Where does the time go?

Christmas morning
Family Christmas picture

Braden's first experience with snow. Don't you just love the coat and hat? :)

Braden is now 2 weeks away from his 1st birthday! I can't believe it! My little bitty baby has and is turning into a little toddling boy. In fact, yesterday he took his first few steps on his own! Of course he was at my sister's and I missed it, but he did take a few more steps later in the evening. I'm sure it won't be long before he's walking comfortably and then on to running. Fun Fun! Also, another fun thing he's learned to do is drink out of a straw. We tried it kind of by accident when we went out to lunch last Sunday. I'd forgotten his sippy cup so I let him try to drink water out of my straw and he quickly figured it out! One of our recent behavior challenges is his learning to scream. He screams when he's excited and when he's mad/frustrated. We're trying to correct it with stern "NO's" and flicks of cheeks sometimes. As his personality develops he seems to be somewhat of a strong willed child. He certainly knows what he wants and not much will deter him from it. I'm sure there can be pros and cons to this, but we pray that we can nurture him into a determined, but obedient child. We also are winding down on breastfeeding. Braden his made it quite clear that he was done with nursing during the day time and within the past couple weeks, also does not want it before bed. In fact, he doesn't want ANY milk before bed and will now sleep through the night without it. Our last bit of breastfeeding we (I) are holding onto is first thing in the morning which also is quickly dwindling as he has little patience to lie down to nurse, but wants to be going, seeing what's going on the world. Such a busy little boy! It is a little sentimental for me to gradually give up the breastfeeding. It's certainly had it's ups and downs over the past year, but all in all, a very rewarding experience with some very sweet moments. I've felt like I've given Braden the best head start I could with his nutrition. And, having to buy formula the past month-----I am SOOOO glad we've not had to do that much. Sheesh it's expensive. Baby food is expensive enough! Our grocery bill has gone up quite a bit in the past 6 months!

We have also recently been talking about baby #2. It's exciting, but very scary at the same time to consider going through the nightmare of IVF again! But, unless God does a miracle (which he could do, but we're not betting on anything!) we'll have to pursue the rigors of medical technology for a 2nd child. We do have one frozen embryo which we will probably try within the next year and beyond that. . . we'll see. We would have to take some time to save up money for another round of IVF since I am working only part-time right now. But, we pray for God's blessing and His will to be done in the next phase of our lives as well. Braden was perfectly planned and made by God's hand and we know his plans are perfect.

Thanksgiving 2009- Braden 10 months old

Burkholder family

Our little Drummer Boy

Riding the horsey with a little help from Daddy.

Wagon ride

9 1/2 months!

Braden seems to get stronger and learn so many new skills almost daily. He now very quickly crawls, easily pulls up to stand on just about anything and is even starting to cruise along the coffee table. With his new found exploring skills also comes some new bruises and tears. We have tried to baby proof, keep sharp corners covered and are constantly redirecting him from "No-No's". He is also learning to exert his will and at times have had a battle of the wills when it comes to table manners and changing diapers. We hope he will be an obedient child, but so far he likes his own way better than minding us. He's a bit of an escape artist and can get through small openings when we try to barricade him in the living room. And he can almost do a pull-up on the side of the pack-n-play. It probably won't be long until he can climb out. Oh boy oh boy! (eeek, what's a mom to do?) He is constantly babbling saying "mama" and "dada", but not really associating it with us yet. He also has learned to eat the Gerber Puffs (cherrios type food) without gagging- most of the time. :) He now has 2 bottom teeth which makes his smiles that much sweeter, but he has to smile really big to see them.
My sweet little baby is turning into a bigger boy. It's fun, but also kind of sad to see the little baby things fade away in place of a willful almost toddler. We still count our blessings everyday to be able to have our little Braden.

8 months old

Braden and Pooh in his new rocking chair from Grandma and Grandpa

And another month has passed. It's amazing how quickly the time flies! Braden is now 8 months old and has gained so many skills just in the past week. He is now rolling proficiently which is exciting, but makes bedtime/naptime challenging as he will roll over and "play" with his binkie or his bear or just scoot around in his bed instead of sleep. He also is now sitting completely independently and can stand holding onto furniture for a short time. Braden is on the verge of crawling probably within the next week or 2. He gets up on hands and knees and rocks back and forth. Sometimes he'll lunge forward, but land on his face. He'll figure it out soon!

Also, he is beginning to cut a tooth on the bottom. You can kind of see it, but you can definitely feel the sharp edge with your finger. He's not bitten me yet (knock on wood). I know friends have said that once they do that, nursing becomes that much more challenging.

What a blessing!

Braden is now nearly 7 months old. How time does fly! He's getting more and more personality which is so fun to get to know. He is generally happy and definitely has a silly side to him. (I'm sure he gets that from his Dad :) ). He smiles easily and laughs often. And....we're finding is very ticklish. Curtis is able to get him laughing pretty hard from his tickles.

Physically he is able to roll over tummy to back and almost from back to tummy. He is able to sit nearly by himself for a short time. He loves to stand with just a little support- even just a hand hold. He is loving his exersaucer and loves to jump around in there. He gets to laughing and shrieking when he's in there. He cracks us up and Chloe is always jumping with his high pitched squeals.

I was realizing again today what a perfect blessing he is. At times he can be frustrating with getting him to eat/nurse enough or nap adequately. But he is such a good baby overall and we are so blessed to have him. When I hear of others going through fertility struggles or difficult pregnancies, it reminds me of the long hard road it took to get our little boy. He is our little miracle! I actually have an appointment with Dr. Jarrett (my reproductive endocrinologist) on September 1st to consult about our long term plan to keep my endometriosis under control and to discuss plans for baby #2- although that will be at least a year from now before I'd want to get pregnant again- in an ideal world.
More pics to come. . . . .

He's growing up . . . .

At Splash Island, Braden's first chance to swim. :)

At Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Trying on his new hat.

Happy boy!

It's been a while since I've posted last. Braden is now 5 months old and continuing to get bigger and change more and more. As of 6/24/09 he weighed 13 lb 8 oz. He's actually getting a little chub in his cheeks and some meaty thighs. It's amazing when he was so tiny and a skinny string bean for a long time!

This past week we've started rice cereal. He's eaten it once a day for three days and as of last night was already learning to open his mouth for the next bite. It was so cute! Curtis took video of his first time, but we'll take more pics again soon. Also, this past week Braden had a chance to go the pool twice. Once at Plainfield Splash Island and the other and Aunt Cara and Uncle John's neighborhood pool. He seemed to enjoy it and both were very hot days!


This week Curtis has been gone at Annual Meeting to Seattle, so it's just been me with Braden and Chloe. It's tough being a single parent especially trying to go anywhere for the day with only me to manage everything. Braden and I went to the zoo with Christy and her family 2 days ago. It was a challenge to manage all the stuff, stroller, feeding him, changing him, etc. on my own. Oh, well. . . . I'm getting the hang of it.


I visited our friends Jake and Carrie yesterday who just had a baby 2 days ago. Baby Maureen was 8 lb 2.5oz. Holding her she was so tiny! It's hard to believe Braden was more than 2 pounds lighter than that when he was born!!! And he weighed about 8 lb at 6 weeks old!!! After holding Maureen I came back to Braden and had a new realization of just how much he has grown! It's amazing how you don't notice it seeing him everyday!! My little baby is growing up! I had the thought of I hope I get to do this again someday, but even if I don't. . . .I feel more than blessed to have Braden! I'm continually reminded of the miracle of him. Even now as he tries to fit his whole foot in his mouth and shrieks so loud that Chloe jumps. It's great! I love every minute (even when he's being a turkey. . . )

A year ago today. . . .

Exactly a year ago today, our little Braden was transferred into my womb as one of the two embryos below. Which one? We'll never know. The past few days I've been pondering the miracle of his creation and the events we were going through a year ago. It's mind boggling to consider the miracle of his life. We look back and feel oh so blessed that God has given Braden to us to raise. As of this past Thursday, he is 15 weeks old. What a transformation from a year ago! He continues to become more and more interactive. Right now as I type this, he is laying on his play mat beside me cooing up a storm, as well as having hiccups and kicking at the toys hanging from the top of the mat. He's the cutest thing ever!!!

As of 3 weeks ago on April 20th, I started back to work part time. The first week was hard, but continues to get easier. I know he is in good hands with my sister, Cara.

I'm continuing to attend a Breastfeeding support group once a week on Wednesdays. I'm glad I found out about it. They have a scale so we can track our baby's weight gain and a lactation consultant runs the class making rounds to answer any questions that we have and talk about common topics of concern. I'm also making a couple friends with other new mommys. As of last Wednesday, Braden weighed 11 lb 3 oz. He's still little compared to most babies his age, but we're making progress. Considering mine and Curtis' size, he'll probably just always be a little small, but that's ok. :)

Braden has been sleeping awesome at night usually 9-10 hrs and going 10-11 hrs between feedings. He's now nursing usually 5-6 times per day with his last feeding around 8-9 o'clock. It's great!!! Naps don't always go as well, but most of the time he does ok sleeping 45min to an hr.

I feel so blessed to BE a mother for this Mother's Day. I guess I technically WAS pregnant last Mother's Day, but didn't know it yet. Praise God for his grace and mercy!!!!

Braden is one of those beautiful embryos. . . .

Our happy smiling boy! Don't you think he looks like Curtis here?

Braden loves playing with and chewing on his lovey bear. It's too cute!

This darn head is so heavy . . .