Friday we had a warm front come in town. It was WONDERFUL. This momma and her babies have been stuck inside (either in the house or in stores) since November, and we're just about to go crazy, so it was just what the doctor ordered! I took this picture of Brayden and Connor Friday morning; Brayden now asks for their picture to be taken anytime he holds Connor. Usually he says 'I wanna hold!" and then once they are on the couch will say "I wanna say cheese!" Silly boy!
Once Brayden woke up from his afternoon nap, I put both kids in the car, ran by Sonic and headed to the park. I decided to introduce Brayden to his very own Sonic drink. He thought he was big stuff, and sat on the bench sipping his powerade slushy like he had just received a million dollars. He didn't sit long though, and was so excited to be able to run around and not have blistering cold air blowing in his face (he does not like the cold weather, and normally cries if we're outside for even a milisecond in the cold). I was bummed I didn't pack my camera along for the trip, but managed to get this cute pic with my new Blackberry:
After the park we headed to Walmart to exchange a showerhead and grab a few things we were out of. Normally I don't bring both boys with me to shop, but we were in desparate need to get the shower head fixed, and I was completely out of bananas-- a near travesty to any household that has toddlers! haha! As we were walking into the store I realized that Ryan Mallett was supposed to be signing autographs at the exact time we were there. For those of you who are not Razorback fans, or have no interest in college football, Ryan Mallett has been the QB for the Razorbacks for the past 3 years, and is one of the nations best. He has broken or set almost all of the QB records at U of A. Basically, in the state of Arkansas, he's about as high as you can get without being Jesus. haha! But my suspicions were correct in that the line was astronomically long, way too long for a woman to stand in line with two babies under the age of two and not have breakdowns. So I stood in front of the policeman and snapped a picture of Mallett, and explained to Brayden that when we were calling the Hogs we were cheering him on, and that soon he would be a really good quarterback in the NFL (I know, I know, he's only 2, but he LOVES football, and I just talk to him like he understands it all, even if he doesn't). So we continued on to our shopping. When I was heading to the front of the store I realized the line to get things signed by Mallett was only about 10 deep and there was still 15 minutes left... a miracle in this state who idolizes anything Razorback, especially someone who has broken and set nearly every school record! So I grabbed an autograph football, stood in line for 5 minutes and was able to get a football signed by the one and only Ryan Mallett AND get a picture of Brayden with him! Again, kicking myself for not packing my camera, but what's a mom to do? Thankfully I now have a Blackberry that takes somewhat half decent pictures. Of course, leave it to my son to not care about the person but only want the ball. He didn't look at the camera, despite my two takes:
And after we got out of the line and I am holding the ball like it's a stick of gold (which it is-- most of the balls signed by him are going for about $150 right now on ebay!), my child decides to throw the world's largest temper tantrum known to man right in the middle of the main aisle at Walmart. I was mortified. You guys, literally he was leaning OUT of the buggy, kicking his legs, SCREAMING "I wanna ball!" over and over again. He was red faced, and I am sure my face was just as red as my blood pressure continued to escalate as I quickly headed to the checkout. The lady checking us out assured me that there are far worse children that come through the store, but at that moment nothing was going to convince me that my child was not the spawn of Satan at that moment... haha! We headed out the car, and went straight home!
Saturday B had swim lessons. It was my turn to swim with him, which I was kind of hesitant about since last week he did so much better with Drew. Apparently Brayden just needed to warm up to the idea of swimming again, because this week he was doing everything on his own accord-- floating on his back, reaching and pulling, kicking his legs so hard I could barely see through the splashing, and to my pride, excitement and horror, jumping off of the edge of the pool into the water and being completely submersed. He was SO excited about it, and kept laughing whenever he would jump in. At one point he jumped in without me watching, and I literally had to reach down and pull him up at least a foot out from the water.... he held his breath the whole time! While this makes me so happy that he loves it so much, it also FREAKS ME OUT thinking about this summer when I'll have Connor AND Brayden at the pool and he has no fear of the water WHATSOEVER. I'm just praying that he doesn't figure out how to get his floaties off. I so wish Drew or I could take pictures so yall could see how excited he gets about swimming now. He even walks around the house saying "swim swim" and pretending to swim through the air. He just loves it, and I am so grateful that we're able to have him in lessons year 'round. After swimming we headed to Sam's per our tradition. Drew and i were in separate cars, so we met Drew there. I forgot to get a buggy when we came in, so Brayden sat with us like a big boy at the table for the first time. He sat there pretty much the entire time and was so cute. It's amazing to me how much "bigger" he's gotten not just physically but developmentally too. It makes me so sad to think how fast he's growing up, and makes me want to constantly remember that while my days seem like they'll never end, he's only given to me for such a short time and to try to make the best of every opportunity I have with the little guy. Here are a few pics I snapped while we were sitting at the table... silly boy!
Saturday afternoon was absolutely GORGEOUS. We were outside in short sleeve t-shirts... in JANUARY. Unheard of! Brayden had loads of fun playing baseball, basketball, and some sort of field hockey/basketball combo. Evidence of his sport playing abilities:
(he realized he had tons of grass on him, and wasn't quite sure about it)
He also played on the slides. It's so crazy to me that this past summer he could barely climb up the playset, and now he's ALL over the place, launching himself down the slide.
After spending a good portion of the afternoon in our backyard, we met up with Drew after he got out of a conference he was attending to go "hiking". There is a paved trail near our house, so we brought the boys up to it and hit the trail. Brayden was literally running around like a crazy man, finding rocks, sticks and laughing with glee at the fact that he was free to run wherever he wanted. When he got a little tired, he got to ride on Daddy's shoulders. We found out that the trail is a trail to no where... it's not even a mile long and is totally random. Guess it's just a link that will one day connect to some of the trails around here.
On our way home we made a spur of the moment decision to eat at Steak and Shake (kids eat free on the weekends there). It was good, but honestly we don't really eat super greasy food, and so Drew and I both felt pretty gross later that evening and had a hard time finishing our P90x workout. I told Drew that next time I threw out the idea to eat at Steak and Shake to bonk me upside the head and go home. haha!
(he literally ate the entire tip of a crayon while we were waiting on our food to get to the table. UGHHH).
and look who was happy pants the entire time we were eating!
telling me about something...
Today (Sunday) B woke up with a horribly congested cough, so we've stayed in our PJ's and watched movies. I can tell he doesn't feel the greatest because he's laid on the couch with me for a majority of Cars (the movie), which is SO unlike my little active guy. I am planning on heading to the store a bit later, since we're supposed to get some nasty winter weather here later this week, and I don't want to be stuck here with no groceries. Hopefully B will start feeling better, otherwise it looks like we may have a long week ahead :( Hope yall have a great week!
