and the crib bumper. She’s been foiled by snipers on a few others, but she’s learning fast.

Today was one of our last appointments – he’s still head down, no dilation, and looking great! One benefit of the breech scare is getting ultrasounds every visit now. It’s great to see his little face, hands and body.

I always knew we had an active baby in my womb! Earlier this week we went in for 37-week appointment and found out that Brayden had flipped himself into breech position. For those of you that don’t know, that basically means his head is up and feet down. We need it to be the other way around to deliver naturally. Because of this, my OBGYN scheduled a procedure called an External Cephalic Version. This basically means they were going to try to manually turn him into the right position and hope that he stayed that way. We were told that we only had a 50% chance of it actually working since I am a first time mother. Also, the risks associated with the procedure included a possible emergency C-section if there were any complications or my water could break during the procedure. Either of which would result in Brayden’s delivery that day!

Because of this we were told to go home and pack for delivery (to be on the safe side.) I went into a little stress/panic mode as we hadn’t purchased some of the most essential items for Brayden yet, including the crib mattress. Also, I hadn’t packed his back, washed any of his cute new clothes or packed my bag! I also didn’t have any of my breastfeeding items.

Long story short, Chris and I went into the hospital on Wednesday morning along with my mom and dad. They set me up on the IV and tracked his heart rate for 30 minutes or so. Finally my OBGYN came in to do the ultrasound.

Sure enough, the “little stinker” (as she put it) had flipped himself back into the right position! Praise God! Thank you to my family and friends that prayed for us as God certainly listened and made that little boy obey! They cancelled the procedure and we were able to leave the hospital within a few hours.

Now, my only orders are to take it easy and to avoid bending over or crawling on all fours (so no house work).

Please keep us in your prayers! There is still a chance that Brayden could flip himself again. My OBGYN will do an ultrasound each time we see her. If he is back into breech position next Tuesday at our 38-week visit, then they will most likely schedule a C-section for the following week. So, let’s all pray that Brayden stays down!!

Thanks for all of your support!! I will keep everyone updated.

I waited far too long to update my blog but we’ve just been so busy! In the last month we’ve had 4 baby showers. We’re blessed to have so many great friends and family that have supported us so much along the way. Here are some highlights from the showers:

Mom, me & Carla

Friday, November 13: Heuer Household in Columbia
My mom and sister hosted a beautiful shower with all of my Columbia family and friends. We had about 30 people here in mom and dad’s house and got most of our essential items, including diapers, pacifiers, bottle warmers and coolers and much, much, more! This was my go-to crowd for necessities! Thanks to everyone that came! We had a blast!

I also want to especially thank my sister for driving up from Pensacola to help mom throw this party. Not only did she have the cutest shower decor and games but she also gave us tons of cute stuff! Mom had the table FULL of the best yummy food selections. And, finally, thanks to my cousin, Lisa, for baking us a BEAUTIFUL lamb cake. I think you have a new career ahead of you!

Ginny, me & Kathleen

Wednesday, November 11: Gamble Household in West Ashley
My coworkers (and great friends) Ginny and Kathleen brought together some MUSC, BlueIon and Charleston friends for our only after-hours, co-ed shower. The house was decked out in baby cuteness and the ladies did a great job of making the event enjoyable for both the ladies and gentlemen. I’m calling this shower, “Onesie Mayhem,” as we were truly showered with the cutest baby clothes out there.

Thursday, October 30: MUSC Marketing Department in Charleston
Thanks to my managers at MUSC, we had a wonderful time with my coworkers and were blessed with some of our most-needed, larger items like the stroller and high chair. This is such a great group of people and I’m truly honored that they went out of their way to support us and show us a great time.

Anna & Danielle (top); Krystine, me & Ashley (bottom)

Saturday, October 10: Jolly Household on Daniel Island
My best friends – Krystine, Ashley, Danielle and Anna – hosted a lovely shower on a beautfiul day in Charleston. This ladies-only shower was packed with all of my favorite people, and we got our car seat and some other awesome items. Thanks to Gabe for letting us use his newly-built home! The side porches made for the most inspiring setting.

I love you ladies and am so glad I’ve had each of you to share this experience with! Now, just get ready to babysit!