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!

Updating, Thanksgiving, and Camping...Oh My!

Brayden has done really well since his surgery.  He's only had a few throw ups, but has progressed to having four ounce bottles instead of just three ounce.  He's gotten to a point where he mainly only wakes up once a night for a bottle around 3:00am then he'll sleep until 7:30 or so.  We're so thankful he has healed well and is a growing boy!

I love coming into the bedroom and seeing the snuggles they give each other. :)

So, I love this kid's smiles (and his dimples) and his very serious faces!

Some nights, he's so sleepy and a limp noodle.  This was one of those evenings.

The Saturday before Thanksgiving, we had a very full, but fun, day.  We started the morning at Paris Baby in Paris, TX, for photos with Santa that our friend Tara Swain did.  I can't wait to receive the disc of those pictures.  Then, Nick & I drove to Clarksville so my Memaw could meet her 24th great-grandchild.  We had lunch with my Mom & Dad then came home.  We took naps, then our friends, Jess & Larry came over to visit while they were in town for a short trip.  They hadn't met Bray yet and wanted too.  I put up the Christmas tree but didn't get it really decorated until tonight (December 1st).  However, I did put the ornament on I found at Brookshire's.  It has "Brayden" on it.

The next day, Brayden and I went to New Boston to go to my home church.  He was a little celebrity and got to meet everyone I grew up around.  Mom loved getting to show off her grandson and getting to snuggle with him during church.  My two aunts, uncle, and one cousin from Dad's side came over for lunch.  We all visited then Bray and I headed back home.

Some may call us crazy, but Nick & I took Brayden and went on a camping trip for Thanksgiving.  We went to Buckhorn Creek on Lake of the Pines. We were joined by my mother-in-love, Melanie.  She was the one who had the idea.  She has always wanted to camp for either Thanksgiving or Christmas.  Thanksgiving seemed to be the easier holiday to do this.  Nick & I bought a used pop-up camper back before Brayden was born.  This was its' maiden voyage.

I was concerned with how cold it was (the coldest it got was the mid 20s), but we discovered we could definitely keep the camper warm.  One morning, we woke up with the thermostat on the tower heater saying 89 degrees.  We had to vent some of the windows to get some oxygen and air flow going. :)  I preferred it warmer, but Nick said we had to have some air movement going. :)  Brayden got a couple of hats from Old Navy and as gifts from friends, and he was able to model them on the camping trip.

We had a traditional Thanksgiving meal (brought to you by Crock Pot).  I think we had 7 going.  We had a fried turkey (thanks Husband), dressing, green rice, candied yams, baked beans, macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole, fruit salad, and crescents followed by caramel pie and Dutch oven peach cobbler for dessert.

Joe joined us Wednesday evening for dinner then came back out Thursday for Thanksgiving and again Friday for dinner.  Alan, Tovah, and Owen came out for a few hours on Thanksgiving day.  My Sister came to visit most of the day on Friday.  Corey & Katie came to visit on Friday for a bit and meet Brayden.  And, Joe & Melanie, Nick & me, Brayden, and Sister met Mom & Dad at 5D Steakhouse in Avinger on Friday night for dinner.

We went out to the campground Tuesday afternoon and headed home Saturday right before lunch.  We had a blast!  I can't wait to go camping again, but I look forward to when Brayden can run around and play too.