Christmas Part 1

The 2 weekends before Christmas were jam packed and so much fun! Friday night, the 14th, we had a family Christmas fun night. We took Brayden to eat for the first time at a Japanese restaurant and then we went to Zoolight Safari. Brayden loved Stix! I figured he would, but he has requested Stix several times since then. He conversed with the chef the entire time. The chef didn't talk to anyone else at the table. Brayden asked him what his name was, what he was doing, and asked for more food. He is not shy at all! We had so much fun at Zoolight Safari. I only got enough ride tickets for us to ride the train and for Brayden to ride the carousel, but when we walked in, an older man handed us two unused wristbands so we got to ride the hayride too. Brayden had so much fun and loved all the lights. He really loved the train, carousel, and hayride.

 

Saturday night, the 15th, Brooke's sister-in-law had a party and it was an absolute blast! Santa came to visit and he brought Brayden a really cute ornament and a precious outfit. It really was so much fun!

The next weekend, I had my Sunday School party Friday night and Brayden went to the birthday party for Jesus at church. Saturday was my mom's side's get together at my cousin's house. (I don't have any pictures of those 2 events) Sunday was our Hutton family get together. Brayden had so much fun with Emma and Asher, of course. We tried to take some pictures of them together but that was pretty much impossible. Oh, and I'm going to be an aunt again! I'm so excited!

 Brayden also finished up school and had his school program. He did so good and was pretty cute! :)

We made cookies for Santa that weekend too. Santa really liked them!

I'll post about Christmas Day tomorrow!

Santa, Christmas Parade, & Walk Through Bethlehem

The first 2 weekends of December were pretty low key, just how I like them! Last weekend we took Brayden to see Santa at Bass Pro Shops. I wasn't really sure how Brayden would react and I really wasn't expecting the reaction he had. We were next in line so when Santa waved for the next child to come, I said ok Brayden it's your turn. He took off running! He ran down the aisle and threw his arms around Santa and gave him a huge hug. I wish I would have been videoing him, but like I said, I wasn't expecting that. He took his picture with Santa and they had a conversation (too bad I couldn't hear it!). By the way, I'm sorry my pictures all look funny. They were taken with my phone and apparently my phone took them sideways so I had to do some tweaking.

Thursday night was the Christmas parade here in town. It was actually a pretty good parade and Brayden thoroughly enjoyed himself. Of course he loved the firetrucks and all the lights on the floats and Santa.

Yesterday we went to A Walk Through Bethlehem at my sister's church. It is a village set in Bethlehem on the night Jesus was born. You get to see all the different vendors at market like the vegetable and fruit stand, the basket stand, the pottery stand, and so on and so forth. Then you get to see the stable where Baby Jesus was born and at the very end, they have the 3 crosses and then Jesus coming out of the tomb. It is such a tremendous production and you can tell that SO much work goes into it. Not to mention the people playing th parts commit to 4 nights of this. It is an absolute blessing and such a great reminder that Jesus is the reason for the season. Brooke and Danson were both in it and Brayden got to see them while we were walking through.

This weekend we're gearing up for our family Christmas fun night on Friday night and a Christmas party for Brayden on Saturday night. Not to mention I've got to finish the rest of my shopping because starting the 21st, we are booked solid until Christmas day!

I can't believe it's only 2 weeks until Christmas Eve!!

What I'm Thankful For

Our Thanksgiving was great! We did all the family visiting, turkey eating, Black Friday shopping that Thanksgiving entails. I think I really realized how much I have to be thankful for this year. I tend to be a bit of a complainer and I look at things more negatively than I should.

Here are some things I'm thankful for:
* My house. Every time I talk or think about my house, all I can think about is how I consider it a piece of junk and how much work it needs. However, this house may not be a new nice house, but it's the house we brought Brayden home to. It's the house that gives me a roof over my head and keeps me warm on these freezing nighs we've been having. It's the house that holds so many memories over the last 5 years we've been married and the last 2 1/2 years since we've had Braybear. In the future, it will be the place where Brayden has his first sleepover with friends. It will be the house we bring another baby home to (maybe!). It will continue to be the house where our family grows and laughs and learns. How can I not be thankful for a place that special?!
* My sweet husband who works all week and most weekends to meet not only my needs but my wants as well. Who loves me so much and would do anything for me.
* My precious Brayden who keeps me on my toes and tries my patience, but is the sweetest, most kind hearted, loving child I've ever known. I am so thankful he is healthy and is growing and developing like he should be.
* My mom and sister who are my best friends and I couldn't imagine my life without them in it.
*  A little brother who makes me laugh and loves to play with Brayden.
* Parents who always provided for my wants and needs and set a great example of how I should live my life.
* My nieces and nephew who I love almost as much as my own child and who will provide Brayden with close friendships as they grow older together.
* Great friends who host baby showers and birthday parties and who truly care about me and would always be there for me if I needed them.
* A great church where our family is able to worship and build relationships with great people and learn more about our God.
* An awesome extended family who all hold a special place in my heart and who helped build years of memories.
* A job I love and really enjoy and great co-workers who I enjoy seeing on a daily basis.
* Grandparents who left an amazing legacy and an awesome grandmother who chose me as her favorite (haha!) and who loves Brayden and who better be around for years to come!

But most of all, I'm thankful for a God who sent his Son to die on a cross for ME. He loves me more than I could ever fathom. More than I love my own child. He paid my debts, and even though I sin every single day, he forgives me every.single.time.

I'm also thankful we got our tree this weekend! :) I love this time of year and loved getting to pick out a tree and cut it down with my sweet boy and his daddy.

Catch Up

We have had several weekends in a row where we haven't had anything planned and it's been wonderful! Last weekend was a long weekend so that was nice. We had some family pictures taken on Sunday and of the ones I've seen so far, they turned out great! It was funny to see how different Brayden was taking pictures this time. The last time I had pictures made of him were his 2 year old pictures and even though by some magic power (& a great photographer!) they turned out good, taking them was an absolute disaster. We took them at Botanical Gardens and he ran from the photographer and me every chance he got. It was bad! This time, he actually sat still and stayed right with us. He obviously got annoyed with taking pictures after about 20 minutes, but hey, he's 2 right?! I'm sure his good behavior had nothing to do with the fact that his daddy was with us. :)

This weekend we had the Hutton Thanksgiving scheduled for Sunday but nothing planned for Saturday. We are about to start taking the paneling down off of the walls in our living room and hanging sheetrock. So, since that will take months (according to my husband) we're relocating to our unused dining room while that project is going on. It will be alot smaller but it sure will be cozy! We worked on moving some stuff in there Saturday and picked up some couches my grandmother gave us. Sunday we had the Hutton Thanksgiving and had a great time. Brayden has 2 cousins on that side of the family: Emma is only 2 months older than him and Asher just turned 1. Brayden and Emma play so well together and really have a good time. I really should make more of an effort to get him down there to visit more often. Anyway, they kept us entertained the entire afternoon/evening. I wasn't able to get any pictures, but I did get a video and it's not uploading for some reason. Oh well, I know everyone loves a post without pictures! :)

Now we're gearing up for Thanksgiving tomorrow and Black Friday! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Just Because

I have never been able to get a good video of Brayden doing something cute. As soon as I get my phone out, he starts saying "CHEESE" and acting like a crazy person. One day I was already looking at something on my phone and I noticed him rocking his puppy and singing. All I had to do was start recording him and he never knew it! I love this video of him because it shows what a sweet spirit he has. He loves that puppy more than anything.

Pumpkin Patch with CBK

Thursday we went to the Old Baker Farm with Brayden's preschool class. It was so much fun & I loved getting to see him interact with his classmates & his teacher. He was a little hyper when we first got there & was embarrassing me just a little. :) I know God gave me Brayden for a reason because we are SO different. When he's around new people or, like in the case of yesterday, a combination of people who aren't normally together, he gets SO hyper & feels like he has to show out & be the center of attention. When I'm around new people or a group of people I am very quiet & try not to be noticed. He had a really good time even though by the end of the trip the 2 year old class was starting to fade.

Halloween 2012

Brayden was Geo from Team Umizoomi for Halloween. He was supposed to be a train conductor. Someone, I'm not naming any names, planted in his head that he could be Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates for Halloween. So he wanted to be him for a little while. Then he realized if he could be Jake, he could be anyone from tv. So he picked his favorite obssession, Team Umizoomi. We settled on Geo because we figured he'd be the easiest. I really wanted to avoid characters from tv for as long as possible, but oh well. He was so happy to be Geo I wouldn't have it any other way. Nana did an awesome job on the costume!

We went out to see Todd, then went to the church Fall Festival, and then went and trick or treated at 2 houses. :) Of course his favorite thing at the Fall Festival was the hay!

Busy Busy Busy

This Fall has been the busiest Fall I'm pretty sure I've ever had. We've had either a birthday party or a baby shower or both literally every weekend! Last weekend, my sweet Aubrey turned 1 and we got her a gift I know her mom & dad will love! :) They may have already put it up!

This weekend we didn't have anything we had to do and I loved it! Friday was Homecoming in my small town so Brooke took Brayden and Bentley to the parade. They came by to see me at work afterwards and he was a happy boy!

Saturday Brooke took Brayden to her Fall Festival at church and Mom and I got to go shopping by ourselves! It was like old times! :) Of course I missed him and hurried so I could get back to the Fall Festival. Sadly, I don't know for sure what Brayden is going to be for Halloween yet. Yes, big time procrastinator right here! But he dressed up as a train conductor for the Fall Festival and he was so cute!

Sunday my little family of 3 went to the Pumpkin Patch and we had the best time! Brayden got to sit and climb on hay bales! PS, he loves hay! Who knew?

He got to ride toy tractors!

He even got to pet a bunny!

He rode a horse swing:

He also loved the Civil War reenactment. I could tell I went with 2 boys because that's where we spent the most time! :)

Then it was time to ride the hayride to the Pumpkin Patch! He started to get a little sleepy while we waited in line.

But he woke up once we got on that tractor hayride! :) We even took some pictures together.

Once we got to the patch, it was a hard decision about which one to get, but we got 3 beautiful ones!

Then we took a family picture. :)

Spending the day at the Pumpkin Patch reminded me how much I love my little family and how blessed I am! We have a few more empty weekends and then we'll be gearing up for the Holiday season! Woohoo my favorite!!

Another Weekend Has Come & Gone

This weekend was jam packed! Friday night we went to eat dinner with Mom, Brooke, and Bentley. We ate at Schlotszky's and they had a cute Fall display in the doorway so Brooke saw that as the perfect photo op:

I really need to work on my child's "cheese" face!

Saturday was Nate's birthday party. Brayden and Nate are really good friends and I hope they stay that way! The theme was Diego and the party was so much fun. They went on an animal rescue adventure! There was also a space bounce!

After Brayden woke up from his nap Saturday, he was running a pretty high fever. I gave him some medicine and the fever went down and he wanted to go to the park. He made a friend and they played basketball together. Then he served me some ice cream from the "kitchen" at the playground. :)

We had a barn party to go to that night at my brother-in-law's parent's house and I really wanted Brayden to get to go. Brooke said to bring him on so I doped him up with Motrin and we went. Yes, I know, Mom of the Year award. Brayden felt a little bad but I think he still had fun. :)

He was still running fever during the night Saturday and Sunday morning so I decided to keep him home from church Sunday. We were supposed to go to a baby shower for a couple in our Sunday School class after church, but we had to miss it and I hated that. Fortunately now he seems to be getting better! I really dislike fever viruses!