Christmas, Football, and the Weekend

Last week was a bit crazy around my house. We had something to do outside of our home almost every night of the week last week and I had to plan a big church function that I oversee which took place last night. Needless to say, I was exhausted every evening and went to bed as early as possible (hence the sparseness of my blog posts last week). This weekend however, we had a blast!!

On Friday afternoon after work, I had a few tasks to complete. Brayden's 6 month pictures were ready, so I picked those up on my way home. I love them, especially considering how cranky he was that morning!

I also put together several Operation Christmas Child boxes to ready them for delivery. The girls group I'm in charge of at church sponsored these boxes with the kids bringing items to stuff them with. We have been teaching them about foreign missions and how it's possible to impact a life right here from home. I love this organization and the cause! We were planning on five boxes, but the girls brought enough items to stuff seven boxes! I'd say that's a win win!

My last task of the day was to help Jason get the Christmas items out of the attic. I know it looks like a lot of stuff, but it's stuff I've accumulated over 10 years and there's a few boxes in the mix that we no longer use. I definitely need to take the time to throw away, donate, and downsize. Maybe one day!

When Saturday morning rolled around, so did a COLD front! It was in the 40's for our run and I was at a loss on how to dress. It's been so long since I've had to deal with really cold weather! Yes, that's REALLY cold to me! 

My running buddy Heather and I ran our last really long training run before our next half marathon! We ran 12 miles and it was an amazing run...I'll tell you all about it later this week! :)

After my run, I stopped at Starbucks for my usual Saturday morning coffee. I'm so hooked on their new Chestnut Praline Latte. It's a Christmas beverage and oh so delicious! I might have also picked up a snack for later in the day. :) Yay for red cups, too!

Brayden has a few Thanksgiving outfits so he had to start wearing them early! :) This is one of my favorites. Well, I lie...I love them all! These pants are especially adorable - they have a little turkey on the butt and they have turkey faces on the feet!

I spent a good portion of Saturday afternoon and night setting up our Christmas stuff. This Mickey village takes a while to setup, so that was my first big task and I tackled it during Brayden's nap time. So far, the entire inside of the house is complete minus the tree...I'll get to that this week!

My dad and mom are season ticket holders for our local university's football games. Well, they were unable to attend the game on Saturday night, so they gave their tickets to us! Bonus: we all (my dad, mom, Jason, myself) graduated from this school! Fun times!

After dinner, we bundled up and headed to the stadium. It was SO COLD, y'all. Thankfully, I had a blanket, too.

Brayden LOVED the game. Jason and I took bets on how long he would last and we were both WRONG! He loved all of the movement on the field during the game, ate some puff snacks, then intently watched both bands during halftime (a total of 5 songs). Our band even played the theme from the Incredibles! How fitting for our little Disney guy at his first football game! :)

He started getting restless after halftime, so we decided to call it a night. I couldn't believe he lasted 2 quarters plus halftime - it was definitely past his bedtime too!

Remember that cold weather snap I mentioned? Yeah well, it was enough for us to turn on the heater AND I got to wear my hoodie footie pajamas for the first time! My dad bought this pair for me last Christmas and I love them!! :)

For our "Thanksgiving Sunday" morning, Brayden wore his fall/Thanksgiving outfit.

On Sunday night, we had a function at church for our girls program and I spent most of my afternoon working on last minute things for the program. We also dropped the Operation Christmas Child boxes off at a local church.

Whew. I definitely slept well last night!

Here's to another fun week! Hope you all have a great week! Happy Thanksgiving prep! 

7 Month Baby Update

On Saturday, Brayden hit the 7 month mark! He's such a happy baby and sure fills our lives with so much joy! We just love being his parents! :)

 

Clothing: 6 Months and 6-9 Months
Diapers: Size 3
Nicknames: Sugar, Sweet Boy, Cowboy, Bray-Monster, My Squishy

Weight: 19.11 lbs
Height: 28 inches
Yes, he's in the 95th percentile for both height and weight. :)

Likes:

• FOOD, especially sweet potatoes and carrots and green peas!
• His jumper
• Rolling around on the floor
• Pixie and Madalynn (his fur sisters)
• Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
• Sitting up like a big boy 
• Walking outside
• Smiling and Laughing

Dislikes:

• Loud noises - holy cow you would think the world was coming to an end!
• Being confined and not able to move around
• Laying flat - he would much rather sit up or roll around 
• Afternoon naps

In last month's update, I mentioned that Brayden had recently started rolling from back to front. Now, that baby doesn't stay still! He will roll ALL over the place if you let him! Thankfully, he's content in rolling around on the floor which comes in handy while trying to fold clothes or put things away in his room. He's also sitting up on his own! He loves to sit and play with toys, especially his light up worm. It makes me laugh because that toy was initially meant to promote tummy time but now it's serving two purposes. I love it!

Throughout this past month, he's remained with only his two bottom teeth (as he's had since 4 1/2 months old) - although I think his 2 top teeth won't be far behind.

Food wise, he's been introduced to a wide variety of fruits and vegetables including green beans, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, green peas, carrots, bananas, and apples. His favorites have been green peas, sweet potatoes, and carrots. He gets SO excited when he sees the little blue container of food!

We began giving him puff treats this past month and he quickly figured out how to grasp them and get them into his mouth. Even if one gets lost in his fingers, he uses his other hand to "assist" the puff into his mouth. It's rather funny to watch!

This past month, we began using the BOB and Brayden loves going out with me to run! I'm so happy too because I can get a bit more mileage in with him in the BOB vs walking in the stroller. I love it!! He almost always falls asleep, too!

If you get too close with your hair, he will definitely pull it. He also likes to pull your face to his. It's so cute - I assume he's trying to give "kisses"? We aren't too sure on that one...

Brayden LOVES the puppy dogs! He loves to watch them walk around and anytime they come nearby, his attention is completely focused on them. I have a feeling that him and Madalynn are going to be good pals. :)

 Sleep for Brayden has been about the same - he will go about 60% of the week sleeping all night long. The remainder of the time, he will wake about once per night - sometimes for a pacifier only and sometimes for a bottle. A lot of the time, it depends on the amount of ounces he ate during the day (how hungry he is in the middle of the night) and when his last nap took place. We started not letting him take his third nap of the day if he hasn't fallen asleep by a certain time - otherwise, he has trouble sleeping that night.

He will practically smile at anything - if you smile at him, he will usually smile back at you. Various phrases and songs make him so happy! He loves to laugh as well and we enjoy finding ways to make him giggle! Two of my favorite times with him are in the morning when  he wakes up and in the afternoon when I return home from work. He's so happy to see me both times and I love his responsiveness to seeing me!

Over the past month, he celebrated his first Halloween! We went to the pumpkin patch for pictures and he dressed up as Stitch for a local Fall fest. 

Also, I entered Brayden into the Gerber Baby Photo Contest. I mean, I just couldn't help it! If you have a free moment, would you please vote for him? You can also vote once per day throughout the month of November! :) Thank you!!

It's been another fun month! I love seeing him continue to grow, develop, and change as time goes on. There are times I miss my sweet little tiny newborn, but this phase has been a lot of fun for both Jason and I! We just love our little squishy happy baby!

Thanks for following along with our lives!