Brayden's Birthday Party

Choo! Choo! Brayden's turned two last week so we had a party to celebrate.   One of the things Brayden loves to play with are trains so we decided on a train theme for his party.  We took Brayden's play room and turned it into a big train station with all of Brayden's geo trax trains.  We told Brayden Saturday morning it was the day of his party and that he was going to need a nap and he knew we meant business because he went down for nap early and woke up at 1:45.  His party started at 2:00 so he was right on time.

Brayden didn't really want to open his presents he just wanted to play with his friends instead. Andrew made a video of pictures and videos of the last year and it was so fun to watch and see how much Brayden has changed in the last year.  On his birthday last year Brayden took his first (17) steps on his own.  It was so cute to see all of the kids in the playroom playing with the trains.  He had so much fun playing.  This year we got an ice cream cake for Brayden and it was a big hit.  Brayden tried to blow out his candles and then was ready to have some of that cake.  He kept trying to put his fingers in the frosting.  Nan was nice enough to share her cake with Brayden and before he could even swallow his bite he was already asking for more.  I don't think she was able to get very much cake.  Brayden was so tired at the end of the day he even said I'm tired before we went to sleep for the night.

Thank you to all of those who came over to celebrate with us.  We are so thankful for great family and friends.  Brayden also says "Thank you"!  I wish I would have gotten some more pictures but I guess I will just be thankful that I was able to get a few of Brayden and some of his birthday guests.

I'm Two!

Now those of you who have seen Brayden lately realize his vocabulary can be quite entertaining.  We had talked about how it was Papa Marc's birthday and on Tuesday it was Brayden's birthday.  When Brayden woke up we wished him a happy birthday and asked how old he was and he proudly declared "I'm two!"  Mommy and Brayden had a fun day playing at home.  Brayden's favorite part of the day was playing with Thomas.  After Daddy got off work we went out to eat to celebrate.  We went to a special place called Texas Roadhouse.  Brayden even got special treatment when they brought the saddle out and had some of the waitresses come out to give Brayden a big Texas Roadhouse YeeHaw.  Brayden wasn't sure what to think of the saddle but he did keep a close eye on all of those waitresses.  He was so excited to have some "more ice cream".  I think we heard that after every bite.  He was nice enough to share his ice cream with Mommy and Daddy though.  After dinner we headed home to play together before bed.  We let Brayden stay up since it was his birthday.  We are looking forward to celebrating his birthday again with family and friends this weekend.

 The birthday boy and Mommy!

 We were seated right around the corner from where the servers came to place their orders so Brayden enjoyed flirting with the ladies.

 This saddle deal isn't so bad after all.  What a big boy!

 Look at that yummy sundae.

 The birthday boy and Daddy. 

Memory Lane

It is hard to think that just two short years ago we were at a baby fair at the hospital during the day, checking out how the digging of our new lot was going, and enjoying a nice grilled dinner for supper.  As I sit here and look at the clock I realize how we went to bed tonight and had no idea what God had in store for our family.

Early Sunday morning I woke up with a stomach cramp and little did we know that 10 hours later we would welcome our first child into the world.  Andrew thought that it was contractions but I still thought it was just being so full from dinner. We labored for a few hours at home before deciding that it was time to go to the hospital.  It amazes me how I drove that drive to the hospital many times before but while in labor it seemed to take forever.  Andrew was so thoughtful that he even had a ice cream bucket in the car in case I threw up in the car.  He was so patient with me because I remember telling him to hurry and get to the hospital but then I told him to slow down because I was in pain.  I couldn't make up my mind I guess.  We decided we were not going to call anyone until we got checked in and got the opinion of the doctor.  As we were checking in contractions were coming every few minutes.  When we saw our nurse she said we will be having a baby that day may even be early afternoon.  We were so surprised when Brayden joined us just two and a half hours after arriving at the hospital.  Thinking back to Brayden's birth day we are so thankful for a safe and healthy delivery.  I have found a few pictures to share as I think back to that day when our lives changed forever. 

Our first official family picture.  This picture was taken shortly after Brayden was born.

This was taken right after Brayden was cleaned, weighed, and measured. Brayden was 22.5 inches long, 8 lbs and 12 oz. 

After Brayden was all cleaned up we had lots of time to snuggle and get to know one another.  I love looking at this picture because I fall in love with him all over again. 

Those first couple of days sure were a blur with how tired we were, but we were so in love with our son that sleep seemed to be overrated.

On Tuesday, we were being discharged so we made sure to bring a special outfit for Brayden to wear.  Daddy and Brayden are all dressed up and ready to head home.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

So my mommy says she needs to apologize for the lack of posting lately.  She has been so busy with school that in her free time she just wants to hang out with me and Daddy.  Truthfully I don't blame her.  I enjoy spending time with her and Daddy.  Anyways, back to the original post.  Daddy celebrated his birthday the beginning of September.  I am learning words like crazy so all day Mommy and I were practicing "Happy Birthday Daddy".  If Mommy told me one word at a time I could say it.  When Daddy got home from work we opened his presents and then went out to eat.  Daddy got to pick where we went out to eat and of course he choose Buffalo Wild Wings.  He loves to eat wings.  After we went out to eat we even stopped to get a haircut.  Mommy says I get my hair cut more often then she does. Mommy took some before and after pictures of me and Daddy.  She says she loves my hair long but it definitely needed cut.  What do you think?  Long or short hair?

 Opening some presents before going out to eat!

Cheese Mommy!  Here is our before picture!

Here is our after picture!  Mommy says we are handsome! 

Swimming at Grandma and Papa's House

My Papa got a new boat this year and it is so fun to go boating with him and Grandma Becky.  Papa even lets me drive sometimes too.  He has already taught me how to steer, how to change the radio, and how the depth finder works.  I am a natural.  Towards the end of the summer we went even got to try something new, tubing.  Now have no fear the lake is suppose to be a no wake zone and the tube was a fully enclosed one.  On top of that I was also wearing a life jacket.  Mommy and Daddy would never let me do something like that if we weren't sure it was completely safe.  Plus my Mommy is a good swimmer and she went with me.  It was so much fun.  Papa didn't go very fast but the motion of the waves almost put me to sleep.  When I was riding with mom I gave Daddy a thumbs up to show him I was having fun.  While we were swimming in the lake Mommy screamed and she thought a fish was nibbling at her toes.  Daddy kept trying to scare Mommy and she was not very happy when he did that.   I really enjoy swimming.  I love to splash too.

Captain Brayden!

Mommy and me swimming in the lake.

Look at my front float.   I take every opportunity I can to practice my swimming skills.

Now it's time to practice my back float.  Check out the cool Batman life jacket Grandma Becky has for me to use.

Sitting in an inter tube.

Hi Daddy!

Let's go faster Papa!

Swimming with Mommy and Grandma Becky.

Iowa State Fair

A yearly tradition continues as we visited the 2010 Iowa State Fair.  Mommy, Daddy, and I went with my friend Caitlin and her Mommy, Daddy, and Aunt Daisy.   We always have a good time seeing all the animals.  This year was lots of fun because I could walk around and enjoy all the animals at my own level.  We got to eat some yummy foods (tenderloin on a stick, cheese curds, funnel cakes), see many animals, and did lots of people watching.  We happen to get to see them showing the horses so that was a lot of fun. Check out the pictures to see what we all did.

Annual picture although Mommy couldn't capture both Caitlin and I with our heads in there at the same time.

Look Daddy!

Let's go!

Little Hands on the farm! They needed me to help harvest some fruits and vegetables.  I was supposed to pick one apple but I really like apples so I enjoyed picking lots of apples off the trees!

Driving my tractor to market to take all of my goodies!

Milking the cow.

Not a great picture but after I turned in my food at the farmers market I got a dollar to spend at the market.  I decided to buy some animal crackers!

At the butterfly house.  I liked to look at the butterflies but I did not want to hold them.

Can I ride it?

Nice picture of Mommy and Steph but Caitlin and I were too busy people watching.

Rob carried me on his shoulders and it was a whole new view.  Rob is pretty tall so I could see over everybody.

Before leaving we wanted to take a family picture. Here is me, Mommy and Daddy on the midway.

Mr. Handsome

No words necessary!  Just handsome Brayden!