Brady's 1 year appointment!

Well, yesterday was the dreaded day!  I've been dreading it for at least a week...I've been excited to see his height, weight, etc. but DREADING the shots...Here is the update on Brady at 1 year old!

Brady weighs 22lbs and is 30in tall - putting him in the 50% across the board (head circum too) - the doctor asked if he had tried walking yet - YEAH RIGHT!  He's been running and climbing for a few months.  When we put him down he said "Oh yeah, he's a champ" and even commented on how advanced he was!  We talked about the things he says, eats, etc. and he advised us to wait on letting him try eggs, peanut butter and strawberries until he is 18 months old because he has allergies already!  Poor guy - he got his mommys allergies and his daddys sensitive skin!  But everything else he is right on track or ahead of the game!  YAY Brady!  Then the dreaded shots came and I had stepped out to go to the restroom and right as I was turning the knob to come back in Brady starting screaming and I got sick to my stomach.  I walked in and his face was SO red and he was clinching his fists - poor Richie had to hold him down.  I wanted to cry.  But, I was strong.  I scooped him off the table and held him tight.  He only cried for for a couple of minutes and by the time we left the clinic he was clapping and waving.  So, he took them like a champ!  He went home with daddy and slept for over 2 hours!  When he woke up he was in the best mood and was so good all night long!  He did wake up with a fever this morning, but I took a vacation day today so I could stay home with him and cuddle and love on him ALL DAY LONG!  So, we are going to have a date day and I'm going to spoil him for doing so good on his shots! :)

Here is everything else going on with Brady at 1 year old: 

Brady is wearing size 4 diapers still, size 12-18 month old clothes and about a size 5 shoe!  He is doing SUPER AWESOME at sleeping in the crib now and sleeps about 10 straight hours a night!  He's been taking only one 2 hour nap a day for about a week because he's been sleeping in so late.  But, that varies.  He is almost completely off his bottles (as of this weekend he will be totally off) and is just drinking out of a sippy cup.  His favorite meal of the day is breakfast - this kid LOVES breakfast!  He LOVES eating bananas and insists on biting it off himself, he also loves donuts and muffins even though he doesn't get those very often.  He also loves mac & cheese and pasta.  Not a huge fan of meat yet - although he LOVES the nuggets from Chick-fil-a.  And, he is his mommys boy - LOVES sweets!  Especially ice cream!  He has several favorite toys because he just had a birthday and has several new ones to play with, but he loves riding in his wagon or on his tricycle and he LOVES playing on his slide.  He would prefer to be outdoors and I think would stay outside all day long if we let him!  He does love watching Barney at the Circus while riding in the car and he LOVES watching Wheel of Fortune at night - and we let him since we feel like it might enhance his vocabulary!  HA!  Overall, we think he is doing quite well!  This year has really flown by and we wouldn't have changed one thing - it's been AWESOME!  We love you little Brady!

32 week appt with Bria!

Well, here is the update on Bria!  I have been feeling a lot of pressure here lately and some weird things.  I told my doctor that I feel like I should be further along than I really am so she decided to go ahead and check me.  Sure enough!  She is lower than she needs to be at this point and I'm already starting to dilate.  She instructs me to TAKE IT EASY!  Yeah right!  In the past month we have moved, gone to 2 Razorback games and walked around for hours and hours and then had Brady's birthday party.  All of this along with working long hours during the week...So, taking it easy is easier said than done.  HOWEVER, I did feel like I lifted too much, etc. so I have been trying to not do as much.  With all of that being said, I've been checked again twice (the past 2 weeks) and no change!  YAY!  I have been good!  Here are the 4D pics from the ultrasound and if you ask me - she looks just like Brady did when he was born!  The top pic is her face straight on & the bottom pic is her from the side trying to suck on her thumb!  Just precious!  And now - COUNTDOWN is on!!  We will get to meet her in 4 weeks!  She will come 13 days early (just like Brady) and the C-Section is scheduled for 11/1/11 at 9:30!  Can't wait to meet our little girl!

Bria's Russellville Baby Shower!

9/25/2011 - Bria May Butler

Russellville Baby Shower

Hosts - Carla Staggs and Brandy Hopkins

Let me just start this blog by saying - I am truly blessed to have such great friends!  I've been friends with Carla and Brandy since college and you know how you lose track of people over the years, well - let me just say that these are friends that you NEVER lose track of!  I know that they will be my best friends when I'm in the nursing home!  HA!  I'm so lucky to have them in my life and I don't know what I would do without them!  Thank you both so much for throwing Bria a shower!  You are the best!

I'm very weird about showers...I have thrown or helped to throw MANY showers over the years and I've attended numerous 2nd baby showers and even 3rd baby showers...But, I guess it's the whole - I would rather give a gift than get one thing...I just felt so awkward about having a shower bc we just had showers for Brady about a year ago!  I didn't want anyone to feel obligated to get us a gift for Bria!  I love buying gifts for babies and each baby is special so I really do appreciate it, but really didn't want anyone to feel like they needed to get us something.  When Carla and Brandy first spoke with me about a shower they made me feel a lot better about it since we had a boy first and now we are having a girl and need different things!  So, when I agreed I said "let's do simple"...Even though they think it's "simple" you can look at the pics below and tell that they made everything PERFECT!  It was all decorated so cute!  THANKS SO MUCH - it was all sooooo PERFECT! 

Bria's cake - is this not the cutest thing you've ever seen?  I wish I could upload a pic of the invitation bc it matches it perfectly!  SUPER cute!  And the top was chocolate (SUPER moist and AWESOME) and the bottom was white - YUMMY!!  I hated them cutting into it bc it was so cute!  But, tasted just as good!

Here is the diaper cake - Carla made this!!!  It matches the inviations which match the other cake and it all looked so cute - AND THE DIAPERS ARE TO BE USED!  Precious!  I'm going to hate taking that apart!

Since we are doing the nursery the same (multi-colored sock monkeys) they thought that Bria needed her very own pink monkey!  HA!  TOO CUTE!  Notice the YUMMY food in the background...De-LISH!  We had pizza dip, spinach dip, pinwheels, chocolate chip dip and fruit with dip!  Quite the spread!  And, the best punch EVER!!!  It's my favorite - Brandy's mom makes it and it's AWESOME!

How cute are the balls hanging from the ceiling?  Precious!  The pics just don't do the decorations justice!

And, this was SUPER cute!  Too bad the blinds were open and the pic didn't turn out better.  This was a little clothesline with SUPER cute baby girl clothes hanging up!  Precious!

Here is me and my mom "Grammie" to Brady and Bria!  She had a great time and is spoiling Bria already!

Here is my sister Michel!  So sweet of her to come - I wish we could see each other more often but we live so far away...And, I feel terrible bc I don't think to invite her up bc I just don't think she will want to drive that far - but I need to be better about asking bc it would really be great seeing her more often!

Brandy, Lily and Kathy - Could they be any cuter?  Especially Lily!!!  She is the SWEETEST lil thing!  I wish you could see her outfit better - it was little carhart overall mini skirt outfit with leggings.  I've already made a claim on that for Bria!  HA!  Way too cute!

Another great friend that I met while I was in college - Candace and her step-daughter Jesse and little girl Sam.  I can't get over how big she has gotten!  She is almost 3 and just as cute as a button!  And just as sweet!  So good to see them! :)

And, I couldn't leave out McKynlee!  She didn't get to join us for the shower...But, as I was leaving granny dropped her off so we had to sneak in a pic!  Could she be any cuter?  I think not!  My friends are so blessed to have such cute and sweet little angels!  I sure hope Bria is just as sweet! :)

Thanks to everyone who came to the shower and for those of you who couldn't come but sent gifts!  I truly am lucky and feel very blessed!  Bria is off to a great start already and we really appreciate it! :) 

Brady's 1st Birthday Party!

These are the invitations I sent out for Brady's 1st birthday!  It's so funny how much he's changed in a month and a half!  He had just gotten a hair cut for the invitation picture and then it was back down in his eyes again so he needed his 1st "big boy hair cut" for his big day!  So, he looks so different!

Daddy, Mommy and Brady at Powerhouse upstairs celebrating Brady's 1st birthday!

Mommy and the birthday boy!

Brady's cake!  Rick's Bakery did such a great job!!  I thought it was super cute!

Getting ready to dig into his cake!!!

He wasn't too sure what to think about his cake!  He stuck his hand in it and I think was confused b/c it was sticky!  When I put his hand in his mouth he was like "MMMMMMMM" and then kept sucking on his fingers.  He didn't dig in like I had hoped, but I think he was so sleepy that he was a little overwhelmed and not sure what to do.  And, you would have thought he was a celebrity with all of the flashes going off - I'm pretty sure he was wondering what in the world was going on!! 

Brady and Grammie!  Grammie got him a lil trikes slide/basketball/soccer set that he LOVES!  It's in our sunroom now, but since it's cooled off some we will be putting it in the backyard so he can really enjoy it!

Brady with Babs and Grampie! They got him a Radio Flyer wagon which he LOVES and several other goodies too!  I have a feeling we will be pulling him around the neighborhood!  For now he's happy going around and around the house!  HAHA!

Nathan, Brady and Lily - they drove all the way from Conway to spend time with Brady on his 1st birthday!  What a special boy!  How cute is this family????  SUPER cute!  Lily is so sweet and precious!!

Buckley and Kate - not sure where the rest of the family is, but Kim and Cambry and Jack were there too!  They had a busy weekend just like us!  So happy they were able to come!

Randi and Lilly - so sweet!  They had a houseful this weekend also, so it was really nice of them to come by!

Carrie and Harper came to celebrate too!  How cute is she?  She just keeps getting bigger and bigger every single time we see her!  She was being really shy with Brady - it was funny!

Brady and Maddox!  All the kids were running around like crazy, it was hard to get anyone focused!

Except these girls - how precious are they???  Just posing!!  HA!  Ireland, Harper and Lilly just couldn't be any cuter!!  They were playing with the balloons having a big time!  It was too cute!!

Here is the birthday boy running around...Time to open presents!

All the kids are helping!  It was soooooo funny - Harper decided that she needed everything that Brady opened - it was priceless!  I thought it was so funny!  Brady will share! :)  Give it another couple of months and he may have a harder time doing so....hehehe!  Brady got SPOILED!  Pretty sure it said "presence is present enough" on the invitation...THANKS SO MUCH to everyone!!  Brady loved it all!!!

The party continued at home when Babs and Grampie got the wagon put together!  I don't know how many laps we all made around the house Sunday night!  It was storming or we would have been outside!  All in all, it was a FABULOUS first birthday!  I didn't get good pictures of the decorations, but I was more than pleased with them.  I think it all turned out super cute and I think everyone had a great time!  Thank you all for coming and making Brady's 1st birthday so special - it's a day that we will never forget!   Happy Birthday Brady - WE LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!  It's been the best year ever!!

Houseful of F-U-N!

Saturday late afternoon/early evening we got more visitors!  Brian and Alyssa and their 2 kids Derek and Ally (these are Brady's God parents) came in from Kansas City!  Following shortly behind was Jerry and Rose (Brady's great Aunt and Uncle) and they drove all the way from St. Louis!  How sweet was it for them to come in for Brady's 1st birthday party!!!  We ordered pizza and had a great meal on Saturday evening and these pics are after we ate and everyone is trying to wind down for the evening...And, of course - getting ready for Brady's big birthday party day!

Alyssa and Rose chatting it up and looking through some pics!

Holding down the couch in the living room - Richie, Jerry, Alyssa, Derek and Brian!

Giving Brady a bath - Babs and Grampie (not really relaxing are they??)  I guess I put them to work! HA!  They are always such a big help and Brady loves it!  After bathtime we put Brady down (in hopes of getting a good nights rest so he could be bright eyed and bushy tailed for his party) and the adults had a few beers and caught up on things - I think the last people finally went to bed at like 1:30 or 2AM!  HA!  They were having a great time!

Brady with his God Father, Brian first thing in the AM!  Everyone else is getting ready for church and Richie is making everyone breakfast...

Action shot of Richie cooking the bacon - we had bacon and eggs, fruit, pasteries, coffee - it was quite the spread!  Love that I live with a chef - heehee!  He's my chef anyway!  It was a DE-LISH breakfast! 

Brady trying bacon for the 1st time - LOVED it!  Everyone went to church and Richie and I stayed behind in hopes of getting Brady a really good morning nap so he could be wide awake at his party...No such luck!  He had been asleep for about 25 minutes and the biggest poop ever woke him up!  He couldn't go back to sleep...So, he wasn't as fired up as normal come party time - but he was still precious!  Thanks to all family who came in for Brady's big day and staying at our house - sorry things were still a little scattered since we've only been here for 3 weeks - but we had a great time!!!

Birthday celebration with Papa & Meme!

After Kate's Party, Brady was able to catch a little cat nap - bless his heart he was so sleepy!  But Papa and Meme got there to celebrate his birthday since they weren't going to be able to come to his party.  So, he was very sleepy at first and it took a little bit to wake up - but once the presents came out he was ready to check them out!  He had several presents since we hadn't seen them in so long so he started with his Easter present and opened it first - some books and an Easter sock monkey...We then moved on to birthday...

Here he is checking out his new tricycle and boots - he loved them both, but it was really funny b/c he seemed so proud of those boots!!!  He may be a cowboy afterall!  HA!

We decided it was only fitting for him to sport the blue jean diaper and boots and even though the boots were a tiny bit too big, he was showing them off to everyone!  It was funny!

Papa, Mommy, Brady, Daddy and Meme!  Thanks for coming up and celebrating Brady's first birthday!  He is one special boy that is getting a lot of love this weekend!  Thanks again for his goodies - he LOVES them all!

Start of a great weekend - Kate's Birthday Party!

Here is Brady with the Birthday Girl!  Kate Blew had her 1st birthday and it was a tailgate party!  Couldn't have been more perfect with it being game day - Arkansas vs Troy - and it was decorated so cute and food was true tailgate style!  Dips and BBQ - YUM! 

The Berkshire's - Ashley, Drew and Michael!

Us with Brady!

Kate's "smash" cake and cupcakes!  I'm so sad, we had to leave early and we didn't get to watch Kate tear into her cake!  And, we didn't get to see her open her presents either but her momma told me that she loved the gifts that Brady got her - YAY!  I wish we could have stayed longer, but we had a bunch of family coming in to celebrate Brady's birthday and it was a very hectic weekend!  But so much fun!

Brady inside the bouncy house at Kate's party!  He was the smallest kid in the bouncy house for sure and wasn't really sure what he was supposed to do.  But, it was cute b/c he would bouce on his knees and he LOVED watching the other kids jump around him!  What a great idea to have at a birthday party!  Happy Birthday Kate - thanks for inviting us to your party!  It was a really fun time even though we didn't get to stay as long as we wanted!