Flo-ri-da

We took our first family plane trip this past weekend to visit our dear friends, Torrey, Jay and their three kids in Florida.  This was the first time that we've taken either of the kids on a plane...I wasn't sure how Brayden would do, but both he and Tucker were great! We had an awesome time visiting with them and the weather was so nice-not too hot! Tucker had a wonderful time playing with Brady and Jack. Harper is an absolutely adorable cuddly baby! Brayden wanted to play with the big boys, but he was excited to see a little baby too:)

Checking out the view before we take off!

This little guy managed a 25 minute morning nap in the ergo! I was so thankful for smooth flights so that I could walk around the plane with him to get him to fall asleep!

This one was a piece of cake...snacks, "shows on" for 2 hours-including a whole hour of Bubble Guppies!  This never happens at home!

I love how kids and meet each other, even though they've talked on Skype (this is the first time recently that Tucker's seen Brady), they just get right into playing-and having sword fights!

We went to the Tampa Zoo on Friday.  This is my second time at this zoo, and I LOVE this zoo.  They have so many things to see and great attractions and things for the kids that are even included.

It was also cool to bring Tucker here because we came here when I was pregnant with him and he has pictures I took of the animals hanging on the wall of his room:)

First stop: Monkeys! 

Not sure what these guys are doing???

All the boys checking out the Kimodo Dragon

Clearly we had to go to the African section!

We got to go on a safari ride to see all the animals behind the scenes...totally included! Love it!

These birds were so funny...they kept strutting towards each other and then this one spread his wings...flirt!

Poor Brayden was exhausted...he lost it towards the end of the ride!  So thankful he will sleep for a bit in the ergo!

Rhino!

Tucker was most excited for the elephants (so he told us). He lucked out because he even got to see two baby elephants! He told everyone about them afterwards..so cute:)

I love the giraffes the best! Love how they both have different types of spots.

Baby Rhinos

Tucker wanted to make the Popovich family a family of 6 I guess!

 There was a sprinkler park/splash pad thing and Tucker was hesitant at first, but after he saw Brady and Jack dive in, he went buck-wild! For some reason he thought it was fun to put his face in the water shooting up! He could have played here all day...it was a challenge to get him to come eat lunch!

Also included...a little train ride!

Boys checking out the huge fish and sea turtles

We went to Brady's baseball game Saturday morning.  Tucker and Jack were more interested in collecting all of the moss that had fallen from the Spanish Moss trees-they are so pretty.  Brayden and Harper hung together:)

That's it...we're moving to Tampa!

Saturday afternoon we took the kids to this cool park with a splash pad and pier that looked out to the bay and the city.  Lots of fun stuff to do in Tampa!!

Sunday we went to church with the Pops. Tucker had no problem going to a class with Jack and Brayden did great in the nursery! That afternoon we went to their neighborhood park. So many great playgrounds and outdoor things to do!

Monday was another travel day. We actually got to see the planes before we left the airport (on the way down we got through security as we were boarding!). Tucker was freaking out! He was screaming "airplane" over and over! 

Thank you so much for having us for a visit Pop's! We had an absolutely blast spending time with you all and can't wait to visit again!!

11 months old!

Ahh! It's the last month of his first year! I'm very excited and also a little sad at the same time.  The time goes by even faster with the second child! He really is such a joy-with the fiery red-head thing going on if he doesn't get his way-uh oh!

He still has no teeth (ugh!) which has made eating somewhat challenging.  I know he can gum lots of foods, but there are also a bunch that are tough because he has no teeth! He is barely still tolerating baby food type foods, but I'm so thankful for my friend Christina who has sent me tons of great recipes of healthy things chock full of goodies that he can eat and just gum up if the pieces are small enough.  So we're making some progress I guess. He LOVES meatballs (homemade ones!), chickpea/quinoa muffins, egg bakes with veggies, and a lot of other foods. He doesn't seem to be too picky of an eater yet, thankfully!

He is still a great sleeper- nap in the morning (9:30ish-11) and then another in the afternoon (130/2ish-3:30/4). He sleeps from 730/8-7ish in the morning too. If he gets up early he is so good about just playing in his crib.

He loves to play with Tucker, and all of Tucker's toys-especially his truck still. When we walk upstairs to get T after a nap, he starts flailing because he gets so excited to see him. He has grown into quite the squealer. He is definitely quieter than Tucker was, but he is saying some words-his best word is Uh-Oh.  He says bye-bye-bye, mamamama, and dada dada.  

He loves to go outside and swing or go down the slide. He has been pretty good about falling asleep in the ergo...something VERY useful when we travelled to Florida this past weekend. He slept in the ergo on both plane trips for part of the flight!

He is truly such a happy baby and has a smile that lights up! His hair is most definitely orange/red, and it's not going anywhere.  It makes his bright blue eyes pop even more!

He is a super fast crawler, great a climbing up the stairs (still trying to teach him how to climb down, but he's been uncooperative so far!), he cruises while holding on to furniture very quickly, and he is slowly standing without support more too! He just needs to build his confidence:)

He LOVES drinking water and will drink out of almost any kind of cup-COMPLETE opposite of Tucker.  Both of those things were a chore with T!

Brayden is also a little snuggler.  He's very squirmy and hard to hold, but when he wants to, he just nuzzles up....love it! He also gives great big, wet, open mouth kisses! How lucky we are :)

It is so fun to watch him grow and change and see his personality emerge.  He is totally fine just sitting and observing everyone around him, but he also loves to be in on the action. Tucker definitely brings out the loud and crazy in him, so I think he's going to enjoy being around people just like Tucker does. He hasn't shown many issues with not wanting to go with strangers, etc. We even dropped him in a nursery at a church we'd never been to this weekend, and he was fine! He does flip out if I'm holding him and then put him down when he wants to snuggle...like after I get home from work. It's cute and pathetically sad all at the same time-he just sits there crying with his arms up! 

Ahhh we just love this little red meatball so much!!!

So the whole sticker thing has become a huge challenge to keep on lately...as seen below.

So then I just put it on his crib...

Yeah he pulled it off!

 Back on the onesie...

 ...and back in the mouth!

 But he's still so cute!

 He's become very close with his plush giraffe...he found it on top of the cabinet apparently.

Standing and holding two things!!

Checking out the ottoman!

Love this munchkin!

Classic Brayden face:)

Counting down the days until you're ONE!!!!