squeeze this!

If pictures of babies with fat rolls and double chins won't make you smile, nothing will. So here. This is for you.

graduation party

We went to LaGrange last weekend to celebrate the graduations of our nephew Andrew (UAB) and niece Emilee (High School). Karen and Wayne outdid themselves and threw a great party for 200 guests, complete with homemade pulled pork, potato salad, etc, a full bar and bartender and a DJ and karaoke until the wee morning hours. I didn't take nearly enough pictures and I (sadly) have no pictures of the two honorees, but here is a brief glimpse into our weekend....

Meme (Keith's mom) and Brady




Our niece Meg and Brady


"Moo-oom, Tate has his finger in my ear!" (imagining what Brady would be saying)

terms of endearment

Me: Tate, how many noses does Aunt Lindsey have?
Tate: ONE BIG ONE!!!



(love you Aunt Lindsey!! xoxo)

lions and tigers and bears

We bought an annual pass to the zoo and have taken advantage of it a few times so far this summer. The pictures below are from May. This was actually our first outing as a family of four, but somehow we have no pictures of Brady at all to document the occasion. (poor 2nd child)

all about brady - 3 months

Born: April 2, 2011 at 8:50am at Northside Hospital

Full Name: James Brady Golden

Weight at Birth: 9lbs, 14oz

1 Month Stats: Weight - 11lbs, 14oz (91%), Height - 22in (68%), Head - 39.4cm (76%)

2 Month Stats: Weight - 14lbs, 15oz (95%), Height - 23.5in (62%), Head - 41cm (67%)

Eyes: Blue

Hair: Dark brown at birth, but lost quite a bit of it. Seems to be growing back lighter.

Sleep Position: Sleeps on his stomach or in his swing

Sleep Length: Sleeping 7-9 straight hours at night (10-12 hrs total with 1 feeding)

Feeding: Nursing in the morning and evening and then Brady gets a 5oz bottle of either breast milk or formula every 2-3 hours at school. (Would like to keep nursing until at least 6 months)

Demeanor: Mostly a happy baby with brief periods of fussiness. Coos and smiles when talked to. Wants to be held and requires constant motion when he's awake.

Milestones:

-1st baseball game at 3 weeks

-1st smile at 4 weeks

-Rolling from stomach to back (by accident) at 10 weeks
-Sleeping 9 straight hours at night at 11 weeks

happy birthday to birthday cake

A serenade to celebrate Daddy's 36th birthday:

first day of school

I "officially" went back to work today, but Brady went to Kids R Kids for the first time last Thursday so that I could get my hair and nails done and run a few other errands to prepare for work. Brady charmed his new teachers with big smiles within minutes of arrival and did great on his first day. He only took four 30-minute naps during the 8 hours he was there (noises kept waking him up)...but that led to him sleeping 9 HOURS STRAIGHT that night and every night since!!

Here are a few pictures from Brady's first day...

loose ends

I previously wrote a "part 1" for both Tate's 2nd birthday and Brady's birth story. As Paul Harvey would say, here's the rest of the story...

We got to the hospital, got checked into our room, I got strapped to the monitors, and then we waited...and waited...and waited to find out when/if they planned to deliver the baby. Keith slept in the recliner and his sister Karen kept me company.



I had progressed from 2cm to 3cm by 5am (ish) and FINALLY got the word that they had scheduled my c-section for 8:30am. The surgeon would be a woman named Dr. Stacy Boulton, not Dr. Soufi. Despite not having any idea who Dr. Boulton was (not even part of Dr. Soufi's practice), I was ready to get this baby out.

A fluster of activity began shortly after 6am as the surgery prep began. Once again, all the dread leading up to the epidural outweighed the discomfort of the procedure itself. Everything went smoothly and before I knew it, I was being wheeled down to the operating room. (OR 3 - same room where Tate was born)




20 minutes later, at 8:50am, James Brady Golden was born, weighing in at a whopping 9lbs, 14oz...exactly as predicted by the neonatologist.

Keith got to spend a few minutes in the recovery room with Brady and I, before leaving at 10:15am to head back up to Roswell to host Tate's 2nd birthday party. While Brady and I got settled in our room and got to know each other alone (which was really nice), the rest of our family and friends ate cake and celebrated Tate at the park across the street from our neighborhood.

We made the mistake of trying to introduce Tate and Brady later that afternoon. Tate was tired after his party and there were too many people in the room...a recipe for disaster. We had a MUCH better experience the next morning when Tate was rested and it was just the 4 of us.

the pool

We had a fun afternoon at the pool with the Scofield clan, Emilee and Lindsey and Dan on Sunday. Tate is getting more and more brave in the water and even worked up the courage to jump off the diving board for the first time. So proud of my big boy!










(only have a cell phone pic to document the first jump)