Pre-Birthday Party Celebrations....

We decided to celebrate Braden's bday all week...even though his big party was on Saturday!! :) We love birthdays in our family...and we thought Braden needed to feel extra special on his first one. :)

We started out the week at a nice Italian restaurant called Ciola's down in Lakeway. It was very yummy. :) Since Braden loves pasta, we knew it would be a hit! Now we don't make it a habit of taking him to "white tablecloth" type restaurants on a regular basis....but this was a special occasion. :) Sure enough he grubbed up the sourdough bread, ravioli and the penne...and he was a happy boy!! Well, other than the big poop he took during dinner-LOL!! Just an FYI on that....nice restaurants typically do not have baby changing stations. :) My amazing husband so sweetly went out to the car to change him..in the 100 degree heat. Thank you Chris! :)

Mmmmmm...PASTA!! :)I am turning one this week! :) HOORAY!Outside of his nice birthday dinner earlier in the week...he also had his actual bday lunch at Quiznos...LOL! :) I love that one year olds don't care where they go to celebrate. :) We went to eat lunch after his well check that day...and that boy can put away a "sammie" and applesauce like nobody's business. Go B! :) So I think that the birthday lunch was a success too. :)

In our house you also get to eat on the celebration plate when something special is happening. Since a birthday is very special...it was Braden's turn to be served on it! :)

It's YOUR day!! A Bugbee Celebration!! :)
I think Braden had a fun birthday week trying some new places, getting some new toys that came in the mail during the week, and just gearing up for his big party, and all of the family in town over the weekend. :) The party was a total blast...and we will have to save that one for the next blog post! :)

A Whole New World....

One of the very best things about Braden turning one year old was that we got to turn him around in his carseat!! YAY!! :)

Let me explain why this was SO exciting!! :) Our child has never really been a carseat fan which does not make for a ton of fun in the car. :) He does ok on short rides (like 15-20 min) but anything more than that...we better have something planned out to entertain him. He just did not like facing backward AT ALL!! I think he got really bored, and got annoyed with his toys after awhile. We tried a ton of things to make him love the car rides...but he would usually just get pretty irritated.

For roadtrips we were huge planners...and we had to have everything ready to go before we took off. We knew how long we would drive and play with him, when he would watch a little movie, when we would stop to eat, how long he would sleep, etc. :) That made those trips much more manageable. :)

So needless to say, all three of us were THRILLED when we could turn Braden around. We literally could not wait to do it! :) The doc said we were good to go...and by the afternoon he was facing forward. :) Since we have turned him around, we have not heard one peep out of him from the backseat. :) And it has allowed me to resume my front row seat next to my hubby!! YAY! :)

As one of Braden's bday presents, we ended up buying him a 2nd Britax carseat for the car as well. :) We have only had one convertible carseat in the Armada. and we have moved it back and forth when needed. Having two carseats will make things much easier, and we will not have to rely on just one car to always get around in. :) Then either Chris or I can get Braden from school, etc. So much nicer...and we are loving it already! :)

Braden had a lot of fun playing in his new carseat box. :)

And trying out the new carseat too!! Pretty comfy. :) FINALLY!! I could not be more thrilled to be facing forward now!! I can see everything and I love riding in the car! :)

I AM ONE YEAR OLD!!!

Yes, it is true....our little man turned ONE year old today!! WOW!! Happy birthday Braden!!

How fast that year did fly by!! :) It came with so much hard work, learning, joy, excitement, milestone achievements, laughter, tears, hugs, and kisses!! What a whirlwind!!

Chris got me some beautiful flowers to remember Braden's birth one year ago today. :)

They say that you really start to feel old when you have kids, and you watch their years just fly by. Numerous people have told me that you just look up one day and they are graduating high school, and all of a sudden you are in your 50's!! HA! B.c of all of those words of wisdom, we are really trying to treasure every moment that we have with Braden the best that we can. He has brought a certain "sparkle" to the family that we never knew was missing. And while he has really kept us on our toes, he has also brought us to our knees many nights to pray that he would continue to grow and thrive, and grow up to be the little man that God has planned out for him. :)

We are blessed beyond words...and overwhelmed that we have been able to raise this precious bundle. And honestly, we are thankful that we made it through the first year!! HA! :) That was true joy in and of itself! :) We learned that everything has a season...and that those seasons pass so quickly (although the hard ones like waking up every 2 hours seem to take longer). HA! :)
I never thought that I would love being a mom so much...or that I would even be able to do it very well!! But to watch Braden grow up and become such a special little guy has made everything worth it! :) We thank the Lord for blessing us with such a healthy and happy baby boy...and one that has far exceeded our expectations for how parenthood would be. :) We sure do love him to pieces. :)

We went to his one year well check today. I know, we are mean parents making him go to his doc appt on his actual bday!! :) He did awesome at his appt and here are the stats:
Weight-26 lbs (90th percentile)
Height-32 inches (95th percentile)
Head-90th percentile

He also had to get 4 shots today...ick!! Picture Chris helping to hold him down, and me on the side of the room trying not to look. :( He cried the HARDEST for sure on these....and it BROKE my heart. :( But now he has his chicken pox and his MMR...so that is good.

He is to the point now where his 18 month clothes still fit great around him but they are already starting to get a little too short in the length!! Goodness gracious son! :) Is it time to start moving to 24 month clothes already? LOL! :) He is such a tall boy! :)

The doctor said he looked great...and that she was sooo happy with his development so far. She asked if he said anything other than "Mama" and "Dada". "OH YES"...we said. :) So he just started spouting off words for her..and she was cracking up! He still has his favorites like "ball", "book", "bye bye", "hi", "wow", and "Lainey". But now he also says "night night", and tries to say "Braden" and a few others. And then he puts them together like "Bye Bye Dada". :) It is seriously so cute! :) So she was stoked about that, and she walked around with him a bit. She just wanted to see how close he was to walking. She said everything looked good, and that she thought he would be up and at 'em on his feet soon. :)

She also said that he has 4 teeth just sitting there waiting to pop through on the top. I am not sure what he will even look like with those extra 4 teeth as we have been staring at only two of them since he turned 9 months! :)

Couple more things about Mr B at one year:
1) Braden is down to taking one nap per day (from about 11:30-1:30), or somewhere right around there.
2) He has been off the bottle for a few weeks (which our doc was so excited about)...and he loves his sippy cups.
3) He is drinking whole milk well so far too. We just made a cold turkey transition and he took to it! :) We started giving him sippy cups of milk and he started drinking it up...so we said "HALLELUJAH!!" :)
4) He is crawling up on things now...so we have to be extra careful. :)
5) He is so close to walking...so we hope he makes that transition within the next month. He will walk around the front yard with me just holding one of my fingers.
6) He still LOVES being outside. It ranks on the top of his list for sure!
7) He LOVES cars and balls. Those are his two favorite toys by far!! He will play with them for very long periods of time.
8) He still LOVES water!! We have not introduced juice yet..and don't think there is really any reason to since milk and water are so yummy to him.
9) He is still a great eater..and loves to try new things. I don't think there is much that he really does not eat at this point. We pretty much feed him whatever we are eating, so he is not eating anything that is "baby" related anymore. :) Some of his favs are black beans, fish, avocados, oatmeal with cinammon, strawberries, yogurt, blueberries, bananas, sandwiches with cheese and turkey, and any kind of pasta. :) We tried eggs but he is not a huge fan of them just yet...we will give it a little more time. :)
10) He also loves to shake his head "NO"! :) Not sure this will be too beneficial in the near future. HA!

So all in all things are going so well...and we are excited to see what Braden does before his 15 month check up in Nov. :)

Just a couple of pics of our little man growing up over the past year. :)

First day of life... :)

3rd day...going home from hospital...5 weeks old...13 weeks...........
27 weeks...... 7 months...... 9 months.....
10 months....ONE YEAR OLD!! What a big boy!! :) Happy Birthday Braden!! :)

I Think I Smell Fall..........

Just a quick post to say thank you Lord for the cooler weather!! I can smell fall around the corner now, and I am so incredibly excited!! :)

Something happened last week where the hundred degree temps went down into the 90's. The weird thing is that it seemed like they dropped into the 70's. I mean everything just got so nice out of nowhere....and it was like everyone in Austin got a little less irritable overnight! :) Pure goodness!!

It is amazing that you can think that the 90's feels wonderful....but honestly after 106, etc.....it is simply the best! :) You can sit outside in the mornings and evenings...and you don't roast. I think there has even been a slight breeze that just makes you smile. :)

So thank you, thank you for the wonderful weather...and the goodness that is about to follow very soon! :) We are sooooo ready! :)

First Day At A New School.......

Braden had a big day on Monday!! :) He started at his new school and he seems to be totally in love with it already. :) HOORAY!!

He had been attending another school close to our house, and he started there when he was about 4 months old. So he ended up spending about 8 months there between the 0-6 month room, and the 6-12 month room. His last day was Aug 20th, as we decided to go ahead and move him the week of his one year birthday. We thought that would be a really good transition time, and he could get integrated into a new place along with other kiddos his age that were turning one.

Things have gone GREAT this week...and I am very happy with the new place. He is learning a ton, and I think his social and developmental skills will be very enriched in this new environment. He is such an active little man, and he loves to learn....so a school environment is so great for him. I think he will be one of those kids that is like "Mom, WHEN do I get to start kindergarten? How much longer to I have to wait? " :) (And I will be tearing up on the side b.c he is getting too big too fast!!) :)

Every day at his new school they have a schedule that they follow that includes so many neat things from the infant/toddler gym, music and movement, sensory, indoor and outdoor walks, toddler playground, daily arts and crafts, dramatic play, etc. It is just so cool!! So he is on the go all day with a long nap, some snacks, and lunch in between the fun. :) The class ratios are very small, so Braden gets a lot of personal attention...which is very cool as well. He is always so happy when I pick him up, and that is so much fun to see as a mom. I also love that the director takes the school very seriously from the little tots all the way up to the private kindergarten that they offer. I think that is so important as it trickles down from the top. It is also so neat to watch parts of his personality develop, and to see him catch on to how important things like sharing are. :)

Hopefully we will just continue to see Braden blossom...and I am thrilled that we went ahead and made the switch. I think he is really going to thrive here!! :) They tell me that he is the biggest talker in the class, and that they just love to hear him talk all day long. LOL!! Now that could be a slight issue when he gets into kindergarten and he is supposed to be quiet a little more often. HA!! But for right now it is just too darn cute!! :) I love all of his babbling and new words.

We cannot wait to see what all you learn in your new environment little B! :) We will have to post some of your fun arts and crafts projects that you have already brought home! :) Lots of fun times are ahead for you! :)

DFW Weekend Fun....

We headed off to Dallas/Fort Worth this past weekend to get the cousins together, and to see some family and friends. It was fun to hang out with everyone and Braden loved time with other little people his size!! :) And he loves playing with his two girl cousins-Riley and Lainey!! :)

We got into town Friday night and got back to Austin Monday evening. Was nice to have that extra day in there. :) I wish I always had three day weekends!! :)

Saturday morning we got up bright and early to head over to Chris's dad's house for some swimming fun. Can you tell we LOVE swimming this summer? :) We had to be careful with Braden since he had just had his tube surgery on Thursday. We put some cotton in his ears and tried to keep him away from any splashing. :) He enjoyed just being out there in the water and watching the action...so he was a happy boy.

Saturday afternoon, Chris's mom, sister and I headed over to a bridal shower for one of Chris and Katie's cousins. She and her fiance' are getting married in October, so there was a lot of gift opening in preparation for that. :)

Sweet little Riley ready to play... :)

Mimi Cox hanging out at the pool watching the kiddos swim together...Jay was doing some serious relaxing! :)
Riley and Braden with their water toys......
I LOVE these rings!! How many can I hold at one time? :)Katie and Riley.....
Braden talking to Aunt Katie about important business. :) Miss Riley is already a good swimmer!
Braden just floated around and tried not to get wet from the neck up! LOL! :)Jay and Katie...the little lovebirds. :)Three generations of Bugbee men....I see you! :)Riley loved to jump from the waterfall. :)

Sunday we went and visited some friends that we had not seen in awhile. Good to hang out and meet some of their new additions to their family, see some new homes, and just catch up on old times! :)

Lauren and Cody just had their first baby...Kyler William Kimmel. Such a little sweetie and I totally hogged him the entire time we were there! LOL! :) They are the cutest little parents. :) Braden thought it would be fun to show them what all they needed to childproof in their home before Kyler started crawling. :) Then we headed over to Arturo and Jayme's house to hang out for a little bit..and let little Arturo and Braden spend some time together. They were working on a toolbox here. :) Actually, I think Braden was just eating the toys! LOL! :)
He did LOVE that indoor slide though! :) Good stuff! Arturo was also a great swimmer! :)We did not really mean to dress Chris and Braden alike but it just kind of turned out that way. :) Braden is looking at us like "What you talking about Willis?!!" :)

Then we headed over to David and Tracy's to see their fun new house. The highlight for Braden (other than crawling all around their spacious living room with huge windows) was this cast iron cat on the fireplace. Seriously hilarious!! He was petting it and stuff and we were all just cracking up!! Tracy said it is a hit with all the kids!! LOVE IT! :)

He is looking at us like "So can I pet the cat or what?" :) Making us laugh.......... Hanging out with David... :)

Sunday was a super eventful day...and Monday morning we let Braden and Riley have one more ounce of fun before we headed over to see my brother, sister in law, and our niece, Lainey.

Riley kissing B...so sweet.

Let's play kitchen!! :) I read the recipe and you chew on the spoons! :) Sweet cousins.......

Mimi C and her grandbabies.....

I have NO idea why I did not take pics later that day of Braden and Lainey together. I guess b.c they were both probably running around like banshees having fun...and we could not contain them! LOL! :) Trust me though, we had lots of fun at Cory and Jen's....and I love seeing those two together as well. The best part of that day was when Braden said "Lainey". Too incredibly precious, so we practiced on the car ride home and recorded it! :) We are working on "Riley" now. :)

Thanks for the fun family!! We will see you all soon! :)

Almost Walking....

Braden is almost there on the walking thing...if he would just let those hands go. :) He loves to walk holding onto things, and he does really well walking with a walker type toy. But I know he could do it if he got up the courage to release those little hands. :) We have been practicing with him so we will see. :)

He has a variety of fun faces as he walks around. :)
This one makes us laugh b.c we think he must be thinking "I am going pretty fast, and I know I am going to eat it!" :) And of course this one which says "I know that I AM a good walker! YAY!!"