Happy 1st Birthday Brayden

Brayden turned 1 year old today! I am amazed at how fast this past year has flown by...it seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital. We had a beautiful day today, so we spent part of it outside riding in his new wagon. I think he would ride around in it all day if we'd let him!

Grandma & Grandpa Grimes came over for dinner to help celebrate Brayden's big day. We grilled out and then had cake & ice cream. Brayden did wonderfully with this candle this time...he just looked and didn't even try to touch it. When we blew out the candle he still was a little hesitant at first to touch the cake. But he eventually dug into it and really enjoyed it. He made a mess, so he did his job.Afterwards, he had a few more presents to open. He was very excited about his new ball and puzzle. More toys to add to the pile we've already collected. You can see more pictures from today and the party on Saturday by clicking here.It's hard to believe our baby boy is already one. I can't even begin to explain how much joy he has brought into our lives this past year. We have so enjoyed watching him grow and and change everyday, it just happened too fast. He needs to slow down! We are looking forward to what this next year brings us.

Happy Birthday sweet boy. We love you very much!

Birthday Party

We had Brayden's 1st birthday party on Saturday. I still can't get over the fact that he is turning one! Where did the time go?? We had lots of family and friends over for pizza, cake & ice cream to help us celebrate. Everything went great, except a small mishap when we sang Happy Birthday to Brayden. While I was trying to take a quick picture of him with his cake, he reached out for the lit candle. Everyone screamed at once, which scared him and then he started crying. He wouldn't have anything to do with the cake for a few minutes after that! I was finally able to calm him down though and he played with the cake a little. His finger is fine...no damage done =) As Aunt Gina said, it will be a memory we'll have of his first birthday party. He gots lots of new toys and books at the party and he has thoroughly enjoyed playing with them all since Saturday. He goes from one to another to another, etc all day. Below are a few pictures from the party.

The cake!

(Thanks Grammy Parr for making it!)

Going for the candle

Eating his cake

Opening presents!

Pushing Margo on his new train

Getting a ride in his wagon

New toys

His actual birthday is tomorrow. We'll have a smaller family celebration and try the cake thing again! I'll post the pictures of that later.

Halloween Fun

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A Family Wedding

Last night we went to my cousin Anna's wedding in Chapel Hill. Depsite the crummy weather (it was POURING rain at times), the wedding was beautiful and we had a fantastic time. We always love spending some time with our extended families, especially when we are celebrating good things like a wedding. Brayden was such a trooper too. He made a few outbursts during the ceremony, but we were able to keep him quiet for the most part by constantly feeding him cheerios! He held up great during the reception, where he got passed around most of the evening. He was out as soon as put him in the car to go home, and even slept in until 8:00am this morning. Below are a few pictures of our evening:

Daddy & Brayden

Uncle David with Margo & Brayden

(he was holding Brayden first and Margo got a little jealous!)

The Parrs

Brayden dancing with Margo

Grandma & Grandpa Grimes

Leslie & Brayden with the bride, Anna

Instead of a traditional wedding cake, they had several different kinds of pound cake. They all looked so good!

The happy couple

Anna & Tim

Hippo Walker

Brayden has been cruising along the furniture for a few weeks now, so Aunt Catherine gave him a hippo walker last weekend to practice his new walking skills. At first he was a little wobbly, but in just a week's time he has gotten really good & fast too! He loves to push it around the living room back and forth...and he grins from ear to ear while doing so. He can't quite keep up with it on hardwood floors yet, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time. Below is a quick video clip of him in action last week...he's gotten even quicker since then!

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Friends

We are very fortunate to have so many friends & family with children that are about the same age as Brayden. Four good friends and my sister in law all had a baby within a few months of when he was born! I don't think he'll ever have a lack of playmates. This past Friday, a group of my childhood friends and their children got together for a big playdate. Here are a few pictures:

Playing with his friends

Reese, Brayden, Bo, Clare & Knox

Already checking out the girls!!

We tried to get a group picture of Brayden, Reese & Tanner...not the easiest thing to do. I took about 7 or 8 pictures before giving up. But they all came out pretty funny in the end...here are a few attempts.

We had such a good time and plan to make this a more regular occurrence in the future.

Reading

Brayden loves to look at books and lately he has started "reading" them aloud. He'll flip the pages and babble while doing so. I think it's adorable! He won't let Greg or I read them to him anymore...he'll just start "reading" to us instead. Check out the video clip below!

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PS - Getting this video clip was not easy! Whenever I turn the camera on now, he'll stop whatever he is doing most of the time and crawl over to look right into the camera lens. I've gotten a good number of extreme closeups lately!