Birthdays, Getaways, Halloween & Big News!

Well, you guys know how it goes with my blog. You may not hear from me for a few months, but I'll get you caught up! Buckle up! Here we go...

Now I know my last post was dedicated to Braeden's 2nd birthday, but here are some pictures from his actual birthday party. It was a small family get together that ended up being a lot of fun and very special. Poor kid lives in AZ with a July birthday so there is no better way to celebrate than in the water! Thanks again to Randy and Jenn for hosting since we don't have a pool!

We also had the opportunity to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday at PF Chang's. And nope, that's not a typo people... the big 7-0! Just teasing, Dad. I love you!

Cameron and I had the opportunity to go on a little get-away together for the very first time since we had Braeden! We decided to go to the mountains (Greer) and stayed in their Honeymoon suite at the Red Setter Inn Bed and Breakfast. It was a great time and we were so thankful that Cameron's parents (Papa & Grandma Mia) were willing to watch our little man while we were away! Our room had a wall of windows ceiling to floor and the first picture below is of our view from the suite. It was gorgeous having the river just below and to fall asleep to.

And of course, there's Halloween! Braeden's had a growing love for pirates (for whatever reason) and so he was more than excited to be one for Halloween. This was the first Halloween where he really started to grasp the whole experience. We also watched as he grew VERY much in love with all things Halloween... even the scary stuff. We had a hard time getting him to keep moving whenever we passed a house with spiders, webs, a witch, jack-o-lantern, monster, skeleton and more. He just wanted to hang out for hours and ask the witch hanging from the tree what she was doing up there? Or the skeleton coming out of his grave if he was okay. haha. Never imagined he would be such a lover of the holiday, but it really made it fun for us.

Now here are some little moments captured over the past few months that put a smile on my face. I hope you enjoy them...

And lastly, for the Big News I promised... well, unless you're blind you can see below that I am pregnant with a baby girl! She is due April 21st which makes me about 18 weeks right now. We are so excited and feel exponentially blessed at this time. The Lord has provided for us in every way and we couldn't be more grateful.

Happy Birthday Braeden!!!

Thursday, July 23rd, our little man turned two years old! I felt nostalgic but excited for him at the same time. I can't even begin to articulate the joy Braeden brings into our lives. He is a crack up yet also very tender, sweet and loving. Here is a list of our precious two-year-old's favorite things, stats and stories for those that haven't had the opportunity to get to know him:

COLOR: Blue, Yellow ("yeh-yoh")

FOOD: Anything with cheese (or even resembles cheese, like white rice)

DRINK: Water, Water, Water... and chocolate milk
(which he calls, "juice")

TAG LINES: "I do it!", "Stop it!", "All doooone!", "Ssshhhh!", "Ooooooh, man!", "So sorry" (Ever since we taught him to say "sorry", he's always said it this way. We think it's adorable and hope he never stops!), "Mm-mm-mm!" (He does this while shaking his hips side to side, priceless!).

MOVIE: Hands down, Cars! He watches this daily and wakes up asking for it.

CARTOON: Word World, Super Why!, Spongebob

BOOK: This changes by the week. Last week it was Fox in Socks and this week it seems to be The Giving Tree.

TOYS: Cars, anything and everything Cars & his oversized, yellow tonka truck.

CARS CHARACTERS: Mater, Red and Tractor

FRUIT: Bananas and strawberries

VEGGIE: Peas

SNACK: GoGurt

HEIGHT: Approx 36 inches (3 ft)

WEIGHT: 27 lbs

GAME: Elefun

TEMPERAMENT: Sensitive, loving, very helpful, goofy.

NEW-FOUND LOVE: Jumping!!!

LEARNING: Can recognize some words, all letters (upper and most lower case), recognize most numbers and colors.

BEST FRIENDS: Lincoln, Grady, Nico

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Repeats the last word you say when conversing, speaks phrases and simple sentences, walks downstairs like a big boy.

FUNNY QUIRKS:
Flip flops the pronunciation of words (i.e., "Dirty" is "Deeter"), and for fun and laughs he goes around walking like an old man bent over!

PASTIME:
Scribbling on paper and telling Mommy what letter it most resembles, swimming or being in the water, water colors, plays and plays and plays with his Cars and trucks (lining them up, stuffing smaller cars into bigger trucks, rearranging them, etc.).

GUILTY PLEASURE:
Chapstick, a.k.a. "whips" (lips). He loves to hold it, turn it up, put it on his "whips", close the cap (notice how he doesn't turn it back down? This creates problems). He could do this all day. Speaking of lips, he likes to pick at the middle part of his upper lip until it bleeds. He knows he's not allowed to so he waits until he's in bed alone (I can catch him on the monitor) or he'll just hide behind a couch and pick, pick, pick. It's a terrible habit. He also love, love, loves to drink ice water from an adult glass. He spills one just about daily...

MOMMY'S FAVORITE MOMENTS:
In the beginning of the Cars movie, Lightening McQueen says "Ooooh, yeah!". I caught him saying it on queue before and it was priceless! Last night when he said his first prayer with Mommy's help. Hearing him go into a fit of laughter where he can't stop. He's most goofy just before bed and absolutely anything is funny to him. I love his laugh; it's so contagious. When he comes to me and just sits in my lap or lays down next to me to cuddle. Singing to him at night and getting him to sing the word "Beam!" to the primary song, "Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam". And kisses, Mommy loves her some Braeden kisses!

DADDY'S FAVORITE MOMENT:
When he went up to Daddy and for the first time ever said, "Hug?" while stretching out his arms. He's never asked for a hug before. He's always just done it or we've initiated it. It was so precious.

Update from last blog... So I'm sure you all have been losing sleep over how Braeden has gone the last three months without a bath because of his paralyzing fear of poo poo living in the bathtub. Rest assured, Mommy found a way to ease him back into the process to a point where he now really enjoys his bath time again. All it took was explaining that it was impossible until I was blue in the face... eventually my explanation turned into a little song I created. The words go like this, "Poo poo in the potty! Bubbles in the bath!" (please appreciate the alliteration =). So I gave the boy bubbles, so many bubbles that there was no way he would noticed the tiniest speck on the floor of the tub and assume it was more poo poo! We have our set backs time and again; I'm always prepared for the sudden rush of fear of a slippery and wet little boy trying to make his way out of the tub asap! These days, he often jumps in the shower with either Mommy or Daddy. He likes to stay in there after we finish and just let the water run on his back.... but who doesn't?

Happy Birthday Braeden Lucas!

Scary Poo Poo

So, I turned the big 27... made me realize I'm now officially in my late twenties. To celebrate we went to Famous Dave's (my favorite BBQ place EVER!). It was great to reconnect with family. The picture you see above is the only picture we have to remember the day by and it was taken by the manager there and e-mailed to me. I guess restaurants are having to get creative these days to attract more business. I appreciated it because our camera is out of commission.

Cameron took Braeden on our church Father/Son camp out this past weekend. I asked him to take our camera (because it is capable of snapping at least three shots before it dies) and also the camcorder. He refused and said that Sam (our neighbor) had a camera and would e-mail them to us. I decided I would choose my battles (this not being one of them) and sent them off. Well, he came home and said our neighbor's wife forgot to pack batteries (like how the blame had been shifted there? Men...). So, I asked if he took any pictures with his cell phone (I already knew the answer because I'm a genius, I was just trying to prove a point here). So, we have not a single photo to capture my baby's first camp out which is beyond disappointing. sigh. Men...

Now to get to the point... my baby boy comes home filthy- truly filthy. Not that I expected anything different, but straight to the bath he went. Well, I had to drain the dirty bath water and refill it. After doing that, I stepped away to grab a towel only to come back to my son sitting among poop. Yep, he did it again (shivers). So I sucked it up and said very calmly, "Did you go poo poo? Oh no." Well, apparently Braeden was entirely oblivious that he had pooped and perhaps unaware that it came out of him. But when he saw it... OH MAN! You would've thought the Boogie-Man was staring right back at him because he FREAKED OUT! So now, he won't take a bath anymore. He bawls barely making out the words, "Poo Poo!" and clings to me and will crawl out of the tub. ugh. It's really the saddest sight, although still slightly humorous I'll admit. I used to have to drag him out of the tub, and now he won't touch it. So I guess in our home, we don't worry about monsters in the closet because we have scary poo poo in the bath tub. Go figure. =)

Been a while...

I wouldn't even know where to begin since I haven't posted an update in FOUR MONTHS!?! I marvel at all the mommies who make time to post so often. Well, let's think... dating back to December, we celebrated Christmas in California with our friends and family. It's always great reconnecting and having people see how big Braeden has become. Unfortunately, our little tike got pretty sick the very night we arrived and mommy and baby got almost zero sleep the entire week we were out. That was hard to get through... anyone who knows me understands that I'm not a happy (or sane) person when I'm sleep-deprived and nor is our little Braeden. This probably has a lot to do with why we haven't braved another trip since...

Shortly after returning from California, Cameron found out that he landed a new position at the hospital he works at! It was an answer to our many prayers and we are tremendously blessed by this opportunity. Cameron now works a normal morning shift again, gets paid better, enjoys the management he works under and really LOVES what he is doing! (For those of you wondering, he works in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab where he assists cardiologists with inserting heart stints, pacemakers, etc.) An incredible blessing considering the economic times we live in and that he came into the position with zero experience in this particular field of Radiology. They really took a chance on him and we know that it was only through the Lord this could have happened. We are so grateful.

Sooooo, Cameron turned the big 32... but more exciting than even that- Braeden is in NURSERY!! Hallelujah! Finally, we can enjoy the lessons at church again rather than spending our time chasing our little rugrat and causing commotion! Whoo hoo! Yay for Nursery! When we first dropped the little bugger off he would cry for a while... now, he's a pro taking off without even looking back! Okay, that hurt my heart a little at first, but it's a good thing, right? We want him to enjoy his time there. He's getting to be such a big boy! My favorite is picking him up from Nursery. I'm always trying to beat Cameron to it. It's fun seeing all the little kids smooshed up against the child safety gate with their eyes wide open hoping that their mommy or daddy comes next. And then to see their little eyes light up when they spot you! It's just precious and makes me teary eyed. I've noticed that I've become far more weepy as I get older.... hmmm.

THEN... believe it or not... we got a DOG (named "Buster"... otherwise known as "Busted" by my sweet niece, Lily)! Holy cow, what was I thinking? Anyone who knows me, knows I'm NOT a pet person. Oh man. Let's just say our pekingese pup is adorable, but a true challenge for me. I think things will improve once he's completely housebroken... that's my biggest issue. But Cameron and Braeden love Buster to pieces (and I do too a lot of the time)!!! Either way, he's officially part of the family.

We've had family coming in and out a lot lately for visits and that's always exciting. We sold a car, were given (yes, GIVEN) a bigger car by Cameron's parents. We are so grateful. There really was no other way we could upgrade to accommodate a growing family otherwise.

We also attended the Luke Air Force Base's biannual air show and it was amazing. Unfortunately, it was blazing hot with an unprecedented number of people. It took us walking what I imagine was nearly ten miles and waiting in line for almost two hours to get in (needless to say, my decision to wear flip flops was less than brilliant). But we were invested and NOT walking back to our car empty-handed, so we waited. It was worth it and a really fun experience. Braeden loves "panes!". The air show was amazing.

Then there was Easter. Cameron's parents were here the week leading up to it and helped us build a swing set (among many other projects) for Braeden. It was quite the undertaking! It was so wonderful having Cameron's parents out to help with odds and ends around the house and especially to see our little man really get to know his grandparents better. He nicknamed his grandpa, "Papa" and loved to point out anything he thought belonged to his papa! He also LOVED his time with his Grandma Mia (we're still working on getting him to say "Mia")... he got lots of time reading books and going over his ABC's and 123's with his Grandma. We are so impressed with his fascination with the alphabet and numbers and he knows all of his letters but struggles with "W". He refers to it as "double-dub" when he's right, but usually thinks it's an "M". Not too shabby... It's so fun to indulge that passion and we hope he continues to love learning! Back to Easter, we only got one sad shot of our Easter with Braeden in his new little suit (courtesy of Papa and Grandma Mia) before our camera died. I was so disappointed. We really need to get that thing replaced. But he loved his Easter basket and looking for it (a tradition I had growing up), dying the eggs, looking for eggs and of course eating the candy!!! It was a great time together with family.
And so I'd like to close up my seemingly never-ending post (and "thank you" to those who hung in there) with some little updates on Braeden. He now walks around the house saying "Oh Josh!" when accidents happen (yes, that's him repeating mommy saying "Oh Gosh!"... lesson learned. =) He is our little love-bug. He loves to give kisses and hugs. He's an easy crowd and finds humor in almost anything. He's always laughing and trying to make others laugh by being a goof ball. He loves his "Nee-Nee" (cousin, Lincoln). Braeden has designated the chair next to his booster seat as Nee-Nee's and is quick to point out when it's vacant. His latest enjoyment is walking Buster... all by himself (with Mommy and Daddy nearby to serve as referees, of course). He's a true joy...

Our Little Goofball

Braeden with the three wisemen (aka, our bishopric)

at our ward party!

A close-up of our angel.
Who turned out the lights?

Braeden trying to be like his daddy!

Braeden's not big on long sleeves and this

was his best attempt to get out of his shirt.

Maybe he'll start a new trend in nursery?

So here are some more random moments captured of Braeden... I don't know when this happened, but he has turned into such a big boy these days. He's our tender, loving, goofy comedian. If he does something to "accidentally" hurt mommy or daddy... he immediately tries to get you to start laughing. And it almost ALWAYS works! The kid has us so wrapped around his cute little finger.