July Gone By!

This is going to be a double post today - two in one.

So, it's already the end of July! I can't believe it. July was a busy month for us. Joe coaches baseball and his team had two state tournaments in July. The team ended up winning the Gopher State 10AAA Championship - woohoo! We celebrated a great end to the season (and having more free time) by being vegabonds for the weekend.
We started out by heading to Lumberjack Days in Stillwater, my hometown. This consisted of a visit to Teddy Bear Park (pics above), watching the log rollers/Lumberjacks, a K-9 demonstration and stopping to eat along the local vendors in the park. We then stayed the night at Shawn and Kurt's in Woodbury and the cousins got to play together. Saturday, we headed up to my Dad and Pam's in Turtle Lake and all of the Sullivan's were there to hang lake side. We played bean bag toss, ate, drank and some did some kayaking and paddle boating. We then left the Sullivan's to go over to our friends cabin in Balsam Lake- David and Brenda. We spent all day Sunday boating on their nice deck boat. I got to float on an air mattress for about an hour, Braden got to be dunked waist high in the lake which he loved, and Joe got to get thrown around on a tube behind the boat with a couple of 10year olds! What a great summer weekend we had, and I can't believe it's almost August now!

I also celebrated a birthday this week. It was a great day. Joe made me breakfast in bed. Braden and I took a morning stroll. We hit the Linden Hills wading pool in the afternoon. I taught kickboxing and then Joe and I headed to Broder's Pasta Bar for dinner. Jess came over to babysit Braden, so that was nice of her to give us a night out. We sat outside for appetizers and drinks and then were seated inside and Joe held the door open for Jared Allen who was also dining there. It was nice of Jared to show up for my b-day celebration! :) I look back to last year and how pregnant I was on my birthday...and this year, Braden is 10 months. Time is just flying by. I do have to say that I feel a lot younger/better this year than I did last year. Full of energy and somehow I am keeping up with this energetic and curious little guy each and every day! Here are some pics of my little diaper head wearing a b-day hat for Mamma. :)

10 Months!

Yesterday, on July 22, Braden turned 10 months old. We are officially in the double digits. Time is flying by, I can't believe he is almost one!!! Crazy.

What is our 10 month old up to these days? He is loads of fun! He is an expert crawler- fast and furious. He is smiley and happy. He has TWO teeth - the second one was a pretty traumatic experience for both he and I (lots of crying and no sleeping!!!) :) He loves to climb (per my last post.) He hand feeds himself- he loves pancakes and bananas for breakfast. He has tried ice cream and loves it! He loves swimming, dogs, playing with new things, going places and being chased around the house. He has a little bit of seperation anxiety (from me) but we are working through it- it's not horrible or anything. He loves to bang on the keyboard, as he is doing while I type this. He loves pulling things off of shelves, counters, etc.. he likes to climb inside the refrigerator, he loves stairs and anything that is challenging! He loves to bang two toys together to make noise.

Braden, we are so proud of the little man that you are becoming. You are full of life, energy and personality. You amaze us each day. We love you and are having so much fun with you. We can't imagine life without you! We are so excited to see what is next for you, since every day there is something new. Happy 10 months!!!

We Have a Climber!

My sister was generous enough to pass along some old toys to Braden. It's so fun to watch Braden with toys he hasn't seen before and see what he will do. Forget letting the cars go zooming down the ramp, or putting them in the elevator and watching all the lights light up....his favorite thing to do is climb on top. Right now he is into climbing up/onto everything! This weekend I brought him into the library and the Sprint store and at both places he wanted to climb on the countertops and cried when I wouldn't let him. I guess the days of him just sitting in my arms are over....another milestone reached- our kid can climb and he's really good at it!

Swimming with a Turtle

Braden in his happy turtle state!
And he's off! Our little turtle cruising around.

It's crazy how life changes so quickly. If you would have asked me two years ago what my favorite summer activity was, I might have said running around the lake or hanging out on the patio with a cold drink. Last year if you would have asked me, it might have been going on dates with Joe (knowing that those would soon slow down post-baby), going on weekends away or getting a pregnancy massage to feel better. Well, this year it's swimming with a turtle!

We bought this turtle raft a couple of weeks ago and we take it to the Linden Hills wading pool. What is so great is that the LH wading pool is shallow enough that Braden can touch the bottom while he's in his raft. So, he cruises around the pool just like he is walking. He has so much fun and barely even notices if I am around! So, this year...swimming with a turtle is my favorite activity.