Random

My little Beezees!

Now has 12 teeth and has plenty still budding. He has 8 teeth in the front, and 4 very big teeth in the back (2 on top 2 on bottom).

Weighs about 26 pounds and is solid as a rock. When I hold him I feel as if I am carrying a sack of potatoes. Its awkward and I never now when part of him will decide to squirm in the opposite direction. Then flip in every which way until I put 'em on the floor.

His current favorite food is Captain Crunch and Ego Chocolate Chip Waffles. The occasional chicken nugget doesn't hurt either. And he loves Chocolate milk..... wow, he's really starting to sound like he takes after me with all these Chocolate friendly foods!

Anyways, here are some pictures that I just feel like posting! Enjoy!

Here he is a little too happy to be wearing my Betty Boop scrub top!











Look Mommy! I found a great place to hide your keys and your CELL PHONE! Its funny to me that he's almost 16 months old and he can already disassemble my printer. I actually learned a thing or two from him!! Sheesh! Smarty Pants!

Brayden's "Oh Yeahs!"

Brayden likes his sunglasses. In fact, he loves them. However, that hasn't always been the case. Since we live in a city where the sun burns your retina, I decided that he should always have sunglasses.... and the only way he keeps them on, is if I say "OOH YEAH!!" While he wears them. Recently they got squashed, but we had some memorable times with the silver pair. Now it looks as if I'll have to go to the store and get the blue pair.

Breakthrough!!

Brayden has been bottle free for 5 days!! Wednesday was the last day he had one! OH, I'm so excited! Seriously thought it'd take me forever, but once I found a sippie cup that he liked, it was very easy! Here is the sippie of choice:



Bye bye bottle! WHOOT WHOOT!

Mr. Bucket

Brayden has a space for all his toys in the living room that I call "Mr. Bucket". In fact he has two of them. A normal day consists of me asking him, "Did you put all your toys in Mr. Bucket? Don't tip over Mr. Bucket please". And the phrase that I'm saying more and more today is "Get out of Mr. Bucket!" I have no idea why I decided to call him Mr. Bucket, but the name works and has definitely stuck! Here is Mr. Bucket 1 and Mr. Bucket 2 and Brayden trying to live in them. (And yes, in some of these pictures he has major bed head!)

The Dreading Deployment

Troy left on Friday. Its a bummer because he was only home for ten months and ten days, so I'm starting to feel that April cannot come fast enough.

So here is a little insight to what will happen. He will spend the next 3-4 weeks in Wisconsin. Then he will fly from Wisconsin to Middle East. When he travels from Wisconsin, they usually stop in Europe somewhere. From there, he'll make a call home and that will be the last I talk to him for a few days.... It will be a little while before I hear anything. Once I do hear something and know where he's at and that he got there safe, I'll post it right away. So everyone just be patient. I know just as much as everyone else how nerve wracking and annoying it can be to not know where they are. But there's not a lot I can do about it except wait until I hear something.

Once he's there he'll be able to check emails, and call home. He usually calls everyday, so its nice. Sometimes he gets to go somewhere that allows him to have an internet connection in his room, so we get to see him on the web cam in the morning and at night! So pray he gets to go somewhere like that!!

Anyways, here's his email so everyone can keep in touch:

tnggray@hotmail.com

I love you this much!

While Troy was playing with Brayden the other night, I stopped and thought that I couldn't be luckier to have a husband that loves his child so much. Troy is usually the fun parent. Don't get it wrong, I can be 'cool' sometimes, but Troy is the parent of preference when it comes to smooshing, jumping, and climbing on. And when it comes to Brayden, in my mind, no other child could be more spoiled. I often tell Troy that he spoils him too much, but Troy continues to do what ever he wants. I mean seriously, if the kid cries in his crib for even a second, papa Troy is to his rescue. If he squashes food with his fingers, his dad is the first to say "eeeeewwwwww" and make him laugh. If he sees something he wants to play with, his dad steps in to play with him and makes things seem more exciting. If Brayden wants something, Troy usually gets it for him.

Now I know that spoiling can sometimes go to far, and I usually balance that out a little.... But after thinking about it, I know so many dads who put their kids on the back burner. These guys usually do whatever they want to and continue to deal with just 'their needs and wants' and not those of the children. With that being said, I have decided that if my son comes before anything else in my husbands eyes... thats just fine with me! And don't miss understand this though, Troy can sometimes put his foot down when its needed. And I'm just as lucky as Brayden. Because in most cases, I'm just as spoiled as he is. So life is good!

The thing I love about this, is how much it reminds me of my dad. When I was 6, my dad took me to see Oliver and Company (the animated Disney movie) when it came out the first time. We saw it (in the theater) 14 times with in two Wednesdays and a weekend (aka 4 days). Now obviously the things he did for me really made an impact. Especially if I remember it twenty years later. But a lot of the traits my dad had, my husband has. And I will be honest, when I first married Troy I wasn't sure how he'd be with kids because he was so shy around them. But its true what they say: "Wait 'til the kids come, then you'll see"... And you know what.... they're right! What I see, I definitely like!

Here are some pictures of Brayden and Troy:

Aw, this is my favorite picture of them. This was the first week Troy came back from Iraq and they actually got to meet each other in person. Brayden was 5 months here, and he just took to Troy instantly. He knew it was his daddy.

Smooches!

Brayden was telling daddy stories in his own language that we actually understand.

There's nothing like shooting in the air!

Making the cart that blocks came in just a little more exciting.

I think we might have another wrestler on our hands.

He just loves his daddy!

His dad even taught him what team to cheer for.

Thanks to my amazing hunny for being the best dad.
We love you!