Happy 11th Birthday!

Do I really have a middle-schooler?!

...From 'bean' to 'mean' in eleven years. He was ONE when he learned 'touch down'...and so begins his story. Bray's pretty proud of his big Pop Warner bruises.

We found out we were expecting our first when we ended up in the ER after a car accident coming 'home for Christmas' leaving LAX. The nurse asked if there's any way I could be preggers before they took an xray...and just to be certain, they did a blood test. Sure enough! Bray was just the size of a 'bean' and so the whole 9+ months our little boy was known as 'beano.' He's keepin' up with that in-utero nickname by smellin' like one--a bean that is, a typical 11 year old boy. He loves his sports...a boy after his dad's heart.

He's come up with his own favorite mantra...'the 6 f's' as he calls them...

faith * family * football * friends * fun * food

Pretty much all that's important to this new middle-schooler!

Bray was born obedient...in K & 1st grade he was known as the 'hall monitor' because his sense of right and wrong was so black & white, that when he saw his friends doing something against the rules, he'd call them out and then tell on them. Yeah, not the way to make friends. He has since learned to table it and help his friends through leading by example.

Bray is proficient in everything he tries. He's knocked our socks off with his straight A's and his Academic Excellence Presidential Award, as well as his violin success and his sporting victories. Pretty well-rounded, guy, I'd say. I'm proud to be his mom. And I'm thankful he was our first so that our other monkeys have an example to follow. I think Heavenly Father knew what he was doing when he sent us Brayden first.

He has a very tender side. I can remember reading "Love you Forever" to him when he was just little and EVERY time he'd burst into tears. To this day, all I have to say is, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be." He will turn into a bawl-baby after hearing those words from me. I LOVE that book for that reason. Cute, tender, submissive...Brayden.

When my brother, Mark, was courting Tallie...our kids were right there as part of that courtship-front, and center. Brayden, at 3 years old was head-over-heals in LOVE with Tallie. He would become so offended when Mark would kiss her in front of him, cause that was HIS girlfriend. Bray was just CERTAIN he was going to marry Tallie Laverty. Well, second best....she's in the family forever and claims the spot as 'favorite aunt'....(sorry Beck, Heather, Em, & Brooke...you all tie for 2nd). He's a loyal dude, what can I say?! It doesn't hurt that Tal used to kidnap Bray and take him on 'dates'--bike excursions, ice cream....sleep-overs. He is a loyal kid-something that will serve him well all his life.

He's great with the little girls...they love him. He's a responsible babysitter (YES!!) and a little-known fact...he's a total homebody. Good thing he has friends that are social bee's to get him out and involved cause if it were up to him, he'd grab his drawing pad, a pencil and create all day long.

Bray is the king of taking stinking forever to do a 10-minute task. Not unusual for it to take him an hour for a simple sweep job. Lolly la la la--pretty much his only downfall I can think of. Oh, and he's a pack-rat. For so long we thought the state of the boys' room was due to Monson....NOT SO...Bray keeps every box, every label (off his gap & old navy clothes), every card, every paper....EVERYTHING and packs it away. Drives me nUtTy!!!! Something went wrong with that organizational training. According to him, his junk is organized. We're still working on that one. hmmmmmm.

Bray loves to pretend-play. Still. I think he'll always be a kid-at-heart like his dad. He makes up his own football leagues and creates the team names, the stats, and charts it all out--oh, and the colors & uniforms....very important in this whole creation-thing. (wonder where he gets this one....I think Curt was the original fantasy football creator--he was doing this back in the 70's before anyone ever heard of fantasy football. Too bad he didn't make millions off his creativity).

Oh, and he gets embarrassed really easily. Just singing happy birthday to him in public is just about too much to take. Can't wait for the middle and high-school years...lots of embarrassing mommie moments in store:) It's pay-it-forward time:)

Life according to Bray: "Do what you say and say what you do." It popped into his head like in 2nd grade and he's stuck to his motto...pretty much the golden rule (he was SO PLEASED with himself for 'making it up' so shhh....don't tell him), but it's also a big deal to him to be accountable for your actions and be do-ers of the word kind of thing. I love his mind and his thought-process as well as his creativity.

Bray's Fav's:

food-shrimp

candy-butterfinger

milk or dark chocolate? definitely DARK

restaurant-Pat & Oscars

car-mercedes

football teams-Pats, Steelers, Colts, BYU, Notre Dame, FL Gators, TX Longhorns (Did I say ONE team? Whose son is he again? hats & jerseys o-plenty are to my boys as shoes, clothes, and purses are to me. I TRY to understand, really...I do).

baseball teams-Dodgers, Yankees (yes, I know......can't be. My side of the family influenced the LA one and Curt influenced the Yanks...he was torn!)

subject-math (his mommie's genes kicked in for this one...I claim the 'school smarts' gene--I'm no genius, but hard work & dedication....I'll take that. And I'm sure that once he gets to algebra 2 I'll become stupid again).

wants to be a structural engineer when he grows up. You go, boy!

temple-Salt Lake City (he's nostalgic...that's where this family all began)

animal-dog--particularly his first & only dog, Scooby---he still cries when he thinks about him. (The same golden retriever that Curt threatened to BBQ for Sunday dinner b/c he hated him so much for tearing up our yard...the same dog that we ended up giving away to Kyle Gibby next door who would actually take him on walks and um, feed him.) Good life lesson, I guess. No more dogs for the McLaughlins-at least not now. I don't need a 7th dependent.

thing to do-play football in all it's forms--fantasy, tackle, xbox AND he loves to draw

artist-Clay Aiken

movie-Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

TV show-anything on the NFL network

scripture-2 Nephi 26:33

thing about life-see 6 f's

favorite book- Cover-Up

place to go-NOT the beach (whose

son is he again?)

place to travel to-Utah

favorite teacher- Mr.Bottita (3rd grade teacher in Utah)

and per Bray's request....

favorite airplane-red baron

Happy Birthday, Brayden!

"I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby

you'll be."