Baby Shower!

The days surrounding my shower were completely crazy due to increasing health concerns for myself, my Big Jack and Jay's Mema and, also, because my parents' marriage was dissolving. But one thing remained that I wasn't counting on to carry me through it: my sisters and brothers. I say plural because it was my brother-in-law and sisters-in-law who were also a big part of it. My sister and her husband drove up from San Antonio to be here and made snacks that everyone at the shower loved. My sister-in-law, Ashlin made the amazing banner for my shower decoration!

And while not everyone I had hoped would be there was able to come, I was so happy with those that drove all the way out to share that day with me :)

 The Banner!

(thank you Ashlin!)

 

 The Goodies!

(thank you Meghann!)

 

  The Presents!

 Ms. Jerry, Grandmother, & Me

Me & Ashley

Madden & Bentley

Madden & Braden

 

Christmas Day at Home (part 1)

Well, this was our last Christmas with just the three of us so we made sure Santa spoiled Braden rotten :) And this was the first year, he finally got how exciting new gifts can be lol

The "Bed Head" Shot :)

 Look at what Santa brought!

His first work bench! Unfortunately, it took us about 20 minutes to get his attention off it and onto the other toys Santa brought, lol...He loves this thing, and as soon as he see Jay fixing things around the house, he has to run and get his tools to help him. Cutest thing EVER!

 

But, finally, we were able to get his attention

 Captain - The Rangers' Mascot!

 

Awwww....Braden LOVES him!

My favorite shot of the whole day!

 More Presents and Unwrapping!

 

And that concludes the Santa gifts and our last Christmas morning as a family of three :)

School's Out!

My first day of Christmas break, I took Braden to the store to purchase the items I'd need to make the famous Bonner Family Teacakes. He was horrible, which was very strange for him because he's recently been awesome at the store! Anywho, I got my ingredients and headed home to begin prep.

It's an EXTREMELY tedious and long process that begins with cleaning and sterilizing the entire kitchen and making sure all my baking pans and storage containers are out and ready (because once these cookies go into the oven, they don't stop! Major assembly line!). So after the hour of prep, I began. I was so happy I didn't drive my mom too crazy with constant phone calls to make sure I was doing everything right. hehe

Four hours later, I was completely done. And that included feeding Braden lunch and putting him down for a nap! How much do I rock?!?!

Teacakes!!!

And when Braden woke up from his nap, he was happy to try them out :)

A Satisfied Customer

Meeting Santa (& the Fishies!)

So, we had planned to go to Arlington Parks Mall on my day off with Braden to do Santa pictures. It's the same place we did it when he was five months and a 17 months. But, when I saw that it would be nearly $40 and we wouldn't even get a digital copy, I began searching elsewhere. A friend of mine posted about her experience at Bass Pro Shops in Garland which sounded great, but the deciding factor was that it was only $10 AND that included a digital portrait!

Sunday morning, we got there about 15 minutes before the store opened (yes, there was already a line!) and then, once the doors were unlocked, made a bee line to Santa. We got knocked aside by a family of five with an infant. My preggo hormones had to be controlled because I almost unleashed on them, but Jay told me to take a deep breath and it worked :) Braden was AMAZING in line and even let me mess with his hair a little since we had just gotten it cut a couple of days before.

Then it came to his turn...I was so nervous because he hasn't had a good session with Santa in a couple of years -- but he blew us away!

Braden & Santa

After the visit, there was a couple of tables set up where customers could race remote control cars or just try them out for Christmas. Braden was in awe.

 

    

They weren't fully cooperating, though, so we moved on to the huge fish tanks. Ever since this visit, he is in love with fish!

 The Biggest Catfish I've Ever Seen!

The highlight of Braden's day was, however: The Glass Elevator! We must have ridden it at least 10 times. I have to admit, though, for an elevator, it was pretty cool. It was made of glass and elaborate wood with huge gears that you could see working as it moved. What little boy wouldn't be fascinated?!

 

Finally, we were ready to checkout with the Christmas gifts we bought and Braden and I decided to head out to check out the four-wheelers.

Uh, Mom, You Might Wanna Move

How Does He Know How To Make It Move?!?!

My Favorite One!

All in all, a very awesome morning :)