Who Came to Party?

I know there are many more birthdays to come for Braedan, but this year was so enjoyable to watch because he understood a lot more of what was going on around him. For you and me, a birthday might involve reflecting on another year and feeling grateful to have experienced and enjoyed all that you have during that time. For Braedan, when he gets wind of a birthday he asks the two most important questions a three year old might ask about one, "He having a birthday party? With cake?" It doesn't matter if the person will indeed have a party, when he hears the word birthday it is synonymous with a party and cake. In fact he said the sweetest thing to me the other day when I mentioned my birthday is coming up. He looked at me and said, well stated it as more of a question as he usually does with a lot of his sentences, "I go to your birthday party?" I couldn't help but laugh and didn't have the heart tell him I wasn't having a party so all I managed to say was, "Of course, it wouldn't be a party without you."

This year Braedan sort of got two birthday parties for the price of one. We invited a few of his friends to a pool party, but unfortunately thunder activity delayed and eventually canceled the pool fun. Fifteen minutes in to the start of the party thunder rumbled nearby prompting lifeguards to force us out of the pool, and as intermittent rumbling continued on we decided to call it an afternoon and have everyone over to our house for hamburgers and hot dogs. Braedan of course didn't understand why we were called out of the pool. He kept asking about going back in, but all of his questioning was forgotten once he learned his friends would be coming over, because again to a three year old, friends coming over naturally means they are coming over to play.

I was disappointed that he and his friends didn't really get to enjoy the pool, but in the end all that really mattered was that he was happy. And you know my fun loving boy, he made the most of it.

Of course since he is a beach boy now, his birthday wouldn't be complete without spending some time in the sand and water. On the day of his actual birthday we spent some time at the beach with family. Here he is getting some help with a sand castle from my sister's boyfriend, Hayden.

Happy Birthday, Big Boy!

Unbelievable

It's hard to believe this same little guy...

A few days old

 

7 Months



is now this big guy.

 

Opening some birthday mail from maimo and daideo and cousins Alexander and Xavier.

 

Today is the big 3 for Braedan and there's been plenty of non-stop fun all weekend long. He had a small party with friends and family yesterday and today we're headed to our favorite spot...the beach, of course. We will post more about our weekend later this week.   

Zooming Right Along

Having spent my tween and teen years during the early to mid-90s I hold a special place in my heart for catchy hip hop and dance music, specifically the Will Smith and Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch variety. Fun fact about the hubby, he does too. Apparently Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch is the first CD he ever bought. This background information will help explain the following reference: I think Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff had it wrong in their song "Summertime" when they said, "Put your car on cruise and lay back because it's summertime." Since our unofficial start to summer we have not been in a cruising mode but in more of a fast forward with one activity after the next popping up as we continued on through the month of May.

A few weeks after our semi-camping excursion we headed to Dallas for a mini vacation and while there we introduced Braedan to two, well technically three, big things. The first big introduction was to his two new cousins--yes, I said two--Alexander and Xavier. We visited Aunt Bridget and Uncle Bryan to spend some quality time with these cutie pies while they were still in their newborn phase because as we've heard and seen through little updates, they are already growing like weeds. These little guys made quite the impression on Braedan. So much so that while on our bike ride/walk last night, Braedan out of the blue asked, "Mommy, you have two babies?" I quickly corrected him and reminded him that only one baby is in my tummy, his sister. He followed up by saying or more like posing it as a question "Bridget has two babies?" I don't know what prompted him to think about that during this particular time, but as you can see how could these sweet boys not leave a good impression. 

Alexander is on the left and Xavier is on the right.

Alexander let Braedan get some practice in holding a baby.

He also let his uncle brush up on his skills too.

Here is the new mommy (on the right) with the two best examples
 she has to show her the mommy way, her mom and sister.

Keeping up with all things baby, Braedan's  daideo wanted to compare babies-- my bambino belly and his very own food belly.

Continuing with the fun and silly, the third thing we introduced Braedan to was the glory and grandeur of an indoor water park. During our visit we stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine and in Braedan's eyes it definitely lived up to its "Great" name. He spent a lot of time at the water park and the first words out of his mouth every morning were, "We going to water park?" Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from all of his time spent in the water. The two times I went with him I was afraid to take the camera down for fear of it getting wet or stolen, and we all know my pregnant self wasn't going to take it down to snap a few shots to then have to trek all the way back to our room to leave it there. I did manage to get a shot of him when we first arrived while he waited patiently for daddy to check us in. I actually can't believe he sat still for it, because right when you walk in you'll find a giant window beckoning you to see and come in to the water park. I'm surprised Braedan didn't want to bolt for it right then and there, but I think the cute bear next to him had something to do with him keeping his cool about it all. You can tell how intrigued he is by the way he's peering over to get a glimpse.

And though we've been zooming instead of cruising right into the start of summer, one thing I know for sure...Braedan is certainly enjoying the ride.

A Summer State of Mind

I know the calendar says summer begins later in June, but for us it unofficially kicked off over Cinco de Mayo weekend. The beautiful warm weather and a semi-camping experience served  as the catalyst to get us in a summer state of mind. Our usual source of family fun, the Jensens, once again showed us all the fun to be had around the Corpus area and invited us to a nearby ranch for a little camping getaway. Earlier I referred to our experience as a "semi" one because unlike them and another family who tagged along, we opted not to rough it outdoors with an overnight stay. Call us wimps for not staying to become one with nature, but the hubby and I value our sleep too much to attempt to sleep in a tent with a two year old. Me being pregnant and all, I want to a.) sleep as much as I possibly can now before the baby arrives and b.) no offense to Mother Nature, but I'm already roughing it by carrying this child in the South Texas heat so I didn't really feel too bad about letting Braedan skip out on that part of the experience. And though we left out that minor part of the weekend, we still indulged in all the activities that come along with camping.

We did a little swimming both in a pool and a pond;



we fished;

 

and even took the time to just sit, relax and enjoy nature.

 As I mentioned earlier, it was Cinco de Mayo Weekend so things would not have been complete without a pinata. We do live in South Texas and not having a pinata there is like telling me you will not have a margarita on that particular day, or at least a beer.  

Hope your start to summer has been just as enjoyable as ours.