His Whine is cute

Brady's is whiney, but it is so cute, unless something is really wrong, but I don't think that it is. I think he has found his new way of communicating and it is coming out in the from of a sweet little whine.

I heart Thursdays

I am lucky enough to have a part-time work schedule. I work MWF from the office and couple hours Thursday and Friday from home. When Thursday roles around I am giddy with excitement because I know I get the whole day, well, the next four days with Brady. Thursday morning we aren't rushing around the house trying to get two adults and a baby out the door. The morning isn't a flurry of bag packing, lunch packing,  coffee gulping one word conversations. Thursday morning Brady and I wake up slowly. We enjoy the morning. We both take our time eating breakfast and enjoying each others company. I know each day with Brady is a gift and to be able to slow down and really enjoy him is the best. Right now he is sleeping in his swing. Don't tell him he is asleep. SHHHH! He would be so mad.

Happy Seven Months

Brady is seven months old today. I seriously can't believe that he five months away from being one year old.  Being his mom really is magical. I love him so much. He is he best thing that has ever happened to Brian and I. Tomorrow I will post more about his seven month self. For now enjoy these pictures.

Working Mom

Next Tuesday I have to travel to Boise for work. Meaning I will be 8 hours (driving) and 1.5 hours (flying) away from Brady. I am excited for the work project taking me to Boise but I am not excited about being away from my baby for 12 hours. A 9 hour work day is the longest I have ever been away from Brady, and I am more than ready to be home with him by 5 pm  three day a week when I work from the office.

Last month I was in Pullman for a branch opening. The hardest part about traveling for work minus just missing Brady is trying to fit pumping into my schedule, and trying to find places to pump. Luckily our branch in Pullman had a private bathroom I could use. I don't know what to expect in Boise. Plus, I have to take my pump on the plane with me. I am sure it will all work out but I am a little stressed about it all. I have five days off before I head to Boise so at least I will have plenty of time to get enough milk pumped for Brian to give to Brady while I am gone.

Sleep. I remember you.

Pillow, I remember you. I remember laying apon you all night, or for at least eight hours. Bed, I remember you our relaxing nights and late mornings. Sleep, I remember you. The way I would wake up feeling refreshed after spending the night with you. The way you made my skin glow. The way you made my brain function. The way I was so carefree and awake. Coffee was not a necessity but a treat. Long gone are those days. Sleep, I hope we meet again.

Brady is only sleeping a couple of hours a night. I am barely hanging in there. I hope this phase passes soon.

Apples Are Icky

We are experimenting with food. So far Brady loves sweet potatoes, peas, and bananas. And he H-A-T-E-S hates apples. Do not even think about shoving one more bite of pureed apples anywhere near his mouth. He will not stand (or sit...he can't stand by himself because he is only 7 months old...geesh!) for it!

Apples are icky!

I'm just kick'n' it in my doggie hat.

We totally match. It was completely accidental and I didn't even notice it until Brian pointed it out.

We had such a wonderful weekend. This is the first weekend in forever that we didn't have plans with someone else. It was just us, all weekend. It was awesome! I made chili colorado burritos and sweet and spicy pork for dinner. I made all of Brady's baby food for the week. I bakes gingersnaps which Brian claimed he didn't like and then preceded to eat all of. He later said he didn't like gingersnap cookies when they were hard but he really enjoyed the soft cookies I made. Back to work tomorrow but only for three days. YAY!

First Gonzaga Game

Brian and I are both huge Gonzaga Basketball fans...so...it was so fun taking Brady to his first Zag game today. He was so cute and he had so much fun. When we walked in the Kennel he was a little take back by the very loud band playing. I was not sure how he would handle the noise from the actual game as we got closer to our seats. Our seats were almost court side so each whistle, buzzer, cheerleader made Brady pause. As the game continued he really started to like all the action.

He didn't cry once. He didn't laugh either which is his new thing. He is always laughing. He did look around in amazement and followed the game from one side of the court to the other. Such a fun day and what fun memories.

Ho! Ho! Ho! Holiday Pics!

Last Saturday Rachel came to our house to take pictures of our little family. The plan was to meet Rachel at Manito and get family pictures in the park that is beautifully painted in red, orange, yellow, and brown leaves. Unfortunately a torrential down poor struck just as we where headed to Manito. Luckily Rachel was willing to drive to our house where we took fun family pictures in various areas of our home. Today we got a sneak peek at the pics and they are so cute.  I am really happy with the way they turned out. I am not very happy about the functioning of my iPhone, because it is not functioning well at all. I can't download the picture and show you guys! I will try again tomorrow. Family pictures are so fun this year. This is the first year our holiday card won't be just the two of us. Yay!

First Halloween! First Halloween party!

Brady partied like it was his first Halloween, and it was. He dressed up for his first party at play school.  Most of the kids where pooped out by the time we got to the party--drunk on breast milk and sweet potatoes. Brady mostly just looked at us like " why am I wearing this? You are embarrassing me in front of my friends." He was so cute.

We took our little dragon home and handed out candy to a million kids. We get so many trick-or-treaters. We quit handing out candy at about 8, because it was Brady's bath time and we always do bath and story time as a family (only child). I left the candy dish by the door with a note that said "take two-Happy Halloween." Take two. Not one. We thought that was generous. I walked back out to the kitchen to get a drink of water and I heard a kid emptying the candy into his ginormous garbage bag. I opened the door and caught him mid-candy-hording. He ran away. He was a big kid. Like a teenager. Taking all the candy meant for the little kids.

The cheesy-bacon-tator-tot casserole I made was delicious and so where the sugar cookies Brian and I made. Overall it was an adorable first Halloween.

Six Months and Memories

I don't know how it happened. My sweet little baby. The baby I was told I could never have. The baby I prayed and prayed would stay in my tummy until at least 36 weeks. My sweet baby boy is now six months old. And he is thriving. He has the sweetest temperament too. He loves to give me hugs and kisses. He loves to be held and rocked. He loves it when I sing to him. He loves the big kids at daycare. He has a mean left-legged jump in his jump-jump. He rolls like a champ. His smile will melt your heart, and he is already flirting with girls. Any girl. All girls. Every girl. Especially the older girls. Particularly Ada. She is six months older and they met at daycare. It was love at first sight. Technically I am six months older than Brian, but we are 32 and 33 or 33 and 33 and 34 depending on the month. But Brady is only six months old, and Ada is 12 months. She is just too mature for him. Good thing she is moving over to the the toddler room--where Brady can admire her from afar.

As I write this post. Brian, his brother and his Dad are all out in our tiny little kitchen making pumpkin waffles and bacon for breakfast. They have come from various parts of the country to gather in our house and make memories with Brady. Pumpkin-waffle-y, cold-coffee that has been sitting too long, because the conversation never ends, laugh-y, baby-drool-y, remember the time...when? Memories. My heart is full.

Green Bluff! Pumpkins, Apples, and A Scary Dragon! Oh My!

If you take one more picture......I am so out of here! If only I could walk.

Enjoying 60 degree temps in October.

We had so much fun at Green Bluff on Thursday. Brady's Grandpa Wagnon is here visiting from Missouri and he loves Green Bluff... So....Thursday we packed up the kiddo and headed up to the Bluff for some apple cider, pumpkin donuts and fun! And OMG you guys the apple pie is so good up there. It's sweet but not too sweet with a crispy crust. Delicious! I picked a whole bag full of Honey Crisps. So good!
We ate a lot and took a lot of pictures of Brady in the pumpkin patch--too many it you ask him. When I pulled out his dragon costume he eyed me suspiciously, as if to say, "Seriously, Mom? You are kidding right?" I wasn't. I really wanted to get some cute pictures of him in the pumpkin patched wearing his dragon costume. I mean this is our first kid and its his first Halloween. What did you expect? Brady had a great day with Grandpa-green-jeans.

Photo Card

Sweet And Spooky Halloween

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My Mom Really Needs To Get It Together!

*This post was written by Brady Daniel Wagnon.

My mom really needs to get it together. I am sixths months old and she hasn't updated this blog for three months. My mom says she is writing this blog to help capture memories, but she isn't doing a very good job. These are all the things that I have been doing over the past three months:

-I started daycare and I love it. I have so many friends and I L-O-V-E Katie. She takes care of me Monday through Wednesday while my mom is at work. Katie is my favorite. We have so much fun together.
-I did my first art project two weeks ago. Maybe someday my mom will post a picture of it. I dipped my hand in some kind of paint--don't worry it was kid friendly and made two little birds. It was really fun!
-I have been rolling over for like three months now. Not that exciting anymore.
-I just tried rice cereal for the first time on Sunday. It was pretty amazing. It blew my mind! I can't believe there is something other than breast milk to eat. I can't wait to see what mom and dad feed me next.
-My Grandpa Wagnon is in town visiting me. He is staying with us all week. This is the first time we have ever met but I feel like I have known him my whole life. He makes me laugh a lot. I am his first and only grandchild so he thinks I am pretty cool.
-My uncle Scott came to visit me a month ago and we went to Applebees. It was my first trip to a restaurant. I didn't even cry one time. My mom said I was such a good boy. My Uncle Scott is really fun to hang out with and I really like it when he sings to me.
-I started babbling a lot a couple of months ago. I talk more and more each day but I talk the most when I am angry or frustrated. My mom thinks its so cute when I cry. That is frustrating.
-I went to the annual end of the year Pizza and Pool Party at my Grandma Stephs. I didn't get any pizza but I got to see all my cousins. I was sick with a cough so we left the party early. I didn't even get to swim.

Six Months already! It is shocking even to me!

-There is so much more happening in my little world but I am going to ask my mom to update this blog more often. I can only remember so much. I am only six months sheez!

He's here! I'm Back! Bennett is now Brady!

WOW! So much has happened since my last post. First of all let me start by saying that Bennett is now Brady. Confused? Yep. So was the fam. Especially after Brian came out of the operating room with Brady aka Bennett and told my family there had been a change of plans. Apparently that freaked the freak out of my family because they thought something went horribly wrong. The only change was the name change. HA! I was getting sewn up and still in the OR but completely fine.  Labor and delivery. Well that went nothing like I planned. Originally when I first found out that I was pregnant--miracle of all miracles....I decided I was going to give birth naturally. OH! I was so naive. I soon found out that I had battledore cord and that I would not be able to give birth any other way than via C-secion. Well about 8 months into my pregnancy, Brady was doing so well in my womb, that my doctor decided that I could try and give birth the natural way--meaning no C-Section for me.  I was thrilled and also completely panicked because I hadn't done anything to prepare for Brady coming out the V-way. Brian and I chose to go to dinner rather than spend the money on the prepared birth classes because we thought--what was the point? Ok, so, I had about 2 months or maybe six weeks to prepare myself for natural birth. How did I do that? By watching every episode of TLC Baby Story, watching live births on YouTube (Brian refused to watch with me even when I chased him around the house with the laptop playing the births) and attending a very last minute Prepared Birthing class which I absolutely loved. Brian had to rub my shoulders while I relaxed to the sound of my own rhythmic breath. Soft music playing in the background. This birth thing was going to be just fine. I felt so empowered being in a room full of beautiful pregnant ladies. I was still in awe of my own body. I was pregnant. It was really happening. We waited so long, prayed so hard, cried so many times. Brady was our miracle and we soon would meet him, and there wasn't anything that could spoil it. My little boy was almost here.  I will write a post about my labor soon. The short version goes like this: I checked into the hospital Tuesday, April 24, at 8:00 p.m. I waited not so pateintly in the waiting room for an hour before I was shown to my birthing suite. It was a very busy night. I was induced shortly there after. My doc broke my water at 9 the next morning. I labored all day and started pushing at 4:30 that evening. I pushed for three and a half hours, but Brady was stuck, and every time I pushed he hit his head on my pelvic bone. I had to have an emergency C-Section and Brady was born at 8:56 p.m. on April 25, 2012.
Back to the name change. Once we saw Brady we knew he was going to be Brady. Bennett didn't suit him. I can't explain it but we both just knew he was a Brady. We both love the name because its our names--Brian and Katy--combined. Ohh! How sweet! I know. I know.

First Two months (well 11 weeks)

Ok. You know how the older you get the faster time passes? Well, now that I have Brady in my life, time seems to be passing faster then ever. I do not like this. I only have three and a half weeks left of leave with Brady and I really can't believe 11 weeks passed. It feels like Brady has been in our lives forever. I spend most of my days holding and feeding Brady. Brian teases me because I never put him down. I only get one chance to have this much time with him and if I want to spend every second of it holding him, well, that is exactly what I am going to do. I am in love, and it is an amazingly overwhelming, all consuming, scary, and unbelievable joyous love.

                                          Brady and Brian

    Right now he is sleeping in his swing. That rarely ever happens. I should go do something productive, but I will probably just stare at him for awhile.

Bennett will be here in 2 days

Ok! We are two days away from meeting baby Bennett! I have been on maternity leave for 1.1 work days and 3.1 days total. This weekend was wonderful. Brian and I walked around Manito Park http://www.manitopark.org/ and Comstock park in 80 degree, sunny, beautiful weather. After 12 years together we are more than ready for this baby but we also realize the relationship we've shared is about to change a lot. So we are trying to squeeze in as much time together as we can. He is my best friend. We have grown up together and I can't imagine having anyone else be the father of my son. He will be an amazing daddy.

I will be induced on Wednesday at 39 weeks. Because my cord implanted on the side of my placenta rather then the middle, my doctor doesn't want to leave the baby in any longer than 39 weeks. I remember when we found out about this complication at 20 weeks, and we were so worried. Usually with this condition the baby's growth will slow down around 32 weeks, and the baby will be taken via c-section around 36 to 37 weeks, but not in our case. Bennett has done amazingly well and with every appointment we see how much he is growing. He is already about 71/2 pounds. He is a strong little guy and I just can't wait to hold him. It's funny because we have had so many ultrasounds and been able to peek in on him so much that if we have another baby and we don't have all those ultrasounds I think I will be worried all the time about how the baby is doing.

So the question I keep asking myself is....are you really ready for this? I mean emotionally and mentally I am ready for this, but I don't know what I am doing. I have two sisters who both have kids and I have been around babies a lot but I have never been totally responsible for a little life. It is such an amazing responsibility and I just want to do everything I can for Bennett. It is going to be an adventure.

Baby on the way! Oh my!

I am officially on maternity leave! Wow! I can't believe how fast the last 38 and 1/2 weeks have gone by. Yesterday was an emotional day. I love my work family and it was hard to say goodbye to them knowing I won't be a part of their lives for the next three months. So much is about to change. We meet Bennett on April 25. Only six more days until I will be holding my son in my arms. Even as I write this I can't imagine how much life is going to change. I have never been so excited in my life. I am a little nervous about labor but really I am more excited to meet my son.

Fear and Faith

We got some news at my last appointment that makes me nervous. At 18 weeks I was diagnosed with battledore placenta. Which means that my cord implanted on the edge of my placenta rather than in the middle where it normally should and does implant. This condition is incredibly rare and from what I can find online only occurs in 7% of all pregnancies. Ironically at my 24 week appointment my doctor told me that she has only seen this condition in three other patients during her time in practice and one of the patients happened to be hers--if that counts. I really can't find much information about battledore placenta. And as is usually the case when you look something up on the internet there is always someone who posts something horrible about their experience with this condition although you never really know if it is true. So, I have decided not to use the internet as a resource anymore. During my last appointment, Wednesday, my doctor told me that I will more than likely need to have a scheduled c-section due to BP. She also told me that the babies growth could drop off around 32 to 35 weeks. That is what she experienced. She said her son was 5 pounds 8 ounces.  So, ya, needless to say I am worried. This is my first pregnancy and we waited so long to get pregnant. I was just hoping that everything would go well and it was until I learned I had BP. Our little guy will be monitored very closely and we will have an ultra-sound every couple of weeks to check his growth. I am trying to allow my faith to be bigger than my fear, but its hard. I already love my son more than I could ever imagine, and I would do anything to keep him safe. I love you Bennett.