the big T-W-O

our little Brayden is two years old. Wow! Birthdays always get me feeling so sentimental, especially the birthday of our little boy, such a surprise, such a miracle, and such an awesome way of God showing us His love and growing us in love. I just love being a mom, and moreso, I just love being Brayden's mom. I couldn't love the little turkey more than I do and I just love watching his personality shine through each and every day. He is such a joy to Mike and I, such an awesome gift to us from God, and we thoroughly enjoyed celebrating him all weekend long with some of our family and friends. Brayden's birthday party on Saturday was a huge hit. Relaxing, cupcakes and icecream, amazing potato salad and varieties of scrumptious sandwiches made by Mike's mom (THANK YOU!), just hanging out in the backyard and of course opening tons and tons of presents. With each present he opened, Brayden held it to either Mike and I and repeated "Out" "Out" or "Help" because he wanted them all out of the box ready to be played with, instantly! It was hilarious to watch him. He was great about giving hugs and thank-you's to the people who were there to celebrate and once all the presents were opened we came inside to let Brayden open his big present from Mommy and Daddy, his train table. We had sheets draped over it hiding it from him and Mike and I unveiled it together. Brayden's first words were "All Aboard" and long story short, he hasnt stopped playing with it since. He LOVES that train table and LOVES to have someone play with him with it. It's just so cute to see him rearrange everything, talk to the people, and say "choo choo" and "all aboard"repeatedly! All his other gifts were HUGE hits too and thank you everyone for all the warm wishes, cards, and gifts! Sunday we hung out with Auntie Sarah and Uncle Brian, played, shopped around town, played, ate ice cream, played. And then we went to Susanville where Mike and I, Sarah and Brian went on a double date to see Eclipse while Grandma and Papi watched Brayden (thank you!). He partied like he was 16 years olf and stayed up the whole ride home in the car! And for Brayden's actual birthday, he slept in till 9:30 and took his time waking up. He was so good to his Mommy who was all sentimental about him being another year older, and woke up really groggy so I was able to rock him for a good 10-15 minutes before we started our day. It was absolutely perfect :)! We played with his train table and then went on our grand adventure to the Quincy Park and Pool. We ate a picnic lunch, played at the park, and went to a swimming pool for the first time in Brayden's life. We took a TON of pictures (well, Aunt Sarah did) and will post tons of pics from the whole weekend later, but in true Brayden fashion, he as a bit slow to warm up to the water and wanted to just sit safely on the step, but in no time he was swimming with Mommy, Daddy, Auntie and Uncle, splashing us, and even sticking his face under the water. He ended up just LOVING it, and we will definetely be taking him back soon! They even gave him a free snow cone for his birthday! And Uncle Brian, Mike, and I each took a turn jumping off the diving board in the "big kid" pool and geeze, I cant remember the last time I did that, it was so fun! We went around downtown Quincy for a little bit and then headed home to eat dinner, finger paint, give Brayden a bath, and put him to bed before we all sat down and watched the movie, Brothers. Very intense, but a really good movie.
Lots and Lots and Lots of pictures to come!