No Blog title needed.... :)

WOW! Have I really neglected updates this long! It really has been a crazy 2 months with holidays, week trip to California, 4 year anniversary, trip to chicago, sickness throughout the family and a week away from going to Disney WORLD with the ENTIRE family! I really can not complain because we have been so blessed to be able to travel and see family.... traveling really is a piece of cake... it is the two little, busy, children that make it a little more hectic, but I know this trip will be awesome because it will be for them and their excitement!! So it will take me forever to write about everything that has happened in detail so I will be ok with the second sentence of the post summing it up and start new :) Eric and I are excited to see what this year has in store for us. We plan to really soak in all the time we can with the boys. They are at such a fun stage we dont want to miss ANYTHING!


Brayden is 2 1/2 now and is becoming his own person more and more! I have loved being able to carry on conversations with him and for him to be potty trained! With all the fun and joy he has brought to our lives he has also displayed his wonderful Strong-willed traits that I am determined to stop...Any of you moms out there I would highly recommend "A Strong-willed child" by Dr. Dobson.....it works! lol... Brayden, mommy and daddy are all much happier! It is also fun to hear Brayden say sorry to us after he does something wrong with, " I am sorry mommy, God says obey mommy and daddy." Which leads me to another fun reading... "First year bible" Brayden got a bible for christmas and every night since we have been reading stories from it. Wow, am I impressed at what he understands. I love hearing him tell me about the creation, Adam and Eve... it is so cute. So needless to say this is such a fun age and one that holds many responsibilities as a parent to train them up in the Lord. Hopefully soon we will be getting him back in gym class and swim!


Now on to Blake.... As everyone knows every month up till a year old has huge developmental milestones. I feel everytime I blink, Blake does something new. He is 8 months now and is a scooter, will rock on his hands and knees but moves faster by scooting so down he goes. He also can make himself sit up from the scooting position. He was so proud of himself the first time he did this! Well maybe that was because his crazy mommy was clapping and screaming :) He is a big eater... oh my goodness does this kid eat! And He loves EVERYTHING! At first I was a little worried because at 6 months he didnt do well transitioning to eating with a spoon, and seemed picky, but as a couple weeks went by he caught on and is a little bird, mouth open wide, and will scream at you if you dont get it in fast enough. I have tried teaching him to sign "more" instead of screaming but he just laughs at me :) He is such an easy going baby and smiles all the time. Brayden still just loves Blake and will help me make him laugh when crying or helps feed him. It has been fun to be able to experience all these momments as a stay at home mom! Thank you Jesus for giving me this gift!

Polar Express and Snow!

The Start of a family Tradition! This year after Thanksgiving we watched The Polar Express movie with the kids to get them ready for the train ride. Brayden is also obsessed with trains... I know typical boy right :).... so we were just beyond excited for this event. Of course the older boys (Brad and Eric and Steve) were joking around during the whole movie wondering how they were going to pull off each scene, only for us to remind them it wont be EXACTLY like the movie. :)So we started our day at 9am on Saturday for the road. Ate in Flagstaff and then went to the Fraley's Cabin to attempt to put the kids down for a nap... didn't work... they wanted to play instead, shocker! :) Before heading to the Polar Express we stopped and got Starbucks... good thing because when we got there it was SO COLD AND WINDY! waiting outside to get in the train was a killer, but we made it and the kids had a great time.

so excited for the train ride

got his ticket



drinking his hot chocolate

Anna and Daddy

yummy cookie


papa, nana and Blake


getting his ticket punched


"mom, really another picture!"



Blake getting his bell



On Sunday we woke up to Flagstaff's first snow! There was snow on the ground when we arrived but the weather forecasters didnt consider that the first snow fall of the year so yes it was windy, cold and WHITE! It was so pretty and a great ending to our little trip. We got the kids all bundled up, bought a little sled and headed to the NAU hill. The kids loved it and Blake slept in the car all nice and warm. Anna loved running and kicking the snow and Brayden was big on the sled. Only if Daddy would carrying him up the hill each time. Too bad Brayden wasnt feeling better, but he still managed to have some fun.

Disneyland!!!

The weekend before Thanksgiving we took the boys to Disneyland! It was the very first day that Disneyland was decorated for Christmas. I just love this time of year :) The trip started out with me getting sick on the first day and Brayden getting sick later that night but we made the best of it. (And good thing we are going to Disney world in Jan/Feb, so we didn't feel too bad about missing out on things)Brayden is now at the age where I would say he actually can get excited and enjoy disneyland. (and it will only get better I am sure) I only got pictures with Buzz and Mickey since all the character lines were insane and Brayden didn't understand the waiting thing when it was longer than 45 min just to see them. So we got the two favorites and saw the rest from afar :)

So Excited to see BUZZ

He walked right up and gave him a Hug.... I don't think big tough Buzz was ready for this! I think I got tears in my eyes at this point :)

The joys of being a kid :)


An hour wait to see Mickey, but we finally got to see him....Love my boys


Driving his Car.... my Car boy


See him in the front! He loved it.. and daddy was video taping with his phone :)

Teacups with papa!
Brayden was so excited to go on the rides. He LOVED the rollercoaster and teacups! (Papa Fraleys favorite too, which made him very happy that Brayden loved them just as much) Eric and I realized that after seeing all the characters how many Brayden didn't actually know. He has not seen that many movies all of them really being the Toy Story collection, Cars, Nemo, so the Disneyland parade was not that exciting for him.....it was ALL about the California Adventure parade....Brayden FILLED with EXCITEMENT when he saw Buzz, Woody, Lighting McQueen, and Mater. Even with his fever he got up and clapped and danced. Don't worry we left right after this and got our son medicine and to bed when we found out he had a fever, we just really wanted him to see this parade!
Pictures from the parade

Pumpkin Carving

Starting Family traditions..... Now that Brayden is getting older it is so exciting planning our traditions! Last night we had my parents over and Eric and I made dinner and dessert. (pumpkin spice cake :) YUM!) We got the kids Halloween pjs and grabbed the pumpkins. Much to all of our surprise we found out Eric is/was a pumpkin carving virgin!!!! My mom got a book of stencils that we chose out of, but since Eric never did one he didnt know what it was like so he goes online and finds a Buzz stencil that was so detailed! We joked that I was going to have to stay up with him till 2 so he could finish :) But it was only till 10 and it turned out great! He only had to take a couple breaks cuz his hands/fingers were killing him! Ha... BUT Brayden loved it when he saw it this morning.

Buzz Lightyear!

My Bat pumpkin

My Parents pumpkin

This is the first time Brayden has ever seen or felt inside of a pumpkin. The pictures do a great job showing you what he thought. He did ok but was not a huge fan, but it shouldnt surprise me because this is my child that asks for a fork when eating so he doesnt have to use his fingers :)

Digging in



touching it with his bare hands :)


I can take pictures all day long of these two! (If only Brayden would allow me too :)) They are just the cutest...

AND the wrestling begins :)

BUT so does the brotherly love (my heart smiles everytime I see these two smile)


so alert



Blake got you Brayden...watch out, he soon will be getting you back ;)

PRECIOUS <3