Adios...

Off to Newport Beach for 10 days, so excited, but wish badly that I could fast forward packing (yuck) and the six hour drive (yuckier). But cant stand one more minute of this INSANE heat inferno! (yuckiest) I swear this has been the hottest summer, I know I say that every year. One more funny converstion with Mr. Bray before I go...

We were driving home today and he said, "Mama, I have to go potty really, really bad."
Me: "Sorry Bray, but I'm driving as fast as I can."
Bray: "Well how fast are you going anyway?"
Me: "about 60."
Bray: "Well, you do need to FOLLOW the RULES."

Worth jotting down...

Brayden came running in my room today and said, "Mama. I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is Kosty said 'Bakery'. The bad news is my finger hurts."

I know I don't want to forget that one!
I LOVE how he gets genuinely excited when Kosty learns a word. :)

The KING

For those of you that know Kosty, you know that this crown is so perfect for him! He thinks he rules around here. If he's not happy, nobody's happy! Sometimes we even joke and bow to him. He is such a riot! He likes things and people just so. He LOVES who he loves, and GROWLS at whoever he is unsure about. Oh man. The growl. It is so embarrassing. I feel so bad for everyone that has been a victim. My own sister, my flesh and blood, told me she is "intimidated" by him! :) And I am always having to "explain" his complex personality, and telling everyone to not take offense! And he is CRAZY about Jer. When he is home, forget about it. I might as well drop off the earth. He won't even let me change his diaper. He will rip it out of my hand, and say, "DADA." And according to Jer's mom, its payback. She said Jer acted just like that when he was little. There are even pics of Jer throwing fits with the SAME face. It makes me feel better though to know that Jer turned out pretty darn good, thank heavens. He is just a fiesty little guy, but he is oh so sweet once he is broken in. Like I said, "my wolf in sheep's clothing." He is SO cute though, and good thing. I LOVE his soft long hair, and his big dimples, and his cute toes. And he is my little cuddle bug. He loves to snuggle. He LOVES to color. If ever there is a pen and paper, or a magnadoodle, He sits on my lap and starts barking orders at me. "moo." that means I should draw a cow, and fast. Then he erases it, and says, "baa." that means I should draw a sheep, fast. Erases it, and says, "Neigh." Well you get the idea. He could do that all day. So one time I thought I would outsmart him and I had all of the animals drawn on the magnadoodle before he got to it. But oh, no. He erased them all and I had to start over. One by one, per his request. Little stinker.

Confident Boy

Brayden is SO CONFIDENT, he really thinks he is somethin! and he is. But, I wonder if he is embarking over-confidence! He LOVES it when I compliment him, in fact he asks me to repeat and list his admirable qualities, yikes. Well the other day his Aunt Cede said he was cute. Then he said, "I know. AND I am responsible, independent, smart, and funny." Grandma said, "oh, and what does independent mean?" he said, "it just means you can make your own toast, and pour your own milk and stuff..."

Another funny thing he said was when I was hugging him really tight, he said, "mama, you're making me like a crescent!" Which reminded me yet another time that I was squeezing him when he was 2ish. He said, "mama, you're squeezing me like a grapefruit."
Funny guy :)

This is why I NEVER send Jer to the grocery store...

Tonight I sent him to get french bread. He came home with a bag of Mother's oatmeal iced cookies, a bag of Mother's chocolate chip cookies, Dreyer's Rocky Road, Doritos, and Honeycomb. Oh. and the french bread.

A Very Happy Fourth...

Yesterday was by FAR my favorite fourth of July ever. We did all the same things I'm sure EVERYONE else did too, but it was just really fun. We went over to Jer's parents and swam ALL day. Brayden has gone from being terrified of going under water to a little fish. Its so crazy. He did swimming lessons last year, but he totally regressed, it only made it worse. But after some time with his Uncle Zach in the pool, (I guess Zach has special skills that we dont!)suddenly he made a complete turnaround. The first time I saw him swim, he told me to "watch" but I wasn't expecting him to go under and swim to the other side like he did. My jaw dropped for a LONG time. He was just beaming and cracking up at my dramatic jaw-drop pose (complete with letting the ice I was chewing on fall out). I am SO proud of him! Zach is the best! Poor Kosty in the pic look at his HUGE swollen diaper, so funny. Geez mom, get me a little swimmer! Oh, and I sort of learned how to dive, Jer tried coaching me for a while, and I did a few baby dives, but I never did work up the courage to run, jump, and dive. I don't know what it is about diving, it just makes me so scared! Urg. Brayden kept on cheering for me in the sidelines, "you can do it mama. It's easy." and "are you scared?" "its ok." He even critiqued my attempts, in one I completely panicked and flopped in like a spider (yowser), and he said, "no mama, that looked like this" as he held up a limp hand with all the fingers pointed down. :) For some reason he sure is fascinated by my weaknessess. I think it must be funny for him to see his mom "scared" or vulnerable about things. He must just always think that mom & dad are brave and fearless. Not so! Sweet boy. Then we went to the Fireworks show by our house. Jer bought Brayden one of those sparkly glow thingys that is a mouthpiece, it was pretty cool! They had bouncy houses for the kids, then we ate watermelon and barbeque and then layed on our good ol' Grandma Judd quilt and watched the fireworks, it doesn't get any more American! It was so dark, and we were right under the fireworks, and there was beautiful music playing. It gave me goosebumps. My heart was warm, and I am so grateful and proud to live in America. When the first firecracker went off, Brayden said, "oh no, we're gonna die!" what a goof. But really, we were RIGHT under them. Kosty was cracking us up because he was laying on my chest and he didn't move a single muscle the whole show, except to say "moa, moa." (more) He LOVED it. I know you can't tell by the picture of his STONE FACE! He giggled at all the loud ones. I think it was special because both my kids were old enough to really enjoy it this year. :)

Tom and Jerry

Lately I have been feeling like I am trapped in a Tom and Jerry episode. Kosty will take ANYTHING that he thinks Brayden might care about, and SQUEAL as he runs away. Then of course Brayden follows and it just goes on and on. It makes me laugh. I love those little rascals. :)