Facing Forward

As many of you already know, we were a little bummed that when we went for Bryleigh's 1 yr check-up they said she didn't weigh 20lbs. yet. You might not remember off the top of your head why 20 lbs is such a big deal, so we'll give you a picture clue to go along with the title of this blog to see if it helps you remember....

That's right, when a child is 1 year old and 20lbs, they can finally turn around and face the front of the car. Now, we know that a lot of people turn their kiddos around before they are 1 and many turn them around before they are 20 lbs, and that is totally fine. However, we decided to wait a bit longer in our situation just to be safe. The pediatrician told us..."legally, you should not turn her around however you have to think about safety....if she is fussing too much facing the rear then you need to turn her around so you won't wreck trying to keep her entertained." Well, she was mostly fine with facing the rear so we didn't mind leaving well enough alone. That was until about 2 weeks ago and then the fussing really started. Daddy was the first to cave in and he put a front facing car seat in his truck for Bryleigh.

It may be hard to tell here because of the paci but she was SUPER excited about the new view! For a while this has been the special treat about riding in Daddy's truck because she was still facing the rear in Mommy's van. We finally broke down and bought the big girl car seat for the van as well a few weeks ago.

As you can see from this picture, the view is just as great in the van and Bryleigh is just as excited about the change!!!! Mommy, on the other hand, can't believe her baby is old enough to sit-up like such a big girl, face the front of the car, and occasionally watch the movie that is playing. Seriously, where does the time go?????

Labor Day with the Bulls

We decided that any day off of work and home with our kids is definitely a special day. For the most part, we work hard to try to make that day feel special for the 2 of us and for Brenden and Bryleigh as well. We knew that it would be a good idea to spend this labor day holiday at the Durham Bulls ballpark cheering for one of our favorite teams...The Bulls! We went with our friends, The Pollards, and had an amazing time. It was cloudy for most of the game which was fine because it kept things cool and comfortable. The kids enjoyed cheering for The Bulls, eating some yummy snacks, and playing on the Maze throughout our time there. It was definitely a great way to spend our day off work and we're so glad that we were able to squeeze in one last game before Fall officially arrives! Above was a video with some of the pictures from the game....however below, is hands-down, the best picture that was taken all day!

Go Redbirds!!!!

As we've mentioned before, Brenden has officially started his first fall soccer season. He had his first game last week but our camera wasn't working so we were eager to take some pictures this week so everyone can see how handsome he looks in Red! ;)

On his team this season he has some of the same teammates that he played with last year, which was very exciting for him. On top of that, he was SUPER excited that some of his church buddies were also on his team! He is always so eager to see Stephen and James at church or at special events, but now he's VERY excited about getting to hang out with them at the game and practice each week!

This game didn't necessarily provide many opportunities for us to brag about Brenden's soccer skills...however, he did play the entire game, he didn't cry (for the 1st half of the game), and he really seemed to enjoy being outside getting all sweaty running all over the field. We're very proud of that!

Even though he seemed to love all of the events on the field, we're pretty sure that his favorite thing about the game was what was happening off the field. He had the most adorable cheerleaders there pulling for him the entire game and he LOVED every second of it!

It was a great Saturday on the field and we're looking forward to many more Saturdays just like it this season!

Boys Will Be Boys!

Brenden is always very excited to spend some time at Nana and Papa's house each day, but today was extra special for him. When Brenden arrived this morning Papa had a little surprise....

Brenden is definitely all boy because he could not have been more excited about this! Papa had placed it in a jar and Brenden loved carrying it around the house. Nana also reported that he took the jar outside but put it right beside the window so he could watch him some too. When Brenden first saw him he said "Aw, he's so cute. He doesn't want to go outside because he's scared. He's so scared of the thunder Papa." He kept his pet "Grasshopper" for awhile and then released him into the front of the yard. Later that afternoon Brenden found another one on the back deck. They captured this one again, enjoyed him briefly and then let him go in the front so he could "find his brother"! :)Thank you Papa for allowing Brenden to be a boy and for helping him experience the things in life that he enjoys the most!

P.S. No animals were harmed for this blog! All of the animals were captured carefully, cared for lovingly, and released eagerly! :)