Week 5

 I decided to try a recipe from pinterest this week to give to the sisters I visit teach.  It was way too rich for me.  The bottom layer is chocolate chip cookie, then a reece's pb cup and then brownie.http://pinterest.com/pin/5207355789658870/

 There are several splash pads around Utah and we tried out our first one with our play group friends last week.  Addy had a lot of fun. Brayden spent most of his time checking out the grass.

 Brayden is getting pretty good at putting little puffs into his mouth....sometimes he misses:)

 I tried out a no-sew roman shade tutorial  from pinterest at few months ago, but I have never really been very happy with the results or the fabric I chose, so I decided to make some new basic curtains from some cute fabric I found.

 Matt and I painted our kitchen cabinets back in February, but I didn't want to post pictures until the kitchen seemed complete.  Now that I have my curtains up and my chairs, I think it's good for now.  It took us about a month to get everything done.  The only time we had to work on it was after the kids went to bed and then everyone got sick and so I ended up doing most of the painting myself.  IT TOOK FOREVER! So here are the before and after pictures.
Before

 After

 I saw this cute idea on pinterest, so I copied.  I antiqued the door and I'm sort of wishing I didn't because now the door just looks dirty.  I may have to do it again.

 Some of the changes we made to the kitchen other than painting were:
* We added crown molding
* Added bead board on sides of cabinets as well as around the island/ bar.  Matt did a good job didn't he!
* Added hardware to doors and drawer pulls to drawers

 I attempted to make a shade cover using this tutorial.  This is my new favorite blog.  I love her style!http://www.thehouseofsmiths.com/2010/05/shade-of-many-covers.html

 Addy and Brayden gave Matt and Candy bar card for father's day.  Brayden isn't in the picture because he was sleeping.

Week 4

 Addy loves to put clothes and shoes on her stuffed animals.

 On this day, Addy asked me to curl her hair and paint her nails.  I had just made her a new skirt and she wanted to be pretty.  Oh and she is learning the color green, so that is why her fingernails are green.

 Most of you have probably heard of Pinterest.  Well, I'm sort of addicted.  When I first started pinning, I realized that I was wasting a lot of time pinning things I wasn't actually trying.  I decided that needed to change or I would have to stop spending time on pinterest.  Since then I have tried quite a few things.  I plan to put pictures of those projects up in some of my future posts as well as feedback on whether they worked or were just a waste of time.  In the picture above, Addy is wearing a skirt that I made from a little pattern I found on pinterest and she is sitting in a chair I built FROM SCRATCH.  I finished both projects last week.  The skirt was super easy and I plan to make lots more.  Addy loves skirts.  Here is the link for the tutorial http://www.danamadeit.com/2008/07/tutorial-a-simple-skirt.html

 This chair was actually not too hard.  Matt showed me how to use the tools and helped me assemble one of the chairs, but for the most part, I did it all on my own.  They are not perfect, but honestly, I kind of like the imperfections.  They give my chairs character. Here is the link  http://ana-white.com/2011/01/extra-tall-bar-stool.html

Brayden turned 7 months old on Sunday.  Isn't he the cutest!  He has pretty much perfected the army crawl and gets around pretty good.  He's going to be crawling in no time!

Weeks 2 and 3

Oops!  I'm already behind, but here are pictures for weeks 2 and 3.

 I forgot to take a picture of Brayden eating baby food for the first time, so I thought I would at least get a picture of him eating sweet potatoes for the first time.  As you can see, he really liked them!  He has also had peas, beans, butternut squash, peaches, pears and mango.  He is always eager to try more food.

 Visited Dad's grave for memorial day.  I sure miss him!  He would have loved playing with these two!

 She was supposed to be using the potty while I put groceries away.  You can't see it in this picture very well, but there is also blush all over the toilet seat and floor.

 Time with daddy after work.  They wouldn't really cooperate for this picture as you can see.

Kangaroo Zoo fun!  Addy was so excited this time around that we could hardly keep up with her.  She loves Kangaroo Zoo:)

Week 1

My sister in law has been posting a weeks worth of pictures on her blog. I thought it was such a great idea that I decided to do it  as well.  I have always been terrible about remembering to take pictures and I figured this would be a good way to get me in the habit.  So here are last weeks pictures.

Matt got me a few of my favorite things for mothers day.  Flowers, chocolate, oreos and pb, and a few charms for my bracelet (little girl, boy, and blue bead).  He is always so thoughtful!

Addy has been exploring the color blue.  This is one of her many blue paintings.  We also made blue fruit snacks. 

Addy LOVES to watch "the princess movie" (Cinderella).  She chose to watch it in a box on this day.

Brayden started to do the army crawl last week, but I didn't know how to get a picture of that, so I'm just noting that here so I can refer to the date later:)  He loves to sit in this position for some reason.  The first time he did it I thought he was stuck, but he just sat right back up when he saw me coming towards him. Silly boy!

These are just some shorts I made for Addy.  I got the idea from pinterest. I think they turned out pretty cute!

5 months

Our cute little Brayden is 5 months old!  This month he learned to :
* Put his binky in his mouth all by himself.  He loves that binky!
* Sit up unassisted
* Fall asleep without my help.

His personality is really starting to develop.  He can be pretty serious when he first meets a person, but he is a very happy, giggly little boy.  He thinks Addy is particularly funny.  He is extremely ticklish, but gets a little upset if you tickle him for too long.  He loves things that are soft.  The other day I let him feel a soft piece of fabric that I was planning to use to make a little "softie" as Addy likes to call it.  When I took it away, he had a fit! He is a little talker like Addy.  I will often hear him babbling to himself in his crib....even in the middle of the night.  He still wakes up at least two times during the night.  I'm hoping that will end soon! :)

Easter

 Addy had fun searching for Easter eggs with her friends a few days before Easter.  She doesn't have any cousins living in Utah, so we are grateful she has friends that she can do these things with.
















  We colored eggs together on friday.  She is still a little young to have patience for coloring eggs so we also used the egg dye for an actvity I found on Pinterest.  You just put baking soda in a dish and then use a little medicine dropper to drop colored vinegar into the baking soda.  She had so much fun with it!  She stayed entertained for at least 30 minutes....maybe longer.  We have even done it a few times since then.  She loves to see the colores fizz.


We decided to do all of the Easter bunny activities on Saturday so we could keep Sunday a day that we focus on Jesus.  We had our own little easter egg hunt in our back yard.  Addy had fun looking for the eggs she colored, but it will be nice when Brayden is old enough to join her.  It would probably be more fun.  While she was looking for eggs, the Easter bunny left her a surprize in her bedroom.  We were so excited to see her reaction when she walked in her room to see a huge teddy bear.  I think it's like 4 feet tall.  She loves stuffed animals, especially teddy bears.  The bear was sitting in the corner holding her little easter basket, we had the video camera ready, she walks into the room and heads straight for the candy!  She didn't even acknowledge that there was a giant bear holding her candy!  We were so disappointed!  Once we put the candy away, she was pretty excited about the bear.
 A few hours later after we had been out of the house for a while Addy said, "Ty's bear at the house?"  Her friend Ty has a bear exactly like hers, so I think she didn't realize that she was going to be able to keep the bear and that it was hers:).  Now her bear has to be included in story time and prayers (she always wants the bear to fold it's arms).
I found a little tradition on pinterest to help keep Easter Christ centered. It's a little treat called resurection rolls.  You take a marshmallow which represents Christs body, and dip it in butter (oils) and then in cinamon and sugar (spices) and then wrap buiscut dough (linen used for covering the dead) around the marshmallow.  When you bake it, the marshmallow "disappears", leaving a hollow roll which represents Christ being resurected. Addy is still a little young to understand, but I did it anyway just for fun.

Four Months

This is a super late post. Brayden is nearly five months old, and I am just getting around to his four month post. I took him to the doctor a few weeks ago and he weighs 17 lbs now. He's in the 80th percentile for weight. He is 27 inches long, and in the 75 percentile for height. He's still a chunk and people are constantly commenting on it. I have no explanation for them. This little boy goes on a nursing strike on a regular basis. I'm talking two to three times a week! It has been so frustrating and discouraging. I have no idea why he is so chubby, but he sure is cuddly and sweet. Here is a list of things Brayden has learned this month:

* He still LOVES to suck on his hands and he throws a fit if you pull them out of his mouth.

* He can grab his binky and bring it to his mouth (it's usually the wrong way around though)

* He just learned to roll both ways

* He has figured out how to pivot around on the floor.

* He loves Addy so much and giggles any time she gives him attention. I will post a clip of her playing patty cake with him when I find my video camera.

* He can sit up for a few seconds unassisted. He is always trying to sit forward in his car seat and his swing.

* He loves to look at himself in the mirror and gives his little "friend" lots of bashful little smiles.

* He has learned to squeal loudly when he needs some attention. He always looks a little alarmed at the loud sounds he can make. It's almost as if he is wondering where it came from :)