Christmas Tidings

7 days until Christmas!!! I can hardly believe it! This holiday season seems to be just rushing right past me. So much has happened in the last month, which also contributes to my lack of blogging.

Last week, Brayden came home from daycare with the flu. It was a nasty little bug that he decided to share with the whole family....including his mom, dad, aunt and uncle. We are all on the mend and praying that this was enough to keep us healthy through the rest of the holiday season.

I am now 24 weeks pregnant. The time is going so fast. It is hard to believe that I am over half way there. In a little less than 4 months, we will have a new little guy to care for. I am feeling great, except for the lack of energy and motivation. I was really hoping that after my first trimester, that would all come back, but no such luck. It could partly be contributed to chasing around a mischievious two year old!

Brayden is very much looking forward to the arrival of Santa. I must admit that we have told him on a few occasions that if he isn't a good boy, that Santa won't be visiting. That seemed to shape him up for a bit. It is definitely going to be a very fun Christmas with him this year as he is beginning to understand the whole thing a little better. We have a very busy Christmas day planned with trips to both sets of grandparents. He is going to be spoiled beyond belief!

Here are a few pictures of what we have been up to the last month....

Sean and Brayden going to look for the perfect tree.

Daddy and Brayden.

Mommy and Brayden.

Enjoying the candy cane that the nice man at the tree farm gave him.

Helping Daddy decorate the tree.

Look at all the ornaments he hung!

Helping Mommy hang an ornament on the tree.

The finishing touch!

Building a snow tower with daddy.

All finished! He screamed when he had to come inside! He didn't want the fun to end. He LOVES playing in the snow!!

Field Trip

Last weekend, Erin, Brayden and I took a little field trip to a local fire station. For the past couple weeks, Brayden has been quite intrigued by fire trucks and it just so happened that Erin has a friend who is a fireman. So he told us to bring Brayden by to check out some fire trucks. Brayden was defnitely very hesitant at first, not wanting to go anywhere near one. He liked seeing the lights go one though. By the end of the little trip, he was sitting in the fire truck. He talked about them the whole way home! I was just thankful that the alarm didn't go off while we were there! That could have been bad!

He looks so little standing in front of the truck!

Not sure if I like this, mommy!

Getting a little closer. Looking in the truck with E.

He made it to the steps in the truck! What's that, mommy?

Mommy and Brayden.

It's the fireman's helmet!

Standing on the front of the fire truck.

We finally made it to the driver's seat, although he isn't so sure about this!

He even got a fireman badge as a "Junior Fireman!!"

A New Baby!

We are so excited to tell you! In the spring there will be 4 of us! April 7th, to be exact. And it is another little boy! Brayden is so excited to be a big "brudder!"

Halloween 2011

What a fun Halloween this year! Brayden was a little pirate and it took some convincing to get him into his costume, but once he wore it for a while, he loved it! The part he loved the most was going out and getting some candy. We had quite a few Halloween parties this year, so he was spoiled rotten! We will have candy for quite a long time!

Aargh!!

Family photo before we head out to trick or treat!

Oooh! What is this?

More candy!! Look at this!

Notice how it is all lined up on the table! :)

Pumpkin Patch 2010

This year for our yearly trip to the pumpkin patch, we went to "The Patch" at Bertrand Farms. It was a cute little farm that had a petting zoo, corn maze, hay ride, and pumpkin patch. It was a beautiful fall day and it wasn't busy at all, which was wonderful! Brayden loved running around seeing the animals, riding on the hay ride and picking out his pumpkin from the pumpkin patch. He also loved helping Sean "navigate" our way through the corn maze. They did a great job and only got us turned around once. :) Brayden posing by the "Big Pumpkin."

Brayden and Mommy with the perfect pumpkin!

I think this is the one! It's heavy!

On the hay ride with Grandma and Grandpa.

Helping Daddy navigate through the corn maze. I think Brayden had a little advantage!

Look at all these little pumpkins!

I like this one!!

Big Boy!

My baby is growing up today. Taking yet another step into the big boy world. Every step is more and more difficult for his mommy. Tonight we upgraded to a big boy bed. Sean has been bugging me for months, saying that Brayden is old enough to have a big bed. I kept putting it off because it was yet another reminder that he is no longer a baby. Tonight I gave in. Sean got the tools out and Brayden wanted to help. When they were done, we had a big boy bed and Brayden was beyond thrilled. He kept asking if he could go to bed. When it was finally time, he crawled right in. I guess we will see how the night goes!!

Taking apart the crib.

Brayden helping.

All grown up!

So excited!!

Cheese!

All ready for bed!

Fall is Here!

Fall is in the air! Tonight was a perfect example. The air was a little crisp, the sun set early, the football stadium lights shone in the distance. It was wonderful. Truly my favorite time of the year. And with it so beautiful out, we definitely had to take advantage of it. Sean was mowing the lawn and Brayden wanted to help. So we got out his little lawn mower and he mimicked Sean's every move. Then we decided to get out his birthday present from Unlce Chad and Aunt E. He has had this Gator for over 3 weeks now and has been too scared to ride it....until tonight. I knew he would love it once he tried it. So I had to bribe him with candy and he finally stepped on the pedal and off he went. At first he freaked out a bit until he saw Sean and I clapping and cheering for him. Then there was no stopping him. He drove all over the lawn. He doesn't quite grasp the steering part, so we have to follow him around and help steer, but he loves it!!

Mowing with Daddy.

My two year old!

Riding his gator!! Finally!! Yay!!!

Cheese! Now get out of my way!

Loading the wood.

Two Years Old

We officially have a two year old! Brayden celebrated his big day last week and we celebrated it in style! He got to bring cupcakes to daycare and have a little party with all of his friends. Sean and I picked him up early from daycare and went out for dinner at Beef O'Brady's. He got to sit on the "couch" of the booth with his Daddy instead of a highchair. He thought he was pretty special! After dinner we took him to a playground where he ran around and played non-stop. He wasn't too happy that we had to leave, but that all changed when he saw the stack of "surprises" we had waiting at home for him. He would open one present and want us to open it right away so he could play with it. We had to keep reminding him to open more presents. By the time he was done opening presents, our living room looked like christmas morning, with wrapping paper and toys strewn all over the place. He had such a great day and was one tired little boy come bedtime!

Look at me!

Let's play!

Time to go down the slide.

Brayden and Aunt E - Can you tell he was excited to be at the playground?

Helping Daddy put together his new tent.

Posing by his stack of "surprises."

Building a Thomas the Train train set with Daddy.

Playing with his new remote control car.

What could this be??

Power tools! Just like Daddy's!!

The "after" picture. All and all, it was a wonderful day!!