Growing Up

When this first picture was taken of Brayden, someone said, "Just wait until his head is up to the parrot in this bouncer!"  I thought, "No way!  That will be FOREVER!"  Well, that day has come - sooner than I thought - and he has grown up PAST the parrot in his bouncy seat.  

Watch the growth...

1-week old

and SO tiny!

1 month old

Check out those long legs!

1 1/2 months old

3 months old

WOAH!  Haha!!!

Falling off his bouncer...whew, I caught him!

4-months old

wearing Daddy's hat

6-months old

and growing out of his bouncy seat!

6-month Trip to the Doc

It's hard to believe our little guy is 6-months already...half a year...WOW! It has really flown by! We headed to the doctor for our 6-month well-visit, and everything went great. Unfortunately, Brayden had to get 4 more shots, which he wasn't too happy about! Overall, he did great afterwards.

Here's his 6-month 'stats' -

19.5 lbs. - 76th percentile

28 inches - 90th percentile

What a handsome and healthy little boy!

Lunch with Daddy

On Thursday, we got to go meet Jonathan for lunch.

Brayden was sporting his Utah Jazz jersey just for dad.

A Work in Progress

We are re-doing our back patio area...finally! We've had plans to do this for over a year, and finally it's here! We've saved and saved...and waited on the lovely landscaping company (gotta love the timeline of contractors!)...and it's finally begun! Yesterday, they ripped out the old concete. (We had a small 8x8 square of concrete - not quite big enough for a table & chairs.) They poured the concrete and will stain it next week. After that, they will put in a couple flower beds with tropical plants...can't wait!!!

Sick baby

Last week, we had our first experience of Brayden being sick. Luckily, it was just a cold. But poor thing had a never-ending plethora of snot, drainage, and a small cough. It was no fun! For a few days, we had him sleeping at an incline (see picture), so that he could actually breathe while he slept. I never knew a 6-month old could snore! We're so glad that he's almost completely better...still a little runny nose...but we're definitely on the up-swing of it all.

The Paradoxical Christian Life

"Have it your way."  "Just do it."  "Hungry: why wait?"  Our world is full of slogans and life-promising challenges that say if you do it your way or live to get it now, then your life will be full.  Jesus says that this is not true.  "To give is better than receive."  "To gain your life you must lose it."  "The first will be last, and the last will be first."  All of these statements of truth tell us that if we live contrary to the way the world pushes us, then we will find true joy and fulfillment by loving and living like Jesus.  

One high school in Grapevine, Texas tried this out.  They chose to give in a way that was contrary to the norm.  They cheered for the other team...what an inspiring and unique story...check it out here.

Eating Cereal

Tonight, we began the quest to begin "real food" with Brayden. At dinnertime, we fed him rice cereal...and boy, was it a treat! He wasn't sure what to think of it, which resulted in about 90 percent of it ending up on his bib. We tried again a little later, and he ate it all! WOOHOO!

Brayden's first bite of rice cereal

Not diggin' it

"Mom & Dad, what is this stuff?"

He still managed a smile after trying out cereal.

A Funny Moment

Tonight, we gave Brayden his bath...as usual. It was actually his last bath in his "mini-tub"...next bath, he will graduate to sitting in his own bathseat in the "big boy tub." (ha!) After his bath, we took him out, wrapped him up in his huge new towel from friends in Salt Lake City...nice and cozy! I set him down on his changing table to put on his PJs, and he grabbed his feet (no surprise here). But what was quite impressive was that he popped his big toe in his mouth and started sucking on it like it was his thumb! It was great...so, of course, we had to grab the camera...(stick with me here...there's more!)...So Jonathan went to grab the camera while Brayden continued to chomp down on his toe. Right as Jonathan started snapping away, Brayden started spraying PEE...right up at his (Brayden's) face!!! AAGGHHHH!!! I screamed, snatched him up, and put him right back in the bathtub for yet another bath.

Side note here: I pride myself in Brayden NOT peeing on me. Jonathan has had it happen to him multiple times, and I always said that I had never had it happen to me because I was so quick and skilled in my quick diaper changes. (ha!) But I had yet to experience the spraying force of our little 6-month old...until tonight! Oh well...babies have a way of humbling you! I guess it was my time to really experience this!

Bathtime!

Wrapped up in his new towel.

Sucking on his toe!

This may look like the same picture...I warn you, it is not!

Jonathan captured the "moment" of the startling spray...don't worry, it has been edited. WOW, what a moment!

OOOOOKLAHOMA

Last week, we got to spend a

couple days with my family in Oklahoma.

They were super excited to see Brayden and

the 2 people who carry him around (ha!).

Brayden & Papa

Opening up his new red wagon!

We were so excited to go to our friends' (the Diefs) new coffee shop/bakery called "Cuppies & Joe." Check it out if you're ever in OKC...it is AMAZING! Here's a pic of Jonathan, myself, Brayden, and my sis Amy.

Hanging out with Megan Diefenderfer while at

Cuppies & Joe.

On the way back to Houston, we stopped in Dallas for my dear friend Mo's wedding. It was such a beautiful wedding! Char and Mo were 2 of "my girls" in my small group from college. It was SO great to see both of them!

Christmas in SLC

This year, we got to spend Christmas in Salt Lake City, Utah with Jonathan's family. We had such a great time with them...even with our luggage missing our flight only to be delivered an entire day later! We got to meet our new nephew - Harrison Michael Gray. Brayden and Harrison are just a little over a month apart, and it was so fun to see the 2 babies play together!

We were so glad the whole family got to be there - Jonathan's parents - Grayma (Dixie) & Graydaddy (Mike), Michael & Heidi with their son Harrison, Jared & Erin (& dog Zoe), & Philip.

We got lots of snow while we were there. On Christmas day, we woke up to snow swirling outside the entire day. After it was done falling, there was about a foot of snow outside the house. The White Christmas was definitely one to remember!

Enjoy the slideshow...