Halloween Party

A couple of weekends ago, our friends from church threw a Halloween Party for all of the kids! We have not been able to go in the past because the party has always been the same day as Brayden's birthday party, but this year the party was the weekend before! Susan and Kelly did an awesome job with the party and had LOTS of fun activities for the kids.



For the most part, Brayden clammed up & didn't want to participate in the activities, but he did decide to decorate a cookie (and then wear at least 1/2 of it!!)

This is what you get when a 3 year old decorates a cookie with black sprinkles!

All of the kids from our Small group were able to attend the party, so of course, we attempted a group shot of the kids but Brayden didn't really want to cooperate with that either :(

Attempting to get everyone to sit on the couch at this point...
It takes a lot of work to wrangle 6 kids that are all under the age of 4!

From left to right: Grace, Brian, John, & Maddie

We finally got Brayden on the couch, but he wouldn't hold Lilly

(of course when we got home, he was ready to hold her!)15 minutes later, we finally get a group shot (and the parents were all exhausted!!)

From left to right again: Lilly, me, Brayden, Grace, Brian, John, Maddie

1 month update & photos

It is amazing how quickly babies change! Lilly is really growing these days & seems MUCH longer. She finally fills out her newborn sized clothes and we are phasing out the newborn diapers (at least I am going to see how the size 1's fit this weekend)! At 1 month, Lilly weighed in at 7 pounds 6 ounces and 20 3/4" long. I am guessing that at almost 7 weeks now, she is 8 pounds & 21-22" long!

Every day, Lilly is more & more alert and for longer stretches. She does still sleep quite a bit during the day with no set nap times yet. Naps during the daytime are still mostly with me holding her or in the carseat (thankfully, she likes to ride & doesn't mind the carseat at all). We are working on sleeping in her bed during the day time right now (she is there now!) and it is SLOWLY getting better.
As much as I love holding her & cuddling with her, I can't get stuff done around the house that I need to as easily while I am holding her & lets face it...she isn't going to be held all day at daycare, so I would rather her get used to this fact with me rather than in a strange place with strangers!For the most part, she is going to bed around 10pm & sleeping until 2:30-3:30. She eats & goes back to sleep until about 5:30-6. Most days, she goes back to sleep & doesn't get up for the day until about 8-8:30!

Big yawn!

About 1 week ago, Lilly started smiling. She is doesn't like to give out smiles too easily, but boy when she does, they light up the room!! A lot of times, you can tell that she wants to smile but much like Brayden is just going to be stubborn & not do it...just because you want her to! Because of this, I still haven't gotten a picture of Lilly's adorable, toothless smile!

Sort of a smile

Lilly is also really starting to enjoy her play mat. She will sometimes be content to lay on it & play for 20-30 minutes, batting at the toys & cooing when she makes the music start!
Unlike Brayden, Lilly LOVES her paci!!
Lilly enjoys sitting in the bouncy seat while we eat dinner.

Another Football Game

We took Lilly to her 2nd football game. This time, the weather was almost too hot (the 1st game it was pretty chilly & very windy!) Lilly got to enjoy more of the tailgating at the 2nd game

Tailgating with Mawmaw Rachel

& Brayden got to play some cupcakes & football as well!

Taking a juice break after playing football with Paw.
It isn't a very good picture of Lilly, but this photo shows her NCSU outfit that my mom made, complete with a little bow.
Please excuse me in this photo, I had Lilly strapped to me & was trying to hold Brayden in my lap at the same time and he was squirming all over the place!
The best part of the game is that WE WON!!!

Fun times with Mommy

I am keeping Brayden at home 2 days a week until I go back to work. I have been trying to do some fun things with him that we often don't get time to do when both Matt & I are working (plus it saves us a decent amount of money each week!) Although we have had a few "difficult" days, overall it is going really well!

The first day I kept Brayden at home, I took him (and Lilly of course) to Marbles Kids Museum in downtown Raleigh. Of course, like normal, I had the camera with me, but only took a few photos the entire time we were there! Brayden had a blast playing at the big train table.
He wasn't as into the "pretend play" area as I thought he would be. Maybe it was because there was SO MANY people there that it was overwhelming to him. Maybe it would be better if he had a friend to play with while we were there. I did snap a quick picture of him in the ambulance & playing on the slide though!

While Brayden played, Lilly enjoyed a nice long morning nap!
After a while downstairs, we went upstairs to the sports area where Brayden enjoyed playing soccer. We also checked out the "Make your own car" area. He loved racing his car down the track & seeing it crash of the end!

He also really enjoyed the "bank" area. Unfortunately, we didn't get to spend much time in that space because it was lunch time & we were all getting hungry. Next time, I will know to start upstairs & then work our way back downstairs!

We also got together with a friend from high school & her 2 girls. As soon as Stacy picked up Lilly, Brayden ran over (he was being very protective!) and sat with Stacy.
They came over last week for a play date. Brayden enjoyed showing Megan & Sarah his slime that he made at school! They also colored, rode on the tricycle, played with the trains & train table!

Megan wanted in on the baby holding action too!

Thanks for coming to visit Stacy, Megan, and Sarah! We will have to get together again soon!

Next week, Brayden starts swim lessons at the Y!! He is old enough to be in a class without me! I can't believe that he is already 3!! After swim lessons are over, I am not sure what we will do. I am trying to do a little lesson with him each day, mainly to work on the stuff he is missing at school. His teacher is even sending home "homework" (at my request). This week, he is working on writing the letter "E"!

Lilly's 1st football game

This past weekend, we took Lilly to her 1st NCSU football game. She did great!! It did get rather cold & windy towards the end of the game, but Lilly was snuggled up next to me in the Baby K'Tan & wrapped in a blanket so she was nice & toasty!

Dressed in her Wolfpack gear & ready for the game!

Tailgating with Paw before the game

Brayden also enjoyed playing cornhole during the tailgate

Lilly #1 (she is almost 1 now!) was at her 1st game as well!

The stands were full to start the game...and quickly empied in the 4th quarter when it was apparent we were going to lose :(

Nice & warm next to Mommy

Wide awake after a 3rd quarter snack!

Overall. it was a good day even though the Pack lost. Maybe the next game will be better!!

Sweet photos of Lilly

My mom found these butterfly wings & we decided to take a few photos of Lilly wearing them. I am obviously not a photographer, but I still think they came out pretty well!

I really wanted to take a few without the paci in her mouth, but she was having NO PART in that! Oh well!

Visit to Albemarle

Since we were at my parents house, the kids and I stayed for a few extra days to see more family & friends.

We went to my grandmother's house one day to visit. She was VERY excited to meet Lilly & to see Brayden again.

Ms Elaine really wanted to hear Lilly cry (she is just a tiny bit crazy :)

Brayden & Lilly's great-great Aunt Peggy came to visitShelly (Ms Elaine's daughter) was in town from California, so she also got to meet Lilly!
Brayden also got to spend a good bit to time with Paw playing when it wasn't raining.

They played baseball & soccer outside,

went for walks in the little red car,

rode Paw's 4 wheeler around the yard,

played with the cats (my parents have 5 cats & Brayden knows all of their names & where they sleep), and played at Brayden's new tool bench. My dad bought this tool bench for Taylor in 2006 & has hung on to it all this time waiting for Brayden to be big enough to enjoy it. He really enjoyed the drill!!

We had a great trip & enjoyed staying with Grammy & Paw for a few days. Unfortunately, my dad got sick the day we were supposed to leave & ended up in the hospital for 2 days. We are still not really sure what was/is wrong with him :( but thankfully, he is feeling better now.