Hello 2013!

Happy New Year! It is officially 2013! We rang in the new year in a big way! Sleeping! :) We watched the ball drop at 11 & went to sleep. Tyler & I did get to have a date though. Mom watched Brayden while we went & spent almost 3 hours (not an exaggeration) at Outback. It was fun.

In 2013, Brayden will turn 3! Hopefully we'll get a home improvement project done on our house & only have 267 more to do. Haha! I'll get a new niece or nephew & Brayden will get a new cousin in July. Brayden will finish up his first year of preschool.

I have actually set some resolutions for myself that I am determined to fulfill. I haven't done resolutions in years because I never fulfilled them so I finally said what's the point?! This year I want to lose weight in a big way. I have promised myself I have to lose weight and be healthy before I will get pregnant again. I have to lose a lot so I need to go ahead and get started now. I'm not going to diet; I'm going to change my lifestyle. I also want to get healthy for Brayden. Now I would rather watch him play; I want to be able to participate and play with him.

I also want to be more diligent about having a quiet time. That's not as high on my priority list as it should be and I want to change that.

My biggest resolution this year is to be more patient with Brayden. This is a quote from Hands Free Mama's blog that totally applies to me: "Never will I forget how a whole day could be ruined when one little thing on my master plan went awry …". I get very stressed out when things don't do according to my plan and I can get pretty mean. I also lose patience pretty easily. I want to work so hard to change these things for myself and for my family.

I hope everyone has a blessed New Year!

Christmas Eve & Day

This was the first year on Christmas Eve that we didn't have a family function to attend & it was SO nice. We spent the day with my Mom running around getting last minute gifts. That night we went to the Christmas Eve service at church (my fav!) & went to Mom's & had soup & snack foods. Before bed, Brayden got to open 1 gift - new pajamas & a new ornament for the tree (a firetruck he picked out but had forgotten all about). We set out cookies & eggnog for Santa & went to sleep!

Brayden ended up in our bed during the night so when he woke up in the morning, it was obvious he had forgotten all about Santa. When I asked him if he wanted to go see if someone came during the night, he instantly remembered & got excited. I initially planned to video & take pictures but then I decided just to live in the moment & not worry about the camera. Not to mention Brayden is in a phase where he loathes having his picture made. He seriously acts crazy when I say lets take a picture. We did manage to get one of him & me in front of the tree. For some reason Blogger won't let me upload it, so I guess this will be a no picture post!

By the tree Santa left a tent, a rug to drive cars on, & a tee ball set. Brayden immediately wanted to go outside & play tee ball. Then he noticed Santa had left a note by the empty cookie plate! It said that Brayden had been good this year & there was one gift he couldn't fit in the house so he left it in the backyard. So he ran to the windows & it was a trampoline! After jumping on it for a minute we went in to open presents from mom & dad. He got a tool box with tools & an electric drill, new boots, & a turtle who puts stars on the ceiling. He loved all of his gifts & has really enjoyed playing with them since Christmas. To be honest, I've really enjoyed playing with the trampoline. 😃

After that we went over to my moms for lunch. He got a pretty awesome basketball goal & lots of other fun gifts over there. He also got some clothes, which is good because his are starting to get too small. So long 2T! We hung out at my moms all afternoon & then went to my grandmother's for dinner. He got to play with Colton & open up even more presents!

It was such a great 2 days. I absolutely love Christmas! My husband, on the other hand, is not a huge fan. I really hope Brayden learns to have a love for Christmas, not because he gets presents, but because of what it stands for. My goal as the years go by is to truly teach him what Christmas means & not get caught up in buying lots of gifts for him.

On a side note, my mom also bought him a Leappad 2 & that thing is pretty awesome! He really enjoys it & is pretty good at working it. I just have to make sure he doesn't spend too much time on it because I don't want him to get sucked in to the electronic/technology world!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

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.