O-H-I-O

Today was like Christmas Day in Columbus, OH. It was the OSU season opener vs. Navy. Keith and I held a "tailgate" party for the game and to celebrate my birthday. It was so fun having everyone over and the food was delicious ... yummy snack food and birthday cake. Can't wait 'til next week ~ USC and we'll do it again!

My birthday gift from Keith ~ 7 piece patio set.

We don't have a patio, but we do have a back porch.

We've been getting our house ready for fall.

This is our side door.

Lots of mums!

Buckeye Birthday Cake = YUM!

Chocolate Cake w/Chocolate-Peanut Butter Icing ...

Heavenly.

Colton showed up wearing a Penn State jersey,

(my brother is a Penn State fan). I put Mason's

jersey from last year on him ... he he he!

Go Bucks Colton!

Aaron & Clair

The guest of honor was "Lou Seal!"

Lou Seal is the mascot for the Columbus Clippers,

and also happens to be my cousin :)

Mason, Keith, and Allan (my other cousin).

Aww, me and my hubby.

Go Bucks Braden!

So blurry? Everyone's favorite ... Aunt Tee Tee!

Austin, Kaitlyn, Mason

The Ohio State jersey didn't last after

my brother arrived.

Aww, Me and Nikki.

Nikki and her husband Kevin.

Kevin just had shoulder surgery

3 days ago :(

There's always a Texas Holdem game.

Dad teaching Kaitlyn how to play poker ... Nice.

Mom wanted a picture of the 3 grandsons.

This is as good as it gets!

Pre-School Open House

This evening I attended Mason's Pre-School Open House. He will go two mornings a week at Our Lady of Perpetual Help (OLPH) Pre-School. OLPH is a Catholic School which houses grades K-8. However, they just started a Pre-School program this year. The best part is that our street dead ends into the School/Church. When the weather is nice we can walk ... right to the end of our street! Nice!

So we walked up to the school this evening. Let's start with the fact that Mason went down for a late nap this afternoon because I had a doctor's appointment. He only slept for about 45-50 minutes and I had to wake him up to get ready to go. This was the unfortunate start of the evening. He didn't want to wake up and was SUPER crabby, crying, the whole nine yards. Great! We finally get out the door and are walking to the school. Well, we have to walk past the school playground before we get there. Mason knows this playground quite well, we frequent it several times per week! So he wanted to go play. I explain to him we can play after the Open House ... more crying. Then he doesn't want to go in the school. The school he's been talking about for months! I get him into the classroom and he sees all the toys and activities. Now he's in Heaven! They have dinosaurs, Thomas the Train, and all sorts of fun stuff to do. Well, needless to say, when it was time to leave he didn't want to go. He didn't even want to go to the playground now, he wanted to "stay at school and play." Now he's crying once again as everyone is staring. Seriously! Embarassing!

After we left he settled down and has been a gem since we got home. Though he does have his moments, I know he is super excited to go to Pre-School and I think lack of a good nap played a strong role in this afternoon's melt downs.

Afternoon At The Playground

Yesterday we took advantage of the beautiful weather and the fact that Colton was over and all went to a playground! This weather has been AWESOME! Thank you Mother Nature. So it was nice to be outside and let the kids wear themselves out. After the playground we also took a long walk.

Braden has enjoyed wearing the new outfits that Aunt Sheila sent him for the past two days. It has been cooler and they fit now! Here are some pics Aunt Sheila!

Chad & I played too!

Chad took this picture. I'm laughing ... he's

cracking me up as usual!

Shabby Blogs

I stumbled upon a new website today ... www.shabbyblogs.com. It contains adorable backgrounds, headers, buttons, etc. for blogs. And best of all, it's free! I think I'll be playing around with this a little until I finally decide which background I want, so don't be surprised if my back drop keeps changing. There are just so many cute ideas! Fellow bloggers have fun checking out the site.

Family Cookout

This evening we went over to Keith's sister, Liane's house for a cookout. What a beautiful day to get together! We had a great time visiting with everyone, but I think Braden stole the show. My niece and nephew ran out of the house as soon as we pulled up to greet us. They were peering in Braden's window talking about how cute he was. It was pretty funny. They were so excited!

Keith playing catch with Bret.

Aunt Susan and Braden

Grandpa Hollingsworth pushing
Olivia, Bret, and Mason.

Mmmm ... dessert

Grandpa and the kiddies.

Bret & Olivia with their new cousin.

Just us!

Braden's ONE Month Checkup

I braved the "hurricane" that ventured into Grove City today to take Braden to the doctor. It was his one month checkup. By the time we arrived at the doctor's office, the streets of GC were starting to flood. It was absolutely pouring as I got out of my car. I opened my door and stepped out into a flooded parking lot; the water was between my ankles and calves! Good thing I had capris on! I tried to keep Braden dry as we waded into the office. I was drenched! But we made it.

Oh, and come to find out ... we got a month's worth of rain in 3 hours in Grove City! The average for August is 3.7 inches, and we received 3.63 in 3 hours! I guess the grass and my mums are happy.

Braden had his checkup and is doing great! And ... no shots today! Yay! Not until next time. He is a happy, healthy little boy. Here's how he measured up, and how he compares to Mason:

Braden @ birth: 7 lb. 10 oz. ~ 20 inches long

Mason @ birth: 7 lb. 2 oz. ~ 20 inches long

Braden One Month: 10.0 lb. ~ 22 1/2 inches long

Mason One Month: 11 lb. 3 1/2 oz. ~ 21 inches long

So, Braden is taller than Mason was at one month and Mason was heavier at one month (yet weighed less at birth, weird!) We all know that Mason is quite tall for his age; alot of people think he's 4. Will Braden be taller!? Yikes. We may have some basketball players on our hands! Or they may be great wide recivers or tight ends!

One Month Old

Asleep in his swing.

Our little Braden turned ONE month old yesterday. I can't believe it. He is such a joy. He is a wonderful baby, we are so blessed to have such a laid back little guy. He is awake more at certain times during the day and has had a couple stints of sleeping six hours at night! However, his timing is a little off. For example, he will go from 9pm to 3am. He's doing very well though for 4 weeks old!

TGIF!

What a handsome little guy!

"Aunt" Nikki & Braden

Mason was always on the move, so my

pictures were all blurry!

Hey Austin!

Lunch!

TGIF! Because that means my BFF Nikki is off work! We've been trying to get the kids together lately on Fridays and it's been a blast. It's hard because I'm home and available almost everyday and she works all the time. Nikki is a Real Estate Agent for ReMax Champions. But the past two weeks we've been able to hang out. Today we took the little ones to World of Bounce. They had so much fun! We then concluded our afternoon having lunch at Taco Bell, (kiddies choice). Who am I kidding, Nikki and I love some TB!

Little Braden just watched as his big brother got to play. He was a very good boy today as always. He's getting so big already it seems. His face is really filling out and he feels heavier. We go to the doc next week for his check-up.

Happy Anniversary To Us!

August 20, 2005 I married the love of my life. Keith is my husband, partner, best-friend, my everything. He is such a wonderful husband and father to our two boys. He always knows how to make me smile and he knows how to push my buttons! I love sitting back and watching him play with Mason, afterall he is a big kid at heart. I love the way he talks to Braden while he holds him. And I love the way he kisses me on my forehead! It's the little things.

We have had a wonderful 4 years of marriage together and I cant wait for ALL the years to come, and what they have in store for us! It seems it was only yesterday we met. One carefree night and fate totally played a role in us meeting. Then our courtship, our engagement, wedding, Mason was born, we bought a house, and now Braden. Wow, what an amazing 4 years it has been.

I love you Keith now and forever; you are always in my heart! Happy Anniversary "Bear"!

August 2008

At Tom & Nikki's Wedding
December 2007

Christmas Day 2008

BoYs

I must say I do love having boys! Not only Mason and Braden, but a husband, a brother, a nephew, and my dad ... I'm surrounded, as is my mom! They are so fun though. Well ... except when they are having meltdowns or being stubborn as a certain 3 year old who shall remain nameless was doing this weekend! They bring so much happiness and laughter into our lives.

My little Braden turned 3 weeks old this past weekend. Can you believe it!? I'm treasuring every little moment with him because he just may be the last one. Right now we are planning his Baptism. So fun! Braden's first party!

Here are some pictures of the happenings this past weekend.

He's 3, that's all I can say!

Mason & Colton

PaPa with two of his three boys!

We enjoyed LOTS of pooltime this past weekend.

The hot weather brings everyone to the pool!

Even Miles!

Mason with his buddy Miles.

My boys on Sunday morning.

So handsome!

Is that a half smile?

Here's an example of the "stubborn 3 year old"!

Our little 3 week old, AKA spoiled rotten.

Mason "thinking" he's playing video games with Daddy.

It was too cute!