Happy FOURTH Birthday Brayden!!!

We just finished celebrating our big boys big fourth birthday!  He is so funny and has such a little personality and is really becoming his own little person.  I don't want to forget what he is like at this age so here is what the boy who made us parents is like at four years old:

*He LOVES sports, loves to be active...Right now is especially into playing soccer, playing baseball (batting, throwing, catching, and running bases) likes to play catch with any ball he can find, tackle, hitting the tennis ball, playing basketball, and "whacking" golf balls.  He has endless energy and would play all day if he had the chance.  He is incredibly determined when he puts his mind to something, loves to practice and just keep on trying!

*He is aggressive and competitive 

Likes going to the driving range and had a great time with dad at Top Golf

Boys only day at top golf

*We had a really hard time when people would ask us what to get him for his birthday because he is just not a huge fan of toys.  He will build blocks or legos but does not play with toys very often, he would prefer to be active and loves games like hide and go seek.  He has also started liking playing board games such as candy land, chutes and ladders, don't spill the beans, jenga, and he really likes the game Hullabaloo.  

*Brayden is an incredibly sensitive and emotional kiddo..He often wakes up in the morning and after naps on the wrong side of the bed and takes a little while, usually a meal before his mood shifts.  He gets his feelings hurt pretty easily and still cries often when he does not get something that he wants or doesn't get his way.  When he starts crying he will usually say "but I'm not feeling good" no matter what the circumstances
*He still loves to cuddle and snuggle and lately more than ever will randomly say "Love you" out of nowhere
*He still sleeps like a champ from about 7:30/8-7:30/8 and also still takes naps about every other day, definitely not on school days though!

*He likes to make up games with the most random made up names and have Sterling play them with him

*Brayden loves to play outside, riding bikes, digging in the dirt or sand, climbing trees, swinging, jumping on the trampoline

He loves to go to "that store" (next door) where we are building our new home to "help" dad and really enjoys hammering nails

*He still loves to read.  He will sit for story after story after story and knows many of our books by heart now

*He has been practicing a lot and can now legibly write his name although we still can't figure out if he is truly left or right handed yet.  He is also finally starting to get better at coloring in the lines and not just scribbling

*Brayden loves going to school, likes his teachers and his friends and never has any reservations about being dropped off.  He loves one friend in particular, his friend from class last year "Caroline" and plays with her almost everyday on the playground.  He tells us they play baby puppies, which they often play at the kids club at the gym together as well and today he told us they played "super hero baby puppies"!  

*He is still loving playing soccer and this season he is playing with several kids from school which he was excited about including ms. Caroline!  He is getting better and better and makes at least one goal at his games.  A couple of weeks ago it was raining and he stood at his window and said "Dear God, please help it stop raining so I can have my soccer game"!

The dirtier the better!

*Brayden still loves building forts and playing make believe with Sterling, playing anything with Sterling for that matter.  Those two are just great buds most of the time and it helps that she will pretty much do anything that he says.  He is very sweet to both girls as well and helps Sterling when she needs it or is having a hard time.

Best buds!

*He is doing amazing in swim lessons!  He is especially good at the back stroke and goes really fast! He can now swim the entire length of the large indoor pool switching back and forth between swimming forwards and backwards.  We are just so proud of him and are so relieved that we don't have to worry quite as much with him around pools this summer.  

Here are a few more recent pics of our sweet four year old:

Dancing at his first Spurs game with Daddy

I love where Mia is sitting here, there's not much room for her in the car anymore!

On the way to swim lessons, goofball!!

Before his Fiesta Parade at school

A friend and I were just saying the other day how it feels like we have had our oldest forever.  It really does feel like longer than four years ago that this guy changed our lives forever.  We are so happy that he is ours and love watching him change and grow daily.  So thankful for our Brayden and his four years of life with us!

Chandler is six months old!

Chandler, our baby is six months old!  Half a year!  Time please slow down!  I've said it a million times and I'll say it again, if I could bottle this girl up exactly the way she is and keep her just like this forever, I would!  This baby is so.stinkin.sweet...She is seriously the sweetest and happiest baby and sometimes it just makes my cheeks hurt being around her because her little smiles just make you want to smile at her even more!  Here is what my girl is up to at 6 months old:

*Chandler is just a happy, easygoing baby.  She very rarely cries and only cries usually if she is hungry or tired.  She also whines a bit when she is bored with her surroundings.  If she does cry, she is super easy to console and usually just picking her up does the trick!
*So last time I blogged I mentioned trying to get her out of the swaddle.  I tried one arm out, both legs out, any number of combinations and they all pretty much bombed.  So just a couple days into the month I decided we were going cold turkey and by the end of the day she was sleeping soundly on her stomach and the rest is history!  I swear we just don't give these kids enough credit, she made the transition so much easier than I would of thought!

Swaddle Fail!

*She found a thumb to suck on just a few days ago.  Now she sucks while she sleeps and I am such a sucker for a baby thumb sucker, so so cute!

*So with the unswaddling, the stomach sleeping, and the thumb sucking comes some pretty darn good sleep!!  I nurse Chandler at about 7:30 for the last time of the day, have her in bed usually at about 8:00 and she has been waking up just once sometime between 4-6:00 am to nurse and then not again till about 8-8:30 am.  I am thrilled with all of this consecutive sleep and I hope it continues!

*I have started giving her a little bit of solids, giving her mashed potatoes on Easter was the first and since then she has had sweet potatoes, bananas, squash and zuchinni.  It's amazing how fast she learned how to eat, much faster than the others who I started feeding solids much sooner.
*Girlfriend found and loves to play with her feet

*She stopped taking bottles!!!  We had gone out of town a couple times since she was born and she had been taking bottles just fine.  Then Brian tried to give her one and GaGa tried to give her one and just like that she wanted nothing to do with it! Since then we have been trying different bottles, nipples, and approaches and she is doing a little bit better taking about two ounces from a bottle, enough to at least get the edge off and we are happy with the progress.
*We finally got out the big baby gear and Chandler is loving it!  We were in the process of selling/showing our home and had not gotten out the bouncer, walker etc yet because they just take up so much space.  Well we sold our home this month so we were so excited to get out some new toys for Chandler.  She is loving the change of scenery and especially the bouncer.  It didn't take her long to get it figured out and now she just goes to town in there, so adorable!

Seriously?!  SO cute!!!

*Chandler is also more into toys, has a great little grip, and of course most toys go straight to her mouth.  She spends a lot of time rolling around on the floor playing, and of course watching the craziness around her, and there is ALOT going on around here!!!

LOL love this picture!  Check out Brayden on the phone in the background!

*She started getting up on those hands and knees and rocking a little bit, which sometimes results in crying when she plops back down on her backside.  We are practicing sitting independently but are not there yet.

*Chandler came with me to a friend's wedding shower and got to play with my best friends babes, so fun watching them together!

 And a few more faves of mine from the month:

This mirror kept Chandler occupied for quite a while, thanks Mamer Barron!

Just in love with this precious, SWEET, lovable baby!

Brayden's fourth birthday

We literally celebrated Brayden and his fourth birthday all. week. long!!!  This guy had more birthday  celebrations than I have ever seen!  

On Tuesday we brought cupcakes and celebrated with his class at school.  

I think Sterling enjoyed her cupcake?!

On Wednesday we went for a mid week frozen yogurt at orange leaf with GaGa and PaPa

 On Friday, the day before his birthday we had his little birthday party at Thin Air a trampoline park that Brayden just loves.  He and Sterling both had the best time running and bouncing around with friends.

So glad Grandpa was able to come and watch Chandler so we could play with Brayden and Sterling!

Just hanging in her carseat before her morning snooze

Sterling loves Hugh!

Hilarious!

"Move over kids let me show you how its done!"
Even the moms jumped in on the fun!

Ninja Turtles cake as requested

Cloud 9!  Sitting between two of his most favorite friends Dylan and Witten

Happy Birthday to You!!!

Brayden has been talking about his birthday party for months and  changed his mind every week where he wanted his party and what kind of party, cake, etc. he wanted to have.  After already booking and paying for his party at Thin Air Trampoline park where he was passionate about having his party he changed his mind saying he really wanted his party at Chuckee Cheese (conveniently after going to one of his favorite friends birthday parties there).  After talking about it he agreed that we could go to Chuckee Cheese on his birthday before his soccer game so that is what we did.  Grandma and Grandpa came in town from Dallas and we spent the morning playing games and eating pizza before his soccer game on his birthday.  

So competitive!  Look at that face!

We were so happy to have Grandma and Grandpa in town.  It was also so helpful to have a couple extra sets of hands around so Brian and I could focus on the birthday boy.  Brayden's game got postponed one hour so we left the girls at home with Grandma and Grandpa and took Brayden to his game.

Sterling had fun too and didn't even need any coins to play the games!

Bonus was Daddy was coach of the week so he got to coach Brayden's team on his bday.  We also brought snacks this week and of course had to bring cupcakes for his teammates!

Brayden and Daddy spent the afternoon at another friends birthday party and then met the girls and I, Grandma and Grandpa, and GaGa and PaPa at Brayden's favorite restaurant Bigz for dinner.  We ended our incredibly busy birthday weekend with cake and family at our house for one last celebration of our guy.

Loved celebrating our sweet Brayden and the big 4!  A huge THANK you to all of our family and friends and everyone who helped make Brayden feel special and loved on his special day!