almost a YEAR old!

okay ... after looking at some friend's blogs in the past couple of days, i am once again reminded that i am the worst blogger to ever walk the face of the Earth. but the truth is ... when i get home from work, i just want to soak up as much time as i can with brady ... then once brady goes to bed i want to be with my sweet husband. therefore i just run out of time! i am realizing that lack of time is how an organized person quickly becomes unorganized! sometimes i feel the stresses of trying to be everything to everyone and other times i just laugh as i look around at our messy house that was once organized, even though billy does a great job of keeping things in order when he is home.

so brady is almost a year old!! it is SO hard to believe. that little man is the captain of my heart! he is so much fun right now. he is crawling with amazing determination, standing up with a little bit of assistance from any object he can find, free-standing on occasion, and walking behind a little grocery cart, which he thinks is really funny. he can walk while holding on to our fingers, but it looks more like he is marching. it is precious how high he thinks he has to pick up his feet to take a few steps. i love that little boy. when i tell you he is all over the place ... he REALLY is all over the place! he is into everything, but especially likes to play with things that aren't meant to be played with (i.e. dog food bowls, air conditioning vents, breakable plates that are on display, the fireplace, cell phones, computers, doorknobs, the blinds, doggie door, etc.). we have to watch his every move because he can get himself into trouble FAST. he thinks the word "no" is funny, no matter how forcefully we say it. he is laughing and smiling like crazy and is a very happy baby (sorry ... "toddler") even though it feels like he has some molar activity going on in his mouth. he will occasionally say "momma" and "dada", but "dog" is by far his favorite word. he has really started to interact with buck and izzy, but especially loves to hold izzy's toy while she jumps and barks and squirms in frustration that he has her toy. he laughs outloud at her and loves that he is playing his own little game of "keep away". i always knew they would be best buddies.

i've never been a morning person. i love to sleep and i have constantly struggled to get myself out of bed in the mornings. i've always been that way. but the highlight of my day is definitely hearing brady wake up around 7:00 every morning and watching him talk and play in his crib until we go get him. he is thrilled to see us and always greets us with the biggest smile he can muster up (see picture). he squeals in excitement, as if to say "bring it on, world!".

this anti-morning girl has suddenly found a reason to LOVE getting up in the morning!!!

we are blessed, and thankful beyond words, for our little angel. life is good!