sethandjoleigh.com

Another special day…

Jo Leigh — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 12:16:36 +0000

it’s Seth’s birthday!
Brayden & I love you so much & you are such a wonderful father/husband to us!!! Thank you for all that you are & all that you do for our family! Today is such a special day since it’s your birthday…but since it’s not going to seem very special…I wanted to surprise you with a special post! (he has to work & Brayden & I are going to be gone most of the day)
I couldn’t ask for more in a best friend or husband, but you continue to impress me as a daddy, too!!
A little story about how awesome he is, and this is just one little example that made me smile (a lot) so I thought I would share it. Most of you know how much my child loves hot dogs/turkey dogs. He also really enjoys “cooking” lately (cooking to brayden is mostly cutting things up which he likes to watch & if it’s not cutting it involves stirring with a spatula or spoon). At dinner time Brayden chose to have a hot dog (big surprise), but then he was VERY adamant about helping to cook it. Well, if I had been helping him with dinner, I probably would have shown him how I make it in the microwave…but not Seth. He grabbed Brayden a chair, got all of his tools & went to work chopping & sauteing/frying that hot dog! It sounds so silly (& it was actually quite silly to watch, too), but it meant SO much for me to witness that moment between them!! Here are the pictures (I mean, did you think I could resist photo evidence? Do you know me? )

Happy Birthday, babe, we love you!!!!!! (Warning…there are a lot of pictures here…I mean a LOT!)

Whew! What a big boy!

Jo Leigh — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 18:56:13 +0000

Okay, so I realized the other day that I still haven’t put up any pictures from Brayden’s birthday party! We had a fun time despite some craziness with runaway balloons, kitchen/baking malfunctions, crazy weather (ranging from heat to wind blowing smoke/ashes from the grill to down pour of rain with subsequent humidity instead of cooling off), etc. Brayden had a good time & we had time with friends & family, so overall it worked out!
I finally took Brayden for his two year old well visit at the doctor. He was not a big fan of pretty much anything we did while we were there (after we left the waiting room where he was playing), but after some “excitement” & many tears we found out his stats. No surprise, but he is a big boy! So here are the specifics: weight 32 1/2 lbs. (88%), head circumference is 50 1/2 cm (87%) & height 37 1/2 inches (off chart). Literally, off the chart, that’s what the nurse wrote down, I had to chuckle! You know, he must get it from his super tall mommy & daddy! Hee he! Other than that, every thing looks great & as the doctor & I discussed, he’s got the “acting like a 2 year old” thing down pat! Enjoy his party pics below!

As a side note….here is proof of some of the chaos in the kitchen! Can you tell mommy had too many things on her mind with party planning, cake making, packing, moving & daddy being at work…etc!?!? Whew, this is the first little fire I’ve ever started & I hope it’s my last! This made for too much excitement during nap time when all I was trying to do was be ahead of schedule! Thankfully, I was able to get everything under control & with some help from mom get everything cleaned up & start the cake…all before Brayden woke up! Enjoy the laugh of why you should bake cupcakes/cakes outside of the carrying container!?!?!

So very, very behind…in everything…including posting!

Jo Leigh — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 19:21:09 +0000

Seems to be the theme of life around here these days…being behind at everything (or at least feeling that way)! Anyway, I had compiled some pictures a while back, so I thought I would update with them. They are from a pool date with Brinn & Kaitlyn, my cousin’s wedding/trip to Concord, more rain boot pictures (with newer boots, since they were such a hit! ) & more mini-golf!
Hope everyone is having a great summer! FYI, we are in the new house now & sort of getting settled. We are enjoying it, but it will much better when our motif is much less “a la box” than it is at the moment!!! Enjoy the pics!

Shoes & Mud

Jo Leigh — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 14:28:48 +0000

Brayden has branched out in the area of shoes lately…he really enjoys his flip-flops (mommy is SO excited) & his rain boots! Really stinking cute! He is ALL boy, & I just love some of the pictures of him in his “jammie” shirt, diaper & boots!
As for the mud…as much of a boy as he is, he doesn’t always like being dirty or muddy (especially when he doesn’t choose it!) A little while back, Seth, Brayden & I headed over to see how the house was coming along. Somehow Brayden was a magnet for mud that day! Truly, he managed to “fall” or trip off of the patio (inches literally) into the only mud puddle in the whole back of the house! His leg sunk…a long way & he was NOT happy! Mommy thought she handled it well. We got him calmed down & used a water bottle, wipes, etc. from our stash in the car to get him cleaned up! He was happy again! Woo hoo! Well, Seth wanted to check something out at another house, & while we were waiting Brayden found another mud puddle (the only other one on the lot). He kept his distance, but enjoyed throwing little rocks into it. Well, mommy turned around for one second & splash/squish…in he went! His little leg sunk in so far & he was SO upset! Clean up this time was not quite as easy because we had used all of our resources the first time around! We actually had to use the shower outside of the neighborhood pool to clean him up! Whew! What excitement for a “quick trip” to see the house before going to Wal-Mart! Ha! We of course had to go home instead after all of that excitement!

Some summertime fun

Jo Leigh — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 23:08:45 +0000

We’ve been so busy this summer, even though we haven’t really been gone much. Here are some pictures from earlier in the summer when we went to Atlanta to visit Josh & Kelly. We had such a great time hanging out at the house with all of the doggies! We finally made it to Zoo Atlanta, which we’ve been planning for years (truly)! Brayden was in rare form at least half of the weekend…good thing he is super cute & he was super fun the other half!!! Brayden also played miniature golf for the first time when Jill & the girls were in town & he LOVED it! He liked playing on his own & with some help, but he really enjoyed cheering for everybody else & reminding them to put the “ball, hole….please!”

My baby is 2!

Jo Leigh — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 19:03:22 +0000

Brayden celebrated his second birthday on Monday!!! I can’t believe that he is already two years old; man how time flies! We had a wonderful day with just the three of us! Last year was completely different because we had his party on his actual birthday. Both ways are special, but it was just a very nice, relaxing day! We started the morning with his favorite breakfast of French Toast! Then we woke daddy up (he doesn’t like french toast like we do, so we let him skip that part) & got ready & headed to the “beach” at Pine Island. This was the first time we had really gone there as a family for the sand/water aspect & not just the playground or a party. We all had a blast, & Brayden LOVED both the sand & the water! We had a picnic lunch & then headed home for his nap. When he woke up we had our celebration with our presents & cake. He was so funny about blowing out the candles…we had to do it FOUR times because he kept saying so nicely ” mo blow please!” I hope he doesn’t do this at his party!!! He also liked all his presents, & he had a funny little surprised face with each one he opened (which was a new thing)! He also got his present from Nana & PawPaw which he loved…a Mickey Tricycle! All in all it was just a great family day! I am SO thankful for this precious little boy that we have been blessed with…oh, we just love him SOOO much that words don’t do it justice! Happy 2nd Birthday, Brayden!!!!!

Chuck-town

Jo Leigh — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:41:51 +0000

Seth, Brayden & I headed down to Charleston for the day at the end of May. We love that place so much, & it always makes me happy to just go down there & walk around. I don’t know why we don’t do it more often, but we don’t. This was Brayden’s first trip down there, & we had so much fun showing him all of the sights (& taking a lot of pictures!) He was a super good boy most all of the day with the exception of lunch…wow, that was a doozy! We made it through, & he even took an almost 2 hour nap in his stroller – awesome! We didn’t even get rained on (you can tell in some of the pictures that it looked like the bottom was going to fall out most of the day…but it held out until we were in our car & headed to the outlets & then home – yea!) It was a great day; we’ll have to do it again soon!
Oh, side story, Brayden decided a little while back that he likes to hug trees…literally. So occasionally he gets in his “tree hugging” mood & just goes to town! Well, he thought that the HUGE trees at the battery were hilarious & he enjoyed trying to stretch his little arms around them! Then this need to hug things extended to random things…like a ball at the bottom of a statue & lots of things at the outlets like columns, the bars on windows, a lamp post?!?! I have no idea where he comes up with this stuff. I have a little video, so I can figure it out I’ll post it, too. What a silly little man! He really keeps us guessing & laughing!

Much “cleaner” than the last post!

Jo Leigh — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 22:42:28 +0000

Okay, so I know that the “messy” last post stressed a few of you out…and I know who most of you are! So, I promise, that this post is about a cleaner side of Brayden! He is really loving any puddle that he can find, playing in the rain & (drum roll, please) baths again these days! Yea! So I realize that puddles & rain aren’t exactly “clean” necessarily, but they are in comparison to baby powder, bath paint, etc!
In the first pictures he splashed in the puddle so much that it went away. He politely asked for “more water please mama!” It was really sweet! He has played in the rain a little before, but not like this! Oh my goodness, so the weather had been stormy a few days in a row & we were majorly lacking in our outside time. It was finally sunny outside, so even though it was wet & gross we headed outside to play. Seth was leaving the house & as he came out to tell us bye it started raining…and it just got harder & harder! Wow, did we ever get soaked! It didn’t stop our fun though! We played football & chase & in the water table & we blew bubbles, etc. By the time we got inside, I noticed that his pants were so heavy they were about to just fall off of him! Too funny! The last pictures are from one of Brayden’s new favorite things which is using a little soap bar to wash himself. He still needs help from mommy or daddy, but he really likes to do it himself, too! It’s funny because he always spends a lot of time on his belly & his little feet!!! What a little joy he is!

Oh, what a mess…

Jo Leigh — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 20:04:46 +0000

“Messy” was apparently the theme of the day just the other day! Truly! It all started when I went to take a nap…somehow, I woke up to a complete mess of baby powder all over the den! Thankfully there was less than half a bottle, otherwise who knows where it would have been! The pictures truly don’t do it justice. I guess this is what happens when Daddy is in charge! : ) Ha! It was one of those times I was thankful I had just had a nap, too, because my first reaction was to laugh & my second was to take a picture (or a few)! That might not have been the case if I was as tired as I was before the nap!
Brayden is typically a very neat eater, but that same night for dinner he ended up with ketchup everywhere! To end the day, we had the messiest bath ever! As many of you know (but I’m sure a lot of you don’t), we really struggled with baths for over a month after Brayden had his most recent ear infection that was treated with ear drops. He hated them & it was all we could do to get him clean for seriously like a month. We settled for a lot of sink baths or almost in the sink baths or sponge baths. I tried so many different things to get him to like his baths again…and finally perseverance, a good idea & sticking with the messy theme of the day worked! It was a long process, but the end result was a very clean & happy child!!! It was just what I was hoping for, & I think we both slept better that night! I was so proud of Brayden (both of us really)! The bathtub paint was a hit, & I think we both had fun! So, sit back & enjoy a few pictures of our SUPER messy day!

Outside!

Jo Leigh — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 18:48:56 +0000

Here are a few cute pictures from recently. Of course, most of them are outside; I feel like that’s where we spend the majority of our “awake” time daily! If only it weren’t sooo hot it would be even more enjoyable.
Brayden (like most kiddos) loves bubbles, & he likes to make them pop! His new thing lately is popping him with his mouth or nose once they are caught or attached to a bubble toy. It’s pretty funny. He also loves his new little pinwheel! He gets really excited when he really gets it spinning! There are also some pictures from the Member’s Night Out at the zoo, a 5k we walked in with our small group [please note Seth's "athletic gear" & the amount of strollers we had in the group, thus why we didn't mind doing it !], and Kaitlyn’s dance recital. Brayden really likes to “sniff” flowers, too. It’s really cute b/c in the car he almost always spots flowers, tells you he sees them, then starts snorting (“sniffing”) them! There is a picture of him making a silly face in the car & he is sniffing a “flower”! My favorite is a billboard on the way to my parents’ house for a local nursery with a huge flower…he never misses out on “sniffing” that one!