Monday, February 25, 2013

Brayden Says...

Brayden has been saying some pretty hysterical things lately and I absolutely DO NOT want to forget this stage. It may only be funny to me and husband but nonetheless...it made us literally laugh out loud!

#1- We were all in the kitchen and I had music playing from my phone. Husband was dancing in front of Brayden, who was eating in his high chair, and Brayden says "good job" while looking right at husband!! It was perfect! We started busting up laughing and then a few seconds later Brayden said "good boy" to husband. Needless to say, this is a story that will be told for YEARS to come.

#2- Brayden again was sitting in his high chair waiting for some Goldfish. I got the box to pour some on his tray. He points to the middle of his tray and says "right here"! HA! Again, I was hysterically laughing. Where did he even get that?!

I want to keep posting short little things Brayden says so I never forget how funny he was when he wasn't even trying. It's weird how a little kid can say something so normal and yet it can be so funny.

Family Announcement!


Yep...that's right!! Brayden is going to be a BIG BROTHER!!!

We are so beyond excited and thrilled to be adding another little baby into our family. We had a small struggle late last year and I can confidently announce that we have made it through the questionable hump of pregnancy. I am 12 weeks along today!! 


It is such a relief that we made it to this crucial point in the pregnancy and I now feel comfortable letting people know. Also, my belly is starting to do that anyways. I am definitely showing already which is a shock to me...I don't think I was showing this early with Brayden!

So I will be doing weekly bump pictures along with updates of how things are going. Here we go:

-Due Date: September 11, 2013

-Weight gain: -2 pounds...haha I don't know how that happened. I gained a total of 27 with Brayden so I definitely want to gain about the same, healthy amount this time as well.

-Overall Feeling: I have felt great for a majority of the last 12 weeks. Besides being exhausted, I really haven't had any other issues. Except this morning...I threw up my whole breakfast. Gross! That has never happened before and I am really hoping it doesn't happen again!

-Gender: we don't know what we are having yet but we are definitely going to find out!

-Clothing: I am still in all my regular clothes but I have already had to start leaving my pants unbuttoned and just wear the BeBand. I CAN button most of my pants but it just gets uncomfortable so I avoid that altogether!

-Cravings: I generally want fruit, just like last time, but I haven't had many STRONG cravings. With Brayden, I had a strong craving for donuts for a while but I haven't experienced that yet with #2.


So there you have it! Hubs and I are very excited and we are starting to prepare Brayden. We have enrolled him in two classes for this spring/summer that will get him around other kids. He doesn't have hardly any interaction with other kids so we want him to get used to being around them and even sharing things like toys and attention. I am also going to get some books about being a big brother although I don't think he will understand most of it. Hopefully he will be ready by the time new baby comes!!

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Toddler Activities: Pudding Paint

Okay so this one is really cool. Again, I found my inspiration on Pinterest while looking for activities for Brayden. When we are at home I feel like we get stuck in a rut of either reading books, watching TV (which is my LEAST favorite activity for Brayden), having dance parties, and playing on the bed. All are fun activities but we need a little variety! I wanted activities that would help him learn things like counting and the colors. Once I found a few activities I thought would work, we went to Target to get supplies. Last week we tried Cloud Dough with HUGE success...you can read about it HERE. Today, we tried Pudding Paint. This is what you need:
-vanilla pudding
-food coloring
-muffin tin (or some container to hold multiple colors of paint)
-paint brush (I realized too late that I didn't have a paint brush so we just painted with fingers)

Once you mix the pudding according to the package, just separate it into the smaller containers to add the food coloring. Once you add the food coloring, mix up each little batch and that's it! We did this activity in the bathtub just to make the clean-up easier.
As you can tell, we used 4 colors.  Red, green, yellow and blue. I figured Brayden would be able to learn the colors without being overwhelmed.

He seriously enjoyed painting on the bathtub walls!

And then when he discovered he could eat it...he was the happiest kid alive!! He continued to paint with the pudding and taking little tastes every now and then.

My ONLY fear about this activity is that he will want to eat other paint...like the kind you aren't supposed to. We will cross that bridge when we get there but for now, this is definitely an activity that we will be doing again.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Toddler Activities: Cloud Dough!

I have been struggling lately to come up with fun, new things for Brayden to do. We ALWAYS go to the park so I wanted to find some new activities that were cheap or free. I searched Pinterest and found so many ideas that I think would really work for us. We headed to Target when Brayden woke up from his nap yesterday to gather some art supplies. We also bought baby oil to combine with flour to make Cloud Dough!! If you have never tried this with your kids, it's a MUST!! Brayden absolutely loved it. I will say that it does make quite a mess but it is well worth it. Here is what you need:
-4 cups of flour
-1/2 cup of baby oil
That's all!
Combine the ingredients and enjoy! We started with it in a bowl and then added a glass baking dish so Brayden could transfer the dough from one place to another. We gave him a spoon and a measuring cup to play with. He really loved when I made him a big ball of dough that he could crush. We played with the dough for about 20-30 minutes and then I put Brayden in the bath while hubby cleaned up the mess. Brayden would have played with it longer but I couldn't sit on the floor anymore since my legs had fallen asleep. Once I got up, Brayden started running around with the dough and I decided the mess was big enough already. We put an end to the dough but we saved it all so we can bring it out another day very soon!
We put everything on a towel in the living room...not that the towel helped much!


Taking the ball I made to crush it!


Like I said, I really recommend this activity and I can't wait to try some of the other activities I found on Pinterest! I will keep you updated with our successes and failures!

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Warm Days Ahead!

We had an unseasonably warm day yesterday and Brayden definitely took advantage!! I actually put him in shorts and a t-shirt and we played outside for the majority of the day. I was at my parents house doing laundry but thankfully they have an awesome backyard for Brayden to play in. 

He was pretty excited!

Even when playing outside, he would NOT give 
up his drumstick or DVD cover. Crazy child.

Giving the tree back a stick that had fallen.

Practicing t-ball!

He even knows to go run after he hits the ball!

Offering up a nice refreshment.


Once it started to get dark, we headed inside to play with puzzles (upside down) among other toys! I loved the warm weather while it lasted and it really makes me look forward to Spring! I am really sick of the cold and being stuck inside with a toddler...bring on the sunshine!!

Monday, February 11, 2013

19 Months

How did this happen?! How is it even possible that my little baby boy is already 19 months old?  I hate that time is passing so quickly because Brayden is amazing. I am pretty sure I say this each and every month, but it's still so true! Not much has changed with Brayden in the past month except his vocabulary. I swear, this kid talks more than I do! He can basically say any word we say but he isn't just copying us. He full on says sentences!! "What did you do?" happens to be one of his favorites..HA and he is always referring to himself when he drops something or is into something he knows he shouldn't be. It's so hard not to laugh every time! Okay so onto his likes and dislikes...

Likes:
-Super Why! (I have a video of his love for this coming soon!)
-talking
-juice (always watered down of course)
-food (almost all foods these days although we sometimes still struggle with veggies)
-Elmo
-sleeping
-nightlight turtle
-blankets and pacis
-singing songs
-reading books
-the park (particularly the slide)
-Baby Genius videos
-baths and using his bath crayons

Dislikes:
-being told "no"
-people leaving his presence (not just me anymore)
-eating different food than us
-haircuts

Okay so I can't think of anymore dislikes....family-add them in the comments if you can think of any!

Today on our park adventure, we met another little boy (only 2 months younger than Brayden) and he didn't talk AT ALL! Holy cow, I don't know what I would do if I was his mother. Brayden communicates so well (most of the time) and can verbally let me know what he needs. I don't miss that about the baby stage at all...the guessing was the worst part. Not knowing what was wrong or what they needed. I am so happy Brayden talks so well! We are most definitely a blessed family and I really do LOVE and appreciate everything we have. Life is pretty darn great!



Yep, that's a dog and a pig that live in a yard just two complexes down!








I honestly don't think he can get any freaking cuter!! He absolutely kills me! I love this dang kid so much. Oh and then he takes advantage of how much I love him by pooping in the bathtub...yep, that happened this morning. Oh the things we do for our children!

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

So We've Been Busy...

My kid is like a friggin machine! He NEVER stops! It makes it really hard to get in blogging time so thats why I haven't been doing it. And honestly, playing with my little monster is more fun! He has changed so much in the last month or so. He is talking constantly which makes me laugh a lot! Does he even know he is so funny?! He also has a favorite word..."no." It's. so. frustrating. It goes like this!

Me: Hey Brayden, do you want Gold Fish?
Brayden: No. (Then eats Gold Fish anyways)

Me: Brayden look, Super Why is on!
Brayden: No, no Super Why!

Me: Brayden, here is your favorite...hot dog and cottage cheese!
Brayden: No! No hot dog. (Then eats it all anyways)

How do I get him to stop saying no all the time!?!? Seriously, sometimes I have to stop, take a deep breath, and then move on. I even made up a song one day because he was literally saying no to EVERYTHING!! It goes like this "My name is Brayden, and my favorite word is no!" The song was a big hit and he wanted me to sing it over and over again! I still sing it for him and he starts jumping up and down and then says "no" when I get to the end! So cute. I have tried changing it to "yes" but he apparently doesn't like that word nearly as much!

Between saying no and then dancing to his new favorite song, he is also running around like crazy. I love this stage (on most days) because he is interested in so many things. Coloring, the park, just being outside in general, marching down hallways, singing, playing with tools, using drum sticks...and practically doing everything else! So there you have it...my really long excuse for not blogging lately! Hopefully these pictures will help make up for my absence!

Happy Birthday Grandma!!


Look at that stance!! He just might be a baseball player!

He thought the boomerang was super fun...AKA boo-boo-bang!

These are most of the pictures I get lately...the back of his dang head!

Pretty excited for the slide...

Getting ready...

Here I go...

Oh YEAH!!


The sand obviously needs to be OUT of the sand box!

Wiping off his messy hands

The sand under the slide was very exciting...

Scooping it up...

And it obviously belongs ON the slide! Silly park.


So there you have it. Toddlers are busy...which makes for busy moms!