Friends and Fun

For Christmas Braeden got an easel from Grandma and Grandpappy Compston so that he could express his creativity. The one that they got for him wasn't really the one that they had wanted to get so we returned it and bought the style that they were looking for. He absolutely loves it. Not only can he draw/ paint on paper he can use chalk or dry erase markers OR just play with the magnets that came with the easel. Even I really like to get down and use the easel with him. Here is a picture of him showing how he can multi-task.

Last Monday Braeden's friend Gavin came over for a playdate so we decided to do a little painting.

When the boys were finished painting they had a good time running around and around the house chasing each other. They also decided that they would try to ride Braeden's new bike together. I am so glad that Rachel and I have boys who are so dang cute and get along so well.

At the end of the night I think both boys had a good time. Here is a picture of Gavin just after he finished painting.

We also got a new game recently that Braeden LOVES to play. I mean what kid doesn't love Hungry Hippo's? It says for ages 4 and up but seriously how hard is it to hit a lever over and over again?! Every night we have to play this game for at least 15 minutes. Which if you have ever played Hungry Hippo's you would know is WAY too long. :) Braeden loves it though so we make sure that we make time to play.



Finally, on the potty front we are beginning to really make some progress. Braeden is really trying hard to use his little potty so that he can get a sucker and sticker to put on his potty board. We have both at Travis's house and at my house so that we keep everything consistent. A few days ago we actually didn't have a wet diaper all night! He went potty 3 times between when we came home from daycare and bedtime. I cannot wait until we are out of those diapers. Keep your fingers crossed hopefully that day will be here soon.

What's going on?

There has been a lot going on here lately and I have no idea where to start. Well let's start with John... John came up a couple of weeks ago to get some of his things since he finally decided that he would be staying in Georgia. He really only took his bowling balls and car and left the room an absolute mess for me to clean. Thanks a lot John! I am sure that I will be working on that room for at least the next year and a half.
Travis has been a super busy man with work, getting the house ready for showings and watching a little bundle of energy we call Braeden. There have been a lot of nights when I will come in from work only to find the two boys cuddled up on the couch watching some late night Spongebob Squarepants. Here is a picture of how I found them a few weeks ago.

How stinking cute is that?
Now just a few tidbits of info as to what is going on with me.... I have started a new schedule at work so that I can pick up Braeden on Mondays and Thursdays. Now rather than working every night from 1:30 until 10:00 I work Mondays and Thurdays 8:30 AM until 5:00 pm and the rest of the week stayed the same. I am really not hating going in early as much as I thought I would. (Don't be too shocked when I say that.) Outside of work we haven't really done too much. Braeden and I did bust out the cake mix again and made cupcakes. I wanted to try out my new cake decorating tips and he is always in the mood to make some cake. Here is a picture of how awesome they turned out. Don't be jealous. :)

Now....the one you have all been waiting for....BRAEDEN! He has been sick for the last week or so but is doing much better now. It was just a little cold with a wheezy cough but we kicked it in the butt. Yesterday while I was at work my non-stop son was running in circles at Travis's house and took a nasty spill. He fell at hit his face on the corner of the base board and cut his face up pretty good. He doesn't act like it bothers him too much today but if you try to clean it you better be rested because a fight is coming. Here is a picture of it from earlier today after I wrestled with him to clean it up.

Hopefully at the end of all this it won't leave a nasty scar. The nurse I spoke with this morning thinks that it should heal up just fine.
I thought I would share a cute picture of my boy eating an ice cream sandwich. (I mean soy made ice cream sandwich.) That way we leave on a happy note. I will try to update more this month than last but I can't make any promises.:)

Let him make cake!

Christmas

I am so glad that Christmas is over! We had a great Christmas but the day was just crazy. Braeden woke up at 7:00 am to open presents. Well, he didn't really get up to open presents he was just ready to get up for the day so I helped remind him that Santa came the night before. Here are pictures of our early morning fun!
Braeden opening one of his 50 presents.

Woohoo! Kristy is the greatest gift giver in the WORLD!

Look at all the stuff in this box.

Braeden's ATV.

All of Braeden's gifts.

Here is what Travis got.

My gifts. Isn't that OSU picture sweet!?! My awesome boyfriend picked that out for me!

It wasn't long after we opened the gifts that we had to leave to make it over to Travis's sister Carla's house for more Christmas fun. Braeden had a good time playin' with Tatum's new doll house. He got a huge front end loader from Travis's sister Krista but was too into the doll house while we were there to play with it.
The front end loader.

Braeden and Teagan playing with the doll house.

A few hours after getting to Carla's house we had to leave so that we could make it to see my mom and the rest of the family for yet more gifts. This year it only took about an hour and a half to open presents which is a vast improvement over the 3 hours from last year. Braeden was being very antisocial and I ended up opening his presents.He would go into another room to play with a Dora vanity set that Mackenzie got for Christmas. I don't know what his deal was with playing with girl toys yesterday but it was getting a little bit out of hand.
Braeden and Bethannie getting ready for presents.

Braeden wearing the OSU hat that Travis got for Christmas and his new Harley sweatshirt from Papaw Chasteen.

That's right those are cake pans. I am thinking about baking a cake or two this year.

Finally at about 7:00 pm we were on our way back home to play with the presents that Braeden had accumulated. I was excited to get to play with the new shake and go crash-up racetrack that Santa brought for Braeden. I built the track with plenty of time to spare to take a few laps before Braeden had to go to bed. Here is a picture of Braeden and I racing the cars.

Christmas Program

Tonight was Braeden's Christmas program at daycare. I was so excited to go in and see Braeden and his little friends singing songs. I took a half day so that I would be able to make it in time for the performance. When I got there Braeden was passed out in the corner because apparently he didn't take a nap at nap time. I got there about 20 minutes early so I let him sleep a little longer so that he would HOPEFULLY be in a good mood when he woke up. While he was sleeping the teacher painted his nose since his class was supposed to be singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

Well....he was not even close to being ready to wake up and sing a song when it came time. I gave him to his teachers and ran to the back of the room to take a little video and pictures. They finally came walking out looking totally cute but guess who is crying. That's right Braeden was crying and would not stop. He got up just as the song started and tried to get back to me crying the whole way. Oh well maybe next year will go a little bit better.

Update

After one day and $100.00 I have my car back. I don't think it looks too shabby. If you just take a quick glance you wouldn't be able to tell that I just had that accident.

Braeden had his surgery today to have tubes put in. I wasn't near as nervous as I was with the scope he had before. With this procedure they were only going to be using gas and it was only going to take a few minutes so I wasn't a nervous wreck when we went in today. When we first got there Braeden did cry a little bit because he was tired and wanted juice but it didn't last long. He almost fell asleep on Dianna while I was speaking with the anesthesiologist. Shortly after that they gave Braeden some drugs so that he wouldn't remember what was going on. I remembered that stuff from the last time we were there. It makes him act soooo silly. He was just sitting there giggling for no reason. They finally came in to get him and he sat on the bed like a big boy as they wheeled him out of the room. I couldn't believe that he wasn't crying! While he was gone they had us watch a movie about how to take care of the tubes and as soon as that was finished the doctor came walking in. He said everything went well and that he wanted us to put drops in Braeden's ear twice a day and have him lay down for 5-10 minutes on each side. Um yeah right! Braeden came back to the room shortly after chillin on his bed drinking juice. He has been a little bit wobbly today but he doesn't seem to be in any pain. Just to let ya know he HATES the ear drops. Here are a couple of pictures from the hospital.

Here he is just after the medicine.

Mr. Giggles

The big boy chillin after surgery.

Oh My Heck

The past few weeks have been crazy around here. As if the Christmas season isn't normally crazy in itself. Last week Braeden had an appointment with the EENT who said that he wanted to do tubes to stop the ear infections. I am not thrilled about it but hopefully it will help since he has had 4 ear infections since July. Not only does he want to do tubes but he wanted to get them asap. Braeden is scheduled to go in this Wednesday to have the surgery. It should only be a 5 minute procedure once they get him in there. We were supposed to be taking a trip this week and would not be back until Wednesday so I decided to just come back a day early. Well, that was until the snow storm on Saturday.
Saturday Braeden and I were on our way over to my house after running to the bank and store when we had a little car accident. That morning a few inches of snow had fallen and the roads were pretty slippery, I was only going about 25 miles an hour when I started to slow down for a big turn. Just as I put my foot on the brake my car began to slide off the road towards a telephone pole. There was no stopping the car so I told Braeden to hang on we were going to crash and BANG we stopped. It didn't cause the airbags to come out and we were both fine. It did freak Braeden out for a minute but he wasn't hurt at all. Since the car was still running I decided to try and get out of the ditch. I got the car out of the ditch and got out to check out the front of the car. My bumper was barely hanging on so I tore it off and threw it to the side and drove my car the rest of the way home. My car was making an horrible sound as I drove it home because the plastic from the wheel well was rubbing my tire. Here is how my car looks now....

I think it looks pretty bad but Travis said that I really didn't do that much damage. He just happens to have friends who own a body shop so the car is down there today being patched back together. We aren't trying to make it look new because I was already planning on looking for a new car after I get my income tax. Since I had the accident obviously I now am not able to take the trip to see my grandparents. I am just stuck in the house for a day or two without any transportation. Luckily it should only be a day or two and I already had this time scheduled off.
One other piece of important business......
DANIELLE HAD HER BABY!!!!!!!!

Alexander Donovan Copeland is here! He came a few weeks early but she was expecting that he would. He was born on Dec. 13th and weighed 6lbs 1 oz. He has a little virus so they are still in the hospital but should be home before Christmas. Welcome to the family Alex. Braeden is soooo excited to see you.