Glamour Shots

Still in Florida! It's finally turned a little cooler (meaning you don't start to sweat when you walk outside) so I can get into the Christmas spirit! Just so you don't get bored, here are some of Brayden's 6-month pictures. I know it's a little late (he's already over 7 months!) but they were part of our Christmas gifts, so we had to keep them under wraps.

Glory boy

Hey there, people!

We hope you all had a wonderful day yesterday, and can't wait to hear all the good stories! Safe travels home!

Happy Christmas!

I love Santee!

Merry Christmas to all!

It's a hot day in Florida and we're all thrilled about Brayden's VERY FIRST CHRISTMAS!! It's such a great holiday and made even greater with a new baby. There are plenty of holiday traditions that Brayden has yet to learn, but, as many of you know, he has already met The Man. He had no idea what he was getting into when we arrived at the North Pole, but The Man was bright-eyed and bushy-hatted, ready to meet B. As you can see, he made a wonderful impression on Santa, sure to pay off tomorrow morning!

Bring on the gifts...

Nic has told B all about Christmas gifts, and he's thrilled. He can't wait to see what his favorite people have gotten for him. In preparation, he took this picture while at the North Pole. He sent it to Mia and Gigi, just to make sure they didn't forget about his presents this year (as if!). I'm sure there will be plenty of good pictures and videos coming you way very soon. Until then...

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

A holiday fauxhawk

Christmas is almost upon us, so we thought you might like a little fun reprieve! Here are some pictures Nicole took a few days ago after CAE got hold of B with her hair-glue. Fauxhawks are everywhere - Maddox, look out! Such a little dude!

Sup?

Side style

Little laffy-taffy

Baby beach bum

Apparently the wait is over! Brayden had a great day at the beach (yesterday). Nicole said he loved the water and wanted to swim away. He was reaching for it and wanting to splash his hands in it. I definitely think we'll have a little swimmer in no time. Except, I suppose, that where we live pools are only open 3 months a year (which is still so odd to me). We'll have to go to the Rec Center to play in their indoor pool! Here he is:

What a great place!

Mom... let me go

Can I eat this??

CAE with Da-Cheese

A little thought

Hi all - I know that I haven't posted any pictures for awhile, but it's due to lack of material. Therefore, I wanted to give a shout-out to those who check back with hope. Hope is a great thing. Keep hope alive.

I promise a few great Christmas shots in the future!

All I want for Christmas

With Christmas just around the corner, Brayden's getting antsy! Nicole and Mia thought it would do him good to play with a few of the Christmas gifts. As usual, B made sure he was dressed for the occasion! Even at less than 7 months, he knows what he wants to play with:

Caught you!

I love Christmas!

Florida has been great fun for these Virginians. They've been rollin' all over the Clearwater area with Mia's friends (I hear there may be some pictures from the club coming soon!). 8 days to Christmas people! Git ur shop on!

B, the Waverunner

Nicole and Brayden have headed south for the winter, leaving me to claim the title of NOVA's newest bachelor! They've been enjoying the beautiful Gulf weather while I'm up here slaving away in the cold (and rain!). They have a very full schedule of social activities over the next couple weeks leading up to Christmas. BUT, they do get a little "off" time as well. They went out the lake today with Poppy and CAE to jet ski. B just couldn't wait to get going, so he hopped on with Nicole and went flying up and down the lake. And by flying, I mean slowly idling around the dock. Enjoy the pictures, and be jealous of the great weather:

Ready to ride

Zoomin' with Mommy

Preacher man

Hi all! We don't have any new pictures to post up just yet (although I'm promised that I will receive some to post very soon). In lieu of those, might I recommend some fascinating reading: my sermon from Sunday (click here). The weather in NOVA has been beautiful these past few days and I hope you've been able to share that wherever you are. As we get busy in the Christmas season, don't forget to stop, breath, and get back in that mall so you can buy me somethin' nice!

Let the fun begin

Oh yes, friends, Christmas is just around the corner. I know you just dusted off your Advent wreaths, but the spirit's working fast these days. In fact, we've already received a few Christmas packages, and below are pictures of Brayden's first Christmas gifts! (As always, they are all available on Flickr - where they don't move around automatically!) Enjoy the show, as I'm sure many more gift-pics will follow.




*For those of you who find yourself in a liturgical nightmare: Happy Advent!

Chatty

It's confirmed: Brayden has spoken his first word... and it's Dada! The official day was November 24, and he was 2 days beyond the 6 month mark. We've been waiting to post this because we actually heard "Dada" a week before Thanksgiving and were not sure if it was a mistake. However, since Thanksgiving and over this past week, it is certainly Dada. In fact, Nicole and Brayden were in the car today running errands and she said he was going back and forth between Dada and Mama (although I haven't heard this yet!). Nicole's first word was Dada, too. I'm not sure what mine was (Mom, want to weigh in?) but when I find out I'll let you know, since, of course, you're dying to know.

P.S. - Now I'm official: check out my bio.

My new chair!

B just received his very first Christmas present!! Nama sent this fantastic rain forest highchair straight to the house since he's already eating regularly. He loves it! Here he is just after chowing down:

Ooh - I like this

Yay for food!

Bucket-head

Toys, toys, toys. Brayden got some new toys the other day because he was getting bored with what he had. He loves to play with them, but he loves to wear them even more. Here are some examples:

Crazy ears

Again with the crazy ears

More weekend fun

Just because I know you're coming back for more, here are a couple sweet pics from this past weekend. I can't even handle the cute factor (he does not know what to do with that full-body suit!):

Lovin' the leaves

With Aunt Elyse

B's doing very well these days. He's mastered sitting up and can do so as long as he wants (without falling over!). He's also begun to mimic our movements purposefully, including talking. He is beginning to mouth words with us (usually of the wah-wah variety), but it's certainly progress. Nic thinks his first words will be dah-dah because they are easier to say. I say, who cares the reason, sounds good to me! Hopefully we'll be reporting on his first words soon. Stay tuned.

We are family

We hung out with Nic's family last night - post Thanksgiving dinner - and Brayden got to play with his cousin, Ky. Ky is about a month older than B, but they played like good buds. Here are the boys:

Belly boys

Ky

Ky and B have a laugh

Eat it

I know you've been waiting with bated breath for a video of the moment of glory, so wait no longer. Here is a family-style vid of B's first bites.

Thanksgiving Feast!

Yummy Food!

Let him eat cake! Oops, I mean, let him eat rice cereal. Sorry, man.

Brayden ate his first bit of "solid" food today! It's a celebration of his birthday and Thanksgiving. We mixed up some yummy rice cereal for him to chow while we feasted on the typical vittles. He opened up like a champ, although I can't say that he necessarily got the whole swallowing thing. Details. He'll be eating like a little eating-food machine real soon.

Mommy and B (mid-eats)

Thanksgiving was a great day. The three of us headed up to the Land 'o Mary to spend the holiday with the Roenicks. Lots of food was consumed and many bellies were filled, all for the sake of giving thanks for our bounty. My personal favorite of the day was the dressing with a great-lake sized pool of gravy in the center. Nic loved the squash casserole (that we made). AND, of course, Brayden's favorite was the rice cereal.

Happy Day to all!

Happy Day to me, again!

In the leaves

As promised, there were many more pictures taken of the little man on his birthday! We took a quick walking tour of the seminary campus this morning and snapped this little gem on the way. They've been blowing the leaves all over recently, and it was a great photo-op. Luckily we made it outside before the rain hit (it was a nasty day... apparently nobody got the memo that it was Brayden's Half Birthday!).

We measured the little man for his 6-month check, and he is just over 18 lbs., 28.25 in., and his head is about 18 in. That puts him in the 90% for length and head circumference and 50% in weight. He's still growing strong (even moving up another percentile bracket!).

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Birthday Boy!!

I'm a half!

It's Brayden's Six-Month Birthday! Happy Birthday, little man! We took a few morning-birthday pictures, as you can see, but there will be more coming to commemorate this day. Mia, Poppy, and CAE are in town today and will join Mommy and Brayden sightseeing around DC. They have been charged with getting a lot of great birthday pictures to share with all of you!

Happy Day to ME

After B had a chance to wake up a bit (it's always a relatively slow process), I explained to him what a half-birthday is. I told him that this day will be a day he will remember because he will go from being a whole to a half year... one step closer to a full-birthday! I also explained the joys of un-birthdays, and, of course, sang the un-birthday song to him. NOTE: I must apologize for the grandpa socks B has on. I was obviously in a state of delirium when I was dressing him after his bath. I won't let it happen again.

In other news of the day, Nama, one of B's great-grandmothers, had a wonderfully successful check-up today. Three-cheers for "great" health!

Celeb sighting!

Haven't you always wondered which celebrity you favor most? Well, wait no more, peeps. Check out My Heritage (and click on "Face Recognition" to create these...)

Here are Nicole's matches (click on it to see the names):

Nicole's Celebrity Collage

And the best Morph:

See me morph into Maria Menounos

Create your own Celebrity Morph

Here are my matches (again, click on it to see the names):

Chris' Celebrity Collage

And my best Morph:

See me morph into Justin Timberlake

Create your own Celebrity Morph

We tried to find matches for Brayden, but Apple, Suri, and Coco must not have their mugs on My Heritage yet!

Pass the canasta, please!

I want to play!

Friday was a hopping good time at our joint. We had some friends over to play some real cards -- Canasta. We had two tables going, with the winners at each table playing each other for the overall title. More on that later... As you can see, Brayden loves this little thing called cards. He's sitting under Mitch's card bridge (Mitch is 6'11"), enjoying the game. B kept trying to talk strategy with Mitch during the game, which is not allowed. No table-talk, B. (Mom does NOT put up with that!)

Beth, Chris, Robin, and Annie

Here is my first-game table. Robin and I took on Beth and Annie... to their devastating defeat, woo-woo! That was the fortunate thing. The unfortunate thing is that we were sitting next to the snack buffet, and, as I'm sure you know because you were celebrating, too, it was Fat Kid Friday. And boy was it. I think I made up for the last couple Fridays when Nicole and I did not celebrate "properly."

B and Robin

As I'm sure you would expect, B wanted to be where the action was. He just could not stay away from the fun, so Robin (and others) were pleased to play with him. Here they are with their money-smiles and his favorite toy. I've been trying to figure out a clever name for this toy, and I must be honest - I got nothin'. I sort of liked something with the word "spinner" incorporated, but my creative juices don't seem to be flowing. If you have a suggestion, let it be known. Until then, let's call it Fred.

Ron and Nic

Here's Nic and Ron, holding down the other table (with Mitch and Jennifer). Early on in this game, Ron, kind and gentle in heart, succumbed to what I like to call the "Nic-effect." The NE is when one attempts to apply Nicole's normal, mild-mannered persona to Nicole's game-playing persona. When that happens, the unsuspecting player is steam-rolled. Poor Ron, he was swindled out of a chance to go down by a kind strategic suggestion, only to be walloped the next turn -- hence the NE.

Twizzler-wine. Yum.

Last, but not least, is a graphic example of the party Robin brings with her wherever she goes. Oh yes, dear friends, that's a Twizzler straw sucking down red wine. Red wine through a Twizzler straw (I just thought it should be emphasized). Bravo, Robin. Bravo.

In the end, Nicole and Mitch beat Robin and me in a ridiculous final hand (going into the hand, Robin and I had a 5000-point lead) by about 500 points... ridiculous. Needless to say, Robin and I may need therapy after that loss!

Party like it's 1999

Let the games begin!! Nicole and I are thrilled that we're beginning a Game Night tradition this Friday. We decided that it was high time to invite NOVA friends over to our humble abode for a rollicking good card-playing time! Thankfully, there are many a card-playing seminarian around us, and perfectly willing to succumb to the Girata Sharks. We warned them what they were getting into, but they remain attached to their dream of actually winning... keep hope alive, friends.

I'm just a noise machine...

...a hugging, kissing fiend!

Once upon a time, a girl made a wish. She wished that she would be able to give her darling husband a friend to talk to... so he wouldn't keep talking her to death! Poof. Her wish was granted. She had a cutie little baby to keep her hubby occupied. Welcome, Brayden (and his mouth).

Brayden has been talking up a storm! Holy mess, the little tyke must be as afraid of silence as his father, because he certainly knows how to fill it. He talks, and talks, and talks. And then, just when you think he's said enough, he talks some more. Luckily, all the "Wah, wah" and "Nah, nah" is answered by me, the other mouth. B and I will go back and forth with each other, incessantly. I know Nic's loving every minute (or hour) of it. All I want is to have a talky kid, and I think it's working. Yes!

Just so you know that we have lives apart from Brayden, I thought I should post non-baby-fun pictures, too. Below is a picture of a group of seminary students at the Investiture of Katharine Jefferts Schori, the new Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church (the primary bishop in America). We're on the steps of the National Cathedral. Can you find me?!

VTS Students at Investiture

Kissy Monster

"I haven't seen a video for awhile," said Gido. SO, here's another video for your viewing pleasure. One of Nicole's many games, and B loves it!

Fall, fall, fall

It's officially fall in Virginia. The colors have popped and now their coming down... by the hundreds. Last night it rained and stormed (some may say it was the general mood of anxiety about the Virginia Senate race), but nevertheless, lots and lots of leaves fell. Nic thought to take advantage of it and get some autumn pictures of Brayden among the leaves. Here are some goodies:

Out in the yard

In the bumbo, with a leaf

More leaf fun

Like I said, leaves came down in a serious way last night. Here's a picture of our patio and apartment. As you can see, we have a fence around our patio (can you see little Zoey behind the gate?). Check out the leaf poundage behind that fence. Woh.

Check out that beautiful view

Close-up on the "path"

NOTE: If anyone's keeping a running tally on recent elections, one may remember a dramatic race for the President in Florida in 2000, in addition to the dramatic race for the Senate (and control of the Senate) in Virginia in 2006 -- that's what's just happened, people, and the Dems won. What, might you ask, is the common thread between both of the most significant election "close-calls" in recent memory? We are. Oh yeah, man.

Thar he sits!

He sits! Brayden's developing quite the distinct personality, preferring certain toys to others, wanting to play certain games more than others, etc. Now he's able to play on his own, because now he can sit up! Big milestone, people. Brayden is nearing independence! Only 20-30 more years!

Our little sitter

Playtime with Mommy

I see some Roenicks!

Now that we're living so close to Maryland, we're able to see the Roenicks as often as we want! Here are a couple recent visits with some family (and Brayden's Roenick orientation):

B and Aunt Ro

This was taken at Grandpap Roenick's 84th Birthday party. Aunt Ro's a big fan of the blog -- and here's her debut!! Welcome.

B and Grandma Roenick

Last week/weekend was my Fall Break, so we took the opportunity to spend the day with Grandma and Grandpap. Brayden had a great time playing with Grandma!

A great Halloween!

We had a wonderful Halloween Day, and here are a handful of pictures! These are all on Flickr, too!


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