Where has the time gone?

Wow, how time flies. This weekend Brayden will be 6 months old. He is truly growing so fast. Andrew and I love all the new things he does. In the past few weeks he has started sitting up on his own and I think he really enjoys seeing everything around him. He is a very observant baby and is always taking in his surroundings. Unless he is hungry he is a very happy baby. At my baby shower my mom got us an outfit that had a picture of Thumper on it because that was the nickname we gave the baby before we knew what we were having. Here are some pictures of Brayden wearing that outfit.

Hey, look what I can do! I can sit up all by myself. I am a little wobbly at times but getting better! I have a new view of the world!



Mommy says I change so much everyday.



I am sitting up in the rocking chair Great Grandpa Norbert made for my mommy. It is in my room right next to my bookshelf so I can sit and read a good book!

Iowa Chops

Last Saturday we went out for a family fun night to the Iowa Chops Hockey game. It was a lot of fun because the game was sponsored by Blanks Children's Hospital so there were lots of other kids there.

Brayden was pretty excited when we got there because there was so much to look at and see. We made sure to pack a jacket and a hat since usually the arena is cold but it wasn't too bad. We were a few minutes late getting there and by the time we got to our seats we had already scored. It was a pretty intense game. The score was still 1-0 at the beginning of the 3rd period. Finally in the 3rd the Chop scored again and Brayden was in for a big surprise. When they scored the lights went out, flames shot out from the big scoreboard, and everyone yelled and cheered. Brayden joined the celebration by crying :( We didn't know that was about to happen and it caught us and Brayden by surprise. We usually try to go to a game and help support the local teams so it was fun for us to be able to take Brayden along!

All dressed and ready to go to the game!

Here is some of the exciting game.

Andrew and Brayden posing in front of the rink. There were quite a few people there!

And the celebrating contines. This is where Brayden decided he wasn't quite sure he liked the idea of this hockey game.

I can do it all by myself

Brayden has become very interested in sitting at the table with us and watching us eat dinner every night so we usually feed him when we eat. Last night, Daddy was trying to feed him and he kept trying to grab Andrew's hand or the spoon so we decided to give it to him and see how he would do. He took the spoon and was able to get it to his mouth but most of the food ended up on his hands. No one said teaching a baby to eat would be a clean process they just promised it would be fun!

Daddy, let me show you how to do it.

Almost there just a little more to the right and straight into my mouth!

Peas Video

I bet if you tried these peas your face would look the same too, if not worse.

Peas Please!

Mommy and Daddy let me try some peas last week and they tasted different than the cereal I am used to. I was giving my Daddy quite a show with my facial expressions, as he was recording the whole thing. Here are a couple pictures of the experience. I can't wait till I get to try something a little sweeter, like bananas! Mommy said she ate a lot of those when I was growing in her tummy.

I opened my mouth right up for the first bite and gave Mommy and Daddy a funny look when I realized it tasted different then my normal cereal.

Ta-Da! The end result. I know I look like a mess but that is the fun part! Mommy says I even got quite a bit of it in my mouth.

My Uncle Dustin is fast!

Uncle Dustin was in a track meet at Iowa State earlier this week, so Mommy, Daddy and I decided to go up and see him. He did a great job...I can't wait until I get to run that fast. I guess I better work on crawling and walking first though, huh. I might need a few lessons on the long jump too Uncle Dustin. If I had it my way, I think I would just play in the sand, not jump in it.

Mommy's Favorites

Well, for those of you who know my Mommy well you know her love of pictures! Trust me in the past 5 months I have learned how much she loves pictures too. She tells me it is because I am so cute. Here are some of her recent favorites.

Mommy loves me and I love snuggles from her!

Daddy and Son bonding time. I was kicking back while Daddy was reading me a book before bed.

Playing in my new farm activity center. There are lots of things for me to play with.

Mommy taking some pictures in black and white. I decided I would smile when she got the camera out.

Happy St. Patricks Day!

It was my 1st St. Patricks Day, so my Mommy had to dig through my closet to find something green. I had one green outfit that I have almost outgrown and a green pair of pants that are too big so instead I wore a green bib to show my spirit. Yesterday Mommy and I were able to go for a walk since it was still so nice out. We also went to Uncle Dustin's track meet but more on that later!



Thanks Great Great Aunt Sandi and Great Great Uncle Paul for sending a card and this button. It says Irish 4 A Day! Mommy was trying to take pictures of me with it and I kept picking it up and trying to chew on it.

My Grandma Becky doesn't miss a beat. She sent me a package that had a card that said Baby's 1st St. Patricks Day! Here I am showing off the card.

She also sent me these Taggies Blocks. They are pretty cool because there are lots of tags for me to grab and hold onto and they are bright colors so they keep me entertained. Mommy says they are extra nice because they are really soft!

Meeting a new friend

A couple of weeks ago, Mommy's friend Nicole had a girls night at her house. Even though it was a girls night I was allowed to come too. I was a real charmer for all of the ladies :) It was fun to meet some new friends. Mommy's friend Manda brought her little boy too. His name is Strummer and he is just a couple weeks younger then me. October birthdays are the best. It was fun meeting Strummer although both of us were pretty tired so hopefully we will be able to get together again to play. Mommy told me that my hair used t be about the same color as Strummers when I was first born.


Here is Mommy and me with Strummer and his Mommy, Manda. I even have the same outfit that Strummer is wearing, just in a different color.


Hi Strummer! Nice to meet you.



Here is me and my new friend Strummer! We were both busy checking out the new environment and all of the new faces.



Here is Sara, my Godmother, and Strummer's Aunt. She is multi-talented holding two babies at once.

We love Spring!

Wow, what a beautiful day! When Daddy got home from work today they got out the stroller and we went for a walk around our neighborhood. There are two ponds by our house so we walked around them and even saw some ducks in the pond. Daddy says maybe sometime I can feed the ducks. There were lots of our neighbors outside too. The weather was so nice that I actually fell asleep on our walk. Mommy and Daddy took some pictures of our first family walk. It was a lot of fun. Daddy even decided to grill when we got home.

Riding just in my stroller! Usually I am in my car seat carrier which clips into the stroller. Daddy doing a good job of buckling me in.

Mommy pushing me around. I fell asleep and took a little nap while we strolled around the lake/pond.

Check out my new hat! Thanks Grandma Becky. It helped keep the sun out of my eyes!

When we got back to the house of course I was ready to wake up. Here is Daddy and I showing off our hats!

We love family pictures!

Wow, how quickly time flies! We went and got professional photos taken when Brayden turned 4 months and they turned out great. It is so amazing to see how much Brayden has changed over the last few months. As of right now, I think he is going to be a blonde hair blue eyed little man! We went in just planning to get a few pictures but when we saw how they turned out we had a hard time deciding. We were planning on having him in the blue shirt but then we were moving him around trying to get different poses and he decided to spit up on that shirt so good thing we had a back-up! We just love these pictures of Brayden so we hope you enjoy them too!

Look at that adorable and innocent look :)

Brayden, What do you think about...

..Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his finishes so far this season?



My facial expressions tell you exactly how I feel about it!



Brayden, How do you think he will do at Bristol next week?

I will be cheering him on and hoping that he gets a win.

A Day to Remember!

March 3rd is a very special day around our house and this year was no different. Andrew took the morning off because Brayden had a doctor appointment and he was going to go with. We had his appointment at 9:00 and that went well so we were headed for home by 10. We got home and Andrew helped us get settled before heading to work for the day. He even remembered to say Happy Anniversary before leaving for work. It 8 years ago that he asked me to be in girlfriend in the hallway by my locker :)

I was in the living room feeding Brayden when I heard the door bell ring. I figured it must be UPS and went to look out the window because usually they ring the doorbell and by the time I answer the door they are already in the truck, only this time I saw Andrew's car in the driveway. I thought maybe he had gotten sick at work or something. Brayden and I go answer the door and there is Andrew standing with a dozen red roses! He wanted to know if we wanted to go out to lunch with him. I was so surprised and Brayden was excited to have Daddy home as well. Andrew said he had taken the whole day off but left for "work" so he could come back a little later and surprise us! Andrew is very good at tricking me. When he left he even took his keys for work because he figured if I saw those I would know he wasn't actually going to work.

We went out to eat at Applebee's because that is where we had our first official date. We had gone to Mason City to go out to eat and to a movie. Brayden feel asleep in the car and actually slept the whole time we were at lunch in his car seat. It was great to have a lunch date!

After lunch we came home and enjoyed spending the afternoon together. What a great way to spend the day.


Brayden was all smiles in the small office we were stuck in for 20 minutes. We decided to have fun by taking pictures!

Brayden and Mommy having fun while waiting for the Dr. to come in. We were learning all about the spinal chord.




Trying to take one quick family picture before heading out for lunch. This was the best we could came up with!



Mommy what are those things? They smell pretty. Can I touch them?

Daddy and I looking sharp before we left for lunch!

"All Done"

Earlier today, Daddy was changing my pants and when he was finished, he told me "all done" while he raised his arms. I just thought that was so funny. Take a look at the video below. Make sure to turn your sound up on your computers so you can hear me!

Eating Cereal

I am a big boy and I eat off of a big spoon to prove it! That's right a couple of weeks ago Mommy and Daddy started feeding me rice cereal. It is really good. It is a lot of fun to eat off of a spoon. My Mommy and Daddy are getting better at keeping the food in my mouth and not on my face. Practice makes perfect, right? Grandma Becky even had the chance to feed me cereal. You should check out this new gadget I have called a high-chair. I can lean back, move the footrest, and move the seat up and down. It has lots of different functions and it even matches my car seat! How cool. I know you are all wondering how much of a mess I made the first time with cereal so here are a few pictures.

My 1st time eating cereal. I was trying to help her hold the spoon but she insisted she could do it.

I don't want to show you all the cereal that is left on my face! My mommy hadn't cleaned my face off yet.

It is Daddy's turn to feed me. He got some tips from Mommy and started right in. He did a good job and made sure to keep up with me.

Daddy, there is some left on my chin. Would you mind getting that for me?