22 Months And Holding Steady...

Mr. Braden turned 22 months on June 27th. What a big boy! :) He is about 31 lbs and as tall as they come! :) Love that growing boy... :)

Here are some of the things that are going on at 22 months around our house:

1) Braden LOVES to read paper books vs board books. He thinks it is so cool to be able to read "teacher" books (which is what they call them at school). That basically just means ones with paper pages. He is so cute with them and he gets very excited. :) He has so many books in his arsenal and we had not gotten to those yet...so it is an exciting time to get to pull a few new ones out each night.

2) Speaking of reading books...there are some books that Braden reads to us. It is so sweet! He will pull the book out and go page by page, and tell us what the story is all about. :) He gets really excited at some parts too. Cracks us up! He is in LOVE with the Mo Williems pigeon books. Oh my goodness...he quotes them all the time! :)

3) Braden is really into praying right now. If we pray before dinner he will say "more, more...more praying." Sweet boy!! We are really happy about that piece! :)

4) At the same time, he is also VERY into temper tantrums right now as well. That is the part we are not too fond of. :( Literally on the day he turned 22 months the craziness just started. He would get upset in the past, and we thought maybe the terrible twos started early in our house. Let's put it this way...we did not know what the terrible twos were until this month!! WOW!! Full on body thrashing and throwing himself on the ground.....followed by lots of wailing and lots of drama. And this might last for 10-15 min all b.c he cannot have something he wants, or b.c he is not ready to have dinner, take a bath, get ready for bed, etc. He has a very hard time recovering once he gets going. We have gone through a few different types of discipline to find the one that works. Pretty much anything can set him off, and we are really over it. Looking forward for this phase being over soon!!

5) Braden loves to do anything with Brant. He loves to help wake him up in the morning, bring him things, help feed him, throw his diaper away, help burp him, etc. He always tells us about his little brother "Branty". :)

6) We gave peanut butter a try this week and surprisingly enough he did not like it!! We were shocked and actually quite sad considering we were already thinking about all of the fun new foods that he could have now. But he has been pretty disinterested in it so far...and really not wanting to eat much at all. Hope that changes...but he might end up like I was as a kid. I hated PB&J sandwiches, and to this day I still do not eat anything like that! :) He is already evidently my child in so many ways! HA!

7) Braden has more of a mind of his own each day....which is always fun when you are going through the terrible twos. :) Good times!

8) He is into jumping....and he loves to show us that he is a jumper now. :)

9) And last but not least....he understands almost everything that we say now. Sometimes he pretends like he doesn't..but he does. :) He will answer our questions even when we think he is not even listening. Oh but he is crazy fun too b.c he does understand so much! :)

Such a precious little spirit. So in love with his kid! :)

Sip And See....

I went to a Sip, See, and Stock the Fridge shower for my sweet friend Allison the same weekend. It was so great to meet her new little bundle of joy, Barrett. :) it was a great concept for a shower...bring food for the family and get to meet the little man. :) Love it!

Her older son, Harrison, is about 6 months older than Braden, and then Barrett and Brant were due the same week (week of April 5th). Obviously, Brant came 7 weeks early, and Barrett was a little bit late....but they are almost the same size! HA!! :) Give or take a pound or two. :) We just had to get a few pics of them together for fun. :) Cannot wait to get all 4 of those boys together to play...what a great time they will have! :)



After the shower Brant and I met up with Chris and Braden for dinner at Molcas Mexican. I love trying new places...especially Mexican ones. :) Yay for another fun weekend and yay for more new babies! :)

Building Boats and The Cat In The Hat...

The weekend of June 25th, Chris's mom and her best friend (Chris's godmother) came into Austin to play. :) We had a lot of fun with them in town and they got lots of good time in with the boys. They were very helpful and of course the boys loved being spoiled! :) Imagine that. :)

Chris and I got to go on some dates too....which we absolutely LOVED! :) We got to go see two movies "Bad Teacher" and "Midnight In Paris" as well as go to a nice dinner at Max's Wine Dive. We love that place. :) Great food!! They have some super yummy shrimp and cheese grits....with a good glass of sangria of course. :)
We were also able to go and run errands on our OWN with no kids. Pure heaven and we got things done so much faster too! HA! :)
Jan and Joyce-thank you so much for keeping the boys! We REALLY appreciated it! :)

On Saturday we headed to the Lowe's Kids Workshop and Braden had a great time. He made a fun boat with a moveable flag...which is right in line with his flag obsession right now. :) He loves working on projects with his dad. :)
I am so proud of my boat! :) After we enjoyed our time at Lowe's, we headed over to Barnes and Noble for their Dr Suess storytime. There was a meet and greet with the Cat In The Hat, and to say Braden loved it would be putting it mildly! :) He was so excited to meet The Cat! :)I am going to follow him so I can talk to him! :) There you are Cat!! :) Talk to me! :) Big hugs for Braden....

Way Back To The Drive In....

Chris and I had a fun night as we went way back to the drive in movie theater. Oh yeah! :) There is a new one that just opened in Austin pretty recently, and neither Chris or I had ever been to one. It is an urban drive in (think parking lot vs out in a field)....but it was still neat to experience the movies like our parents used to. :)

This drive in shows older movies that were mainly hits in the 80's and 90's...and some from the early 2000's. We went and saw "Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle" which is just such a dumb movie that it makes me laugh. :) We had a fun experience and the weather was actually not bad for it being the heat of the summer. By the evening it was much nicer and we sat there with our windows and our sunroof open.

Everything was going great until my experience was tainted by a certain incident. :) I was just sitting there minding my own business and watching the movie when I reached down for my hair clip on the console. When I did, I felt something distinctly jump on me and I am not going to lie...I flipped out! :) Chris told me it was probably just a moth but I knew better. I had a sneaky feeling it was something more. So everytime I would settle into a comfortable place and get back into watching the movie, that dang thing would jump on me again. I was seriously squealing and going nutty in the dark wondering WHAT it was. There is not much in life that I hate more than bugs..ESPECIALLY bugs that are on me!!! AHHH!!!! Let's put it this way..unless there is a bug that is directly about to harm one of my children, I will not kill it. I call Chris! HA! :)

So this went on until the end of the movie...let's say about 30-40 min off and off. By the end I was spent over trying to get away from the crazy bug in the dark. As soon as it was over, I jumped out of the car. Chris leaned over to look for it, and all of a sudden he said "You might want to stay out there for a minute". At that point I knew it was not a moth! So he tried so hard to get that nasty bug out of our car but it ended up running up under where you feet go. (I have no idea what area of the car that is called). Chris told me it was a grasshopper and not to worry about it...and he hopped in the car and said he was ready to go. I could tell he was not 100% sure he wanted to drive and maybe have that thing crawl up on him either. As we were driving, I was hating it...just knowing that nasty thing was going to get on me again at any minute. The whole way home we were both batting imaginary bugs off of us and scratching our heads, etc. It is weird how that stuff messes with you.

We got home and it was about 11 pm or so. Chris ran up to Walmart to get some bug killer to make sure it died...and did not appear again later. I thought it was a little strange that he wanted to go up there that late at night to get bug killer but I wanted it out of my car. :) He worked his magic and came in for the night around midnight.

I began to forget about it until the next day when Chris informed me that it was NOT a grasshopper but indeed a flying roach!! AHHHHHHHH!!! Sick out!! He told me that he had to tell me it was a grasshopper in order to get me back in the car!! LOL! :) Needless to say it has not come around again, and I think it is safe to assume it is nice and dead (after all of the bug work that my husband did in order to keep me safe). :) The moral of the story is that if you go to a drive in you might want to keep your sunroof and windows closed...and just run your a/c. :) Unless you really like bugs that is. :)

Just a couple of pics BEFORE the "incident". :) The speakers that you can put into your car window.. Refreshments...Gettting ready for it to get dark and for the show to start....

I'm A Little Froggie...

They had face painting at school on Thursday and Braden LOVED it!! :) He got a little frog painted on his face, and he thought that was just the coolest thing! :) He was very proud of that frog. Good job by the artist on a moving toddler! I was impressed! :) You can see the frog's big bulging eyes and the red tongue that comes down Braden's nose. And the little frog feet that go down his cheeks. :)

The funniest part is that they said when they asked for volunteers that Braden was the first one up there. He was ready to go! HA! :)

Happy, Playful, and Silly...

Brant is a very happy baby! :) Praise God! :) His new place that he likes to sit is his Bumbo seat. :) Braden always feels the need to show him how it is done. :) Foreshadowing much? :) I think I am stuck! :)
He is also very playful... :) This is a good view from here! :) And a silly monkey..... :)
We are having a little lovefest with this guy...we love him to pieces! :)

God Made Me...

There is no doubt about Brant's onesie! God made him for an incredible purpose, and we cannot wait to see that all unfold. Thank you for the precious reminder of that Natalie! :) What a sweet gift. :)

"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you". Jeremiah 1:5
Love you itty bitty B! :)

Chris and Heidii...

Something is really starting to click with Braden, and he is learning what names mean. It is so interesting to watch the wheels turn in his head as he thinks through the fact that someone like my mom would have two names-"Linda" and "Mimi". If you ask him "what is Mommy's name?" he will say "Heidii". And if you ask him "what is Daddy's name?" he will say "Chris".

Gosh he never ceases to amaze me at what he picks up and remembers. It is seriously unreal!

Happy Father's Day!

Yay for Father's Day 2011!! :) I hope that Chris and my Dad had a super day this year! :) Both of these men are so incredibly special in my life, and I cannot thank them enough for all of the love that they have shown me over the years. I am so blessed to have both of them in my life, and I know that my boys are totally in love with their Dad. They could not ask for a better role model, and Chris is such an amazing dad to them. :)

In honor of Chris and my Dad, we made reservations for brunch at Steiner Ranch Steakhouse and we had a really nice time.
Love the view from Steiner Ranch Steakhouse..Fun pics of my boys with their awesome Dad... :) Some of the waitstaff came out to say hi.... Braden wanted to go and say hi to the guy that was singing... :) We loved having my dad with us...and the boys loved it too. Before we even got home he was already asking if Popple could but him to bed for his nap. :) Later that afternoon Braden had a blast in his new pool that Mimi brought him. :) It has water guns in it.....so something else fun to play with. :) I hope that Dad and Chris had a good Father's Day 2011...and we look forward to being able to celebrate them in 2012! :)