6 Months...Where Does Time Go?

Brayden is already 6 months old! He has grown so much in the past 6 months. He is babbling, sitting up on his own, has moved up to solid foods, has traveled by bus, car, train and taxi...so that's where time has gone! And those are just a few of his accomplishments. We are looking forward to showing him so much more. I made a 1/2 cake in celebration of his 1/2 birthday. He'll have to wait until his 1st birthday to enjoy a baked treat. Here is a picture of our baby boy...getting so big...

Dee-licious!

Since today was a snow day...and it had been over a week since Brayden had been suffering through his cereal we decided to whip him up some carrots! Mike and I had pretty much decided since before Brayden came along that it would be nice to make our own baby food...just call us Chef Boy-R-Dee's!! Perhaps our brand should be called...Deelicious! Hmmm...that has a nice ring to it. Well after reading about how, what and when to prepare his food...today seemed like the perfect day. We had some organic carrots in the refrigerator and decided this would make a great first food. We plan to use organic and stay away from processed foods. As I mentioned I did a bit of research and came across this great gadget. It is designed to perfectly steam, separate out the liquid and puree the baby food in about 15 minutes. So here it goes...

It turned out great...we actually happened to have some jarred carrots in the pantry (I saved for this purpose) that someone gave us...and yes we compared...they seemed a bit brown and tasted like...well jarred food. These carrots however tasted great...so fresh and sweet.

Brayden definitly likes them...he was so unsure of the texture but definitly kept opening wide for more...We are so happy to give him this gift!

Snow Days!

Well as predicted here for the past three weeks...it finally came. The blizzard of 2009. As promised it came in three stages. First was snow...buckets of snow...and then rain...freezing rain...then more snow. I think we ended up with about 7 inches total when it was all said and done. The city pretty much came to a screeching hault since many Cincinnatians were a bit skeptical as the forecasters have been less than accuarate in regards to the snow fall up until now. It all began Sunday and really picked up on Monday and kept up through Wednesday. Brayden and I spend the entire time since Sunday evening after having a wonderful dinner prepared by his Aunt Colleen (she made some awesome stuffed peppers...yummy) inside. Yes cabin fever set in, oh around Tuesday. We played, sang songs, napped, ate, napped some more and really just giggled and enjoyed our time together. Here is what the snow brought us on Tuesday as well as a picture of Brecken running back in as quickly as possible...he really enjoys his good life as an inside dog.

Mike got to spend Wednesday at home with us too. The city called a level 3 snow emergency and he decided not to risk getting stuck on the side of the road...and stayed home. Good thing too...there was lots of snow to shovel. He and Brecken got to play...more like Mike enjoyed tossing snow at him and chasing him around through the snow.

Brayden and I just enjoyed the pretty snow from inside...we stayed in our pj's all day!

Bon Apetite

Well as promised...Brayden has expanded his culinary repertoire...and is on to rice cereal. We are not yet convinced he is enjoying this new experience. He has such a sour look on his face the entire time...perhaps this one is a thumbs down. Well no need to worry he will only have to try this for a short period of time. His doctor recommend we start here to make sure his tummy is ready for new food. I imagine it tasting like milk with pulp...so I really don't blame his expressions...HA! Yes...imagine...neither Mike nor I have convinced the other to try this delicatessen. Here is how it went down...

Yeah...I don't know??? Wow...that's a whole lot of cereal!

What's that? I'm almost done...sweet!

Baby It's Cold Outside...

Well it's definitly winter in Cincinnati. As predicted by the forecasters it has broken zero degrees...yikes!! Needless to say we've been spending a lot of time entertaining Brayden inside where it is nice and toasty. He loves his excersaucer and his jumperoo so much more now. He really gets bouncing in his jumperoo...he seems so proud of himself. He has also began to really check out his tub toys while he splashes around in his tub. While we get him ready for bed Brecken likes to participate too...It also seems funny that when Brayden's bedtime routine is through we can find Brecken in bed too.

We also decided it is time for him to start trying out his high chair. Mike took it out of the box and put it together. It seems pretty small...but it is just right for Brayden. For right now he is just sitting in it to get used to his new view. He thought it was pretty entertaining to play with his napkin in the mean time. He is such a goofball. We plan to add rice cereal to his menu soon.

Brayden's Baptism

We celebrated Brayden's Baptism this weekend. Brayden did great! He didn't cry at all...he actually "gabbed" and smiled the whole time. It was a very nice ceremony. It was just our families and and it felt very special and personalized. Brayden's Great Grandpa and Grandma from Myrtle Beach were definitly missed but we know they said a little prayer for him that day. Brayden's Godparents are his Great Uncle Philip and his Aunt Sheila.

After the Baptism we had our families and the Deacon over to celebrate with lunch. Everything was delicious and everyone had a great time. He received some wonderful gifts from everyone. We loved spending time with everyone, especially during such a wonderful time. We feel very greatful to have such a wonderful family.

Happy New Year!

We hope everyone has a great 2009!