Mr. Braxton

After going on my marathon post week last week, I realized that I forgot to fill everyone in on all of Braxton's milestones! The past few weeks, our son, has blossomed and has become quite the chatterbox. He just loves to talk and talk and talk! There is definitely not a quite moment in our house, excluding nap times! :-) Braxton's favorite word by all means is dadda! He says dadda all day long and even in the middle of the night when he wakes up for oh - 30 seconds or so - says a few random dadda's and then is out like a light. I think he's just so used to saying dadda, that he's talking in his sleep! We all know that if this is the case, then he definitely gets it from his momma.

Let's see, other words.

Braxton is really good at letting us know when he is finished eating. He'll say done - or something very similar. He is also really good at pointing to our clock in our living room and saying lock (clock). Another favorite of his is uh-uh (uh-oh). This phrase gets used multiple times during breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. When his cup falls to the ground, or food falls to the floor, or he drops something, he's the first to say uh-uh. He's also pretty good at making it a game too! :-)

Another of his favorites is dog. Pretty much every day when we go to the park we see a dog or several. Braxton is quick to say doh (dog) and attempts to escape from my arms to go see the dog. We also have several great neighbors who have dogs and Braxton just loves to pull their tails and hair. We are definitely still working on the gentle part.

And there is also mamma! Braxton typically doesn't say this word much unless he needs help or wants his momma! I think I hear this word the most on the weekend when I'm getting ready in the bathroom and he's with dadda. He is definitely a mamma's boy and doesn't want me out of his sight! He also enjoy saying nana and papa too!

Braxton also has the standard hi and bye down! He just loves to wave at people and anything "new" that catches his eye. In fact this morning at church I believed he waved to the empty chair behind us for about 5 minutes. :D Oh, and he LOVES to laugh and giggle! He's really into the fake laughs right now. I'll pretend to laugh and then he'll laugh and we'll continue this over and over again. Tonight we also had the wheee phrase going over and over. We were on our way home from a softball game and we went over a bump and I was like wheee and then Braxton did it. And so our wheee game continued merrily on until we arrived home.

If I were to guess what his next few words are going to be, I'd have to say up, down, bath, and swing! These are the three words that I say over and over throughout the course of our day together. A few examples. Let's get down. Do you want up? Step up. Step down. Would you like to swing? Time for a bath. :D I will definitely keep you posted!

MMMM....Cold Stone Creamery

Tonight for dessert we went to Cold Stone Creamery and it was oh, so yummy! Braxton shared with mommy and daddy and even had his own "sample" spoon to eat with. He quickly learned to dig in and helped mom and dad devour our Gotta Love It bowl of Peanut Butter Cup Perfection ice cream. What a perfect ending to our day! Oh, and did I mention this was a great way for him to practice his fine motor skills! Hmm...maybe we'll have to do this more often! :D

One word: RANCH

One word: Ranch! Our son loves it! We checked out a new burger place, Smash Burger, this weekend and found out that Braxton loves ranch dressing. We ordered him chicken tenders and it came with dish of ranch. We moved it to the top of his tray and before we knew it, he had discovered what that white stuff was, and starting "dipping" in! He'd dunk a french fry, then suck off all the ranch, take a small bite of his fry, then dunk it back in the ranch! It was quite the sight! Needless to say, it wasn't the healthiest meal, but he sure ate well! If anyone knows my husband and I, we love ranch, so it's only fitting that our son follow in our footsteps! Thanks Braxton for such an entertaining lunch!

Pool Time

It wouldn't be summer, if we didn't have a pool, right?!? We bought Braxton a $20 pool at Wal-Mart and it too has become a daily part of our summer routine (minus the rain - like today - ughhh - will is ever stop?) Let's just say, this kid of ours LoVeS WaTeR!!! Not a little, but a lot! If I let him, Braxton would spend hours and hours in it, however, even though it's summer, we still have to set some limits! Braxton loves to go down the slide in his pool, loves to throw his toys in and out, enjoys getting in and out of the pool multiple times throughout the afternoon, and even loves to make footprints with his wet feet! He has also recently discovered the water hose and is completely fascinated with it. He'll just sit there and wrap himself up in it over and over again. Oh, and to top it off, I found a really cute sailor hat at Baby Gap that just looks absolutely adorable on him. And get this, he actually wears it! Amazing for a one-year old! I'm definitely enjoying the outside time too and am turning a pretty tan color! (Now that in itself is a sight!!)

Rolling Hills Zoo

Car, check! Snacks, check! Drinks, check! Sunscreen, check! Stroller, check! Hats, check! Braxton, mom, and dad, check! It's time to hit the road for the zoo! A few weeks ago we had the pleasure of a family outing to the Rolling Hills Zoo in Salina, KS! It was a BEAU TI FUL day with lots of fun in the sun! We spent the better part of a morning checking out all of the sights and sounds, and all in all had a great outing. Braxton was such a joy, as he always is! He is such a little sponge at his age, and is always taking everything in. You can literally just see the little wheels turning inside his growing mind. We want to expose him to so many different things at this young age and just let him take in what he's ready and capable of handling! He did just this at the zoo, and definitely had some favorite moments! By the end of our trip he was so pooped out that as soon as he was in his carseat, he was out! Light's out! What a fun, family day!

One Little Climber

It's official, Braxton loves to climb! No longer can this little boy be left alone for even a second because if he is, he'll find something to climb!! And even when we are right there with him, when he wants to climb he's going to climb.

For example, this past week we were unloading the dishwasher together, or so I thought. I turned around to put the plates up, and when I turned back around, there was Braxton standing on the door of the dishwasher as proud as ever. Another example, the stove. I went to put Braxton's sippy cup in the refrigerator and next thing I knew, he's standing up on the stove. And yet another example, the coffee table. We're watching the nightly news and next thing we know Braxton is hiking his leg and crawling up on the table. Wow, let's just say this boy of ours is talented, strong, and quick! His love of climbing has also allowed him to experience things from a different view. He'll know climb up on chairs and try to turn and open doorknobs. He'll also climb up on the couch and try to get the clock on the wall - all the while saying lock (aka clock).

So needless to say, nothing in our house is safe right now! I'm just praying that he continues to explore all of these other items (with adult supervision) and not try to climb out of his crib. It's honestly probably one of my worst fears right now as a parent, that's he'll try to climb out and get hurt by falling out. Let's just say that the first time I see him even trying, he's crib is going to be converted to his toddler bed. I'm hoping that day comes later than sooner!

Loving Park Time

Braxton is officially a park goer and loves it! :D Now that I am home for the summer this is something that we can do EVERYDAY (minus when it's raining, boo-hoo) and he just loves it! It's amazing to watch how much he has grown just from the first time I took him to the park this summer. He has realized that he has a great LOVE for climbing and climbs any and everything!

He loves the play equipment and has gotten really good at it all EXCEPT the slide. He still doesn't quite understand that he has to sit down and tries to walk (aka run) down the slide. I have to have super mom powers and bounce back and forth from one side of the play equipment to the other - just to save him from an unflattering fall. Thankfully, this has provided my daily exercise this summer. Until my hip (big issues, just not sure what we're going to do) decides to work for me, this will be the only running I'll be doing anytime soon. Tear. Tear.

It's also been enjoyable to meet other moms and dads (YES - there are lots of dads who LOVE to take their children to the park) at the park and to have that adult conversation that I miss so much during the day. We're all pretty good about understanding the sudden need to jump out of a conversation to go rescue our child who is stealing someones ball, sand bucket and shovel - yes these are daily occurrences at any park you go to. And these only name a few! Braxton has also enjoyed this daily interaction with other kids! He's really into "big" kids right now and wants to do what they are doing. I can only laugh when he sees the 8-9 year olds playing tag, and thinks it's okay to join in!

It has also been a joy to to be a witness to others as I'm at the park as well. :D I think that God definitely puts you in places where He wants you to work for the Glory of His Kingdom.

My Sister Visits from Belgium

After a very LONG year and a half, I finally got to see my sister!!! My sister and her daughter were able to fly in for all of the festivities going on in May! It was so good to see her! And she got to meet our son Braxton for the very first time - and he also got to meet his cousin Chelsea. Let's just say it was like old times. We talked, gossiped, shopped, ate, vegged, you name it, we did it! It was as if she didn't live an ocean away in Belgium - and it was just a girls weekend get together. We treasured our time together as a family and were very sad to see her have to leave. We are just thankful for the several days that we got to spend with her. On another exciting note, we just found out that her and her husband are expecting their second child! Congratulations Lucas family! We are so happy for you and know that Chelsea is ecstatic to be a big sister. After seeing her with Braxton during their visit, I have no doubt that she'll be the best big sister ever! As you can tell from the pictures above they loved hide-n-seek and they both were out come naptime!! We can't wait to add another niece or nephew to the family! Hurry up January! Oh, and hopefully this means a much anticipated trip to Belgium to see our new little niece or nephew.

Momma's Graduation

So it's been awhile and I have lots to catch everyone up on! It's amazing May has come and gone, and I haven't posted one single thing on my blog. Lets just say, it's been rather busy around our house these days! On May 15th, Braxton got to watch him Momma (as he says) get hooded during her Master's hooding ceremony and also got to watch me walk across the stage to receive my diploma. All my hard work was finally done! It was such a huge sigh of relief to walk across the stage and know that my family, my parents, sister and niece were there watching me receive one of my biggest dreams and goals - a Master's degree! Thank you to all of you that provided your love and support to me during this time. I love you always and forever!

On another happier note, as soon as my walk across the stage was completed (oh and a few pictures too) we hightailed it out of there and were on our way to yet another graduation! My nieces!! There was no way we were going to miss her graduation celebration!! I'm sure my parents would have been mighty sad if they could have missed their first granddaughter's graduation - but no need to go there - because we all made it in plenty of time!! I had the plan of attack for our lightening speed trip to Wyneewood down and ready to go! I just had to convince everyone else of my plan! One stop - food, restrooms, you name it - get it done! And it pretty much happened just like that! I am good! Oh, and for the duration of our 6 1/2 hour trip we had a very cheery 5 year old - our niece Chelsea - that rode in the back with Braxton - and wouldn't let her mom ride with us. It was too cute! Chelsea and Braxton were happy campers throughout the trip and definitely kept each other entertained. Good, good times!

We made it to Oklahoma and had the honor of being at Amber's graduation! It was such a grand celebration with all of the people that loved and supported her there. Following her graduation we had a good ole' Odom party! There was lots of food, fun, people, and pictures! Oh, and did I mention cake - UNBELIEVABLE cake! It was oh, so yummy! I might also add, that my niece graduated at 7:30 pm - right at Braxton's bedtime. I was very antsy about how it would all work out - but he did amazing and partied right there with all of us until 11 pm! Let's just say that was the longest he'd been up in a very long time!!

Congratulations to not only myself for reaching a goal of mine, but to my niece Amber! May all of our dreams come true!!