Still Not Cool ... lol

Some of you may remember that last year, Brayden went to visit Santa for the very first time at Collin Creek Mall in Plano and, uh, he and Santa were not cool. He had a fit everytime I tried to sit him on the couch so I eventually ended up having to sit WITH him to get a picture. lol

Well, this year, Brayden spent the week of Christmas with Brandon and he took Brayden to visit the north pole. We figured hey, he's a little older so he should be getting used to the idea of Santa Clause, who he is, and being around him. Boy were we wrong. He is STILL not cool with Santa. lol. He did stand next to him by himself, but as you can see, Santa is having to LEAN in to get in the picture with Brayden. That's as close as he would get before running back over to his Dad. ha!

Brayden standing by himself was marked improvement though .... :)

Merry Christmas!!

American Baby Contest

Back in the summer, I entered a few of Brayden's pictures in a contest called American Baby. I didn't think any more of it since I hadn't heard anything, but last night, there was a priority package on my doorstep sent from American Baby Contest and in it was a plaque with his picture framed next to a first place ribbon, a semi-finalist certificate and a check for $50.00!! They judge pictures that were submitted quarterly and he won FIRST PLACE BOYS for the month of August which also means that he is a semi-finalist for the grand prize of $2500.00!!

I can't tell you how proud and EXCITED I was! It was about 1AM when I opened the box, then I immediately sent Brandon an email telling him about what Brayden won. It just so happened that he was up and called back. We were like, "THIS IS SO COOL!!". What an awesome experience for both baby and parents especially since the contest is judged by a group of parents and not votes received on the internet. A group of people thumbed through dozens and dozens of pictures and chose our little boy for first place!! Awesome ...

Here is the link for where you can find him on the internet:

http://www.americanbabycontest.com/latest_Winners_Boys_August_09.htm

Woo!! Woo!! Get it Brayden!! :)

Gettin' Cut

Some of you know that Brayden got his first hair cut just after his first birthday in '08. He gets hair cuts mostly with his Dad in Austin and others with me with his "Uncle Charles" (Charles Smith) here ... :)

I'll tell you now, he is not the easiest to cut. lol. He gives Charles a hard time, but we manage to make it through okay. Here are a few pics from our trip to the barber shop. :)

Me and My Daddy

Here are just a few pics of Daddy and son time. Brayden loves his Mommy, but he is truly a Daddy's baby .... and that's alright with me. I like the 1st pic of them getting ready to go "see Jesus" (as Brandon puts it to Brayden.) If I tell Brayden we're going to "see Jesus", he knows we're headed to the church house. :)

And Then He Was 2 ...

My Gym, My Party, My Birthday!!

November is here already which means it's time for b's birthday (November 9th)!

Brayden's 2 cousins, JJ and Jordyn, have birthdays very close to his so the Mommies decided to have their party together at My Gym in Plano. My Gym is a toddler gym that you can rent out. The party came with 2 party "specialists" (people who conducted the party) who were great with orchestrating the sing alongs and making sure everyone had a great time. The kids sat in a circle and sang group songs like "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round". They also had a ball pit and a zip line that My Gym calls the "Space Flight" that each child took turns to ride. Everything in the gym is "pint size" so kids could swing from the mini swings and slide down the slides without Moms worrying about their saftey.

They, ofcourse, had pizza, punch, and birthday cake, then at the end of the party (my personal favorite part of the entire event) was the BUBBLE STORM!! They sit a huge fan in front of a pan of suds that fill the entire place with LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of BUBBLES!!

All of the kids and adults had an AWESOME time! Happy Birthday my Brayden!! :)

Halloween II - Dr. Simmons

This is Brayden's 2nd Halloween and as you can see, he went as a doctor ... Dr. Simmons that is. :) This year Brandon bought his Halloween costume and when I tried it on him he would NOT take it off. It was a major ordeal to get him out of it, but I eventually did. Maybe this means he'll be a doctor ... lol ... who knows, but I thought this was the cutest lil' outfit. Good job Daddy!! :)

Brayden went trick-or-treating with his cousins in Austin which you'll see pictures of below and boy is he getting the hang of it. I say "trick-or-treat", then, you give me candy ... hey this is pretty cool.

You'll also see him in pictures with his cousin JJ, the Pirate. It's so fun watching him learn and become more cognizant of what the holidays are all about. It's all great fun! Enjoy the pictures ....

First Trip to the Dentist!

So, it was time for Brayden's first trip to the dentist. I'm tellin' you, this was the cutest dentist office for children I've ever seen. As you'll see in the pics, his chair was made like a race car complete with a steering wheel and wheels that roll. The walls have children's art and pictures. Cute, cute.

Brayden did really well with the hygenist and the dentist. He sat still and got his teeth cleaned like a pro. :)