Mother's Day

I felt so special over the weekend. Mike and Braeden spoiled me and made me feel like a queen the whole time. On Saturday we shopped around after March for Babies and then we got ice cream at Peachwave. Then for dinner, Mike took us out to a brand new restaurant Ridge Grill. We enjoyed our meal and hanging out the rest of the evening.
On Sunday, Mike got up with Braeden and he let me sleep in (so sweet)! Then when I got up, he told me that I get to go out for breakfast at First Watch (yippee!). So we ate a yummy breakfast and headed to a park and walk along the Arkansas River. We a great time seeing Braeden explore and enjoy the outdoors.

March of Dimes Walk

On Saturday, May 7th, we walked to support March for Babies and help raise money for premature babies. It was an emotional morning hearing all the storeis about other familes and what struggles they have been through. Mike and I are going to make this a tradition in our family every year. This is the 2nd year we have done the walk in Tulsa, Ok and next year we will do the walk in St. Louis. :)  The 2.5 mile walk was all around the ORU campus and it was very pretty.

After the walk, we decided to check out some puppies and other animals at a Petsmart that was close by. Braeden had more fun shaking the cages than anything else. He is such a sweet boy!!

Little Gym

Braeden has been having so much fun going to Little Gym every week. Our instructor, Miss Tammy, is amazing and wonderful with the kids. She came up to me last week and told me that Braeden is doing exceptional and needs to move UP in classes!!  She also said that if he stays with this group any longer, he will quickly become bored and not be challenged. So, proud mama that I am, we are moving on up. He will now be a BEAST instead of a bird. The beast age starts at 19 months and goes to 2 1/2 (this is especially exciting since he isn't even 19 months!!)  I know that his physical therapist will be very proud of Braeden and all his progress with Little Gym!! :)

Happy 18months old Braeden!!

      I can't believe a year and half ago Braeden entered into our lives. We have had so much fun and time is absolutely flying by with our busy little toddler. Braeden can do so many things now...and many of which he wants to do by himself or else we hear a little fit from him. Some of the fun new things at this age include: coloring with crayons, fingerpainting, painting with brushes, climbing up and down everything (especially playground equipment), eating with a fork and spoon ALL BY HIMSELF (that is a must or he won't touch the food), taking off his clothes, throwing and kicking balls around and identifying objects.

     We are such proud parents of our little man. He is the best communicator I have ever seen with a child this age. Most people can understand exactly what he says which is not common (my little rock star!). He can say so many words and even some sentences now. We work on counting, sorting objects, coordination, singing all kinds of songs, and LOTS and LOTS of reading. Braeden loves to read books when he wakes up, before afternoon naptime, and before bedtime. Kendra, Braeden's Occupational Therapist, said that his development is very rapid and he initiates his own play and is very engaged in activity!!YAY BRAEDEN!!

Passover

We were able to celebrate Pesach with my family on Saturday night.

Here are a few pics from the great evening.

 Uncle Mike reading to his favorite nephew David before the sedar begins.

 Grandpa reading the Chaggadah (prayer book) to start the evening.

 Everyone gathered at the table.

 Braeden trying on the glasses to represent darkness....one of the ten plagues.

Summer enjoying the chocolate pudding pie for dessert.

Deanna Rose Farmstead in KC

Last weekend we went to Kansas City to visit family and have our passover sedar. We had such a great time with the family. Since it was hailing here (tennis ball size), we had to wait the storm out on Friday night before we left town. Then Saturday morning, we went with Aunt Dara and Cousin Summer to Deanna Rose Farmstead for a few hours. We all had a great time being together and exploring the place.

April Good times!!

Since the weather has been beautiful lately we have been enjoying the outdoors. The April showers haven't appeared just yet. We bought a water table to have fun with water, since it seems to be Braeden's favorite activity now. Playing with water is hours of fun for us! Another benefit of all the sunny and great weather is ICE CREAM and POPSICLES!! He can eat a whole popsicle or ice cream if we let him.

 Pots and pans and banging everything is loads of laughs for Braeden. He can make noises from any toy apparently!

 My sweet sweet love!!

Daddy reads books to Braeden every night. We have a kid size couch that we sit on to read. Some nights we read for 30 minutes and other nights we only last for 5.