Recap

So, I realize it's been almost a month since I last blogged. Boy, what a month it has been. Brayden is officially a walker now. So much so that he doesn't want to do anything but walk! It makes life a little difficult and has caused me to change my way of life a little bit. He does not want to be in a stroller, he does not want to be in a buggy, he does not want to be in your arms, he wants to be walking! I'm all about letting him walk when it's feasible, but let's face it, sometimes there are moments when he just can't walk. Those are the moments when he pitches an absolute fit and I wish I wasn't out in public somewhere. So, I got him one of those little backpack leash contraptions thinking he would be able to walk, but I would also be able to keep him close. Huge waste of money! He starts walking, realizes there's something on this back and chest, tries to pull the straps on his chest off, and comes to a dead stop. When I try to grab his hand and make him keep walking, he lays on the ground or floor and throws a fit! Oh boy, have I got my hands full! Needless to say, our weekend excursions have been cut back a good bit.

Here are some more updates:
* He went for his 15 month checkup on the 8th and everything looks good. I can't really remember the stats (how bad is that?!) but I think he was in 50th on height and 35th on weight. He's definitely thinning out now that he's so active.
* He loves to brush his teeth. If he's in the bathroom when I'm brushing my teeth, he pitches a fit until I pick him up and brush his teeth.
* He finally wears shoes and loves them! He wants to put every single shoe he finds in our house on his feet.
* He is learning so fast! He can say so many more words. He also will attempt to say anything I tell him to and it's so cute!

On another note, my precious niece, Bentley, will be here in about a month! I am so unbelievably excited to have access to a little baby to hold anytime I want to! I will also have my first nephew in about a month and I'm so excited Brayden will have another boy in the family, even though we don't get to see them as often.

Life is busy, but oh so good! :)

Brayden's 1st Trip to the Zoo!

Today we took Brayden to the zoo and had an absolute blast! It was one of the rare weekend days that Tyler was off so we wanted to do something fun as a family. He got off this morning so we let him rest for a little while and then headed to the zoo about lunch time. We were a little concerned about Brayden wanting to walk instead of ride, but he was perfectly content sitting on his daddy's shoulders and never once tried to get down.

We got there just in time for the last sea lion show of the day so we headed there first. The plan was to stand close to the exit in case he got restless and started fussing, but they now require everyone to be seated so we headed to the nose bleed section. He was so enamored with the sea lions jumping out of the water, he never tried to get down. Then, we started walking around and looking at the animals. First Brayden would tell his daddy what he saw:

Then he would make sure I saw it:

Then he would wave at the animal and tell it "Hey!":

He also got to ride the train. The only problem we had on the train was him trying to touch the 3 year old child in front of him and calling him "baby". He also made his car sounds the entire time.

Lastly, we went to the Alabama Barn which is a petting zoo for all the Alabama animals. He got to pet a goat!

It was such a fun day! I knew he would be pretty good, because he's usually very happy and content as long as he's outside. Even though it was really hot, it was so fun and entertaining to spend the day watching our sweet boy be so happy!

4th of July!

We had a great 4th of July weekend! Tyler had to work Friday, Saturday, and Monday so Sunday was our play day. Tyler's "big brother" Todd has a lake house, well his family has a lake house, on Lake Mitchell. We were invited to come and spend the day Sunday and we loved it. Once again, we had the Brayden wants to get down and swim issue so we didn't spend much time in the water. However, he loved the boat ride!

He also loved when everyone got off the boat and he got to "drive" it.

After swimming, a boat ride, and a nap, it was time to start grilling dinner. Brayden really enjoyed climbing up and down the steps on the deck.

He LOVES steps! I think it's because we don't have any at our house so it was a new thing. All he wanted to do was go up and down, up and down, up and down. Luckily, Todd's sweet sister was there and she helped share the load. We took Brayden to see the fireworks on the lake Sunday night, but he passed out on the way so he missed them! While I was sitting on the boat on this beautiful river with my precious son in my lap asleep and my wonderful husband sitting beside me watching fireworks, I was reminded again how blessed I am. Blessed to have a wonderful God who loves me more than I love my son, which is hard to imagine. Blessed to have a precious family who is my world. Blessed to have fabulous parents, siblings, grandparents, and extended family. Blessed to have born in America, the land of the free and the home of the brave. I love my country and hope to never take it for granted!

The rest of the weekend, Brayden and I mainly just hung out by ourselves. My parents are working on their house so Brayden can't really go over there. It makes for some great family time when Tyler's off, but when he's working, it gets a little boring.

On a separate note, Brayden is finally walking!! I've always thought he was like the cutest thing ever, but oh my gosh, he is so adorable when he walks! Hopefully I can get a video on here soon!

Liberty Day!

Every year, our community has a street festival complete with a parade and fireworks at the end of the day. I've always loved it and was very excited to take Brayden this year. He went last year, but was only 2 months old so he didn't enjoy it that much. :) Our little family went down early in the morning to look at the booths. My main mistake was taking Tyler with us because it was just too hot to stop and look at anything. We did get to check out the tractors and animals before we had to make a beeline for the A/C.

We went to get some lunch and were planning to go back to the parade, but Brayden conked out! First, he chilled out and watched a little tv.

That night we went to the fireworks. After Brayden crawled around the entire football field and tried to drink people's drinks and get into their bags, the fireworks finally started!

I wasn't sure how Brayden would react to them, but he loved them! He alternated between saying "Ooo" and "Uh-oh" and he would just say those over and over. Occasionally, you would see his little finger go up and point at them. It was such a great day!

Blog Overload

Since I am so far behind on blogging, I'm about to do a blog overload! I'm going to do several different posts. This one will be a "June" post.

So, Tyler and I, along with Brayden, went to the galleria one Saturday and I thought Brayden would love to ride the carousel. Boy, was I wrong!! The entire time he clutched Tyler's neck like he would never let go. I didn't get very many good pictures because it was moving and I was far away, but here are the ones I got.

We also got to go to Megan's Mimi's pool and swim. Unfortunately, swimming in a big pool is alot more work than fun. Because Brayden is used to having free roam in his baby pool, he couldn't understand why I wanted to hold him or put him in a float the entire time. He enjoyed the float for a little while and then he was ready to get out and swim.

Swimming wore him out!

On Father's Day, he finally got dedicated! I don't have the pictures of it, but we didn't get very many good ones because we were so far away and facing away from the audience. We spent the day as a family of 3 and had a really good day. Brayden is very lucky to have such a great daddy and I know one day they will be the best of friends.

Here is our attempt at taking a family picture - haha!

Peach Park

Last weekend we took our first trip to Peach Park for the summer. After we ate our ice cream, Papa took Brayden up to the park to play.

Then he rode the fake horse and cow with Nana.

He also got to swing with Nana and Aunt Brooke.

And, for a very startling comparison:

Weekend Review

We had a pretty low key weekend. Friday night, we ate dinner at Brooke and Danson's house and got to walk down and get the eggs from the chicken coop, which I love to do! I really wish I lived on a farm! Saturday, Tyler and I had a wedding to go to so Mom and Brooke watched Brayden. They, along with Dad, took him on a boat ride and then Dad took him strolling. We enjoyed the wedding and even though we only went to the wedding and back, it was nice to have some "Brayden-less" time. Saturday evening, Brooke was craving Pizza Hut (& what the pregnant lady craves, the pregnant lady gets!) so Mom, Brooke, Danson, Brayden and I went to Pizza Hut. Sunday, we went to church and then had a Sunday School social afterwards. It was at Chuck and Hailey's house and we ate hamburgers and hot dogs. We also had a diaper shower for a couple in our class who is expecting a baby in a few weeks. Brayden really enjoyed "driving" Chuck's tractor. Thanks to Chuck for taking these pictures because of course I didn't have my camera!

1 Year Checkup, 1 Year Pictures, and Tubes

So, I'm really behind on blogging and I don't know what my problem is. For some reason, I have just not been in the mood to blog.

So, even though this is a week late, here are Brayden's 1 year stats:
* He is 22.12 pounds and 30 1/4 inches long. He is still in 50th percentile on weight, which he has maintained for a while. However, he went from 90th to 50th percentile in height. I was shocked! I guess he is slowing down on growing right now, which is fine by me. :)
* He is crawling like crazy and pulling up on anything and everything he can.
* He is in a size 4 diaper and size 18 months clothes.
* His speech is really starting to take off. He can say hey, bye, dada, dog, thank you, and uh oh. Please notice the one word that is STILL not included in that list. Yes, Mama. When should I start to be concerned that he's not saying that?!
* He's still sleeping from about 7:30 or 8 until about 6:30 or 7.
* Daycare is still going well other than constant colds and ear infections. :( He eats well and naps well.

Yesterday, we went to have his 1 year pictures taken and of the ones I've seen so far, I love them! Here are a few to give you a sneak peek:

Today, we went to have tubes put in. :( He is had a constant ear infection since February and it was time to do something about it. He went to the doctor 3 times last week for a shot/ear consultation and has developed a severe fear of doctors and rooms with white paper. Even when we went to take his pictures yesterday, he freaked out because there was white paper on the ground. So, we got there at 6:30 this morning and waited for about 30-45 minutes before we were called back. As soon as we got back there and we set him on the scale to be weighed, he lost it. He screamed and shook the entire time they were "trying" to take his temperature and blood pressure. After we got him back in his room and were waiting to back for surgery, I took him out and rode him on a few of the toys they had there and he seemed to calm down a little. He didn't even cry when the nurse came and got him to take him back. He was back in about 20 minutes and the doctor said it went very well. He was very mad when they first brought him back, but they said that is how most babies react after coming off anesthesia. He slept on the way home. When we got home, he played like normal and took a really good nap. He's pretty much been back to normal since then. Here's to hoping we have no more ear problems! The only bad thing: Our pediatrician didn't want to give his 12 month immunizations until he got his tubes in so now we have to go back for more shots! :(

Brayden Thomas is 1 Year Old!

I am finally posting Brayden's 12 month post. He turned 1 on Sunday, the 8th, and what an interesting day it turned out to be. We had big plans for that day. It was Mother's Day and Brayden was supposed to be dedicated at church. After church, I wanted to go out to eat and take him somewhere fun like the zoo or something. When Brayden woke up that morning, he was very unhappy and seemed to be in immense pain. Normally he wakes up, takes his bottle, and is ready to go. That morning, he woke up and took his bottle and then laid his head on my shoulder and screamed without ceasing. I knew he was in serious pain and I also knew he could not stand in front of the church to be dedicated screaming at the top of his lungs. I was very upset about him not being dedicated, but I knew I had to put his needs first.

He has struggled with an ear infection since February so there was no doubt in my mind that that was causing the pain. He had just finished a round of antibiotics the previous Friday and it was obvious it was having no affect. Anytime he is in pain like that, I just shoot some Motrin in him and pretty much instantly he is fine. So, that morning I gave him a dose of Motrin. 15 minutes later, he was still screaming. I figured since we had given him Motrin so much, it wasn't working as well as it should. Then, I gave him half of another dose. (I know I'm a bad mom but I could not stand to see him in pain) We called the doctor and made an appointment to go up to Children's South. He wasn't screaming by the time we got there, but he just laid listlessly on my shoulder in the waiting room instead of wanting to get down and play with the toys. When they took his temperature (& it's rectally so he normally screams), he just laid there and didn't move. It was absolutely heartbreaking to see him like that. The doctor came in and gave him a shot and a prescription for ear numbing drops. He also had to get 2 more shots on Monday and Tuesday. We had already been referred by the pediatrician to an ENT because Brayden needed tubes and his appointment for that was Thursday. His 1 year appointment was Monday. Needless to say, when we go to the doctor's office now, he screams when we walk in the exam room because he's had a rough week dealing with doctors.

So, my lunch out for Mother's Day was stopping by the Burger King drive thru. Brayden eventually started feeling better and we started playing with some of the toys he got at his party. We blew the pool up he got and were very tempted to leave it in the living room as a playpen. :)

He will be getting tubes in his ears Monday so hopefully his ear problems will be a thing of the past!

Brayden's First Birthday Party Part 4

We were very surprised by all of the guests that showed up for Brayden's birthday party. It looked like everyone had a good time.

Grandmommy, Gigi to Brayden, came:

Meemaw came and Racheal and Chris brought sweet little Colton:

Tasha came and brought her two kids, Casey and Aubrey, and Sheena came and brought Sawyer:

Melody and Nate came (and he loved the bubbles!) :

Aaron, Jessica, and Emma came:

Megan and adorable little Stella came:

Todd, Susan, and Sarah stopped by:

Of course, Aunt Brooke and Uncle Jordan were there:

And Grammy:

Tracey came even though her stepson, Lane, couldn't come.

In case you're wondering, the party was not at my house. I wish I could take credit for this beautiful house, but I can't. My best friend, Hailey, and her husband, Chuck, offered (ok, I asked) to have the party at their house. They both put so much work into getting their house ready and getting everything ready for the party. I don't know what I would have done without them. I am very blessed to call them friends.

Oh, and I didn't take any pictures of the party favors, but they were a sand bucket with each child's name on it with bubbles and a ball in it.

I am so very thankful and fortunate to have so many people who care about my family and spent their Saturday morning at Brayden's first birthday party. I just hope I haven't set a precedent for birthday parties because it was a lot of work! :) However, I wouldn't have it any other way because this sweet boy deserves the best!