Bransen Matthew Barrette

Our Christmas present arrived just in time for Christmas! Bransen Matthew Barrette made his grand entrance on December 23, 2011 at 5:31 p.m. weighing 8 pounds, 13 ounces and 21 inches long!

After going in for a routine ultrasound, my doctor found out that I was low on fluid and that the baby would need to be delivered that day. He gave us enough time to head home and get some last minute things in order which was greatly appreciated because we did not anticipate his arrival that day. We headed over to the hospital to get prepped for a c-section around 2:00 and within a few hours I was holding my new bundle of joy in my arms, well for a few seconds, until Ian took him to the nursery and I headed into recovery. While in the nursery Brayden, my parents and Ian's mom were able to meet Bransen for the first time. I got a special trip into the nursery once I was done with recovery to hold him for a few minutes before making it back to my room.

Brayden is thrilled to have his baby brother here. He asks to see him and hold him all the time and will just walk by him and give him a sweet kiss on his cheek. The love that he has for his brother already is beyond any words that I can express. It's simply amazing.

Ian  and I are adjusting well to two boys. Right now Bransen has his nights and days mixed up so we're a little tired but are enjoying every minute of this adventure. We're so excited for the years to come and all the memories our family has in store to make!

3rd Annual Cookie Baking

The 3rd annual cookie baking with Papa and Babci was a success! With much fun prepping, stirring, dropping the cookies, frosting and sprinkling, the Italian style cookies turned out delicious.

The Adventures of Kib

With many adventures back to the North Pole to report  to Santa, Kib found many exciting spots in our house to watch Brayden to see if he's been naughty or nice and Christmas morning proved that Kib reported back to Santa with a NICE!

Ghosts

10 Trick or Treaters or Ghosts as Brayden calls it is the book of choice read in our house every night! We try to read a different book but Brayden insists we read this book. We've had the book since before Halloween so it has been read almost every night since and I think Ian and I can recite the whole book by ourselves. We each have our part that we read which makes the book more exciting. I read the majority of the book, Ian reads the numbers as they drop down (in different voices) and Brayden says "Boo" when the ghost speaks! Even though Ian and I are bored of the same book every night it puts a big smile on his face every time we read it!

Holidays at the Casements

We spent a nice morning at the Casements with Papa and Babci celebrating the holidays Saturday morning.

With help from me, Brayden wrote Santa a letter letting him know what he wanted for Christmas this year and we sent it to the North Pole. We had a yummy pancake and sausage breakfast while listening to Christmas music played by a pianist and listened to some of the kids sing. Visiting Santa was next and we waited in line but again Brayden had no interest in Santa and Mrs. Claus and they even gave him candy! Santa was nice enough to let Ian sit down in his chair and he stood next to them so we could get a good picture. Ending the morning we were able to do a few crafts. Brayden decorated a cookie and make a reindeer hat. We ended the morning capturing a few photos in front of the Christmas tree to preserve the memory of the day!

I'm Santa!

Brayden wore a Santa shirt so Papa decided to sit on Santa's lap and let him know what he wanted for Christmas!

Home for the Holidays Parade

Hot chocolate, family, a puppy named Charlie, marching bands, floats and lots of lights made for a beautiful night watching the Home for the Holidays Parade in Ormond. Brayden was in awe of all the action and with all the candy that was being tossed out he thought it was Halloween time again!

SeaRay Open House

After fifteen years of my Dad working at Searay we finally made it to an OpenHouse. The event was filled with activities for the kids. Brayden got his first face painting (well on his hand) of Elmo, got to jump in a few bounce houses, play a few games and make a sun visor. We also got to take a picture with tropical Santa and as you can see in the picture below, Brayden wanted nothing to do with Santa. He clung on to me the entire time and made sure it was known he was not happy about meeting Santa, but it's one of those memories you don't want to forget so a picture was so worth it! We also got to take a tour of the plant and see how all the boats are made and we got to tour a few boats. We had a nice time learning where Papa worked and ended the day by having lunch and ice cream!