Braxton is 4 months old!

Our sweet Little Love has been with us for four months now!!! How time flies! He has done quite a bit this last month...but we will get into that in a moment. I took him to his 4 month check up today and my little chunk weighs in at 15 lbs. He has actually slowed down, he is now only in the 55% for kids his age. He is 24 1/2 inches which is the 30%. Daddy called him short and fat, but I think he is perfect! We talked about my little poopstain being a "Night Feeder" is what he called him, and he told me it was time to let the little one fall asleep on his own. He said to try and not to nurse him to sleep, so he knows how to self sooth. All the things we talked about are things I have known, but for some reason have had a hard time following with this one. We will see how the next couple of weeks pan out! Now the following might be too much information...but I will be as medically correct as possible. My boy has some big "boys"...okay testicles...those that have seen me change his diaper have even commented on this fact. Evidently the testis start out up near the stomach as a tube and as a baby boy gets older, the tube is supposed to close itself off with scar tissue. Well, his right one has not yet fully closed off, so he has fluid draining into the bottom, hence showing as big "boys"! I told the doc that Josh just thought the boy was blessed! This is nothing to be worried about, but if it does not close itself off by the age of 1, they will go in and sew it shut. I don't remember the medical term, but it is all good. He had his shots, cried a little, but was easily soothed!

So now for all the fun things this month. He had his first feeding of cereal. Of course, this had to be a family affair. We had the video camera going, the regular camera going, and we all had to take turns with the spoon. He had such a good time and actually ate more than what wound up on his face! He thought it was great fun, and so did we...until the middle of the night. The poor baby started screaming at 12:30 in the morning and could not be consoled. He was scrunching his little legs and would quiet if he was able to get a little toot out. We tried again the next night, but with not so much, and the same thing happened. So...we quit until I talked to the doc. He said to go ahead and try again, but to try rice instead of oatmeal. Hopefully all will go well and our little love will be on his way to experiencing all sorts of yummy things!

Braxton has been hard pressed to give up any sort of giggles. Evidently, Mommy and Daddy didn't know what it took to make him giggle, and big brother came along and started acting silly and whala....he got a laugh! It was the cutest little sound. Still, Trenton is the only one who can get him really going!

As I had mentioned before in an earlier entry, I surprised my boys with tickets to the Jazz/Laker game for Valentines day. Even our sweet boy went with us, so he experienced his first professional basketball game before he reached 4 months!

We have been so blessed to have this little boy with us. We love him so very much and are excited to watch him learn and grow, and be a part of our crazy little family. We love you Braxton David!

Love you Grandpa

Today I have a mixture of both happy and sad feelings. My sweet Grandpa Cheeseman passed away at the age of 91. He has had a very full life, one that he enjoyed sharing with anyone that would sit and listen. My grandpa was full of wisdom and love. Although he was not always a touchy feely person, he was always good for a nice hug hello and goodbye and always had a wonderful smile. He loved to play cards, and would just roll his eyes at me when I played cribbage with him and had to use my fingers to count to 15 or 31...even in high school!!! You always knew Grandpa was having a good day when you asked him how he was and he said "Pretty good for an Old Man"! That always made me feel good, even as it got towards the end for him.

I know he is happier now, it got pretty bad there at the end. I know he can hear now, and I wonder what kind of reunion he had with Grandma!!! I wonder if she asked what took him so long? He often talked of his mother and father, so I'm sure he is happy to be with them. I know my sadness comes from selfishness of not having him here with me, but he will be deeply missed. My cute Trenton was so factual this morning as I took him to school. I had told him that Grandpa had passed when I woke him up this morning and he seemed to be okay. On the way to school I asked him if he was sad and here was our conversation:

M: Are you okay baby...are you sad?

T: No. He was my Papa, but he was really old. I am a little sad, but not a lot of sad.

M: Your right baby, he was old. I'm glad that you are not really sad, it is okay to be a little sad.

T: He was just old Mom.

You would think that a three year old would be a little worried about the idea of death, and seeing someone on their way there. But even last night as we went to go see Grandpa, Trenton stood by his bedside and rubbed his arm and told him it was okay. He then insisted on giving him a kiss goodbye. That is when the tears shed for me. When I watched my little boy show his unconditional love for his Papa even when he looked a little scary as he lay there sleeping with dis-sheveled hair, mouth open with loud breathing, and his bony shoulders showing thru his gown.

I am so grateful for the knowledge that families can be together forever. That if we do our part for my sweet Grandpa and Grandma, that they too can be married for eternity and join our eternal family if they choose to do so on the other side. I am grateful that Trenton had a little bit of time to get to know his Great Grandpa. He loved to tell him what he learned at school and was always asking me when we could go visit him. I am grateful for the quiet love he gave and will miss him greatly. Love you Grandpa....see you again.

Grandpa Cheeseman and Trenton's first meeting

Grandpa and Braxton's First meeting

Four generation of Cheeseman's

Jungle Jims Playdate

This Saturday Trenton and I went to Jungle Jim's Playland with some friends from church. I have to admit...he was quite the stud with two cute little girls chasing around with him! Alaya is actually our next door neighbor and she and Trenton love to play together as much as they can. They all had so much fun going from one ride to the next. Moms were allowed on all the rides with them if we wanted...but most of them were enough to make me sick. They all spun around in one form or another!

Alaya, Julianne, TrentonTrenton and Alaya on the boats...each individual boat spun around as the ride itself spun around!Trenton loved the bumper cars when he could get them to do something other than just spin around in a circle on itself! I finally jumped in and helped him out a little!Alaya and Trenton posing...Julianne squeezing her way thru!The rocket ships that you can make go up and down...of course Trenton had to drive!This ride just went in one big circle both forward and backwards really fast. So fast that I had to hold myself away from Trenton so I wouldn't squash him. It made me sick, but he loved it!Trenton and Alaya just being cute!We really did have a good time. The kids played so well together and it was just fun walking around and visiting. Thanks ladies for a fun date!

Graduated

It's official....I have graduated from Mommy to Mom. Yesterday while Trenton was sick I had him in his room all set up with the DVD player. I told him that if he needed something to just call out for Mommy and I would come see him. Our conversation was as follows:
T: I don't want to say Mommy
M: What do you want to say?
T: Just Mom
M: Why just Mom? Why not Mommy?
T: Only babies say Mommy, I am a big boy now, so I only call you Mom.
M: Whatever, just call me when you need something.
I know...not very sympathetic there at the end...but I could not decide if my feelings were hurt, or if I was just as pathetic as he was yesterday. I don't think I like this graduation, but I guess it was sure to come. So, now I am just Mom...we will see when I graduate to Mother!

Pathetic

I hate it when kids are sick. I hate being sick. None of it is any fun. This morning my Trenton said that he had a headache and didn't eat much of his cereal. I asked if his tummy hurt and he said no, he just had a headache. Sometimes he does this just to get some Tylenol, so I told him to drink some water and it would go away. I did give him a little bit of medicine and sent him off to school.

Usually when I pick him up from school he asks to go on a date in which we go find a restaurant with a playground. We have some lunch, he plays, and I get to a little bit of reading (if baby is sleeping). So I pick him up, he says he still has a headache and I ask him if he wanted to go to a playground or just go home. He said to go home...wow I thought...I'm in trouble. As soon as we got home he went to bed and slept for 2 hours. He woke up crying, I gave him some more medicine, he would not eat anything, and then he threw up. He does not have a very high fever, just looks pretty pathetic. We set him up in his room with a bucket, some sprite, a cloth on his head and the portable DVD player so he can watch Buzz.Once I saw his little set up I had to take pictures. He told the flash hurt his head, so he covered his eyes. When I asked him to look at me just once, I only got one eye!

So now...the jostling of a crying baby, and a puking 3 year old....oh the joys. Now I pray no one else gets it.

Go Lakers!

Last night I surprised my boys with tickets to the Jazz/Laker game for Valentines Day! They had no idea what I was up to...and I love to give surprises! The boys and I went up to the U right as Josh was getting out of class and told him we wanted to go to dinner. He usually stays up there working on homework until about 7 or 8...so if we want to see him, we go there to meet him. So, he was surprised to see us, but had no idea what I was really up to. After a little dinner at Taco Bell and talking about what Josh had left to finish at school, and me telling Trenton we had to go home and clean up his room we got in the car to take Josh back to school. But...for some reason the van decided to head down town instead of up the mountain! As we headed there Josh started guessing at what I was up to. He couldn't remember if the Jazz were playing that night, so he started thinking it must be something like Disney on Ice. Well, as we started seeing parking places he realized that some of them were charging $15.00 which is highly un-normal. We found one for $5.00 and it hit him, the Lakers were in town! His face lit up as he started to ask questions about how I got tickets. (they sold out the day the went on sale and I had to make a few phone calls!) Trenton then heard what was going on and started yelling "Go Lakers, go Lakers!" I pulled the Laker apparel out of the trunk and we all suited up and headed in!We had so much fun! Trenton danced and screamed and loved that he could yell as loud as he wanted without being told to be quiet. We ate popcorn and ice cream and just enjoyed each other. Braxton even just looked around amazed at all there was to see! It was a great night even when the Lakers ended up losing!

92 More Days!!!!!

A little bit about me...I always said I would not marry a Doctor or a lawyer...I knew I was not strong enough to raise kids by myself, be home a lot by myself, etc. as they went thru school. Little did I know what becoming an architect really entailed. I am thankful I did not really know, as I love my husband and am thankful for all that he does for our family. It has defiantly been a long stretch of school, a 3 1/2 year masters program, and still 7 tests to go after that to become licenced. The problem with going to school to become an architect...all your "homework" is done at school, building all sorts of things....so the idea of going home after class and then doing some homework after a nice home cooked meal...not so much!

But...my incredible husband is now in the home stretch! He graduates on May 9th with his Masters and we are so proud of him. My sweet little Trenton has endured these long 3 1/2 years right along with us and is so anxious to have his Daddy home a little bit more often. So...to help us count down the days, Mommy and Trenton had a little fun!

Trenton has been learning how to cut at school, and loves to practice when he is at home.

He was really proud at how many strips he had cut. He was convinced we were having a race and he was beating me!

It's always fun to play with the things that you make!Now...I know this may look like a REALLY LONG chain....but really...92 days compared to 3 1/2 years is nothing. But really, who is counting?!?!?!