Growing Pains

Well, I don't know if any other 'mother' does this...but Braxton is growing sooooo BIG and it forced me to put some pajamas away in a bin (maybe for another baby someday:) and snoop through his baby clothes. Tear. He was sooooo small! Now they only snuggle when they are tired! These were some p.j.s we had for him when he was a newborn. His whole little body was as tall as his toes up to his waist right now! Crazy! It's such a overwhelming feeling seeing and smelling his baby clothes. Here is a pic for comparison:) Also, on the topic of growing...Thumper is weighing in at 4 lbs. She is a little terror and enjoys digging dirt out of my plant pots in the house, eating x-mas light bulbs, chewing on golf balls, and shredding my poor plants to death. I am forced to punish her but feel her pain as she just lost ALL of her top and bottom baby teeth this last week at the same time!! Don't worry the new ones are growing in!

She wasn't satisfied with our picture together and said it didn't show her full size or personality, so she made me take this one of her alone. So cute:)

We have been busy making cupcakes the last few weeks. We tried some new healthy recipes and one unfortunately tasted healthy! So we made another batch the next week that were great! Braxton loves helping cook and I need one of those ladders for kids cooking in the kitchen that have sides so they don't fall off!! Here is bubs being silly working the mixer!

Cream cheese frosting....mmmmmmmmmmmm!

We did not have bubs this year for Halloween, so on the Thursday before we went to the 'Halloween Store' as Braxton calls it (Party America) and got a little clown costume. He has been a little weary of clowns for the past while now, so I thought how fun to dress him up as one so he understands it's not real!! He sat sooo still while we painted his face and then ran and danced around while we waited for Dad to come home so we could jump out and scare him and then carve pumpkins!

Braxton has also been enjoying washing his hands lately. We are trying to stay healthy during all of this H1N1 stuff:) He got his vaccine for that bug last Monday and has been doing great! We are also practicing sneezing into our elbow and disinfecting the grocery cart. You will have to excuse me in this pic, I had to stay close enough with the camera to make sure he didn't fall off of the counter:)

Here is our creepy little clown face, we think he looks like the joker...spooky!

Trying to put his sunglasses on Thump.

Dadeeeee and Bubs carving pumpkins. He was not a fan of digging out the goop with his hands.

Reading books with Dad before bedtime...this kid definitely has his favorites!

We had some friends over a few weeks ago to watch the UFC fights. Roger and Audrey came over with their little boys Matthew and Patrick and then our friend Dez. The girls all stayed upstairs and hung out with the babies and ate some good home-made pizzas while the boys watched the fights. Here is a pic of Roger and Bj. Best friends:) So cute:) p.s. they look like omish men because they grow beards before their fall hunting trip with their buddies...dorks:)

Me being silly...weird!

Here are the girls, Patrick finally fell asleep after playing all night with Braxton's toys. It sure is funny to watch little kids not want to go to sleep in a home that is not theirs!

This is little Matthew, he wasn't feeling well and did NOT want to sleep either! He was sooo funny!

What a great time! I love get-togethers at home better than going out to do something! (unless it's disco bowling;) Take care everyone.

Lauren

A Grand Accomplishment

I just want everyone to know that our puppy can finally go down the stairs off the back deck! I have spent almost 3 months taking this little dog to go potty NUMEROUS times a day. NOW if I can get her to understand she needs to go down them to go potty.... We will see. Winter is close. Wish me luck.

The proud mama with the video camera

Laugh Out Loud

All right everyone, this is seriously the funniest thing I have seen in a long time, as you will be able to tell by my obnoxious laugh! I was literally on the floor dying. Please remember Braxton WANTED to wear these shoes!

START WITH THE LAST VIDEO FIRST

One BIG Blog...Don't get lost in it!

Last week I took a spur of the moment trip to Spokane...it was very relaxing and much needed. While I was there I was able to get in an early morning hike with my Dad, spend time with my sister, eat at all my favorite restaurants, see my bestest and brother Tim and stay at their new home, check out Nordy and the Rack, AND get a massage at the Davenport. I downloaded 2 books on tape for the way there and back and it was a wonderful idea since it's hard for me to find time to read these days! Also, the main reason I went to Spokane was for my good friend Darcy's baby shower. She and her husband Aaron are having their first baby, which happens to be a boy, in November. I'm soooo HAPPY for them and I really wanted to show them my support because they have always been great friends to me. The miles between us have hardly dampered our relationships, every time we see each other seems the same as always:) Thanks for inviting me you two! I had a great time and miss you dearly!

Darcy and me at the baby shower

A few of the girls in front of the baby room...it's decorated with camo and bears!

This was a picture of the hike with my Dad...we just went to see the Bowl and Pitcher, it was veryyyyyy early but nice and calm.

I love this picture...the sun was just up and shining on the river.

Here is my Dad! The only picture I have of him on our hike and he has his eyes closed! Sorry Dad!

Me! I was bored outside the outhouse:)

Here is my sister Katie, she kills me because she is exactly like me when I was in Highschool...the dinner table was not pleasant to say the least! (I never understood why I couldn't stay the night and my friend's houses every night of every weekend either Kate:)

Well everyone, this is Gus. He is a dark faced little man so it's hard to make out that sweet thing. Gus is Sam and Tim's new bubs. We spent a lot of time together and we even took a nap while Mom (Sam) was at work.

This night Tim and I went to meet Sam after she got off work and have some pizza. We watched a little football and had a great time! I miss laughing sooooo hard every time we are all together!

Obviously...

Poor brother Tim, I know it is very hard to put up with us, it's kinda like having 2 wives!


Well enough about me! Braxton has been a very busy boy lately. We watch BINGO, OLD MCDONALD'S FARM, and ABC's daily at our house and I'm starting to find myself humming them alone...I know sad. We have also been having as many play dates as we can get in before winter, going to the children's book reading at the library on Friday's, preparing the yard for fall, and decorating for Halloween! The snow came a little too early for us last week so I will be taking full advantage of this nice weekend ahead to make sure everything is done!

Story of our lives.

Reading group, we go with Audrey, Patrick, and Matthew. First it is reading and song time, then toys!

Here are all three of the boys playing. They are so cute together!

After the Library, we bring the boys to this little park to swing and slide and eat lunch! It had been such a good idea to let them run wild and then take them home for a much needed nap!

The Spider!

So, my Dad sent me home with Braxton's birthday gift in the trunk when I was in Spokane. He was a little nervous that Braxton might not like it but who are we kidding?! This kid is PURE boy and loves bikes, trucks, cars, motercycles, etc. Braxton was very excited after about 10 minutes of sitting on it ( it was early in the morning and he wasn't sure it was his yet:) He has been sitting on it and trying to ride it around the house ever since. He is a little clumsy and falls off a lot so it will stay indoors until next summer. I don't know if a helmet would do much saving the way this kid crashes!

The lovely new bike!

MUSCLES!

Decorating for Halloween, pulling all of Great Grandma's handmade decorations out veryyy carefully.

Gotta hand it to child photographers, it kinda makes you lose your sanity trying to take a picture of a two year old and 3 dogs on the front porch to show off his Halloween sticks in the flower pots!

Good Job!

So every couple of weeks Braxton gets to pick out something from the dollar section at Target because it's the only area he is allowed to be out of the stroller! This week we got Thumper a winter coat..haha! We thought since she is so little this will keep her warm when it snows!

Side Profile:)

We also had the Hermanson's over to watch a little Sunday Football last weekend. The boys all wore their Packer gear, then we found out the Packers weren't playing. Woops! Thanks for coming over.

TAKE CARE EVERYONE!
Lauren

Lauren: "Happy Birthday to Kylen" Braxton: "No, Braxton!"

Braxton is sure a crack up these days, he was so excited to go to Kylen's house today for his party, but he wanted it to be " Braxton's" party...not Kylen's. Bubba didn't care a whole lot about his second b-day party, but now he want's every party AND present to be his. What a rough life our little guy has:) Either way, we headed to Kylen's house today for a 'Climb the Rock Wall" birthday bash. The party was from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Normally I wouldn't blog the time of our adventures, but this is the EXACT time of our daily nap. So needless to say, Bubs is running on empty:) Mitrianne had a great sport themed party and Braxton had a ton of fun while wearing Bj and me out...I think we needed the naps! Here is a quick snap shot of their dog Tequila. She at one time belonged to Bj, but he had too many dogs and gave her to Dan and Mitrianne's family for Christmas! She is a very small toy pom, very well taken care of, sensitive, and spoiled!

This is the rock wall that has been driving around Billings lately making lots of money for doing kid parties...well let me correct myself...the operator said the weight limit is 360 so adults can rent it too! I told Bj he has to wait till his next birthday:) The kids spent the afternoon climbing up and repelling down...even the little ones caught on!

Thumbs up! (That's what he is trying to do)

Braxton enjoyed climbing the wall too...but it takes a lot of energy for the young ones!

Braxton giving Kylen his gift so we could leave and get some sleep:) We had some fun with glitter, glue, decorative scissors, tape, and markers on the wrapping paper. We even had all three of our dogs put their name's (paw prints) on the card.

What a great party! Now I need some sleep after posting all these new blogs! I have been holding off since we had so many fun things going on this past week. Take care!

Family Pictures

Sunday morning we all ventured off for family pictures with Bj's parents, his brother, and his sister's family. It was a great time and the weather was cool crisp fall weather that felt great! I brought my camera along to snap some pictures during our walk across the park. We won't get our family pictures back for a little while so here are some I took of just our family.

I love love love love this picture...I had to snap it in bad sun but Braxton's face is still worth a million bucks! Bj was running all over this hill and Braxton looked like a bull rider flying around on his shoulders. I was convinced at the time that Bj was going to slip on the wet grass in his dress shoes, but I seemed to be the only one all morning who came across a pothole:)

Here is Bubba going down the slide face first...what a great time for me to be standing there!

This was the end of our picture day. It was a great thing to do before saying goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa. Thanks for coming to see us! We miss you already! ( I especially miss the laundry being folded by Grandma and all the help with Braxton during my healing of this torn chest muscle I have!)