8 months!

We went to dinner at Sweet Tomatoes tonight and Braden had fun with an apple! The marks from his 2-little teeth were pretty cute.

Braden is 8-months old today! Last night Anthony said "He'll be 1 in 4-months." I have to admit it made me very sad... he's growing up way too fast!

More Fun with the Fan!

More proof that Braden loves his fan...



Taking a walk.



Our sleeping angel!

Braden's cheering for the Cardinals since they are going to the Superbowl! He wore red to support them during the game!


Braden's toy for the morning.



Obviously Braden hasn't learned about being nice to girls. These pictures show Braden and his girlfriend Kyndal "sharing" my water bottle!

Can This Be The Same Day?

Massillon, Ohio: -25 with windchill

Scottsdale, Arizona: 79 and no wind

Enjoying Life

Grammy Harmon left yesterday after a week visit. The time just flew by. She soaked up Braden (and some sun!) before heading back to Maine where it's a little bit colder then here :-).





We had a nice, relaxing day yesterday. Braden and I stayed in our PJ's until about 1! I love days like that. He tried bananas and thought they were ok. I just mashed one up, so the texture was different for him. He did enjoy playing with the extra that got on the tray! He also tried green beans and butternut squash this week.


Braden has finally started moving around in his crib. He sleeps on his belly most of the time now. The first 2 nights I got up and checked on him 3 or 4 times in the night, but he was fine. He slept in until 7:45 this morning!




His favorite thing to do at the moment is stand up. Anytime you're around he is reaching out for your hands so he can pull himself up! Now he is getting more brave and letting go and trying to stand on his own. The other night he was doing something and Anthony said how he's turning into a little boy. He also likes playing with this toy that the Bastian's gave us. He hits the button to play the songs and sits there and bounces along to the music! So cute.




We went to the park yesterday afternoon. It was such a beautiful day! Tonight we are planning to go to ZooLights after we watch the Arizona Cardinals make it to the Superbowl!

Grammy visit = smiles, hugs and kisses!

Grammy Carla got in on Saturday and there have been lots of smiles, hugs and kisses since she's arrived! Braden has a lot of fun with his Grammy (and I think she enjoys it, too)!

Proof of what happens when Mommy is at work - havoc to the blinds! I let Anthony know that next time it would be better to stop him then to take the picture! Oh well, the crinkles give them character!

Braden loves finding his toys in his little toy box. And I love finding him anywhere!

Bed head - front and side view!

Whenever the heat turns on in our house it causes our ceiling fan in the living room to turn. As soon as Braden hears the heat come on he looks up to see his fan start moving. He's a pretty observant little thing and he's loved that fan since he first spotted it!

Morning is special time with Mommy.

Happy Friday!

Couple pics and videos

This is a classic view of what we find when we go and get Braden after his nap.

Braden loves his milk!

We couldn't post what he said next... just kidding! He's definitely having more fun with his voice!

He's starting to think about crawling.

Happy New Year... and a tooth!

Thanks for the bear Grammy Carla. It matches my new sleeper!

I love going for rides on my Daddy's shoulders.

We had a nice, mellow New Year celebration. We decided to stay home and Anthony made lobsters (the first time I allowed a live animal into the house that was then consumed!) and I made some artichoke dip. Braden was asleep by 8 and we were asleep by 10:30! We saw the ball drop and celebrated at the same time as our families on the East Coast! We had an awesome 2008 with the addition of Braden to our family and are looking forward to what God has for us for 2009.

One thing the New Year has brought already is a first tooth for Braden! It's official... the bottom tooth on the right has broken through the skin. We had a feeling one was coming. We were talking about how it will be fun to watch Braden figure out what to do with teeth in his mouth! It's exciting, but it makes me sad too knowing that his toothless grins are soon behind us. Plus, he's been in the habit lately of "making out" with us. He grabs onto us and pulls up to our face and kisses us all over. That won't be as fun once the teeth come in! This picture shows him loving-on his Daddy.

Braden took his first hike on Camelback Mountain on New Year's Day. He loves it in his hiking backpack. We'll have to keep taking advantage of hikes while the weather is nice. If anyone watched the Cardinals football game today they showed people hiking on Camelback!

Braden has a book that let's you touch areas that feel like different parts of animals (thanks Chitwood's!). We read it before he goes to bed. He knows where the place to feel is on each page already. It's very sweet. He likes the polar bear the best!

Braden has a new conversation starter. Before it was always something along the lines of "he's going to be a football player" or "he's a big one..." We still get that of course, but now people generally comment about his hair first! He's got the cowlick in the front like Anthony and then the fuzzy fluff for the rest. Someone said it looks like a baby duck hair and it kind of does! I think this picture of the sun shining through his hair portrays it perfectly. And the other is how we sometimes comb it after a bath. Thankfully it doesn't stay like that!

Braden's latest food is peas. He doesn't really like them... and who can blame him. He gagged a few times on the first try, but we've mixed them with carrots the last 2 days and he can handle them that way. I'm sure it's the texture. They make me gag, too! He also wasn't too sure on avocado. Maybe it's a green thing! He's had sweet potatoes, carrots, acorn squash and pears and he loves all of them. Tomorrow I'm going to make some mangoes and more pears. I'm deciding whether he should have apples or mangoes next... I'm not making apples because it's too easy to buy organic applesauce with nothing added into it. On that note, if you are lucky enough to live close to a Trader Joe's, I highly recommend the Dark Chocolate Covered Peppermint Joe-Joe's. They are awesome and are only around for the holidays! Those and the Crate and Barrel Mighty Marshmallows are my favorite holiday goodies. Thankfully they only come once a year!

I love eating poolside in the winter!

Anthony and Braden took the Light Rail down to meet me for lunch on Friday. It didn't matter as much to them that it took an hour each way! Braden enjoyed his first train ride and I loved the fact that I got to see them in the middle of the day. Made my Friday so much better!