Elf on the Shelf - Meet Charlie

We took the plunge this year, we decided - a couple days before his debut - that we'd attempt Elf on the Shelf this year to see how it would go.  And we were pleasantly surprised - Brayden really loved it and enjoyed coming downstairs every morning to see what 'Charlie' was up to as did Geoff and I.  ;)  I wanted to document some of Charlie's adventures for future reference and I may be missing a few because I forgot to snap some pictures.

Brayden was sad to see Charlie go and still asks when Charlie is going to come back.  So I'm guessing next year will be even MORE fun!!  :)

 For some reason, some of the photos won't turn the right direction, sorry!  Hope you enjoy Charlie!!  

Family Photos 2016

We were so bummed to find out that the girl that took our family photos last year was already booked up this fall, so I was on a mission to find someone else.  Luckily, I was on the Roxborough Mom's Group when I saw Kristi post about her fall mini sessions.  I figured I'd be willing to take a shot and LOVED that she lived close by.  We are so thrilled with how they all came out and hope to use Kristi in the future!!

Brayden is Back in the Pool!

We had Brayden in swim lessons for about 9 months, but as the holidays started to approach we decided to take a little break because things get a little chaotic around that time. We knew we wanted him back in the pool, but we wanted to see if he'd miss it - if it was something he longed for. About two weeks into our 'break' we drove in the vicinity of our swim school and Brayden begged to go swimming. It was at that moment that I knew he needed to be back in the water. So fast-forward a few months, my Mom asked what Brayden wanted for his birthday and I said, swim lessons! So much to our delight, he got his swim lessons back.

In the 9 months of our lessons we did Mommy & Me lessons which were great. I was able to help him, learn the skills, but he also had time with our lovely instructor, Michelle.  However, getting both of us changed, in/out of the pool, showered and changed again was literally taking longer than the lessons themselves. I had also noticed Brayden was doing better with Michelle than he would with me, so we decided to switch him over to semi-private lessons. (Which he's required to do now that he's 3, but I thought it would be a win-win for us)

For the last few days we've been talking to Brayden about going back to swim and how Mommy wasn't  going to be swimming with him - which he was pumped about. Haha!! Thanks for the love, sweet boy! However he kept saying how he didn't want water in his ears, so I was getting concerned and wasn't sure how today would go. Well...much to my surprise Brayden blew my and Michelle's socks off!! He jumped in the pool and looked like he didn't miss a beat!! I was so proud of how well he listened, he pushed himself even when he was getting tired and most importantly he didn't stop smiling! He was so happy to be back in that water. And after one class - he'll be ready to move up to level 2. Whoop-whoop!

Here are some pictures of our first day, back at the pool!!

He has ZERO fear of the water.

Abbigayle's First Holy Communion

In addition to Brayden getting older, my sweet Abbigayle Grace is getting older too!  Not possible.  And this last weekend Brayden and I drove down to Farmington, NM and witnessed her receive her first holy communion.  What a beautiful, joyous occasion it was!  

Congratulations Abbi, we're so proud of you and we love you so much.