Awful Christmas Gift

The only thing good about this picture is that it has green beans all over it. And to think my mother paid money for this bib!!!

6 months old!

Well, our little Lando is 6 months old today. He is 25 1/2 inches long and 17 lbs 13 oz. Each month it's just as hard to believe as the last that our little guy is getting older. He is doing so many new things. Eating cereal and veggies, learning to drink from a sippy cup, sitting up on his own. It's just crazy how different he is from month to month. He is such a joy and we can't imagine our life without him.

Merry Christmas!

So it's been a while since we have posted but we've been busy little bees! Rather than write a whole bunch of stuff, here are pics to describe the last few weeks.


First time eating cereal...he LOVED it! And went through an entire box of rice cereal in 3 weeks.


Landon trying green beens for the first time


He decided he liked them afterall


Landon trying sweet potatoes...definitely his favorite so far.


Lando eating peas...they smelled gross but he loved them!


Completely fascinated with Santa!


He LOVES opening presents.


Our little Christmas gift.


The super cool gift we got for Uncle Bob cause he loves Landon so stinkin' much.


One of the rare photos of just Mike and I :)

5 months old

Hard to believe it, but Lando is 5 months old already! He has started eating rice cereal and he absolutely LOVES it! I think he thinks he's super big by eating with a big boy spoon. I can't wait to start him on veggies in a month or so, so that I can get some super messy pictures of food all over his face. He's 18 pounds and 26 inches long. Kinda crazy! As you can tell by his picture, he is a little chunk! He is so much more fun at every different stage, and this month is no different! He is such a happy baby and he just laughs all the time. The only time he cries is if he's hungry or super tired. Oh yeah, and when his teeth are bothering him. That's right, he has two teeth. He got them about 2 1/2 weeks ago and it looks like he's got about 2-4 more getting ready to come in. Mike and I got teeth very early too, so it didn't really come as a surprise to us.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and were reminded of all the things to be thankful to God for!!!!!!

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

We're in Wisconsin and it is COOLLLDDD here. We went to baby Gap and got him an adorable jacket to match his hat and glove set from Walmart and just had to take some outdoor pictures. We thought he was cute in onesies in the Dominican but he is WAY cuter in winter clothes in the states! Don't get any ideas, we're not going to leave the home we love for the sake of fashion! Enjoy the pics....

Happy November!

I just had to post this picture...it's a great way to start a new month. :)

The Digs

We had about 10 days here where we didn't have a team here and Mike and I did what we do best...renovation. We decided to give the house a little facelift as it needed it VERY badly. No more pukey peach walls. We still have Lando's room and the bathrooms left, but we have 10 more days here after this last team leaves. The Dominican Republic was our inspiration. We're getting it ready for visitors, so you better start booking your tickets now :)


Mike and I's bedroom


Hallway, never did I think I'd paint a room blue!


Living area


Kitchen

I'm 4 months Old!

That's right people, I'm officially 4 months old! Can you even believe how cute I've gotten?

Are babies supposed to sleep this much?

Had to post this picture. This is classic Landon. Whenever anyone asks what Landon is doing, I always answer, "Dormiendo." What can I say, our little guy takes after his parents!

Little Aguila

That's right, our little guy went to his first Dominican baseball game! The Cibao Eagles. The team that is here right now are sports finatics so we were able to go to a Pro game with them. We even saw Jose Lima! There were several American pitchers there too who are training in their off-season. Poor guys, lonely and in a foreign country while their families are in the US. But just wanted to post a couple pictures cause he did SO great! Enjoy!!!


Mom, dad and Lando watching the game


Ooooo...Mom did you see that play?


I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOO cute :)

Landon Update

Our little guy is getting so big. We can hardly believe it but he is already 16 weeks old! Here are some things about him at this stage in his life:

-He loves to spit and blow bubbles

-He is drinking between 6-7 ounces of milk at every feeding

-He eats every 2-3 hours

-He is 23 1/2 inches long (we don't know how much he weighs, we're looking for a scale)

-The other night he was crying and was saying, "Ma ma ma ma ma ma ma"

-He loves to watch baseball on TV with his Papi

-He can play by himself for about 45 minutes at a time without fussing at all

-He is sleeping through the night from about 9:30pm-7:00am...he'll wake up, eat, then go back to sleep until 9:30am

-He is extremely ticklish and laughs often

-He has a tooth on the bottom that is close to the surface, probably another week and it will poke through

-He ate in a high chair for the first time on Sunday and thought he was the coolest thing since sliced bread

He is so much fun at this age and we're looking forward to watching him change in the next few months. We can't wait for our family and friends in the states to see how different he is from when they last saw him in August and September.

Play Time

Just thought we would put a short video of Landon playing on here. He is giggling all of the time now and loves his play time. He is so much fun, God has truely blessed us. Enjoy!!

I'm 3 months old!

I'm three months old today. Three months ago today, my mommy started having contractions at 5:30 in the morning. I didn't like them very much. She got up, took a shower, ate some breakfast and watched the morning highlights on ESPN. Around 7:30 the contractions that were making us both VERY uncomfortable made Mommy think that the time might have come. So she very quietly woke Daddy up and told him that he should probably get ready. Mommy called Dr. Bruneau and told her that the contractions were very strong and 8 minutes apart. Dr. Bruneau said to get to the hospital. So we took a little drive to Baptist East and Mommy and Daddy were on the phone the whole time. Lots of people were waiting for me to arrive.

We got to the hospital about 9 am and they hooked me up to a bunch of monitors. Nothing serious, they just wanted to make sure that me and Mommy were ok. Mommy told daddy to call Aunt Vicki and Aunt Teresa and see if they could come to the hospital. Mommy's parents were on vacation and Daddy's parents were far away. She said she needed someone else to be there with her and Daddy. So Aunt Vicki came (she's been through this before) and helped mommy through some contractions. Daddy had to get up and out of his seat almost every minute. I was coming. By the time mommy was 6 centimeters dialated (whatever that means) she couldn't take it anymore. Those stupid contractions were too painful because they broke her water. I was no longer swimming. I knew something was up. So another doctor came in, one that I didn't know and he put something in Mommy's back. She relaxed A LOT more after he left. But I kept getting pushed lower and lower.

Dr. Bruneau was called in at about 4:30pm, not even 12 hours later because the nurse noticed a little problem. My head was stuck. You know us Braisted boys, we have big heads. Mommy's pelvis was too little but she really wanted to have me naturally. So Dr. Bruneau let her take three big pushes to see if I would come through. But as hard as she pushed, my big 'ol head only got more cone-shaped. So that meant mommy needed surgery. She was a little scared and a little disappointed but she only wanted me to be safe. So Daddy put on his space suit and we headed to the OR.

It wasn't long after that that I saw a light, I felt some hands and pretty soon I was cold. "Put me back," I said. I missed my little bedroom. I let out a cry so that Mommy knew I was ok and then I just opened my eyes and looked around. So many faces and voices I didn't recognize. But they seemed nice and they were keeping me warm, I liked that. I have to admit, it was kind of nice to get all that goopy stuff off of me that I've been sitting in for 9 months. It didn't make me look very attractive.

All of a sudden, with all of these unfamiliar voices around, I heard one that I recognized. He talked to me a lot, especially in the mornings when Mommy and him woke up. I don't know what he looked like though, will I still know it's him? And then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw him. He had this big, black thing in his hand that kept flashing light in my eyes. But then he put it down and the nice lady handed me to him. He smiled. He said hello. Ahhh...a voice that I know. I knew he was my Daddy. He walked a little ways and then he brought me around the blanket that was being held up. And I hear, "Hey baby Boy. Mommy loves you." Mommy? I hear you mommy, where are you? Then Daddy put me on her chest. The heartbeat that I had heard for 9 months sounded so different from the outside, but it is oh so familiar. I saw her face. It was a little blurry because of that aweful stuff they put in my eyes but I could smell her and I could hear her fine. That was my Mommy. I guess as long as she was around, I didn't mind leaving my little bedroom.

Our little Dominican

Just had to post this picture. Mike, Landon and I were on the porch watching a storm roll in and he just looked so content to be in the DR with us. Love it.

Wanna Roll?

Well I guess they don't stay little forever. Our boy has started to roll over now. During tummy time yesterday he decided he would rather be on his back so he squirmed around until he made it over. Mom was able to catch the third roll on tape so we have included that video. I guess pretty soon he will be crawling over to us! What a joy little ones are!

Say Cheese!

Just couldn't help but post these pictures as our little Landon has learned how to smile at mommy and daddy and anyone who talks to him. We thought he was cute before but his smile completely brightens the room.

Landon's Dedication

Today Landon was dedicated at Mike's home church, Emmanuel Wesleyan Church. He did really well and looked EXTREMELY cute in the little outfit Grandma Debbie got him. He made it through almost the whole service but right when Grandpa took him to present him to the church and through the ENTIRE prayer, Landon decided to let his presence known. Enjoy the video and pictures!!!!


Landon's cute little outfit

Great-Grandpa Braisted and Landon

Four Generations

Our little family :)

Quick Trip to Maine

Ah, Maine, the way life should be! My family has gone to Maine every year since I was born. Last summer was the first summer I wasn't able to go to Maine because we live in the DR now, so because we were home this summer to have Landon, we took the opportunity to go.

We flew to Maine with Landon and he did absolutely AMAZING! He mostly just slept the whole way there, including the layover in Chicago.

Once in Maine, we did absolutely NOTHING except relax and recooperate. We had extra hands to help take care of Landon so Mike and I were able to sleep in several mornings! Man, did that feel great! Mike, Landon and I even got into some floaties and went floating in the lake for an hour or so. Landon must really like water because almost instantly, he fell asleep.

The pics are of the lake that our cabin sits on. Landon sleeping underneath an umbrella on the dock. And my niece Payton and nephew Seth holding Landon.

Family trip to Gatlinburg

Although it has been so hard to be away from the Dominican, it has been great to see family that we haven't see for a long time. This past few days, our family went to Gatlinburg for the annual Basham family vacation. It was 4 great days of sun, relaxation and mini golf. Mike and I had so many hands to help that we barely had to take care of Landon the whole time we were there. I have to admit it was nice sometimes to not feel the responsibility completely on our shoulders to keep our little one occupied, but a few minutes away from Landon and I was already missing him.

We were able to go miniature golfing several times on an all vacation pass. I even beat Mike a couple times. We also spent some time at the pool and browsing on the Gatlinburg strip. But one of my favorite places we got to go was the Ripley's Believe It or Not Aquarium. Mike's parents treated us to a no-baby date to the aquarium which was totally awesome. There were so many things to see and above all, it was SHARK WEEK! My absolute favorite!!! Not only that, but on TV it was also the Discovery Channel's Shark Week as well, so whenever I needed a break from the sun, I was inside the roundettes learning something new about my favorite underwater monster!

Mike really enjoyed some quality time with his parents and with his brother Josh. The boys also had the opportunity to play a game of "cut-throat" mini-golf which was a great time for them to let loose and have a little fun without us girls around. Tim was missing in action because of a gig in Orlando in front of 38,000 teens. We missed him but what a great opportunity!!!

Below are several pics of our trip...hope you enjoy!!!!



Landon and Daddy in their swim gear



Our sleeping baby...



Landon and Mommy catching some rays (don't worry, he has SPF 60 on!)



Mike and I at the Gatlinburg Ripley's Aquarium



Sawfish



The infamous sand tiger shark



Mike the stud astronaut!



Kathy, Brittney and I in front of the jellies



Mike and I at blacklight golf



Brittney and I at indoor golf



Brit and I at Chimney Top



All tired out...