Brady's First Santa Visit

Bass Pro gives out free pictures with Santa and they let you take your own pictures as well. We tried to go in Springfield, but the line was too long for a Brady that is overdue for a nap. Since I was off Tuesday, we decided it would be the perfect time to go, and lucky for us, Grandpa Moore was off too so he got to be there with us! Here is Brady with Santa... He pretty much had no reaction. But I'm not sure if that's just because he's pretty laid back anyway or because Santa was a little lacking in the personality department. Don't get me wrong, it was a free thing and he definitely looked like Santa with a real beard andeverything. But he didn't speak one word. Not even a single hello. Ummm I thought Santa says "Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!" But not Bass Pro Santa. Oh well, maybe it made the experience a lot less frightening. Anyway, Brady was more interested in the train and cars and stuff like that. It was still fun to be there and let Brady sit on his lap. And maybe if I'm a really good girl next year, Santa will say hello to me.
Randomly because I don't want to make another post, I made these snowmen this year for Quentin's family and Lori and think they turned out pretty cute! Cute enough that I'm glad I made one for myself :)

Bell Family Christmas

And the whole reason for our big gathering this past weekend was to celebrate Christmas with the Bell family. We did the Christmas celebration on Saturday evening (so I had to share my birthday). Brady was pretty excited about this bow, so thanks Michelle for providing such fabulous entertainment :) The kids opened their presents and then the adults did a dirty Santa exchange. I do have to say there was a little bit more stealing this year compared to last, but it is still a pretty mild exchange! After dinner, everyone surprised me with a cookie cake (but not just a cookie cake...two cookie cakes with frosting in the middle...a cookie cake sandwich if you will) along with serenading me with the Happy Birthday song. It was a very thoughtful and delicious surprise, so thanks to everyone involved. And a sidenote here... I look a little angry in this picture because I just cut myself on the cardboard. However, the other picture of this moment is right when I cut myself and I look more than a little angry so I chose the lesser of the two evils.

10 months

Awww, what a sweet, peaceful 10 month old......until he wakes up. Then he is still sweet, but not as peaceful. This kid is seriously all over the place now! He still hasn't taken any steps on his own yet, which I am kind of grateful for because then it will be a whole new kind of busy. He has done pretty well not getting into the Christmas decorations. At our house they are mostly out of reach, but even the tree at daycare and both Grandma's houses he pretty much has left it all alone. The biggest news for this 10 month old boy is he finally has a tooth! The bottom middle on the right to be exact. Maybe someday he will get others, and hopefully soon because he is barely tolerating baby foods now that he has had a taste of real solids. He was a little fussier than normal for a few days, but I think we are pretty lucky in the teething department. He is just a good baby all around. It is fun to watch him learn new things and how proud he gets. He was climbing up Grandma Bell's stairs (with me right on his tail of course) and looked so proud at each step! He is seriously the cutest!

Steal Your Dollar City

Ok, ok, it's actually Silver Dollar City. But Steal Your Dollar is a little more accurate. The Bell clan made a stop in Branson just for SDC and the light parade there. We rode some of the kiddie rides, saw their version of A Christmas Carol, watched the light parade, and then stopped by Freddy's to eat on the way back to Willard. Brady only got about a 30 min nap in the car, so he had absolutely no reaction to the rides. He then slept in my arms for a while in A Christmas Carol, and he was back to his normal smiley self after that. In fact, after he woke up him and Garrett were best buds and hugging and kissing each other like crazy! It was so cute and I wish it hadn't been during the show because I would have loved to get some pictures of that. But here are out SDC pictures. It was freezing cold, especially once we lost the sun, so yep, Brady is very well bundled. But probably still cold. Also he got slap happy when we were eating because it was way past bedtime. It was pretty funny.

Happy Birthday to Me

I am now the big 2-5. Since we were gone on my birthday this year, Quentin, Brady and I celebrated a little bit early. When I came home from work on Wednesday, this is how I was greeted...It was a nice surprise, and of course Brady looked super cute in the hat! I also got to open my presents early, which was kinda nice because I still get a little anxious when it comes to presents :) And I think my scrub top matches my wrapping paper. I bet Quentin planned that for sure! Anyway, I got some cute new flats, season 7 of The Office, and a pink mp3 player with matching pink headphones. Thanks Quentin and Brady! And in case you haven't had enough Brady in this post, here's another cute picture of him all dressed up for church. Thanks Grandma Moore for keeping our boy clothed in cuteness!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

I am behind on my posting, so there will hopefully be quite a few posts in the next few days...
The weekend before my birthday we celebrated with the Jacobs (since Karen and I both have the same birthday). We ate tacos for dinner, had yummy cheesecake for our birthday cake and then went to help them pick out their Christmas tree. Since our tiny apartment doesn't allow the room for a normal size tree, we stole this photo op with their borrowed tree...Do you notice the look of excitement on Brady's face? No? Oh, that's because it was past bedtime already and he probably was wondering why the heck we were keeping him awake to look at trees. He konked out in the car on the way back.

Thanksgiving

We went to Utah again this year for Thanksgiving. All the Moore girls and their families were there, and we had so much fun together! Brady got to meet Grandma Hendrickson for the first time. He also enjoyed playing with cousins Patrick and Luke. Last time they saw Brady, he was only 3 weeks old, so I think everyone had more fun with each other this time. They all love to read, so there was a lot of reading involved while we were there. And Luke was excited to finally have someone younger than him around so he could say "Don't do that baby Brady," which didn't seem to bother Brady at all. Luke was also kind enough to share his candy with Brady, for which Brady is eternally grateful. It was so fun to watch them play together! When we tried to get a picture of Grandma Moore with the grandsons, it was a bit of a challenge, especially because Brady kept pulling Luke's hair.Megan, Mom, Quentin and I braved WalMart on Black Friday, which was mass chaos. Luckily, we made it out with only minor injuries, as Quentin and Megan risked their lives to get our portable DVD player. Quentin kept getting shoved down, so he had to crawl out of the dog pile with his prize and Megan had a rather large man standing on her foot (who refused to move even when she told him he was standing on her foot) while everyone around was pushing and she had the bruises to show for it the next day. Overall it was successful since we got what we wanted, but people are so crazy!

Zion National Park

Kirk and Kirsten came up with the fun idea to go to Zion National Park while we were there. It's only about an hour away from St. George, so it was a short trip. And then we went on the shortest hike there is. I can't remember for sure what is was called, but I think something like "Weeping Rock" and it was only like half a mile, but it was still fun. It had a little waterfall and it dripped over the edge of this overhang. Pretty cool. If we didn't have the kiddos, we probably would have gone on a different one. Sorry if we ruined it for you, Kirk. Luke and Patrick enjoyed throwing leaves and rocks into the water. It was pretty cold, so it's probably good that we didn't stay too long. Sure was beautiful though!

Brady's First Plane Ride

We went to Utah for Thanksgiving again this year, so it was our first experience really traveling with a baby (other than our car trips to KC, the Lake, Springfield, and Arkansas). It feels like you're packing up your whole house just for a short trip because there is so much stuff that you need for a baby, but we managed to get everything we needed (and probably more). I was soooo nervous about how Brady would do on such a long trip, and especially about the plane, but he showed me there was nothing to worry about, especially with the help of Grandma, Gandpa, and Aunt Aliisa. He is so squirmy, and he definitely enjoyed being passed back and forth. He was soooo tired on the way there and eventually fell asleep in Quentin's arms for a little bit. He is a pretty good sleeper when he can lay down on his own, but not so great when he is being held. But he was still pretty happy, espcially for being so tired. These pictures are on the way home. He was looking out the window, but when he saw the flash from the camera, he turned around to pose. Such a ham! I will post more about the Utah trip soon...stay tuned.

Brady's Friend

Here is a cute picture Lori sent me of Brady and his best buddie, Matthew. Just cuddling on the couch :) Brady loves Matthew so much that he cried when Matthew got on the bus yesterday to go to school. Aren't these boys just the cutest?! I will have to get a picture of Brady and Allie on here sometime too. We are so blessed to have such a great daycare filled with people who love our little Brady just as much as we do!

Nine Months

Hard to believe Brady is 9 months old already! He has now been outside my belly longer than inside (although time seemed to go much slower when he was inside).Time is sure flying by, but it's so fun to watch him grow. He went to the doctor today, and was super happy right up until the shot (which they luckily save to the end). Here are his stats:

Height: 29 in (75%)
Weight: 19 lbs, 6 oz (30%)
Head: 46.8 (88%)

Yep, he has only gained 5 oz since his 6 month appointment...which means he went from being in the 80% to the 30%. The only explanation is that he is soooooo extremely wiggly and busy. Because this kid is a bottomless pit. He just eats, and eats, and eats. To the point that I was often worried I was feeding him too much, but apparently, the poor boy could probably pack away even more.

Favorites: Reading, singing, playing in the mirror, pulling up to things, Butters, chasing Butters, harassing Butters, "wrestling," eating, begging for food (generally successfully), baths/swimming

Dislikes: Getting cleaned up after meals, carseat/car ride (which I now realize might be due to motion sickness. He puked ALL OVER in the car on the way home from Kansas City), being put down when he is trying to watch what we are doing, not getting food fast enough

He is the happiest, sweetest little guy. He is now getting good at putting on a show for people with his cheesy smiles and stuff. He's pretty irresistible :)

Here he is with Ashlyn and Preston on the "rocket." He had fun playing with them this weekend and we had fun on our little weekend trip to Kansas City, too! Michelle, Colton, and I even got to venture out to the movies kid-free to see Twilight.

Why Sit, When You Can Stand?

Brady has mastered the skill of pulling up on things to stand. The couch, chairs, my leg, the wall (especially the mirror on the back of the door), and probably his favorite (and my least favorite)...the bath tub. He also seems to be getting braver, and lets go with his hands (only to reach for stuff he knows he is not supposed to have) as long as his body is leaned against whatever he is standing by. He seems so proud of himself for standing, it's so cute! But he looks pretty cute when he sits too. Can't resist that smile :)

Weight Lifter

The other day Brady was behind the chair and I heard some grunting, so I went to check it out. He had a hold of one of my little 5 lb hand weights and was trying to lift it. It was sooo cute, and he did it for quite a while, but of course I didn't think to get a video. I tried to recreate it, unsuccessfully, but the video is still cute (maybe because it has Brady in it?) so I figured I would post it anyway. Enjoy!

Trick or Treat

We just made a few stops trick or treating tonight since Brady isn't really old enough to know what's going on or really enjoy the candy (but we can enjoy it!) He didn't like going in and out of his carseat much, so he was pretty fussy about that, but once we got out of the car and went up to the doors, he was a pretty happy little dinosaur :) I didn't get any pictures of the actual "trick or treating" but here is the aftermath. Brady was actually pretty into playing with the candy, so we might be in trouble when he is old enough to eat it. Please notice that he has candy in each hand. And we're not as cool as Megan and Benjamin or Kirsten and Kirk - we didn't dress up. Maybe next year (but probably not) Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch

We have had quite the eventful weekend between Halloween parties, cheering on the Cardinals to their World Series victory, and then our visit to the pumpkin patch. Grandma and Grandpa met us there for a fun few hours. The weather could not have been any better and we all had a fun time. Brady may have been a little young to fully appreciate it, but he seemed to enjoy it and was mesmerized by the animals, particularly this chicken with a bunch of little chicks following behind. We also got to go on a little hayride. It took him most of the ride to decide whether it was safe to pick up the straw or not, but he eventually did, and then it went straight to his mouth of course! The only animal he pet was a bunny. Actually, two bunnies. They were siblings named stupid and cupid :) We'll definitely visit again next year, and it will be even more fun since Brady will be able to understand more of what's going on. And here are a BUNCH of pictures...