Baby B

Look Out

2011-12-30T06:54:00.000-08:00

One of Brayden's favorite toys that he got for Christmas was a nerf gun. He thinks it is awesome and goes around shooting everything/everyone. Last night I looked up and this was what I caught him and Nick doing.

Shooting bad guys. Look out world.

Winter Break

2011-12-28T06:40:00.000-08:00

Winter break this year was a lot of fun! Brayden and I got to hang out and Nick even got to spend some time home with us! One day we took Brayden and Colton to the swimming pool. Brayden loves to swim but has decided that he hates swimming lessons. So wq1e try to get him to the pool often so he stays used to swimming come summer time.

They had fun playing in all the fountains and going down the slides. We are going to have some fun times this summer!

Hockey

2011-12-12T17:24:00.001-08:00

When we moved up here, one of the first things Nick talked about was getting Brayden into skating lessons so he would be ready to play hockey. So we signed him up for lessons and away he went.

He passed his first session with no problem. He learned how to get up of he fell, how to go forward and how to keep his balance while picking something up off the ground.
In the second seeion now, he is working on going backwards, and moving around objects.He generally likes to go to skating lessons, but sometimes gets frustrated when he can't do something right.

HE has some sweet hockey hair going on afterwards all the time!

Before lessons, they have an open skate time and he likes doing that with us. We always let him take a break on the bench before he has to go to lessons. He thinks that is pretty cool.

Here is a video of him skating. He is the one by the girl in pink that the teacher goes and turns around

Fun Time!

2011-11-12T17:20:00.000-08:00

I had Monday off from school, so Brayden took me on a coffee date. He got his own hot chocolate and muffin and thought he was the coolest thing ever! We even played some board games at the coffee shop.

Later in the week, Nick took Brayden and Colton to the Maze to play for the morning. The two of them had so much fun chasing each other around and playing.

It is always nice to have a day off of work and actually do something fun with it!

Halloween

2011-10-31T17:17:00.000-07:00

This year for Halloween Brayden wanted to be an Army Guy like his dad. We started off the Halloween festivities by going to a Halloween parade in Anoka. All the floats were decorated with costumes. Brayden thought it was pretty neat.

We were towards the end of the parade route, so there was not much candy to be had, but Brayden diligently stood out there and waited for some to come his way.

One the actual night of Halloween Brayden was all ready to go. (not sure why he was making this face)

We were out for a long time and he really enjoyed it. He was very good at saying "thank you" at every house but would frequently forget to say "trick or treat"! By the end of the night he had so much candy that we had to dump his bucket into the stroller because it was too full.

You can see by his smile that he enjoyed himself!

Duluth

2011-10-10T05:40:00.000-07:00

We got the most wonderful opportunity to spend the weekend up in Duluth at Nick's aunt and uncles place. I am not sure we could have gotten a better weekend to be up there. It was so nice out and all the trees were changing colors. While we were up there we went to Gooseberry Falls. Brayden loved it because there was lots of splashing in water, rocks to be thrown and even hiking. It was almost like being back in Las Vegas.

Back at Rhonda and Joe's there was lots of playing with Molly (the dog) and attempts to take a decent family photo.

Brayden's new thing is that he likes to be the one to take the pictures, so we let if if we think he is in a good enough mood to be careful with the camera. He usually does a really god job getting us in view.

Along with wanting to take pictures, he is also getting better at letting us take pictures of him. Sometimes he even turns on the charm!

We were sad that the weekend went by so fast! It was so beautiful up there. Thanks Rhonda and Joe for letting us come up there!

Apple Orchard

2011-10-09T15:28:00.000-07:00

One thing that I really missed while we lived in Vegas was going to the apple orchard in the fall. So this year we went twice! Brayden thought it was cool that you got to take the apples from the trees. Nick and I thought it was awesome that we were able to still wear short sleeve shirts in October.

He was a little unsure of the tractor ride, but I think that it was because it was loud.

And then there was this huge hay pile. That was pretty awesome to climb on and slide down. Just now as we were looking through the pictures though, he says to me... "That's silly that I went on that pile." So maybe it was only cool at the time?

Either way, we had lots of fun and got to make delicious apple treats with all our apples!

Parade time

2011-09-15T15:38:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to the Osseo Parade. Brayden is a big fan of parades and this one was no exception. It might have helped that he got a full bag of candy! He was ready to get it as soon as they threw it!

His favorite was these cars. He thought they were really funny

And one of the last things to go by was this motorcycle with a side car. Brayden got all excited and said "Me and Daddy should have one of those" I love this kid!!

State Fair

2011-08-28T11:30:00.000-07:00

This was the first State Fair that Brayden has ever been to, so we started with the animals thinking he would love them. I think in real life they are a little too big for him. He liked the cows if the were just standing by him, but he was not a fan of getting close to them. His favorite part of the fair was when he got to be a "farmer". They had an area set up where he went through a whole bunch of activities that were similar to being on a farm.

He got to ride on a tractor to bring the food to the animals

And then he had to plant seeds to grow more food and he finished with getting a treat that was made on a farm. He picked out oatmeal.

The second to last thing we did was go into the dairy building to get some ice cream. Brayden thought it was great hat he could be a string cheese.

The boys went off to get some Sweet Martha's cookies before we left and when they came back they brought a sleeping Brayden with them.
Take note of the half eaten cookie in the stroller. He has never fallen asleep in the middle of eating before. Ever.

He also stayed sleeping while we got on the bus and slept most of the way home. Poor kid was exhausted! He must have had fun though because he asked to go back everyday for the next week.

Cabin Time!

2011-08-15T11:07:00.000-07:00

Nick and Brayden and I went up to the cabin for a long weekend to just hang out the 3 of us for awhile. Last year, Brayden went tubing with Nick and Aaron, but we weren't sure how he would do this year.

He was a little aprehensive at first, but once we got going he loved it!

He also loved driving the boat. He thought that he should be allowed to do it himself.

The next day it was not very nice out so we went hiking instead

.
Brayden and his cheesy smile

My two boys hiking

It was so nice to be up at the cabin and just hang out before we go back to working!

Brayden's first sleepover

2011-08-08T16:18:00.000-07:00

Brayden had his very first sleepover with his cousin Ella. We went down to Red Wing for the weekend for Cappy's birthday and spent the weekend at Tony's. These two had so much fun together.

They went swimming and jumped on the trampoline and overall just played well together.

Ella is so cute and so photogenic!. She would smile nice for me and sit still so I could take her picture.

Brayden just came running at me and tried to knock me over!

At one point a cat wandered into the yard and these tow had so much fun watching it and trying to pet it.

They finally caught up to it and played with it for a few minutes before moving on.

We let them pick out their own balloons to give to Cappy for his birthday. They were not willing to let go of them at all!

Becky and Lis were in town visiting as well, so we got to play with even more cousins! Brayden and Ruby did the "flying zucchini" for everyone with Papa.

There were lots of bubbles and some chalk to be played. And Nick gave all the kids rides down the hill and then they started doing it by themselves.

On Sunday we went and hung out with Great Grandma and Grandpa some more.
We had such a fun weekend! Thanks Tony and Danielle and Ella for letting us hang out with you for the weekend!

Training camp

2011-08-06T06:42:00.000-07:00

With Nick being the diehard Vikings fan that he is, and Brayden enjoying any and all sports, we headed down to training camp last week. We don't have many pictures because Nick's cousin Cole got us on field passes for practice the day we were there and there are no cameras allowed down there. Brayden enjoyed being right up in the action. It was pretty hot the day we were they so him and I watched from the shaded areas, but it was cool to be that close!

Brayden spared 1 minute of his time to take a picture with me.
He was more interested in taking a picture with all the guys though

And the "football" guy as he called him

On our way home, Brayden got into the box of band aids that were in the backseat. By the time we got home there were none left.

But at least he stayed entertained the whole ride home!

Lake fun

2011-08-03T06:37:00.000-07:00

Now that we are in the Land of 10,000 lakes, we decided to head out to one of them to cool off one night. Brayden had a blast digging in the sand

B and Nick made a tunnel for the water

and then Brayden proceded to wreck it, but it was fun while it lasted.

The beach that we were at has a huge slide that lands down by the water. Nick went up with Brayden and dumped a bucket of water down the slide behind him. Poor kid shot out so fast that I couldn't even catch him. It resulted in a nasty cut on his elbow.

So we washed it out in the lake while making sure to keep our other injuries out of the water
Boo had so much fun an our way out left our mark. Brayden has never really noticed his footprints before and he thought they were really funny for some reason.

Wedding and Cabin weekend

2011-08-01T06:19:00.000-07:00

The first weekend we were back in Minnesota Nick and I got to head north to Lutsen for Nick's cousins wedding. While we were up there we had a lot of fun hanging out with everyone and we enjoyed a beautiful wedding. We went down the alpine slide before the rain came in on Saturday afternoon.
Here is Tony coming down.

The view from the top of the slide
My super hot date for the wedding

While we were at the wedding, Brayden went to Rhonda's for the weekend with Grandma Robin and Jenna. He had a super fun time and we met him there on Sunday. While he was there, he had his first experience fishing. Nick helped him and showed him how to hold the rod and reel it in.

He even caught a fish before he lost interest in the whole thing.

He really thought fishing was cool... until Nikc pulled the fish out of the water. Then Brayden went crying in the other direction. Poor kid was terrified.
Luckily he got to follow the fishing episode with some super fun swimming in the lake with "Snef i nee"

We all had a really fun weekend and I hope we have many more to come!

The final days

2011-07-20T11:18:00.000-07:00

There were a few things around the Vegas area that Nick and I wanted to do before we left. One of them was to go to Utah and go hiking in Zion. The trail that we did was called Angel's landing and it was absolutely amazing!

This is part of the trail. Most of the trail consisted of switchbacks all the way to the top.
Here we are at the very top. To get all the way up here, you had to go hike where there was a chain to hold onto . The path was about 10 feet wide with a 1,000 foot drop on either side of you. It was incredible!

Nick went canoeing with his friends over the 4th of July. There was also some cliff diving involved. We also packed up and headed west one last time.

We went to San Diego for the first time without Brayden. We laid out at the beach and went boogie boarding.

While we know that Brayden really loves being at the beach, it was nice to be able to relax and just hang out for once while we were out there.

We also spent a lot of time hanging out with friends before we moved. We are going to miss all of out really great friends that we made while we were out there, but we are looking forward to being back by family again.

It happened right before my eyes!

2011-07-11T10:14:00.000-07:00

I woke up the other day and realized that overnight my sweet baby had grown up. Quite a bit actually. Enough so that he knew it was his birthday and declared that he wanted donuts with sprinkles on them for "brethfest". So donuts it was.

Brayden's big present from Nick and I was a new bike. He is very into Cars, so we got him a cars bike. His initial reaction to it was kinda funny and can be seen here. Otherwise here is a picture of the bike.

Later in the afternoon, we had a party full of playing, fun, lots of good gifts and yummy cake. Brayden got more baseball stuff than he knows what to do with and could not be happier about it! He just loves hitting the ball and playing catch, so the more stuff to assist that the better.

We also tossed in lots of kisses to the new big boy!

His uncles got him some sweet Cars stuff. He got a helmet and bell to match his new bike. he also got a remote controlled Cars car.
Here is the other birthday boy Colton. Him and Brayden are going to have all sorts of fun playing togetehr now that they will be at my Mom's house for daycare together.
But she better beware... they both git squirt guns for their birthdays and they know how to use 'em!

Not pictured here is the cars birthday cake that my mom made the boys. It was awesome and came with a Mater truck on the road!

Brayden's stats are: weight - 35.7 lbs., height - 40 inches. Answers to the names of Brayden, Boo, B, Bubba Lu, and Biscuit. He talks at the same level as most 4 year old kids according to his doctor. He eats almost everything unless he thinks it is spicy (like pepperoni). He still take a nap (2 hours) most days and sleep about 10 hours at night. He is full of energy all day everyday, but very sweet and will go with whatever is happening during the day. We could not love this kid anymore than we do!

Settling in

2011-07-09T06:20:00.000-07:00

Brayden is doing a very good job at getting adjusted to everything new. He has been playing really nice with the new daycare kids and having lots of fun

He loves being able to be outside all the time. All he ever askes to do is go play outside with the toys. We might be in trouble once winter rolls around.

He is enjoying the popsicles that come with playing otuside too

The other day we walked all the kids over to an outdoor concert area so they could listen to some music. Bryaden wanted to help on of the babies clap along to the music.

There was also lots of dancing so te boys decided to stand right up on the edge and dance away.

Yesterday we also went to the zoo. He loved seeing all the animals, but his favorite were the giraffees. He walked all over the zoo just checking out all of the animals except the fish. He was not interested in the fish.

Last night we went to Grandma Robin's to play. Brayden played outside in the pool and then him and Uncle Joel climed the tree. Brayden is going to be just fine up here.

4th of July fun

2011-07-05T06:16:00.000-07:00

For the 4th of July weekend, my Dad and I took Brayden up to the cabin for a couple of days. There was lots of boating and playing outside that went on.

Boo went swimming in the lake with some cousins. At first he was very unsure of the sand. He stood on toes so his wouldn't touch the bottom, but after he realized that it was just sand, he loved being in there.

Here he is checking out the sand and making sure it is safe

We also got to partake in the annual boat parade. The boat got decorated and then we drove around the lake to show it off. Brayden can really rock the crown look.

Relaxing with Grandpa during the parade

On the lookout for fish

We also spent lots of time outside enjoying the nice weather and playing with anybody who would join him.

On Monday, we went to the park by my parents house. Brayden was more interested in the baseball field than he was the playground. He had Grandpa pretend to throw him the ball so he could hit it and run to first base. We still have to teach him how to get to second base.

We finished up the weekend by going to see fireworks. Brayden made a great commentator and he pointed out which ones were big or little and what color they all were. He also was very good at imitating the noises they all made.

Final Farewell

2011-07-01T06:07:00.000-07:00

This is Brayden's very last picture in our house in Las Vegas. We were on our way out the door to the airport and he sat down and said good bye to our house. Brayden saying good bye to Dad for a few weeks. I am going to Minnesota with his for a quick trip and then I will come back to Las Vegas to move all of our stuff up. Brayden is going to stay and suck up some lovin' from the grandparents while we move.
Looking out the window of the plane as we departed.

Time for a new sport

2011-06-30T06:06:00.000-07:00

Brayden has a new sport in his life. Hockey season is over so he decided to move on. His new love is baseball. So much so that it is all he talks about somedays. This giant baseball is at the field where Nick's team plays.

The next day we were in the car and Brayden reached over and got Nick's baseball cleats. He put them on his own feet and twisted the laces all up until he declared them "tied"

He was so proud of himself for getting them on that he insisted on wearing them to lunch as well.

On last time

2011-06-29T06:03:00.000-07:00

Before we moved, I took Brayden to one of the best waterparks in town for the morning. We had such a blast palying and running in between the park and the water area. The slides were extra fun because of his wet swim suit, so I think that is what started all the running back and forth.

We tried to take our own picture, but Brayden didn't want to be contained long enough

This hose thing Brayden thought was great because he could get me soaking wet with it. He kept going back to it and if someone else was playing with it, he would patiently waqit for them to be done, so that he could soak me.

Away we go

2011-06-28T16:40:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the last weekend that Brayden will be in Las Vegas. We are moving back to Minnesota and I am taking Brayden back on Thursday. So we lived it up this past weekend. We started off the weekend with some pancakes. Brayden is becoming quite the little chef and helped Nick flip the pancakes.

Over the past week Brayden has really gotten into water balloons. We spent hours outside filling up and throwing water balloons.

I love his face in this picture. Nick was throwing water balloons right at him. They never got anywhere near his face, but every time Nick would throw one, Brayden would make this face.

We spent some time at the park and playing at the splash pads after we saw Cars 2.

We also spent time with friends and having lots of fun going swimming and just hanging out.

All this fun led to one very tired little boy.

Brayden will miss all of his friends in Las Vegas, but we can't wait to hang out with our friends in Minnesota.

Summer Fun

2011-06-21T10:46:00.000-07:00

Now that summer break is here, we have spent a lot of time hanging around the pool. Hours to be exact. We love just floating around and hanging out. Sometimes we have to stop having fun though and do some actual work.

Sometimes we have to practice our monkey walk on the side of the pool,

or our kickers so that we can swim good.

But mostly we just like hanging out and splashing.

A little project we started

2011-06-14T14:52:00.000-07:00

Brayden and I decided that this summer we wanted to grow a garden. Well some plants in a small planter actually. Just this week, there has been some new and exciting developments in our garden. We found this little guy today. It is the very small start of a tomato.

Yesterday, we found three of these.

Unfortunately for our little pea pods, I am not sure if they are going to make it. The actual plant looks like this. I am not sure if I can revive this sad plant into something that might actually grow.

The tomato plant is planted with some green bean plants too. They look nice and healthy, so I can't figure out where we went wrong with the peas.

Brayden loves the plants. He helps me water them and he talks to them everyday. Today he was telling them to drink their water.

He gets right down in there and checks on them with me.

Maybe the one set of plants is growing better so that Brayden can come out in his adorable outfits more often :)

*Notice the cute heels he wore outside today to water the plants.

**Update - right before we left Las Vegas I had a few tomatoes big enough to actually pick and eat. Success!

Mt. Charleston

2011-05-30T20:57:00.000-07:00

We went hiking with some friends over the long weekend. We headed up to Mt. Charleston where there is a really nice trail that ends at a waterfall. It was a beautiful day out so we stopped a few times to enjoy the scenery.

Brayden with his buddy Matt
At the waterfall, it was cold enough for there to still be snow and ice. Nick got Brayden an icicle. Every once in awhile and large chunk of ice/snow would fall from higher up on the mountain and come crashing down. It caused a large pile of snow to form where the waterfall came down. We brought food with us so that we could have a picnic. After we ate, Nick explored on his own for a bit. He went and explored behind the waterfall

Family picture with a breathtaking background

So glad these guys decided to spend the day with us. It was a great way to spend the long weekend.

Picnic

2011-05-29T21:23:00.000-07:00

Last night when I was putting Brayden to bed we were talking about how we were going to go hiking with some friends tomorrow, Out of the blue, Bryaden asked if we could have a picnic there. I said yes we could and then he decided he wanted to practice. So we laid out a blanket and set up his "friends" and they all had a picnic before Brayden went to sleep. He is the best, most imaginative kid ever!

First Baseball game of the season

2011-05-27T21:30:00.000-07:00

We went to the first baseball game of the season tonight. We had such good seats that we had to watch for fly balls.

Bryaden had some candy and it turned his tongue blue.

We mostly went tonight because it was one of the nights that they do fireworks after the game. Brayden loved listening to the fireworks go "pop pop"

Brayden Update

2011-05-13T21:39:00.000-07:00

I haven't done a Bryaden update and I figured I better do it before I forget all the wonderful things about him at this age.
~He has a great imagination. He is always pretending his is a pirate, or a puppy, dinosaur, or an Indian. He loves to play hide and seek, and wrestle.
~He is terrified to watch his hair because he got soap in his eyes once.
~He is very independent. He always wants to do everything "by mineself"
~He goes 100 mph all day everyday.
~ He is in swimming lessons and he just got moved to the class where he goes by himself. He really likes it until they make him go underwater

Brayden also says the funniest things and I mostly just want to get them written down so that I will remember them later.
~ I was getting him away from the counter and said to me "don't bother me"
~ He tells me that I look "lobly" (lovely)
~ When I ask him to do something for me, his usual response is "yes I can, that would be wonderful for us"
~ I picked up a toy and handed it to him and he replied "Thanks mom your the best"
~ He was wrestling with Matt one night and Matt told Bryaden to "Come here". Brayden looked up and said "Oh no I'm in trouble"

Birthday?

2011-04-24T21:07:00.000-07:00

This morning Brayden woke up and decided it was his birthday. Pretty stinkin' funny if you ask me.

So of course I obliged, made pancakes, put candles in them and sung to Brayden. Happy" not your birthday quite yet" buddy.

Man oh man do I love this kid!

San Diego

2011-04-23T20:53:00.000-07:00

While my mom was here visiting, we decide to go to San Diego for a few days. What a great decision! I do not think I have ever seen Brayden happier. He absolutely loved playing in the sand, walking along the water, and looking for seashells. He had the time of his life hanging out on the beach.

The first night we got there, it was cloudy and quite cool out, but Grandma and Brayden played in the water anyway. they had so much fun and I am so glad that they got to do that.

They both got super wet from the waves. By the time they were done, Brayden was wet up to his armpits and so thrilled about it.

They tried to run away from the waves, but were not always successful.

Brayden kept checking on me, but I was busy keeping my distance from the cold water (I'm a wuss) and taking cute pictures.

I can't even describe how happy he was and how much fun he had that night (and in general when we were at the beach). I am so glad my mom got to be there and be a part of it as well.

We also went a part of the beach that had sea lions upon the rocks lining the beach.

Despite the smell, Brayden really loved it. He had just learned about sea lions at daycare, so he thought it was great to see them in person. We had such a great time in San Diego, I am so glad that we decided to go and got to take Grandma along with us!

Grandma comes to visit

2011-04-19T20:43:00.000-07:00

For Spring break, Grandma Theresa came to visit us. That meant that we got to do lots of fun things we don't normally do. We went to Serendipity 3 for some frozen hot chocolate. Brayden was in heaven. He was a little unwilling to share it with the rest of us, but luckily we had 2 straws.

After our treat, we walked over to see the Bellagio fountains (always a favorite)

After the fountain show, we went inside to look at the gardens display. They had a beautiful butterfly area set up. Brayden has never really seen butterflies before and he seemed to think they were pretty neat.

We also took Grandma hiking one afternoon. Brayden loves hiking and climbing on the rocks.

Him and Nick threw some big rocks into this small pond that we found

And Brayden even sat still for some nice pictures with both Grandma and us.

Spring Break!!

2011-04-16T20:23:00.000-07:00

One of the best parts of my job is having time off to spend with Brayden. We kicked off our Spring Break with fun Easter egg pancakes. I even let Brayden pick what color the eggs should be. He chose white and blue.
After breakfast, we went to a parade in Henderson. One of the cartoons that Brayden watches a lot, talks about marching bands, so I thought it would be fun to let him see one.

He waited very patiently for the parade to get started and once it did, he left me to go sit on the curb with some other little boys.

Along with liking the marching bands, Boo was a big fan of the horses. And of course the candy that was thrown

All by myself

2011-04-09T20:11:00.000-07:00

Brayden is big into doing things all by himself lately. He doesn't want Nick's or my help unless he is too tired to do it by himself. He likes to dress himself, get his own food or drink, clean up, just about everything has to be "I want to do it". Here he is caught in the act on multiple different occasions
Notice in all of the pictures he has a little orange chair. He literally pulls it around the house with him inc case he needs to get something that he can't reach.

Kite flying

2011-04-05T19:54:00.000-07:00

It has been a very windy spring here, so what better to do with the wind? Fly a kite! Brayden had a blast even though for half the time they were outside, Nick was untangling the kite from a tree.

Brayden coming to tell me all about it
Flying it all by himself

Circus

2011-03-27T19:46:00.000-07:00

Brayden and I went to the circus with some friends of ours this past weekend. I was a small family owned circus so they were set up in a tent in a park. It was terribly cold and windy, so we were very thankful for the tent part! Brayden played with his new friend Bella before and after the circus, but during the circus he sat very still and took the whole thing in.
This is Brayden and I with our friends Adrienne and her daughter Bella. Our other friend Michael was kind enough to take the picture for us. All 3 of us ladies teach together.

There were all sorts of acrobatics throughout the whole thing, but two of Brayden's favorite things were this guy doing the tight rope...

and one of the only animals in the whole show... this donkey. The other animal in the show was a little dog that they had an elephant costume on. Brayden thought that was HILARIOUS. He talked about the "puppy elephant" for days
After the show the two little ones had a blast rolling down the hill outside while the adults froze in the wind.

Brayden Update

2011-03-13T14:54:00.000-07:00

I haven’t done a Brayden update in awhile, so I better get caught up. This kid is a riot! The things he says to Nick and I crack me up every single night. Some of the more recent things are:

“Mom, go upstairs and get my Mimi. It will be super fun”

At church last Sunday while our Pastor was giving the message “Mom, what’s that Jesus guy talking about”

Also at Church on Sunday, “Mom thanks for bringing me here. It is so pretty” (I brought him to church with me, but normally he goes to the Sunday school area)

At dinner “MMM... these are so delicious”

If I am singing obnoxiously in the car, “Mom, no you sing like that. That’s icky”

If we are not listening to him we get "Look at me I am talking to you"

If he needs one of us and doesn't care who answers him, or if he is talking to both us he calls us "MommyDaddy"

The other night Nick and I got to go see Celine Dion. I came downstairs wearing a dress, “Oh! Mom that looks pretty”

Everything is his favorite lately. When we go somewhere, do something or see someone, he always tells us it is his favorite. He also LOVES to shower. He will go in the shower for 45 minutes at a time. He likes to just sit in there and play toys. He has an irrational fear of soap though. We got some shampoo that hurt his eyes and even though we have since gotten new stuff, he still doesn’t want anything to do with it. He starts crying and shaking when I take it out. I have convinced him that we just wash his body with it and then I have to slyly wash his hair.

He loves hockey. He will play hockey with anything that resembles a stick. He will also use anything as a puck. He has misplaced both of his actual hockey pucks and has since been using any and all change that he can find to play hockey with.

He also loves to sing. He sings in the car and at home all the time. He knows what a song is within the first couple of lines. Just last night, he was singing to Nick and I and he went to get his “guitar”. He pretended to play the guitar while singing to us.

He loves to give hugs and kisses. Every day when we leave daycare he hugs all the other kids goodbye. He is also very good with the babies at daycare. For as wild and crazy as he can be, he is also very gentle. He will bring them toys and lay on the floor to play with them all the time. He is also a huge helper. He always wants to be right next to Nick or I helping us do whatever we are doing. I have started to use it to my advantage. He helps me load the dishwasher after dinner and he can unload and put away the silverware for me. He loves to help us cook and dump all the ingredients into whatever we are cooking. He helps me put the laundry in the wash and the dryer too.

He is a fantastic kid that has no desire to sit still ever and just means well. He gets into a lot of trouble, but he rarely means any harm. For being in the “terrible two’s” he is pretty good most days.

Company

2011-02-27T14:57:00.000-08:00

Nick's Grandpa and Grandma came to town with his mom, sister and Kent for a weekend. We had so much fun with all of them. Brayden went down to the strip with them one day. He met all sorts of famous people. His favorite being Woody.

We also went to our favorite hiking spot with them the last day they were here. We went up as high as we could with Brayden and then we left him with Robin, so we could climb higher. Jenna was a great hiker the whole time! We got into a few tricky spots and she just kept going!

One of the first days they were here, we got to hang out with Don and Donnis (Brayden's great grand parents). He had a lot of fun and snuggled right up to them.

Another fun thing that we did was to go the trampoline place as we call it. It is a warehouse building that is covered in trampolines. Brayden loves going there and even the adults have fun. Nick and Brayden came up with a new game where they slide Brayden down one of the walls.

Here we are!

2011-02-26T20:48:00.000-08:00

This month has been nothing special hence the lack of updates. Nick started off the month with a whole bunch of games in a row. That meant Brayden and I spent a whole lot of nights watching hockey which is okay with us!

We also spent a lot of time enjoying the outdoors and hanging out with friends. We love the new hiking spot we found. It is so much fun to just climb around. Brayden thinks it is the best thing ever too. He asks every Saturday morning if we are going to go hiking now. I love it!This is our friend Matt a top one of the rocks him and Nick climbed up on.

Brayden just likes to take in the sights

Happy Birthday Nick!

2011-01-30T18:23:00.000-08:00

Being the quiet guy that Nick is, we usually just go out somewhere for dinner to celebrate for his birthday. This year was different though. Saturday night we had his friends over for a party. We had lots of fun hanging out and having people over. It is nice when people come here, so we don't have to find someone to watch Brayden and he can go to bed at his normal time.Brayden got his party clothes on for the event. He even helped me clean (notice how shiny the kitchen floor is)

We sang to Nick which I am pretty sure is his favorite part of his birthday because he loves to be singled out (I am kidding)

This morning I made birthday cake pancakes with frosting for breakfast. If you put wax candles in hot pancakes they might just melt and tip over. You have been warned. Mine looked like this after they had been in warm pancakes
However, after I let the cakes cool a bit, I put in fresh candles and we were good to go!
It was such a fun birthday weekend and we enjoyed every minute of getting to celebrate the life of the best Dad/ Husband we could have gotten.

Our day off

2011-01-23T10:57:00.000-08:00

Last Monday, we had the day off from school and daycare. We took full advantage of the 70 degree weather that we had. We started our morning off by meeting some friends at the park. Brayden went down the slides for about an hour and convinced all the other kids to go down too.After nap, we went to Red Rock to do some hiking. All of the parks were free to gt into, so we took full advantage.

Brayden was an awesome climber. It must be from all the practice he gets climbing onto my counter tops.

We checked out the cliffs

And the caves

and climbed "way high up there"

There was no stopping this kid. The best part was that he was in bed super early from pure exhaustion!

Skiing

2010-12-30T19:51:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago, Nick got some free lift tickets to a new ski resort up in Utah. Since it takes awhile to get there and we would need a babysitter for Brayden, we decided that while my parents were here would be a great time to use them. Nick, my two brothers and I went up to Utah and skied the day away. They day we were skiing, the resort got a TON of snow. It snowed all day long and there were only about 30 people out skiing. We had the slopes to ourselves and skied in inches of fresh powder.

This was right away in the morning. Aaron was already knee deep in a fresh snow bank.

Out on the lifts

By the end of the day, Aaron's jacket could stand up by itself because it was so frozen

Overlooking the mountain as we were leaving the ski resort

This is a really bad picture, but the light coming through makes it easy to see how thick this storm was. It was on its way out as we were leaving at the end of the day.

These 2 boys were tired from a fun day of skiing!

I'm glad we got to go and also glad that Brayden got to hang out and spend the day with Grandma and Grandpa

Full of fun

2010-12-27T19:39:00.000-08:00

While my family was here, we did all sorts of fun things that we don't do all the time. Things like stay up late (11:30 for the little one), go down to the strip and go out on dates. Brayden liked going down to the strip. It meant that he got to run free like a crazy man for awhile.

He also got to throw lots of "piggies" (pennies) into fountains

We also spent lots of time outside. Brayden rekindled his love for his 4 wheeler and rode it up and sown the street.

We went hiking while everyone was here. It was a nice hike and carrying Brayden gave everyone a really good arm workout.

Boo loved getting carried by everybody. When Aaron would carry him, he would tell Aaron to run

The boys liked looking straight down at the waterfall

I preferred to stay sitting up. Brayden and I are sitting on the very top of the rock while the other boys hiked down to the bottom of the waterfall.

Nick, Ryan and Aaron decided to take a different way back to the car. They went all along this creek

Nick and I got to go out on a date one night too. We had lots of fun hanging out and just getting to spend time together.

Christmas

2010-12-25T19:55:00.000-08:00

This Christmas was so much fun with Brayden! He was old enough to understand what was going on. When we would go to Target he would pick out toys that he was going to ask Santa for. It was really cute to watch. On Christmas Eve, he made a plate of cookies for Santa and we put them right by the tree. He even pushed the footstool over to the tree.

We got into our "santa" jammies and went to sleep so that Santa could leave our presents. When Brayden got up in the morning, he was very unsure of all the presents under the tree. Once he got it though he thought they were all for him. He made a pile of all of his presents.

Then he lined them all up to better assess them
And finally he got to tear into them!!
A boy needs to rest after all of that present opening. We are so glad we had family in town to celebrate with but we are also sad that we missed the rest of the family. Hope everyone had as good of a Christmas as we did!!

Gift of Lights

2010-12-20T19:35:00.000-08:00

My Dad and Aaron are in town. Well my Dad is in town, Aaron got here and then went to California to spend time with his friend. It has been raining like crazy and tonight there was finally a little reprieve from all of it, The race track out here sets up a holiday light display that goes around the perimeter of the track. You stay in your car and drive through it so we decided it would be a safe activity to do even if it started to rain again. Brayden loved looking at all of the lights and loved being out of his car seat even more. He got right up to the windshield to look at the lights

This was a deer on a treadmill. I thought it was really funny, but sadly the picture didn't turn out that well.

Before we got there, Nick and my Dad ran into a store quick. While Brayden and I waited in the car we did a mini photo shoot, so are here are some of the cute pictures that we took.

Half Marathon

2010-12-05T21:00:00.000-08:00

At some point during this summer, I got it into my head that I could/want to run a half marathon. So I started training and little by little I could run further and further. I finally did it and signed up for a race. The day before the race I had to go down and pick up my race packet. Here is Brayden and me outside the race expo.

There were some big starts at the expo. Sponge Bob made Brayden's day!

The big race was on Sunday at 7:00am. The map of the course is below. We started at Mandalay Bay and ran down and around Fremont Street then back. 13.1 miles is a lot further than it looks on this little map!Nick and Brayden came at the end of the race so they could be there when I finished. Nick took this picture down by the finish line. There were so many people, it was unbelievable. There were about 25,00 that ran either the half marathon or the full one that morning. It was incredible to see all of those people running.

There were even celebrities running. Well at least celebrity look at likes...

This is me (in the aqua shirt) coming up on the finish line. The couple in front of me (man with the top hat and girl with the white dress) got married along the race course. The had a run through wedding chapel set up at the Venetian. It was kinda of cool to see couple running in wedding gear and I even ran past an entire bridal party at one point.

I made it. I completed the race in 2:22:12. My stats were as follows: Overall: 9357 out of 19217 · Division: 786 out of 1785 · Gender:4769 out of 11942

I am so glad that I actually followed through with my intention to do this. I am also glad that Nick put up with me while I trained, whined and went for early morning runs. So glad he loves me!

Getting ready for Christams

2010-12-01T19:01:00.000-08:00

We have been doing all sorts of things to get ready for Christmas around here. We have been baking all kinds of treats.

and eating them :)

We also put up our Christmas tree the other night. Brayden was very helpful and asked questions about each and every ornament that we hung up.

He even helped put the star in the top of the tree

Brayden also got to help hang up any ornaments that were not breakable. We didn't tell him where to put them or anything. This is what we ended up with. He was very proud of himself and all of his work.

What I did while the boys were away

2010-11-28T15:05:00.000-08:00

In case you didn't hear, the boys have been gone for the last 10 days leaving me all to myself! While they were gone I did all sorts of things that I would have had a heard time doing if they were here. Things like bake (fresh homemade pumpkin pie for the Thanksgiving I went to)

and M&M cookies (both plain and mint M&M's)

I also made a whole bunch of dinners and froze them. December always gets so busy and then we end up eating junk food. This way I already have a bunch of good dinners made and ready to go.

I also ran a 10k with some of my friends. It was out at Valley of Fire which made it really difficult since it was through the mountains. My friend Stacy (in the bright pink and black) finished in an hour and 9 minutes.

I also made some Christmas presents. This is Nick's Advent calendar that I made him. It has all sorts of surprises for the days leading up to Christmas.

A close up of the calendar

Most of all though I got the WHOLE house clean. All at the same time. There was no little 2 year old trailing me making a mess as soon as I got the last one cleaned up.

It was nice to have all this time to get things done, but I am kind of glad that the boys are coming back home tonight. I miss them just a little bit!

Thanksmas Weekend

2010-11-16T18:27:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was a very exciting weekend for us. We packed our bags and headed to Mesa for Thanksmas. We celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas with Nick's family including all seven grandkids.

It was a long drive (but made much shorter by the new Hoover Dam bridge) and Brayden stayed awake for the WHOLE thing.

On Friday night we hung out in the hot tub with all the kids. Brayden enjoyed being able to splash around with the bigger boys and also playing with Ella.

Brayden took an instant liking to Ella (and her stickerbook). They played so nice in the hotel room together. The jumped on beds, ate junk food, played with stickers and colored. At one point they even climbed into a crib together to hang out. He can't wait to see her next week when him and Nick go to Minnesota. He keeps asking "where's Ella go?"

On Saturday morning, I got up early and ran a 5k with Tom and Becky (my sister - in - law). It was my first race (I have 2 more scheduled in the next 3 weeks) and it was so much fun! We ran really well and finished in 30:12. I am so glad that Becky invited me to come with her (thanks Becky!)
This is before the race when it was cold and dark still.We played outside and goofed around

On Saturday, we gathered all the kids to take a Christmas picture. It is super hard to get 7 little ones to all look in the same direction, much less smile, but they did pretty good.

Since we were celebrating Christmas, Santa knew and made an appearance (he is less busy now than he will be in a few weeks). Brayden had no fear. He walked right up to Santa and hello and then sat on his lap to get his present from Santa.

After presents, we played with all of our new toys

Ella loved Ruby and just wanted RUby to be her baby. It was super sweet.

We had such a fun Thanksmas and it was so fun to see everybody and watch all the kids play together.

Halloween

2010-11-01T19:52:00.000-07:00

Brayden LOVED Halloween. It was the first time he actually understood what was going on as well as the first time we went trick or treating. He also dressed up multiple times this year. The first time was at the hockey game on Friday. This is a good side shot of his costume.

and a view from the back.

On Saturday night we went to a friends house for a party. Then on Sunday the fun really started. But not until after nap. Brayden decided to nap that day until 5:30. We almost woke him up so we could get going. Nick was in charge of getting the bandanna on

Brayden had to play hockey or a little bit before he was okay with leaving the house.

Here we are out and about. That look in his eyes is pure excitement

He was very good about going up to doors and knocking. He would say "trick er treat" and "thank you" He didn't even want us to come up to the doors with him!

His favorite part of all of Halloween was getting candy. He dumped it out and just looked at it for a few minutes.

After that though it was a full dive to eat it all.

Later in the night, Brayden asked for more candy and I told him "no". His response to me was "no way say no (to) you..say yes". Where does he learn these things??

Fall Festivities

2010-10-31T09:13:00.000-07:00

The other night we were looking for something to do and Nick though of going over to the Bellagio to look at the garden area and walk around. (He knew that would make me happy) The garden was full of beautiful fall color that we don't get to see here. They also had the largest pumpkins! Brayden loved them. They had some the were 700 - 800 pounds.

Brayden was NOT a fan of the scarecrow. He was very large and Brayden was very hesitant.

Lego Tower

2010-10-24T16:50:00.000-07:00

The other day as soon as we got in the door after daycare, Brayden made a beeline for the Legos.He insisted that we build a castle from legos right that instant!

He did a very good job getting pieces and telling me what color they were. He even insisted that there was a "winow" in the castle. He wanted to make it go "way up there", so I had him stand on the table to get the last pieces up on top.

And just as fast as I could take the picture, the castle met its demise and Brayden happily knocked the entire thing over. He had as much fun knocking it down as he did building it.

Just as fast as the urge came on to build the castle, as soon as it was knocked down, he moved on to other things. Quite the short attention span!

Heart Walk

2010-10-17T16:57:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Nick had to work at the Heart Walk, so bryaden and I decided to go over and hang out with him for the morning. They had a lot of free activities set up and it was very kid friendly.

Brayden got his face painted and got to see Sponge Bob and Buzz Lightyear. He was a HUGE fan of Sponge Bob, but Buzz was a little weird looking so he was more hesitant.
Brayden attracted lots of visitors to the Wranglers booth by modeling the game worn helmet that had out.
When we got home, Bryaden decided to strengthen his heart by climbing up onto the counter and eating Cheez - Its. This was the scene when we found him...
He was incredibly proud of himself and happily eating his crackers.

Not quite the same

2010-10-08T19:32:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago we went up to the U - pick farm. I have been missing Minnesota falls, so this kinda made up for it. Brayden loved walking through the farm and being a "farmer". He helped get some tomatoes, but when he tried them, he spit them out.

Then he helped me pick lots of apples. He was very good about getting them off the tree, but then he would just throw them into the bag.

After we got all of apples home, we made some of the most delicious apple crisp. MMMM! Not quite the same as Minnesota, but it will do.

Visitors

2010-10-08T18:45:00.000-07:00

We have had visitors almost every other weekend for the past month and we just love it! Tom and Mary were in town a few weeks ago for a work event for Mary. While they were here we took some time to stop and smell the roses.

We also went out to dinner with Aunt Jean. Brayden had a huge spaghetti dinner and there is still a lot of it left on his face.
On Sunday, we went out to Lake Mead so Nick and Tom could practice for their triathlon (this was before it happened). Brayden got a huge kick out of wearing Grandma Mary's glasses.
Brayden and Grandma also had fun skipping rocks into the lake.
Last weekend, Ted was in town so we got to spend some time with him. It was a really nice day out, so we went to the hotel he was at and hung out by the pool. Brayden loves the water, so he really had a good time.
It was so nice to see Ted and Brayden loved having someone new to show off for.
By the end of the morning at the pool, Brayden couldn't even make it back to our house. He was asleep before we pulled out of the parking garage.

Nick & Tom's Tri

2010-09-28T19:44:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Nick and his dad, Tom, did the Las Vegas Triathlon. It was a lot of fun to watch and they both seemed to have a lot of fun doing it. We got up early to head out to the Lake and Brayden was, of course, all smiles.

Here all some of the athletes doing the swim portion.

Nick finishing up his swim

Tom coming out of the water

Here is Nick heading out for the last leg of his race. The run started by going uphill. That's just wrong in my opinion.

Tom starting the run

Here are the runners headed towards the finish line

Nick crossed the finish line in 1:47 and Tom finished in 2:07.

We are so proud of these two! Brayden clapped as both of them crossed the finish line.

A face only a mother could love

2010-09-28T19:30:00.000-07:00

All of a sudden, Brayden has taken a liking to having his picture taken. He makes this goofy smile face when you ask him to smile and any time I even go near the camera, he asks me to take his picture.

Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-16T20:40:00.001-07:00

For Labor Day weekend we did all sorts of things. Brayden sat down with me for a little bit and made lesson plans for school

He also got up on a chair in our kitchen and washed his own hair

After he was nice and clean he decided to make Nick and I lunch. He cooks like a typical guy. He got out the chips, granola bars and fruit snacks. He could not have been more proud of himself!

The most fun part of our weekend was the pool party we went to. We got to hang out with friends and play in the pool all day. Brayden even got to help grill up the burgers. It was a very nice relaxing weekend.

Time Out

2010-08-28T14:41:00.000-07:00

Now that we have hit the terrible two's, Brayden seems to be spending a lot more time in time out. We can't get him to sit on a stool or a chair and actually stay there for more than thirty seconds, so we had to come up with a better idea. At our new house next to the fireplace is a cove. We don't have anything to put in it, so we put a gate up in front of it and Brayden behind it.

It works out well for time outs. He knows he is in trouble when he is back there!

Hiking

2010-08-23T18:39:00.000-07:00

The other weekend it was so nice here it felt like fall! We took advantage of the unusually nice weather and went for a hike at Mount Charleston. It was about a 3 mile hike that had a waterfall at the top of the mountain.

Brayden and Nick standing under the waterfall.

Brayden resting on a log in the middle of the hike. It was a very strenuous trail with steep switchbacks to get to the top. Brayden had to be carried most of the way.

Dolphin Habitat

2010-08-17T14:39:00.002-07:00

Last week, the Dolphin Habitat had a discount day for CCSD teachers. Brayden and I of course headed out to check it out. He loved looking at the dolphins. He was a little unsure of them from under the water though. They even put on a special show for the teachers there so we got to see some of the dolphins do tricks.

After we left the dolphins, we headed to the lions. These big guys were active! They were walking around and roaring the whole time we were there. Brayden was mesmerized by them.

We even got to see some baby leopards. Brayden was very entertained by them because they were playing with a Tigger doll like his from Grandma and Papa. We had a very fun and cheap day!

Sunday Evening Drive

2010-08-17T14:38:00.000-07:00

Nap Time

2010-08-12T14:39:00.000-07:00

This is what our house looks like during nap naptime lately. Brayden sits up in his room and very quietly DESTROYS it! He gets into literally everything he can and when he is finished, then he goes to sleep. Maybe it is time to go back to school/daycare! How can you be mad at a face that cute though?

It rains here...sometimes

2010-08-10T20:18:00.000-07:00

and today was one of those times. We had plans to go to the baseball game with some friends but when we got to the field the sky looked like this.

It was also raining, but that just meant that Brayden got to slosh around in some puddles while we waited for the game to start

While we waited for the game to start Brayden provided plenty of entertainment

Once the game started, Cosmo was immediatly spotted by Brayden. Never in a million years did I think that Brayden would get close to him though. He usually just watches from a distance...
But not this time! When Cosmo got close to where we were, Brayden went right over to him. He was not afraid of him at all. He was just excited that he got to see him!. The rain did quit almost right away and we had a fun night out with friends.

Big move

2010-08-05T11:22:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we moved! We moved into a bigger place in a MUCH better neighborhood. My Dad came down to help us move and it was so nice to have an extra sets of hands. Especially to help keep Brayden busy and occupied. Leading up to Grandpa coming down, Brayden helped me clean and pack the kitchen. He found the popcorn and I told him he had to wait for Grandpa to come before he could have it. He carried around 2 bags of popcorn for the next three days waiting for Grandpa. He showed it to me all the time and told me he was waiting for Grandpa.

He FINALLY got to share his popcorn with grandpa when we got to the new house.

After we got all moved in (kinda) we went for a much needed break at the park.

When we got home from the park we realized that Brayden's new shoes had turned his feet orange! He was very unsure about this and kept looking at them funny. We are finally all moved in and settled and we love our new place!

Saftey First

2010-07-26T16:33:00.000-07:00

With some of his birthday money, we got Brayden a scooter that he plays on every time we go to Wal - Mart. He likes to ride on it when we go for walks and out in the street. He also got a helmet to wear when he rides his scooter. He fondly refers to this as his "Motorcycle helmet". He loves wearing his helmet and wears it all around the house. In fact I think he likes his helmet more than the scooter itself!

51's game

2010-07-25T23:15:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday night we went to our first 51's game of the season. For as much as Brayden loved hockey all winter, I think that baseball might really be his sport! He had so much fun at the game. He liked watching the guys "hit a ball" and when the ran the bases, he called them crazy. It was so much fun to watch him enjoy the game.

We went with some people that Nick works with and Brayden immediately made friends. He was willing to go by anyone who had a good view of the mascot. We had lots of fun and will have to try to get back to see another game this season.

Trouble with a capital T

2010-07-25T22:19:00.000-07:00

Brayden has been figuring out how to get into just about everything these days. If you try to move things out of his way... he just finds a means to get to them on his own. He has been pulling our kitchen chairs over to the counter for a few days now, so we started putting them away after every meal. The other day, I was cleaning up Brayden's room for the morning and walked out to find this! See that look on his face? He knew he was in trouble! Since he couldn't get to the chairs, he moved his highchair over!

Hot Weather Fun

2010-07-25T21:49:00.000-07:00

Some days it is just too hot to play outside here. That is when Brayden and I resort to indoor fun such as playing with shaving cream on the bathroom mirrors. He thought this was a blast and had almost as much fun wiping it off.

2!!

2010-07-12T08:15:00.000-07:00

Brayden is 2!! I can hardly believe that he is already that old! It just doesn't seem like he should be a walking talking individual yet!

Brayden currently weighs 29 pounds 13 ounces and is 35 inches tall. He is in the 75th percentile for both height and weight. He is also meeting/ exceeding all of the milestones for 2. Brayden can talk in mostly complete phrases and can be understood by anyone he talks to. He seems to enjoy being able to talk because he tells Nick and I what to do all the time now!

For his birthday, we went down to Arizona to spend it with Grandma and Grandpa Cappola. On Saturday morning, Brayden put on his work gear and helped do some yard work.

Brayden had a puppy cake for his birthday cake this time. He was very excited about it and kept wanting to look at his cake all day long.
After about 4 rounds of "Happy Birthday", Brayden knew exactly what to do to blow out the candles. He didn't even get any spit on the cake!
He got this book as a gift, but he is way more into Elmo going potty than himself.
After dinner, presents, and cake Aunt Cassie and Uncle Jody had to go home and we had to wear off our yummy dinner, so we went swimming! It was such a nice night out!
The huge part of Brayden turning two was that we were going to be done with the pacifier. We made a really big deal about it leading up to him turning two. When you ask him how old he was going to be, he would answer, "No way na nee!" He sound very excited about the whole thing. We told him that we were going to put his na nees in a bear that we would call na nee bear (we are super creative like that). On Sunday, on our way home, we went to Build a Bear so we could get na nee bear.

Brayden was super excited when we got there. He picked out his bear and squealed with delight.
He got a little apprehensive when he was showing the guy his na nee that we were going to put into the bear.
But, trusting fully in Mom and Dad, he put it in the bear anyways...
and then helped stuff him shut.
He was very happy with his bear once we were done. He washed it and carried it around. He was a HUGE fan of na nee bear's house too.
He has been doing wonderful without it. He cries a little bit longer when he goes to bed now, but other than that he has not once asked for it or gone looking for his na nee. He really is a big guy now!

Early Birthday

2010-07-04T14:58:00.000-07:00

Right before we left Minnesota, we had a birthday party for Brayden and his cousin Colton. It was a very small get together and the boys had so much fun! They both got bubble guns as presents and thought they were the COOLEST! Brayden asks to play with his every single day! Here they are enjoying the bubbles

Since Brayden is a huge fan of ELMO (even wearing an ELMO shirt that day) we got an ELMO cake for the party

The boys were not quite sure what to make of the cake when they first saw it. Brayden was too busy using his new Woody doll as a chew toy :/

Even though they weren't sure of it, they both seemed to like to eat it

Sugar induced high?

That night, we went down to the Stone Arch bridge to watch fireworks with Grandma and Grandpa. We were expecting Brayden to be scared of them, but he wasn't at all. He enjoyed watching them and telling me that they went "boom"

We had a wonderful time in MN and were so glad we got to see everybody. Thank you to everyone who made time to see us and hang out with us!

Random things from our trip

2010-07-02T14:44:00.000-07:00

These are just a lot of random things that we did (or pictures we took) that were worth posting, but didn't require their own post.

The last day we were in MN, we went down to check out the new Target Stadium. It was pretty cool. Nick really liked it and hopes to be able to go to a game someday there. Brayden thought all the statues were neat and the fact that he got to run around like a crazy man!

My mom went and picked blueberries one morning. Brayden seemed to think he should be allowed to eat the entire bucket :)

Brayden stayed with the Grandma's one night/day while Nick and I went up to Wilmar. We were out on the lake all day with Cole and some of his friends. It was really nice to be able to relax and just spend some time with Nick

Brayden enjoyed being spoiled by all sorts of people. He loves to sit on the swing with Grandpa, and this night he got a freeze because it was so hot out.

We got all dressed up (Brayden got his hair fixed) one night to go out with Nick's brother and sister. Here we are on our way.. unfortunately, Brayden started running a fever so he had to go home early. I think it was caused by lack of sleep and too much excitement. He was better the next day.

We went and saw Toy Story 3. Brayden loved it and is now a huge fan of Woody and "Buzz la" (he can't quite get out the light year part)

We went on many bike rids and spent a ton of time outside

If we weren't outside, Brayden's favorite activity was to " pew pew guys" with Dad and Uncle Joel

Graduation

2010-06-27T14:14:00.000-07:00

This guy (the big one, not the little one) graduated High School this year! Brayden was more than willing to join in the festivities.

He loved being able to hang out outside in grandma's "park" and play with all the other kids

He jumped on the trampoline with Dad, and Rich and his cousins

He jumped right in to help set up a tent to offer some shade, and as soon as it was time for it to come down, he was also there to help.

He finally slowed down for a fraction of a second to give great Grandma some snuggles.

After the graduation party, we headed out to a petting zoo at our old church. Since we knew brayden had a huge love of cows, the first animal we went to was the baby calf.

He was a little hesitant at first of the animals, but he soon warmed up to them.

The only animals he wanted nothing to do with were the chickens and the turkey. When they came over, he tried to escape!

They also had pony rides at the petting zoo. All the other kids' parents held onto them while they rode. Brayden wanted nothing to do wiht help. He held on and had such a fun time.

Cabin

2010-06-26T20:11:00.000-07:00

We went up to the cabin for a few days while in MN. We had nice weather the night we got up there and then only one other day. While it was nice though we had lots of fun being on the boat

Brayden tried to climb into the water without anyone else helping him.

Once he got in he realized it was pretty cold!

He helped me make breakfast for everyone

Brayden with his life jacket on getting ready to go tubing...

In the tube with Dad

And they are off!

Brayden had such a good time that he decided to go a second time with Uncle Aaron

After his second time though all he said was "no tubin"

Brayden and Nick getting their feet wet

When Grandpa Tom came up to the cabin we had a fire. Brayden helped me roast a "mush mellow" in the "fire truck"

Mmmm... and then he enjoyed it in a s'more :)

Last Day at the cabin Brayden got to drive the boat

Sorry this video is sideways, but it is too good to not put up! Poor little city boy has never seen a real cow before and got so excited every time he saw one. It is a great reaction!

Swimming, Ice Cream & Friends

2010-06-21T21:25:00.000-07:00

WE spent the day today swimming at the pool and hanging out with friends and family. The pool had a great slide in the shallow end that Brayden just loved!

Brayden loves being in teh pool. Especially with Dad!

After swimming, Nick Joel Brayden and I went on a bike ride. We made sure to stop at Dairy Queen at the end. Brayden and I shared an ice cream cone. Mmm :)

After we got back from our bike ride, Nick and Joel were playing with a Nerf gun. Brayden was very intrigued and got right in there to help set up guys and then go shoot them.

Earlier in the day we went to my mom's house. Brayden loved playing in the huge backyard with all the kids. He remembered Colton from the last time we were up and the two of them hung out. They even sat still (kinda) so that I could get a picture of the two of them together

Father's Day

2010-06-20T21:06:00.000-07:00

For Father's Day we headed down to Red Wing to get together with Nick's grandparents and family. It was so wonderful to see everyone and Brayden had no problem getting comfortable with everyone. As soon as a bag of chips was opened, Brayden climbed right up on Great Grandma's lap to get in on them. He would have stayed there all day if she would have kept feeding him!

Luckily, Aunt Pat was able to pull him away from the chips to play for a bit.
Brayden also sweet talked Ella into coming out to play. The two of them seemed to get along pretty well.

Ella helped Brayden take off his shoes so he could run better with her.

Look at him go now!

He also played with a sweet remote control Escalade

Here is Brayden with Great Grandpa & Great Grandma. I am glad that we got to spend some time with everyone.

We spent the afternoon with Grandpa Tom and Nick celebrating them. We had a nice BBQ and just hung out with everyone. Brayden is lucky to have an absolutely AMAZING dad. We celebrate him almost everyday. Nick means the world to Brayden and vis versa. The two of them could spend hours rolling around on the floor, laughing and wrestling. Everyday when Nick comes home from work, Brayden runs to the door and squeals with delight. It is the sweetest thing to watch and I never get tired of it. Nick is our rock and Brayden is so lucky to have him for a dad. We love you Nick!

On our way

2010-06-19T20:40:00.000-07:00

We left for MN on 6/19. Our first flight went really well, Brayden slept for most of it. Then our 1 hour layover turned into 4 hours! We spent a lot of time chasing a crazy kid. The second flight went well though too. He sat in his own seat and watched ELMO the whole time.

Waiting at the airportBrayden drags his backpack along with him. I think he does it because he sees everyone with the wheels on their suitcases pull bags. Whatever the reason, I think it is super cute!

Hanging out during our layover

Weekend trip

2010-06-15T15:40:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Nick had to go to California for work, so Brayden and I decided that we would go meet him when he was finished and spend the weekend at Newport Beach. We drove out there Friday afternoon and spent the whole afternoon/evening playing at the beach.

Brayden loves being by the ocean and playing in the "sanboc" or the sand. He liked watching the waves come in and jumping in them. We brought some sand toys with us and he liked helping Nick build a sand castle too.

Unfortunately, when we woke up Saturday the forecast was cold and rainy, so we headed back home right away. On our way home we stopped for gas and to get out and walk for a bit. Brayden helped pick out some snacks and got some of his favorite "canee" which is M&M's. It was a short trip but we had fun. I like being able to take a quick trip to the ocean, it is something we would have never been able to do had we still lived in MN.

Movie Date

2010-06-10T15:32:00.000-07:00

Brayden and I went on a movie date last week while Nick was out of town. The movie theater by us has free movie for kids during the summer. Brayden's 2nd favorite movie, "Gic gumps" (Chimpmunks) was playing, so I took him to see it. (His all time favorite movie is Elmo)

He sat through the movie pretty well. It helped that they had a kids meal with popcorn and a drink too. He enjoyed the movie and danced along during the songs. He even yells out "ALBIN" when Alvin gets yelled at.

We had so much fun, we might try and go again next week depending on what is playing.

Summer

2010-06-08T14:57:00.000-07:00

So it is still early in our summer break (3 days in), but Brayden and I are having a blast so far! I had planned for lots of outside park time and splash pad time, however the temperature was already 110 this weekend. Luckily, we have gotten out early in the morning so it is not super hot out. We only have a few pictures of our adventures so far, but there will be plenty more to come!

Memorial Day weekend

2010-06-08T14:48:00.001-07:00

For Memorial Day weekend, we went to Arizona. We had so much fun. We spent a lot of time in the pool and playing with cousins. We did however forget our camera. I put some pictures on snapfish, but can't get them on here correctly, so if you want to see them, you have to click here ---->Click here to view photos.

During the weekend, we were outside on a walk and Brayden fell and got his first skinned knee. I brought him inside to clean it up and Grandma Mary gave him a "ban a" for his boo boo. He was as good as new!

When we got home that night, Nick was giving him a bath and he sat in the tub with his leg out. The soapy water hurt his knee too bad :(

Swinning Lessons

2010-06-08T14:39:00.000-07:00

This past month, we signed Brayden up for swimming lessons. We had a rough start at first. There was lots of crying and fighting to go, but after a few times he really likes it. He sings the songs in the car and he will now swim under water with his mouth closed and not freak out. The pictures aren't that great, but you can see Bryaden jumping of the train into the water.

Oh the weather outside is frightful

2010-05-23T18:15:00.000-07:00

It was too cold this weekend to do our usual activities of going swimming, so we instead decided to take Brayden for a photo shoot. So here are some cute pictures for your enjoyment

Brayden Talking Video

2010-05-11T20:08:00.000-07:00

This is kind of long (9 mins) of Brayden talking. But it is a good example of some of the words Brayden knows. Enjoy!

Outside fun

2010-05-09T20:17:00.000-07:00

Mmmm

2010-05-03T20:12:00.000-07:00

Do you eat your vegetables as well as Brayden?

Big Boy Bed

2010-05-01T07:37:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Brayden sleeping in a real bed for the first time. He sleeps on a cot at day care so we thought we would try it at home during the night. Much to our surprise it went very well for the first night. We laid him down and could hear him come to his door a couple times, but he would always walk back and get into his bed. When we went to check on him a couple hours after putting him down, that is where he was. In the morning he came right into our room to wake us up like he had been doing it for years.

He really loves his bed and is very proud of sleeping in it. Here is a picture taken in the morning after he got up.

Fashion awards?

2010-04-29T20:08:00.000-07:00

This was just a super funny picture that I couldn't pass up posting for everyone. I love this little guy!

Here's the thing with talking..

2010-04-29T20:03:00.001-07:00

Brayden can talk. Really really well actually. The problem is that he thinks that means whatever he says goes. For example this day when we were walking to the car. I was trying to get him to walk to the car. He kept stopping to pick up rocks. I would get him to walk a little further and he would look up and say "one more". We did this for about ten rocks until I picked him up and just carried him. Brayden has also been known to tell people to "beep beep" if they are in his way. He has no problem telling people to "gettit" if he wants something. If we are bugging him he tells us to "go way". He talks non stop lately and will have a full conversation with anyone who will listen to him.

Haircut Catastrophe

2010-04-29T19:59:00.000-07:00

We took Brayden to get a haircut the other weekend... what an experience that was! The last time we took him to get his haircut, his ear got nicked with the clippers. It appears to have scarred him for life.

This time when we took him in, he knew what was coming. He kicked and screamed and cried. no amount of suckers, M&M's or Elmo would clam him down. It came to the point where Nick had to sit in the chair and hold Brayden down. Brayden fought a good fight, but in the end he ended up with a decent haircut that is pretty short so that we have awhile before the next one.

Before

After

1,2,3 Imagine w/ Elmo

2010-04-19T20:44:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, Brayden and I along with Renae (who watches Brayden during the day) and her daughter Sydnee all went to a Sesame Street Live show.

Above is Brayden watching very intently. Below Brayden and Sydnee are having fun at the show.

We had a great time and I was very surprised that Brayden sit fairly still for the hour and a half show.

San Diego

2010-04-11T08:10:00.001-07:00

This weekend we decided to pack up and head out. Nick had Friday off from work and I got talked into taking the day off as well so we could go to San Diego. We left Thursday night and got in late, so we didn't do anything that night, but Friday and Saturday were full of fun! On Friday we went to the San Diego Zoo. We had so much fun! Brayden loved being able to run free and look at all the animals. He was however afraid of the turtles.. He clung to Nick like his little life depended on it! Maybe he had bad memories of Halloween's past? Here are some of our pictures from the zoo. I will spare you all of the animal pictures. I am going to make a book for Brayden to help him learn his animals.

Looking at the monkey

There was a huge wall covered in paintings of panda bears and Brayden turned around and said "cheese" all by himself

We sized ourselves up to a polar bear

And looked at baby ducks

and elephants

After the zoo, we headed up to Point Loma to take in some more sights. It was a huge cliff that we were able to walk down and get by the ocean. It was absolutely beautiful! Brayden had a blast throwing rocks into the water

On Friday night we went down to the beach to catch the sunset, but it was too cloudy. We instead hung out and listened to a band before going back to our hotel to get Brayden down. On Saturday morning, we went back to the beach and rented bicycles and a trailer for Brayden. We rode our bikes up the boardwalk along the beach. When we got to the end, we went down to the beach. Brayden was very unsure at first. Nick would take him in the water and he would hold up his feet. I think the water was too cold for him.

Eventually he got used to the water. We had not brought his swimsuit on the bikes with us which is why he is in a T- shirt and diaper.

He would run into the water as it was coming in and once he got in too deep, he would run back to shore

He really loved being in the water. We had a fun vacation and since it isn't too far away, we are going to try and go a few times this summer.

Easter Egg Hunt

2010-04-04T14:51:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we took Brayden to an outdoor shopping center for some Easter activities.We saw the Easter Bunny there. Brayden was not at all afraid of him. He waved and said hi even!

The big activity going on was an egg hunt. You had to get there earlier to register and then they had one every half hour. Originally we were not going to have Brayden do it; however, while we were waiting to see the Easter Bunny, a lady gave us a wristband for Brayden to participate in the next one. So we bought him a basket (we hadn't come prepared) and got in line. They filled an open grass area with eggs and then let all the kids in to collect them.

Brayden, having already practiced, picked up an egg and tried to open it immediately. He was a little disappointed to find out it was empty, so he moved on to a few other eggs.

He was very excited when he was all finished. He had lots of fun

After we waited in line to get our candy, we sat on a bench to enjoy some M&M's. I am glad we got to do the egg hunt. It was lots of fun!

Spring Break

2010-04-03T21:51:00.000-07:00

Brayden and I spent last week in Minnesota over my Spring Break. We missed Nick terribly, but we managed to have some fun anyway. While we were up there....

Brayden had a blast playing on his car toy

I went to the Flower Show with my mom and got to see all sorts of beautiful flowers

Brayden "hung" out with his Uncles

and loved on his cousin Colton

Brayden learned what an Easter Egg Hunt is all about (He was mostly interested in the candy in the eggs)

We spent most of our time playing either outside or at a park

Brayden visited with his Great Grandma

and Grandma, Joel and Jenna

Most of the week when I tried to take his picture, I got this "leave me alone" look

Brayden also spent some time one night playing hockey with a baseball bat. Man I love this kid!

Nothing New

2010-03-25T20:24:00.000-07:00

We haven't been up to much lately. I haven't even taken pictures of us doing nothing, but here is a random one of Brayden playing outside.

Repeat

2010-03-17T20:35:00.000-07:00

Brayden has started repeating things that Nick or I tell him. His latest on is "sit down". When he stands up on a chair we tell him to sit down. Now he says it on his own if we just look at him. It is so funny!

Happy St. Patricks Day

2010-03-17T20:30:00.000-07:00

This is as Irish as it gets at our house. Fish and chips for dinner with a Guinness

Update

2010-03-15T18:19:00.000-07:00

So I know it has been awhile...I have all sorts of random pictures of Brayden that really don't go together, so I will just give you brief details about each, so you can look at Brayden.One night Brayden thought it would be a good idea to climb into our computer desk. It was fun until he got "guck"

2 weekends ago we went to Arizona. brayden loved being in the pool. He even kept his arm floaties on the whole time.

He wasn't afraid of the water at all. He jumped right in!While we were in Arizona, we hung out with 2 of Nick's friends from high school. He hasn't seen either of them in 7 years. It was fun to hang out with them.
While we went out, Braydne stayed home and hung out with grandma and papa.
Brayden really enjoyed being around a "pup pup" He followed Higgins all over the place. And then Higgins took Brayden for a walk.
On our way home, we stopped for lunch. Braydne is a huge fa of chicken and ranch. He stopped multiple times throughout lunch to show me how much he liked it.
That's all we have been up to lately. Our next big adventure will be in 2 weeks when Brayden and I fly to Minnesota for spring break!

The adventures of making cookies

2010-02-22T13:26:00.000-08:00

I was making cookies the other night and Brayden was very adamant about helping me out. He gave me this look from his highchair.

So I pulled him closer to the counter so he could help out. He was very interested in the mixer

He hung out while I mixed all the ingredients together
While I was putting the cookies on the pans, he decided he was just too hungry to wait, so Nick and him had a little pre - cookie snackHe waited for them to cook

While the cookies were cooling, Brayden took a bath. He knew that there were cookies to be had though. As soon as he got out of the tub, he went racing to the kitchen and sat down and asked for a cookie.

He also needed some "dip dip" to go with his cookie and finish off his night

Too tired

2010-02-21T13:24:00.001-08:00

Sometimes at the end of a long, busy day, it is too much to ask for Brayden to stay awake for one last sip of milk before bed.