All grown up...

Okay, more to come on our wonderful trip to Lake Michigan, but I just wanted to post this picture...it was the first picture I downloaded from our camera and after looking at it, I realized that my baby is all grown up. He looks like such a little boy in this picture...

Lake Michigan here we come...

Well, we are outta here and headed to Lake Michigan with my two best friends, their husbands and kiddos. I can't wait, but am a little nervous about the sleeping arrangements...Braden hasn't slept in a pack n'play in the room with us since he was 5 months old. We are staying in our friend's lake house so that means Braden, Austin and I will be all snuggled up in the same room...yikes!! Wish us luck for the LOOOOOONG drive up there and for the sleep.

Cute pics

Bumps, Bruises and Toddlerhood

Well, we've entered it full force...yep, toddlerhood. Within a matter of days, we had a bruise on our forehead from running too fast on the concrete, a busted lip from tripping over the flower pots and falling into the railings of the deck, and a split eyebrow from falling into a table...oh yes and another bruise above our eye from trying to climb the stairs and missing one step. And yes in case you are wondering, Austin and I do watch Braden, but I'll tell you this guy is on the move. All of those times I just mentioned, Austin or I were standing right next to him, but bruises and bumps happen and thank you God that our babies are not as fragile as they appear on the outside. I've quickly realized though that we are in the full swing of toddlerhood...and here is how I know:

1. You find your child sitting in the floor, next to the electrical outlets, eating one of the outlet covers and trying to put the other one back in the outlet. Note: as we recently discovered, the outlet safety covers from Target don't do so much protecting as they do provide a fun game for your child. I hear Babies R' Us has a better, more toddler proofed version.

2. You find your child in the laundry room taking one piece of trash out of the trash can at a time...apparently this is good times.

3. You realize that your child has taken a sudden interest in the dog's food, the dog's water bowl and the dog's tail (which keep in mind Tyson is a boxer so he doesn't have a tail so much as a nub...we do lots of hand washing after this fun game occurs)

4. Your child has suddenly decided that throwing everything is a fun part of the day...this includes toys, books, sippy cups and most of all food. At least he has a good arm

5. Your child doesn't sit still because he is walking everywhere and just as I get there and sit down to play with him he's up and off to the next room.

6. Your child finds that standing on a pile of books is more fun than sitting next to them and reading them.

7. Your child rearranges the house by pushing chairs, laundry baskets, toys, brooms, dog beds, hampers all over the house. Apparently at this stage, they love to push and pull things...but why push push-toys when you could push bar stools?

8. You spend a good part of your day saying "no" "don't touch that" "let's find something else to play with"

9. Your child falls asleep in the highchair because he is so worn out from running around all morning. Here is the evidence:

But despite all the chaos, this stage has been so much fun. The little guy spends most of his day exploring his world with a big smile on his face, proud of himself that he can walk where he wants as he begins to become more and more independent. Ready or not, here we go...

Lying on Tyson's bed enjoying his bottle and laughing at Tyson -
Braden's first bruise -

Birthday Boy

I can hardly believe that Braden turned one on Sunday. Where has time gone this past year? We celebrated by having about 30 of our friends and family over to grill out, eat cake and par-tay. And then on Sunday, Braden's actual birthday, we spent with just the three of us for some quality Brady time. It was such a wonderful weekend and here are some of the highlights:

The collage of pictures of Braden (it was amazing when I was putting this together to see how much he has changed in just one short year) -

The cakes (they were from Whole Foods and apparently Whole Foods makes their icing out of vegetables instead of using artificial dyes - go figure, so the polka dots were not the color I was hoping for, but the cakes tasted amazing so I didn't mind so much)

The peeps (well some of them) -

Brady enjoying some hamburger, watermelon and pasta salad at his party

Singing Happy Birthday - Brady LOVED this part of the party, he smiled and smiled and then got shy and buried his head on my shoulder, it was so sweet - Digging into the cake - now my sweet baby has texture issues with some foods (more on that later), so as soon as he touched the icing, he made this face of disgust. He never would dig into his cake, I even tried to give him a taste of the icing and he wouldn't have anything to do w/ it. Clearly he didn't get my sweet tooth gene.

"All done" -

The clean-up begins -

Opening presents, we had to change outfits b/c Brady had too much fun in the sink -

Just the three of us - Happy Birthday baby boy! I have to say that in the days leading up to Braden's birthday, I found myself extremely emotional...crying as I rocked him to sleep at night, staring into his eyes as I gave him his bottles, cuddling him in my arms as he endlessly flipped through books on my lap and I found this time to be bittersweet. Sad that a year has passed so quickly and that my baby has gone from literally depending on me for everything to a walking, talking, signing little toddler and yet excited for all of his accomplishments, his budding independence and for what the years ahead will hold. In some ways, we wish we could go back to those tender, emotional days in the beginning when we didn't know what we were doing and didn't know how we were going to survive with a baby...I wish I could hold him more, slow down and take in more of life back then, but in some ways I am so thankful that gone are those exhausting days when I felt like I could barely function. It seems like overnight this gift from God has changed into a tiny person, full of personality and life...as I looked back over Braden's baby pictures, I could hardly believe how tiny he once was and how much he has changed. How can so much happen in just a short 365 days? Austin and I concluded Braden's birthday by reflecting back on favorite memories from this past year and I thank God for the blessing and gift that He has temporarily entrusted to us. I pray that as we move into the toddler years and the years beyond that, that God will equip us with all that we need to love, discipline, train and mold this child into a man after His own heart. Braden we are so proud of the sweet baby you are and of the little boy you are becoming. We love you baby.

Practice, practice, practice...

Braden's been practicing his walking quite a bit (okay he prefers to spend every waking minute practicing), but nonetheless, he's gotten quite good in the past few days and we are so proud of him. He's funny though b/c he insists on carrying something in his hand while he's walking. Usually it's a rock so he spends lots of time bending over to pick up a rock, carries it a few steps, throws it only to spot a new and better rock and the process repeats itself. He just yesterday mastered how to get up on his own w/o my help. After dinner, Austin and I always take Brady outside and we finish off our evening outdoors watching him walk. It's been a nice evening tradition and a great way to finish off the day. Here is my little man last night...now keep in mind he was super hot from all the walking and his hair is in desperate need of a haircut. Hope that explains the mad scientist hair :)Bending to get another rock -

The planning has begun...