Brayden's 1st Haircut

Although Brayden still isn't growing hair on the sides of his head, the top was getting super long. So last night, I cut his hair. He was so great through it...he sat reasonably still for an 8 month old. He looks so cute now with it all trimmed up!

BEFORE

AFTER

Two Teeth!

Brayden has TWO teeth now! Just a short week after the first bottom one came in, the other bottom tooth followed suit!

I took this picture while we were at the mall shopping.

We just had to try on this adorable hat!

More pictures from Oklahoma

Hanging out w/ Mommy in Oklahoma

Silly boy!

At tea with the girls...so much fun for him, I'm sure!

Waiting to head down the slide at the park

...such excitement, can't you tell?!

Nanny & Papa

Another thing that we've gotten to do this week while in Oklahoma is hang out with Nanny and Papa - Brayden's great-grandparents. Here's a couple pictures from our time together...

Precious!

Playing piano with Nanny

Papa showing Brayden the pretty redbud tree.

He loves showing his grandkids nature, birds,

and God's beautiful creation.

It is so sweet, and we all just love it!

Laughing with Papa

We got to go over and see Aunt Lillian - Nanny's sister.

Brayden had so much fun playing over there!

Brayden & Aunt Lillian

Mimi & Papa

It has been so sweet this week to get to hang out with my parents - Brayden's Mimi & Papa. He has had SO much fun playing with them throughout the week. It has been such a special time!

Swinging at the park

Brayden & Mimi

Watching Sesame Street online with Papa

Fun times laughing with Papa

March Madness

We have a tradition in my family that every year, we all complete brackets for March Madness.  We love to compete and see who can get the most picks right.  We even have a trophy that is passed around from winner to winner each year.  I love this competition, because it doesn't always take skill.  Some of my family study the teams and make wise, informed decisions.  My little sister, Amy, once picked all the opposite teams of what my brother, Paul, picked.  Pretty funny, but get this...she WON that year!  So, it sometimes comes down to pure luck.  I am hoping that my picks will do well - I have Louisville winning it all.  We'll see!  Hopefully, the trophy will be making a trek down to Texas very soon!

Time with the Fam

Here's a couple pics from our time with the fam so far this week...

Super-Brayden!

Playing at Nanny & Papa's house

Reading with Mimi

After bathtime

Yummy sweet potatoes!

Wearing Uncle Ryan's hat...so cool!

Hangin' in Oklahoma

This week, we headed up to Edmond, Oklahoma to visit my parents since Jonathan was gone with our high school kids on a mission trip down to Harlingen, TX. We flew up on Sunday night and have had a great time so far. Today, I got to hang out with some great friends from high school - Leah and Melissa. Leah is married and has 2 kids - Annaliese & William - and lives in Edmond, and Melissa is married and lives in Norman with her hubby. We took the kids to the park and played and had a picnic...fun times! It was so great to catch up and have some good time hanging out together!

Leah & Melissa

2 of my best friends from high school

Brayden swinging for the first time.

Annaliese - Leah's little girl who is 2 1/2

William - Leah's 5 month old precious little guy

DaDa

Tonight, as I was getting Brayden ready for bed, he said, "DaDa!" He said it over and over again. It was precious!!! Here's a quick clip...

First Tooth

8 months old and Brayden has his first tooth! It came through this past weekend, and through the days surrounding, Baby Orajel has become our best friend! He seems to love his new tooth, because he constantly sticks out his tongue so he can feel it...it's pretty funny!

Changed Lives

These are the stories of 9 changed lives at Second Baptist Church. It's an AMAZING video!

Changed Lives 2009 from Second Films on Vimeo.

Rascal Flatts concert at the Houston Rodeo

Last night, we got to head down to the Houston Rodeo for opening night and the Rascal Flatts concert! Some friends - Gina & Tom - invited us to go with them, and we were so excited to hang out with them as well as get to see Rascal Flatts (a band I have always wanted to see in concert). The rodeo was fun (the calf scramble w/ all the kids is my favorite), and the concert was great! Luckily, Brayden enjoyed it too...check out the video of him jamming to the music:

Family pic at the rodeo/concert

Tom & Gina...soon to be newlyweds!

Brayden chillin' at the concert

Rascal Flatts

Photogenic-ness

Photogenic-ness is not a word...but I like it. Brayden is a very photogenic baby! He is so much so that it weirds us out sometimes. Although he is very photogenic, this is not what this post is about. It is about Jonathan.

Jonathan loves the camera, however, he doesn't tend to love it at times when I want to take pictures of him...instead, he loves it whenever no one knows that he is in the picture. He has told countless stories of family vacations to Disneyland where, as everyone knows, at the entrance of the park, paid photographers stand there waiting to trap you before entering in order to take a picture in front of the castle, which leads to paying an enormously ridiculous price for a lovely 5x7 to place on your mantel. Well, growing up, Jonathan would stand there behind groups of tourists or cute little picture-perfect families taking their picture (because he always has been rather tall), and inconspicuously smile or make a goofy face in the background of their picture. In fact, there are probably countless families across America who have Jonathan's face sitting on their mantel, because he jumped into their picture without their knowledge. Anyway, as you can see, he still loves to do this! It makes me laugh when I am flipping through pictures and notice his big smile in the background of our pictures. It's a memory...and one I will gladly place on my mantel.

Both of these pics, I was trying to imitate Brayden.

(...and of course, Jonathan couldn't miss out

on jumping in the back of the pic!)