Sick Days....

Unfortunately, Braden has celebrated his 7 month birthday with a pretty painful ear infection and an uncomfortable fever. :( Poor little baby!! I just hate to see him feeling bad!!

He has been sick off and on during cold and flu season...a few colds and one other very mild ear infection. During all of those times his personality never really changed, and he was his same ole jovial self! :)

Well, this time it was a little bit different. :( I figured he might have an ear infection b.c he was still coughing after about 10 days, and he had a rough night on Sunday night. He was up off and on...just not sleeping well. Then when he woke up on Monday morning, I knew something was wrong for sure..b.c we was not himself at all. I took him to school b.c I could not put my finger on what it was just yet (and he was fever free). The school called me at 2:30 and said he had a 102.5 fever. Ugh. :( The minute I went to pick him up my heart just broke. He was so lethargic and just wiped out. He has never had a fever before so I did not know what to expect. All I had to go on is when I have had a fever...and I know that I have always felt awful. :(

So Braden and I spent much of the days this week together at home.....trying to get him well, and back in tip top shape! :) I am hopeful that it is finally working b.c he is about 80% back to his normal self as of tonight...and his fever is down to 100.4. So we are making progress!! :)

I loved spending that extra cuddle time with him this week, although I hated the reason why. I tried to be as creative as I could, since I still had to get some work done during those days.

We had a "play party" outside one afternoon....so I could work and he could play. Once the Tylenol or Motrin had kicked in then he was usually good for a couple of hours before he would feel bad again. So I capitalized on those hours. :) He seemed to really like some of his toys being moved outside for his enjoyment. :)

So busy studying these toys that he has seen a million times. :) So cute. Stopping for one quick second to smile.......
We had some bathtime fun too to try and feel better...... :) Spending time in the big bathtub these days is so much more fun than being in the baby bathtub!! There is sooooo much more water that can be splashed around..and a much bigger mess can be made. :) We are praying our baby boy is on the mend b.c we cannot wait to have him back to 100%!! :)

Dining Out In Our New World....

Oh my...where do I even start with this post? I know that most parents out there can completely understand where I am coming from with this one. :)

So...I guess you just reach a stage where you can no longer take your baby out to eat with you anymore b.c it is simply just not fun. :) At 7 months, I think we are there. HA!! :)

Something happened when little B entered the 2nd half of his first year of life this past weekend...and eating out just seemed to turn into a disaster. We tried it on Sunday night after the Wildflower Center and boy was that a mistake! Up until now, things have been pretty good at restuarants for the most part. Well, that was short lived. :)

We headed over to BJ's Brewery for a quick dinner. Even though the entire dinner was not more than an hour, it was a very long, crazy hour. :) We started out with Braden deciding that he was annoyed that we even thought about coming to eat. How dare we, right? So he proceeded to be very vocal from the MOMENT that we were seated. I can only imagine how every other patron around us was praying for us to leave soon. Oh, you know the family. Sheesh!! That was us! But by that point we had already committed to eating, and we were stinkin hungry..so he was going to have to chill out!

I put him in his highchair where he lasted for about 5.2 seconds with some toys. Then he decided it was very important that he got out of the highchair!! So I sat him on my lap, on the table, or pretty much anywhere that I could. In a few short minutes he proceeded to knock over my entire glass of water which was ice cold. It not only DRENCHED me but it also coated him with an ice cold treat....which is when he decided it would be fun to cry about being soaked with cold water. :( After every member of the waitstaff in the entire restuarant had come to help us clean up the mess (and our next door neighbors behind us had already asked if we needed more napkins)...we were off to try and enjoy our meal again. Throughout the remainder of the time that we waited for our food, Braden decided it would be fun to throw every toy and spoon that he could get his hands on. Sorry again neighbors!!

Then he thought it would be fun to chew on a straw. As he jabbed himself in the top of the mouth a few times with that, and he shed some more tears, he finally learned his lesson. Slow learner is what I was thinking! :)

I ate while holding him...which lasted all of about 5 minutes before he wanted to grab all of my food too. So Chris took him and walked him around the lobby for awhile (glad we came to eat together, right?) :) I shoved my food in my mouth faster than I ever have before...so that Chris would not waste away while he was patiently waiting! I motioned for him to come back and join me at my solo dinner...and we made the switch. He ate alone next....fun times, eh? :)

And last but not least we put Braden back in the highchair for his turn at eating. We served up some good old carrot and green bean purees (yum!!)...and he ate them as well as he could while also getting orange and green excess everywhere. Oh you gotta love it! I saw the table behind us (young couple on probably their first date) staring at him covered in various colors. I had to apologize to them as I am sure that sight ruined their meal. :) Baby food does not ever look appetizing...especially coming out of a baby's mouth over and over again. :(

FINALLY the check could not have come sooner, as we were both like "GET ME OUT OF HERE!!" We paid, put away the 15 things that we have to bring into an eating establishment with a 7 month old, and high tailed it out of there!! All the while wondering why we just spent $35 on that!

So after that experience, I am pretty sure we are turning a corner regarding our ability to eat out much anymore with the little munchkin!! And I am not sure I will try it too many more times. It is that whole deal about continuing to do the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. :)

So bring on date nights with my hubby...child free of course!! :) Cannot wait! :)

Songs, Picnics, Wildflowers, and More!!

This past weekend was busy but lots of fun!! :) We had our fun friends in town through Saturday morning, and then we cruised through the rest of the weekend with some songs, a picnic, and some wildflowers. :) YAY! :)

Saturday morning we took Braden to a class at a little music school called Heartsong Music. It was so fun and he loved it! :) The teachers were great and they really engaged the kids. He was cracking us up b.c he was squealing with delight every time they would sing a song just to him! Hysterical. :) What a ham!! Here are a few pics of the fun. :)

I knew that Mom was going to take A LOT of pics inside, so I decided not to look at her until we got in there. :) Avoiding eye contact....which I bet will work well when I am older and I get in trouble!! :)

I think I am really going to like this class!! :) There are some babies in here like me but lots of older kids too! :) I am going to learn from them.

I decided that since I smile ALL the time that I was going to make a funny face instead. :)Why would I beat on the drums when I can just eat the drumstick? That is so much more fun. :)
Ok, Mom is making me play the drums now. :)This nice lady is singing a song just to ME!!! YIPPEE! :) I love when I get attention. :)I decided that I needed more attention so I wanted to get in the middle of the room in front of the whole circle, and pretend like I was trying to crawl. I faked them out b.c I really did not crawl (and I have not yet). :)Do you think the chicks in here will dig my mini pushups? :) Have to get bigger arm muscles. :)Ok, enough of that...just chillin again. :)
Then late Saturday afternoon we headed out to a picnic with our new Sunday School class at church. It was fun to meet new people and get to know some better that we had met in the past. :)

Have I mentioned HOW much I love being outside? :) And what perfect weather. I love my first Spring. :)On top of the grassy knoll.....looking like a college student with my long sleeve T shirt, khaki shorts, and flip flops. LOL! :) Thanks to my godfather Doug for my super fun West Point onesie!! That is where he went to school and played football! :) GO ARMY!!I sure do love to stand...and I am pretty good at it too!! Look..no hands! :)More standing!! (See, I told you I loved it!)
And I love to ride on Dad's shoulders b.c then I am really tall! Mom got me a new toy on Saturday that I am really diggin! :) I have my own chair that I can sit in...fun! And I love these books that I can read on the side too..how clever! :)
Sunday we headed to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center for the afternoon. We bought an annual membership and decided there was no better time than Spring to get out there and have some fun. Let's GO!! :)We saw some neat turtles when we first walked in...... Chris hanging out.......
Ahhhh...the beautiful trees....... And gorgeous wildflowers! Go Texas Bluebonnets!
Just chillin with my shades..... What a pretty place............. More chillin from Chris... :) He was into all of the flowers and I was making him stop to take pics of course!Look at this little bonsai tree!! Hee hee! :) They have super fun sculptures out there right now. :) Check this one out...how neat! :)Even though I am a diehard Aggie fan...this was pretty cool!The ants go marching one by one...hurrah, hurrah!Go dragonflies! :) Looking forward to going back again over the course of the year for all of the fun events that they have!! :)

Hays Family Comes To Austin...

Our friends Steven, Sharla, and their 2 year old Hayden, came into town to stay with us this past week. They were here from Wednesday night to Saturday morning, and we had a great time getting to hang out and catch up! :) Even though Braden and Hayden are almost 2 years different in age, they still had fun playing together. :)

Sharla and I saw some old friends which was way overdue......and we loved spending time with them! :)

Thursday we had lunch at Matt's El Rancho with our sweet friend Amy and her 3 kiddos. She has a set of twin girls and a 3 month old baby boy. She is quite an amazing mom to say the least!! :) Sharla and Amy were roomates for a few years in college. :)

Like Mother, like daughter. :) Aren't they cute?
Nixon just hanging out....Ripley loving up on her tortilla....yum!Sweet baby Mars snuggling with his mama.......
The girls enjoying their time.....Amy with her brood. :) I don't know how she does it....work as an ER doc, takes care of her successful hubby, and still be an amazing mom to her three babies!! :) You are my hero sister! :)Thursday night we had dinner with Scott, Jean, and their little 18 month old baby girl Reese. :) Jean and Braden saying goodbye. :)Friday we met up with our old roomate Angie (and 2 of her 3 kiddos) for some lunch at Waterloo!

Angie and her sweet baby girl Brooke...
Lilly is about to start kindergarten!! :)All smiles from Angie and Braden.....Sharla and her little man Hayden.......(and Baby #2 on the way in Sept!!) YAY!! :)And Sharla and Braden..... :)And another one of our roomies and friends for a LONG time, Monica, came into town to stay with us Friday night too. It was one big party at the Bugbee house! :) Monica and Braden are buds. ;) Steven and Hayden on Friday night. Doesn't he look just like his dad? :)
Come back and see us soon Hays Family!! Cannot wait to meet the 4th member of your family!! WHOOP! :)