The End of Another Year

This is it. The last post of Volume II and I'm going to end it with some recent pictures of the boys. Onto Volume III.....

Dirt, Bikes and Daddy

No girls allowed!

Brayden and Ian had a boys day. They headed over to our local dirt bike track to watch the riders practice.

5,6,7!!

The last three months Bransen has changed so much. He's developing quite the little personality (I think he's more like his mama!) laid back. He just sits back, watches and takes all the excitement in.

• He hates naps. Well I shouldn't say hates he just refuses to take very long ones. He's a cat napper. Goes down for fifteen minutes to re-charge and is back at it. Very rarely will you get an hour nap out of him. But he's so well behaved during the day!

• He loves Brayden. He laughs at everything he does and will stare at him the whole ride in the car. Although Brayden likes to get a hit in on him every once in a while, it just doesn't phase Bransen anymore. He's quite the tough cookie.

• He still wakes up in the middle of the night. I'm longing for interrupted sleep but I do cherish our quiet times in the middle of the night when he's eating and falls asleep on me. Sometimes I will just sit there with him for a little bit while he's sleeping telling myself these times won't last forever.

• The boy loves to eat! Since I've been making my own baby food for him, he's been spoiled. We get to try so many new and different foods and I know exactly what ingredients is in it. Believe it or not, I think his favorite is Avocados!

• He wants to move. He does not like to sit still. He tries crawling but he hasn't been successful yet. It's coming soon! He loves to walk around the house in his walker. He gets around pretty fast.

I can't believe we're on the coutdown to one! Time is flying by. Between all the new things Bransen is learning everyday, to watching the bond of two brothers growing, it's all so amazing!

Little Skater Dude

The obsession with skateboarding started with a simple afternoon of watching the X-Games with Daddy. Brayden was glued to the television watching the skateboarders and bikers do their tricks and stunts. Since that day he asked for about a week everyday, all day for a skateboard and helmet. So what did we do? We went out an bought a skateboard for him. After we got the skateboard it was a week of asking everyday to go to the skateboard park. So what did we do? Ian brought him to the skateboard park and he was thrilled.

Luckily there was another skateboarder there and he was able to watch him go down the ramps and do tricks. He even sat on his own skateboard and went down the ramps himself. And he still asks everyday to go back so it will definitely be a once a week trip for Daddy and him.

Jacksonville Zoo

What do you do when the weather is 95 degrees out? Well you head over and spend the day outside with a bunch of animals at the zoo with Bacie! Yup we were crazy but Brayden had a blast checking out all the animals. Most animals were either laying underneath the shade or weren't out for us to see because of how hot it is was. Feeding the giraffe was the biggest hit with Brayden. And Bransen had the best seat, in his stroller under shade with Bacie continuously spritzing water on him to keep him nice and cool!

America's Birthday

America's Birthday as Brayden called Fourth of July, was very low key. It was just me and the boys. Ian ended up working and we just hung out during the day at home. As night time came around our activities started to pick up!

We started celebrating by heading over to Daytona Lagoon before watching the fireworks at the boardwalk. Once we headed over to the boardwalk Brayden already had his hands over his ears in anticipation of the loud sounds. Needless to say we didn't make it to the fireworks because Brayden kept asking to go home. We had some sparklers over at my parents but he wasn't into those either because my parents neighbors were letting off their own fireworks and again he wasn't crazy about the noise!

We also celebrated July 5th because Ian was home! Brayden was a little more acceptable to the sparklers this time and even held one in his hand. But as soon as Ian brought out a firework, Brayden was inside underneath the table. Maybe next year!

Movies and Lunch Date

It's always nice to have some quality alone time with Brayden. With the chaos of everyday life it's nice to spend some time just the two of us. Since my mom is home during the summer I plan on taking advantage of a babysitter for Bransen for a few hours so I get to do this more often with Brayden. We both needed it and loved it!

Our day started with seeing Happy Feet Two while snacking on popcorn and candy. He made it through most of the movie and then we headed out to have lunch.

Now a days you can have a whole conversation with him and he loves to talk. We talked, laughed and talked some more and enjoyed each others company. Days like these are moments we're both always going to remember! And I'm pretty sure the big smile on his faces says it all!

Afternoon in the Backyard

The heat is out and in full source here and we are limited to doing anything outside unless it consists of water. So Brayden spends much time in his pool and Bransen and I spend much time in the shade.

But on this afternoon, there was a breeze and it felt great. We ventured out to play on the swing set and trampoline. This was Bransen's first time swinging and he enjoyed every minute of it. Brayden is learning to swing on the big boy swing and learning to pump.

This rare breeze of a day doesn't come around a lot during the summer months so I'm not anticipating it to return anytime soon but if it does you'll find us playing in the backyard!

Never Grow Up

Your little hands wrapped around my finger
And it's so quiet in the world tonight
Your little eyelids flutter 'cause you're dreaming
So I tuck you in, turn on your favorite night light

To you, everything's funny
You got nothing to regret
I'd give all I have, honey
If you could stay like that

Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
Just stay this little
Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
It could stay this simple

I won't let nobody hurt you
Won't let no one break your heart
No, no one will desert you
Just try to never grow up, never grow up

You're in the car on the way to the movies
And you're mortified your mom's dropping you off
At 14, there's just so much you can't do
And you can't wait to move out someday and call your own shots

But don't make her drop you off around the block
Remember that she's getting older, too
And don't lose the way that you dance around
In your PJs getting ready for school

Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
Just stay this little
Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
It could stay this simple

No one's ever burned you
Nothing's ever left you scarred
And even though you want to
Just try to never grow up

Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room
Memorize what it sounded like when your dad gets home
Remember the footsteps, remember the words said
And all your little brother's favorite songs

I just realized everything I have
Is someday gonna be gone

So here I am in my new apartment
In a big city, they just dropped me off
It's so much colder than I thought it would be
So I tuck myself in and turn my night light on

Wish I'd never grown up
I wish I'd never grown up

Oh, I don't wanna grow up, wish I'd never grown up
Could still be little
Oh, I don't wanna grow up, wish I'd never grown up
It could still be simple

Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
Just stay this little
Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
It could stay this simple

Life From a New View

Little boy Bransen is sitting up and just shy of turning six months! I can't believe it, knowing the next step is crawling and then it's non-stop movement from there. Within in a few days of sitting up he has mastered the task with only a few tilts to the side and occassionally needing us to help him up.

I think he's enjoying this new view of life. He loves looking around and playing with his toys up close and personal and being able to grab new ones when he's tired of the old ones. Sitting up has also sparked Brayden to enjoy playing with his brother even more. He thinks it's cool that they now can play with things together. Their favorite toy is the musical zoo. With all the sounds and animals, it's never a bore for Bransen and Brayden enjoys is just as much.