Pacy No More!

Tomorrow Brayden will have been pacifier free for an entire week! What an accomplishment! The week started out easily and Brayden did great the first bedtime and naptime, but this week has had its ups and downs. Along with getting 4 teeth, and the horrific raw butt that comes from teething poops no matter how fast I seem to change a diaper, Brayden has been asserting himself and the word "no" is flying at us left and right. (Yes, Dad, Donna, Mom, and Dave, I hear you all laughing). We're working on appropriate discipline for this matter which isnt always easy! It's been a tough week for Brayden and I feel for him from losing his beloved safety net, thankfully he still has his blanket which he is attached to more than ever, but having all those teeth come in, and then have diaper rash too, poor baby! Hopefully next week will be better for him, and hopefully naptime starts getting easier without his pacy!

Another Snow Day

Snow isn't Brayden's favorite thing as of yet. I think next year he will be much more excited about it and willing to play in it. But I tried again to get him dressed and to go out in the almost foot of snow we got between Saturday and Sunday. I couldn't even convince him to touch the snow, but he loved watching Mommy make a mini snowman and asked for "more" when I was done, hence, the second snowman! I was so bummed that the pic of him smiling came out blurry because it is a rare occasion to get him to smile for the camera :)!

And a few more

Group picture right before we left to come home, minus the Youth Pastor, Paul, his wife Carol, their baby girl Samantha, and Virginia, a student!

Sickly Mikey

The Monster that is Brayden

Brayden's First Winter Camp; thinking he's cool with the big kids!

Camp Pics Part 1

The camp we were at! Loved this sign!

Mike tearing it up ;) As well as he could while he was puking at least

Leading Worship

I was the one taking the pictures for the most part, but, here, one of my girls from my small group took it. Just to show you guys I really was at camp ;)!

19 months, Winter Camp, and Illness

Yesterday, Brayden turned 19 months old, on the 19th, nonetheless ;)! We just got home the day before yesterdat from Winter Camp and I watched Brayden "grow up" before my eyes. He loved being around the high schoolers, loved getting to sit at their table for meals, thought it was so cool when they were watching him and I was nowhere around, as well as learning to high five and pound it. (Brayden has known how to high five for months, but the kids taught him how to hit fists afterwards, its adorable!) I prayed a lot for Brayden to behave and really allow Mike and I to minister and spend time with the kids and our prayers were answered above and beyond my expectations. He took really long naps, slept through the night, and behaved for everyone that was watching him. I also, on a side note, really could not have done this Winter Camp without the help from our Youth Pastor's wife. They have a 4 month old daughter, and she stayed with them at night when we had various activities planned, and even watched Brayden with two injured high schoolers so I could go snowboarding with all the kids at Sugar Bowl without any distractions! What an AMAZING blessing! I also watched my child, walk, toddle, run, all over that camp, and anywhere we went for that matter. He didn't want to be carried and just wanted to roam and be a big boy! All four of his 18 month olf molars have cut through and are on their descent and Brayden also completely successfully slept through the entire night last night with no pacifier! Woo Woo!
As for camp; completely indescribable. We prayed for God to reign and show Himself to us, and I dont know of one adult or student who didnt walk away learning something deep and meaningful that will stick with them forever. The theme of camp was suffering, and it was very appropriate that our van broke down twice, eventually dying 5 miles into the drive home (and estimating to be fixed for $2,300!), having to shuttle kids in our cars to and from skiing/snowboarding, Mike getting horrifically sick from the first night we stayed, through yesterday with some sort of food poisoning, the Youth Pastor and his 4 month old daughter catching a cold, two pretty bad arm injuries (maybe a break?), Mike getting lost in the woods by himself for an hour, etc. Amidst the trials, it was truely AMAZING, there was bonding, transparency, deep and thought provoking Bible studies, amazing devotionals, some pretty intense games of Capture the Flag, a bonfire, dance-offs, etc. I am truely amazed and so blessed to be apart of such an awesome group of kids!
Mike thankfully has not thrown up in almost 24 hours now, and I am praying the worst is well over.
I am going to upload all my camp pictures to the computer soon and post a few here, since the kids were able to steal my camera and get a few hilarious pictures of Brayden.
Lastly, I will leave you with a video that will rock your world, bring you to tears, and make you want to hug your children and never let go. Paul showed this at camp to the kids, and I can't describe everything it made me feel. Maybe for another post later on. Anyways, here it is:

Happy Birthday!

to our awesome Hubby and Daddy! We love you!

Haircut/Mini-Me

Brayden was overdue for a haircut so tonight we sat him down and cut his hair. He did much better this time than last time, thankfully! Unfortunately, I told Mike to cut it too short on accident :(. Still SUPER cute, just a tad shorter than I had wanted it. I dont want Brayden to have a buzz cut, but he inherited my unruly hair and it just looks so shaggy and unkept when it's longer. We're going to have to either decide to let it grow out a bit and be a little bit longer, or keep it short like this because in between just doesn't work.

And look at this! ^ Tell me he isn't Mike's exact mini-me!!! I snapped this pic and couldnt believe it, SO much like Mike, in fact, I've never seen him look so much like his Daddy before! What a blessing because he's got one handsome Daddy!

And Brayden showing off his "early terrible two's" personality. From having to chase him around the mall, keep him from grabbing food off my plate at restaraunts, to finding him dipping his hands in thankfully a clean toilet, and then sneaking upstairs all by himself *sigh*. We're in for it,....but at least he's so super cute!

An Ode

to my wonderful husband. I will make it short and sweet (hopefully) but since I do plan on making all these blogs into a journal one day, and I've got all these thoughts running around my mind, I figured I'd just jot them down in a blog.
I really love my husband, REALLY love him :). It never ceases to amaze me how thoughtful he is. We went shopping in Reno yesterday for his birthday with his mom and sister, and all he wanted to do was look at stuff for everyone else. Whenever the attention gets directed towards him, he so quickly tries to divert it to someone else. Somehow both Brayden and I ended up walked away with some goodies yesterday too. Then Mike spent well over an hour, maybe even two, navigating the streets of Reno trying to find a restaraunt I wanted to go too, only to find both of my first choices closed. Last night he stayed up late, even though he had to be up early this morning, with me to watch the Olympics Opening Ceremony since he knew I was so excited for it. This week he's helped me countlessly with my homework, with Brayden, and with all the stuff we are getting ready for Winter Camp. There are too many days that I go without noticing even the smallest things he does for us, like plating my food before his own, like letting me put my freezing cold feet on his under the blankets to keep them warm, letting me drink all his drink before he even gets a sip. He truely is a one of a kind, wonderful man, amazing husband, and awesome daddy. I say this every year, but I mean it every year as well, it's just SO fitting that tomorrow is his birthday, because he's my forever Valentine, and one of the most loving people I've ever met. I love you Mike!

Introducing...

Cesily Mary Jane Kincaid!
Isn't she a doll?! Our new little niece is finally here, born to Mike's brother Matt and his fiance' Jen today, at 12:58 p.m.
She is seriously one of the CUTEST newborns I have ever seen and these pictures dont even do her justice!

Fast Asleep

Brayden decided to party hard last night while Mike and I were at Youth Group and refused to sleep for Aunt Jen and Uncle Matt. So when we put him to bed when we got home, he fell fast asleep. Obviously, not before he stuck his little legs through the slats of his crib. It cracked me up to see this when I checked on him before we went to bed ourselves, and I had to grab the camera, neither the flash or me pulling him up higher so his legs weren't out anymore woke him up at all. Must be nice to sleep so deeply...wonder who he gets that from? His Mommy could probably sleep through World War III ;)!

Melmo

Brayden has watched Sesame street a few times and really likes Elmo, so for Christmas, Mike picked out an Elmo that talks and blows kisses. At first, Brayden was a little intimidated by it, but lately has really started to enjoy making Elmo blow him kisses, and giving him kisses back. And I didn't mis-spell the title, Brayden calls Elmo "Melmo" :). Precious moments!

A normal day

Cars, cars, and more cars. I am not overexaggerating when I say Brayden is obsessed with cars. From sun up to sun down he would play with them and do nothing else if we let him. He never gets tired of lining them up, moving them around, making them race, and so forth. He also never gets tired of the movie in the least. We may be loking at a Cars birthday party this year, in fact, I'm pretty sure we will be. And when it comes time for potty training, we've already found a cars potty as well *sigh*! And I showed Brayden these pictures and he said "Momeee Cars! Yeah!"

More Changes

I promise, next week, I will get pictures to you all who have been patiently waiting :). One day this past week I looked at Brayden and suddenly saw a little boy, not even a toddler, not a baby, I just saw a little boy and it made me happy and sad at the same time! The very next day we babysat the Youth Pastor's baby girl who is a little over 3 months. That made me realize just how big Brayden is too compared to her tiny little frame, and the fact that when I brought her with me in his room to get him up in the morning he kept saying "baby grrrrl" and "pretty". So precious! Along with the not one, but two teeth I can feel coming in, and two more that are starting their descent from the top. Add to that the accomplishment of starting to feed himself with a spoon (which he does really well with, he just doesn't grasp the "scooping" idea yet) and then this morning, drinking from a regular cup all by himself for the first time and amazing me by barely spilling at all. I just can't handle it all! Everyday I see more Mike in him and praise the Lord for that :). And another step we're getting ready to do right after we get home from Winter Camp with the High School Group, is taking away the pacy! I figure we're going to need it during Winter Camp, but when we get home we're actually going to throw his pacys away and take the garbage out with him, so he hopefully might grasp the concept that they are gone! Send some prayers our way! Pics soon, I promise! And for tomorrow, Go Colts! :)!

Another Tooth

Just as I was starting to think Brayden was destined to have 4 teeth the rest of his life, he started cutting a new one. You Moms know, once the runny poops start and the inconsistent sleeping and extra fussiness, a tooth is coming. Sure enough I felt it breaking through the gums the day before yesterday. Weird thing is, is it's not next to his top two, or bottom two, but rather, almost in the back on the left side of his mouth, maybe a molar? Silly kid, he just likes to keep us on our toes and do things his own way!

Busy Bees!

So sorry for the blogging hiatus! We've been busy bees in the Kincaid household! A couple of weeks ago we suffered numerous power outages which prevented me from doing any blogging and since then, I just feel we've been going going going! It's a nice change of pace for our pretty normal "Leave it to Beaver" lifestyle. Mike and I are both enrolled in college full time, both of us through online and correspondence courses. It's a lot more work with an 18 month old than I thought it would be! And, praise the Lord, we've been getting involved with our church's High School Youth Group. Since the beginning of January, we've been small group leaders, each leading a group of anywhere from 5-8 kids. Mike leads a group of guys by himself, and I co-lead a group with another girl, Annie, who is my age. It's been an amazing experience so far, and as with serving in any ministry, God has blessed our socks off! Mike and I are so excited that we get to go, as an entire family, with the youth group to Winter Camp in a couple weeks. It's going to be a great experience and we can't wait! Mike's 25th birthday is coming up in 12 days too!! So, no pictures right now, but hopefully more updates to come soon!