Monkey Man!

Today was Brayden's very first Halloween!

Here he is! Monkey Man!

I would say that he was pretty happy with his costume. I was worried that it would be itchy or annoying and B hates hats, but he LOVED it. He knew it was a monkey!

Our church had a fall fest at our town square. B fell asleep in the car and was really tired when we got there. I think he's going through a growth spurt because he's been sleeping until 9 or later and taking really long naps (4 hours).

B and Daddy:

B - I mean Monkey, with Grammy and Granddaddy:

The three of us:

The 5 of us:

Afterwards we stopped at Starbucks and then headed out to the cabin. We took some pictures for our Christmas card but they didn't turn out that well so we might re-do them, or I could always use one of our fall pictures that I posted last week.

I hope everyone had a great Halloween!

B's Bowling Adventure

The other night Chris came home from work and we decided that we wanted to go out. We decided that it was finally time to go bowling!

Brayden thought the noise was pretty neat. The pictures are all fuzzy because I took them with my phone - I accidentally left my camera at home.

Towards the end of our 2 games B wanted held, so Chris bowled while carrying him (and still managed to win that round).

Our bowling alley lets you order right from your lane and brings the food to you so that you can bowl and eat at the same time. I had a turkey and spinach artichoke panini. It was the best bowling alley food I've ever had!

Mesa Grill

This is the last catch up post on the trip to Las Vegas. And it is about one of my favorite places there...which means it must involve food.

Mom, B, mom's friend and I headed to Mesa Grill - Bobby Flay's restaurant.

I love when you can see right into the kitchen:

Some of the food...of course I forgot to take the picture until I was halfway done eating!

B enjoyed the bread! But because it was Bobby Flay bread it had jalapenos in it that I had to pick out!

The inside of the restaurant:

Queso appetizer!

The food was sooooo good. We sat right in front of the kitchen and I kept hearing this guy speak and I was so sure it was Bobby Flay. Finally I caught a glimpse of the speaker and it turned out to be one of the chefs. I was just so sure I was going to get to meet Bobby! Oh well! Maybe next time!

Return to Tiffanys

Because B got sick, I never finished posting about our trip to Vegas.

This picture was taken in our hotel - the Bellagio. They have this big atrium that they change out with the seasons. This time it was decorated for fall with massive scarecrows, and award winning pumpkins. I think the one behind us was about 600 lbs.

While we were there we had to do some shopping. Ok, so maybe we didn't have to, but we wanted to.

My mom's best friend from high school met us and we headed to Tiffanys. She bought a beautiful necklace to remember her mom by.

I told B to go pick something out for me, so he headed out:


Looks like he found something!

Just kidding. That's my mom's friends bag but it made a cute prop. And how many babies can say they crawled around at Tiffanys?!

Fall Family Pictures

Sunday we had my parents take a few shots of us out on our family property.

It was a little chilly so we put B in his "craft fair hat."

We took some of them with B too, of course. It's hard to see because this pic is small, but dad and B are making faces at each other.

A little more serious:

On our granite boulders:

We have to take a picture soon for our Christmas card. Any suggestions? I used Tiny Prints last year and was pretty happy. Who prints your cards?

Hayride!

Sunday night was the big hayride out at our property. Of course it had to rain!

Charles and Lori (Chris' mom and stepdad) came into town for the fun!

And of course, my parents were there (they hosted it!).

Brayden was a little...confused by everything. First, it was really the first time he's been out in the rain. Second, I had him in a hat, long sleeved onesie, a jacket, and then bundled him in a blanket. So, basically he couldn't move. Oh, and he hasn't really seen an umbrella before. Once he got used to all that, he was transfixed on my dad who was in front of us driving the tractor. He couldn't seem to process why Granddaddy was up there and not with us.

But, all in all he had a fun time!

Prelude to the Hayride

We were getting ready for a hayride out at our family property on Sunday and B was outside "helping" me.

My gourd!

I love pumpkins!

This is an ole' timey bathtub:

I just can't stand the cuteness, can you?

Picking the Perfect Pumpkin

Today we told B that we were going to go get his very first pumpkin ever.

He was pretty enthused:

Oh, the choices...

He picked these two...or I guess I should say, he played with this one and therefore it became his pick:

With his big pumpkin:

Us and B:

Grammy, Granddaddy and B:

The three of us:

We went with my parents to a pumpkin patch that's in Missouri. Brayden was really excited - ok, and a little confused - by all the big orange balls on the ground. He was also a little irritated by the hat on his head - we have to get him the kind that velcro under his chin because otherwise it's off in 2 seconds flat.

Tomorrow we have Brayden's first hayride out at our property. I'm hoping it's another nice day! His Grumps and Grandmom are coming in from Tulsa for the occasion. It should be really fun!

4 Year Wedding Anniversary

Today was our 4 year wedding anniversary!

We went out to Ruth's Chris for dinner. I really love the Chef's special they have right now...Harvest Salad (greens, feta, corn, bacon, cajun pecans and white balsamic), stuffed chicken and the dessert duo of chocolate mousse and carrot cake. I've gotten a lot of emails asking for wedding pictures, so here you go.

Our reception:

Cutting the cake:

Chris' groom cake:

The car:

It's been a wonderful 4 years, and now that we have Brayden I'm sure it will continue to get even more wonderful! It was really special to celebrate our anniversary for the first time with him. I really am married to the most wonderful, loving and patient man! Love you Chris!

Balancing Act

Today we had B's neurology appointment. I don't think it could have gone any better! The doctor used two words the entire time (over and over again): Super! and Great! Developmentally he is on track or ahead when he should have a 1.5 month delay (didn't know that). So YAY Brayden!

Yesterday B started doing this:

He's standing without support!

He also sits up like a chipmunk without support:

This one was from today:

Here he's just crawling but it's the cutest thing I've ever seen....he sees the camera and lights up!

Thanks for the well wishes for today's appointment!

Much Happier Now

Brayden is a MUCH happier baby today (well, and yesterday).

He's back to being his normal ham self for the camera:

His shirt says "Baby's first Halloween."

Chris cannot understand why I keep putting him in holiday stuff. He keeps reminding me that it isn't Halloween yet! I told him it's either I put him in these outfits leading up to Halloween or I change him 50 times the day of!

Today we have his 9 month checkup - it was supposed to be done on the 13th but he was sick so we re-scheduled. By the way, thank you for all your comments on the last post - I guess calling Children's is the new norm!

Tomorrow we meet with a Neurologist at the satellite Childrens office to talk about the cyst that had been on Brayden's brain. Originally I had no intention of following up on it, because everyone believes it is harmless, but they kept calling me so I decided to just take him in. His appt is at 9am.

Feeling better and a First

Last night we watched Christmas Vacation - my all time favorite movie - with B. I think, judging by his smile, that he was happy about it. Though he is really curious about who this "Santa" guy is...

B was put on a clear liquid diet for all of yesterday and part of today and has stopped throwing up, thankfully!

He was playing with his car here...

On his new "scooter"

He spotted the camera!

Another favorite new activity...pulling the magazines off of the coffee table.

He's doing better and we have an appt Tuesday with his doctor. One thing that I was a little put off by, was that when I called the pediatricians office, their voicemail directed me to call another number which turned out to be the hospital, and then they directed me to call Children's. My mom said that when I was a kid, there would always be a doctor from that office on call to help. How does your pediatrician office work? Maybe this is just the new normal?