Standing and Climbing.

My little man is growing up!  He has been pulling himself up on everything lately.  He honestly doesn't go more than a couple of minutes without standing on something.  He actually climbed onto Leah's purple chair, and onto the ottoman... all by himself!  I couldn't believe it.  He pulls himself up onto the baby gates, and tries to pull himself up in his crib.  I have a sleep sack on him at naps and night time, so it makes it a little more difficult.

He is so sweet, although he BITES!  Ohh, it is awful.  He seems all sweet and innocent then comes over to cuddle, then CHOMP.  Ouch!  He bites shoulders, legs, arms, you name it, he'll bite it.  I am already ready for this phase to pass... haha.

He has been sleeping better at night.  He went down at 6:30 last night and woke up at 9 so I nursed him.  Then he woke up at 11, but I noticed he was still really sleepy, so he fussed for less than a minute and fell back to sleep.  He actually slept until 5:30!  I couldn't believe it.  I nursed him and he fell back to sleep until 7:30.  He is doing better!  Thank goodness!!!

I had a great surprise yesterday.  My midwife that delivered Brayden at home, Nicole, came for a visit.  It was so great catching up and showing Brayden off to her.  He was so sweet and snuggling her.  He is not afraid of anyone and isn't shy like Leah was when she was little.

His hair is getting so much longer and thicker.  I still can't believe I have a blond hair, blue eyed little boy.  He is so sweet!

Leah is doing great.  She went an entire 10 days without sucking her thumb during the day, so she gets her doll house tomorrow!  I cannot wait to see her play with it.  She has been so loving lately.  She will give lots of hugs and kisses.  She even brings Brayden toys when he starts getting fussy.  She really is a good little mommy.

The past two days Leah has been complaining about "buggers".  She kept rubbing her nose, and screaming about her buggers.  I would grab a tissue and wipe her nose multiple times a day.  I never really saw anything but I know how particular she can be so I continued trying to help.  I didn't know what was going on until she came up to me last night.  I saw something black sticking out of the very tip of her right nostril.  I thought it was a nasty black bugger, but when I pulled it out it was a black hair band.  She must have crammed that thing just right so I couldn't see it, but it sure was bothering her.  Silly girl... she hasn't complained about buggers since.  haha

Leah has a favorite game... We chase her, hide, and jump out and scare her.  Really, she loves it.  She screams then says, "again, again, again."  It is exhausting, but so much fun!  I tried getting a few pictures, but she was running so fast it is out of focus, but still cute. :)

Enjoy the pictures.

Summer Fun.

We've been really enjoying this summer.  This morning was a perfect day to go to the beach.  We asked Dad and Mom Carlson to come with us.  We had so much fun!  Leah wanted to be right next to me the entire time, and didn't let me go in the water either.  She would have a meltdown the second I got too far in the water or too far away from her.  So... we enjoyed collecting sea shells, digging holes, and sitting in the sand.  Everyone else had so much fun swimming.  It was great to watch!  Brayden enjoyed himself too.  He did really well considering his nap was pushed back.  He loves eating the sand and crawling everywhere.

The kids took a bath and went right down for a nap after lunch.  They slept for 3.5 hours!  It was so nice; Cavan and I actually fell asleep too.  We had watermelon for a snack and played outside in the pool.  I love summers!!!

10 months.

In honor of Brayden being 10 months old (gasp!) today, here are my top 10 favorite things about him:

I love...

1. how I can make him laugh at any given moment, even in the middle of a meltdown.
2. how he buries his head on us while he's crawling on the floor.
3. how he smiles at everyone he meets.
4. how he dances every time he hears music.
5. how he loves me singing... even though he is the only person in the world that would ever admit to it.
6. how he always needs to hold my finger while he nurses... it's so precious.
7. his eyes.... Oh his eyes...
8. how he chases Leah around the house... she will run away, and he will crawl as fast as he can after her.
9. how he loves hanging upside down, although I don't understand why!
10. his spirit... he is going to be an amazing man someday.. I am so proud of him.

There are many many more things I love about that boy.  He is a wonderful addition to our family and I wouldn't change a thing about him.

Gumballs.

Leah and I went on a gumball hunt today while Brayden was napping.  I wanted to get them all picked up from our yard because when we run around barefoot and step on one, they hurt!!!  Leah thought it was great!  We counted them as we put them in the bucket and ended up with quite a few.  She really had fun doing something with me without Brayden.  I think she felt really special.

We went to the beach this morning with Aubrey and Casandra.  The girls had a blast.  Leah went into the water a little bit.. she had a very tight grip on my hand my fingers actually turned purple.. but she had fun!  Aubrey was a maniac... she just runs into the waves without flinching.  Casandra was chasing her the entire time, and did such an amazing job at making sure Aubrey didn't hurt herself!!  Leah ended up taking a nap 2 hours early because she was so tired.

I went to the farmer's market and the fresh food market today.  It was so hot out it made it a little more difficult.  Wednesdays are always so tiring yet productive.

Ice Pop.

Leah loves her ice pops.  She mostly loves frozen herbal tea, Mercola's protein shakes, and a new favorite.. pureed watermelon.  She gets an ice pop a couple times a day and loves it.  Brayden hasn't been a huge fan.. I think it's just too cold for him... until he had the watermelon one.  He loved it!


After he was done eating his watermelon ice pop Leah went down for a nap.  He was just crawling around in the play room playing with the wide assortment of toys scattered across the floor.  Cavan and I were relaxing in the other room when I told Cavan he was being too quiet.  I was right... haha.  He decided to suck on one of Leah's blue crayons and got blue everywhere.  The carpet is blue, his face is blue, even Bailey has blue on her.  He's too funny.

We went for dinner over at Dad and Mom Carlson's house.  Brayden was super tired, so we decided to go for a golf cart ride to keep him occupied (and because Leah was begging).  Bryan and Aubrey went with us. It was so much fun and so relaxing.  The kids did wonderful.

Since Brayden has been sleeping terribly the last few days, I am really looking forward to him feeling better.  Between teething and lack of sleep he has been awful.  Tonight is the first night he went down and stayed down for more than 20 minutes!  We're going on an hour and a half already... I have a feeling he'll sleep well tonight.  Enjoy the pictures!!

click!

Brayden learned how to click his tounge.  He does it constantly now and laughs almost every time.  I just love it. It's super cute.

He was awake yesterday while Leah was napping, so we went outside and hung out with Daddy in his office.  Brayden had fun learning how to work with Dad.  He is such a sweetie. Check out his teeth!!!

Shake Shake

I have a couple cute stories to tell...

I taught our kittens to come every time I shake a can of treats.  I do this mainly because they hide inside of my dresser and I normally don't have 10 minutes to search and grab them so I can shut the door.  Today, Leah grabbed the can and started shaking it.  She said, "Come here Bailey, come here Penny."  hahahaha  She remembers everything!

I took both kids grocery shopping today.  I put Brayden in the kokopax and Leah insisted on walking by herself.  She helped me count 10 limes and 8 lemons all by herself.  After 10 she normally counts 16, 18, 19, 20!!!  haha, we are missing a few but she's doing amazing!

She took a few things off shelves and placed them in the cart because they were, "Leah's yummies".  She did listen to me when I asked her to put them back.  She really enjoyed being a big girl and helping Mommy out while grocery shopping.

She was jumping on her little trampoline last night in the play room and was yelling, "Whooopie!!!" every time she would jump and fall on her bottom.  She laughed and did it over and over again.  I asked her who says whoopie a lot, and she told me, "Papa says it!  Papa says Whooooopie!"  My dad (Papa) always says whoopie with the babies... Leah loved it!  Papa and Grandmo got Leah a bear when we went to the zoo... she sleeps with it every night and calls him "Papa Bear".  It's so cute.