Crafts, Crafts, and More Crafts...

I LOVE all of the fun arts and crafts that Braden does at school. Sometimes I wish that I could be there to do them too b.c they look like so much fun! HA! :) I want to revert back to Kindergarten and be a part of the fun. :)

Just recently he has made the coolest stuff with stencils, learning how to paint with toothbrushes, cotton balls, bubble wrap, and sponges. He has done some fun stuff with jello, sand, made sensory bags and paintings, as well as some great things with his hands and feet! :) It looks like he has also had a good time with chalk too! :) It is just so neat how they creative they are with toddlers on their daily arts and crafts projects. :)

The other day we laid everything out that he had made from Halloween through Christmas...and it was overwhelming how many great memories he had made at school during that short time. He gets excited when we look at the arts and crafts together too. He has a proud smile on his face like "I did that!!" :)

I had to take a pic of our show and tell that consisted of ghosts, goblins, pumpkins, turkeys, indians, Christmas trees, wreaths, snowmen, and so much more! :)

I'm 16 Months Today....HOORAY!!!

Braden turned 16 months old on 12/27!! Slow down little man...goodness! You are such a big boy now...it is amazing. :) You are completely transformed into this little person that just makes us smile every single day! :) Each day is such an adventure with you...and we cannot even phathom how it is possible that we fall more in love with you with each moment that passes! :)

Here are some of the fun things going on at 16 months in our house:
1) Braden went to the doc for a cough and he was still teetering right around 28 lbs. :) And still only about 2 inches shy of being 3 feet tall. Too fun! :) 24 month clothes are still a perfect fit but we can quickly see how he will be in 2T's very soon if he keeps skyrocketing up in height over the next few months. :) Let's get just a little more wear out of these 24 month clothes if we can..ok B? :)

2) He was getting most of his body parts right when we turned 15 months but now he knows where they all are-nose, mouth, eyes, ears, head, hands, tummy, finger, feet, etc. It is so stinkin cute when you ask him to show you everything.

3) He is getting pretty good at the various animal sounds...and he definitely can show us what all of the animals are. He knows so many more animals than I thought he would at this point and it is so fun to read animal books with him. He knows that that the cow says "Moo", the lamb says "Baa", the puppy says "Woof", etc. I love his little voice when he makes the sounds too. :)

4) Reading books with him is a BALL!!! Oh my goodness he gets so into it and it makes it so much fun. :) Plus he loves to snuggle when we read them so I love that! :) He wants to show you what all of the different things in the books are...so sometimes we just do that instead of reading. He loves for you to ask him where certain things are. One of his favorite books right now is "Brown Bear". He will walk around asking for it until he finds it, then bring it to you and try to get you to sit down and read it again. :) If you ask him "Braden, where is the teacher or where is the frog?", etc....he will turn right to that page and say "TEACHER!!" How I love this little boy!

5) He is loving learning different things like his ABC's, colors, and numbers. We count from one to ten and we say "One" then he says "Two", etc. :) He knows 2, 5, and 8 best. :) When we sing the ABC's, he sings his version of it which is somewhat understandable at parts...but never really quite along with yours. HA! :) He can say all of his colors to where you can understand him pretty well. He does not always get them right when seeing them in a book but he is getting there. :)

6) He is still way into balls and cars. He loves to play outside with Chris and throw and kick the balls around. That must be one of his favorite acitivities. :) He is also getting into climbing and exporing much more these days. Dancing is a fun pasttime as well as he loves music. :)

7) Like I mentioned in my last post, he is sleeping with his pillow in bed now and he is on cloud 9. I never knew a kid could LOVE a pillow as much as he does but he literally sleeps with his head up on it (just like we would) all night long. He is SOOO happy and possessive over that pillow! LOL! :)

8) He is eating off a plate at home and at school now...so no more just chopping up food and chunking it onto the highchair tray. He is pretty clean with his eating now too which is so nice for me! :) He started using a fork and spoon as well..and he is doing pretty well for being a newbie. :) Some things are easier for him to eat than others.

9) He has come up with even more fun words, and he amazes us each day with the various words he can say on his own, and the ones that he can repeat.

10) He knows that he is a big boy now and not a baby anymore. :) He has moved up into a new classroom at school and he is loving being with the older kids!! He is going to learn so much in this classroom...we cannot wait! :) We are sooo happy with Braden's preschool. :) He loved moving up in his Gymboree class, and we are moving him up in the nursery at church as well. Lots of moving! :)

11) He responds to our directions to do things which is helpful. "Take this to Daddy" or "Set this here." We are stoked about that! :) By the same token, I think he understands MUCH more than he leads onto! HA! :)

12) He is getting better about the tooth brushing piece and he knows that we brush them everyday before school and before bed. He loves to carry his toothbrush around with him, and crawl up on his stepstool. :)

13) Braden says "no" a lot which is pretty stinkin funny to us. We do know now that when he does not say "no" to a question that it means "yes"...so we are getting somewhere. :) He can also use the word "yes" but does not exercise that nearly as much as its opposite. :)

Things are awesome with Braden...and his super fun personality. We are in love. :) I cannot wait to see him with his new baby brother in just a few months. I sure do hope they end up being best of friends! :)

One of his new favorite places...all b.c of a pillow! :)
Mom...I will always be your baby boy even though I am growing up, ok? :)

Sweet sweet boy.....We love you BCB!!! :) Happy 16 Months Mr. Handsome!!

Christmas In The Big D....

Christmas 2010....all I can say is what a whirlwind!! :) We headed up to Dallas to celebrate again this year, and both of our families were up there for the occassion as well. We spent 3 nights in town so Braden got lots of good cousin time, and we packed in 4 Christmases and a birthday party into the first two days. It was pretty nuts for sure, and the Armada got quite the workout back and forth from Dallas to Fort Worth! HA! :)

Braden was much more into Christmas this year so that was lots of fun. I think he was also way over the gift opening after those two days though! He just wanted to play with some of his new stuff...and he did not understand why he had to keep opening more! HA!! We all know that gifts are definitely not the main reason we celebrate Christmas but it sure is fun to see your little boy trying to tear into presents to see what the surprise might be inside. :)

Braden and Brant got some wonderful gifts as always...everyone is so generous and thoughtful with their presents. Thank you all for all of the amazing things that you gave the boys. There is no doubt they will be loving up on all of this in the new year. :)

Christmas Eve we started out at Chris's dad's house with a GREAT brunch. :) We all grubbed it up and then it was time to head into the present opening stage. HA! :)
Time to open presents.......

Miss Riley is ready. :) Look at her cute hair and this is her little smile. :)
Mama and daughter shot on Christmas Eve...Playing with Riley and Aunt Katie...The kids wanted to stand at the back door and watch the cold weather outside. :) They also wanted to ring the bells that Chris's dad had...so we all sang "Jingle Bells" and drank eggnog. :)

Christmas pic with Papa Bugs. :) Braden was more into the toy he had found than the picture. Fun new outfit for Brant from Uncle Andy!I got the Wocket In My Pocket and I got an actual Wocket! :) Another one of my AWESOME presents was an outdoor slide and basketball hoop from Papa Bugs. Dad will have to put that together when it gets a little warmer outside. :)
Jay got a smoothie maker that he claims he is going to be using to make yummy margaritas. :)
Papa Bugs got a picture of ME! :) We got our baby monitor for Brant's room...yay!! Thank you Papa Bugs! :) Riley got a huge dream house which we are certain she is in love with. :)One of our gifts to Papa Bugs was a new Longhorn sweatshirt (since that is his alma mater)...with a note that said "Here is something to keep you warm at your bowl game this year. Oh wait, you are not going to a bowl game this year...sorry!!" Hee hee! :) Hope he can still enjoy the sweatshirt. :)

Christmas morning we woke up at Chris's mom's house and it was time for another fun filled time of celebration! :) We had a big breakfast and then it was time to attack the presents again. ;) Chris and Braden in their Christmas jammies. :) Miss Riley in her Christmas jammies too....getting into her stocking gifts. :)

Riley got some fun clothes. :) Cousin hugs on Christmas morning....This might have been one of the most successful presents of the morning as Braden was in LOVE!! Who knew that a super cute pillow could make our little man SOOOOO happy? He literally loved this pillow and has slept with it pretty much every night since! Thank you Aunt Katie! :) LOVES IT!!
Chris and I got the rest of Brant's nursery decor and we are super stoked! :) Braden as a present. :) More nursery accessories for Mr. Brant! :) Oh this is worth getting off the pillow for!! I got a kiddie Black and Decker tool set so I can be JUST like Daddy!! HOORAY!! I love it! :) What a fun blanket for Brant! :) Uncle Andy gave me the coolest car!! WOW! I am giving it a big hug!!! Can we open it now? :) Chris's mom found a ton of Chris's old stuff like Halloween costumes, etc and gave them back to Chris to bring home. Braden enjoyed trying them on and it provided some good laughter. :) Simply hysterical but Braden did not quite think so!! Chris lived in Germany for awhile as a kid (his dad was a dentist in the military)...and these are the lederhosen (German britches) that he wore. Oh my gosh we were dying laughing!! He was about the same age as Braden when he took pics in these! :)

Big Christmas smooch! :) For lunch and the early afternoon we headed over to Chris's aunts to have our extended Christmas celebration with all of that family.

Meet The Argyles....I mean The Bugbees! :)

Cousin Michael was showing me their super cute dog. I am into puppies right now! :)

I got some more fun presents like a bowling set, some blocks, some clothes, etc. Everyone is sooo sweet to me!! :) In this pic I am trying to figure out why Daddy won't just give me the present so I can see inside. :) I also watched my Mom and Dad be part of a crazy gift exchange where they stole presents from one another!! Christmas night we drove to Fort Worth to have dinner with my family and have our Christmas with them. :) My family gave us Brant's nursery bedding and we are SOOOOO excited!! YAY!! :) We also got this AWESOME wok that pretty much will cook anything in life!! HA!! My dad had them made which is super cool. We cannot wait to use it! :)
Lainey and Braden opening each other's presents. :)
Sweet baby Graeme sleeping all cozily on his mama during the gift opening. I got a tricycle!! WHOOP!!! I think I might be a good trike rider!! :) Thank you Mimi and Pappy! How adorable is this pic of Lainey that Cory and Jen gave my mom? Absolutely LOVE it!Braden got another super cool toolbox...and he was trying on his work goggles. :)An easel for Lainey!! :)
Braden got lots of fun bath toys this year. Tub traffic jam was just one of the cute ones! :)

Jen is going to be the best baker ever with all of her new baking books! :) Talking trucks are the bomb.com. :) Baby Graeme got LOTS of clothes. :)

Aunt Jennifer painted me the coolest box for carrying all of my cars!! WOW! :)

What could possibly be in here? :)
Wooo hoooo!! A highchair for my babies! :) Mom made it for me!!

It was a great Christmas up in the Big D again this year. While traveling is so exhausting, it is also so fun to be able to celebrate with all of our families. We are so grateful that we get that time with everyone each year! :) Thank you to everyone for the memories!! Much love!! :)