Laughing, Drooling, and a New Throne!

I know my camera breaking is not a good excuse for failing to post pictures of Boo, especially when Sammie's a "retired" photographer and we have tons of photography gear around the house. But I finally got a new "point and shoot" and so taking pictures of Boo is a lot more convenient. Without further ado...

Extreme Close Up! (admit it, this picture totally makes you want to cuddle with him, doesn't it?!?)

Sammie had Boo cracking up the other night.

The back of Boo's head is a little flat so we're trying to keep him off his back. I bought him this new chair and he loves it! It looks like a throne and he rules over... well... the carpet. It's the only thing shorter than he is.

The new camera has a "kids and pets" setting for active subjects. I tried it out cuz Boo waves his arms and legs so much and so fast. Apparently, it's also good for photographing drool.

And finally... now that Boo can grab things and hold onto them, he loves stuffed animals! This is his favorite... Zack the Duck.

Fancy Fotography

This is one of my favorite movies that I've ever taken. The content is pretty good. It's Phoebe discovering and playing with her toy squirrel that my mom sent her. But my favorite part is that halfway through the film, I realize that Phoebe is jumping up and down and so I should turn the camera to portrait view rather than landscape. The result is, well... just lay your left ear on your shoulder and you should be able to view it just fine.

Lots of fun... In the meantime, here's handsome Boo in his easter outfit. I was supposed to be in Relief Society, but I was too fascinated taking pictures of him. How can one worship when one's baby is so adorable?

Eating Cereal!

In Boo's honor, we now refer to all food at our house as "formula." Mommy and Daddy have yummy formula that's a lot different from Boo's. When he's older, he'll eat Mommy and Daddy's formula. The furry blue monster on his diaper is "formula" monster. (Okay, that's because they changed him to "veggie monster" to get kids to eat more healthy foods and I think that's really stupid. Even stupider than formula monster.)
Anyway, Boo has a new formula! He likes oatmeal more than he likes rice. We haven't really tried anything else...

The first day I fed him, he ate VORACIOUSLY! As soon as he saw the spoon coming out of the bowl, he would open his mouth and flap his arms (baby bird-like). By the time the spoon got to his mouth, he couldn't stand it any more and would clamp down just milliseconds too early. The spoon would hit his mouth and send mush splattering all over his face. (And I thought he generated a lot of laundry before...)

Boo Out Loud

So... I know I'm always blogging about Boo's burps. But they really are incredible. And he totally outdid himself today. In fast and testimony meeting... Yes, all you Mormons know what's coming. A sister was bearing a very sweet, spiritual, and emotional testimony. I put Boo on my shoulder and ... WOW! No. I mean...

WOW!!!

A friend of mine was sitting across the aisle and she said when she heard it, she thought, "Who in the world?" And then, of course, looked over to see Boo. Sammie later said it wasn't so much that Boo burped loudly that was embarassing, it was how long and uncontrollably I laughed about it. The best is that he maintains his innocent face, with his big round eyes and his little puckered mouth. And when I started laughing, he looked so startled. "Everyone does that in church, don't they Mom?"

Sorry I didn't capture the moment on camera. I have some other random pictures of him, though. Hope you enjoy!

So much cheek for Mommy to kiss!

Cool exersaucer from Granny Boyer

He's almost outgrown his swing! (and his 6 months clothes at age 4 1/2 months)

With his buddies from the ward

The wallpaper on my new phone.

Bradley's Headlines

Dopey

When my Mom and Dad were visiting last weekend, my Mom very lovingly pointed out that Brad reminded her of one of the seven dwarves--Dopey, to be exact. (I think she was getting me back for nicknaming my nephew Josh "Puncinello" from Max Lucado's "You Are Special")

Well, today Sammie's Mom came in to town and took this picture of Brad. I think the nickname "Dopey" might be more appropriate than I had hoped...

A Day in the Life of Bradley at 3 months

note: sorry the pictures are kinda small. I adapted them from a powerpoint. Sammie says to press control-shift-+ on a pc to zoom in. If you're a mac user, you're on your own. :)

Boo

Boo!

Okay, Okay. I know what you're here for. Not me. Not Sammie. Not even Phoebe.
So I'll let you get down to the business at hand... drooling over pictures of my soon. We call this one "Brown Boo Bear"

This one is "Little Blue Bear." Our wonderful friend Emma Powell took these.

For you die-hard Phoebe fans who wish she would return to the blog. (Phoebe, by the way, doesn't like Brad. She ignores him except for when he cries. Then she stalks out of the room in disgust. Fortunately, she's recently learned the joy of chasing squirrels ((some real, most imaginary)) in our backyard.)

Sammie and Brad having tummy time on Christmas Eve.

Trying to capture his smile.

This video mainly consists of me jerking the camera around and croaking at Brad in my horse voice, trying to get him to smile. Sorry...

Thanks for visiting! And thanks for all of your excitement for us. We have the best blog readers in all of cyberspace!!!!!

Picture of Brad. It's obvious you're not here for any other reason......... :-P

Guy Smiley

Okay, I admit that last post was lame.

The little guy is starting to smile! It's SO charming! Here's a picture Sammie snapped with his camera phone just a few minutes ago. More coming soon...

A camel is a horse designed by a committee

Great quote, couldn't resist.

Funkweiler as Daddy

It's 10:30 p.m. and Sammie is feeding Bradley, who is having trouble going to sleep tonight, as he does every night.
Sammie puts the bottle in Brad's mouth, who sucks on it for a few seconds then starts crying. Sammie waits for a few minutes, then puts the bottle back in and the process repeats itself. I just overheard Sammie saying this to his young son (1 month old today!), "Brad, your life is so hard. Every time you cry, one of your parents picks you up and feeds you a bottle. You really ought to join a support group." pause "Or are you self conscious about your lack of eyebrows?"

And on the theme of support groups, the other day something quite mundane startled Brad. Sammie commented to him that only Phoebe would be scared of something like that and maybe the two of them ought to join a support group.

But back to the feeding. Sammie just commented to Brad that he starts to cry but then remembers there's a bottle in his mouth and stops. Now, when Brad begins to squak Sammie is saying, "BOTTLE!" to remind Brad not to cry. It's kind of working.

Sammie: It's 4th and 4 Brad and the Giants are going for it!
(Pass complete, 1st down Giants)
Brad: (passes gas)
Sammie: ...and Brad celebrates with a fart!

Watching Sammie as a Dad is pretty amusing.

ps - Brad "celebrates" quite often...

Sammie, when are you going to post more pictures of Brad?

I get asked that question a lot these days. You know, I ran a half marathon yesterday through the Texas hill country -- nobody asks about that, though...

"Don't hate me because I'm beautiful"



Sammie and Brad take a nap
(Brad would later wake me up by puking all over me...)



"What is that black thing you keep pointing at me?"



Brad really hated his first bath....



...the dissatisfaction of the experience lingered for some time.



Story Time



"Not now, Mommy, the game is on"



From an economic perspective, Brad considers
his fingers as substitute goods for binkies.



Brad likes his new blanket from Aunt Sara



Brad and his Great-Grandmother, Phyllis Duncan


For those who wonder, we have come up with a few nicknames for Brad. We started with B-Rad and that is what we usually call him. It led to B-Radley which then led to Boo Radley -- Melba came up with that, but she won't let me use it -- even though Boo ended up being a good guy. (Maybe some day Melba will give me credit for remembering the storyline of To Kill A Mockingbird.)

Anyways, we also call Brad, "Subtle". This used to be our nickname for Phoebe who is never subtle about wanting anything. Brad is even less subtle....

My latest nickname for him is the Formula-Bibber. This comes from how many bottles he went through yesterday during the SEC and Big 12 Championships games -- he had formula all over himself as he drank, burped loudly while drinking the bottles, would break out into crying fits at sporadic times for no apparent reason, then his eyes would roll back and he would fall asleep for a few minutes only to wake up screaming for more.

Pictures

My mother-in-law is much better at blogging than I am. She came over on Monday to meet Brad, take pictures, and bring cool presents! She posted some adorable pictures on her blog. Enjoy!
(ps - Sammie took the "late night" shift with Brad and didn't get to sleep until 2 a.m. I took over at 4 for a feeding and he was perfect for me. :) He's his Mama's boy!)

Bradley Samuel

On November 13, 2009 Bradley Samuel Markham was born to a young mother who loved him very much but knew that she couldn’t give him the best life he could have. So she selected Sammie and me to raise him. On November 15, amidst much emotion, she placed him into our arms.
And that makes us… (fill in the blank) parents, sleep-deprived, very happy, learning to be comfortable with baby poop, covered in baby spit up, elated, “stuck” in Utah at my parent’s house until we have legal permission to take him back to Texas, extremely grateful, more familiar with wee hours of the morning than we ever wanted to be, the proud owners of numerous boxes of diapers and cans of baby formula, still trying to believe it finally happened, trying to give Phoebe (our dog) plenty of attention so she doesn’t become too jealous, madly in love with our little son, all of the above. Sammie’s ecstatic that he’ll be able to watch the Super Bowl this year with his son. I made the rule that all stinky diapers that happen while watching football are Sammie’s to change.
Thanks for all the prayers and good vibes sent our way!

Two things of note...

First, Melba just about cried yesterday watching football. It was one of those, "My heart has swelled with such deep emotion that I can't help but cry" cries. Was it the BYU clobbering of Tulane? No. Was it the intensity of USC vs. OSU? No. Well, what was it? Beaver Stadium -- just the sight of it put her in complete and utter nostalgia and created a deep longing for days when Beaver Stadium was a part of her daily routine. So proud :)

Second, help Travis out -- he has made an animated short and entered it into a contest. Go here and vote for it:

http://www.aniboom.com/animation-video/393230/...With-A-Bear-Behind-Christmas/

Then create an account and rate it really high and leave a good comment.

Oh, and unpacking is going slowly but surely. We're still not quite at a point to take pictures, but we should be soon. For now, you'll have to enjoy the front of the house.