Family Time!

We've had a lot of great time with family recently. Jonathan's parents - Mike & Dixie - and brother - Philip - came into town for a few days. We had such a great time visiting with them. The guys had a good time not only playing golf and tearing out our back door. Luckily, it was done in order to fix some problems which took many hours of hard work from Graydaddy! Thanks - we appreciate the hard work!!! Dixie and I had fun visiting Old Town Spring. We browsed through antique shops and lots of interesting home decor shops. We're so glad they made the trip to visit!

Mother's Day

It was my first Mother's Day...officially. Last year, I was 8 months pregnant and claimed the "mother" status, but this year, I woke up so proud that I am now a Mom of the best little guy - Brayden. Jonathan was so great all day and treated me like a queen! It was so wonderful! I received my first official piece of artwork made by Brayden - his handprints - which I couldn't believe were as big as they were! He is growing up so fast. He turned 10 months on the 11th. Time is FLYING!

It is so wonderful being a mother - exhausting at times, sure - but it is something that is beyond description and greater than I could have imagined. Being a mom makes me even more thankful for my Mom. I never knew how many hours were put into laundry or how much love was put into each book read or how much prayer was spoken on my behalf - but now that I am a Mom, I feel and understand a new kind of love that I never grasped. It is a love that I am sure I am only grasping at the strings of how great it truly is. It is a Love that is given to me by my Heavenly Parent - God my Father. It is one that I pray that I can model and give to Brayden so that he will know the Love of the Father that was also given for him.

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!"

1 John 3:1

Trip to the Zoo

Today was a beautiful day, Jonathan's day off, and we are all finally better from the stomach bug that hit our family last week...so we packed up and headed down for a fun day at the Houston Zoo. We had so much fun showing Brayden all the animals of the zoo. He was moderately interested in the ones that were awake and moving. The others we would point at, and he wouldn't quite connect that the furry ball in the corner was a way-cool grizzly bear that was super-exciting to see. Ha! We had such a great time together as a family and made some great memories.

Our little turtle

A pic with the bears

My giraffes! (haha)

Checking out the animals

Taking a break on the playground

Petting the goat at the petting zoo

(He kept grabbing the goat's hair,

so we had to make it a quick visit in the petting zoo.)

JONATHAN THE GREAT! My stud.

The lions...taking a cat nap

Chillin' on the froggie

Garage Sale-ing

Have you ever seen a pick-up truck out on a Saturday morning that is piled so high with the junk it has picked up at garage sales around the area? They always crack me up when I see them cruising through the neighborhood looking for the next deal to find. Well, this last Saturday morning, I found myself in a similar situation...except I was not the "garage sale truck," I was the "garage sale STROLLER!" It was our neighborhood garage sale this past weekend, so we went walking to find some good deals. I packed my stroller so tight with baby clothes, puzzles, books, home decor, and of course, even a chair stacked high on top...

Easter 2009

Brayden's 1st Easter

SMILE!

Check out those stylin' socks

Our little golfer

Brayden's 1st Easter basket

Thanks Mimi & Papa for this awesome

stylin' Easter outfit for Brayden!

He looked SO cute in it!!!

Easter Egg Hunt

This past Saturday night, our church had an Easter Egg Hunt out on the fields for all the kids. It was lots of fun (well, it was rather chaotic...but what do you expect with several hundred eager sugar-craving kids?!). Brayden loved crawling after the eggs and managed to snatch one up in the midst of several kids trying to take it from him. I know...he's 9 months old! Come on, people! haha!!! Anyway, we had a good time taking lots of pics while he crawled around. Happy 1st Easter, Brayden!

Brayden's one egg...

We were given 2 more eggs for Brayden

after the hunt was over.

He was thrilled!

Happy boy! Can't you just hear him giggling!

Brayden wasn't so sure of the Easter bunny this year!

All smiles!

Doing the Laundry

Since Brayden is now on the move, I never know what he'll be in to next. He was sitting on the floor in our bedroom while I got ready one day this week, and the next thing I know, he was digging into the laundry basket! He loved it! (Too bad the clothes were clean and just not put up yet! Yep, that's my life!) I'm hoping to use his enthusiasm to get him to actually help me with the laundry in the near future!

CRAWLING!!!

Brayden started CRAWLING this week! He is constantly on the move now. Jonathan had this little remote control car that he got from a youth ministry party, and so he pulled it out to see if Brayden would be into it. It was so funny...Brayden chased that thing as fast as he could. Check it out...

What a Big Boy!

Brayden standing up in his crib after his nap.

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