Random Brady Moments..

So...I was thinking the other day that I really don't take enough pictures of Brady. I mean for being a first child, I would have expected that I would be snapping shots all the time. Then I realized that this is the reason I don't get out the camera (or any electronic device for that matter)....because every picture looks like this:
or this:and then he gets the camera from me and all the pictures look like this:


Oh well...I guess I will get it all right with the next kid :)

Thanksgiving....finally!!!

So...here I am, finally getting around to getting some pics up from Thanksgiving. We had an awesome trip to Utah. We started out Thanksgiving day with our own family Turkey Trot. It was a lot of fun, but we happen to pick the exact same route as the community Turkey Trot (which we had no idea about), except we were going the opposite direction. It made for a bit of confusion, but it was a lot of fun.

The next day my dad took the whole family (cousins and all) on a hike up in the Midway mountains. It was pretty fun to have the whole family together and taking in the view of the beautiful Midway valley. It really is a slice of heaven on earth. Way fun!



We also participated in a fun tradition that my family started doing last year and that is taking a train ride on the "Polar Express." Heber has a train that they decorate for Christmas and then they read the story of the Polar Express and hand out hot chocolate and cookies on the way to the "North Pole." Brady loved it!

Trip to Colorado....

One of my good friends from college moved to Colorado and I had the fun opportunity to go and visit her and her cute family this past week. She has two cute little boys and Brady fell just in between them. We decided to head to the zoo the first day while the weather was still holding up.

On the second half of my trip, the snow just started coming down hard core! By the time I was supposed to leave, I was seriously concerned that I wasn't going to be able to get a flight home. Luckily, everything worked out and I made it back to sunny San Fran where the weather was 70 degrees! Yes, you have to love California just for that. :) This is a picture of Brady in the snow. He was so mad at me for making him go out there, but I figured what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, right???

Video games....

On one of the snow days in Denver, we were searching for something for the kids to do. We ended up at the local Field House and Brady found the video games....again, I think this just comes ingrained in them. He started out in my lap...
But apparently that wasn't good enough for him! He needed a better view I guess!

The Month of Vacationing.....

October really was the month of vacationing for our family. Brady went on a total of six plane flights this month! Okay, even I will admit that's a bit ridiculous. Earlier in the month we went down to San Diego for the BYU game. This is a picture of Brady showing dad how he knows exactly what to do with the remote. I think that men must be born with that intuition.

Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend we went to the local pumpkin patch to take Brady on the train ride and get John some Kettle Corn (he swears this is the best kettle corn he has ever had :) ). We went to the same pumpkin patch last year when Brady was only a month old. It's crazy that he has grown so much!

Our Halloween was Incredible!!!

Okay, so I guess that was a bit cheesy up top, but yes, we dressed up in red spandex and tights for all the world to see! Not our brightest idea ever. My family had the costumes already and then I made Brady's to go along with ours. Pretty sure that's the last time John will ever where spandex...he made that very clear.






On Halloween night, we went trick-or-treating in Downtown Walnut Creek. It was way fun because all the businesses were handing out candy. Truthfully I got a little carried away and got into combat mode to make sure we hit all the stores. Brady was going crazy by the end, but don't worry...we made it to every shop!!!

Brady is walking....kind of

So...Brady has been working really hard at trying to get the whole walking thing down. Again, I thought I probably needed to get it on film for posterity (and for the grandmas). I love the turn around at the end. Sometimes I really wonder what is going through his little head.

Happy Birthday Brady...you made it to the big ONE!!!

Yea!!! Brady is one year old!!! I feel like completing the first year has been such a roller coaster and a huge accomplishment. It has been a joy being Brady's mother as he has shown me his fun, sweet, loving personality. To celebrate Brady's birthday, we obviously opened presents yesterday and then today we had several of our friends over to have some cake and ice cream. John and I "crafted" (a word from John's vocabulary) and created this pretty cool train cake, if I do say so myself. Wahoo for being one and I look forward to many more birthdays to come!!!

Lafayette Reservoir

John, Brady, and I went over to Lafayette Reservoir a few weeks ago. It was a beautiful fall day and we had a nice walk around the reservoir and finished up with a picnic at the park at the end of the trail. I took this picture of Brady and John on our way out and I thought is was so darling. I love how Brady is just looking up at his dad. I love being a mom!!!

Tilden Park

A Acouple of weeks ago, I didn't have any plans so I took Brady to Tilden Park. This is a really huge park with a carousel, steam train, lake, and golf course. I really wanted to take Brady to ride on the train, but when we got there is was closed. We ended up heading over to the lake to check things out. I didn't bring a suit for either Brady or myself, but Bman loves the water, so he went in anyway. He is getting really good at walking with just my one hand holding his, so he was dragging me all over the place. He was completely drenched by the time we left. Way fun!!

Swiss Days

Over Labor Day, I was able to go back to Utah (again...the story of my life :) and head on up to Midway for Swiss Days. For those of you who haven't heard of Swiss Days, it is a boutique festival with lots of booths, a parade, a 10K run, and most importantly a HUGE pancake breakfast! John had to work so he was not able to travel with me, but my brother Johnny came up for a day and the three of us spent some time together. For some odd reason, the three of us (Johnny, Brady, and myself) have been in the same together a lot recently and we haven't gotten several comments on "our" cute child and when pictures have been taken, people have told us to "stop acting like it is our first date." Kind of awkward :). We had lots of fun watching the parade and enjoying the crisp fall air. I was finally able to wear a sweatshirts and jeans and not feel like I was boiling. In the last couple of pictures, Brady was on my shoulders and was attempting to get his hoodie off. It was pretty funny and very unsuccessful.

Too much sugar...

So, I probably shouldn't be giving Brady licorice and I will probably regret it in the future, but I have to say it is so dang cute to see him try to eat stuff like that. I had NO idea that licorice could be so messy.

As Brady continues to grow, he has gotten just more and more fun. Everyone told me that would be the case, but as his first birthday approaches I beginning to see that this is so true. Brady has shown his love of socializing with other children (even if they are way bigger and tend to run over him), of any kind of dog (much to John's dismay), of beautiful music (when he sings/screams with us at choir practice), and most of all his love for his family. I knew I would love being a mom, but I had NO idea how rewarding it would truly be.

Bay Area Children's Museum

A couple of weeks ago Brady and I and a few of our friends went to the Bay Area Children's Museum right near the Golden Gate Bridge. It was so much fun!!! It is in such a scenic location right off the bay in Sausalito. Brady is so fun to be with as he is becoming more and more interested in his surroundings and is definitely showing more emotion and excitement. With all of his various emotions, screams of joy (and anger at times :) ) I am realizing that he is for sure my child. He is NOT afraid to show me how he feels!



In one of the rooms in the museum, Brady kept bending down to look into this rock formation. It took me about 10 minutes to realize that he had found a little screen that would turn on when he pressed tiny button next to it. It was at just the right level for little babies like him to find. Who knew!

He loves his veggies....

Brady loves his corn...but I should probably teach him the proper way to get the corn into his mouth :)

Trip to San Francisco!!!

One of the fun things about living in the bay area is that we can head into San Francisco whenever we feel like it. On Friday, we traveled into the city with a few of our friends, went out to lunch and Bubba Gumps, watched the sea lions, and then got some fudge at Pier 39! It was great. Brady is such a good traveler and trooper even without his naps.

Brady hanging with his friends....

Brady loves water!!!

We went over to a friend's house a couple of days ago and Brady found the water fountain up front. Needless to say, he ended up drenched before we even got inside. I suppose I could have stopped him, but it really was so much fun to see him splashing in the water. Do all babies love water so much?

Aloha Hawaii....

A few weeks ago, my little sister had a softball tournament in Hawaii. Because i have the one and only grandchild on my side of the family, my parents decided to invite me along so they could spend some quality time with Brady... I was invited along to chaperon :) . We had lots of fun going to the beach and the Polynesian Cultural Center and just hanging out with family. Brady loved the ocean and it was impossible to keep him out of the water. It is really fun seeing your kids enjoy life!!!

Brady's patented "deer in the headlight" showed itself quite frequently on this trip...:)