Sheer Exhaustion

The title of this post sums up this picture...

and pretty much everyday we spend with our sweet girl. She is so full of energy and if you spend any time with her, it is a guarantee that you will pass out like this too! This picture was taken last night. Kenny laid her down after numerous warnings to listen and obey had failed. He gave her a few minutes to read in bed before coming back in to turn off the lights. He left her room at 7:04pm. This picture was taken at 7:12pm. Enough said.

Brayden is officially 2 1/2 years old (as of the 2nd day of February) but she wishes she were 4. She desperately wants to go to "school" with her friends so that she can be the snack friend and go to chapel. I am ready for her to go to school too (I can say that, right?) but know deep down that only means she is growing up right before our eyes!

Like I've said in every other post about Brayden, she adores Kennan. She wants to do everything he does...

as seen in this picture! Most days they play pretty well together and she doesn't know it yet, but she is going to miss him when he starts kindergarten next year. Kennan has started to call her "sissy" instead of sis or sister and I think it is pretty cute (maybe because that is what my brother used to, and sometimes still calls me!).

Brayden LOVES her friends. This is Tristan...

and whether Tristan likes it or not, Brayden is convinced that it is in her cards to marry this sweet boy. The other night Kennan and Brayden were going to sleep and the topic of marriage must have come up. Brayden came running out of the room asking "Mom, who I gonna marry?" I answered that I think she will need to wait until she is a lot older before she needs to worry about getting married but that God already has a special boy picked out for her. She responded, "Well, I gonna marry Tristan." Maybe God has spoken to her? Or it is her crazy fantasies about marriage? I would venture to say that the topic of marriage comes up at least every other day in this house.

In the last few weeks I have come to the conclusion that Brayden might become an actress or musician when she grows up. She seems to have a flair for anything dramatic. Her new favorite movie is the Sound of Music and she LOVES to dance around the house singing the songs word for word after hearing them...oh...about 50 times! She loves to dress up and pretend as seen in this picture...

Not a day goes by that this sweet thing doesn't test our patience....

but we wouldn't have it any other way. Her favorite word is "no" and she doesn't seem bothered by the negative consequences that follow her actions. Punishments don't faze her and the phrase"She'll learn her lesson" doesn't seem to apply to Brayden. I love her strong willed spirit and am hoping that she will hang on to it as she grows into a teenager and young woman.

Brayden is going to be an excellent big sister. We will have to make sure she is never left alone with him...she might smother him! She loves to take care of her babies and has the sweetest "talking to babies" voice. She already has plans to teach him how to talk and play soccer (which she has never played a day of in her life). She daily talks about how she is going to hold him and play with him...I can't wait to see them together!

I figured that with Grayson arriving in a few weeks there are going to be a lot of posts devoted just to him. So...here's to Brayden. The sweetest, most energetic, strong willed little 2 year old I know!