Brayden's 1st Year!!

Brayden's 1st Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday to Brayden!!

Being the climber that he is, Brayden LOVES to play at the mall playground, so we headed there for the afternoon on his birthday!

Making cupcakes for our "little man"

My "First Soccer Set"....got to start him young :)

Our first birthday party...not exactly the cake we ordered but for something thrown together at

Saving...

the last minute, not terrible.

Good times with all of our friends!

And special thanks to Aunt Anne for letting us use their bounce house to get some energy out of all of the kiddos :) We really lucked out with the weather... 70s in January and snow on the ground just 6 days later!

Not so sure about this cake thing :)

Mimi and her girls!

A couple of "helpers" with opening presents...

Not only were we so excited to have both sets of grandparents and lots of friends there to celebrate with us, we also received an extra special birthday present - a last minute visit from Aunt Lindsey!!

A Sunday afternoon visit from Mimi and Papa :)

Pop's Surprise 60th Birthday Party!!

We just couldn't get in enough time in NOLA the past few months so we headed back down there the first weekend in January to help pull off a BIG surprise for Pop's 60th Birthday Party!! I still can't believe that we actually pulled it off. We flew in late Friday night and stayed with my sister and brother in law. Saturday morning went over to my parent's house to start setting up once my Dad was clear out of the house to my Grandma's. He says he had no clue and based on the look on his face, I think I might believe him :)

Not only was it great to see so many friends and family, but it was really special to see people from all aspects of my parent's lives all together to celebrate such a great person, Dad, "Pops," and friend!! Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate especially those who traveled from afar to be there! I can only hope to be so fortunate to have my same friends today by my side in another twenty something years :)

Brayden "helping" Uncle Alan set up the ice chest....


A little blackmail on the cake :)

More party preparations...

SURPRISE!!!

I can't even count how many times Kaitlyn asked when Pops was going to be there :)

The party happened to fall right at the end of the Saint's playoff game that evening. Luckily we had something else to be happy about because the Saints sure didn't help that evening. Here's Brayden trying his best to help the team out!

Kaitlyn with Grandma and Aunt Geralyn...

Was even blessed to have one of my oldest friends, Kelly and her husband Chris help us celebrate. Kelly spent so much time at my house in high school that she pretty much became my parents other "daughter" :)

Brunch Sunday morning with my Dad's dear friends that all traveled from far away to help celebrate! Thank you all of being there...it meant the world to him!!

Happy Birthday Pops, Bebe and Uncle Alan (lots of January celebrations)!!

Being goofy with Aunt Lindsey... we found her old dance costume from when she was two or three and Kaitlyn LOVED parading around in it and especially getting Pops to "dance" with her - video to come soon :)

Christmas & New Years

Decorating our "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree :) Since we were going to be in Disney part of December and in NOLA for actual Christmas we decided that a "baby" tree was more manageable this year. Not to mention, I was afraid of what a certain someone (Brayden) might do with a real tree, lights and ornaments in our living room :)

Now that we are back in Texas I've realized that "Fall" comes a bit later. Playing in the leaves in the backyard in mid-December...love it!

We spent Christmas in New Orleans this year with my family. It was so fun to see Kaitlyn really into the Christmas spirit this year and Brayden trying to figure it all out for his first Christmas!!

Fulton Street Christmas display in New Orleans with fake "snow."

We went to the City Park Celebration in the Oaks and got to ride on the train around the park to see all of the lights. I wish I had captured Kaitlyn smile and giggles of excitement on video. She was LOVING being on the train!!

Storyland slide with Daddy!

And Brayden's turn with Uncle Alan!!

Quite the dessert for a princess on Christmas Eve...trying to look cute and innocent for Santa's arrival later that night!

Pop's little sous chef helping prepare for Christmas dinner...

Cookies and milk for Santa...

"So this is what this Christmas thing is all about, huh?!?"

Headed home after a great Christmas in NOLA...fighting over the window seat already. Rumor has it that Santa left a few more things at our house in Texas...better hurry home!

Christmas Part II....Santa made a second stop for Kaitlyn and Brayden at our house while we were gone!

Christmas Part III... Bader Christmas! Being super goofy with all of our cousins at Mimi and Papa's house!

And a special treat to get to spend time with Uncle Bert, Aunt Jen, and Samantha! Kaitlyn LOVED seeing all of cousin Samantha's ballet moves and "dancing" with her.

All of our cousins....

New Year's Eve 2010

Great to be back in Texas and spend New Year with some old college friends!