Photo update

Brushing his teeth for the first time. He does really well with this as long as we sing a song while we brush :)



Spending time with Uncle John



Eating Bananas - Brayden LOVES bananas and I HATE them! This is probably the hardest thing I have done since becoming a mom!


Standing up & playing at his musical table - so proud of himself!


Brayden & his best buddy Christian at daycare (they are about 2 weeks apart in age).

Long overdue post

We have been very busy the past month. After our last beach trip with my family, we had friends over for dinner, went out to eat with friends for dinner, went to Albemarle for the weekend, and then had a get together with another friend.

It is amazing how well Brayden plays with other kids. He really has been pretty good about sharing his toys, but maybe being in daycare helps with that.

The first weekend, my best friend for forever, her husband, and their sweet little boy came to visit from Burlington on Saturday.

Little Wesley had grown SO much since we last saw him. Wesley enjoyed Brayden's exersaucer so much that he got to take it home!!

I think he likes the exersaucer!


The boys - Wesley 3.5 months and Brayden 9.5 months


Then on Sunday, some soccer friends came over for dinner. Their little boy, Finn just turned 1 in July. He is so cute and it was great watching Finn & Brayden play together.

The next weekend, we went to Albemarle. It was a very full weekend. Saturday morning, my dad, Matt, & I went fishing out on Badin Lake. Matt caught 4 fish & I caught 2. It was lots of fun...I have always like fishing with my dad, but just don't get to go often enough now that I am all grown up. Brayden stayed home with my mom & Miss Elaine. My grandmother also came to visit on Saturday. On Saturday night, my 2 best friends from high school came over and we played cards :)

Brayden really enjoys riding on his bouncy horse at Grammie & Paw's house


It didn't take long for him to figure out how to make this thing GO!!


My mom insisted on a photo shoot in the really old baby buggy. I have to say that the photos did turn out pretty well :)



Last weekend my best friend from college & her sweet little boy came to visit. Vince & Brayden played incredibly well together. The last time we really got the boys together, they looked like this:



Sweet little Vince - 8 months


Vince & Brayden playing together - 8 months & 10 months

We even left Matt home with both boys while we made a Target run! It is amazing how fast these boys grow and change!

More photos to come in the next post!!

Beach trip!!!

This past weekend, we went to Myrtle Beach to visit with my cousins from Chicago, my Aunt & Uncle from Nashville, & my parents. We had a GREAT time catching up with everyone and are hoping to get together more often in the future! The cousins had not seen each other in 2 years & no one had meet Brayden before so this was a special visit for us all!

The cousins - Mij, Mark, Brayden, Morgan, & me


My cousins Morgan (almost 11) and Mark (almost 7) were amazing with Brayden & he loved all the attention he got from them both!

Morgan & Brayden
Brayden was so well behaved the entire weekend, even without good naps Saturday afternoon & Sunday morning.

On Friday night, we all had dinner at my aunt & uncle's new house. BBQ ribs, corn on the cob & salad. Yummy!!

The women had a difficult time trying to figure out how to best load the new dishwasher drawers.

We spent Saturday afternoon at the beach & pool (amazing pool by the way) and then went to the outlets on Sunday morning. We also went out to dinner Saturday night & lunch on Sunday.

Chillin' at the outlets

Brayden's first Merry-Go-Round ride

9 Month Update

So I am a bit behind here, but Brayden turned 9 months old on July 20! I can't believe how fast time has gone by. Seems like he should still be a tiny little baby in my arms. Instead, he is wiggling, crawling, pulling up machine now!!

Brayden went last Monday for his 9 month check up. He weighed in at 16 pounds 11 ounces (still only in the 5%), but was 27 1/2" long! Brayden wasn't so sure of the Dr. this time either. He had not had much of a nap Monday morning & then was hungry on top of that. These two things plus the start of stranger anxiety made for a difficult appointment. Overall though, Brayden did well & is a healthy little boy.

Brayden has now tried lots of new foods including: avocado, pancakes, beef stew, fresh banana, mango, o-o's (cheerios), yogurt, yogurt melts, chicken, strawberries, fruit cup, animal crackers, watermelon, grapes, and cheese. He seems to eat just about anything so far which is great since I do not like fruit!

Late last week, Brayden started pulling up on things...the table, us, the couch, basically anything that gave him any support at all. He is SO proud of himself once he gets up! It is adorable!! Just this weekend, he started taking a few steps to the side while holding on to the table. I really think he is going to be walking in just a few weeks...way before I am ready :)