Kimballton Weekend

This past weekend we headed back to Kimballton on Friday for the high school football game. I have 2 cousins on the team and my uncle is head coach. It was so different to go to a 'home' game in Exira. This year (for the first time) Elk Horn-Kimballton and Exira are joined in football. Now they are the EHK-E Spartans. All new colors, mascot, uniform, etc. With their combined forces they have been pretty good so far! They won pretty easily on Friday. I think the score was like 53-0. After the game we went to my uncle's house for a post-game get together. My mom took Brady back to their house for bed time so that Andy and I could stay out. I can't remember the last time we were up until 1:30 a.m.! It was a fun time! Andy even won some $ playing poker!
On Saturday Andy and I headed to Exira's Fall Fest to check out what they had going on. I was so glad that we went as there was a Pampered Chef rep there and had some items 40% off and they just happened to be the items I had been needing/wanting! Later that afternoon I ran my 12 mile training run (less than 2 weeks until the marathon!!) and then some family came over tot watch the Hawk's exciting win on Saturday night. It was great to get to see so much family while we were back.
We headed back to Ankeny on Sunday and did a few things around the house. Now it's on to another busy week. Last night Andy had a Monday Night Football party, tonight we are running errands, Wednesday Andy's department is going out for dinner, Thursday night I am going to Taki for dinner with some girlfriends and then we're heading to Gowrie on Friday for a football game and for the weekend...busy, busy! :-)

Brady having biscuits/jelly for the first time...I think he got some in his mouth!

'Grandpa I want more!!'

Climbing on Grandpa

Looking at his favorite picture book

Brady's 1st Haircut!!!

On Monday we took Brady to get his 1st ever hair cut! His hair was getting way too long, especially in the front (as noticed with his Trump comb-over in the pictures below...ha ha!). So it was time for a hair cut and boy are we soooo glad we did it! It looks so good! He is just a little man now! :-) He did such a great job, he sat on mommy's lap and was very good for the hair stylist.

One of the finished photos

'Oh mommy, I love my new hair cut!'

"What is going on?"

The 1st cut!

Weekend Fun!

I'm a little late posting from last weekend but better late than never I guess! We had a very productive weekend, that's for sure! On Saturday morning we got up and went to the downtown Farmer's Market. We walked around, found some goodies and bought a few things. After that we headed to West Des Moines to drop Brady off at Brad and Steph's so Kris could watch him. She was in town to watch Jaxson and was able to watch Brady for us too so we could go to Adventureland. We were there for a few hours after riding a few rides, etc. I realized that I must be getting old cuz the rides aren't near as fun as I used to think they were. Oh well! Since we had a babysitter we decided to get some things done. So we headed to Hobby Lobby and the mall to get a few things. After that we picked up Brady and headed home.
On Sunday we did a TON of things around the house. I put up my fall decorations and Andy spent the day painting...he painted our red bathroom. I'm SO excited with the new color and he worked on a few other major projects that I'll post more about later!

9 Month Check-up & Update

On Tuesday Brady had his 9 month check up and everything looks great! He is a whopping 23.12 lbs (90th percentile), 29.5" long (75th percentile) and his head measurement was in the 90th percentile! That's our healthy boy!!!
We had a good, laid back weekend. We didn't do too much as Brady had his first cold (yes, we know we're very lucky as this is the first time he's ever been sick...knock on wood that he doesn't continue to get sick more often!) and he was CRABBY...he wanted to be held by mommy most of the time...oh well, we can't complain he is usually such a good baby. On Sunday we ventured to church and we're not so sure that was a good idea, or next time he's going to the nursery as he isn't wanting to stay still for that long. After church we went on a picnic at a park in town and he was able to get on the swings, which he loves...so for a brief moment he was his old self.
Here are some pics from the weekend...


Playing with my bowls at the park

I'm a big boy!

This is fun mommy!

Hi Daddy...push me higher!

Pictures Update!!!

Update!
Our complete session is on Sarah's site!

Go here:
http://sarahmcconnell.zenfolio.com/

You may have to copy/paste the above address if it doesn't link directly for you! Enjoy!



Our photographer Sarah has a preview of Brady's pictures on her site. There are just a couple right now but when she has all of them, I'll add the link.

Check out the pics here:
http://sarahmcconnellphotography.net/2009/09/07/preview-brady-2/

Movin & a Shakin

Brady is sooo on the verge of crawling! And when he isn't trying to crawl, he will roll and wiggle his way around. He is so determined to get where he wants to go, no matter what it takes to get there. He will crawl a couple steps and then fall forward...here are some action shots!

I'm so close!

Playtime

Our little acrobat---how long before he's doing push-ups?

Soooo close to crawling....

9 Months Old!!!

On Sunday our 'baby' boy turned 9 months old! He is just growing way too fast for us. He is getting to be such a big boy now. He is sitting up all by himself, eating some table foods, holding his bottle by himself and almost crawling! Since he's into everything it was hard to get a good pic of him with his 9 month sign. It was much easier when he'd just lay there! But those days are long gone

Take 1: 'My shoes taste really good!'

Take 2: Mommy better just hold it

Take 3: 'Give that to me mommy, I can hold it'

Take 4: 'But I'd rather try to eat it'

Take 5: Maybe it's just better without the sign!

Labor Day Weekend

We had a busy but nice Labor Day Weekend. On Friday, Brady and I headed back to Elk Horn to see my parents (and so I could get my hair done) while Andy headed to Iowa City with his friend Jon to get all geared up for the Iowa vs. UNI game. Then on Saturday I did my 20 mile run (gotta love all the hills back home!) and Andy did some tailgating and went to the close game. Brady and I went down to the Kimballton ball field to catch his uncles playing some slow pitch softball, which is always entertaining! Then later in the afternoon Brady and I headed back to Ankeny and Andy got home around 7:00. We were all pretty tired from the long day and went to bed pretty early. Then on Sunday we did some things around the house, went for a walk and then we had Brady's 9 month pictures (and also did some family pics as well). He was all smiles and the session went really quickly since he did soooo good! After pictures we headed over to the Dillinger's for their patio party. They put in a really nice brick patio off their deck complete with a fire pit. It turned out so nice and it's the perfect spot for a great evening fire! Andy stayed a little longer as I had to get Brady to bed. He is cutting yet another tooth and was being a little fussy. Then on Monday we just laid low most of the day. Andy met his dad to go fishing and they did catch quite a few but I don't think they kept any. Today it's back to work!

Sin City!!!

What a great trip we had! Our flight left Des Moines at 2:40 p.m. on Thursday and thanks to Stephanie, we got to the airport in great time. Our flight was pretty uneventful and we even got to Vegas 1/2 hour ahead of schedule! We arrived at our hotel around 3:30 p.m. and were really happy with the hotel. Neither of us had stayed at the Monte Carlo before and we're glad we did this time! We did some sight seeing, ate dinner and walked around some more that night. Then Friday was my big 30th birthday...I can't believe I'm 30....yikes! We got up, ate breakfast and then headed to the pool around 9:00 a.m. It was 108 degrees every day we were there...HOT!!! But luckily it's a dry heat so it was bearable. The pool was really nice, there was a lazy river, wave pool and 2 other pools. After a couple hours of sun we cleaned up for lunch and then we went to the outlet malls...we had a good time shopping and got some good bargains! Then we came back and hit the pool again for a couple of hours before getting ready for dinner. We ate at an amazing sushi restaurant in the Bellagio hotel...Yellowtail...wow, it puts sushi in Des Moines to shame...after dinner we walked around some more, did a little gambling and had a couple drinks. On Saturday we did a lot of the same...some pool time, walking around the strip, eating at fun places, gambling and had a couple drinks...we did get up early on Saturday and go for a run on the strip. It was a cool 90 degrees at that time! On Sunday we spent the majority of our day at the pool. We met a lot of people from Iowa that were there as well. It was so relaxing sitting by the pool with a couple drinks and having a ton of fun. Obviously we didn't win it big at the casinos but we had a good time donating our money to them! It was an amazing trip!!!
Luckily Brady was a really good boy for both sets of grandparents and he didn't crawl while we were gone! I was really missing him by Monday and was glad to get to see him and give him lots of hugs and kisses! Now it's back to the grind!!


At Margaritaville...I don't know how that guy walked on those stilts all night!

New York New York


The pool view from our room

Our hotel

Andy at the fountain outside our hotel

Me with one of the street performers...this guy was awesome!

Dinner at Yellowtail

Inside Planet Hollywood Hotel/Casino

The Eiffel tower at Paris

Our hotel all lit up

Andy in front of the boat at New York New York

Inside New York New York

One of the few times we actually won money!

The fountain/light show at the Bellagio

Lounging by the pool

The Lazy River

Last night in Vegas!