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!

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!



Bad, Bad Leroy Thornburg

Pawpaw (Danson's dad) brought home a surprise Monday:

Is he not the cutest thing you've ever seen?! His name is Leroy and I the kids love him! Bentley actually considers him "her" horse. She says "I wanna ride my horse" and is not too happy when anyone else gets to.

Brayden is so lucky that Danson's family has pretty much adopted him as one of their own. Not many kids can say they actually have a pony, but these kids are blessed with a great Pawpaw. I'm so thankful Brayden is getting to grow up around the Thornburg clan!

 

 

5 on Friday

I haven't done 5 on Friday in a while so I'm linking up with Darci, Christina, Natasha, and April this week!

One
I'm hoping we get to go to the pumpkin patch this weekend. Tyler works Saturday, but I'm hoping we can slip it in Sunday after church. We'll see!

Two
Bent & I had a breakthrough this week. She went to the beach before I did so I didn't see her for over a week. When I picked Brayden up Monday afternoon, she came running to me with her arms up and gave me the biggest hug! Ever since then, she's been randomly showing me affection. I'm loving it! I need to go out of town more often!

Three
I've fallen off the bandwagon on my lifestyle change, but I'm about to begrudgingly climb back on! I just love bad food so much, but I've indulged in quite a lot of it lately and I can tell in my clothes. I got 2 new sports bras from the Under Armour outlet at the beach so it's time to start my workouts again.

Four
Last night Mom and I took Bentley and Brayden to grab something to eat. Bentley chose to sit with me during dinner so I had to document it. So then Brayden wanted to document him sitting with Nana because that almost never happens either. (Sense the sarcastic tone)

FIVE
I finally jumped on the bandwagon and joined the pocket tee club. My cousin made it for me and I love it! It usually takes me a while, but evenutally I'll follow the crowd. :)

Have a great 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!

BDO (Boy's Day Out)

Saturday I helped some family friends get a house ready for an estate sale so Tyler was on daddy duty all day. He decided to take Brayden hiking at a state park that was close by and they had a great time together. I'm glad they finally got to spend some time just the 2 of them. I hope they end up being the best of friends. First, they stopped and got some lunch and Brayden got a cookie!

Then, they went and hiked up the mountain to see a waterfall. According to Tyler, Brayden did so good! There were some steep portions of the trail, but he never asked to be held. Also, to give you a glimpse of real life, those clothes actually served as his pajamas the night before. He wears his clothes that get too small as pajamas. Tyler said he couldn't find any of his other clothes, so he just took him in that! Ah, men! In his defense, though, I don't think any of his clothes were actually clean. :)


Seriously, why does my child smile like this?!

Saturday evening we went to get groceries. After grocery shopping, we decided it was too late to try to get home and cook so we made a stop by Cracker Barrel to eat.

Yes, that's the Cracker Barrel game on his head

 

On Friday, Brooke texted me a video and said Brayden and Bentley had been doing this all day. The funniest part of it is at the beginning when Bentley talks. She has just started talking so of course we think everything she says is hilarious. To translate: she says "Bray, hold me?" Brooke said Brayden finally said "I can't hold you all day Bent, you're too heavy!" I love those 2 kids!

 

We had a great weekend! Hope you did too!



Bentley Grace

Brooke and her family recently went to the beach. When I borrowed her memory card to get those pictures from Brayden's party, I found some pictures of Bentley on the beach and laughed so hard. That girl has so many faces.

The I'll Cooperate For Now Face

She is full of personality and has no problem letting you know how she feels about anything.

The I'm Not Happy About This Face

Followed by:



The Now I'm MAD Face

 

If she loves you, she LOVES you - this would apply to her Mom & Nana. If she doesn't LOVE you then she could take you or leave you so I get this face a lot:

The You Get On My Nerves Face

 

So then I start to annoy her because for some reason I think that'll make her like me and then I get this:

The You Better Leave Me Alone Face

 

I've finally accepted the fact that she's never going to get too excited to see me or choose me to be the one who gets to hold her. Of course, I still love her more than words can say.

The Normal Face

 

I love this sweet girl so much and I'm so glad we live close to each other so I can watch her grow up. Who knows, maybe one day when she gets older she'll like me! :)

The Mommy, You Hung The Moon Face









Weekend

This weekend was pretty low key but was a lot of fun. Friday night, we went to visit Bentley in the hospital. She has a condition called kidney reflux which means if she gets a UTI (& I think this condition makes that more likely), the infection can back up into her kidney and unfortunately, that happened this time. She went to the hospital Wednesday night with like a 104 degree fever and was having seizures. They admitted her and got her on IV antibiotics. She didn't get to come home until Saturday! Luckily she had no kidney damage from the infection. You could tell when we walked in that Bentley had missed Brayden a lot. She was very excited to see him, and his puppy!

We didn't do much Saturday other than grab lunch, do a little shopping, and get groceries.

Sunday, Dad had the idea to go to the Logan Martin Dam. All the floodgates were opened all the time because of all the rain. It was so much fun and Brayden was amazed. Dams really are pretty cool!