Superman

Brayden loves it when daddy does Superman with him. He always gives us the best facials when he is flying in the air. He is so excited.
So much fun with daddy.

Brainard Lake

This was one of our first family outings in Colorado. Earlier in the week Barry Wester had shown us how to get up to Brainard Lake. When Satruday rolled around we decided to pack a lunch and go check it out. It took about an hour to get up to the lake. We walked around the entire lake and then had dinner. Brayden loved being outside, he was looking all over the place.
It was a really pretty lake, with the mountains behind it. Next spring we hope to spend some more time up there. Maybe we will be able to take some of the trails.
This is the creek that fills the lake.
Brayden really likes his Bjorn, he loves to be able to look all over.
We are almost all the way around the lake, I am sure this is not the last time we are come to Brainard Lake.

Brayden's Blessing

Jared gave Brayden his blessing July 1, 2007 in the Amity Ward. Standing in was Grandpa Greg, Grandpa Jerry, Uncle Cale, Cousin JJ, Brandon Withers and Bishop Lewis. We shared this day with a lot of family. (Mom & Dad, Grandpa Greg, Grandma Chris, Grandpa Jerry, Grandma Sandy, Aunt Libby, Aunt Hailey, Uncle Cale, Kira, Great-Grandma Leonora, Aunt Teresa, Aunt Lisa, Uncle Jason, Aunt Amy, Aunt Melissa, and Cousins Rachel, Madison, Gabe, and Dylan and Gale Wester, Jana and JJ.

We had a BBQ at the Taylor's and everyone came.
Brayden was pretty tired...it was a long day.

Brayden is 2 months

Two months old and we are starting to figure things out. You have started making some new faces and show a lot more expression in your face. You were really good for Grandma while mommy went to school. You learned how to drink from a bottle so you wouldn't get hungry while I was away. Brayden continues to be very alert. He is very strong and can stand up if someone holds his hands. You take 3-4 naps a day and you sleep about 6 hours in a row. You are a very aggressive eating, you make growling noises while you are eating.Brayden took your first flight to Denver to see Dad. We left the day after Kira was born. Brayden did a great job on the plane...he slept almost the entire flight. Jared was very excited to see Brayden it had been almost 3 weeks. When we returned from our flight you got your first cold. There must have been too many germs on the plane.
Brayden still hates his car seat, so it is great when you fall asleep in it.

This was mommy and daddy's favorite outfit you have. We have you wear it to church and other special occasions we want you to look so adorable at.
You also learned how to suck on a pacifier. You didn't really like it at first, but you will suck on it a little each day.

Cousin Kira is born

On Sunday we all went to church. We could tell Hailey wasn't feeling well, and we had started to wonder if she was in labor. After we got home from church she continued to have contractions. Hailey and Cale didn't go to the hospital until about 10 o'clock that night. We stayed at home and awaited a phone call. At 3 in the morning I woke up to feed Brayden and realized that we hadn't heard from them yet. So I called up to the hospital to find out that Hailey had just received her epidural and she was dilated to a 6. Over the next couple of hours she started to dilated much quicker. I showered and got ready and around 5 headed for the hospital. We received a call that she was a 10 and they were going to start pushing shortly. We got to the room as soon as we could and I was able to leave Brayden with my dad in the waiting room while I was able to be in the room for the delivery. It was so amazing to see Kira coming into this world. Hailey and Cale were so excited to hold their little girl in there arms. She was very healthy and she had a very quiet cry.Holding Kira was so different than holding Brayden...he has gotten so big and she was so little. Kira weighted 8 pounds when she was born.

Grandma and Grandpa were excited to have grandchild number 2 here.
We put the kids together to have them meet for the first time. I am sure they will grow to be good friends.

Brayden is 1 month

Your first month has been so much fun and a little adjustment for us all. You are a really good sleeper. You sleep about 5 hours at night and then wake up to eat and you go right back to bed. That helps mommy get some good sleep. You are starting to be awake more during the day. Which has been a lot of fun. You have started falling asleep with your hands up above your head. You fit just perfectly on Aunt Hailey's belly. I think you liked feeling Kira in her tummy.
You are always very alert and bright eyed. You also can hold your head up so good.
Unless you were asleep. You loved sleeping on every ones chest. I think you missed hearing mommy's heart beat all the time.
You and Grandpa would take naps together.We had a really busy first month, we put our house on the market and daddy got a new job at the University of Colorado. We had a great time when daddy would come home on the weekend so we could be together as a family.
You were 21 1/2 inches long and weighted 9 pounds 8 ounces, and you fit perfectly in the boppy pillow after you nursed. You were a great baby unless we were changing your diaper and clothes or you were in the car seat. You would scream so loud when we would change your clothes and the instant we picked you up you would stop. We started calling you the faker. I didn't like to drive with you because it would make me sad that you would cry almost the entire drive. I would try my best to plan driving around you nap so you would sleep instead of cry.

Brayden's first week

We were very excited and a little nervous to bring Brayden home from the hospital. We didn't leave the hospital until 8 that night. Jared was still real tired from the past 48 hours so he wanted to take a nap before we left. He napped with Brayden while I took a shower and got ready to leave. We dressed Brayden in his outfit and headed home. He was quiet the whole way home. Here he is in his car seat after his first ride.Here is the outfit that he wore home. Daddy and Mommy picked this out several months before Brayden was born. It was a football outfit with a matching hat and blanket. Our first night home was pretty rough, luckily my mom was able to stay with us. We all got ready for bed and then Brayden decided he wasn't ready for bed. He was really fussy and we were all very tired. We took turns staying up with him during the night. He discovered that Brayden really liked his bouncy chair and we started using that if was fussy.

A few days after we got home from the hospital Grandma and Grandpa Aurich came to meet their newest grandson. Brayden loved being held by them all day long.
Brayden loved being swaddled. He would be crying and we would try several things, but the minute we got one arm in the swaddle he would calm right down and fall asleep. He looks so cute all bundled.
Jared and I gave him his first bath at home.
Brayden spent a lot of time sleeping that first week. Daddy spent as much time sleeping with Brayden as he could. We were all pretty tired and it was good to have several naps to catch up on missing sleep.