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!