Is it possible...

that on Monday my baby will be 2? How has time gone by so quickly? As we are only about 11 weeks out from welcoming a new little boy into the world, I find myself trying desperately to hold on to every moment with Braden. Sure there are days when I find myself restless and uninterested in driving cars around or in reading stories about "dig digs" (Braden's word for bulldozers) for the tenth time in a row, but I realize that my one-on-one time with Braden is growing short and in just a few weeks he will start mother's day out and in a few weeks after that we will have a new little one and my day-in and-day-out time alone with this precious child will be gone. So I'm trying to slow down and take in the memories of this summer as we sit and draw trucks on the sidewalks with sidewalk chalk, to remember the joy on Braden's face as we almost daily walk to the construction site at the end of our street and look at the bulldozers, or swing the baseball bat in the backyard or hide toys in the sandbox ...trying to cherish my sweet baby as he cuddles in my lap for our daily reading of Clifford, Curious George and Nursery Rhyme books or as he follows me around the house and we mop and sweep the floors together. I want to remember his sweet voice as he sings "Bob the Builder" a hundred times a day or "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" which has become his new favorite. I want the memories of wrestling on the bed and the sound of his laughter as we play chase thru the house to be burned in my mind forever because I realize that my baby is becoming a little boy more and more with every passing day. As we are starting to enter the "Brady do it" phase and Braden is becoming more and more interested in claiming his independence, I realize that this time where he wants to be around Austin and I all the time is also limited. One day the house will grow quiet again, the laundry caught up, the dishes finally done, the children's books will be all back on the shelves, the floors empty of half worked puzzles, blocks and other random toys...and I will miss the sound of my baby's voice as he says "momma" and comes searching thru the house for me or as he sings to himself while he pushes his trucks around. I'll miss the mess, the chaos, the noise...and all I will have are the memories of these precious years at home with my children. I pray that I won't forget to cherish these times and thank God for the gift and blessing of being a mother. Here are some pictures from the summer -

Watching one of his favorite shows, "Tigger and Pooh," -
Cracking up at Tigger -
Helping me make Chocolate Chip Cookies (it was this day that we discovered that Braden is a HUGE fan of chocolate). Let's just say it did not end pretty when I had to take the bowl of chocolate chips away from Braden...

Pool time in the backyard -
Before cooking out with a bunch of friends, Austin and I took Braden down to the 4th of July festival in downtown Franklin. Here is a picture of Braden and I before all the festivities...
Driving cars with Austin at Mellow Mushroom.
Playing at the petting zoo - Let's just say it was so hot this day that even the chickens were panting -
Braden's favorite place to ride is on daddy's shoulders. It's really sweet because he always leans over and kisses the top of Austin's head while he is up there.
A few weeks ago I got the itch to mop the kitchen floors while Braden was awake. Not sure what I was thinking...the kitchen was COVERED in water by the time I was done, but he had a great time so it was totally worth the mess.
Playing with Coach a few weeks ago -
Braden's best buddy -

I went in to check on Braden one afternoon during his nap and found him like this...everything he owned was piled up underneath him in the crib.
And this one is one afternoon when Braden was running a low fever and passed out on my bed. We both took a nap that day -
And last, we pulled out Braden's old car seat the other day to start our preparations for baby #2 and Braden apparently thought it was for him. It's so weird to see him in there now because he looks so big!!!