Friday, April 30, 2010

Little Stories about Little Man (and other things)

Today the weather is dreary. But yesterday, it was picture perfect. This meant lots of time outside for little man. He probably would live outside if I let him.
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Definitely like his daddy on that one. I much prefer air conditioning. Or at least a nice pool to lay next to. What can I say? I'm a city girl at heart. B really likes his playset that was given to him by my mom and dad at Christmas.
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We tend to play on this on the days that are pretty.
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And eat weeds. Because weeds taste good right? Right.
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Perhaps I can teach him to pull weeds for me when he's older. Like my dad did when I was little. I wonder what the inflation rate is on the 5 cents per weed rate I got in the 80s? Hmmmm....
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While we were outside yesterday I noticed some grass hanging out of our grill. I thought it was strange since I hadn't noticed it 2 days before when I grilled our chicken. I went over to investigate and found the following:
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I guess this is why that blackbird kept getting curiously close to our window. Poor dear thought the grill was a bird house. That would've been a bad surprise for him when his eggs were roasted upon fire up. Yikes!
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We're still having nap problems at our house. At the beginning of this week I thought we might have turned a corner, since he was taking really good naps and finally sleeping past 5:45am. hahahahaha. Jokes on you mom! I am currently streaming Pandora into the earplugs, trying to drown out the screaming coming from the nursery. I figured after a 45 minute nap this morning B would be more than ready to take a nap this afternoon. Oh contrare my friends! After 45 minutes, he was ready to party in the USA. This is NOT ok. I need my me time. I need my nap! I don't do well without it. So I sit here, just as pissed off as him, trying to do other things since I can't lay in my bed to sleep because our walls are so paper thin it sounds as if he's dangling over me screaming. What do you do when this crap happens at your house (excuse my blunt words, but really, my nerves are so worn right now I am not sure I can type much else)? I am trying to see the positive in things, but I don't know if there's much positive about not napping and not sleeping well. Even my dog is getting bent out of shape about it (he's currently scratching at the back door to go outside-- clearly the screaming's even too much for his little doggie ears!).

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Foot in Mouth: Writers Workshop

If foot in mouth were a disease, I'd definitely be diagnosed. It seems I am always saying things I shouldn't say, or should atleast wait to say. And I supposed the reason is that I tend to be one of those people who talks with no holds barred. The way I see it, truth is always more refreshing than lies. Even if they're white ones. However, society tends to mock my viewpoint, and I am slowly learning to only speak my mind to those who have given me the green light on my truthful ramblings. When I saw the prompt for putting your foot in mouth, I immediate thought back to a few years ago when I was (for the 5,503,202 time) perusing the aisles at Walmart. I saw an old coworker's wife in the hotdog section, debating which 'dogs to get with her kids. She looked about 6 months pregnant, which for me was exciting. As I turned onto the cereal aisle, I saw my old coworker (the husband of the lady in the hotdog aisle). As I approached him and he recognized me I said "It's SO good to see you! I just saw your wife on the other aisle and saw that she's pregnant... Congratulations!" 
(enter loud chirping crickets)
My coworker, obviously taken aback, says "Um, That must not have been my wife." Me, clearly not thinking on all cylinders that day, says back "OH it was her! Yall's kids were with her picking out hotdogs." My coworker (at this point clearly agitated, and perhaps a bit offended), says "Well, she's NOT pregnant." 
(crickets STILL chirping)
Me: "Well, perhaps I just saw someone else standing NEAR your kids. It was good to see you! I gotta go before this milk I just picked up spoils!" 
I literally headed straight for the checkout line, because I didn't want to run into my old coworker and his family again, scared that my coworker might tell his wife and then I get the good ol' "You thought I was pregnant stare down..." from his wife. From that moment on, I don't ask if someone is pregnant. Even if they look like they might deliver right there on the Walmart floor. Better safe than sorry.

Mama's Losin' It

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Because It's Cozier with Blankie

For the past month we've put B on the big boy potty before bathtime. We sit and sing songs, usually accompanied by the loud clanking of the toilet seat hitting the back of the toilet (B likes to pull it towards him and then throw it back). I am definitely not trying to potty train this early, but I also want B to be used to sitting on the potty. He's actually pooped twice and peed a couple of times, so I figure we're doing good. One particular evening just recently, Drew was standing in the hallway next to Brayden's blanket. B kept pointing to it and I finally told Drew "I think he wants his blankie." So we gave it to him, and sure enough, he was content as ever, sitting on the pot, butt naked, with his blankie in hand. Because, as we all know, it's cozier with your blankie.


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Monday, April 26, 2010

Weekend in Review

Well, this weekend ended up not going according to plans, mainly due to the terrible weather that we endured most of the day on Saturday. I was SO bummed because I was really looking forward to Razorfest on Saturday, but I guess we'll have to wait for another year to really enjoy it!

Friday night Drew and I had a movie date night at home, and rented "The Blind Side." What a great movie! I loved it SO much. If you haven't seen it, you're definitely missing out. It was SO funny, had definite heartbreaking moments at times, and pleased both Drew and I in the plot and story line.

Saturday we were wanting to have a fun family day, and while we got to spend the day together as a family, it was spent mostly running from the rain. Drew was able to get the garden planted, and we're hoping for better results than last year (last year most of the plants were thwarted on growth and never really produced anything). Saturday afternoon we headed to Razorfest to meet up with some friends and enjoy Razorback festitivies. We got there and the weather was patchy at best. As soon as I took a picture for a friend, the sky literally opened up and we were stuck under an awning with a couple of dozen people. Thankfully it passed quickly, and we made the decision to go out to eat instead. So we packed up all the kiddos and headed down the road to a local pizza place. I should have taken a picture, because our group was a site to behold. There were 5-6 couples, but all of us have at least 1 child, so one side of the table was all adults and the other side was all high chairs. I am thankful the boys tipped well, because the floor was a mess after we left. We headed back down to the Razorback spring football game and were able to watch about a quarter of the game before heading home to escape yet more rain. Here are a couple of pictures from our Razorback day:


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JJ, Jack, Drew and Brayden. Jack and Brayden were pretty enamored with the Boss Hog, and so they were less than willing to look at the camera for the photo op.
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Just too much going on for a good family pic. Oh well!


Sunday was a normal day, except we had a less than normal toddler. For some reason when I went to pick him up from child care at church he was crying. They said he had just started crying when parents had started picking up their kids (and he was not the last one left). I picked him up and we headed out to the car. He would NOT QUIT CRYING. Literally he cried from the moment we left church until 4:30 that afternoon. Both Drew and I were about to go insane! Thankfully he quit crying, but we were both so worn out that we canceled our original Sunday plans of heading back to church for a special worship event, and instead stayed home, put B down and hang out with some good friends for food and fellowship. I really don't know what to do about these days with all out crying; thankfully yesterday Drew was here and so he was able to help with it, but even Drew was getting frazzled by the constant screaming. Today was a completely different story with great naps and not a fit to be thrown, so maybe we've rounded a corner. Or maybe it's just a good day and I should knock on wood. Probably the latter.

Be on the lookout for some awesome giveaways over the next week or two... I've got some good ones up my sleeve!

I heart faces: smiles

As I layed in bed last night pondering what picture to put in this week's theme, I was almost stumped. I mean, let's admit that most pictures we take are with smiling subjects. If you read my blog, you know I have a slew of pictures of a smiling baby boy, but that's almost a cliche entry and I wanted something that really embodied a smile-- where there was a reason behind that smile other than me saying "say cheese!" And then I remembered one of the moments in my life that I smiled the biggest I have ever smiled. In fact, I am sure that everyone there was smiling the biggest THEY had ever smiled. Including my husband. In October 2007, Drew returned home after an 18 month deployments. 6 months of training in Mississippi, 12 months in the Middle East. To say that we were happy is probably the understatement of the century. And so, I enter this picture of Drew, in his final formation of an 18 month deployment, staring at me (and I can only assume my smile was just as big behind my camera lens), glad that we were finally back together again.... {SMILE}.


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Be sure to check out all the other I Heart Faces Entries by clicking their logo.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Farm Friends

First off, I must say thank you for all of your encouraging words after my last post. And I suppose I must thank you for the prayers too, since yesterday and today have been a complete 180 from Monday and Tuesday.... PRAISE THE LORD! And thank you for being real... some of your comments made me chuckle, for I too have said/thought the same things! So, thank you, thank you, thank you!
Since we were all in better moods today, we decided to have a fun field trip. One of the local Agriculture centers in our area throws a yearly festival called Farm Friends. It's for young children and they open up the equine center with a bunch of different farm animals. I was wondering if I had made a mistake to bring Brayden; since he can't walk I loaded him up in the stroller, and he's been bucking that lately, so we kind of had a little scuttle in the parking lot. Thankfully he calmed down, and when we got inside he was all better. Ofcourse, being in the stroller means you can't pet the animals, and that's just no fun, so I (being the good mommy that I am!) took him out of the stroller and held him while pushing the stroller through the dirt floor. He had SO much fun, and squealed with delight when we stood next to the cows. He was very gentle with the animals, although when we were holding a chick I think I might have saved a chicks life just in the knick of time (he had a pretty good grasp on the little bugger). The entire event was free, and they even serve cornbread and beans (for you Northerners, that's about as Southern of a meal as you can get!). I can't wait till next year when he can really interact with the animals more. Here are some of the pictures from our animal outing today.


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A baby goat-- isn't he cute?!
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A little lamb, that was quite vocal. When it baaad (or however you say/type that!) Brayden looked wide-eyed in amazement. I wish I could have caught his reaction on camera!
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"Wow- that's one big cow mom!"
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This little bunny was SO cute, and we got to hold him. Unfortunately for B, the bunny had VERY sharp claws, and when it hopped in our lap, it scratched B's leg. From that moment on B would give the biggest pouty lip if the bunny came near us. He was holding a grudge for SURE!
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Cute little piggies! We got to pet these too, and I think they came in a close second to being Brayden's favorite. They kept nipping at the other kid's hands though, so I was nervous having him stick his hands in their cage. Poor guy would never go to Farm Friends again if he got clawed by a bunny AND bitten by a piggie.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Parenting Ramblings

This post may seem like a spider web, but since the entire point of my blog is to ramble about my life, I figure I should just be honest with all of you about the craziness that is my life the past two days. Brayden literally woke up crying and would not quit the entire day... MONDAY THRU TUESDAY. I would start out the day relaxed and convinced I would not let the screaming get to me. But by the fourth hour, all bets were off, and I found myself in a place I never wanted to be as a mom-- stressed, tired and no clue how to calm my crying child. And crying may not be the best description, because it was more of a whiny, I want you to hold me but then if you hold me I am still going to whine. Literally NOTHING I did calmed him. So he spent a lot of time in his crib while I tried to get myself together. I have to be honest and say that at 2 points in the day I even screamed back at him. It was not a pretty sight around these parts on Monday and Tuesday. And I really have walked around from the events a bit dazed and confused. Drew and I layed in bed last night wondering if something we are doing is wrong... surely there is something that we can do to hinder these types of days. Or not. As my child grows older it becomes more and more apparent that he, like myself, is a sinful being. He is selfish, defiant and definitely willful. It is my job to hone in on his character and create good out of the bad that is his nature. Unfortunately you can write a big "FAIL" on the past two days because instead of trying to mold my son I allowed his attitude to mold my own and taught him terrible reactions. I think if someone were to ask me to sum up parenting in a short phrase it would be: Trying to grapple through life without losing your hair, mind and sanity, all the while knowing that your every action and inaction will shape the next generation, and laying your head down at night only to question every single thing you did that day and wondering if you can do it again in 8 hours. Does that statement make you tremble? It does me. And sadly, I feel like I am losing this parenting battle. At least today I do. Thankfully I have a husband who said "well, count it a good day if you're both still alive at the end of the day." The comment was part sarcastic, but part truth, as I've told Drew many times before that if I had an evil heart I am sure there are times I might have killed someone (either myself, my son or a combination of both!). Parenting is SO hard. SO hard. And today I just wonder if I am even doing it right. I don't write those words to get comments about how good of a mommy I am or that it's OK... I don't need pats on the back. I guess I need more people to be real with me and tell me that it's normal for me to have days like this. I feel like so many people put on masks saying their lives are wonderful, their marriage is wonderful and their kids never throw tantrums and always eat their green veggies. PULEASE. Can't we all pull our big girl panties up and be honest with each other? And perhaps you are being honest with me in that you and the many facets of your life have no faults. By all means, I step aside on this stage for you to share your wisdom. I'll take any advice I can get at this moment, and continue to grapple through my days trying to find the balance between sanity and reality (if there is even a difference).

Monday, April 19, 2010

Money Monday!

My bloggy friend Laura is hosting a blog hop about money on Mondays, appropriately titled "Money Monday." This is a chance for us all to share in money success stories, tips and ideas on how to save money, etc. So without further ado, I will give you some of my biggest tips.
*Like Laura, I buy all of Brayden's clothes through consignment. I save a BOATLOAD of money, and get name brand clothes! There are occasions I will buy clothes brand new, but I always compare prices to the consignment prices. If it's the same, or only $1 more, I'll buy it new. That's the ONLY way though. For Drew and I's clothes I generally buy at the end of the season, and always buy when it's on sale.
* I have started purchasing all of B's gifts from consignment as well. He doesn't know the difference and I am able to get twice the amount of toys for the same price as I would spend on one if I bought at full retail.
* I stock up on what we call "Blue Moon Sales." For instance, during Thanksgiving walmart always marks down their canned goods WAY low. I went to the store and purchased cases of green beans and corn, something our family eats regularly, and probably saved more than 50% when you consider the sale price and coupons.
* I remember the prices of the things I purchase regularly. Thankfully, I am still able to do this all in my head, but I am sure as the kids start piling on I'll need to create a spreadsheet. This helps me remember where I get the best deals. This means I buy milk at Braum's, canned goods, sandwich meat, creamer and pastas at Aldi's, diapers and wipes at Sam's, and everything else at Walmart. This also helps me know if something is cheaper on sale somewhere. For instance, Target had diapers on clearance. Knowing my bottom line made the decision easy for me to realize that I would save 5 cents a diaper if I bought them on sale at Target.
* I coupon. I am not one of those coupon Nazi's, but I do cut them out to use them when I can. It's especially helpful for me on soaps, shampoos and makeup. Since we don't have many grocery competitors to Walmart, a lot of the grocery coupons still don't drop the price below the Great Value brand, so we buy a lot of off brand stuff.

I have a ton more, but I will save them for a rainy day. If you have some good savings tips, be sure to check out Laura's blog on how you can join in on the Money Monday fun!


Our God

Lately I've been obsessed with the new Chris Tomlin song "Our God." I just love the words. After singing it the other day I got to thinking. Remember when you were little and you tell someone "well, my dad is better than your dad!" And the other kid would argue back "Nuh uh, my dad's better..." And it would go back and forth until someone would wave the white flag and give up. What's funny is that in reality that argument is all subjective, based only on innocent opinions. In Chris Tomlin's song, the whole basis is that Our God is GREATER. Isn't it so refreshing that we can stand on the objective rock of knowing that our God TRULY is GREATER. Nothing can stand against us. It may seem like things are against us, but we will NEVER be defeated. Such a refreshing thought.



Sunday, April 18, 2010

Weekend in Review

This weekend has been FABULOUS. Thankfully little B's fever broke in the night on Thursday night and never returned. I am suspicious that it was teeth, as he has had 2 molars pop through over the past 3 days. In fact, on Saturday his mouth was all bloody, I guess from the tooth breaking through. Poor thing! And thankfully the teeth popping through also makes for longer mornings for me in bed, as he has quit waking up at 5am (PRAISE THE LORD!).
Friday we had the priviledge of getting out of the house for a few hours sans children with several of our closest friends. We decided to warp back to our glory days in the 80s and hit up the local skating rink. Being there reminded me of two things: I am old, and I am old. Ha! It was so weird that when a song came on all these girls would start screaming and dancing. I was doing good just to stay balanced on 4 wheels and dodge the teeny boppers zooming circles around me. I am proud to say that I only fell once, and it was graceful enough that I didn't break anything! What's funny is that Drew was kind of negative Nancy before we went, saying how he hadn't been on skates in 20 years and he wasn't sure about it. He did great! We had such a blast, even if we only lasted 1 hour :)

After skating we went to a new yogurt place in town called the Orange Mango. I was in HEAVEN. This place is very similar to I Heart Yogurt and Minchi's, where it's all self serve and then you pay by the ounce. SO yummy! Drew had never been before, and was piling on the toppings. When I told him to watch it, he then went to the Butterfinger dust and said "this one doesn't weigh as much." Silly boy! It was so refreshing to get out with our friends, and Drew and I left saying that we needed to make it a priority to go out more regularly with other adults. Here are some pics from our fun night out--


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Our feet getting groovy on the skate floor
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John & Alaina
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Me & Alaina. I actually took this while we were moving, which is an impressive feat.
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Rach & Justin
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Me & Drew. I don't know why, but every time we held hands I felt like I was teleported back to junior high. Definitely must have had to do with the setting :) Which is funny, since Drew was my first boyfriend (and we met and starting dating when we were in college).
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This was taken before skating... Drew actually smiled! Yay!
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Candice & Tim
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Does this picture even need comments?
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The whole gang!
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Silly boys!


Saturday we had swim class again. When we entered into the pool room, B immediately started pointing at the pool saying "Dis! Dis! (this, this)" and wanting to crawl into the pool. I swear the boy has absolutely no fear! His favorite part is the pool mat, where the teacher lays this big styrofoam mat in the pool for them to lay on. He literally cries when she picks it up. The teacher commented about how well Brayden swims... apparently most babies only do 1 of the 3 things they work on (kicking, reach and pull and bubble blowing/head submersion), but B does all three, simultaneously when he is trying to "swim" to the toy. It's pretty funny to watch, but also scary, because I really think he thinks he is swimming, so Lord help us this summer when we're at the pool!
Saturday afternoon we had the pleasure of hanging out with friends and enjoying hot, boiled crawfish! I was in seafood heaven and ate crawfish and shrimp till I literally thought I might explode! It was SO yummy, and we felt so blessed to be included in such a fun little shindig with our friends and neighbors Josh and Crystal.
Today was church as usual and then a lazy afternoon. Brayden had to skip his morning nap because we served at church, and I was scared he wouldn't take a nap this afternoon since he fell asleep during the second service at church. But we layed him down anyway at 2pm, and to my surprise (and delight as you can imagine!) he slept until 5:15! Drew and I both got good, long naps, and I was even able to run to Walmart for a few things before he woke up. Yay for long naps! Now I am crossing my fingers it doesn't affect his sleep tonight :)
It's a normal week this week, the first after several crazy ones so I am excited about getting back to a normal routine. Hope everyone has a great week!

Friday, April 16, 2010

Friday Follow

Friday Follow

If you're coming over from Friday Follow, welcome! My name is Lindsey (known as Linds around these parts) and I wear many hats (wife, mom, cook, cleaner), serve one God and live to blog about all of it! I've been married for 6 years, been a mommy for 1 year and been blogging about life since 2007. In my spare time (which is a laughable statement as a mom), I enjoy photography and blog design. I also do giveaways from time to time, and actually am giving away a piece of handmade vintage jewelry right now-- be sure to check it out by clicking HERE. Thanks for stopping by! Have a great Friday!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

1 Year Stats

Just for the record, Brayden had his 1 year well visit on Monday, and everything checked out great!
His stats were:
weight: 22lbs, 12.5oz (50th percentile)
length: 30.75 inches (75th percentile)
 He had to get 3 shots, but we walked away relatively unscathed, and thankful that we get a 6 month break before doing it again! 

Whirlwind

For those of you who regularly read my blog and are wondering where I have been, my sincere apologies to you. My mom stayed in town after B's party and was sick, so between running to the store for her, dealing with a 1 year old who has the energy of about 4 humans combined and getting ready for a trip we were planning on going on yesterday, I rarely had time to check my email, much less find time to write about my life, pet peeves or parenting woes. But never fear, for my trip was cut short by illness, and I am back at home with only my family to tend to so hopefully there will be plenty of stories in the next coming days. Ofcourse, the reason my trip was cut short is sad, and is definitely a story of the plight of being a mom. 
My mom needed to meet up in Little Rock to catch her ride back to Baton Rouge, and so in an effort to conserve time, money and energy (not to mention B was sick during my last planned trip down there) I decided to plan my trip to visit one of my best friends at the same time. It worked out perfectly, and I was even able to slip in some time visiting other friends after I dropped my mom off yesterday. Brayden did great all things considered and was acting normal last night and this morning. But when he only slept for 30 minutes this morning before fussing, I figured I'd check on him because that's really not like him. Sure enough, the child was burning up so I took his temperature. Poor thing had 102.2. I hurriedly packed our belongings in an effort to minimize the time he was around my friend's children, and off we came back to our home, 3 hours away. The trip was grueling, not necessarily for the drive itself, but my poor baby was MISERABLE and just fussed the entire time. Not screaming, but just fussy like an "I don't feel very good and I think you should know about it!" Ofcourse, I felt helpless because I had no one in the car with me, so I felt like joining in on the crying :( Unfortunately his fever spiked again this afternoon to 103.3. At this point we're suspecting a virus, and I am hoping it's nothing to do with ears, as that never makes for a fun weekend! I am SO bummed because we had so much fun stuff planned for this weekend, and now all of that is in jeapardy. Not to mention that my visit with my friend whom I haven't seen in months was cut short and I missed valuable hang out time with her and her two precious boys! Definite bummer of the year so far! So here's hoping that my baby gets better, our plans go unhaulted (I know that's not a word, but it sounded good so I kept it), and we enjoy a fun, relaxing weekend.

PS-- If you haven't already, be sure to check out my giveaway of a piece of vintage jewelry going on right now! The winner will be selected on Monday!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Weekend in Review: Birthday Edition

Well what a fun birthday weekend we have had! The days were full of festivities, playing and celebrating our little man's first year of life.
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Friday was B's actual birthday. I decided to make pancakes for the occasion, and made B's a number 1.
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He wasn't too sure of it at first, and really didn't care for it by the end of things. I swear to get this kid to eat anything other than fruit and veggies is a struggle. I realize this is the opposite of most parent's struggles with food, but it still is so frustrating!
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After breakfasts we decided to let him open his presents from me and Drew.
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And if you're wondering, there's a reason why all of his toys are not in boxes. I bought all of his birthday presents at the consignment sale earlier this spring for SUPER awesome deals. He doesn't know the difference between new and used, and I'm able to get him a lot more for the money we've set aside. Works out well on all accounts I think!
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Unfortunately the rest of the birthday morning was less than stellar. For some reason the kid kept screaming and would not stop. Thankfully he took a very good nap, and when he woke up he was all snuggly with Poppa D.
Mom and Dad bought Brayden a wagon for his birthday and set it out in the middle of the living room so that when he woke up from his nap he'd see it. After our bonfire last weekend we knew that it'd be a hit!
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Friday evening we celebrated B's birthday with my parents & Drew's dad. We ate chicken spaghetti (which B LOVED), salad and french bread. Then after dinner we decided to give B a cupcake. This was his first experience with anything sweet, so I figured he'd be ALL about it. He was very inquisitive, but when he got his hands in it, he hated it. He is very much a texture person when it comes to food, and apparently the feeling of texture on your hands and mouth are not appealing. Poor guy kept trying to wipe it off his lips, only smearing it further.
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"Hey, what's with all the commotion?"
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"I DO NOT like this creamy stuff all over my mouth!!!"
Saturday was the big PAR-TAY. After all of the planning, organizing and running around like a chicken with my head cut off, I'm proud to say that the big party went off without a hitch.
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Here are the much anticipated cupcake toppers. LOTS of work to just be thrown away, but they turned out SO cute!
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I got the idea for the wording "Oh what fun, Brayden is one!" From Jenna's blog when her Brayden turned 1 not too long ago.
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The smash cake! I had some problems with the icing getting too runny for the red color. Apparently you can't use food coloring for icing, otherwise it turns into what I got. It really wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be to make it, and thankfully my mom was here to help with a lot of the preparation.

We had so much fun celebrating with our closest friends and family.
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Mrs. Linda was my boss at the eye clinic I worked at before I had B. She takes care of him a lot when Drew and I need a sitter, and he LOVES her. We were so glad to have her here to celebrate his big day!

I think Brayden was a bit overwhelmed by all of the people and attention at the house, and about half way through the party, was pretty fussy. We quickly unwrapped gifts, let him attack his smash cake (which wasn't that much of an attack due to the fear of icing I mentioned earlier) and then put him down for a nap. Our friends were so sweet and got some of the neatest gifts for B-- he now has enough cars, trucks puzzles and books to fill a warehouse.
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Opening his gift from Grandad. I love this picture, because it shows off his chubby belly :)
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"Hmmm... what's in here?"
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A NEW truck! Yay!
Thanks to the advice from some friends, I've set aside some of the toys to pull out gradually instead of unloading everything all at once. This gives me some peace of mind on afternoons where he would otherwise throw fits if I can't play with him.
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"Hey, you tried this stuff with me last night!"
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He was a bit more into the cake on Saturday compared to Friday, but he still was not having it with the texture.

After B woke up from his nap, he had a fun surprise in having his cousins here to celebrate the afternoon with him! They brought over a fun birthday gift that he was able to open with them...
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(Notice Toby getting into the action. He was so nosy about what was going on!)
The gift was a Leap Frog alphabet choochoo train. Oh my goodness, the boy is in LOVE. He pushes it all over the house, and is constantly pressing the buttons. I normally am not a huge fan of big toys, but this thing TRULY entertains him like nothing I've seen. Thank you Uncle Paul, Aunt Kelly and girls for graciously giving Brayden an awesome gift!

This morning I told Drew that birthday parties are hard work. I seriously am SO exhausted from everything that transpired over the weekend. Not only is it physically exhausting, but I think that emotionally it is as well as it's such a HUGE milestone. I jokingly mentioned ot someone that all of the planning, hand gluing, cutting and sorting of napkins, cupcake toppers, cakes etc, takes hours and days, and then in the snapping of fingers is gone in flash! If anything it's given me resolve to never spend too much time and energy on all of the decorations and tiny details because B will not remember that so much as the friends who surrounded him and loved on him throughout the day.

We have a fun week planned since my mom is here for a couple more days...hope everyone has a great week!
 

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