Best of 2009

Catherine and I look back at this past year and we can't believe how many great times we have had and also how much energy Braden has, ha ha. Here are a few pictures that I thought recap 2009. Most of them are pictures that capture Braden in his element. All we can ask for this Christmas is more great adventures with our boy!

Happy Braden.......makes a happy mom!
Braden loves to chase balls
Who thought a box could be this much fun
Always moving :)
speaks for it's self
Aww, we love to fly through the air
Look mom and dad....it makes noise.
My other love besides mom and dad is WATER
what do you want to do next
ok, some times I like to just r e l a x.
Who is this cute baby?
lets read
Who has the candy?
I don't know about this mom.
You guys want serious...i'll give you serious!!

Xmas presents early!

We got an early Christmas present from Aunt Dana today and although we loved the present, Braden had so much fun playing with the packing peanuts that came in the present!! He crumpled them up in his hands and threw them all around. It took a while to get it all cleaned up but it was so worth it! Thanks for the fun Aunt Dana...oh yeah and the present!! =) We can't wait to see Braden open presents at Christmas and play with all the boxes that his presents come in!! =)

Catherine, Braden and I spent a few hours Wednesday enjoying the weather and the fall colors. We stumbled across this great area by the river that had this huge sycamore tree stump that Braden loved. I bet he threw 100 rocks into the river.

Relaxing at home

Braden can't wait to destroy the towers after mom and dad build them. Most of the time he doesn't let us finish them:) Catherine currently has the highest structure to date at a staggering 88 inches. Mine might have been higher, but we will never know because Braden decided there needed to be a fish on the first level and conveniently for mom brought the whole thing down.. ha ha. It sure is a good game that keeps us all entertained.
Braden burrowing through his tunnel. It came with 100 balls that rest in the middle of the two tunnels, but Braden rarely lets them stay in as he enjoys throwing them out and watching us scramble to get them.
Here is Braden showing us how proud he is that he was able to climb up his fort. It has a rock wall on one side of it and he is able to fly up that now and loves to run back and forth up on the platform and watch us below.

Saturday night on the town

After a great day of playing with everyone Braden winded down with a babysitter as we all went out for a great meal at SPICE (Thai food). Then off to Dave and Busters for some good entertainment before Paul had to leave Sunday morning.

Paul won in the racing game.
Catherine won by a nose at horse racing
Ready for a night out...
Paul shows Braden the ropes of bubble popping.
Braden showing off his wagon of balls.

Wonderful weekend with Paul

What a surprise for Braden, when Paul showed up for the weekend. They were all smiles and entertained each other. Here are a few pictures of Braden snapped by Paul and a few of them together. Paul taught him a few new tricks with his toys and a good hiding spot.

My little pumpkin

Well I couldn't help myself. I put Braden in a pumpkin again. =) It was so darn cute last year and this year I figured he would be smiling in it. Boy was I wrong!! He hated it!! The kid definitely has a mind of his own! Last year he wasn't really a fan but at least he sat there. This year is was mostly ugly sad faces and whining. =( But there's a few cute pics along with a one from last year. I do have to show you what he would want shown which are his sad faces too.

Throwing Balls

Just about every time Braden goes outside he goes over to his wagon and throws out all of the balls, that is if they've been picked up since the last time. =) He doesn't even look at where half of the balls go! He just grabs one and throws it. It's really pretty funny how focused he is about emptying it all out.

Rrrrrrrrrrrr! Shiver me timbers!!!

Braden was the cutest little pirate for Halloween! We had a full weekend of Halloween festivities! On Friday, Braden wore his costume to daycare with all the other kids. Then he had a halloween birthday party to go to. It was fun to see all the little kids all dressed up! Then on Saturday, we went to the fall festival in Boerne! They had music, bouncies, food, and a big fun slide! Finally, we went back home to do a little trick or treating! It was a great weekend!