Recently in the Orleman household...

 Brayden will be 11 months old tomorrow which means in one month and one day he will be ONE! Fastest year of my life. He is quite the little busy body and keeps me on my toes. Just this morning I was eating a banana and out of nowhere he came behind me and yanked off half of my banana and then shoved it in his mouth, he's a complete stinker :) He has 4 teeth and is working on another. He has been walking for over a month now and is getting pretty fast at it. He loves to get chased around our apartment and giving kisses.

 

He is becoming very independent and doesn't like being held unless he is sleepy. He will fling himself forward or backward to get out of my arms so he can run around. He loves to closely examine anything with a motor (what a boy) like his fan, the vacuum, the dishwasher, cars, etc.

We recently bought a video monitor since our other one crapped out and it has been very entertaining to see the things Brayden does when we aren't around. Every night when he puts himself to sleep he face plants into his mattress, shakes his head no and then passes out. When he wakes up in the middle of the night he flaps one of his bent arms like he is doing the chicken dance.

Blake has now been working at Microsoft for over a year and so he had his first review (dun dun dunnn) which is what all Microsoft employees dread since they have a rating system that can be frustrating. Blake did good on his first review and had very positive feedback from his boss :) I am so proud of him! He also received a raise and a bonus. We have been wanting a new bedroom set and couch for awhile now and since he got his bonus we had a reason to go spend some of that bonus! We went to Macy's and found a leather sectional that was 50% off because of the labor day sale and it is SO comfy, I can't wait for it to get delivered next Tuesday! I have to admit, I am going to be a little sad to see our red couches go :( but they are wildly uncomfortable and aging quickly thanks to our sweet baby boy. We also bought a new bedroom set from Macy's (also 50% off) to replace our other set that Blake has had since he was 12 or 13. We moved our old set into our guest bedroom so now it looks a little nicer in there!

TIP: When you are mattress shopping, NEVER pay the asking price. Go into the store and try out all the mattresses until you find one you like then write down the brand, model, COIL COUNT, and price. Every store names the mattresses differently just to try to trick you so make sure you don't forget the coil count since that will help you find the exact mattress. Look online at other places that carry the same mattress and find the lowest price (ours was cheapest on amazon). Then call the mattress store you went to (sleep country will beat the lowest competitors price by 5%) and tell them what price you found it for. We saved over $1000 by doing this so be sure to tell your friends!! I hate that companies will rip customers off like this. The saleswoman we spoke with said we wouldn't be able to find a better price PSSHHHH, don't listen to them!

Anyway, sorry to rant about that but it's useful info!

We are loving it here in Seattle, it was a rough transition for me at first but we have grown to love it here. We've made lots of great friends and had many fun memories here. Thinking back to a year ago I was scared out of my mind to move to a new place where I didn't know anyone and start a whole new chapter of our lives. I am so glad we made the decision to move here and hope that we get to stay here for a long time!