Braden's Birthday Party

Braden's Birthday Party was a huge success. He was so grumpy all morning until the door bell started ringing. Once his friends arrived, he was as happy as could be. He just kept running (yes, running) around the house. His party was balloon themed.

My Grandpa Evans made Braden's birthday invitations.

Braden's birthday 'cupcakes' Birthday treatsFriends in his fort (Sam, Caleb & Chloe) Neighbor, Isaiah (9 mo), and Braden hanging outSinging Happy Birthday

His first sugar intake

The girls helping Braden open his presents. Can I just say, what a ladies man.Braden playing with his friends and presents.Braden made out on presents this year. Here is what he got:

a table fort I made him. I still need to sew on the curtains, but didn't have time.

A quilt his Aunt Mallory made him. He sleeps with it every night.

Blake's Aunt Elaine & Uncle Kerry sent Braden this cute card and a $1.

My Aunt Helen and cousin Marjorie always make sure Braden is stylish. We sure appreciate it. All his really cute clothes come from them. We love you both so much. He just hit a growth spurt and was in need wardrobe. Here are all of Braden's present. Blake and I got him the table fort and that big blue ball. His presents include: bubble blower, Nilla Wafers, football & water bottle, book, puzzle, potato head, music box toy, some of the best bibs in the world (well, in the mail) and hot wheels. He loves all his toys but has taken a strong interest in the hot wheels. What a boy!

Braden went down for his nap right after his friends left. It wasn't a long nap, but still long enough for me to clean up and eat lunch. I think he had a pretty special day. Thanks for all the calls and blog posts.

Braden Turns 1

A year ago today our life changed. We were blessed with the most beautiful baby boy ever. So much has happened this past year. He's walking, talking (well trying to), and eating everything in sight. We are so grateful to have Braden be a part of our lives.

Braden a year ago today Braden Today

I can promise there will be a full account of Braden's Birthday festivities. Wish a lot of you were closer so we you could help us celebrate.

Love of Hippos

(Thanks for all the discussion on sleepovers. I guess it was a hot topic.)

I thought I would redirect my blog to little Brado Potato who turns ONE tomorrow. He has recently taken to this hippo that his Aunt Nicole and Uncle Chad got him.

He will do almost everything in this hippo. You might not be able to tell, but he puts his feet in the middle of the hippo and sits on the hippos head. He is playing with a spoon.
His favorite part of the hippo is having his dad to pull him around the room really fast.

Sleepovers

My sister-in-law and brother-in-law are attending a parenting class and I get the privilege of hearing the good advice they learn. She made a post yesterday and referred to this article regarding sleepovers. I just wanted to know what everyone thought on this subject. Take the quiz on the side and leave some comments. If you are in the mood for a good debate, give me a call. (That's assuming we have different views.) I have some strong feelings on this subject. I won't share them on this post though.

Braden's Friend Pres. Monson

Tonight for Family Home Evening I taught a lesson on Prophets. To be more specific on President Monson. I got the photo from Braden's room and really showed him our latter day prophet. As you can tell, he wasn't interested at first.

He quickly took to our amazing prophet.
He couldn't put the picture down. He even had to get a taste.

He thought he would take President Monson on a tour of our house. Starting with his favorite place, the dishwasher.

It was fun to watch him walk, yes walk, around the house and then pause to take a look at the picture.

Who says kids can't learn anything at age one? I hope Braden knows how lucky we are to have a modern day prophet, even if it's just through a picture.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday. Happy Birthday! It is so fun that my mother and father have birthday's 1 week apart. She got a generator for her birthday and couldn't be more excited. (My mom and dad are improving their food storage and emergency kit. Let's just say we would do anything to make our way to OC if anything happened.)

My mom is my staple. If Blake and I ever get into a disagreement, my mom is the first person Blake makes me call. Why is that? Because she always agrees with Blake, this drives me crazy. And she is mostly right, ok, always right.She is the best Grandma. And it helps that she is an expert in the category of child development. I love being able to call her and tell her fun facts about Braden's personality or ask for her advice with Braden's problems.

Even though we are only 5 1/2 hours away, I still don't think we are close enough. She is always so helpful when we are around. I am grateful that Blake loves my family, it makes trips happen a lot more frequently. Thanks for being so great mom.

She inspires me. She has gone back to school to get her masters and just quit her last job to open up her OWN business. She is the proud owner of pre-schools. I wish we lived closer because Braden would already be on her waiting list. (With hopefully a price cut.) Mom, we love you.

Cute Pics of Braden

He was able to take time from his book to smile for the camera.

Reading under the table
Talking on the remote?

All tuckered out. He sleeps like this every night.

Happy Birthday Micah

Today is our nephew's birthday. Happy Birthday Micah boy. We sure love Micah. He is the spunk of our family. He makes us laugh all the time. In has about a lifetime of funny moments in his short 6 years of life. We thought it would be fun to take a look back at this stud.

Always having fun.

First time meeting Braden
Our first Christmas together. Even though he is tackling his dad and uncle, he can pose for a picture.
He reminds me of Braden in this photo. So cute.

Baby Micah.

Evolution of Walking

Dear Mom & Dad

I turn 1 in two weeks and I wanted to tell you something. I will have mastered walking by then, so mom I will help you out with training. Just run after me.

I thought I would ease you both into walking. That's why at the beginning of last week I would only take a step or two. You were so proud. (what amateurs!)

I didn't know if you would catch onto my little scheme. I mean, within a day of the first step I was able to take several steps in a row. (I didn't think you guys were smart enough to realize.)

I totally blew my cover on Valentine's Day. 10-15 steps in a row! I actually let you guys know that I preferred to walk versus crawl, even though crawling is much faster. I tried to impress you by carrying things as well.

I hope you both are really ready for this. I mean, once I have mastered this, I may be a little slow, but that's all I will want to do. You may have to slow things down at first, but then I will be everywhere and into everything. Don't be sad though, I still will have to learn how to climb. (Little do you know, I will be there shortly too.)

Love, Braden

Happy Birthday Dad

Well, it is actually a belated birthday, as it was yesterday. Yep, he is a Valentine's Day boy. We called him first thing to wish him a happy birthday and Braden just talked his ear off.

This is a fun series of wedding pics with my good old man. (Forgive the bad scan job, the page was too big for the scanner.)

I definitely grew up with the best dad. We always had so much fun hiking, being dorks, playing sports, and just having fun. It has been even more fun to watch my dad interact with Braden. He is the best Grandpa too. Here he is doing one of his favorite things, sleeping.Braden sure loves playing with his Grandpa. We always look forward to our Oregon City trips. Happy birthday Dad! Hope you got everything working on your computer, followed by a delicious homemade dinner. (side note: My mom is a great cook. She always makes a homemade dinner for your birthday. Thanks for the skills mom. I have tricked Blake into thinking I am the best cook in the world, I owe that to you.)

Note Valentine's Day post below.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was nice and relaxing. Braden even decided to surprise us with only an hour nap. Oh boy! Blake woke up at 7am with Baby B and let me get an extra hour of sleep. When I got up I made our traditional pink heart-shaped pancakes with a homemade buttermilk syrup, bacon and eggs.And of course each Grandma disregarded our request not to get him anymore 'stuff'' because our house is too small for all this stuff we're getting.

I got a lovely nap in the afternoon while Blake took Braden on a nice, but cold, walk around the yard. For dinner I had prepared everything to make homemade pizzas (including the dough and sauce). Here is all my preparation.And this is the first outcome. Not so good looking, but very good tasting! This is one of 4 pizzas.
As stated yesterday, we had the privilege of watching cute little Avery & Bethany. I made a small pizza that Avery could make herself. Braden enjoyed helping eat the pizzas.
After we put all 3 kids to bed, which was work in itself, we snuggled up and watched Eagle Eye. It was a fun action filled adventure. Overall, Valentine's Day was wonderful.

Valentine's Date

Blake and I have not been on a legitimate date since we had Braden. Yes, we have left him to go to the temple or the adult session of Stake Conference, but never just Blake and I on a romantic date. We decided to swap babysitting with the Sorensen's for Valentine's Day, so we headed out for our romantic date last night. My one recommendation was that Blake planned everything. And boy he did.

We went to Smoky Mountain Pizzeria Grille (they have several in Boise & 1 in Sandy). It was amazing. For $14.99/person we got an amazing appetizer, salads, entrees and a great dessert. It was nice to have a dinner without worrying about food getting everywhere or a baby screaming.

After dinner we headed to: (the only entertaining place around)for some:

Of course Blake beat me. But we had fun. 2 hours into our date and we were done bowling and had nothing to do. Should we go home? That's pathetic, our first night on the town and we are only out for 2 hours. I remembered someone telling me that the local Coffee Shop had board games you could play, so off to the Daily Grind we went. Game of choice... Battleship. Winner: ME! For at least one game.After 2 intense games we had nothing else to do so headed home. Braden was already sleeping, so we spent an hour visiting with the Sorensen's. We sure will miss them when they move in May. Overall, it was a perfect Valentine's Date. And to top it off, Blake wrote me a very romantic love note. I married the greatest man in the world. Braden and I are SO lucky!

The Others

He looks like one of The Others. You know, like when they were trying to kidnap Claire or warn Jack's crew to leave. For those of you who are lost, I am speaking of LOST. But not to worry, he isn't one of The Others, he is just eating some yummy White Bean & Chicken Chili.

Speaking of Lost. I am totally following the story line, thus Lost remains my number 1 favorite show.

Playing at the Mall

Just some fun pictures from Saturday's adventure to the mall. Braden loves driving the car. Although we only let him sit on our lap when we drive to our friends who live a couple houses down. We thought Braden would love this little car at the mall.

He did, but only when he was standing and being rebellious.

They also had a fun play area for the kids. Braden quite enjoyed the ball pit.

Now he is trying to get out of the balls. It was a fun day at the mall.