Bradley - [8 Months]

My sweet Bradley is 8 months old!

• He has a big, open mouthed smile. He smiles for pretty much anybody!
• He is so happy and easy-going.

• Still no teeth! Although the last couple of days he has been a little fussier than normal, so I wonder if that might be coming soon?
• Bradley is still sleeping pretty well at night. I'm usually up with him once around 4:30ish, and then he's up for the day again around 6:30 or 7. We had one morning this month where he fell back asleep after waking up that second time. I just let him sleep in bed with us (which is something I don't normally do!). I thought this picture was just too sweet :-)

• Bradley is a champion eater. He tried a bunch of new foods this past month, including watermelon, pancakes, roasted broccoli, honeydew, turkey meatballs, waffles, scrambles eggs, potatoes, raw bell peppers, limes, sweet potatoes, and blueberries. He gets SO excited when I put him in his high chair... he knows he is going to like what's coming :-)

• Because he's such a good eater, Bradley is getting more frequent baths :-) He still kicks and splashes and soaks me every single time.

• He is loving his new found mobility as he now crawls everywhere. Time to keep a closer eye on anything that is left on the floor. I swear, if there is a piece of paper anywhere on the floor, Bradley will find it and put it in his mouth!

• Bradley finally got a haircut this month. I should have gotten one for him earlier to cut the mop of hair off the top of his head. He looks so stinkin' cute now that we can actually do his hair! I don't know what it is about that first haircut and me waiting longer than I should to cut it. His hair looks so much lighter now too. Maybe he'll turn blond like his siblings!

• Bradley LOVES his siblings. He is so happy when he is around them. Today, Kylee and Tyler were playing out back and Bradley was over by me in the kitchen. He crawled all the way across the kitchen to the back door so he could see out the window where his siblings were playing.
• Is starting to "talk" more and still likes making spitting noises.

In other Bradley-related news, I'm finally getting over some of my pregnancy and post-partum issues :-) I had oral surgery to remove my pregnancy tumor, my back acne is finally gone (tmi?), and my hair loss has slowed down and I'm in the lovely re-growth stage. Happy to have my body finally getting back to normal!

Babby Farms and the Zoo!

Spring time in Boise is so lovely. The days are sunny but not too hot and it is the perfect time to enjoy being outside. 

Earlier this month, Tyler, Bradley, and I ventured to Babby Farms with Jessica and her son Darius. Tyler and Darius became fast friends, holding hands as they walked around looking at all the different animals. It was SO sweet! Babby Farms is pretty cool because you can feed most of the animals there. A bag of food only cost us a dollar and it lasted us the entire time. Tyler thought feeding the animals was pretty cool. I wasn't sure how he would do with the animals eating right out of his hands... Tyler HATES being dirty or anything "yucky"... but he didn't seem to mind!

They even got to go into the kangaroo pen to feed them (I stayed outside the pen with Bradley)!

Not too long after our visit to Babby Farms, Beki invited us to join them on a trip to Zoo Boise! Of course we loved it there too. Tyler's favorite was seeing the penguins! We left the zoo with him kicking and screaming (literally) because he wanted to see more animals. We will have to go back for sure... but maybe when he can behave a little better :-)

Our Little Fireman

Last fall when we visited the pumpkin patch back behind the fire station, Tyler got a free plastic fire hat. He wore it for a couple days, but then, like most toys, it sat and was forgotten for quite some time. Well, several weeks ago, Tyler found the hat again and he now wants to bring it with him everywhere. And it is adorable. He walks around in his hat talking about how he needs to "rescue" things... like a stuffed animal on the floor. "Don't worry, I'll rescue you." he says.

One of my favorites was the day we turned the fireplace on because it was a bit chilly downstairs. As SOON as he saw the fire, he grabbed his hat and found his water gun so he could put out the fire! My heart just about melted at the cuteness.

Of course, we can't go to the store or run errands or even go to the bathroom without his hat.

Tyler has a REALLY hard time sharing, but in one of his nicer days (he recently told me Bradley was his best friend!), he even shared his hat with his brother. Don't mind the tape sticking up from the hat. It is just cheap plastic and has cracked, so we keep taping it so it doesn't just completely fall apart ;-)

And now, in addition to his hat, he wants to stop and take a picture any time we see a fire hydrant! Here, he hopped off his scooter and ran over so I could get a picture.

I am thinking we need to plan a trip to the local fire station soon so he can talk to the firemen. We might also need to invest in a new fire hat :-)

We Love Our Garden!

I am so excited for our garden this summer. I was pregnant and sick all last summer, so our garden was a bit of a bust. We didn't have much produce and I didn't do any canning at all. That will be different this year!

I love how excited the kids are about the garden too. Every day, Tyler puts his shoes on and runs outside to check on the strawberries. We have already enjoyed dozens of little berries. They aren't big, but they are so sweet and delicious. Kylee and Tyler also think it's fun to just go out and eat leaves of lettuce straight from the garden!

In addition to our strawberries and lettuce, we have tomatoes, onions, peas, carrots, tomatoes, cilantro, jalepenos, bell peppers, and raspberries planted! Matt has a couple more garden beds he's putting in (hopefully this next week!) and we will get the rest of our garden planted... cucumbers, dill, watermelon, and pumpkins :-)

 Here's to a summer (and fall!) full of delicious, fresh produce!

#37 A Farmer's Market

101 Places You Gotta See Before You're 12
#37 A Farmer's Market

5/28/16
Boise, Idaho - Capital City Public Market
Mom, Kylee, Tyler, Bradley

I have always loved going to the Farmer's Market, and I was SO excited to introduce my kids to the market this morning. It was a rare Saturday with Kylee (we have her for the holiday weekend), so I had to take advantage of  this time! The kiddos loved the market and we had a great time (minus a couple fits from Tyler, but we won't get into that!). My mom brought Ellie down and Mandi brought her kids down, making it extra special.

I let the kids buy whatever they wanted. They decided on cherries :-)

On the way back to our car, we walked past part of Freak Alley Gallery. The kids LOVED checking out the art. We will definitely have to head back down and check out the rest of it one day.

We topped off the morning with a stop into a candy shop. I sure love this life of mine...