Go Eagles!

Just a typical day trying to get a nice picture of the kids...

"Brayden look at Mommy please..."

"Brooklyn...."

"Nice Brayden..."

Somehow I ended up under this chair...

GO EAGLES!

Great friends. Great Visit.

Friends of ours and their two girls were in town visiting last week. They are stationed out in California, so we do not get to visit very often. Jill and I have been friends since 3rd grade and are now both married with two little ones. Our visits are always way too quick, but we tried to spend as much time together as we could while they were back east. I always miss them dearly when they head home, so now to focus on our next visit!

Addison (9 months), Brayden (3 years), and Brooklyn (8 months)

Brayden and the Girls - McKenna (2.5 years), Addison, and Brooklyn

Just two moms and their babies.

Just two kids

Just a few pictures of our end of summer activities as fall time approaches. Although I am not looking forward to the allergies that I typically face, I am ready for yoga pants and hoodies. ;)

Big bows.

Playing together after church.

Getting ready to ride his "big boy" bike for the first time.

Just some orange slices.

Brayden's 1st Phillies Game

Brayden had a blast at his first Phillies Game with Daddy and Pa. The weather was perfect and Mr. Brayden even sat through 8 innings (with small breaks for food and to go potty) and surprised us all!! The last inning Daddy let him watch some Netflix! 

Later that evening, Brayden and Daddy had some baseball practice too!

Brayden's 1st Camping Trip

A few weeks ago, Brayden went on his first camping trip with Daddy. They were also joined by our friend Jon and his son, Jonah, who is almost four years old. Brayden and Jonah had a great time camping with their dad's and both have been asking when they can go camping again! One of our biggest worries was if Brayden and Jonah would actually sleep outside and in tents. They both went to bed a little late (10pm), but they did sleep great through the night! The dad's on the other hand, now that is a different story. haha. It was humorous to hear some of the camping stories from the dad's, which mainly involved cooking mishaps at dinnertime and the boys eating pizza lunchables. Either way, they all ended up being fed one way or another and lots of memories were made! 

Hiking

Trying out his sleeping bag and sleeping cot

Made it through the night. Good morning.

Camping breakfast of champions - blueberries and pancakes!

Brooklyn - 8 Months Old

The months just seem to keep flying by. Brooklyn is 8 months old, well almost 9 months old now because I am a little late on this blog, but anyway...

Brooklyn, these days you are still loving your Johnny Jump Up. We put you in the Johnny Jump Up and you just smile and start jumping and swinging away. This might be, by far one of your favorite things to do. You also love sitting, laying, rolling, scooting, and playing with toys. However, you are becoming more and more mobile each day and finding things to get you into trouble. You are also so close to crawling. You have been pushing up on all four's for a month or so now and will rock and even move your arms, but then you slide your legs out and fall to your belly. Soon enough baby girl, soon enough. Brayden has starting becoming much more interactive with you this past month! He will bring you toys, try to show you how things work, and give you hugs and your paci when you are upset. He even asks to get in the pack n play now to play with you.

Brooklyn, you are so reactive to Mommy and Daddy's facial expressions, and your smiles and laughs always warm our heart. They never get old. You also love when we sing to you and play peek-a-boo with your little blankie.

You still love to sleep, but when you are ready for bed (or nap), you are ready for bed. There are no cuddles (well sometimes) or singing, you just want to be laid in your crib, end of story, lights out. This is a great thing, but also sad at times, because Mommy loves the cuddles. Bedtime is typically around 7pm, which is a push some days, and wake up time is usually around 6:30 or 6:45am. You take two naps, typically around 9am and 1 or 1:30pm. 

You are eating three meals a day and nursing four times a day; however, at some meals you choose to only eat a few bites of food. This is so different from your brother (who ate everything in sight) and something Mommy is still getting used to! Brooklyn, you love yogurt, sweet potatoe, squash, bananas, pears, peaches, carrots, green beans, and oatmeal. You will also tolerate, but do not love broccoli, peas, and apples. We have been starting to offer you some puffs, but you are not too interested in them yet. It is a little nerve racking for Mommy, because you have a gag reflex. Anytime you try something new, or don't like something, you gag on it. I know you do this, but it still scares me every time!!!

What else is new, you are a talkative little girl and love to make noises. However, you really only say dada, yaya, and nana right now. You are always looking around for your brother and love to watch him play. You also love Bailey dog and have been trying to pet him and climb on him lately. Speaking of climbing, you try to grab anything in sight to pull yourself up. You can get to your knees, but not all the way up to a standing position yet, which is fine by me. 

Happy 8 Months Sweet Pea!

The face I love!

Brooklyn's "what's this" face.

Brayden's First Day of Preschool

Today, September 3rd, was Brayden's first day of preschool at The Learning Express. The preschool that Brayden will be attending is two minutes from our house and in our development. It is a small preschool with a private elementary school right across the parking lot. All of our interaction with the staff, administration, and teachers has been wonderful so far and we are looking forward to watching Brayden learn and grow this year! He is so excited for preschool, which is making the transition that much easier!!! Brayden will be going to preschool on Tuesday's and Thursday's from 8:15-12:15 pm. Brooklyn napped a large majority of the time that Brayden was at preschool this morning, so I was able to get a lot of blogging done. However, I missed my little man and couldn't wait to pick him up and hear about his morning at school!

Here's a few pictures we took this morning before heading off to preschool...

In his classroom waiting to start the day...

When I picked Brayden up this afternoon, his teachers (Miss Ryann and Miss Helen) said that he did so great all day and was a joy to have around! We are so glad that you had a wonderful first day of preschool, Brayden! He is already looking forward to going back on Thursday!!! :)

Blaire Visits and Random Pics

At the end of August we had a quick, but wonderful visit from my cousin Blaire who lives in Nevada. She was on the east coast for work and was able to stop by to meet Brooklyn, play with Brayden, and have lunch with us. It was so wonderful to see her!

Brayden and Brooklyn with cousin Blaire

The weekend after Brayden's 3rd birthday, the circus was in town, so we decided to take him. It was a hot day, but Brayden had a great time. He especially loved the tigers, the dogs, the elephants, and the motor cross bike tricks (just like Daddy)!

On August 28th, Brayden had an open house day at preschool. He was able to go in and visit with his teachers, see his classroom, and play for a few hours before Mommy came back to get him. This is the handsome man before we left to head up to his preschool. So grown up!

Killen's Pond

The week after Brayden's 3rd birthday, we headed down to Killen's Pond near Dan's parent's house for another fun-filled day for Brayden's 3rd birthday! Special boy! We spent the morning playing at the pool area and water slides and then had a picnic lunch. MomMom and Uncle Chris met us at Killen's Pond too. Afterwards, we headed back to MomMom and PopPop's house for the afternoon to open Brayden's birthday gifts and for dinner and dessert.

Loving the water slides.

Philadelphia Zoo

We celebrated on Brayden's 3rd birthday by spending the day at the Philadelphia Zoo! Nana and Pa joined us too! Brayden loved the polar bears and silly giraffes the best I think!

Getting ready to head into the Zoo.

Brooklyn had the best view and ride for the day!

Gorgeous tigers.

Mr. Gorilla

Haha, Brayden loved the gorilla statue

Catnap.

Playing in the water fountain.

Silly giraffes.

Ice cream break.

Another one of Brayden's favorites. The train ride and kids play area!