Christmas Day with PaPa & MeMe & family!

Here is Brady when he realized that he was getting spoiled even more!!  He got a Baby Einstein Jumperoo and he was watching me & PaPa put it together and he was SUPER excited!!

Pappy, PaPa, Brady, MeMe, Nana, Blake and Me!  This is taken before we snacked on dips, turkey & ham, cheese log, homemade candies, peanut butter pie and more!  De-Lish!

Then Brady got in his jumper!  He LOVED it!  I put him in it several times yesterday and it tuckered him out!!  He is so observant and just checks everything out and is so much fun!!

He also got a "game day" sock monkey and a tiny little sock monkey ornament that he kept holding on to!  It was funny!  He was so worn out from all the excitement!  It was so good seeing my family on Christmas Day, esp since Richie was working!  I didn't want to be at home by myself on Christmas!  A big thanks to all of them for all of our gifts and for coming up!  It was so good seeing everyone and once again we were all spoiled! :)  What a great first Christmas!

Christmas Morning!

Brady was so excited about Santa coming that instead of sleeping in til 6am like he had been doing, he woke up at 4:30!!  So, after his bottle he went right back to sleep but since Richie had to work on Christmas Day (very sad that he didn't get to stay at home on Christmas Day) he got in a little cuddle time before going to work!  We will have to go up to the station later to see him!!

Brady getting excited to open more presents!  This lil man is SPOILED! :)  And he LOVES it!

After Mass...

Proud parents after Mass!!!  Brady was sleeping, he was worn out after his performance!

Then when he woke up he opened presents and boy was he SPOILED!!!  He got tons of toys and clothes and I think his favorite thing from Babs & Grampie was this lil firetruck!  He isn't big enough yet, but soon enough he will be scooting around all over the house on it!  He LOVES it!!

Opening more books, etc.  He didn't know what to think!  It was way too cute!!

After opening all the gifts, he got his bath and was getting ready for bed and of course Grammie read "how the grinch stole Christmas" and it put him to sleep!

He is out like a light!  Getting some rest for Christmas day!!  A big thank you to Babs, Grampie, Aunt Jackie and Grammie for spoiling all of us!  What a great Christmas Eve and it was so special spending it with all of you!  Love you bunches, Brady is a lucky little boy!!

Christmas Pageant at St. Joseph's!

Here is Brady's big debut!  When we went to practice on Thursday they were picking who would play what and when the main lady asked who wanted to be Mary all these little girls raised their hands...Some big, some small, some young, some old...They had already picked who was going to play Joseph and he was pretty little so they couldn't have a big Mary.  They picked this little girl (age 7) named Caroline to be Mary and at first I was nervous because she is TINY!  However, she did an AMAZING job!  Never flinched and held him tight the whole time!  Precious!!

Here are the angels, sheep, shepards, drummer boy and donkey!  Most of them coughed and sniffled the whole time...

Mary and Joseph admiring Baby Jesus - it was so touching and just thinking about the story behind Jesus being born was so emotional and Brady did sooooo good!  He didn't make a peep the whole time and he was just checking out all the kids and I couldn't be more proud of him!!

After his performance - I'm such a proud stage mom! :)  HAHA!

Christmas Eve!!

What a wonderful 1st Christmas with Brady!  This is on Christmas Eve!  Richie's parents and sister and my mom all came over to our house to celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve before going to the Christmas pageant at the church for Brady's big debut!  Richie fixed a spinach & feta stuffed pork tenderloin, sweet potato bake, cucumber salad and green bean casserole.  His parents brought over some deviled eggs and ham roll ups for an appitizer and we all were stuffed!!

Barb, Tom, Richie, Brady & Jackie!

Mom, Richie, Brady and me!

We gave the dogs their presents before we went to church and they LOVED them!  Mom found them "sock monkeys for the dogs" and Barb found them a little bear and duck and they went crazy for them!  Hysterical!

Here is Bubby going crazy for his presents!  HAHA!  He was thanking grammie b/c he loved them so much!

Richie's work Christmas party!!

Babs and Grampie came to babysit lil Brady while we went to the Embassy in Rogers for the Rogers Fire Department Christmas Party!  I think they had the best time EVER!  Brady was breaking them in right b/c he had the BIGGEST POOP EVER right after we left!  HAHA!  They sent us a text message letting us know that he had poop up his back up to his hair and up to his neck in the front - HAHA!  That didn't ruin their time at all - Brady still got spoiled and they said that they would come back and babysit anytime b/c they had so much fun!  :o)  YAY!!  Brady told us that he had a great time too and he really enjoys getting spoiled...HA!

This was our first night out after having Brady (all night out) - and we had a BLAST!  We felt like we were footloose and fancy free!  We went to his party and ate a good meal and Richie won me a microdermabrasion on the silent auction!  We skipped out a little early to go to Siloam Springs and gamble at the casino!  NO, we didn't win! :(  But we had a great time and we thought that we would get a good nights sleep since we were away, but we stayed at the Blackjack table until 1:30 in the morning!  We felt like we were 21 again!  Then paid for it the next day!  HA!  We aren't the youngsters like we used to be!  But we appreciated Babs and Grampie watching Brady and we missed him but had a great time! :)

Butler Christmas Party!!

Me & Brady getting ready for the party!  And yes, he is wearing his "elf in training" outfit!  So festive!

From left to right - India, Carla, lil McKynlee, me, Heather, lil Brady, and Kate!  Of course the guys didn't take a picture!  This was taken before the Dirty Santa booze exchange!  We ate some delicious chicken chili that Richie made and some yummy dips and cookies - it was FAB!

Me, Richie and Brady posing in front of the main Christmas tree!

Ryan showing off his "Mad Housewife" wine that he got in the wine exchange!  What a fun time!  It was a lot different this year having kids here!  HAHA!  My my my what a difference a year makes!  HA!  It was a great time and Brady got spoiled by everyone wanting to love on him!!  MERRY CHRISTMAS friends!

A visit from Kim & Kate!

How cute are these 2 sassy girls???

Kim & Kate came over for a visit this past week (yes, I'm way behind on posting)...It's been super busy with holiday parties, shopping, cleaning, etc. and I'm trying to get caught up for now!  Hopefully I won't get behind after this next weekend again! HAHA!  Anywhooooo...Here is lil Brady and lil Kate after exchanging gifts!  :)  I think Brady liked his present by the smile on his face!  Hehehe!  These 2 really had a great time getting together!  They are only 1 week apart and I see many play dates in their future!!  It was so good to see these guys - it's been too long!!!

3 month landmark!

As many of you know, the 3 month mark is a time babies hold their heads up so of course I had to take the time to get that in a picture!!  He has been holding his head up for quite awhile, but it has really gotten so good here lately!  He is so strong! :) 

Guess who rolls over by himself!!!

He has mastered rolling over by himself!  He will roll over to his right 99% of the time, but we are working on rolling to the left!!  He is just growing up way to fast!!!

Guess who is 3 months old!!?!??

This little man!  What a fun 3 months!  Plenty of books, baths, snuggles, kisses, burps, poops, cute outfits, giggles, smiles, kicks, cries, bottles, naps, lovins, tummy time, bumbo time, visits from family & friends, toys, diapers, car rides, pictures and just FUN TIMES!!  He started off 6lbs 14oz and now 3 months later 13lbs!!  He has gotten so big!  He has such a fun little personality and he has just filled out!  We just can't imagine our lives without Brady!  What a great 3 months filled with joy!

Learning farm animals!

Here is Brady learning farm animals - these were a gift from Tina!  He loves them!

Saturday...Whirlwind of a day...

What a precious little family!  Ryan, McKynlee & Carla - one of five options for their Christmas cards.

Where to begin...December 11th is a very busy day!  We didn't make the Christmas party with Richie's family in St. Louis b/c we felt like it was just too much with him being so small and the weather wasn't supposed to be that great either...So, we went to my company Christmas party in Little Rock instead!  And here is how the day broke down - stop in Russellville to see Aunti Carla and Uncle Ryan & little McKynlee!  We wanted to take their picture so they could send out Christmas cards and Uncle Ryan hadn't even met Brady!  What a fun time - just passed by too quickly...I think they might come up this Friday to snuggle with lil Brady more since they didn't get much time!  :(

We then went to Aunt Bran's house!  Her and Uncle Nathan watched lil Brady while we went to the Christmas Party and Brady had a BLAST!  We left him at 5:45 and picked him up at 10pm and he only slept for 10min the whole time we were gone!  They played with Ginger and read books and had the BEST time!  He LOVES his Aunt Bran!  And, Aunt Bran said that he was a really good boy while we were gone!  YAY!!  Brandy is having a little girl (naming her Lily) in February and Brady can NOT wait to meet her!!  I can't wait for them to get together!  He is already asking when he gets to see his Aunt Bran again - I think he just got too spoiled! :)  I had the cutest picture of Brandy, Brady and Ginger but it is on my other camera and I haven't uploaded those pics yet!  Brandy is going to be the best mom ever and I just can't wait!!

Me and Richie at the Christmas Party!  This is in front of Tina's "Christopher Radko" tree - it is the most gorgeous tree in the world!  I wish we didn't cover the whole thing so you could see it better!  We had the best time!  We had cucumber dip, cilantro dip, roasted red pepper dip, beef tenderloin, gumbo, ham, sweet potato casserole, zucchini bake, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, brownies, peanut butter pie, ooey gooey sticky bars & chocolate chip cookies...I know there was more, but that is what I remember - it was DELISH!  We played "dirty Santa" with ornaments and that was fun - we ended up coming home with a Razorback ornament and a zebra ornament (Richie picked out the WORST ornament ever - pink poodle that shed hair everywhere) and Tina (my manager) got that one and she LOVED it - it was HYSTERICAL!  Fun was had by all - it was sooooo good seeing everyone!

These are the ladies that are in my district!  From left to right - Kristi (Jonesboro), Lori (Conway), Jennifer (Jonesboro), Kim (Pine Bluff), me, Ashley (Little Rock), Ashlea (Hot Springs) - Front - Tina (Manager) and Heather (Little Rock) - What a great group of ladies!  I am truly blessed to work with such talented and sweet girls!  We work for a FABULOUS manager and we all LOVE each other like family!  Merry Christmas BMS family!

We picked up Brady in Conway and drove all the way home!  Didn't get home until 1AM and the wind was blowing soooo hard that our car was getting blown all over the road.  It was crazy!  Brady slept the whole way home and was such a good boy!  Richie said "never again" since he was the one driving and was super tired and having to put up with the wind...HA!

Thursday - visit from Babs & Grampie!

Richie has been DYING for him to grow into this outfit and he is one proud papa!  Don't know if you can see what it says, but it says "Daddy's pint size punter" and he LOVES it!  I don't think he will ever be able to part with this outfit and I'm pretty sure Brady will be wearing it everyday when I go back to work!  Cute boy!

Brady just woke up from a good long nap with Grampie!  He had so much fun with them!  After some drool, a couple of fussy days and Brady wanting to put everything in his mouth...Babs agreed with me that we think he might be teething ALREADY!  My mom said that my teeth came in early, so I guess only time will tell!  Fingers crossed he feels better and can hold off a little longer!

WOW - What a big boy!!

So, this past week (a little shy of 3 months old) we noticed that his 0-3month clothes were getting a little snug...Long way for sure!  SO - we decided one night after his bath that we would put him in his 3-6 month old sleepers and we held them up and they looked HUGE!  However...They fit perfectly!  He is getting to be such a big boy!!!  And, notice in the picture above - he is holding on to that rattle and that toy like a champ!  He is very observant and wanting to play with everything!  Sweet boy!

This is another 3-6 month old sleeper that has the cutest little sock monkeys on it!  He is just the sweetest boy in the world!  And so snuggly!

Right after his bath sitting on the couch like a big boy!  This one is a little big, but he needs some that he can grow into!  He's really getting into a better routine and sleeping a little more!  And, he's right at 13lbs!  These past 3 months have been so wonderful!

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

This little man got a very important phone call this week!  The ladies at St. Joseph's Church called and asked if Brady could play the part of "Baby Jesus" in the Christmas Pageant on Christmas Eve!  Words can't even describe how excited I was!!!  I LOVED doing plays when I was little and I always sang or played parts in the Christmas program at church growing up and then school plays in high school.  Looks like Brady does take after mommy after all!  SUPER PUMPED!  I think he is going to be the best Baby Jesus EVER!

Visit from Grammie on Tuesday!

Grammie came up to visit on Tuesday!  YAY!  She spent the afternoon with us, Brady loved it!  Grammie snuggled with him, fed him a bottle and played.  You can see by the smiles on their faces that they had a great time!!

Sunday!

Sunday we had a surprise visit from Richie's cousin & family from Kansas City!  They stayed the weekend with Tom and Barb for Jack's birthday (the 5 year old) and they came home through Fayetteville to see little Brady!  We were super excited b/c they have a 1 year old little girl (Brooke) that we hadn't gotten to see yet!  So, after we got out of church we met them at La Huerta and ate lunch and came back to our house so they could see the Christmas decorations before they headed home!  Here is Jack getting sung to for his birthday - he got really shy...

After they went home Tom & Barb stayed to do some Christmas shopping and we decided that we would come to Buffalo Wild Wings to have a beer while they watched Brady for a little bit!  We did a little Christmas shopping too and it was so much fun!  I just have to point out that I'm wearing the shirt that my Aunt got me from VA when she was visiting in this picture!  We had a great time!  And Babs & Grampie had a great time watching lil Brady too!!

Then, on Sunday night - Brady started trying to hold his bottle!!  It was so cute!  I couldn't really get a good picture of it, but we just thought it was super precious!! :)  That's all that happened this past week...But, we have a very busy week ahead so check back next week for more exciting posts!! :)

Saturday...

This is Brady before the biggest poop of his life showing off his new boots!!!

This is Brady after getting all cleaned up (bath was needed b/c the poop was up to his belly button & everywhere else) - so he got out his cute new onesie from his God Parents, Brian & Alyssa!  The blue & red above was actually from them too!

Saturday Richie worked so me and Brady hung out and ran some errands!  But Brady got a visit from Aunt Inda and was very excited!  He had the biggest poop of his life and needless to say had several wardrobe changes...However, he looked so cute that I got several pics!  Aunt Inda LOVES to come and see little Brady - and he just LOVES her too!!

This past week...

Let's see...This past week (and I know I'm behind on posting - I typically post on Sunday but we had company and yesterday was busy) so it's Tuesday again before I'm posting on the previous week!  Sorry about that!

From left - Jamie, me, Carrie & Nicole!

This past week wasn't too exciting til the end of the week!  Richie had poker night on Thursday but of course guys don't take pics...I had girls night out on Friday night and got to eat dinner with my good friends Carrie, Nicole and Jamie!  We ate at Greenhouse Grille and it was AMAZING!  So happy I took 1/2 of my dinner home for lunch the next day!  YUM!  It was really great seeing these girls b/c we haven't been able to get together that often now that Nicole has Andy and Carrie has Harper and I have Brady!  Jamie has always been busy and now that she got her Master's she has a little more time to squeeze us in!  HA!  But, we've decided that we are going to get together for dinner every 2 months now to stay in touch and have a little fun!  Here we are at Greenhouse Grille above!  Richie had Brady all ready for bed when I got home!  I think they enjoyed "guy time" while I was out! :)

My sweet husband!

I almost forgot - over the weekend my sweet husband made pumpkin pancakes for me and they were FAB!!  Oh how I love pumpkin flavored things...Pumpkin custard, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin cream cheese roll...HOWEVER...As odd as it is...I hate pumpkin pie!  But, these pancakes were DE-LISH!

And Brady watched while I ate them!  Not too much longer and he'll be eating them!!  What a little chubbs!  I love it!