christmas 2010

Holly Peppermint Christmas 5x7 folded card

Get custom photo Christmas cards online at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Christmas Cards!!!

Like a lot of people I LOVE CHRISTMAS CARDS! I like sending them and receiving them. I also enjoy writing our annual "Christmas Letter" to family and friends. Last year I ordered our Christmas cards from Shutterfly and absolutely loved them. This year they are having a great promotion. If you are a "blogger" like me, and you blog about their products you can get 50 free holiday cards.

This year I have already ordered four gifts through Shutterfly. Each one has turned out great and I can't wait to give each gift. Some of my favorite gifts I have ordered this year and last are calendars, mugs, and photo books.

Shutterfly always has great deals on all of their products and run great promotions all the time so it is really easy to always catch a deal. I can't wait to pick out my cards this year, here are just a few I am thinking of choosing from:

I hope everyone enjoys their fast approaching holiday season!

Video's of Braylon!

Below are just some videos I have posted on facebook in the last couple months. Thought I would post some up here so everyone could see how fast our baby B is growing!

These are a few of my favorite things.....

So first off, I know you have noticed I get an "F" in keeping up with my blog lately....there is just so much going on around the Hunley household these past few months the blog has taken the back seat. So hoping to write a few blogs this weekend. This blog however is not about Braylon but one I have been wanting to do for awhile. It is all my favorite things I have found or been given as a mom. So if you need a baby shower gift or just reading hope you find it interesting :o)

First off I LOVE "MAM Pacifiers". These pacifiers get bigger as the child does. Braylon gravitated to these passies right away. They also come in such cute designs.

One thing that got Chuck and I through the nights of the first 2 months was the "Arm's Reach Co Side Sleeper". My Grandma Helen gave it to us and we thanked her every day. The bassinet actually hooks to the side of the bed and allows you to just reach over and get the baby to feed him. This we so helpful since we were up about every 3 hours. It was actually kind of sad when we transitioned him to his crib at 8 weeks. Miss waking up and seeing him next to us.

Another great thing we use everyday is the "SleepSack"

Every night before bed we put Braylon in one of his sleepsacks. This eliminates the worry of him pulling the blanket over his head and he has slept through the night since he was 6 weeks old. I attribute a lot of this to being wrapped so warmly in his sleep sacks.

We went through quite a few different bottles until we found one Braylon would take. Once we had mastered breastfeeding, it was time for myself to head back to work so finding a bottle that Braylon would take and also continue to nurse was tricky. This was our winner Gerber BPA Free Nuk Bottles

When I took my breastfeeding class they recommended the Medela Breastpump. When they also mentioned they were about $300 I was not quite sure it was worth it. But the more I researched pumps and compared reviews we took some of the money we received at Braylons baby shower and bought The Medela Pump In Style and I am so glad I did. I am currently pumping 4 times a day and I credit this pump to making it so easy. Everything is stored in the carrying bag, breastfeeding was hard enough in the beginning and this pump made things a little easier.

Well these are just a "few" of my favorite things. I will hopefully add things as time goes on. We are about ready to step in to the adventure of "baby food making". So wish us luck! I am sure we will have more products to share really soon!

Melts our hearts! ~2 month check up!

Well on Oct 29th Braylon went in for his two month check up with Dr. Wratchford. He is doing fantastic..weighing in at 14.7 lbs and 24 1/2 inches long he is in the 95th percentile of both. Dr.Wratchford said he is a perfect weight for his height and we are loving the fat rolls down the legs and arms :o) Mommy's milk does a body good! As for breastfeeding, I went back to work last week so I am pumping at work 3 times a day and then feeding ("straight from the tap" as Dr Wratchford says) the rest of the day and weekends. Monday through Wednesday were really good days with grandma and daddy. However Braylon did have a bottle of formula on Wednesday when with daddy and it aggravated his tummy for the next two days....poor baby. I am working on upping my milk supply so we don't have to go the formula route anymore. Unfortunately its a slow process. He is definitely smiling more and more as you can see from the pic below. He is wiggling his legs a lot and swinging his arms around so much. He even twirls his hair in his fingers. He has already changed so much in 11 weeks......cant wait to continue watching him grow!

2 Month Pic!

We had Braylons 2-month-old pics taken Thursday...he is already changing so much!

Breast is best....but not always easiest!

Well the title says it all. I decided about mid pregnancy I wanted to try and Breastfeed Braylon. This was not something I was thrilled about doing and if it didn't have as many benefits I would most definitely not do it. One benefit I didn't know until starting to research breastfeeding was if a mother breast feeds her child, her and her child's chances of getting breast cancer are lowered by 10%. And then if that child (if its a girl) breast feeds her child you can add another 10%. So seeing I was breastfed, by my mother, my chances of being diagnosed with breast cancer are lowered by 20%....all from breastfeeding. So just for that one simple aspect I had
to try.
So I took a breastfeeding class through Bon Secure, and felt more prepaired to "try" once Braylon was here. Well upon delivering Braylon they have you automatically start to try and breastfeed. (Just what you feel like doing after you push out a 10lb baby) He would latch but over the next few days started to get frustrated seeing my milk had not come in. We went home from the hospital Saturday and on Monday we went in to his dr because my milk had still not come in. He actually had lost weight down to 8lbs. Dr Wratchford told us to start him on formula until my milk came in. Well he was one happy baby with a full tummy finally. It was that following Wednesday my milk FINALLY came in. Almost a full week after having him. Well he was now hooked on the bottle and wanted no part of latching. So I started pumping and feeding him through bottle. (Pain in the you know what) This went on for about 4 weeks....4 very long weeks!
She started us on what they call a nipple shield. Tricked him into thinking I was a bottle....after a week we went off the nipple shield and it has been great since. He is doing fantastic and I could not be more relieved. Now that discription name it sound easy....it was many fustrating and crying nights to get us to this point. There has only been one"hick-up" since and that's when i had garlic bread two nights in a row. Braylon evidently does not like garlic :o) So I am holding off eating anymore of that for awhile. Well here are some pics of our big guy. He has his 2 month pictures this weekend and his 2 month dr apt next week. We are thinking he is about 15 lbs. (obviously breast milk does a body good)

Braylons favorite place to sleep.

Looking at the fan!
Chuck "watching" the baby while mommy fixed dinner!

Daddy and Braylon watching tv!