Weekend in Western NC

This past weekend we headed to western NC for my cousin's bridal shower on Saturday. During the shower, all of the guys went hiking at South Mountain State Park. Greg had Brayden in a backpack carrier for the hike, which he said Brayden absolutely loved! He had a big smile on his face and talked the whole time. Brayden also kept patting Greg's head and pulling his ears. I hate I missed it, but I did make Greg take the camera to get a few pictures! Needless to say, he was pretty tired and sore after the big hike. On Sunday, we all went to Wiseman's View in the Linville Gorge to spread my grandmother's ashes. Although Greg and I had a hard time getting there (mapquest directions are not always the best!), we finally made it and thankfully the family waited for us to arrive. It was a beautiful day and an even more beautiful setting for the occasion. My grandfather's ashes were spread in the same spot several years ago, so now my grandmother has joined him there. While we were sharing special memories with one another, a giant hawk flew right over the area. It was really neat for that to happen right at that time, and seemed to fit in perfectly with the moment. Here are a few pictures taken over the weekend.

9 month pictures

I took Brayden to get his 9 month pictures taken last week. He did such a good job...in fact, he was too good because I ordered way too many pictures. They all came out so well! He has changed so much since his 6 month pictures. My little boy is growing up too fast!

Pictures

Below are some of our favorite recent pictures of Brayden. It seems like we take so many each week because we want to capture everything he does!

Cool dudes Swinging at the park Looking out the window with Callie Getting into the videotapes Dinnertime"Listening" to the headphonesPlaying at the beach with mommyBoatrideSnoozing on daddy's chestTaking a bath with Caroline

Crawling

After weeks of doing the "army" crawl on his stomach, Brayden is officially up on his hands and knees crawling. We were beginning to think it would never happen. He started doing it a little while we were in NY, and since we've been home he's only gotten better. He gets faster and faster every day. He is using his new found mobility to explore and get into EVERYTHING!! I don't think I sat down for more than five minutes at a time today. One of his favorite targets to crawl to is Callie. I'm not too sure if she likes the new attention....he goes straight for her tail and pulls as hard as he can. She's been pretty patient with him so far, I hope it continues! He has also mastered pulling himself to stand in the past few days. He is using that to his advantage as well...he'll pull himself up on the couch, coffee table, etc and just start grabbing for anything in site. We need to do some serious babyproofing now! Here is a video clip of Brayden in action.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Catch up!

I didn't realize I hadn't posted anything in awhile. The past few weeks have been a blur...we've been busy, busy, busy! The weekend before last, Greg's brother & family (Skip, Bernadette & Luciana) came down to NC. We spent a long weekend at Grammy & Grandpa Parr's visiting with everyone. We spent most of the weekend in the pool, which was very much needed in the 90+ weather! Brayden & Luciana had some good cousin bonding time....she really seemed to enjoy playing with him and his toys. We only get to see her a few times a year, so she has changed so much since we last saw her!

Brayden & Luciana

After their visit, we came home for two days to pack and get ready for our trip to NY to visit Greg's other relatives. We decided to break up the 11 1/2 hour drive into two days to make it a little easier for Brayden. He did great on the way up! Everyone there was so happy to see him (and I guess Greg and I too), although he was very clingy to me for the most part. Brayden has definitely become a mama's boy. He eventually warmed up and let others hold him, thank goodness...my arms were tired! He saw Lake Ontario, went to cousin Heather's graduation party and watched the July 4th parade while we were there. He couldn't stay up late enough for the fireworks though! We enjoyed spending time with the family and experiencing some cool weather for a change. (It was in the low 70s while we were there) The drive back was not so good. We were stuck in traffic for over two hours in PA and Brayden was VERY fussy. I think he has had enough of the car for quite awhile.

Watching the waves crash at Lake Ontario

With Great Grandpa & Gramma Sharkey

Brayden's first 4th of July

Watching the parade with daddy

Catching a nap on the way home

While we had a great time seeing everyone, we are glad to finally be home and able to get things back to normal. Click here to see more pictures.

Brayden's 1st time at the beach

This past Saturday we went to Wilmington for Caroline's 2nd birthday party. We all enjoyed ourselves at the party and I'm pretty sure the birthday girl did as well. She was on the go all day!

Playing with Margo

Driving the firetruck

The birthday girl

After the party, we all went down to Wrightsville Beach for a few hours. It was Brayden's first time at the beach and he loved it! He sat at the edge of the water and was just as happy as could be. He also loved exploring in the sand, which he was covered in by the time we left. It was such a great day overall, but we were exhausted by the end of it. You can see more pictures by clicking here.

Click below to see a short video!

My Montage 6/16/09

Peekaboo

For the past few days, whenever we've gone to get Brayden up in the morning or from a nap, we've found him peeking out of his crib like below.

He's learned to pull down his crib bumper to peek out. He thinks he is something when he does it too because he'll start giggling as soon as we walk in the room. It's becoming a game to him....we think it's pretty funny, but it may become a problem. When I put him down last night and left his room, I peeked in a few mintues later and saw him looking out. He eventually fell asleep though, so that's all that matters!