thank you

My brain seems to be on overdrive.

Balancing motherhood, wifeyhood, and Christianhood is a monumental task! So many things run through my brain everyday - some of which I ignore until I can handle them better and others of which I have to keep remembering until I do it.

Today I just want to thank so many of you over and over for what you've done for me and my family. You have supported us by doing any one or more of these things:

a. blessing us with gifts for Brayden
b. letting us borrow things for Brayden
c. passing on baby things you don't need anymore
d. sending cards to say congratulations
e. blessing us monetarily
f. bringing us meals
g. running errands for us
h. watching Brayden while I run errands or work around the house
i. listen to me process, vent, talk
j. making sure I take time for myself
k. making sure Erik takes time for himself

That list might cover it. Then again, there's probably a ton more - including all your prayers. You've done so much for us that I honestly don't know how best to say thank you. As Brayden uses and wears and plays with the things you've passed on, I want to tell you again how blessed we are. As the money you've given multiplies in the bank or gets spent on a needed item, I want to tell you thanks and how awesome it is. As I look at how cute something is that you've given me (for example, the monkey changing pad cover on the left - I love it!), I often want to tell you again I'm thankful.

You'd probably get annoyed with how much I would tell you I'm grateful, blessed, and honored that you'd think of us and help take care of us during this time.

Family, friends, acquaintances... really just loving kind people... are what make this world a better, easier, more blessed place to live in.

So thanks. I'm grateful for you.

happy four years!

Four years ago yesterday (2/15/08), Erik Wegener called me. We talked for an hour and a half, then he asked me out on a date. I said yes because, generally speaking, I'd go out at least once with a guy to see what he was all about.

We married over a year later (3/8/09) and I must say, I've loved having Erik in my life these past four years and look forward to many more years with him! And who'd have thought that four years after that phone call, I'd be writing this blog with our baby on my lap! :-) Love it! God is awesome.

Yesterday was week five for Bray-Bray. We reached a few milestones over this past week.

1. He moved up a diaper size. I learned a small diaper was a potential cause of blowouts, so I'm super happy that we changed diapers... less laundry this week!

2. He moved out of newborn outfits (except some newborn pants). He now wears 0-3 month clothes, and even wore a 6-month outfit. (Baby clothes are sized funny!) And for all you newborn mothers out there, the advice I received was "Just try the outfit on and ignore the label! You'll never know when it will fit until you try it!"

3. Yes, I was that mother in Target with the screaming baby who was calmly looking around because I didn't have a pacifier with (new mom mistake) and there was nothing I could do about Brayden being hungry! I just timed my shopping trip wrong!

I'm adjusting better each day to having him around and I love watching his facial expressions. Super funny! He even looks cute when he's crying. I continue to look forward to all the fun adventures ahead!!!

this week's milestones

Happy four weeks to my little Bray-Bray! :-) As we like to call him, he's our big, strong boy! In addition to the four-week milestone, here are a few others....

1. He pooed on the carpet. Yes. Carpet. Fun, huh? As I mentioned in an earlier post, he's extremely good at pooping and/or peeing while his diaper is off. Yes, everyone warned me about the peeing, but nobody said nothing about pooping. Hmmmmm.

2. He peed on his head. Yes. Head. I stepped outside with Tucker for a minute. I walked back in and Erik said, "Did you give Brayden a bath?" 

"No. Why?"

"His head, arm, and hand are wet." 

"Really?"

We surmised that while we were making dinner and Brayden was laying on his playmat, somehow he peed up his side and reached his head and made a nice pee-spot on his playmate. We were amazed and slightly disgusted. Laundry and a dual-parent bath quickly followed. 

3. We caught his first smile on camera.

Most likely it's just a gaseous, random smile from a newborn, but let's pretend and say he's a well above average, smiling at just three and a half weeks old. :-)

Soon-to-come milestones: 

-February 11th is his official first month birthday! Maybe Erik and I should celebrate with cake....

-He's very close to outgrowing some of his newborn clothes! 

Being a parent is exhausting, overwhelming, and yet somehow extremely wonderful. I'm enjoying the moments and surviving the days and always looking to catch some more sleep.

When we say our prayers before bed, I'm always quick to say thank you to the Lord for Brayden. It was a long road to holding a baby in our arms for keeps and I dearly miss my little Brody, but both things make me ever-so-much-more grateful for our little sweetie Brayden. I know we have lots of good moments, days, and memories ahead with him. For that, Lord, I am truly grateful.

morning feedings, babies, and hope

In my extensive experience as mother of a newborn (all three weeks of it!), I've noticed that mothers live from hope to hope. We hope that after we feed our babies the last feeding before bed that he/she will quickly go to sleep. We hope that they'll sleep an extra hour than usual. We hope that if they don't sleep an extra hour that perhaps after the next feeding they'll sleep an extra hour, maybe even two. We hope our baby will stay asleep for an extra five minutes so we can finish cleaning the kitchen or writing thank you notes or catching some z's. We hope they'll stay awake for company so they can sleep later in the night. We hope.

I find that hope is what keeps me going when I'm exhausted at 4 a.m. feeding little Brayden. I am hopeful that he'll not cry when I change his diaper, he'll eat fast, and he'll fall asleep quickly so I can quickly get back into my bed and get as much sleep as possible before he feeds again--all without waking Erik so Erik can get as much sleep as possible before he heads to work!

Let me clarify why I like when Brayden happens to eat quickly at night... newborns feed every 2-3 hours, but that doesn't mean they eat, wait 2-3 hours, and eat again. The 2-3 hour clock starts when they start feeding. So if they eat at 9 a.m., take one hour to eat and another fifteen minutes to fall asleep, you'll have potentially 45 minutes until they want to eat again at 11 a.m. That's why moms are always hopeful that their babies will have a longer stretch than two hours between feeding and/or the feeding goes relatively quickly so they can get back to bed before the next feeding!

So a few days ago when I started thinking about this hopefulness I have as a mother, it reminded me of life. In life, we always need to have hope. When hope is gone, there's nothing left to hang onto. We need to have hope in something (or Someone!) that things will change, good things are ahead, etc.

I'm a goal-oriented person, and I think this is why I'm always hopeful. I feel weird if I don't have some goal, something to look forward to or hope in. I'll create my own goals when I don't have anything to get excited about and say, "If I do this and this by the end of the day, I'll get Dairy Queen for myself!"

This need for hope is especially true if you are going through a difficult situation. No matter what type of situation - relational, financial, grief-related, etc. - you need hope that something will change.

The Bible says that God is the God of all hope. He provides you with promises and truth to hope in. He also gives you practical things to hope in as you go throughout your day. If you don't have anything to hope in or look forward to, ask Him to give you something.

Hebrews chapter 6 puts it this way: our hope in the Lord anchors our soul. The Message Bible says this (verses 18-20):

"We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It's an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God...."


Your hope in the Lord may not be answered in the way you think, but it will be answered. That is our solid hope, our "unbreakable spiritual lifeline," and the anchor for our soul.

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on a personal note: three weeks ago I was at the hospital in labor! Happy three weeks to baby Brayden!

For him, having his hands by his face is pure happiness.  :-)