Life Lately

Well, I haven't blogged at all in 2014 - that's crazy! The main reason is because I don't have a computer anymore at home and I just don't like posting from my phone. So, I don't post at all! But since I like to do posts so I can look back at the memories, I figured I'd better update.

So, what have we been up to in 2014?

We took Brayden to his first Monster Truck show as a Christmas gift and he was so enamored by it. He loved it and still asks to go back on a regular basis.

Brayden experienced his first real snow. He was quite impressed, but realized when you pick it up without gloves on, it's not so good!

We took Brayden to the bowling alley for the first time to celebrate Tyler's birthday. He had a blast and actually did better than I thought he would.

We found out we're having another sweet BOY in July! Brayden is super excited about having a little brother. I can't wait for him to meet him.

Brayden got to watch a helicopter land and sit in it at the rescue station with Daddy. Every little boy's dream!

We celebrated our last Easter as a family of 3 with lunch at Nana & Papa's and an Easter egg hunt there and at Meemaw's.

Brayden and I have been squeezing in as many date nights as we can get before our world changes in July.

Brayden turned 4!! We celebrated with a day at Treetop playing Putt Putt, riding go karts, and playing arcade games. We ended the evening with pizza, dirt cake, and presents!

Brayden's last day of 3K was today. I can't believe he only has 1 year of preschool left. Why does time have to pass so fast?!

So, that's life lately. We're gearing up for a really busy next 2 months before the baby comes. First off is our last trip as a family of 3 to Chattanooga this weekend. I'm planning to savor every minute of time between now and then. I'm so excited to welcome a new baby to our family, but also a little sad that the dynamic will be changing. I know Brayden will love having a sibling to grow up with, but splitting my time and attention between the 2 of them will be hard.

I'm going to try my hardest to post more often!

Happy Birthday Nana & Weekend Recap

Saturday was Mom's birthday and we had a great, albeit long, day. :)

We kept Bentley Saturday because Brooke was helping her sister-in-law with a craft show. Brooke dropped her off at my house around 8:10 since we tend to be early risers. We had a great morning. We even got in a lot of great group hugs. (Please ignore my hair, Bentley was fixing it for me)

We met up with Nana around 11 to start her list of things she wanted to do for her birthday. First up was lunch at her favorite place - O'Carr's.

After that we hit up the toy store and Bentley's love for baby dolls grew. She takes her mothering skills seriously. I took the baby's blanket one time and put it up so we wouldn't drag it through the store and she said "NO! Need blanket! Cold!"

Then we went to the park because it was a beautiful day!

 

Brooke met up with us at the park and we headed to get Snow Cones. We decided that since neither of the kids had gotten naps, we would forego dinner out and pick up something to go and take to Brooke's. Brayden napped on the way home (Hallelujah!) and after a weepy wakeup he was fine. He even got to go down and feed the animals. Brooke bundled him up in all she had and when I sent a picture to his daddy, he said you need to take that off now! Why are men so weird? It's not like it's having a lasting effect on him!

As you can tell, we were going pretty much all day long. I was reminded yet again why I am a working mom because there is no way I could stay home all day. I also learned why the pounds seem to be falling off of my sister - you never sit down! When Bentley was at my house all morning, between the 2 of them, I was never able to sit down and relax. It was go go go all the time! It was fun, but definitely not something I could do every day. So, I found a new respect for my sister!

 

Brayden and Bentley are so lucky to have such a fantastic grandmother. All of her plans for her birthday included things that would make them happy. She is pretty much the best grandmother on the planet!

 

Sunday we went to John Darby's birthday party. The theme was pumpkins and it was so cute!

Nate was there so Brayden was ecstatic. They ran around like they'd never been let loose in public before, throwing sticks and tearing up the games, typical boy stuff I guess. Or at least I hope. It was such a great party. They got to pick a pumpkin out of the "patch" and decorate it.

They also thought it was great fun to see if they could make Claire laugh. Most of the time they succeeded, but it was giving me a mini stroke. They would jump right by her, make funny faces right in her face, and practically yell at her. The funny thing is, she pretty much loved every minute of it!

After Brayden and Nate did it, Zeke had to join in on the fun too.

After the party, we went home and I enjoyed watching these 2 play ball while I drank some Coke Zero and ate some Bareheads.

It was such a fabulous weekend!



Bentley Turns 2!

Bentley's birthday was Sunday so Brooke had a small family party for her Sunday afternoon. The weather was perfect! The party was outside and the kids had lots of fun riding bikes, cozy coupes, and scooters and just running around. They also went down to the barn a time or two to check out the chickens.

 Here's the birthday girl with her Bentley cousins:

And with her Thornburg cousins:

Note: Please notice the notepad and pen she is holding in this picture. Not kidding, that was her favorite gift! Doesn't take much to please her!

And one with Stella (not a cousin, but still considered family!):

I'm pretty sure she had a blast at her party and got lots of fun new toys and clothes.

Bentley Grace,
It's so hard to believe you're already 2 years old! I remember the day you were born. I had a hold up at work and couldn't leave right away. I was so bummed out that I couldn't be in the hospital when you came into the world, but I got there as fast as I could.

You are a spitfire and I have a feeling you're going to make your mom pay for her raising. I grew up with her so I can't wait to sit back and watch. :) You don't have much to do with me now, but I'm hoping as you get older and realize we have a lot in common, you'll like me a little more. Always know that when you and your mom are disagreeing, just call me and I'll come pick you up. I can't wait to watch you grow up and see your sweet, fiesty, funny little personality develop. I love you sweet girl!

5 on Friday

Woohoo . . . it's finally Friday!!

1. My computer was dropped by an unnamed person in my house (the one who drops stuff a lot) and the part that you plug the charger into is broken. Tyler thinks he can fix it with some super glue, but that's why it's been pretty quiet around here lately.

2. It's Bentley's birthday weekeend! She'll be 2 Sunday (so hard to believe!) and her party is that afternoon. Here's a little walk down memory lane to get the weekend started!

3. Bentley has already gotten a trampoline for her birthday. Anytime she's come to my house in the past, the only reason she wanted to stay was because Brayden had a trampoline she could jump on. I'm pretty sad about the fact that she will never want to stay at my house now. I guess I need to find something else to entice her.

4. I watched this video last night.

If you haven't seen it yet, you seriously need to watch it. After I got done with my cryfest, I was lying in bed about to fall asleep and I realized this phase I'm in right now are the good times he's referring to. I try to enjoy every single minute I get with Brayden and Tyler, but I also tend to think about the future a lot(it's that planner in me!). I realized that even though I hate my house and sometimes we hardly have enough money to make it, I will look back on these days when I'm older and give anything to do them again. I'll probably be more secure financially by then and hopefully will be in a much better house, but I'll wish I could live in this crappy house again with no money if it meant I got to have a do-over on Brayden's toddler years. These are the best years of my life right now and I'm vowing now to make sure I remember that every day.

5. I am SO excited about October! The beach, my anniversary, the pumpkin patch, Halloween, my mom's birthday, my new blog design - there are so many things to look forward to! I haven't had anything pumpkin flavored yet and I need to remedy that!

Have a great weekend!

Brayden is 3!

I realized yesterday that not only did I not blog about his party, I didn't even blog about his actual birthday, which was May 8th! Seeing as how I do this blog so I can print it into a book and have it to look back on, I figured I better get on that!

Since his party was the Saturday before his birthday, we had to do something on his actual birthday to celebrate. I take the day off every year on his birthday because one day he'll be in school and won't be able to do something fun on that day so I'm savoring these moments while I have them. We took him to Chuck E Cheese's for the first time on his 2nd birthday so he wanted to go there again on his 3rd birthday. Luckily, he now thinks we only go there for his birthday. :) Brooke and Bentley and Nana went with us and we had the best day.

Riding the carousel!

The monster truck was their favorite ride, but they were too scared to ride it by themselves because it was pretty rough so Nana or Brooke rode it with them.

Brayden Thomas Hutton,

How in the world are you already 3 years old?! You make me happier than any other thing on this Earth. You are the funniest kid ever and you are so smart. You use phrases and sentences that I'm pretty sure most 3 year olds wouldn't know how to use. You have finally gotten more independent and like to do things on your own, especially use the potty. You are completely potty trained after a slight relapse over the summer. You are so sweet, compassionate, and caring. You take your job of oldest cousin very seriously and are constantly making sure Bentley doesn't go anywhere or do anything she's not supposed to. You have a short temper like your mama and get pretty frustrated when things don't go your way. You are so loving, always touching me and telling me how much you love me, usually by saying "I love you to Jupiter" or "I love you to the moon". You are a huge mama's boy and think I am the only one who can fix you a drink, give you a bath, put you to bed, etc. Sometimes that gets to me, but then I remember how fleeting the years are where you think I hung the moon. I love you so much, precious boy. You make my life worth living!