"Poker Face"

Brayden and I met up with my family this evening after they got home from the airport. They spent the last week picking up Kira from BCT/boot camp at Fort Sill, OK. After a yummy pizza dinner, we all went downstairs to play with Kira and Travis' Xbox Kinect. It was a lot of fun and I finally figured out from where Brayden got his fist pumping dance move...

Enjoy the video!

Friends' Gift Exchange

Rather than our customary "Big Bang Theory" night, our friends got together today for a Christmas Party/Gift Exchange at Jen's place. Deana got there early, so her and Jen were playing Mario. Brayden didn't even bother to take off his coat before he joined them. He loves Mario!

Once we were able to drag him away from the TV, we started with the exchange. Craig got an awesome hooded blanket from Jen. This "Angry Bird" suites him perfectly. 

Deana gave me a wonderful Mickey Mouse clock! I absolutely love it. I can't wait to take it home and put it up. This is too cool to worry about preserving in the box.

Jen gave Brayden a cute stuffed toy. Brayden calls him Angry Yellow. He had to work to keep it away from the dogs, Teeko and Lucky.

Deana's gift to Brayden was extra thoughtful. It is a personalized "Toy Story III" book. It has his name, the names of his friends, and his address embedded into the story.

We finished off the night with Jen reading Brayden's new story to all of us. It is so cute! I love Christmas. I'm so excited to have a little girl join us next year with the festivities.

Shake Those Hips

Earlier today, while we were downtown waiting for Trax to show up, Brayden was dancing and shaking his hips to our friend's music. It was adorable. After we got home, we tried to get some of it recorded. It's still adorable!

Downtown Lights

We spent this afternoon/evening downtown with our friends, Tyler and Tori. We started at the Gateway Mall for caramel apples and to check out this ginormous tree. Then, we caught a ride on Trax over to Temple Square to see the lights there. I remember then being more beautiful when I was younger, but then I think most things like that are better seen as a child.

It was a fun trip and a great way to help bring on some Christmas Spirit.

Babysitting the Sever Boys

Today I had the opportunity to watch 4 little boys under the age of 4. Granted, one of them was mine, but it was still a crazy day. My friend/neighbor has twin boys, Garrett and Eli, that are a few months younger than Brayden, plus a 10-month-old baby boy. We all had a lot of fun. It wasn't nearly as bad as I had been fearing.

The older boys had a blast playing with all the available toys and games. I really think Brayden enjoyed spending the day with other little kids. I know he will love it when he can finally go to preschool.

After a yummy lunch, we all bundled up and headed outside to play.

We started in the backyard, but the front yard had the swing, so it wasn't long before we made it out there. Next was nap time and it wasn't long after that both dads came home.

I don't know how I would handle that if I had to do that every day, but it was a great break from the norm.

"Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"

Brayden and I were having a wonderfully lazy day today - thus the PJ's still on after lunch - and we had a lot of fun playing together. At one point, he decided to become a little performer and sing for me. "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" now has a soft spot in my heart.

Thanksgiving Shooting

Craig has started a new Thanksgiving tradition this year; rather than playing football, he gathered friends and family to go shooting. I wanted to come, but I wasn't sure if it was the best idea with me being pregnant and all. So I stayed home and had a wonderfully relaxing morning while my boys drove down to the west side of Utah Lake to go play with their guns.

 

Brayden had a ton of fun using Craig's old BB gun. Last time he went, he was a little too young to understand what he was allowed to touch, but he had no problem this time. And he had Dad's and Grandma's help all morning.

Meanwhile, the rest of the adults got to play with the big guns. Here are my dad, Dean, and Tori shooting at clay pigeons. Charles and Joe are off to the left with their own little hand gun set up.

Finally it was time to come home so we could get to Craig's mom's house for Thanksgiving, but it looks like the boys were ready for the morning to end. Hopefully next year I'll be able to go with them.