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!