Busy bee in May & June

Posted on Thursday 1 July 2010

What a crazy few months it has been.  I think Brayden or I took turns trading sickness pretty much for the month of May and then once we were all better Ray had to have hernia surgery!  If you will remember a few years ago he took some not so flattering pics of me when i was in the hospital so I’m going to return the favor haha!  Here is my hubs on drugs right before surgery! 

We had a great Fathers Day weekend with our families!  Brayden got Daddy a mold to make his foot prints for his first Fathers Day to match the handprints he got me for mothers day.  He also wrote him a letter complete with pics of all the things he loves about his dad.  Happy Fathers Day to my Dad, Eddie, Gleason and of course my hubby Ray.  You are a wonderful father and Brayden and I love you. 

 

We spent Saturday of Fathers Day weekend celebrating Ko’s 2nd birthday!  Happy Birthday Ko!  Also happy Birthday to Sandy & Gleason in June. 

Introducing my newest nephew Tylan Brack!

Tylan was born May 20, 2010 at 1:51 p.m. at Johnston Memorial Hospital.
He weighed 8 lbs and was 21 inches long.  Mom, baby & Dad did great!  Congrats Powers family!

Here are all three of the boys together at Koen’s Birthday party.  You guys are in for a lifetime of fun together!  What a bunch of cuties!  I love you boys!

 

 

I don’t have any pics yet, but she’s HITCHED!  On June 5th, the Angels helped our Kentucky girl get married to her sweetheart Mark.  Congrats Lara & Mark!  It was a beautiful wedding on a beautiful day for our beautiful girl.  Thanks for letting me be part of your special day. 

Last week I was in Athens, GA completing my Third year of Institute.  It was a hard week mainly because I missed my sweet boy oh so much, but somehow I made it through with lots of pics from Dad & daycare of my little cutie.  Only one year left and I will graduate next June as an IOM.

Brayden is becomming a little boy much faster than mommy would like.  For a baby who hated tummy time I now cant keep him off of it!  He even ends up on his tummy during the night when he is rolling around in his crib.  He is becoming more mobile every day and I swear is trying to crawl.  He does this army crawl and scoots himself around the floor.  He is teething already and has a little white spot poking through on his bottom gums.  He laughs, coos and smiles all the time.  He started out hating rice cereal but in the past few weeks is like a little bird when you feed him.  You can’t get it in there fast enough.  Almost as soon as you take the spoon out of his mouth he poops it back open wanting more.  I"m cherishing each and every moment I get to spend with my baby who almost isn’t a baby anymore!   

It’s been a fun month celebrating births, birthdays, weddings, fathers and family.  I am truly blessed by wonderful friends, family and of course my little angel.  I hope all of you had a great May & June!

New pics are posted in Brayden Summer, Sickly, Ko & Ty and Fathers Day. 

The Momma, Wifey, Auntie, Daughter, Daugther in Law & Bridesmaid Niki

 

 

 

 

 

Nicole @ 3:10 pm
 
Mothers Day & celebrating 7 years

Posted on Monday 10 May 2010

Happy Mothers Day to all the mommys out there.  I’ve always known I was blessed to have such a wonderful, caring mother.  I’ve only been a mom for 3 months now but it brings tears to my eyes to realize just how many sacrifices she has made for us and just how much she loves us.  It’s a hard job and I am so thankful God blessed me with her.  I am also blessed to have a wonderful mother-n-law who welcomed me into her family and is a blessing in our life.

We had plans to celebrate with both of them this weekend, however It’s only week one of daycare and Brayden has already caught his first daycare cold.  It struck Friday night when he ran a temp of 100.4, which isn’t too bad but he’s only 12 weeks old so it worried me.  I spent what i’m sure will be the first of many nights sleeping in his nursery floor to make sure he was ok through the night.   My sister-n-law will be giving birth pretty soon we didn’t want to expose her to his sickness and we really didnt want to get hiim outside so we stayed home for mothers day.  My mom decided to make the trip to our house on Saturday to celebrate.

On Sunday Ray and I celebrated my first mothers day.  He and Brayden gave me a purple rose for my flower garden and a handprint kit set so we can always remember just how sweet and tiny Braydens little hands are right now!  We spent the afternoon hanging out together.. ordering food in and taking our little mans hand prints to hang on his nursery wall.

B-Ray in his my mom is cooler than yours onesie!

My sweet smiley boy!

 

 

 

 

 

Tonight we are celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary.  In some ways it doesn’t feel like 7 years have come and gone so fast and in other ways it seems like we have always been together.  We were talking the other day about how we have been together for most of our adult lives.  It’s been 10 years since we started dating and in that decade we have been through a lot.  Not all good, but definately more good than bad.  We have managed to stay together and still love one another through it all.  This year has made me love you more than ever.  Thanks for loving me when I was fat, cranky, pregnant and difficult.  I love this new journey that we have just begun.  Seeing you fall into fatherhood and how much you love me and Brayden makes me love you even more.  I’m so proud of you.. you are a wonderful dad and husband and I can’t wait to see what the next 7 years brings to us both.  Thanks for being my boo.. you I love.

Poo

Nicole @ 5:29 pm
 
Announcing Brayden Ray… Finally!!

Posted on Thursday 29 April 2010

We finally got around to ordering Bray’s birth announcements.  Photography and design by my talented hubby Ray www.dragonflydigital.org

I think they look AWESOME… of course it helps that Brayden is absolutely adorable.. at least mommy thinks so anyway.  Hope you all enjoy!

Here’s the digital version:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Have a great weekend,

Proud momma

Nicole @ 8:56 am
 
Lara’s Last night out & Bray Days

Posted on Wednesday 21 April 2010

Ok so we know it won’t be her last night out.. especially not with this crew, but when someone gets married you just have to call it that or it just isn’t as fun.

A couple weekends ago a few of the K-town girls met up with the Morehead ladies in Knoxville to celebrate Lara’s upcoming special day.  Her big day isn’t until June 5, but with all the wedding planning, parties and work trips this was the only weekend everyone could do it.  Lara’s best friend Destinee planned a fun weekend for our special Kentucky girl.  I ventured down on Saturday and we did it up right.  First with dinner at the Japanese steak house (where our Japanese chef ended up being a DB graduate small world) and then out for an interesting night of fun which if I revealed the details I would have to kill you..haha!  It was a fun filled night with men parking cars on horseback (reminds me of that old spice commercial..haha), a crazy cowboy, our fav Lara stories, our girl miss America and of course a momma who missed her baby so much she left the hotel and drove home at 2 a.m. so  she didn’t have to spend the night away from him..haha!    We love you Lara Belle and we aren’t through with you just yet.  Next it’s your angels aka me and Wendel turn to throw the "race to the alter" KY Derby couples shower to celebrete your big day with all your K-town peeps!

Of course I can’t leave the blog without giving you an update on what’s happening in my Bray days.  It is hard for me to believe that my little guy is 9 weeks old!  He is already growing up too fast.  We went for his two month check up last week and he’s a whopping 9.4 lbs!  I know some babies are born this size, but its hard to believe my tiny little booger is getting so big.  He got his first round of immunizations that day and I think it hurt me to watch him cry like that more than it actually hurt him to get the shots.  He cried, I cried and I spent the afternoon hugging and kissing his little face to make the boo boo’s feel better. 

He moved out of mommys room into his nursery a few weeks ago.  I did it because i know it’s what’s best for him, but I miss listening to him breath and snore at night.  I find myself getting up and going in his room to make sure he’s breathing even though I have the video monitor to reassure me.  When I lay him down to sleep I lay there and watch him drift off to and fight sleep every night before I can go to sleep myself.  I’m not sure I will be able to stop waking at night even when he no longer does!!  Ah maybe one of these days I will get more than 2 or 3 hours of consecutive sleep in a row.  It’s been so long since I’ve actually slept like that I’m used to the lack of sleep now!

He loves to watch the animals make circles on his swing mobile.  I love watching the wonder in his eyes as he stares at them like how are they doing that..haha!

 

 

Here are some recent pics of my smiley happy little boy.  He coos and talks to me, will smile back at you, sticks out his tongue and is mastering the art of holding his head up on his own.  Wow.. time is going so fast!!

 

Last weekend he got plenty of Nana time.  She has been sick and it’s was almost a month since she last saw him.  So she came over and spent Friday with us and on Saturday we made the trek for his first visit to Nana’s house.   His onesie says " that’s it, i’m going to grandmas house"

There he got to meet his cousins Yvette and his little cousin Aiden (remember the one who thought I ate my baby at my baby shower..haha) and of course his great Aunt Neda aka Aunt Ne Ne. 

 

 

 

 

I’m almost 32 years old and I still call my Aunt.. Aunt NeNe..some things never change!  He will have to endure the multitude of hold you down (when you get big enough to run away..haha) hugs and kisses Aunt NeNe gives.. it’s a right of passage.. we all went through it B-Ray.. hang in there buddy haha.   

 

As my maternity leave comes to a close (I have a week and a half left) say a prayer for me.  I’m not quite sure how i’m going to summon the strength to take him to daycare and leave him in someone elses care.  Ok that’s all i’m going to say about that for now other wise I’ll end up sitting here at my computer crying!!  But we shall enjoy our last two weeks of Bray Days as I lovingingly like to call them because thats what my days are filled with.  Laying in the floor showing him new things, reading him stories, bathtime fun, our morning stroller rides, kissing those chubby little cheeks, sticking my tongue out and watching him laugh and talking to him about all the great things his mom is going to teach him to do.  Prayers needed because to me those are the most important things on Earth right now. 

Happy Hump day!

momma

New pics are posted in Bray’s 1st weeks folder (i need to start a new one.. since he’s now months old.. not weeks.)

Nicole @ 3:00 pm
 
Ray’s Bday, Bray’s 1st Easter and Aunt Yessie

Posted on Friday 9 April 2010

Well this has been an eventful week.  Last Friday we celebrated Ray’s birthday. Happy Birthday boo.  I love you and this wonderful life we have together with our new family.  Here’s Bray helping Daddy open his presents. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birthday napping with Dad!

 

 

 

 

We then headed to C-Wood for Braydens first Easter and sunrise service. 

Bray’s smiling for the camera and showing off his Easter outfit from Aunt Lara.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brayden got several Easter baskets from us and his mamaws and papaws.  Here he is showing them off.  And no he wasn’t afraid of the big bunny.. just really exhausted after a full day of fun, food and family. 

 

 

 

 

Someday he will hate us for this pic, but Ray and I couldn’t resist putting him in his basket from us, slapping on the bunny ears and taking his pic!  As you can see he didn’t find it so amusing!  But if that’s not cute i’m not sure what is!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday after a LONG wait Les finally arrived.. both momma and B-Ray have been anxiously awaiting her visit.  As always we had a blast and racked up some fun Aunt Yessie time.  She taught Brayden to stick out his tonight and he is trying his hardest to blow his lips like she does.  It’s so very cute.  It was nice to relax all week, have my best friend with me to help me do everything from cook dinner, go shopping, change diapers, do laundry, give Bray baths and just hold him when he was fussy.  She woke up early in the mornings to take him so I could sleep a little longer, was there to make me laugh constantly and reassure & answer any of my mommy questions. 

 Today we headed to Bristol to pick up Aiden and do some shopping before they headed back to NC.  Aiden loved meeting Bray.  He was so helpful when we were out.. carrying the diaper bag, opening the car for me and of course amusing me with his wit. 

 

 

  After shopping we said goodbye.  Les headed back to NC and Brayden and his momma cried the whole way home.  It’s just really hard to say goodbye to Lou Lou.  She’s more than a best friend.. we’ve been friends our whole lives..she is my family.  A guy in Walmart asked Les how old her baby was.  She said he was mine, but she would totally claim him if I wasn’t standing there..ha!  He then asked if we were sisters.. we both smiled and said.. well kinda!   The good news is the tears are only temporary.. hopefully her and the boys will be moving here sometime in the next year.  When Les asked Aiden if he was excited to move here where Aunt Nicole and Brayden are he said "oh yes.. i can’t wait.. and i’m going to teach Brayden things and pull him in the wagon!"   Gotta love an 8 year olds perspective!

We drove around town while she was here looking at housing, showing her k-town and searching job listings.  I cannot wait to have her, Aiden and Hyland just a short drive away instead of 5 hours!!

 

 

 

 

 

New pics are posted in the Ray bday, Easter, Brayden and Les visit folders.  I’ll leave you with some pics of my happy boy, who now coos, smiles, sticks out his tongue and is getting good at holding his head up and grabbing things!  He’s definately captured my heart and soul and makes my life worth living!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you had a blessed Easter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Momma bunny

He is not here:for he is risen, as he said.   Come see the place where the Lord lay.

~Matthew 28:6~

 

 

Nicole @ 10:20 pm
 
My new Pod!

Posted on Thursday 25 March 2010

Ray bought me an Ipod nano for our anniversary 5 years ago when I was running all the time.  Since then it’s been my workout companion, my partner on long and short trips and the place to store my crazy mix of music from Johnny Cash to Tupac, from bluegrass to heavy metal it’s all on there.  A few weeks ago when I started working out again I realized something had happened to my battery.  I could only get about 20 mins of music into my workout before it would die and I would have to finish with no music which isn’t very motivating!

(yes I know I’m not supposed to workout until 6 weeks after childbirth and I started back before 3 weeks.. i’ve been lectured by Les, aerobics instructors, the owner of our gym and a lots of people I workout with .. but I’ve got baby weight to lose and a bridesmaid dress to fit into and i’ve carried around extra weight since this pregnancy began.. i’m ready for it to come off so save your lectures!  I’ve had a few problems, but overall nothing has fallen out yet so I figure its ok to keep going ha!)

I had complained a few times that I needed a battery for mine and wala… he bought me this one for no reason.  And it’s purple so he gets extra bonus points for that.  It does video & pics and he’s already loaded several of Bray on there so not only can I listen to music I can see my favorite little guy anytime I want.  It has lots of cool features that my other nano didn’t like a radio, pedometer and will hold up to 2,000 songs!  Ray’s birthday is coming up next week not mine and our anniversary is still a month away.  So I asked him why I was the one getting a present and he said because he loves me and I’m a great mom!   Wow.. now the pressure is on.. must come up with a great birthday and anniversary present for my wonderful hubs! 

He also knows that I want to start running again.  I hurt my knee is 06 after doing a 10k.  I saw a physical therapist, an orothopedic surgeon and endured months of massage therapy and no one could get my IT band to let me run more than 20 mins without pain.  However I started seeing a deep tissue massage therapist a few weeks ago when my back locked up as I was feeding Brayden.  He was the one who actually brought up my knee and hip problems.  He could feel it just from working on my back.  The good news is he thinks he can fix it.. so once again I have hope and we will see what happens.  Keep those fingers crossed.  I miss running so much.  It was my escape and I LOVED doing it.  I was training for a 1/2 marathon when I injured it.  My dreams of doing that are gone, but if I could just run without pain a few days a week I would be a happy girl and now I have my awesome Ipod to go with me!

Brayden meets baby Cara.  Amber and I were the two Chamber preggo chicks and her little girl Cara was born exactly a month before Brayden.  We were both at the Chamber yesterday and they finally had a chance to meet. 

Brayden Ray & Cara Nicole… friends from the womb and beyond..ha!  We traded in this pic.. she’s holding Bray and I’ve got Cara.

On a side note here is Bray watching his first General Assembly session via live streaming video.  We were watching because my good friend Jason announced today that after 14 years he won’t be seeking re-election.  Good luck J, I know you will continue to do great things!  Thanks for showing me the ropes when I first took this job 6 years ago. 

 

 

 

 

 

I love this pic.  We were out for a stroll around the neighborhood and Brayden kept looking at me and smiling and waving his fingers at me.  So cute!

 

 

Pod

 

 

Nicole @ 3:01 pm
 
Racin the way it ought to be!

Posted on Tuesday 23 March 2010

This past weekend mom & dad (aka Nic & Ray) busted out of the house and went racin with our peeps.  I’m thankful for my awesome big brother who LOVES his nephew.  Brayden spent the day with Uncle Bub & Aunt Ambra.  I think they had as much fun hanging with Bray as Ray and I did getting out of the house and spending some much needed quality time together. 

 

Nicka got FREE tickets in great seats on the opposite side of the track from the start/finish line for all of us and we met Nick, Chels, Luke and Stu at the track for a day of fun in the sun.  The weather was awesome and even though I missed Brayden like crazy and hounded my brother with multiple text messages it was a nice break for me.  Dougie sent me pics of Bray throughout the 6 hours I was gone.  I left him plenty of bottled breast milk and it was nice for a little while to not be a milk maid ha! 

We also got free parking directly across from the track because we were driving a Toyota ( I guess this is their way of trying to keep some of their loyal customers).  I even broke my diet and had a hot dog at the track!  Which was basically my first real food since Bray was born with the exception of the day we busted out and went to my fav the Mellow Mushroom. 

Luka and I trying to do a crazy eyes McGee pic in the sun..it didn’t work and we look like freaks!

 

  

 

 Lets see.. FREE tickets, great seats, FREE parking, a hot dog, sunny & gorgeous weather, hanging with my peeps and a day out with my hubby.. that my friends is racin the way it ought to be!! 

I posted two new pics to the Brayden folder.  We are working on some family photos and pics for B-Rays birth annoucement.  Here is our first family pic.  Trust me it took a long time to take.  Bray was originally naked until he literally pooped into my hand and all down my jeans..haha!  Don’t try to take a 5 week olds pic naked until you are sure he has recently pooped…that’s my advice..ha!  Daddy just stood there and laughed at us.  Anyway we will eventually get his birth announcement done before he is a year old! 

Meet the Austins Ray, B-Ray & Nic!

  

Lil Racin Momma

 

  

Nicole @ 12:06 pm
 
Happy St. Patty’s Peeps!

Posted on Thursday 18 March 2010

In case you were flipping through the Sunday the 7th Progress Edition and wondered who took the incredible photo shown in the full page Wellmont ad.. well wonder no more.. it was my amazing photog Ray Ray.  For more of Ray’s photos visit www.dragonflydigital.org

As always I’m proud of you boo!

 

 

This has been a week of fun firsts for Brayden.  On Monday I took him into the chamber to finally meet my chamber family since he will definately be a chamber kiddo.  He was passed around more times than I can count.. but the little man stayed asleep the entire time. 

I left him with Aunt Lara so I could go to a doctors appointment.  She said her office was packed the entire time he was there.  When I came to pick him up he decided to go ahead and drop the bomb on Aunt Lara before we left.  She started changing him however he wasn’t quite finished.  There on her desk he finished pooping (keep in mind his diaper was off) as I walked away to get paper towels because it was soaking through his changing pad he started peeing!  Lara now with poop on her hands starts shielding the pee from getting everywhere.. haha!  It was quite the hot mess and Lara and I laughed until our stomachs hurt!  Way to go Aunt Lara.. I love that he is breaking you in.  He only does that to people he loves!  You need to go ahead now and start writing your "Aunt Lara & Brayden’s adventures in babysitting memoirs" because I have a feeling there will be more funny stories ahead!

 

 

 

Vinay was in town for another visit to the Austin Inn, so last night we all took Mr. B-Ray out to dinner for the first time.  Isn’t he just the cutest in his St. Patty’s get up!

 

 

 

It went really well and he soundly slept until we finished eating.  I really am blessed!  From the time he was born I made sure I had him around noise.. vacuums etc.  Actually I’m sure he is used to noise even from being in my belly and all the noise from the gym etc.  I just didn’t want everyone to have to tiptoe around the house when he is resting and it worked because just like his daddy I think he could sleep through almost anything! 

I did think I was going to have to tackle the waitress for passing drinks and food over top of him.  I was just waiting for her to drop something on him and make me have to drop her right there in the middle of Chilis..haha!  I kept putting my hands under whatever she was passing over his carrier and Lara gave her the stink eye.. Geez lady go around the other side of the table.. there is an infant laying here!

I hope you all had a fun St. Patty’s!  Mine was very different, but much better this year.  We were out just long enough to eat and go home in time to get my little guy fed.  Nothing like our St. Patty’s at Beef O Brady’s last year, but probably the best one ive had yet! 

 

 

I’m not sure if he is trying to give mommy a kiss or what in this pic!

Have a great week!

Little leprechaun’s momma

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nicole @ 9:26 am
 
What a wonderful month it has been. Happy Birthday B-Ray

Posted on Sunday 14 March 2010

I just cannot believe it’s been a month since my little Ray of sunshine arrived.  He has changed me and my outlook on life in wonderful ways that I have no words to describe. I thought I would take a few moments in this blog to share with you some photos of the past month.

Poppie taking him on his first stroller ride.

After being sick for what felt like forever, he FINALLY got to meet his crazy aunt Lara.. aka the one who "soothes" him.  Hahah.. that’s what she said because everytime she went to feel my belly Brayden would stop moving!  She only got to feel him a few times while I was preggo even though we probably spent more time together than anyone.  but he’s here now and will see his Aunt Lara ALL the time.. yay! 

The house rule is that whoever is holding him when he drops the bomb gets to do diaper changing honors.. thus far he’s given Auntie Lara the bomb everytime she comes over..haha you bring out the best in him Lara Belle!

 

His first crazy eyes pic with Unc Luka.. the boy is a natural..haha.. seriously only my child would appropriately give the crazy eyes look on cue. 

His first meeting with Auntie Emmeline.  She’s telling him about all her bridesmaid duties when she was the Matron of Honor in my wedding and how much fun we used to have.. oh how i miss you Emmie.. move to Kingsport so it can be like the old days..ha!  BTW he is yawning not yelling.. he is actually pretty good.. hardly ever cries.. shew let’s hope it stays that way. 

 

 

 

  I like to call this one.. three men and a baby!  Need I say more.  How many grown men does it take to change a diaper anyway!  He already has these three wrapped completely around his tiny little fingers!

 

Kicking it with dad & smo

 

 

 

 

 A frequent guest at the Austin Inn here is his first meeting with the loud and loveable Unc Nay Nay.  It may take B-Ray a few times to get used to the noise!

You can really see his blonde hair in this pic.   Most people say he looks like me (although there are some that say he looks more like Ray) but he definately has Ray’s long and thin body, his beautiful big blue eyes, his crooked pinky toe and blondish hair like Ray Ray had when he was a baby.   

  Brayden has a very strong suck instinct and will latch on to almost anything.  He had this toy from Aunt Sheryl in the swing with him ..he gave it an odd look, turned and opened his mouth and latched on.  I laughed out loud watching this it was like.. hrm.. hello friend.. let me see if i can eat you hahaha!

 

  

 

Look he has crazy hair like Aunt Wendy..well most likely more like my dad but this pic is funny either way!

 

Speaking of Aunt Wendy.. she got him some awesome fuzzy dice for his car seat to match the ones she bought a long time ago to go in my, lara’s and her cars. 

 

 

 

Auntie Sheryl.. telling him about "dance to live" and all the fun times she’s had with his momma.

 

 

Sister, why are you yelling at my baby?  Haha.. just kidding.. she was actually singing to him or talking one, but it looks like a full on yell!

 

 

Big cousins are the best.. here is Ko and Bray!  And in a few short months Brayden will become a big cousin himself!  Michelles baby boy will be here in May… babies babies and more babies.  What will Sandy and Gleason do with all these little boys?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whatchu talkin bout Uncle Tim???  I love that Brayden often gives people the stink eye.. i think he takes this after his momma!

 

 

 

Since I’m breastfeeding I was the only one for the first few weeks that could feed him.  We are slowly introducing him to a bottle of my milk to get him ready for daycare and for when I just need a break.  This was his very first bottle and the first time his daddy got to feed him.  He took right to it, my boy is an eater!

 

 

 

 He loves to stare at PaPaw Eddies orange hat.  Of course mom and Eddie continously fight over who gets to hold him while he is awake.  It’s turned into a competition.  Eddie tries to put him to sleep before handing him over to nana!

 

Brayden taking a nap in his nursery under surveillance!  You know Ray would have to have this.. within a week of his birth it was delivered to our door.  It’s a video montior.  Forget the simple ones that have sound… Bray’s crib is wired with a camera so we can watch his every move!  It’s portable and has sound so you can take it from room to room and at night we simply leave it plugged into the tv and see if he really needs me or if he is just fussing himself back to sleep.  Pretty awesome huh.. yeah I know my husband is pretty amazing!

 

All the way in from Charlotte, NC here is Bray hanging out with Aligator!  Of course this pic made another special person in NC jealous because she hasn’t made her trip in to see him yet.. that would be Aunt Yessie (aka Les Lou).  No worries though Les has patiently waited until things calmed down so she could come in and spend and entire week with us.. yay!  I can’t wait until you get here in a few weeks Les!

 

 

 

 

 

All the kiddos love their new playmate Brayden.  Nick & Chels brought Harper by to see him and she would just smile and touch him.  Dave and Carrie also brought Mr. Wesley up to meet his new buddy and neighbor. 

 

 

 

Speaking of Auntie Carrie.. she knitted him the cutest hat to wear when it’s cold!  He loves it and your chicken spagetti (ok so maybe it’s me that loves the spagetti.. but I bet he will too!)

 

 

 

 

 

As most of you know my best friend Linsey  & I were pregnant at the same time, but she was 3 weeks behind me.  However in typical Linsey & Nicole fashion we ended up having our little boys on the same day.  Ray sent Jeremy a message that morning to let Linz know I was in labor and delivery.  A few hours later Jeremy sent one back that said Linz was headed to L & D.  Jeremy sent Ray a message that said linz was dialated to 5 and Ray sent back a picture of our little Brayden.  A few hours later Ashton arrived.  Our boys are going to be lifelong friends anyway.. but now they will have another bond and share a birthday.  Welcome to the world Ashton William Allenbaugh.  

 

 

At his one month checkup on Friday he now weighs a whopping 7.4 lbs! Which is up a lot from the 5.13 when he was born.  He’s still my tiny little man, but he is definately making progress and has almost moved out of his preemie clothes into the newborn sizes!

New pics are posted under Brayden 1st weeks, Koen & Kiddos folders on the website.

Happy one month birthday Brayden & Ashton. 

Love,

Momma & Aunt Nicole

 

 

Nicole @ 12:33 pm
 
Welcome to the world my sweet, beautiful boy

Posted on Friday 26 February 2010

Brayden Ray Austin was born at noon on Valentines Day and it’s the best Valentine I’ve ever received.. he came straight from God to bless my life forever.  He weighed 5.13 ounces and is the sweetest face I’ve ever seen.  I get it now mommies.  I never understood what all of you meant before when you said its something you have to experience to understand.  The moment I saw his little face I knew that I would do anything to protect him, fight a grizzly bear or give my own life to make sure that he is safe.  I never knew that I could love someone so much until now.  Its a beautiful and terrifying experience.  I worry about the craziest things.. like my newborn will somehow figure out how to roll over and tumble off his boppy to the floor or that he will suffocate in his sleep because his pacifer is too big for his tiny face.  His first night home I found myself standing over his bassinet watching him sleep making sure that he was breathing. 

His arrival into the world was a little rough and I had a somewhat difficult labor (12 hours with about 10 without pain meds).  On cue my little boy waited until mom & dad finished watching Pretty Woman at 11:30 Sat night.  As the credits were rolling my back (which has hurt throughout my preg) started hurting really bad.  Shortly after came my first contraction.  After a few of those, Ray and I knew it was the real deal.  So what did we do you might ask?  Well Ray vacuumed while I did the dishes and we straightened our house..haha we both then took showers.  When the pain became too much to deal with and when they were coming 6 mins apart we headed for the hospital at 3 in the morning. 

Upon arrival they checked me and since I had been in labor for 4 hours I should have been dialated.. but I wasn’t.  Which meant they couldnt give me any pain meds.  My doctor had said when I went to the hospital he wanted to be paged even if he wasn’t the one on call.  Natually the nurses didn’t want to do this but we insisted.  I wasn’t following the typical labor (of course not.. it’s me we are talking about).  I still hadn’t dialated and finally at 7 in the morning they called my doctor in.  At this point i had been in active labor for 7 and 1/2 hours without pain meds.  When my amazing doctor arrived he realized that because of some previous surgeries (one of the things that made me high risk and what they were watching me for the entire time) had formed scar tissue over the opening of my cervix and it wasn’t allowing me to dialate no matter how hard my body was trying.  It was like a rubber band holding it closed.   So (and yes this is a BIG OUCH) he had to break through the tissue to allow me to dialate and then break my water.  Once he did I immediatly dialated to 4.  

They gave me an epidural around 8 a.m (8 and 1/2 hours after my labor started) however it only took on the right side and i continued to feel everything on my left.  The anesthesiologist kept telling me that it would eventually kick in on my left side.  It didn’t.  So finally after an hour I looked at Ray and said whatever he had to do he was to find that man and make him come back and fix it.  They pulled it out some and finally my left side was starting to ease but I could still feel it in my left leg and bottom half.  In the mean time the babys heart rate kept dropping along with my blood pressure so they would put oxygen on me and turn me upside down in the bed.  I was told that if he didn’t perk back up we would have to do a csection.  About 30 mins before i started pushing the drugs finally kicked in fully.  So for 10 and a half hours i felt part or all of my labor!  UGH.. advice.. pay attention to the breathing exercises…it  may be a while before you get good drugs!  I will spare you from here.. a few times we were told if he didn’t progress he would have to come out surgically.  He was face up which isn’t a good thing so it was harder for him to make his exit.  I pushed for an hour and a half and he finally arrived at noon on the dot.  It truly is like running a marathon.  You dont really get a lot of rests in between and hands down was the hardest thing ive ever done.  However thankfully all the aerobics paid off.  At one point the labor nurse asked Ray if i was an athlete because my blood pressure was lower after all that than most peoples is on a regualar basis!  So all you future mommy’s workout.. you will need it!  it was an exhausting night.. Ray and I were up for over 40 consecutive hours and since haven’t had a whole lot of sleep.

He was welcomed into the world 30 mins after arrival by our family who unbeknownst to us were right outside the door the whole time.  Since i was the only woman in labor they let our fam stand outside.  Mom and Ray were in the room with me to see his birth, but the rest of the fam got to hear his first cries too as he made his big debut.  It takes a little while to do all the stuff after he is born.  So about 30 mins after the birth we heard my brothers voice say "Ray Austin.. all i know is someone better produce that baby or a pic of that baby or we are coming in!" So they got us ready and opened the door and my dad, Kitty, Dougie, Ambra, Eddie, Sandy, Gleason, Michelle, Tim & Koen all joined me, mom and Ray in the delivery room to meet our little joy for the first time. 

 

 

I have never seen my family be so over the moon for someone as they are for Brayden.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would like to take a minute to brag on Ray.  He truly is an amazing daddy.  He gets up with me in the middle of the night to do diaper changes and burping after I feed him and he was absolutely wonderful during labor and delivery.  I was no picnic during my preganacy but luckily i have a wonderful husband who overlooks my flaws and loves me anyway.  He has loved me when I was a hormonal crazy pregnant lady who cried at the drop of a hat, he loved me and told me I was beautiful even when I knew it wasn’t true especially in those final weeks when my face, neck, hands, legs and ankles became a swollen mess and I was so huge I had to roll out of bed and he gave me comfort, stood by my bedside and looked at me like there wasn’t another woman in this world the night I went into labor when I was worried, scared and in terrible pain.  He is an amazing dad and husband and I am so very blessed to be his wife. 

 

 

 

And we are both very blessed with Brayden who is a great baby.  He smiles all the time.. and its so cute because it’s all gums!    He hardly ever cries and will sleep through most of the night if i let him.  Most of the time I have to wake him and when he wakes me he doesn’t cry.. he just coos and sings his little hunger song. 

After months of waiting he is here and my life is VERY different.  Who knew I would use my hands to catch pee when my little boy peed across the room onto the wall while taking a bath.. or when he peed on his own face and hat during a diaper change.  And I wouldn’t give that up for anything in the world.. my new role as pee catcher and feeding machine is just fine with me as long as it keeps my sweet boy heatlhy and happy.

 

 

What I do know is that he is VERY VERY loved.  He has a long line of mamaws, papaws, great grandma, aunts, uncles and of course all our friends who are his adoptive aunts and uncles who already love him and us like we are family.  Thanks to everyone for your best wishes, flowers, texts, phone calls and friendship.  Big thanks to my friends and family for the food & supplies.  My amazing friends worked out a food schedule and because of you (Wendy & Gerb, Lara & Mark, Amy, Sheryl, Carrie, Chelsea, Neil & Emmeline, Alex, Dad & Dougie, Michelle & Tim, Mom, Sandy & Gleason)  I haven’t cooked since we’ve been home.  We’ve tried to limit his visitors for the first few weeks to just immediate family and a small group of friends because his immune system isn’t yet developed and im terrified of him catching something.  And it wears him and me out when he has too many visitors at once.  So if you haven’t had a chance to snuggle that cute little face yet be patient with me and I promise you will get to soon.  We have had a revolving door of people in the past two weeks and i’m trying to space it out some.  But rest assured I love and miss you and you will get to see him soon. 

I am blessed and while I have a feeling motherhood will be the hardest, yet most important thing I will ever do i’m up for the challenge and looking forward to my new role as Brayden’s mom. 

So thanks for the love from me, Ray and Brayden who already has a host of fun nicknames..

B-Ray (which will be his basketball or baseball nickname..when he becomes a player like his daddy.. i can hear them chanting it now)
Bray Ray - his thug name
Brady - as my dad aka poppy calls him
B-dawg - which is what his daddy likes to call him
Nana’s lil boy - as my mom so lovingly refers to him..ha
Peanut- what his momma calls him as he snuggles into her chest and smiles

I’ve posted lots of pics in the Brayden’s 1st weeks folder on the website.  We hope to do his birth announcement pics soon.

 

love,
Brayden’s mom

 

 

 

Nicole @ 3:54 pm