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!

More Football, Babysitting, & an Anniversary

My dad is the football coach at the middle school in Columbiana. Thursday night was homecoming so we decided to go. Bless their hearts, they got slaughtered, but we still had a good time! Brayden even got to go down on the field after the game with Papa and help pick up trash. Another one of those things we hate to do that he loved to do! Here are some pictures of the crew:

Friday night I got to babysit one of my favorite girls, Aubs! I love that child so much and had so much fun keeping her. I hope her parents let me do it again!

Saturday was mine and Tyler's 5 year anniversary. I planned a memory scavenger hunt for him. I wrote out clues to lead him to places we had special memories at. It was super fun and we had so much fun spending the day together just the 2 of us. It reminded us of old times. We've been married for 5 years and together for 10 and he means so much to me. I love him even more as a father than I could have imagined. The first place we went was Brunswick Bowling Alley, which is where he told me he liked me. He didn't even remember it!

Then we went to the movie theater on Lorna Road, which is where we had our first date. We didn't actually watch a movie because there weren't any good ones but we still went and took a picture. :)

We also went to St Vincents Hospital because that's where we became a family of 3.

We went several other places too but didn't take pictures there.

I love you Tyler Hutton and here's to many more years together!

A Broken Heart

I lost one of my most favorite people in the entire world on August 18th. My precious grandmother passed away somewhat unexpectedly. She was 89 so she wasn't in the greatest health. She had been to the ER that morning and they let her go with basically a clean bill of health. Although she is the 3rd grandparent I've lost, she was the only one that was really unexpected. Like I thought my dad was kidding when he told me because it was so shocking. I've really struggled with her death. Honestly, I believe this is the first time I've really suffered from a broken heart. Like physical pain, take your breath away, wish it wasn't real, broken heart. I think there are many reasons I've been struggling. I'm a very private person and tend to keep my feelings to myself. For one, I loved her more than anything. Sure, as I've grown up and gotten married and had a child of my own, life got a little more hectic and it wasn't as simple as sleepovers and movies with her like it used to be. But that never changed how I felt about her. She was one of the most unique people I've ever met. Unique in the fact that you'd be hard pressed to find another person like her. She was the mother of 4 children, a pastor's wife, a full-time employee for Social Security, and one of the Godliest people I've ever known. She was the most kind, loving, thoughtful, generous person. I never heard her say one ill thing about anyone else. Ever. Just that quality is pretty rare today. She cooked, cleaned, took care of her family and husband, worked, and ministered without EVER complaining. Also, it was so unexpected, I didn't really get to say goodbye. I have some guilt about it as well because my mom asked me to bring my grandmother's medicine to her that morning at the ER. I had the opportunity to go in and see her one more time, but instead made my mom come out to my car to get the medicine. WHY didn't I get my lazy self out of the car and walk it in? It will always be something I regret. There are so many things that remind me of her or make me think about her and that makes it hard. The great news is we know where she is today and oh boy, does that make my heart happy! I wish I could have seen her meet her Lord and Savior and reunite with my grandfather. I know he's been waiting so patiently for her. She is no longer dealing with sickness or pain. She's not having to use a walker. The even greater news is I'll get to see her again. That's so joyous to think about, but it doesn't make the hurting stop.

I have been so lucky to grow up close to both sets of my grandparents. I spent the night so many times with my grandparents and made memories that I'll never forget. I didn't realize until I was older how blessed I am because of that.

A Magical World

Sunday was a very rainy day around our house. It pretty much rained all day. We went to church and went and got some lunch then came home and never left again. It was one of those days where it's ok to wear pajamas and be lazy. However, those types of days are not very fun for my busy, active 2 year old. We spent the day watching some of his shows, playing with his trains, and he even helped me get some stuff done. Not really, but that's what he thought. :) He helped me cook dinner and he helped me do the dishes and do laundry. He actually is a pretty good helper.

Anyway, about mid-afternoon, he said "I wanna go out & play in the rain". My initial response was pretty normal I think: um no. But then I started thinking. My 2 year old thinks this world is a magical place. He sees magic in pretty much anything. The train that stops traffic and causes a major inconvenience to me brightens his day. The 18 wheeler we pass on the road causes him to exclaim "Look at that BIG truck!". Even putting the soap in the dishwasher and throwing clothes in the washing machine bring him such joy. Things that I think of as an inconvenience, he thinks of as fun and exciting. Fascinating. Magical. So, even though my adult brain thinks going outside in the rain and getting wet is absolutely absurd, his 2 year old brain thinks it is one of the most fun things you can do. I know that it won't be long until he's like the rest of us - he won't even want to go from the car to the house in the rain. So, I said ok. I put an old bathing suit and an old shirt on him and let him go. Don't worry, I stayed under the porch where it was dry. :) He loved it!

It made my heart so happy just watching the joy on his face. It reminded me that he doesn't really know anything bad that's happening in his world today. Life is happy and fun and well, magical. And I plan to keep it that way for as long as I can.