Bubble baths are for babies

Bubble baths are for babies, we take "Mater" baths. If you have seen the Disney movie Cars, then you will know who Mater is. He is on our bubbles, and we love to take Mater baths.

Look at me, I put bubbles on my hair!

Dumping the bubbles on your own head can be really fun.

Notice the skill with which Austin lined up the dinosaurs for a picture.

Nothing is better after a Mater bath than snuggling with Tigger and a big Blue Puppy!

Ducks!

Mommy loves to take us to see the ducks at the lake. We have so much fun feeding them bread, and even get to feed lots of fish and turtles. Here is Austin chasing the baby ducks while Braeden just laughed at him, they were adorable.....and so were the ducks.

Braeden's one year stats

Braeden's one year stats: 23 lbs. 14 oz. (24.1 by the time he went to the doctor a week later for an ear infection), 31 inches tall, and doing just great. He has eight teeth, but the molars are trying to start coming in...hence the ear infection. He LOVES to eat, and is trying to use a spoon...but sort of likes to use his hand to put food on the spoon, then use his hand to take it off the spoon again and eat it. He turbo commando crawls everywhere, but has started to do a "normal" crawl when he isn't in too big of a hurry. He pulls up on all the furniture, and goes back and forth from the couch to the coffee table. He has let go a few times....but gets pretty scared when he falls.

Likes: bath time, blankets, his thumb, snugglies, stuffed animals, the dogs, Daddy, Austin, soft things, snugglies, blankets, his thumb (oh did I already say those? he really likes them a lot), balls, trains, cars, and anything his brother is playing with.

Dislikes: shots, being taken away from Mommy, having his toys taken away, ummm...that's pretty much it.

Braeden's happy place is laying on anything soft with his thumb in his mouth!

A visit from Aunt Jennifer

Aunt Jennifer came into town this week, and Austin got to spend the whole day with her. He had so much fun, and keeps asking where Aunt Jennifer is now! Braeden LOVED her too, but unfortunately we had to pay a visit to Dr. Miller since he was running a fever due to another ear infection. Poor baby, those molars coming in are causing all sorts of problems!

I'm hiding Aunt Jennifer! Try and find me!!

Go 'Stros!

Mommy, Daddy, and I got to go to an Astro's game together. I had so much fun. There were soldiers (for Memorial Day), a choo choo train, the mascot, peanuts, cotton candy (which I only ate a couple of bites before telling Mommy it had dog hair on it..hee hee), and of course the baseball players. What a great time! I can't wait to go again!

It's HOT!!

It has been a busy week. Last weekend Mimi was in the hospital, but we managed to cool off by swimming in our backyard, and having fun with all the neighborhood kids. We had a Memorial day party in the cul-de-sac that ended with an awesome water balloon toss! So much fun!

Braeden's birthday party

Each year, birthday's around the Giffhorn household begin with pancakes shaped as the number of years you are old....Braeden's tradition began his first pancake shaped as a 1!

Party time!
Cousins in cool shorts.
Pops teaches Braeden how to bounce the balloon.
Family and friends and toys! Oh my!

Ribbons are a wonderful present. I love it, it is just what I wanted. Thank you so much.....What? There is something else in the package too? Oh, please....do open it.


I love birthdays! We should do this every year! Oh, we do....EXCELLENT!
I am not sure if Braeden is liking Austin touching HIS toys. He knows all too well how Austin will soon be saying that it belongs to him, and telling Braeden that he can't play with it because "it's MINE all MINE!"
It's your party, and your brother will cry if he wants to, cry if he wants to. You would cry too if it happened to you!

Cake, glorious cake. Oh how I love thee, let me count the fist fulls that I shove into my mouth with two hands because one at a time is just not enough.
If that isn't the face of a boy who had serious fun at his pary, and is ready to pass out, then I don't know what is. All in all, it was a wonderful birthday celebration, and we are so lucky to have an amazing family to share it with. Thanks to all of you for celebrating with us!!

Dear Mr. Tonka

Dear Mr. Tonka,

There were a number of things I wanted for my birthday, but a black eye was not one of those things. I love the tonka truck that my brother has, however the dumping action is a bit too much for someone who pulls up and leans on it. Metal plus eye equals black eye and lots of tears. Please refrain from sending any injuries of this sort in the future....really it's not what a boy wants on his first big birthday.

Sincerely,

Braeden

P.S. If you want to send me free toys that is just fine with me.

P.p.s. I am not saying that I don't want any more trucks.

P.p.p.s. Do you still understand that I like the truck, just not when it hits my eye?

Braeden's First Year

Braeden is ONE!

Ok, so it is hard not to cry while typing this, and even harder to believe that Braeden is now officially ONE! He is getting so big, and every week, we have a new kid who does all sorts of new things (official stats to come later after his doctor appoinment next week). We can't imagine our family without this little "sweetness" as Mommy calls him. He is such a joy, and an amazing blessing. Thank you, Braeden, for being our sweet baby. For his birthday, we gave him his own comfy rocking chair to use next to his brother's chair, and I think the picture captures his feelings about his new chair!

Pots, pans, bowls, spoons....Braeden LOVES it when Mommy makes dinner...not to mention he is really going to eat us out of house and home. That boy eats anything!

It is as if suddenly someone put new batteries in Braeden. He just keeps going and going and going. He has a new energy about him...I think it is the excitement about getting around wherever he wants to go. He is officially cruising the furniture...who knows how long before he walks, but I think it could be soon.

These photos are very similar to the ones Austin took doing the same thing...check back on the blog to September 2006, to see what I mean.

Boys and their cars

It starts pretty young...boys and their cars.

The Wiggly Worm

If you don't have a fun sprinkler toy like this wiggly worm...you simply must get one! Summer just isn't summer unless you run around getting wet in the sprinkler!

Oh give me a home....

Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam, and the deer and the antelope play. Where seldom is heard a discouragin' word, and the skies are not cloudy all day! Our little cowboys got a special treat from Daddy! Their very own horse!
Austin and Daddy are putting it together.
Braeden even "helped." If you haven't noticed, Maggie always has her tongue out in pictures. Just look back at any of our pictures that she is in, and you will also be amazed that we are able to catch her tongue in our pictures. Crazy dog!
Here is our biggest cowboy throwin' that hat up in the air and saying "Yee haw!"

Visiting Great Grandparents!

This week, Mimi, Uncle Ben, Mom, and us two boys took a road trip to Louisiana to visit Mommy's grandparents. First we stopped in Lake Charles to see Mama Mickey, and then went on to Lafayette the next day to see Poppy. Here are the pictures below of our fun trip!

Austin and his Poppy. That is where he gets the cowboy from. Do you think Austin loves his Poppy, just look at that face?! It speaks volumes.

Braeden thought Poppy was wonderful too!

Mimi, Braeden, Poppy, and Aunt Judy.

Poppy has this horsey at his house that the grandkids and great grandkids get to ride. Well Austin had so much fun and rode that horse so long, his head was dripping with sweat. So fun!

Austin picked some flowers (they are small, but they are in her hands) from Mama Mickey's yard and brought them to her. She was so pleased.
Braeden loves his great grandmother, and she was so tickled to have him there.

Kisses for Mama Mickey!

Kisses for Aunt Alice too!

11 Months Old

It is hard to believe that Braeden is already 11 months old. Only 4 weeks from being a 1 year old toddler! My how time has flown by. He sat up in his crib for the first time yesterday. I walked in expecting to see him rolling around like normal, and he was just sitting there looking at me like, "Hi Mom, what's up?" grinning from ear to ear. His favorite food, if I had to choose one is macaroni and cheese, although he'll eat just about anything you give him. He has started to point at things and make sounds like he is trying to say words. His favorite thing is to watch Austin or Maggie and Jack....they all make him laugh. He is such a happy boy, we are so blessed.

Yummy!

We took a nice drive to the hill country to get some yummy BBQ at Kreuz Market in Lockhart. It was a beautiful day, and Braeden liked his first taste of one of the best barbeque places in Texas. The best part was that we got to meet Aunt Lisa and Grandma who were in Austin for a wedding.

Austin was left in the tub while I got Braeden dried off, and when I returned (don't worry I was still able to see him the whole time), I found that he wasn't just coloring the bathtub like he usually does.

Our own little commando!

All I had to do was post on the blog that Braeden wasn't crawling, and the very next day he began! It is a cute crawl...sort of commando style. He is our own little sniper the way he uses his elbows. This video is a couple of weeks old, and he really gets around quickly now. I imagine my blog posts might really be far between now that both kids are on the move...but we'll see!