Caleb Turns TWO!

Sweet little Caleb turned TWO at the end of July and he had a fun Elmo water birthday party. I was sad that I could not be there but I was at my annual Girls Weekend. Chris and Braden went to play for the morning and they had a great time!! I hated to have missed the celebration but was glad that Chris took some pics so I could see the fun. :) Happy 2nd Birthday Caleb! :)

The birthday boy!! So much fun water stuff! :) Pizza time!! :) Time to celebrate the birthday boy!! :)

23 Months And About To Have A Birthday!

Braden turned 23 months on July 27th, and he is so close to TWO that it is crazy!! :) Oh how we love this little guy. I never knew what it meant to grow more in love with your child every day but I totally get it now. :) He is a ball of fun, has tons of energy, is smart, loveable, huggable, independent, strong willed, curious, sassy, and an excitable little toe head.....and I love him to pieces!! :)

Here are some of the fun things that are going on at 23 months:
1) Braden loves to read books to you..and I LOVE it!! He basically has a photographic memory so you can read a book with him a few times and he will remember it. The next time you read it, he will tell you all about it page by page. :) He remembers a lot of the words, and it is just downright funny! :)

2) Speaking of photographic memories, he does not forget ANYTHING!! Just tonight he and I were talking and he literally started talking about something that happened 2 months ago. I was floored and could not believe that he remembered anything about that! Goodness!! We need to be careful now! HA! :)

3) Braden is really trying to learn his letters. He wants to learn them so bad. If he sees something with letters on it-signs, T-shirts, books, papers, puzzles, etc....he will say "ABC's?" Then he will pick out some letters. The first one he always picks out is "B". :) So we were at Rudy's BBQ the other day and he kept pointing and saying "B", "E"...and sure enough I looked over and he was pointing to the "Beer" sign! LOL! :) And then he said "R"!!! and he was talking about the "R" in "Rudy's". Good stuff!

4) He knows most of his shapes so it is fun to play games with him and try to get him to pick out circles, shapes, triangles, squares, etc.

5) I know that I have mentioned this many times before but he talks constantly.... all the time, and especially in the car. :) He will start talking when you leave the house and stop when you arrive at your destination..even if you do not respond. HA!! It can be a combination of pointing out things that he sees, pointing out letters, singing a song, etc. Pretty funny. He is also really starting to understand things like the concepts of "today" and "tomorrow". So if you tell him "Mommy will read books to you tomorrow night", he will remember that the next night. And he has started to realize over the past month or so that Chris and I work, so he will say "Daddy go to work?" Just last night he wanted to start talking about his friends from school, and wondering if all of their parents go to work too. Interesting.

6) It is hilarious b.c he can repeat almost any words very audibly. We were in the grocery store the other night and we were walking through the produce section. I would say things like "we need some arugula/basil/avocados/cucumbers/etc" and he would say "I like the arugula!" or "I like the basil!" Hysterical! :)

7) He is starting to ask one of the questions that we figured was coming soon. Not "why" but "what's that"? He asks that A LOT!! :) 8) Braden is VERY independent and he tries to do everything himself. Often he will say "Help please" when he realizes he cannot do it...but he is bound and determined to try it first. ;) He kind of acts like he does not need parents anymore. HA! :)

9) He is very excited about his bday party coming up soon. He can tell you when his birthday is, where the party is, what the theme of the party is, and who is coming. :) I am pretty sure that is a sign that he is going to be quite opinionated about his birthday parties in the future. :)

10) The latest cute thing he is doing is that we put him in bed at night, tell him we love him, and then get ready to walk out. He has just started saying "Sweet dreams". :)

11) Braden is into trying some new foods again so I am liking that. :) Lately he has been trying things like eggplant, kale, asparagus, peanut butter, different kinds of cream cheese, etc. He finally likes PB. :)

12) He is WAY into The Wiggles. :) Enough said on that! :)

13) And last but not least...he loves to show Brant new things. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this!! Brant just watches him like a hawk. I am in love with seeing my boys together. Best thing ever! :)

So that is pretty much our life with a 23 month old in a nutshell. :) We feel so blessed to be having this experience with him right now! :) Bring on age 2!! :)

Brant's Special Baptism Day....

My precious little bundle of joy, Brant, was baptized on Sunday, July 24th...and it was such a sweet day. We had our family and friends there with us in Fort Worth, and he did amazing. :) The pastor that we asked to baptize Brant is someone that I have known since I was in my early college years (as he was a youth minister at the church at that time). He did a wonderful job on the service and I was so pleased with how it all turned out. What a blessing to baptize your babies in a special ceremony like that. We are so thankful for these boys that God has entrusted us with to raise and grow up to know Him.

Sweet Brant in his baptismal gown.:) This is one that has been in my family for ages. It is special for all of the family members to have been baptized in it, and now get to have my own children do the same.
Does he not look so sweet here? Melts my heart. :) Our family with my parents. :) Our family with my brother Cory, sister in law Jen....and their sweet kiddos (our godchildren), Lainey and Graeme. Our family with Chris's mom, stepfather, and dad... Our family with Chris's sister Katie, our brother in law Jay, and our goddaughter Riley. They are expecting a new baby boy in the beginning of November. Exciting! :)
Hanging out with Brant's godparents-Jay, Katie, and one of Chris's closest friends-Drew. :) One of my close friends, M0nica, is also his godmother, and she was there in spirit. She was unable to make it to the baptism as her father sadly passed away the week before. We love you Monica and we are praying for you and your family during this time!
Hanging out with Drew.... :)
Pastor Pete who did an incredible job with the ceremony. :)
Braden was very happy that his little bro got baptized!! :) We also took some pics of Brant in the baptismal gown on Chris's side of the family. It has been around for about 100 years and it is just so neat for the boys to be able to take pics in it as well. My sweet little man...love him! :) The Bugbee men.....
After the ceremony at the church, Cory and Jen graciously opened up their home for a lunch for Brant. Thank you guys so much! It was beautiful! :) Jen did such an incredible job with the decorations as always. Sweet....Jen even made the cupcakes, toppers, and cookies!! She is so incredibly talented! :) Just chillin out..... Drew and Chris and some BBQ. I love my Baptism day!! :) Lunchtime at the little kids table....Miss Lainey.... The Spencers giving me some smiles...... Jen and baby G..... Cooking in the kitchen in Lainey's room....
Sweet girl.... Gotta do a group hug......Graeme is such a good stander. :) Lots of smiling from the moms...... Dad and Mr. B....Opening presents, and Braden and Lainey are the big helpers. So many nice things!! Love this precious monogrammed onesie... On the back is a little acorn that goes along with our saying that we have had for Brant all along..."From tiny acorns, mighty oak trees grow". :)And an awesome handmade framed picture that illustrates it too! It was a wonderful day with a lot of memories for our sweet boy Brant. We love him so much! :)