Christmas, Two Month Appointment, and Friends...Oh My!

So, it's been a while since I've blogged.  That'll happen a lot more now, I'm guessing.

When I go grocery shopping these days, I take along my Baby Bjorn carrier and "wear" Brayden while I shop.  For one, car seats take up a lot of room in a cart.  Secondly, I feel like I can't walk more than 6 inches away from the cart if Brayden is in his car seat in the cart.  And lastly, Brayden does not like to be in his car seat if you aren't in a moving vehicle.  So, "wearing" him makes him happy, and, most times, makes him fall asleep.  He buries his face into my chest and naps most of the shopping trip.  I'm always concerned he can't breathe, but we've made it out alive every time so far.

Brayden is so fun in the morning.  Thank goodness because I'm not a morning person.  Since he's so cute, I can handle getting up early with him. :)

Nick's 26th birthday was on a Thursday.  We didn't do too much to celebrate, but we did go to Pete's with his parents.  I made Oreo balls because he loves those.  And Brayden and I gave him a new Cinch dress shirt.  I didn't get any pictures. :(

On December 20th, Brayden had his two-month check up and shots.  He did a good job, but it hurt my heart for him to get the shots and cry. :(  He's a big ole boy weighing in at 13 pounds 11 ounces (98th percentile), 25 inches long (97th percentile), and his head circumference was 16.5 inches.  He got vaccines for DTaP, Hepatitus B (HBV), HIB, Pneumococcal (PCV), Polio (IPV), and Rotavirus (RV).

Daily picture of this chubby boy and his precious cheeks!

Christmas day included A LOT of napping.  I guess Brayden was going through a growth spurt because he probably slept 20 hours Christmas day.  We had a phenomenal Christmas.  My parents and sister came to spend the night on Christmas Eve and spend all of Christmas Day with us.  Christmas Eve we ate lots of finger foods.  Christmas Day, Mom made monkey bread for breakfast, and Sister and I (mainly Sister) took care of lunch - ham, mac and cheese, baked beans, broccoli cheese casserole, corn casserole, rolls, and deviled eggs.  Yum!  It was fun to have Brayden's first Christmas, but I can't wait until next year and he'll be more excited about presents.  I think he thought we were crazy.  We all got lots of goodies.  Brayden got toys, clothes, money for his college fund,  books, movies, formula, a handmade quilt from Sassy (my sister), and some other items as well.  Nick & I both got lots of good things too.  I got jewelry, movies, clothes, candy, boots, and lots of other things.  I don't remember all Nick got.  We got my parents a family photo session.  When Brayden is a little older, we plan on having a full family session with Jessica Brummel at Treasured Moments.  I can't wait!

I got Nick a piece of the garage organization system he wants.  Hew as putting it together and said, "26 years old and still playing with Erector sets on Christmas!" I think he was excited.

December 26th, we had Christmas with Nick's family.  We got lots of good stuff there too.  We are so blessed!  Nick & I each got lots of things for camping.  Brayden got more toys, books, money for college fund, etc.  And, we gave Joe & Melanie a family photo session with Jessica as well.  I'm excited to have two photo shoots to look forward too next year.

Morning yawns and smiles.  Gah!  I can't get over how cute he is. :)

Nick's favorite place to eat in Pittsburg is a Mexican restaurant called Taqueria Daysi's y Mariscos (we call it Daysi's).  I had not eaten there because Mexican food made me extremely ill/nauseous while I was pregnant.  I told Nick I wanted to wait to try it until I was pass that.  So, we finally made it to Daysi's this weekend.  I had to snap this cute picture of Brayden in his "Elmer Fudd" hat. :)

Sunday evening, Casey and I took down all of the Christmas decorations at the Family Life Center at church.  She was carrying this Christmas tree, and I said, "Casey, you look like the Grinch that stole Christmas carrying that thing!"  She and I both laughed more than necessary. :)

After finishing up at the church, Nick, Brayden & I went over to the Mayben's for dinner.  Kenlie wanted to show me some of her Christmas presents in her room, and when I was going back downstairs, I saw this precious sight.  Keyton holding Brayden with the help of Nick.  I love these kids and can't wait for Brayden to grow up with them as role models. :)

I go back to work on Thursday. :(  I'm sad knowing that I'm about to have to start leaving my sweet boy with someone.  I know that his sitter will be great, but she's not me.  I'm really bad about randomly bursting into tears knowing this.  I've been getting as much baby cuddles as I possibly can.  Love this boy!

Christmas Parties, Dimples, and Friends...Oh MY!!!

Lots and lots of pictures this blog...

Brayden has the cutest little dimples!

He's just all around cute.  I love taking pictures of him.

I just love our Tuesday night ladies' Bible study.  This was our end of the semester Christmas party.  So much fun!

A couple of weeks ago, Nick, Brayden, & I went and had dinner with Edweena.  She is like Nick's grandmother.  The weather was supposed to get really bad, but absolutely nothing was happening (weather wise) and the electricity went out.  I had made chili in the Crock Pot, so we already had dinner ready, but we had dinner by candlelight.  Once the utility company had the lights back on, Nick put up Edweena's Christmas tree for her.

The next day, it was raining/sleeting all day and super cold, so Nick was home and doing office work.  He took breaks to play with Brayden and for cuddles...

The next night, Friday, December 6th, we had the FBC Staff Christmas party.  Nick plays drums in the contemporary service, so that's why we're invited. :)  Joe & Melanie kept Brayden for us, and we enjoyed playing White Elephant (with As Seen on TV gifts), and laughing with all our friends. :)

Oh, you know, just some major cuteness.

Saturday, December 7th, we were supposed to go have dinner in Longview to celebrate our friend's, John Borum, birthday.  Well, as I said, the weather had gotten bad, and we all didn't want to chance traveling.  So, we cancelled.  What John didn't know is that we decided to change to a surprise party instead.  My parents came down to babysit Brayden.  We made it a surprise birthday party/ugly Christmas sweater party.  We ate lots of good food and played Taboo.  Had loads of fun!

These things were really hard to keep on!

Baha!  Kristen's the only one who is smiling.

Birthday boy!  I brought this sweater so John could participate in the ugly Christmas sweaters. :)

Love her!  Can't wait for baby Malachi to get here!  He and Bray are going to be BFFs!

Morning smiles. :)

And the pouty lip!  It trips me out every time he does this. :)

As I mentioned in my last post, our friend, Tara Swain, took Brayden's picture with Santa at Paris Baby.  These are two of my favorites.  I absolutely love the crying one. :)

Our Sunday school class had a Christmas party on December 12th.  We enjoyed finger foods and a White Elephant game.  Had loads of fun!

Love him!

He fell asleep on Nick's shoulder...face down.  Pretty cute.

I take pictures of him almost every morning.  That's when he's smiling the most.

Sunday afternoon naps...or just chillaxin.

We attended the Bank Christmas party yesterday.

This morning, everyone got to tour our new church building.  It's "in the dry" but doesn't have windows and doors yet.  I cannot wait for them to be done and for us to start utilizing the building.  We all prayed as we walked through and signed our names/wrote verses/wrote prayers on the door jams of the building.  I can't wait to see what the Lord will do in this building!