Trip to Florida

Jeremiah's cousin Jennifer got married last month in Florida.  His sister and brother in law, Jaime and Jon, also live in Florida, so we decided to combine the opportunities to see them into one trip!  We flew into Orlando to visit Jaime and Jon in their beautiful new home in Leesburg and then drove north to see family and the beach! in Jacksonville.

Braddock's First Birthday

Our boy is finally one year old!  What a fun and wonderful year it has been.  We just had a small gathering at our house to celebrate after the Parent Dedication at church.  It was a perfect day.  Braddock was smiling and happy the whole time.  During the dedication our sweet friend Krista took some great pictures.

After the Dedication we gathered in our little house for some burger sliders and sides.  Krista made Braddock a Little Blue Truck cake, and he loved it!  He ate a whole entire slice.  Just like mommy :)

Happy Birthday Braddock!  You have brightened our lives in every way!

State Fair of Texas

Yesterday we made the trek to the Big D to go to the State Fair.  I hadn't been in at least ten years, so it brought back great memories of my childhood.  We parked on the midway side and part of me was dying to jump on some of those rides.  Jeremiah and I got a good laugh when we talked about a memories from attending some county fairs as kids.  We met mom, dad, and Amanda there.  Logan had to work, poo.  Braddock was a trooper and rode in the stroller well all day. 

We saw a little petting zoo where Braddock was interested in petting the goats and the calves.  But he was mostly interested in just walking along the fence.  He's entered the "I want down" stage.

The majority of our time (and money) went toward taste testing.  We had fried chocolate covered strawberries, pork chop on a stick, turkey legs, chili cheese fries, multiple corny dogs, corn on the cob, wine, beer, and the not to soon be forgotten fried Thanksgiving dinner.  And I say we because anytime we bought something to eat it was inevitably on a stick so it was easy to share.  Mom made the observation that there was something tribal about the way we took a bite and passed it around in a circle, haha.  Here are pictures of some of our finds.

What a great day we had with fun people and beautiful weather!  Thanks Mom and Dad, and Amanda - the wonder nanny!

Flying By: Time, Airplanes, and Visits with Good Friends

This is the face of one happy little guy.  Ten months.  Wow, where does the time go?  The little old ladies at the grocery store are right, "The days are long, but the years are short."  Countless times each day there's a fleeting moment that I try to bottle up forever in my memory: the whiff of baby shampoo, the chubby roundness of his little hand reaching for mine, the knowing smile when I reach to pick him up from a nap.  Many times in my life I've taken a mental snapshot to remember the moment forever.  But, lately there are too many moments to capture and remember.  What a terrible but wonderful problem!

Each day J and I think we might explode with glee over the new thing Braddock's doing.  J said the other day that it seemed like Braddock was doing the same thing for months and now he literally changes before our eyes every day.  Just in the past month he's started crawling, pulling up on things, cruising, repeating sounds, saying his first word, and eating table foods.  His world is so exciting and frustrating at the same time.  He wants to do so much more than his body will allow, but each day he makes new strides.

J and I decided for me to quit teaching full time in June.  This summer has been just the perfect time for me to capture all of the new milestones Braddock has reached.  What a blessing it is to be with him so much.  I'm going to teach part time at a preschool next year where Braddock can attend with me.  I'm really excited to be more present in our home and get to still invest in little ones.

In July Braddock and I went to Austin to visit my best friend, Joanna and her baby, Isaac.  Isaac was born 1 month before Braddock.  My sweet husband drove me to Austin on the day he was born when I was 36 weeks pregnant.  I had not seen Isaac or Joanna since that day.  Needless to say I was looking forward to loving on that little guy and getting to spend some quality time with Joanna.  We took the boys to the zoo and the splash pad and went for walks. 

This was one of my favorite moments, though.  Braddock is kind of a touchy kind of baby; he just wants to get to know his pals, ya know?  Isaac, not so much.  He likes his space.  He likes to enjoy his pals while they play across the rug.  This happened a few times during the visit:

Braddock:  "Hey pal, how are ya?  Don't cry, it will be okay."
Isaac:  "Keep your hands to yourself, mister.  This is my mommy. "

It was so fun to see our babies together when we'd prayed for years for each other that we would both have a husband and a family.  God has been very gracious to us.  Also, I love to see different babies and how their little personalities develop.  I don't know why it is surprising that babies are so different from the very beginning.  After all, people are all very different.  It's just that it is fun to see their temperaments and early interests and speculate about their budding talents and personalities.  Isaac is one smart kiddo.  He played with so many different toys while we were there, while problem solving to get each one to work in a different way.  Braddock was so laid back and chill and wanted the same book read over and over to him.  I can't wait to see you as you grow up, guys!

During the first weekend in August, we flew for the first time with Braddock to the Bastian Family Reunion in Pennsylvania.  Beautiful Pennsylvania.  80 degree Pennsylvania.  Mountainous Pennsylvania.  Texas folks, who knew PA was so purty?  This Texas girl didn't.  I'd been once before in the winter, but I'm not much for cold weather.  But in August, wow.  It was so green and beautiful.  Returning to DFW airport at 9:00 pm was akin to entering the nasty crowded sauna at 24 Hour Fitness with all of your clothes on.  Yuck.  Anyway, back to the PA visit.  Meeting Jeremiah's extended family was really wonderful.  Plenty of good company, good food, and good scenery in the mountains.  Braddock was a rock star on the flights and made us super proud of him.  Braddock Boy, you secured your future trip to Disney World.  Job well done.

Man, I love these guys.