7 Months and December FUN

WOW!

Yes, I have to start with WOW once again. This month has literally been a whirlwind. It started from Black Friday and has literally not stopped since. For starters, we began the month of December off by hosting my best friend Candice's baby shower. Or should I say BABIES shower. Yes, Candice and her hubby David are expecting TWIN BOYS early this spring. It was of great pleasure to plan this shower for Candice. She did an amazing job planning and hosting my shower, so I was ever so eager to get hers under way. The theme was "Boy Oh Boy, Twice the Joy". We had a great turn out and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. Candice was so happy by all the surprises, especially the favors for the guests. I had a great idea to "re create" her wedding favors by custom ordering Jones Soda bottles with pictures of the ultrasounds, etc. The favors were a hit! Oh and speaking of surprises, I had a great surprise myself when I went to the airport thinking I was picking up my mom's best friend Bea from Oklahoma City. Turned out "B" stood for Brooke, who surprised Candice and I by flying down all the way from Charlotte for the shower. It was a great surprise, and was the cherry on top of a wonderful weekend.

Another exciting event this month was the arrival of baby #2 at the Shipley house! Our dear friends Brandon and Becky welcomed an adorable little boy on December 14th. We couldn't wait to meet him and finally...I will emphasize FINALLY...Blake Austin arrived. He is gorgeous and the family is adjusting well to the little man already. Tiffany just adores her baby brother, and we can't wait for Braylon and Blake to have their first play date!

The rest of the month of December was spent enjoying Braylon during his first Christmas. We made lots of fun memories like Christmas light looking, baking Christmas cookies, visiting Santa, shopping with all the crazies, and warm cozy nights at home watching Christmas movies and drinking hot chocolate.

Christmas morning was quiet, just the 3 of us. Although Braylon didn't have a clue what was going on, he still enjoyed opening his gifts from Santa. Nana came over that afternoon to spoil little man even more. That evening we left to face off against the Dallas Cowboys for some Christmas Night football. It was sure a great game, dangerous near the end, but luckily the Cards pulled out a "W". The next night was celebrated with everyone else at Auntie Jennies. We had a great time playing Family Feud on the Wii and our tradition of the "White Elephant" gift exchange.

We ended the month with a visit from Tommy and Madi. Had a great few days with them, as always when any of the Cupples Family is around. Already planning another Disneyland trip this summer! Yesssssssssssssss!

As far as "changes" this month-there hasn't been too many. Bray is still not crawling forward yet, but can still scour the house in backwards motion. He's too funny, I'm really trying to get him to realize that it's funner to go forward, but he really isn't interested. I am convinced he is made of steel as he would rather do push-ups and sits-up than have "tummy time" and play with his toys. David swears he isn't sneaking protein in his bottle when I'm not looking. ;) Bray continues to be a very happy boy and is really only cranky when A) He's hungry or B) Mommy and Daddy are watching TV and it's not his "choice". It''s hilarious that he can be falling out in a full blown fit and as soon as we turn it to "Baby TV" he starts giggling and is totally calmed down. One of these days I will have to catch a video of that..

As another year as come and gone, we are so excited for all the new chapters about to un-fold in 2011. I can't believe how quickly time has flown by, but I am soaking up all the memories I can while they pass along. We are truly blessed and so thankful to God for all of our amazing treasures on this earth as well as each of you.


Happy New Year!




Candice's BABIES Shower









Hangin out with the best of friends!!!!






Welcome to the world Blake Austin




More Festivites





Christmas Day Fun




Are you ready for some FOOTBALL???





2nd Christmas at Auntie Jennie's House







Delish dinner at "Capital Grille"



Watch me grow!

Crackin up with new monkey friend

Soooooo...When Brooke arrived into Phx, we have a tradition of going to "Ross" to hopefully sniff out some good deals. Well, the night we so happened to do this, David and Bray were so lucky to be joining us on our shopping escapade. (Let's just say daddy didn't know AHEAD of time of our plans) Anyhow, Brookie and I were scoping the isles while daddy and Bray were patiently waiting for us to be finished. Apparently, daddy mosied over to the toy department to keep Bray occupied. Next thing I hear his David behind me saying "Hunny, check this out". I stopped my heavy "shoe search" to see this. It was the most funny thing I had ever seen! Bray loved this monkey and we have NEVER heard him laugh this loud or for this long! Needless to say, Auntie Brookie couldn't allow him to leave the store without it, so now monkey has a new home...Bray's room! Turn your speakers up before watching!

Baby's First Thanksgiving!

We had a great time at Grandma Debbie's for Thanksgiving. As usual, the food was Divine. We enjoyed filling our belly's, playing games, and watching football. I think my favorite part was J'me's famous Mac N' Cheese with Lobster. Yes, that's right...L*O*B*S*T*E*R! This was her 2nd year in a row making this dish and it is to die for! I don't even like Lobster, but I can always save room for first, second, and thirds helpings! It was nice to spend the time with family. Our nieces and nephews are growing up sooo fast, it won't be too much longer when we won't be "cool enough" to hang out with.






Black Friday was on once again this year. And although we didn't have any "big ticket" items to purchase this year, mom and I still braved the cold and the crowds and were on the streets of Phoenix by 3am. I love all the hoopla! It gets me in the Christmas spirit. I love all the hustle and buslte of shoppin and giving gifts. However, I remember not to loose touch and that the real gift was our savior, Jesus Christ!

6 Months!

It seems like these months just continue to fly by faster and faster. I am getting quite sad that my lil' baby is becoming a lil' boy. No major milestones this month other than he's just getting cuter and cuter and smarter and smarter. He continues to love his bounce chair and loves his shows. It's a daily routine when he has his "jump time" and he can't wait for me to turn on his favorite shows on tv. At first I worried, that he might be too young for tv but after doing some research I really believe that he will benefit. The shows he watches are very educational, not too mention they really bring out the creativity. Hmmm...maybe he's gonna be a lefty like his mommy and grandmas??? Aside from loving the music on the shows, we also have mommy-baby gym time. It's great to be able to spread out on the floor and follow what what the other babies are doing on TV.

One of my gal pals gave me a great idea to bake cupcakes for B's 6 month mile mark, so we did just that! Heck, not only was it a great photo-opt, but a great snack also! B had fun watching me prepare the ingredients and was even excited when I gave him some licks of the batter. Despite my awful decorating skills, they turned out all right, and even Bray got to taste the icing. Can't wait for his 12 month mile mark, when he can actually eat the cake!






Our 6 month "well" visit went great. Bray weighed in at 20.8 lbs. Yes, he has nearly tripled his birth weight in just 6 months. And although his doctor reminded me that the average 1 year old weighs 22 lbs, I still think our kid is perfect! He still loves to eat, and continues to eats all his veggies...well most of them! He is 28 inches long which is in the 97 percentile. Once again, that's perfect! Just what we want, an athlete! He did really well when he received his 4 shots, man those nurses are PRO'S. Poor Bray didn't know what hit him until about 5 seconds after the pokes. Talk about a delayed reaction! He screamed LOUD for a quick second but was fine once he was in mommy's arms.




















We had our Christmas/6 month photo shoot this month. Let's just say, I will look forward to the "cake smashing/12 month photo shoot". B was not thrilled to be getting photos taken at 9am on a Saturday morning, so needless to say we didn't get very many wonderful shots. Let's just hope he's going to be like mommy and actually "like" the camera. All I need is another boy in the house that hates getting their picture taken! Since he looked so darn cute that day, I was determined to try once more to get a cute photo...and I succeeded. David and I decided to beat the crowds and take him to visit Santa. Bray stared at poor Santa, wondering who the heck he was, but like a champ--smiled BIG for the camera! I can't wait for all the Christmas festivities this year, it's going to be great to "re-live" Christmas in the eyes of our own munchkin.

Jumping FOOL

Here's a video to experiance a little taste of just how much Braylon LOVES his "jumper". I soooo recommend this contraption for babies...B truly has legs of steel, in which I totally credit from exercising in this thing daily. He not only loves to "jump" but he likes being free of clothing too! =)