My Baby is 3!

Last Friday was Brayden's 3rd birthday! I still can't believe that it has been 3 years since he joined our family. We have been talking to Brayden about his birthday for weeks and he had been anticipating it everyday. Finally the day came when he woke up and asked, "Is today my birthday?" and we got to say, "YES!" We quickly ate breakfast, got ready, and headed out the door. Josh had to work, so Rachael came with us to Gymcats for their toddler open gym. The last time I took Brayden was about 9 months ago. All he did then was jump on the tramp the entire time. This time, however, he was all over the place. This time he LOVED the foam pit. Usually he doesn't stay in it for very long, but today he probably did about 100 supermans and cannonballs into it.

Brooklyn did pretty good. Her molars are coming in so she started getting extremely ornery towards the end. As soon as I let her have her bink and pup she was much better. Thanks Rachael for coming along!

On our way home I told Brayden he could decide what we were going to have for lunch. Of course, he picked pizza. So we grabbed a pizza, ate, and went down for naps.

While the kids were napping my mom stopped by to stay at the house so I could go shopping. I wanted to get some balloons and some other stuff for the big party. Josh's dad got us some free passes to Jungle Jim's, so we invited our family and friends there for Brayden's party. When we walked in Brayden's eyes were wider than I've ever seen. We've never been there before and he doesn't really remember Lagoon. We quickly set up our party table and started going on rides. Brayden was pretty hesitant at first, but quickly fell in love. It was fun to have Jaxon and Aubree there for Brayden to play with.Brooklyn also loved the rides. She kept pointing to the carousel over and over again. As soon as it would start moving she started laughing and squealing with excitement. I showed her how to wave to people as we went around, and everytime we passed the ride operator she started waving and giggling. SO cute. Btw, take a look at the bottom left picture. This is Brayden focusing on trying to hold up 3 fingers. Brayden loved the games more than the rides. By the end of the night he was going up to everyone asking, "Do you any moneys?" Of course he was so cute that most people gave in and got him some tokens. It's a good thing Natalie and Mike gave him a money bank for his birthday so he can save up to go to Nickelcade. Thank you to everyone for coming and for all the wonderful gifts. Brayden got so many fun toys and games we'll be busy for quite some time, I hope. Here's Brayden playing all the games.This is the moment that made my entire day. Everyone had left and we told Brayden he could do one more ride. He wanted to ride the rockets with Brooklyn. So we found a worker, since we were the last ones there, and he let the kids go for their last ride. Josh and I watched them have so much fun together and I got a little emmotional realizing that these are OUR kids and we are their parents. It's hard to explain what I felt at that moment, but I love them SO much it is overwhelming. We packed up all our stuff and headed home. We had one more surprise for Brayden waiting for him - a new bike! Eventhough it's too cold outside now, he still loves sitting on it and is learning how it works. Finally a bike he can reach the pedals on!!! Yeah!Happy Birthday Brayden! Your mom and dad love you SO much. You bring us and everyone around you so much joy. You continue to amaze us at how smart you are and how quickly you are learning. I still can't believe you can sing the entire BYU Cougar song. We hope you had a wonderful birthday and hope you know that we will always be here for you and love you more and more each day.