2013 Recap

Well, 2013 is almost over. It's been such a great year. A year full of birthday parties, zoo trips, first trip to the movies, lots of time spent with family, 2 great beach trips, and so many more fun memories.

I think we're ready for 2014. 2014 will be so great. My sweet boy will turn 4! He will have his last "first" day of school at CBK! :( He will make so many great memories with his family and friends. His biggest memory will probably be the fact that . . .

. . . he will become a big brother! I don't think he quite gets it right now. He understands that there is a baby in my stomach and that he will be a big brother, but I don't think he understands how much his life will change. I know it will be a huge adjustment at first, because he's always been my baby boy and the center of my attention. I pray that he will love and cherish this baby and be a great big brother, which I have no doubt he will be. I cherished every minute of this holiday season with him because I knew it would be the last one that was all about him.

 

We are very excited and we cannot wait to see what 2014 holds! Happy New Year! 

December Happenings

Since I'm so behind on blogging, I'm just going to hit the highlights of December.

*Brayden was in his Christmas program at school and did a great job! He waved and blew us kisses pretty much the entire time he was on stage. :) But he also performed his songs like he was supposed to.

*We went on a trolley ride in Montgomery to see Christmas lights with his Hutton cousins. My mom went too and it was so much fun!

 

*We took Brayden to his first movie at the theater. I was a little worried about he would do. I even prepared Tyler to be ready to leave during the movie. But he did great! He loved it and was so fascinated by the huge screen. I have a feeling he will be requesting to go to the movies pretty often now.  



We've had such a great month. I'll post about Christmas soon!

Thanksgiving 2013

So, for the 3 people that read this blog on a regular basis, you probably think I've decided to give it up again. Not quite, I've just not been in the mood to blog for some reason. Life is busy, I'm exhausted, and this here blog is the last thing on my priority list. But, since I do this for memory keeping purposes, I'm taking you back to Thanksgiving. :)

Thursday
On the actual day of Thanksgiving, we got together at my mom's house for lunch. I know this may shock you, but I have NO pictures from that day. None! I just didn't think about it. We had a great lunch and it was so nice to be able to enjoy the day with my small family without having to worry about heading off to the next place. I'm so very thankful for my family and all they do for me.

Friday
Friday was the Hutton Thanksgiving, which is always lots of fun. Brayden loves spending time with his cousins and this time was no different. They played and played and played. I got to spend time with sweet Ella and even got some picture time with the big kids!

 Asher made sure to test out Ella's bumbo seat to make sure it was safe :)

 

Saturday
We headed to the tree farm Saturday to cut down our tree. We picked out a good one and Brayden and Daddy cut it down.

We took it home and decorated it. This was the first year Brayden really cared about decorating the tree. He was very interested in which ornaments were "his" and loved looking at all of them.

Sunday
Sunday night Brayden was in a Christmas program at church. They all wore their pajamas and sang a few songs and then listened to the Christmas story. I took all of those pictures on Tyler's phone so I had to steal some from Facebook (thanks Summer!). Other than the fact that he kept putting his hands down his pants, it was cute to watch and I was pretty proud. :)

We had such a great Thanksgiving weekend and I am so thankful for all the wonderful people in my life. God has truly blessed us beyond measure!

Birthday Parties & Pictures

We had such a busy weekend - I'm sorry I'm just now getting around to posting about it. Unfortunately I was a very bad photographer this weekend - I really just wanted to enjoy the moments rather than worry about documenting them so this will probably be a boring post.

Saturday we had Tyler's grandfather's birthday party. Brayden got to see his cousins and we got to see some of Tyler's family that we haven't seen in a while. It was a lot of fun celebrating with them. Unfortunately I have no pictures to show for it. :( We had to leave the party a little early to go have our family pictures made. I haven't seen any sneak peeks yet, but I can't wait! Brayden does not know how to smile for pictures. I'm not sure why, but whether you say cheese or smile, you get the same smile. You know the one, you've seen it here on the blog. It will be interesting to see how the pictures turn out, but even if he's smiling a "Brayden" smile, I'm still glad I documented it because that will help me remember how he smiled when he was 3. :)

Sunday we had Stella's birthday party. It was at Treetop, which is one of Brayden's favorite places! He had an absolute blast. They got to climb in the tree house jungle gym thing, go bowling, eat cake & ice cream, and play games in the arcade! Right up Brayden's alley!

Sweet Stella!

After cake & ice cream, I took Bentley out to the tree house thing (think play thing at Chick fil A but a lot bigger) because she was getting restless while Stella opened her gifts. I just let her go on up and told Brayden to stay with her and not let her get lost. Well, a few short minutes later, she freaked out because even though Brayden was still saying "come on Bent" he had totally left her in the dust and she had no idea what to do. So, you guessed it, Big Mama here climbed up in that thing to rescue her. Needless to say, she wanted her momma after that and I gladly let Brooke go up with her. :)

Brayden was so tired from playing so hard he fell asleep on the way home like this. :)

You know what that means, another weekend closer to Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Bentley's First Sleepover!

Bentley spent the night with me for the first time ever on Saturday night! Tyler worked at the fire department Saturday night so I knew it would be the perfect night because Bent & I would have the bed to ourselves. I won't lie, I was a little nervous about it. I was worried Brayden would want to sleep in my bed with us (& I guess I'm not a very nice mom for making him sleep in his own bed) (it's just the he sleeps SO much better in his own bed), I was worried Brayden would come to get in my bed in the wee hours of the morning like he very often does and would not be happy that he couldn't lay right by me, I was worried that Bent would cry or wake up in the middle of the night and want her mom. But, I worried for nothing because NONE of those things happened! Brayden slept all night in his bed until about 6:30 Sunday morning, Bentley slept all night, only waking up 2 times for a paci and a drink. It could not have gone smoother.

We started out the night at Nana's watching the football game.

We headed home at half time and pretty much went straight to bed.

The next morning Brayden came in and joyfully woke us up by saying very loudly "Where's Bent?!!" After that, he climbed up in the bed right by Bentley and started talking to her. I realize they look asleep in this picture, but I promise they were awake and talking. I thought it was so precious!

Even though I didn't get much sleep because Bent was practically on top of me all night and I had to be alert so I didn't roll off the bed, it was so much fun. I can't wait to do it again!

$100 Target Gift Card Could Be Yours!

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CBK Pumpkin Patch Trip 2013

Yesterday was our 2nd annual field trip with Brayden's preschool to the pumpkin patch. This year Daddy got to go with us. Even though it was a little chilly, it was still lots of fun. If these pictures look familiar, it's because this is the same pumpkin patch we went to about 2 or 3 weeks prior.

We started out the morning feeding the baby calves with a bottle. The teachers got to feed them and the kids watched. It was so adorable!

Then we went on the hayride out to the patch to pick our pumpkins.

He also got to climb a small hay "mountain" with his buddies and ride the swing.

After the hayride, we ate lunch. Well, actually, Brayden ate lunch. Tyler and I waited until we left to eat. :) After that, we looked at and petted the farm animals. Bray got to pet a chicken, bunny, lamb, and goat. I think I enjoyed petting them more than he did.

Then we did the hay maze. Brayden felt quite victorious after finding his way through that so I took a picture of his victory pose.

Then he picked some cotton. When we went a few weeks ago, he liked picking the cotton, but he was done with it after a little bit. Yesterday, I think he would have stayed out there picking cotton all day. I think it's because it wasn't so crowded and he could really enjoy it. And enjoy it, he did!

I thoroughly enjoyed the day and I loved getting to see him interact with his friends from school.

Happy weekend, friends!

Weekend Fun!

I know I say this every Monday, but we seriously had the best weekend ever! The weather was beautiful and we did so many fun things!

Friday
Friday night we went to Brooke's mother-in-law's house for postponed Halloween trick or treating. She loves all things Halloween and puts on quite a shindig every year. We normally don't get to go since we go to the fall festival at church, but since she had it Friday night we got to go. The only memorable thing to report from that evening is the fact that my child went up and shook a candle holder that was lining the driveway and tons of wax fell down into his hair! I was seriously trying to get candle wax out of his hair all weekend. By the way, that is not an easy feat. Especially when the child screams bloody murder because the wax is on his scalp.

Even though it wasn't our plan, we actually ended up playing tourist in Birmingham this weekend.
Saturday
Saturday Tyler had to work so Mom and I got together and took Brayden to eat lunch and to Aldridge Gardens. It was so pretty! We walked the trail around the lake and just enjoyed taking our time and enjoying the scenery.

 

And thanks to Mom for her pose in the picture above because then we got the next awesome picture of Brayden.

Sunday
Sunday after church, Tyler wanted to do something fun since he worked Saturday. We invited Mom along and headed towards Birmingham. Our original plan was to pick something up and have a picnic at a park. Tyler vetoed that idea though because he just doesn't understand why anyone would want to eat outside, even on a patio or porch. We ended up eating lunch at the same place we ate Saturday (what can I say, I'm a creature of habit). We had decided to go to Moss Rock at the Preserve, but found out they were having a huge art festival so we skipped it. We ended up at Vulcan Park and I'm so glad we did! Brayden loved it! He asked if we could go back to "Vultan" tomorrow. Vulcan is a huge statue in Birmingham that represents our iron history. Even though I'm not much of a museum or history person, I really enjoyed the museum here. I liked learning about the history of Birmingham since I've lived right south of it all my life.

When we went up to the observation deck, the lady taking our tickets said it was good until 10:00 that night and I got a wild hair and mentioned that it would be so fun to come back at night when all the lights of Birmingham were on. I convinced my travel partners to do it when I said since they time had changed, it would be getting dark really early anyway. Ha, I don't really think they needed convincing.

To pass the time, we decided to go to the airport and park along the road beside the runways and watch the planes land and take off. We got there and parked and there were 2 planes sitting at the end of the runway and we could tell they were waiting on the all clear to take off.

Well, we sat there for about 30 minutes and NOTHING happened. We couldn't figure it out. Finally I decided to go to the airport's website and see if any planes were scheduled to land or take off in the next few minutes. When I pulled up the schedule, it said that 3 planes that should have landed while we were there had been diverted. Well, we knew something had to be going on. Sure enough, I pulled up the Birmingham News website and there was a security breach, later learning it was a bomb threat, and the entire airport had been evacuated and planes had been grounded. Seriously!! What are the odds on the one day we go to do that, it would have a bomb threat going on! Needless to say, we had one disappointed little boy but we told him we'd bring him back.

We drove around and looked at the new Regions Park (where the Birmingham Barons play) and drove through this cool tunnel!

By that point, it was dusk so we headed back to Vulcan. Boy was it worth it! Birmingham at night is so beautiful! I'm so glad we stuck around to see it.

And even though this picture is horrible, here is our sweet family!

I mean, seriously, Brayden looks deranged!

We had such a good time, even though we missed our normal traveling cohorts. Brooke & Bent just stayed around the house, so I didn't get to see them the entire weekend! :(

I hope you had a great weekend as well!

 

Halloween 2013

Another Halloween is in the books and it was a great one!

Brayden got to wear his costume to school Wednesday because it was Dress Like A Community Helper day and since he was a firefighter for Halloween, it worked out perfectly!

For Halloween, we planned to go to the church and then visit a couple of people and call it a night. Everything was so busy and rushed, I didn't take hardly any pictures! Shame on me!

You won't believe who was at our Fall Festival at church though! Phil! ;)

I made Bray take a picture even though he has no idea who Phil is! Haha!

 

We stayed at the fall festival for a about an hour and I remembered right in the middle of it that I hadn't gotten a picture of my firefighter yet so while we were just randomly standing there Tyler leaned down and we snapped one. This is why I'm not really cut out for the blogging world!



Brooke, Bentley, and Nana came and Bentley had no interest in the games, all she cared about was the puppets! Brayden also got to see Nate for a little bit so that was a major highlight of the night.

After we left the church we ran by to see baby Claire and then we ran to see Uncle Todd for a little bit.

We ended the night at Nana and Papa's handing out candy to their tricker or treaters and eating their candy. :)

And, because I can't help myself, here is a recap of Halloweens past!

I hope you had a great Halloween! Now, bring on my favorite 2 holidays: Thanksgiving and Christmas!

My Miracle

I tend to be a negative person. Instead of focusing on the things God has blessed me with, I tend to focus on the things He still hasn't done for or given to me. Most days I feel like my prayers go unanswered. Even though I know deep down that it's all in His timing and that there's a reason for everything, that doesn't make it less hard sometimes.

I've prayed and yearned for a new house. It hasn't happened. We don't have stellar credit, there's no way someone would buy ours, who knows if we could even afford another one, are all reasons that it has been put on the backburner. I've even prayed and yearned for enough money just to fix the one I have up. It wouldn't be a bad house and I wouldn't mind staying there for a while if we could just fix it up.

I've asked God to please show us a way to make more money so we can have another child. We live paycheck to paycheck now so I know we won't be able to afford another child while Brayden is still in daycare. I don't even know how we'll afford one once we have extracurricular expenses for Brayden plus daycare expenses for a new baby. So far, that prayer has fallen on deaf ears and even though I know it's all in His timing, it's still hard. Who knows, it may be in His plan for us to only have one.

But the other morning, I was driving to work after I dropped Brayden off thinking about what a great weekend we had and God practically hit me over the head with my negativity and showed me something huge. He's already granted one of my most requested prayers, the most important one, and I've hardly given Him any credit for it. I've just kept on living my life like nothing HUGE happened. For years, I've prayed for my husband. I wanted him to become a Christian more than anything, to know and love God, to be the spiritual leader in our house. I'd pretty much given up hope that it would ever happen. But my God granted me a miracle. My husband knows and loves God now. My husband will spend eternity with me. My husband is the leading force in the fact that we get up and get ready and go to Sunday School and church every Sunday. My sweet boy now has a daddy who can show him what it means to be a mighty man of God and will lead him into becoming the spiritual leader in his family. For years, I've done things on my own. Taken Brayden to church on my own. Gone to birthday parties on my own. I've felt many times like a single parent. But God has changed that! My husband chooses to attend birthday parties with us, he chooses to spend time with us on the weekend doing fun things as a family, he chooses to either go grocery shopping with me or watch Brayden so I can go alone (unless Brayden pitches an absolute fit to go with me and then I can't resist).

If you had asked me 2 years ago what I wanted more than anything. If you'd asked me 2 years ago which prayer request I wanted answered the most. It would be that my husband would come to know and love Christ. AND GOD ANSWERED THAT PRAYER. And here I am, griping and complaining about which ones aren't being answered. Here I sit wishing God would just please help me and hear my cries and give me a new house and a baby. All the while totally forgetting the one huge thing he's done for our family in the last year. That realization was all I needed to see that I don't care about a new house and I don't care if we have to wait a little longer for a baby because my husband, my best friend, the father of my child, will spend eternity in Heaven.

The crazy thing is that my marriage has been totally transformed as well. I love spending time with Tyler and while he's always made me laugh, he's had me in stitches every time we've been together lately. I get giddy thinking about the fact that I get to spend the rest of my life with him. I feel like we're in a brand new relationship. And, if you think about it, we kind of are. Because Tyler is a brand new person.

So, thank you God. I'm sorry that I've not given You the honor and praise for this miracle You've performed in my life. I'm sorry I get hung up on all the things You haven't done for me. Thank you for who You are. Thank you that You have a plan for my life, that You know what my days will consist of, that You are in control. Please help me to remember that when I start to doubt.