New Deck!!

When we bought this house almost 2 years ago, we knew that we wanted to replace the existing deck one day. Well, we decided that now was the time and they just finished the project earlier this week!  The company that did the work was great to work with, did a great job, and did what they said for the price they said.  We are VERY happy with the results and can't wait to spend time out on the deck this summer grilling out, playing and eating!  Enjoy the before and after photos :)

Old deck wood rot

Old deck from below

Old deck and where the new section of deck is going to go

Old deck GONE!

Framing for the new deck

Completed new deck!!

New deck!!  It is HUGE!

Brayden's 1st dentist visit

Brayden had his 1st visit to the dentist last week and did AMAZING!!  I couldn't believe how incredibly well he did!!   We talked about going to the dentist all the week before and read the Bearenstein Bears Visit the Dentist book several times so I think it really helped.

First of all, normally, Brayden is VERY shy and reserved around new people and places.  He had been with me 2 other times just to watch but I still expected him to be his normal quite, shy self.  Nope!  When we walked in the office, he was super talkative and friendly with all of the staff right off the bat.
 
 Matt met us there because I also had an appointment.  I thought they were going to do Brayden and then do my cleaning, but when we got there, they wanted to do our cleanings at the same time so I didn't get to watch, but I could hear everything that was going on across the hall. 

Talking with Ms Harriet (who knows what about!)

According to Matt, he climbed up in the chair, did exactly what they asked, when they asked, answered all of their questions and just totally rocked the entire appointment!  I am SO PROUD of how well he did!

Update on Brayden

I haven't done an update on Brayden in a while so I will start with him.

He is so funny most of the time these days!  Brayden says the silliest things and acts so funny when he wants but can be VERY focused and serious other times.  He also knows exactly what he wants and is going to be a great boss one day if he continues the way he is now.  For example, Matt and Brayden were playing with his tool bench at my parents house last weekend and Brayden told Matt "Take the hammer and nail this here, then take the screwdriver and take this screw out and then use this wrench to pull this nail out".  He knew exactly what he wanted his daddy to do.

Being safe while working with his "power tools"

Brayden recently completed another round of swim lessons and is really starting to "get it".  He starts the next set of swim lessons in just a few weeks.  I think after this next round, he will graduate to the next level!

A few weekends ago, I let him try a new fun, but messy "craft" while I was making baby food.  Baking soda, vinegar, and a medicine dropper.  I put food coloring in the vinegar and the put baking soda in a bowl (then later into a muffin pan) and let him drop the colored vinegar into the baking soda.  He really enjoyed watching the fizz for about 30 minutes!

 A few weeks ago we went to my best childhood friend son's 3rd birthday party at the Durham Science Museum.  Brayden had a great time at the party, riding the train, and seeing the dinosaurs!  Happy Birthday Wesley!

Matt and Brayden recently enjoyed watching an Eric Clapton concert on TV together.  I have a photo of Matt and Brayden watching the Allman Brothers together when Brayden was just a few weeks old so I had to get this one too.  

Mother's day weekend we went to another birthday party for a friend's son's 1st birthday.  The party was kite themed and each of the older kids got a small kite.  Brayden had a blast running around at my parents house flying his kite.  It got pretty far up in the air a few of the times!

Brayden knows all of his letter sounds and can write most letters (uppercase) now.  I think he knows his numbers but the kid is super stubborn and doesn't like to show off his skills on demand, but I occasionally catch him reading a number in a book etc, so I think he really does know them now.  He is also quite a little artist when it comes to drawing cars/trucks.  Most days I bring home 4-5 pages with cars, trucks, and letters on them!

He is very active and still enjoys sports.  He recently completed a soccer class at school.  We are hoping to enroll him is another sport activity later this summer.

He is still small for his age, weighing only about 28-29lbs, but he is growing taller every day!
As of mid-February Brayden is completly potty trained as well!!!  I think those are the main updates from Brayden for now...

Lilly update

Lilly is almost 8 months old and is growing like a weed! Here are some of her current stats:

-7 month weight 14lb 14oz
-7 month height 24.75" long
-eating 3 meals a day (breakfast is cereal + fruit, lunch is cereal + veggie, and dinner in cereal, veggie, and yogurt)
-drinking 3 5oz bottles per day at daycare and nursing 3 more times (before school, bedtime, and sometime during the night)
-sleeping from 7ish -2ish, nursing, then sleeping again from 2ish - 6:30/7ish
-takes 2 naps during the day - 9:30ish to 10:30ish and 1ish - 3ish
-started sitting up all own her own Palm Sunday weekend
-can roll ALL OVER the place to get what she wants!
-LOVES her paci and pink flower lovey blanket

snoozing with her paci and lovey at Grammy and Paw's house

-has adjusted very well to daycare and really likes her teachers and friends
-has a wonderfully, big, toothless smile when I walk in the room to get her every day :) Makes my heart melt!
-has a special love for momma still right now (I am sure this will change as time moves on, so I am enjoying the extra cuddles for now)
-is very cuddly and loving
-still has no teeth and really doesn't show any signs of getting any soon...
-can be very serious when she wants to be
-LOVES watching Brayden play/act silly and he loves to make her laugh. They have a special bond which I LOVE! He has never really acted jealous towards her and is overall very gentle and careful with "his baby".

Brayden's writing

In the past few weeks, Brayden has really started wanting to write his letters. He has gotten pretty good at some of the letters including B, D, E, Y, A, and Q.

Unfortunately...I can't figure out how to post a .pdf on here to show you :( Just trust me. He is doing really well I think!!

Happy Easter

I know it is a bit late, but life has been busy recently!

We went to my parents house for Palm Sunday weekend then were busy with activities all Easter weekend. We had a very busy weekend visiting with family and friends, dying and hiding eggs, riding the 4 wheeler, and swinging at Grammy and Paw's house.

Ready to dye Easter eggs (all 35 of them!)

Just getting started...Lilly enjoyed watching and learningPutting an egg in the dye all by himselfThe finished productsBrayden's 2012 eggLilly's 2012 egg (next year we will have to pick a different color)The CUTEST little bunny around!Egg hunt #1...we did this over and over and over....
he was really good at finding the eggs and I ran out of places to put them.4-wheelin'Building a house...at least he is being safe!Lilly's 1st time in the swing
(here is a very similar photo of Brayden's 1st time in the swing)

I took Good Friday off and took the kids to Marbles Museum with our good friends Amy and John. We had a great time playing and hanging out together. It was nice to have a day off to spend with the kids! On Easter Sunday, we all went to church and then part of our small group came over for Easter lunch. We had a great time eating, socializing and celebrating our Lord together!

Where has the time gone?

So much has been going on recently I never seem to have time to blog anymore. Lilly turned 6 MONTHS OLD on March 2!!! Wow! I can't believe it has already been 6 months! I wish time would slow down!

Lilly has really taken to solids and is now eating 2 meals a day, lunch and supper. She eats a decent amount of cereal at both meals + 2 ice cubes of veggie! So far she had tried the following:

-peas
-green beans
-sweet potatoes
-butternut squash
-zucchini
-carrots
-rice cereal
-oatmeal cereal

I am making most of her food now and have found it to not be too difficult or time consuming. It is DEFINITELY cheaper! If you have any good baby food recipes, please share!

She is sitting up with minimal support and is now enjoying tummy time much more. Lilly has also figure out how to get anywhere in the room by rolling! We are still working on sleeping through the night though. I had finally gotten her to sleep almost all night, only waking around 3am to eat. Then she got a cold... We are now back to getting up 2-3 times a night. Still, that is much better than 1 month ago when Lilly was up every 45 minutes to 1 hour! I will take my small blessing!!

We have also moved into size 2 diapers and 6 month clothes, although a few 3 month items still fit. At Lilly's 6 month check up she weighed 13 lbs 8oz (10%) and was 24.5" long (10%). She is still a small peanut but has SUPER chubby thighs right now! They are so cute! I bet if it weren't for the chubby thighs, size 1 diapers would still fit just fine!


Brayden has been enjoying the nice weather we have been having recently. The past 2 nights, we have gone outside & he has ridden his tricycle up and down the sidewalk.

It is amazing at how he can rationalize things now and carry on a full conversation. Brayden is learning Spanish at school and knows how to count 1-20, all of the colors, lots of animals, & likely a lot more that he won't let us know about! He is also really getting good at writing upper case letters and can recognize all of the upper case letters and a few of the lower case ones. For the most part, Brayden is able to write his name as well!

Brayden continues to be an athlete. He really enjoyed playing soccer and we are planning on signing him up for t-ball this summer. One of his favorite things right now is to play basketball. He has gotten pretty good and has a nice looking jump shot when he wants to. Brayden also likes to pull his socks up as high as possible to "be a football player". Apparently, he has figured out that football players have long sock and he wants to be just like a football player :) Too cute!

Brayden's last soccer practice:

Team Cheer!

Waiting for his medalBrayden receiving his medal

Team lineup

A funny word of Brayden's right now is: sgabetti (spaghetti). I am sure he has a few more, but that is all I can think of right now :)

I think that is all for now. I am sure I am missing some funny things about both kids, but I am tired and am need of a sweet snack :)