Christmas Morning

We really enjoyed Christmas this year! It was so fun to experience Christmas with Brayden! I'm sure it's only going to get better as he grows up and understands Christmas a little more! We opened a few presents here at home and then headed down to the Leavitts to spend the rest of Christmas morning with them. Great Grandma & Great Grandpa Leavitt also spent Christmas with us! Brayden's favorite presents included the Little People Farm, wooden blocks, a ride/walk behind car, a toy that pops balls into the air, and five new touch and feel books. He could have cared less about the clothes and shoes he got! Next year I think we'll only wrap any toys we get him and just put his clothes in the closet! It'll save me from wrapping so many things!

Visiting with Great Grandpa & Great Grandma Leavitt

My Grandma & Grandpa Leavitt are in town to spend the holidays with us! Brayden seems to have remembered them since it didn't take nearly as long as last time for him to warm up to them. Or maybe it's the fact that Great Grandma gives him all kinds of food...he'll make friends with anyone that has food! He especially loved the mandrin oranges that Great Grandma shared with him! They had mailed some up from California earlier in the month so he's learned that they are really yummy! He's also learned over the holidays that fresh pineapple is his new favorite treat! We just give him a piece in his high chair and he eats it right up! He also liked the fact that Great Grandpa helped him open up his new Christmas pjs on Christmas eve. We were right when we figured that wrapping paper and ribbon would be his favorite things to play with on Christmas!

Getting Ready For Christmas

We had did all kinds of fun things in the weeks leading up to Christmas with some of our family....



We got together with the Price side of the family and made candy trains with everyone. We did this early in the month since Grandma Price was going on a trip with Aunt Linda to Peru for the holidays. Brayden didn't really help assemble the train but was more than happy to take it apart!



Torey decided not to make a candy train and helped watch Brayden instead.



Here's my cousin, Katelyn, with her candy train and my other cousin, Lauren, smiling in the background.



Here's Logan and I with our finished trains.



We helped Grandma Leavitt put the lights on the Christmas tree at her house...Brayden was just fasinated with them!



Later on we got together with the Price cousins to exchange Christmas gifts. Brayden was excited to get a spinning/popping toy from them....he plays with it often.



We got to visit with Brian's sister, Stephanie, one night in Salt Lake for a few hours. She came down from BYU-Idaho to catch a flight home to Seattle for Christmas and since she had a few hours before her flight left we picked her up and went to dinner. Brayden loved the fact that she would share her water with him!



One of the more controversial things that happened was that Brian let Logan give him a haircut! We were all worried since Logan hasn't cut hair before, but it turned out fine and if it didn't Brian assured me that it'd grow back.

Christmas Card Photos

Here's a few pictures that didn't make our Christmas card and the Christmas picture we took with the Leavitt family. We hurried and took our family Christmas photo right before Brian had to rush to the airport to fly to Seattle last weekend for work. Of course we didn't know that because of the bad weather up in Washington what was going to be a 5:23pm flight turned into a 9:20pm flight! We could have taken a few more photos!

Fun at Grandma & Grandpa Leavitt's

We see Grandma & Grandpa Leavitt, Aunt Torey, and Uncle Logan almost everyday since we live so close and lately we've been letting Brayden explore more and more of their house. Here's what he's discovered lately....

Hunting boots and a hat provided a few minutes of entertainment and kept him in one place! He thought he was pretty cool standing in such big shoes! And of course, we thought it was too cute!


Grandma was changing the laundry and Uncle Logan thought it'd be funny to put Brayden in the clothes hamper. Again, he was very proud of himself until he was ready to get out!

Some Recent Pictures....

Here's a few of the many recent pictures we have of Brayden. He's still just into everything and keeping us on our toes!

Can't I tag along too?!?

Brayden really, really wanted to go with Brian to Seattle this weekend. Brayden tried to convince Dad to take him along and even showed him that he could fit in his suitcase! He's there working for the weekend and since we were there recently (Thanksgiving), and because we didn't want to pay a ton of money, Brayden and I ended up staying home. We really would have loved to visit all the Petersen family again though! Maybe next time we can tag along with Brian when he goes somewhere fun for work like Seattle!

9 Months Old!

Brayden celebrated his 9 month birthday on December 1st! We can't believe it's only been that long since he's been with us! It seems like it's been FOREVER! Here's a little update....

Teeth: He now has 6 of them! 4 on top and 2 on bottom.

Haircuts: He's officially had his 3rd haircut! This time we did it while he was sleeping....it wasn't so traumatic!

Favorite Toys: Anything he can chew on or anything that makes fun noises!

Walking: We're thinking he might almost be there....maybe by the end of the year? He's walking behind anything he can get and is doing really good at standing on his own.

Talking: He's officially said "Dada" and he's really quite vocal. Now if we can only get more words out of him....like maybe "Mom"?

Favorite Activities: Climbing stairs, taking DVDs off the bookshelves, baths, and getting into anything he's not supposed too!

New Tricks: Clapping, waving at anyone (even strangers), and playing peek-a-boo. He's started lifting a blanket up to cover his face on his own....he does this even when we're not paying attention! It's like his way of saying, "Come on Mom and Dad! I'm ready to play!"

Fun with Grandpa Petersen

Brayden had a lot of fun seeing everyone up in Seattle but he really seemed to like Grandpa! Maybe it's just because he played a little differently with him than the rest of them. Grandpa carried him around the house on his shoulders all the time....even when Brayden pulled his hair! Brayden even got Grandpa to let him play with a Thomas Kemper rootbeer bottle while watching Monday Night Football. He thought that was great!

Helping to decorate Grandma's Christmas tree

While we were up in Seattle, Brayden got to help Aunt Stephanie, Grandma Petersen, and Mom decorate the Christmas tree. He really enjoyed playing with all the boxes and the unbreakable ornaments. Now we just need to get up our tree at home...we'll see how long that lasts! We're afraid he'll be too interested in it!

The day after Thanksgiving....

The day after Thanksgiving we went to Seattle with all the family. We started off by seeing the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Pacific Science Center, followed by lunch. Then we took the monorail to downtown Seattle to do some shopping.

Brayden really seemed to enjoy the short monorail ride. He was content to sit on Aunt Stephanie's lap during the ride.

We ended up seeing Great Aunt Norma and some of her daughters and grandkids while we were trying to ride the merry-go-round. Long story short, we ended up having front row seats for the lighting of the Christmas tree, the turning on of the merry-go-round, the lighting of the Macy's star, and all the excitement.

By the time the merry-go-round finally turned on for the first ride of the Christmas season, Brayden was asleep! Oh well, this picture proves he was there!

Grandma was sitting with us for the ride.....we were doing the best we could to stay warm!

The lighting of the Macy's star.