Picture Day!

I know every mommy thinks every picture of their baby is 100% precious, but these new pictures we had made last week just melt my heart. I could look through all 180 pictures all day and just laugh and smile. Christiane Wheatley took these for us and I could not love them anymore. We did them for Braidy's second birthday, and for one last photo shoot of just the 2 of them before baby brother comes along! I think Braidy looks like such a little man in these, and John looks like a high school football player! They are both growing up so fast. I love pictures. These really capture who they are right now and I LOVE that!!! Here are just a few of my favorites....I'd like to put all 180 on here, but that might be a tad excessive!

Nena and Pops Camp II

A few weeks ago, Braidy and John went to Houston to spend a week with Pops and Nena and Uncle Bubby while daddy and mommy stayed home to MOVE into our new home! It was a huge help having them out of the house while we did all of that, and I know they had a WONDERFUL time in Houston. We talked to them at least once a day, and they were always doing something fun!

They went swimming everyday,


they went to the Houston Children's Museum,


went to Chuck-E-Cheeze,


ate pickles and watermelon,


helped Nena make meatballs,

played play-doh,

painted,

went for rides on poor Mustang,

caught lizards,

just hung out



and were just loved and spoiled all week long. Aunt Rhonda, Uncle Bob, Megan and Granny even got to come visit for a couple of days. I know the boys are already looking forward to going back!

the big 0-2!

This past Saturday, Braidy turned TWO years old. I seriously felt like it was a couple of months ago that we were celebrating him turning one. Time only seems to speed up. We had a busy and eventful weekend, so I will try my best to capture it all!

Friday night, Poppa and JJ came over along with Aunt Jess, Aunt Rach and Crockett to start the weekend of celebration off. We had pizza from Orlando's and the boys just played and played. Poppa and John played catch and everyone played on the trampoline. We had a great time just hanging out!





Saturday (BIRTHDAY) morning, we made birthday pancakes and he got to blow out 2 candles, which he loved! We've been practicing singing Happy Birthday and blowing out candles for a while now, so he's a pro!




We decided to have a "Bug" Birthday party this year. The kids took their bug catchers and went on a bug hunt, we played in the backyard, ate yummy trailmix, had cupcakes with bugs on top, and "kinda" opened presents. Braidy didn't exactly love his party this year. I think he was running low on sleep and a little overwhelmed with everything all at the same time. Sleepy + Overwhelmed = Meltdown(s). He was the happiest when everyone was just playing in the backyard, where he could do his own thing. He was the unhappiest when it was time to open gifts. He made it through a couple and then meltdown #1 happened. He wanted nothing to do with the presents..so I got to finish for him. He did enjoy blowing out his candles on his cupcake. Major meltdown #2 happened when it was time to give his friends their "S'more favors"...he did NOT want to let anyone else have one, I guess he thought they were all his. Besides those 2 instances, we had a great time and really enjoyed all of our family and friends coming to help us celebrate another birthday for our little man.









After the party, all of the family stayed around to visit. Braidy, Crockett, and John played in the water, suds, drank DP, ate lots more trail mix, and just had fun playing with each other....and the adults had fun watching and laughing at them playing together...they sure are funny.





Sunday for lunch, Nena and Pops cooked a WONDERFUL birthday lunch consisting of fried shrimp, salad, potatoes and corn. Lulu and Papaw, Crockett, Jess and Chris all came over to enjoy lunch with us. We had a great feast with even greater company!

This 2nd year has just been as joyful as the first one. I love watching you grow and learn new things daily. I love hearing new words and phrases come out of your little mouth...."DOH MAN!" is a favorite these days, as well as "I want Docor Peppah". You say 7 and 8 word sentences that make me laugh daily. You love asking questions as a 2 year old. "What you say, Momma" when you don't hear what I said, or if you don't understand something "What that mean, momma?" Another question we hear about 100 times a day is "What Dooooooin, momma?" or "What Doooooooin, daddy?" You are still very social and love being around your friends. We moved you into a big boy bed a couple of weeks ago, and you're doing pretty good. Better than expected, anyways! You're growing up right before our eyes, and I love the opportunity to watch it everyday, all day. There's nothing better than being your mommy and daddy!!!! We love you SO much, Mr. Braidy Spencer! I cannot wait to see what year #3 holds for you. I know it will be just as special as the first two.

At his 2 year well-check today he weighed 24 lbs and was 33 inches long...5th percentile in weight (up from 3rd!) and 35th percentile for height.

Family Reunion and the Fourth!

This past weekend we loaded up and headed to Oklahoma City for the Lowry family reunion...my mom's side of the family. Reunions are every 3 years, and it had been a few times since I've been, so this was the year to go! We arrived late Friday night after traveling through some rain and quite a few stops, we finally made it!

Saturday we took the boys to the Science Museum where we spent a few hours. They (and we) had a great time! It was really neat with a TON to do, even for little guys like Braidy and Crockett. They played in a firehouse, in bubbles and water, painted thier faces (Braidy did his own), ran around like crazy kids, climbed a HUGE treehouse, rode the seesaw together, Braidy rode a little motorized scooter thing, built with blocks, pushed block-built structures down, Crockett sat in a tractor and loved every minute of it, made paper cups fly, and TONS more. Aunt Darla, Uncle Tim, and LuLu were great sports and so much fun to play with!
After a LONG nap on Saturday we had our reunion dinner that night. It was a little wild with lots of kids running and screaming, but it was fun. Braidy and Crockett played with some play-doh and bubbles with our cousins and had a great time!






Sunday we had our family church service. Sitting with 2 boys under the age of 2 for any length of time is not easy, but to sit there trying to keep them quiet for almost an hour is just about impossible. I will say they did pretty good. Braidy was watching my Uncle Tim lead the music and would do his arms just like Uncle Tim was doing...it was pretty funny. Crockett was singing along with the songs. The only small incident is when Braidy launched a bag full of goldfish into the row behind us. Everyone thought it was pretty funny. I was mostly embarrassed, but too, found it pretty funny. The man behind us made a great catch. Good thing I had JUST closed that bag, or the fishies would have gone EVERYWHERE, making that small incident a much bigger incident.



After a great lunch at Cracker Barrell with the Lowry's, the Stone's, the Lewis' and the Curry's, we headed home to the LBK. Lubbock had gotten TONS of rain while we were gone, so we were praying we would come home to a dry house...and we did! YAY! Not only was it dry, but we had our own mushroom garden waiting for us also. Seriously, our front yard was WHITE because of all of the mushrooms. I spend a good part of yesterday picking them out of our yard...yuck. Some were small, others were about 6 inches in diameter...sick. Not sure i'll ever want sauteed mushrooms again. Sunday night we got some sparklers for Braidy to do to celebrate the 4th of July. At first he was NOT interested and a little scared, but eventually he warmed up to them and decided they were pretty cool. Overall, it was a very successfull 4th of July weekend, spent with family who we all love dearly.