Count Down To His Big Day!

Braxton's birthday is just right around the corner. I cannot believe my baby will be turning ONE on October 30th. What an AMAZING year it has been! Braxton has reached many milestones and he is only 11 months old. He took his first step a week shy of nine months. He now is not just walking but RUNNING! He is fun to watch keep up with Payton.

Braxton also has a handful of words he says.He says: DaDa, MaMa, Scat (Scout), Hot, Yeah, Ket (Catch), and Bahbe (Baby)! It seems every few days he adds a new word. Hot and Yeah are clear as day and the rest have that cute baby twist to the word like Scat for Scout. Braxton thinks all dogs are Scat. He loves his dog Scout.

Braxton also can show you where his nose is. If you ask him where his nose is he put his finger on it. I always clap when he does it so now he points to his nose and claps his hands. He is really a FUNNY boy!

Braxton is so full of personality. The kid can make the craziest faces! He knows his faces get a reaction out of people so he can ham it up like nobody else. When you try to take his picture he curls up his nose and closes his eyes then laughs. He will smile after that but he knows it makes everyone laugh! I tried to put pictures this time that show that crazy, funny side of Braxton. For those of you that do not get to see him often this should make you laugh. Remember when looking at these that he is just 11 months! He is the light of my life. He truly make me laugh all day long!!!!! ENJOY!!!


Braxton was playing with a bowl and kept putting it on his head! I LOVE this picture!

Eating Pizza Rolls! Scat is the big dog on the left!

Trying to take the camera from MaMa!


This is the curl up the nose, toss the head back and close the eyes to make MaMa laugh when she tries to take a picture. He looks so crazy in this picture. I told you he was a crazy boy!

This is a close up of the nose curl and funny picture face!

Braxton is a clone of his Father. He looks just like his DaDa. You can really tell in this picture.


He is going to be a Monkey for Halloween. He had to be a Monkey because his nickname is Monkey! He also is making a crazy face here!

Braxton just loves his Cousin Payton. You can see it in this picture!

An Overdue Update

WOW! It has been awhile since I have updated the blog. So much has gone on since Fathers Day. In June we went on our FIRST FAMILY VACATION!! We went to Galveston Beach. It was a blast. Braxton loved the ocean! He liked the waves hitting his feet and the ability to crawl into it! I cannot wait to go back.

Late July just a week before Braxton turned nine months he took his first step. Anthony and I were sitting on the floor playing with him when he took a step from the ottoman to the couch. We both couldn't believe it! He now is walking everywhere. He loves that he can keep up with us and the dogs a little better. I cannot believe how much our little monkey has grown. Yes...I called him our monkey. Braxton climbs onto and over everything. We have decided that 2009 is the year of the monkey for us. Even before he was walking he was climbing onto the ottoman and on top of toys. Since it is the year of the Monkey we decided to dress Braxton up as a monkey for Halloween. I already ordered his costume and cannot wait for Halloween. Anthony decided he will be a banana. I think they will look SUPER cute walking door to door together. I am not sure what I am going to be yet. I think just a Jungle Jane.

Mid August Braxton came down with a NASTY stomach bug that landed him in the hospital for 2 nights. It was the worst three days of our lives. Braxton had an IV to keep him hydrated. He did not like it at all. When he looked at the IV he cried! Oh....it broke my heart. To add insult to injury I had the same stomach bug the first two days we were there. Being sick when you child needs you is the worst. Luckily, Braxton is a Daddy's boy and wanted his daddy more than his Mom. I woke up the day we finally were able to go home feeling better and Anthony had the bug. It was not a good week for us. Hopefully we will NEVER have to go through that again. Braxton has another virus right now. We are really working on his fluid intake and being over the top cautious. His doctor has been great calling often to check on Braxton and keeping us posted on what is best to give Braxton food,fluids and medicine wise. I have concluded that the recent back to back illnesses are a result of attending the play group Braxton and I joined. He has never had more than a runny nose in the past. I guess the sharing on bugs is part of being social with other children. Hopefully this will help build up his immune system and this will NOT continue to happen.

Right before Braxton got sick the second time we began teaching him baby sign. I thought it would take forever for him to grasp it but he picked it up fast. We taught him to say "all done". He signs "all done" all the time.....in his car seat, at the dinner table and even at the Circus. I love that I know what he wants. We were teaching him "eat" and "more" when he got sick and we fell of with the consistency. Once he is better we will pick it back up. We may not need the baby sign much longer because Braxton has said his first word. He said .......SCOUT! We knew there was no doubt he would say that first. Scout is our blue heeler that is Braxton's best friend. They play together all day. He first said "dat" and we thought he was just making that sound. Then he added the s and said "sdat" when playing with Scout. Now he has progressed a little more and says "scat". The best part is Scout has figured out he is being called and comes when Braxton yells "scat" the hundred times a day he does. He sounds like a foreigner trying to say Scout. It is really funny and of course cute. Braxton will sign "all done" to me when he is finished eating and then yell "Scat" and toss his food off his tray. We are working on not feeding Scout and Kramer his food.

It is AMAZING how fast Braxton has changed from a baby to a toddler. We may not have another so I wish he would slow down. In a few short months he went from crawling around to walking and talking. Our little monkey is still the most awesome kid out there. He is our world and makes life so much better! We are blessed to have a happy, healthy, cute as all get out baby boy!


Braxton didn't understand why the water came and went.

Family Photo

Braxton with his IV. He looks so thin. He lost a pound while he was sick!

Working in the service center of our store.


Hanging out a the pool!

Happy Father's Day!

We love you Anthony! Hope you have a WONERFUL first Father's Day!

My Cousin Payton!

We spent Sunday afternoon at the pool with Rich, Candace and Payton. Braxton loves his cousin Payton. I think it is a pretty mutual love between the boys! They play so well together despite the age gap. Braxton thinks he is as BIG as Payton! He tries to keep up and for the most part he can. I love watching the two of them play together. Payton for some reason hates to take pictures with Braxton or just in general for me. I was able to score a couple really cute ones of them. The best part is we had just got back from the pool and they both are just in their diapers.

Braxton is going through some major separation anxiety! He cries every morning when Anthony leaves for work. If Anthony is gone before Anthony wakes up he looks for him in the morning. I know when he is looking for his Daddy because he starts off down the hallway towards our room. Once he realizes his Daddy is gone he cries. OH! It breaks my heart! Braxton also thinks you have to be within arms reach of him at all times. This makes for a long day for me! I cannot get anything done. Braxton stayed with his Aunt Candace while we had dinner and he did the same thing to her! I am glad he loves us, but I hope this phase passes! It makes me sad to leave him and tears me apart each day when Anthony leaves!

Braxton is moving and shaking! He is crawling everywhere and is into EVERYTHING! I love it though! He is getting so brave and trying to free stand and even tries to take steps from one thing to the next. He has not been successful. He can move from one thing to the next if it is in arms reach and he can hold on. I laugh because he isn't even close to being successful at walking. He sure is determined! One day he will be successful. I will cry if I miss it!!! I really never leave him, but it will happen while I am at HEB! He is such a fun and exciting kid! We both just love this kid more than ever!

Lake Trip

What an AMAZING day we had! Anthony and I took Braxton out on the boat for the first time. Anthony has been itching to take Braxton out on the boat. Braxton's doctor told us we needed to wait until he had his six month shots. Braxton got those last Friday and we hit the lake today. Braxton LOVED it!!!! The first few minutes on the boat Braxton screamed and I mean screamed! I got really worried! After we changed his poopy diaper and a 45 min nap he was ready to explore the lake. We thought the water was cold and he would not want to play in the water. OH NO! Braxton wanted to get in the water. When we would take him out of the water he screamed! He would lean toward the water and kick his feet! We both were so excited Braxton liked the lake. Anthony LOVES to spend as much time out on the boat as possible. We got to the lake a 2:00 and figured we would be there only an hour or two. When we got back in the truck it was 7:00! That is normal lake trip for us. We were having so much fun we lost track of time. We did stop for an early dinner at Carlos and Charlie’s. We thought Braxton needed the full Lake Travis experience! What an amazing day!

6 Months and Counting

Braxton had his 6 months healthy check. The doctor appointment went really well. Braxton in the doctor’s words is "PERFECT"! She was truly amazed with his progress over the last few months. Braxton is army crawling around the house. He in the beginning didn't really explore much. He would only crawl when we wanted something like our phones or his pacifier. Now he loves to explore and is all over the place. I LOVE it! I watch him see and experience new things and even watch him learn about the world around him! I know I will have days where his mobility will drive me nuts! I just love being a stay at home Mom!

Braxton still needs to put a few more pounds on. Braxton is in the 84% for height and the 25% for weight! He only gained a pound since his last appointment two months ago. His doctor thinks it is because he is active and on the move. Braxton gets cereal and/or a fruit for breakfast and then a jar of stage 2 baby food for dinner. The doctor wants us to go ahead and feed him a jar of baby food for lunch as well. She said he will need the protein and extra calories since he is crawling and is a little thin. I tried introducing some homemade baby food. He wasn't a fan! He likes the jarred stuff. The doctor said to keep trying he will take to it. We will see!

We did introduce the CUP with a 2 oz of juice. He thought it was a super tasty treat! Candace told me to tip the cup in his mouth without the stopper in it and then quickly put the stopper in and give him the cup. That did the trick. It took a few seconds for him to figure out he had to bite down and suck! Once he got it he was going to town. He can hold his own cup, but he hasn't figured out that he has to tip it to get the bottom of the juice. We will work on that trick this coming week!

Life has been a little crazy in the Hernandez household with the recent store break in and life in general. Anthony and I are still the happiest we ever have been, despite the stress! Life may be CrAzY, but it is still wonderful! Thanks to all for your prayers and kind words! It helped us through the stress and craziness!



Anthony is a HUGE Texans Fan! This picture put a huge smile on Anthony's face!


Drinking from his cup! What a BIG boy!


This picture put a huge smile on Mommy's face!


Braxton and his cousin Payton!

Braxton's Christening

On Saturday Braxton Christened at St. John Vianney Catholic Church. It was really special for us to have him christened there because that is where Anthony and I got married almost five years ago. Braxton did really well. We attend church often so Braxton knows Father Edwin well. Braxton is going through a little stranger danger. He really does not like people he does not know to touch him. I am so glad he felt comfortable with Father Edwin. The day went perfect despite the rain. We had planned to have the reception in our backyard. With all the rain it was really muddy. Anthony decided to rent tables and chairs for the event so we transformed our garage into the reception area. It actually worked out great. We popped up a sprint tent for those that wanted to sit outside and enjoyed the beautiful day. Curtis and Sunne brought their bounce house so the kids had something to do. Gary smoked a few briskets and Anthony and Dusty cooked chicken, sausage, hotdogs and wings. I think everyone that attended had fun!

Braxton is army crawling all over the place. He can get himself out of him Bumbo and cruise the living room. He really only crawls if he wants something. Like if he sees a toy or mommy’s cell phone. We taught him to crawl by putting our cells phones just out of reach. He LOVES our phones. Loving phones just must be in his blood. He hasn't tried to explore........YET! I thought like most kids he would crawl backwards first, but he didn't. He did the inch worm crawl where he stuck his bottom in the air and then pulled forward. That lasted only a few days. Braxton can move pretty fast so the life of chasing him has begun. The doctor thought he would crawl late because he still loves to stand and can pull up usually on Anthony or me.

Braxton now also puts his hands up when he wants you to pick him up. I love this! If you walk past him and he wants to be picked up he puts his hands up and grunts! Anthony loves when he comes home from work and Braxton puts his arms up! It melts his heart! Our baby is growing so fast!

Braxtons First Easter

We had a wonderful Easter! We all woke up a little late because Braxton had a rough night! He has one bottom tooth that is all the way in and one that just needs to break through the gums. I guess that tooth was bothering him because he cried on and off all night. He still woke up in a GREAT mood and loved what the Easter Bunny brought him. The Easter Bunny knew just what he needed. He got a few toys and some clothes because his 3-6 months are too small. Some he can wear, but not most of his 3-6 are to short! He also got his swimwear and swim diapers so the next warm day we can FINALLY put the boat in the water and introduce Braxton to the lake. Anthony and I already had the lake conversation with Braxton’s doctor. She said it is fine to take him after he gets his 6 months shots. That appointment is just around the corner. We love spending the weekends on the boat. I hope Braxton does as well. Braxton just LOVES to be outside. I hope this means he will like the boat as well!

Braxton also loves to go shopping with his mommy! We have a few shopping days ahead of this week. Braxton's Grand-dad sent him Easter money for clothes. Thanks Grand-dad for that nice gift! We will be clothes shopping this week! We also have to shop for all the odds and ends that are needed for the reception after the christening this Saturday! I am truly excited for this weekend! Braxton will get to meet two Great Aunts (Hernandez Side) from out of the state. I have never met them either! We feel so blessed that people are coming from all over the state and even U.S. to be here for this celebration.

Happy Easter!

Braxton went to meet the Easter Bunny this week. I was afraid he would cry because he entered the phase where he cries when strangers hold him! Braxton was fine! He really just wanted to eat the Easter Bunny's bow. I know tons of kids have chewed on that as well. It just captured his current stage in life which is teething. Braxton FINALLY cut his first tooth today. He has been upset about that tooth coming in for a week. Needles to say it was a rough week. You can now see the tip of his bottom left center tooth. The other one will be in shortly!

While we were at the mall I also got him a really cute Easter outfit! I CANNOT for Easter to get here. The next few weeks are going to be crazy. Next weekend is Easter and then the following Saturday is his Christening. I cannot wait to see all our family that is coming in from all over the state as well as the country. We have Aunts flying in from NY and Florida. It is going to be a blast!

New Car Seat

Braxton has graduated from his infant car seat to a BIG BOY car seat! He is soooooo much happier in his boy boy car seat!

A day at the park!

We took Braxton to the park for a fun family outing. Out neighborhood has an AWESOME park. We played and had a blast. It is crazy how a simple trip to the park is an amazing memory!

Flag Football

Each Tuesday Anthony and many of his High School buddies get together to play flag fooball! They play in a league at Old Settlers Park! Braxton likes to go watch his daddy play! GO GAMECOCKS !!!!

A Day At Work With Daddy!

Braxton and I have gone into the store a couple times in the last week. He is like the newest member of the store's team. Our regular customers are excited to meet Braxton and he enjoys the attention. Our Staff is great with Braxton. Stephen and Ramon our two guy employees even hold him. Anthony was holding Braxton while making a few phone calls. I captured the the perfect picture of the two of them working! We can tell already Braxton takes going to work very serious!

If you need a Sprint phone please feel free to contact Braxton anytime.

A Cold Saturday

This Saturday it was cold......well Texas cold!!! It was in the 50's! We had plans to do yard work and to have a family day at the park. We decided to go ahead and trim the hedges and pull the weeds despite the cold. It really wasn't that cold, but the wind was crazy. I wanted to plant flowers and lay the weed and feed. We decided to hold off for a few more weeks for that. I wanted to help so we bundled Braxton up. We really haven't bought him a lot of 3-6 winter stuff since it gets warm early in TX. Last week we hit our first day in the 80 as a matter of fact it hit 89 on Thursday. Thankfully my Aunt Debbie sent Braxton the outfit he had on a and few other AWESOME gifts for Christmas. I thought Braxton looked so cute I had to post these pictures even though I did a post a few days ago.

Thanks Aunt Debbie for buying him a few winter clothes in 3-6 months they really saved us this week!

4 Months Old

On Wednesday we took Braxton to the doctor for his four month visit. The doctor was so excited to see him. Dr. Cepeda said that she couldn't believe how much he had grown in the month that had past. With Braxton's acid reflux issue we had been seeing her at least twice a month since he was born up to his third month. The doctor said that you want the baby to be healthy so we don't have to seed him, but she missed him. I thought that was super sweet. Braxton's doctor is AWESOME! At the visit he was weighted and measured. Our little boy grew a lot. He is in the 83%for height and the 30% for weight. LONG AND SKINNY!!!!! She always spends a lot of time with him to make sure all is well. She likes to see him eat, play, and tests his motor skills. While she was trying to do his exam he kept getting upset because he likes to stand and hates to lay down. She would lay him down and check his ears then pick him so he can stand, then lay him down to check his joints and then pick him up to stand. She said that his ability to stand as well as he can is amazing. He can hold himself up on things for about 5 minutes and can stand all day if you help support him. She said she would not be surprised if he walked at 9 months. She said he may crawl a little late because he hates to do tummy time......well he HATES any activity that doesn't involve standing. After the whole exam she said well you two have a very advanced child. She said that his body isn't developing as fast as his motor skills. She said it is okay to let him stand all the time. She said that it will make learning to walk easier. She said his legs are still forming so it should be difficult for him to stand. She pointed out that his feet still turn out a little bit. She said this is appropriate for his age. This just makes it difficult to stand. She said on all the motor skills tests she did she was surprised at how far along he is. We always thought he was super smart. I think every mother does though. When the doctor told us he was advanced it wasn’t a surprise. The other good news she gave us was that he will not need his acid reflux medication much longer. She said as his weight increases the medication will be less effective and is natural way to take him off of it. She said by his 6 month exam he will be done. Thank God it cost us an arm and a leg each month. She also told us to increase his cereal feeding from once a day to twice. She said he will be ready for baby food in a month as well. Braxton did get a few shots at that visit. The poor kid doesn't do well with shots. He has to be pumped with Tylenol for 48 hours. We feel so BAD for him. He just cries and wines majority of the 48 hours following his shots.

I have added a few pictures! Enjoy!

Happy Valentines Day!

INTRODUCING Cereal

Our little man is eating cereal from a spoon. We thought he might not like it and it may take weeks for him to get the hang of it. I even read some babies will resist. No way not Braxton he LOVED it. The first day (pics with the I love cereal bib) he blew more bubbles with the cereal than he ate, but he thought it was the coolest thing ever. The next time we thickened it up and he went to town. He ate more than he spit out. We knew we did not have to worry about the possibility of an allergy because he has been getting a half teaspoon in each bottle to help with his reflux. The little amount in his bottle made his belly feel so much better. Such a simple easy fix. He still has to take his prescription for his reflux and more than likely will need to until he is a year old. With the little cereal in his bottle and the prescription he has been a HAPPY, HAPPY baby! This also helped the kid put a little weight on. Majority of his 0-3 pants never fit in the waist before he out grew them in the length. His doctor said this is typical of babies with reflux as bad as his.

Payton was at the house today while Candace was at school. Payton thought it was cool Braxton was eating from a spoon. He was cheering his cousin on. It was super cute. Payton finally learned to say Braxton. Before he only referred to Braxton as "cole baby". He breaks up his name as says "Brax-ton". Payton is attentive when Braxton cries. He says "Braxton noise" when Braxton isn't crying when he is just cooing or yelling. Payton and Braxton are growing up so fast!