Christmas Wrap-Up Part 1

We had such a wonderful Christmas with our sweet little boy! Technically it is his second Christmas, but since he was only 2 days old last year, I kept refering to this as his first Christmas. I don't think he is going to know what to do without all the food and gifts this next week. Our Christmas is usually spread out over the entire week of Christmas.

Christmas #1

It started on the Sunday before Christmas with my mom's family. My grandparents and aunts/uncles and cousins. We have recently become a family with a lot of children and so this day was WILD! We only get gifts for my grandparents and all the kids. We had some great food and fun times with our family. I didn't do a very good job getting a lot of pictures. Like I said, It was wild!

Christmas #2

We had Christmas with my immediate family on Tuesday before Christmas. My brothers were in town from Sunday to Wednesday, so this was the best day to do it. This is usually one of my most favorite times of Christmas. We all get each other gifts and our parents still get us several gifts. We eat, pass out the gifts, and take turns opening one gift at a time. I love it! You can see what everyone gets and we have so much fun. It is very relaxed and fun! 

Unfortunately, this year my sister, dad, and sister-in-law all had the dreaded stomach virus, so they were not able to really enjoy the time together. We still managed to have a good time, but we did leave the sick ones on one side of the room and tried to keep our distance. Brady had a hard time. He just couldn't understand why Poppy and Aunt Amy weren't giving him tons of attention. He kept trying to sneak away and make them pick him up. It was a little heartbreaking. Despite all the sickness, Brady still managed to rack up at this Christmas. Seriously! We may need a bigger house!

My brother Drew

Yep that is a four wheeler. Thanks Bryan and Amy!

If you were married to a sickling, you had to sit by them. Sorry Bryan!

That would be my snuggie!

Caleb and Brady playing with the blower. Caleb likes manly gifts. Ha!

At least Brady could go to his Sue Sue

Yep, that is a John Deer Tractor! Oh boy, he is going to be rotten! It is a little big, but he loved it anyway. And it is way cute!

Thank you so much to everyone! No one else came down with the virus after this, I think! Hopefully next year we will all be well for Christmas! The worst part is that the sick ones didn't get any of the Gigi's cupcakes I brought. I felt sorry for them for that alone. Ha!

Merry Christmas!!!

A non-Christmas Birthday!

We decided that since Brady's birthday is 2 days before Christmas, that we would have a party early with friends and family and on his actual birthday the three of us would do something special together to celebrate. We decided it should be a non-christmas event because are celebrating his birthday, not Christmas. I don't want his birthday to get lost in the holidays, although I know it probably will at some point. But we are trying our best here!

This year we decided to take Brady to the Aquarium. It is about 1 1/2 hours away and oh so much fun! I remember going as a child, but it has gotten so much better since then. Brady LOVED it!

Checking out the sting rays.

Brady is the same height as the Gentoo penguin. He wouldn't stand with his back to it for long. He was ready to see the penquins. I can't say I blame him. They are awesome!

Caleb and Brady in front of the penguin exhibit. It looks fake, but those are real penguins. The exhibit stretches around the wall and most of the penguins had just swam to the other side. (There was a little t.v. screen in the wall explaining things about penguins, that is what Brady is watching.)

Brady and I watching the fish.

We got to see a feeding. The picture is terrible. It was really neat in real life. Ha!

Brady would point and babble to the fish. It was so cute!

We had a long, but Wonderful day. We were all exhausted by the time we made it back home. Brady and I camped out on the recliner and watched yo gabba gabba until time for him to go to bed.

It was such a great day. I am so happy we did this! It is a tradition I hope to continue every year. We purchased a book on penguins and an otter Christmas ornament to remember the trip. (We try to get a book for Brady at each place we visit. I stole the Christmas ornament idea from my sister. These are souvenirs that you can keep and are pretty inexpensive. They don't leave you with buyers remorse once you get home.) We have already started talking about what to do next year. We may have to do this with all of our children, even if there Birthday doesn't fall on Christmas. It is a day we will always cherish!

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

One Year Ago Today...

Caleb and I walked into the local hospital as a duo and went to sleep as a trio. This day one year ago changed our lives and family forever in ways I could  have never foreseen or imagined.

You see one year ago a day, our sweet baby boy graced us with his presence and the most wonderful presence it was at that. He has taught us how to love in ways that don't even seem possible, taught is that love will make you do things you really don't want, and taught us that being a parent is THE greatest gift that God could ever bless you with.

Brady has joined Caleb and I in a way that I can't explain. We are forever connected through this amazing little boy. The love that each of us has for him far exceeds that of any other love. We would go to great lengths and depths to protect him and meet his needs.  He is so much a part of our lives, it is hard to remember a time without him. I am certain he has a strong love for us as well, but I don't know that I could ever fully express how dear he is to his father and I. 

To My Sweet Baby Boy,

I am so blessed to be your Mommy! God gave me such a wonderful gift in you! I can not fathom a life without you. You have brought so much love, laughter, joy, and fun into our lives. I love every little thing about you. I love the way you grin, the way you laugh, the way you dance, the way you shake your head no, and the way you lean in to love on me. I aslo love the way you babble on and raise your hand at me when I tell you no, the way you eat and eat and eat like you have been starving for years, and the way you think all eyes should always be on you. We have made it through our first year little one and I think we are doing o.k. There were days when your father and I had no idea what we are doing and also great days when we thought we might be getting the hang of this parenting thing.  We will continue to have both types days throughout your life and maybe a few more varieties. I am striving to be the best mother to you and wife to your father, I know you need me to be both. Above both of those I am striving to live a life like Christ and teach you to have one also. You are so special to me. I love you more than you could ever imagine. Today as I celebrate your first bithday, I want to make a promise to you. I will always have your best interest in mind, although you may not always like it and I will always love you and be proud of you.

Happy Birthday, little monkey! I hope to have many, many, many more with you!

Love, Mommy

December 23, 2008

December 23, 2009

Celebrate!

We had Brady's birthday party yesterday. His actual birthday isn't until the 23rd but we have so much Christmas stuff going on we decided to have it a little early. We had a great day. I am not sure Brady really new what was going on, but I think he enjoyed it anyway.

This is the cake and cupcakes I made.

This is the cake table. I used balloons and seperated m & m's to decorate. It looked really cute.

This is Brady in his special Birthday outfit my mom and sister got him. He looked so cute and BIG!

"Bring on the Food"

YUM!

The next couple pictures are from the chaos which was opening gifts. I was surrounded by what seemed like a million little ones all trying to grab the gifts. It was really like 4 little ones. Ha! Brady didn't really care about opening the gifts. He would just play with the toy once it was open. It was a blast anyway!

I LOVE this picture!!! This is my friends little boy. He is 3 months older than Brady and they have just discovered they can play together over the last  couple months. They are really sweet together. UNTIL one starts hitting the other or taking toys. Hey, We are all learning right! But this was so so so sweet!

When it cleared out a little, Brady would pick a toy and carry it to each person still there to show them. So sweet!

Happy 1st Birthday Party Baby Boy!

A BIG Thank you to every one who came! We have such wonderful friends and family! Brady is so Blessed. We are so glad you could share this celebration with us! Thanks again!

Tacky Christmas Party!!!

We went to our first Christmas Party of the year this past weekend. Our friends had a tacky Christmas Party, where you dress in tacky christmas clothing. We had a blast planning what to wear and seeing what every one came up with.

Enjoy!!!

Those are cats on his shirt and the turtleneck is sown in. Ha!

Mr. and Mrs. Tacky!

All the babies wore pajamas. You can't make babies tacky!

Some of the homemade sweaters!

Merry Christmas!

From the Tacky Family!

We had a great time! We have already started talking about what we will wear next year!

A Little Bit of Christmas!!!

Christmas is by far my favorite holiday. I love every second of it.  From the decorations, the music, the lights, the food, the parties, the time with family, the shopping, the gifts, the cards, Santa, to the ribbons, bows, and t.v. specials, I am always so excited for this time of year. I Love it!!!
 Now I have one more(very special) reason to LOVE Christmas. Brady was born just 2 days before Christmas. I am so thankful for that sweet baby boy and all the joy he brings our family. Needless to say, December will be a very busy month for us. But like I said, I LOVE it!!!

Here is what it is looking like around our house this time of year.

This is the "family" tree in the living room. I just got this tree this year. This tree has all of our family ornaments on it. It is mostly red and greens. I don't have a topper for this tree yet, because I haven't found one I like enough to buy.

I bought this skinny tree when I lived in the apartment before Caleb and I were married. We have been using it as our only tree until this year. Since I bought the bigger one, I decided to use this one in the kitchen. It is all silver and white. I love how it turned out. It looks so warm in the kitchen. I have initial ornaments on both trees. I think it gives a little personality.

This tree is new this year also! It is Brady's tree.  It is in his room and has colored lights with blue christmas balls. Because Brady was born 2 days before Christmas, we have TONS of babies first christmas ornaments. There are 2 on the family tree and the rest are on his little tree. It doesn't have a topper either, yet. I think I am going to get a blue santa hat to put on it. This tree is so sweet in his room.

My mother-in-law bought this wreath for us this year. It had a huge red bow that wrapped around it. I Loved it, but the door wouldn't close so I had to take it off. I want to get a giant wreath to put on the front of our house and use it there.

We have some other little touches of Christmas through out the house. Like I said, I love it! Brady has done pretty well with all the trees. He usually just crawls over to them and nods no.

Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great, but busy Thanksgiving this year. First, we went to my parents at noon for Thanksgiving. We have a HUGE crowd at my parents house. This year it was a little different, though. We have had two babies born since last year and we have had 2 little boys join our family. Until now, there has only been one little one, so needless to say it was a lot more eventful this year. But wonderful at the same time!

Then for dinner we went to Caleb's parents house. I didn't take any pictures there, maybe because I was so stuffed and tired. We had another great meal and Brady played with his aunts and uncles. He was the only little one at this Thanksgiving, so he enjoyed all the undivided attention.

We had such a wonderful day with all our family and friends. We are so thankful for each of them. We are so very blessed! Hope everyone had a very special Thanksgiving Day!

Black Friday!!!

Caleb and I got up this morning and met my sister at to pass off Brady. She offered to watch him while we shopped. We usually shop on Black Friday, but on our own time. We DO NOT get up at 3 or 4 a.m., but we do shop. We are usually able to get Great deals and this year was no exception. I LOVE it and I don't mind the crowds. I am prepared for them, so that makes it easier to tolerate. We also plan out exactly where we are going and what we want. Then we loosely stick to it, but welcome changes. It was very non-stressful day. And we are almost completely done with our shopping. YaY!!!
We finished shopping around noon so we grabbed some lunch and decided to catch a movie before picking up little man.

If you haven't seen this movie, then What are you waiting for? It is an excellent movie with an even greater story. Sandra Bullock is AMAZING! Both Caleb and I loved it. We both left inspired. There was even an applause when it was over. I think everyone should see it, so go!

And Happy Black Friday!