Before the meltdown....
and after!
Brad looks like he is having as much fun as Parker!
And this is what you see if you greet me first thing in the morning! But the baby sure is cute!
Sunday night the snow was really pretty coming down, but when I was up at 4 am with the boys (Parker is teething, Braden woke up running a fever) and I heard the sleet hitting the windows it was not so cool. Monday morning Braden wanted to go outside and play so we waited until Parker took a nap, since he pitched a fit the whole time we were outside when it snowed in December. We got all bundled up and then crunched our way to the backyard. Yes, crunched. It was not beautiful fluffy snow it was hard, icy snow. There were lots of slick spots and the yard looked more like a frozen pond than yard filled with soft, powdery snow. Braden didn't even want to stay out very long and I was glad! The funny thing was that when Brad opened our front door Monday morning there was a "snow mountain" at the door over a foot of snow that had blown in. Braden thought it was the funniest thing and kept talking about our mountain of snow at the backdoor. 
Slipping on the ice, but Daddy caught him!
Trying to catch some of the snowflakes!
Now it is Thursday and school is still out- possibly even tomorrow because the roads are so slick. I guess this means we will be losing our Winter Break, which stinks because that is when were gooing to try to move. Braden ran a fever off and on until yesterday and his pediatrician's office was closed, so they called him in a prescription and yesterday morning I woke up with the worst sore throat, which ended up being strep throat. Luckily my doctor's office opened up yesterday so I was able to be seen. The good thing is I have gotten some packing done and been able to spend lots of cuddle time with my boys. But I am really hoping that this is the last of the snow for a while! 
Parker trying to "help" me pack! Braden is hiding under the red blanket in the backround.
Let me tell you that you have some of the nicest manners around. We hear that from all of your teachers. You give the best compliments and will just come up, offer hugs and give me or your dad hugs and kisses for no reason. Hours after we have taken you somewhere or done something special with you, you will walk over to us and say, "Oh thank (fank) you for ____." You can melt my heart like no one else! But, boy oh boy, we have had some struggles with your behavior this year. Not anything too major (mostly concerning your eating habits), but enough that I spent a lot of times on my knees praying for patience and understanding. You have so much spunk and you're so extremely opinionated and strong willed. These are actually qualities that I admire in you, though they do make it challenging at times. Daddy and I have spent lots of time this year finding a balance of discipline and love to suit who you are and who you are growing to be. We are not always perfect, but we are always trying. My favorite time with you is when get to cuddle before you go to sleep at night. Daddy puts you to bed most nights, but on the nights that I get to spend with you I just eat it up. You love to talk, talk, talk and you always want to talk about going to the beach and staying at the white house. You have so much fun when we are there.
You are so very smart. You are already rhyming words, counting by tens to 100 and spelling your first and last name. You are working on your middle name. You can identify all basic shapes, including octagon. You can identify all of the letters in your name and also s, t, z, v, c, and p. You can recognize numbers 1-9. You tell me which direction we are driving on the interstate (east bound to our house, west bound to Grrr and Palpaw's). You were the only child in your class who could tell your teacher your birthdate. And you are so articulate with your words. You have just gotten interested in coloring and drawing pictures, but you hate practicing writing, though you have learned to write your letter "B" and you can type your whole name on the computer. You have become so independent, which makes me both really happy and a little sad. Last week you wanted to make you own peanut butter sandwich and I couldn't believe it! Go Braden! You are also a wonderful helper. You love to help with the laundry, put away the silverware and you have gotten very good at picking up after yourself and putting your dirty clothes in your hamper and picking up your toys before bedtime.
B, you are one of the funniest kids I have ever met! Around Christmas, you were playing with a kid friendly snow globe that Grr had gotten you a few years back. It plays a lot of different songs, but your favorite was The First Noel. You were having trouble finding it and said, "Can you help me find the first noELF?" I said, "Do you mean the first noel?" You replied, "Noel? Never heard of him." The other day your father and I asked you to clean your room. As you were walking out you said, "Ohhh, this is exasperating!" Today you asked Uncle Chad and Aunt Erica to sing Happy Birthday to you. When Uncle Chad sang it he said you look like a monkey and you smell like one too. You sang it the right way and then announced to him, "THAT is how you sing the song!" Oh Braden, you keep us smiling.
My sweet little picky eater....you have come so far this year. Yes it may have involved many frustrating nights at the dinner table, some threats, and even some vomit, but you are doing SOOOOO much better! You now love hot dogs, will eat fish sticks, but prefer bacon. You have eaten bbq, hamburgers, quesidillas, pork chops and chicken. You don't mind eating green beans, though you are still not a huge fan of mac and cheese. This may not sound like a big deal to you 20 years from now when you just finished scarfing down a porterhouse steak , but this is HUGE in our lives right now!
refusing to eat your potato soup
Then we loaded up the car, put out cookies for Santa and Braden wanted to leave carrots in the yard for the reindeer, and headed to my parent's house for Christmas Eve. My dad and Brad had to run a few errands to help Jolly Old St. Nick out so my mom and I hung out with the boys. When my Chad and Erica got to the house we feasted on Wedge salad, Low Country boil and king crab legs! We were all so stuffed, we probably would have all napped except that Braden was ready to open gifts! Once again, Parker could care less about the gifts so Braden got to open all the presents! After hanging out and spending quality time with the family, we changed the boys into their jammies, loaded up and headed home since it was after 10:00. We were hoping that that the boys would fall asleep as soon as we hit the road, but Braden was too excited to sleep. He talked almost the whole way home and finally fell asleep about 5 minutes before we pulled into the driveway!
Brad and I put the boys to bed, exchanged our gifts to each other, waited on Santa and then headed to bed just after midnight, fully expecting Braden to wake us up early the next morning. He did not however and we had to wake him up! When he walked in he was so excited to see the "Big, black truck from Walmart" that Santa left him! It was the only thing he asked for and the look on his face was worth every penny! Parker came in and headed straight for Santa's left over cookies and hardly glanced at his toys all morning! He did discover the puffs that Santa left in his stocking!
