The Ward's

Christmas, Part Deux

2012-01-24T17:25:00.001-06:00

And, finally, I think this might do it for the catching up on all the holidays blog!

Christmas at our house – awesome. This is the first time we have ever been at our house for Christmas. Also the first time we haven’t gone to northeast AR over Christmas break as well. Our break was several days shorter this year and we really wanted Brett to have Christmas day at our house for a change, and start making our own Christmas traditions and memories for him. It was fun to make cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve, fun to enjoy our house and our fireplace and our tree and our decorations and just be at home to wake up and see what all Santa brought!

Christmas Morning:

Christmas Afternoon: beautiful weather!

We were very excited Mom and Ken came to see us for Christmas this year! They actually came down the day after Christmas and spent a few days. We were so glad they were here. They came bearing gifts as well, from them and from our family we didn’t get to see this time, which was so nice!

We all got to go enjoy a Razorback Basketball game while they were here. We also indulged on cotton candy, skittles, and funnel cake!!

Thanks Mom and Ken, for coming to our place to help us enjoy Christmas together! We missed everyone we didn’t get to see this time and thank them for sending the wonderful gifts!!

I was so sad to see the decorations go! Till next year!

Christmas Part ONE!

2012-01-24T14:18:00.001-06:00

We really had a great Christmas. A different Christmas – we had a few less days off from work than usual, and we actually stayed at our house, which was lots of fun and pretty peaceful. Here’s a ridiculous number of pictures.

We did run up to Kansas for a get-together at Grandma Norma’s and one at Peggy’s. We also went to my 6 year old niece Addie’s basketball game. Her dad, my brother-in-law Rob, has been coaching her team.

The big game…

The cheering section:

The huddle:

The captive audience (I think they were just there for the suckers.):

The hustle:

The Coach, looking….”coachy”:

The good defense:

Christmas at Grandma Norma’s:

Stacy and Ashley:

The Presents (AND the very sticky substance covering the entire radius of my child’s face from the insanely huge lollipop on one of the presents)!…the guitar was by far his favorite. Thanks Aunt Vicki!

The Ward family picture (and the “special” Christmas attire):

Uncle Dave and his grandson Jacob:

The cutest baby – Brian’s cousin’s baby Chace…this kid tottled around with his little belly hanging out of his shirt the entire night. I finally caught him long enough to give it a little nom-nom. So sweet!

Cousins Alisha and Brooke – sisters and BFF’s.

And silly sister in law Kim, who brought us all the crazy sweaters and sweater vests!

And Santa! How did he know we would be there?? Brett, who’s usually a little bit stranger shy, immediately made a bee-line to stand directly in front of Santa and his big bag of presents, and waited patiently for Santa to pull one out with his name on it. And…seems like at family get togethers my husband always ends up on the floor with numerous kids climbing and jumping on him!

The Cousin Pictures: Notice one of these things is not like the others. Neither female nor happy. Stinker. Couldn’t even be bribed.

The tradition of the Socks at Grandma Peggy’s house. They all hang in the window, then magically appear full of warm socks, candy, gift cards, gummy bears, dish towels…

Ummm….I don’t know. Not sure what to say here…where’s the cape?

Peggy taking her new bike for a spin…

Santa sent Aunt Kim an Elf on the Shelf straight from the North Pole. We can’t wait to have him as part of our Christmas traditions next year! We have heard those silly little elves are lots of fun.

Thanks for a fun, memorable Christmas as usual, Kansas Family!

Thanksgiving….

2012-01-24T13:32:00.001-06:00

We stayed at mom’s house. Mom and Ken have done a lot of work on the house one room at a time and through the changes we are always so comfortable and that house always still seems like “home”.

Nice picture with Memaw:

Mean football game faces…

We spent Thanksgiving day at stepsister Stacy’s beautiful house with Mom and Ken.

This is Stacy and her son Brandon. Stacy helps take care of her grandbabies and also happens to be a wonderful cook-especially cakes – and Brandon will be finishing nursing school soon.

The lovely Hannah – Stacy’s youngest.

Hannah’s extremely large yet extremely sweet and playful great dane. I think she’s a little dog trapped in a big dog’s body.

There were many others there, but didn’t get a pic of everybody. We really enjoyed seeing everybody.

I was bummed that my dad’s side of the family was going to be on Sunday, the day we’d need to travel home….so my wonderful aunt Sue invited whoever could come to her house over for dinner and desserts Friday evening. Aunt Sue has always been like a second mother, as my dad lived with her for about 20 years. I loved that she tried to bring the fam to us since we couldn’t go to the fam. As Brett would say, it “made me soooo happy”. We had lots of good food and got in a really good visit. And Brett napped in my dad’s old room, which had been completely made over by my Aunt Sue, with the help of my aunts and uncle and cousin. Brought me to tears, his room looked so different but still included him and his memory and some of his things at the same time. In fact she’s redone the entire house and it looks amazing.

Aunt Sue:

My beautiful cousin Melissa (works at vet’s office and is a guardian angel and care taker to all creatures) and her super awesome family-lovin’ boyfriend Brad. (like him a lot)…

And, the lovely couple again with Melissa’s dad, my Uncle Gary.

Dad’s oldest sister Mae. All around sweet woman who makes one mean pumpkin pie and has LOTS of grandbabies to love on these days.

Uncle Olan (Mae’s husband), Brett, and Jadyn-my…3rd cousin! So sweet!

Sweet cousins Connie and Deb, and cousin Rob

Aunt Bonnie, and Laura – Jadyn’s pretty mommy!

My Grandma Cresap. She just turned 88 years young in November. I love this picture of her in mid-laugh. She was getting some laughs by taking her teeth out for Brett.

Uncle Ronnie – Brett loves Uncle Ronnie.

And Aunt Lynda, who always has an answer or an idea…

And Pepaw…they share a love for razorbacks and gummie bears…

Thank you FAMILY!

Halloween Pictures…

2012-01-19T20:50:00.001-06:00

Pre-Halloween weekend in Kansas; kids went trick-or-treating at relatives houses, grandma was the chauffer. Brett had so much fun getting to do this with his cousins! (The adults had fun too…) Brett LOVED his costume, especially the “jet pack”. He had his classic Buzz lines down too…maybe I can upload a video of that later…for now here’s pictures.

Peggy, Brian’s brother Rob, wife Kim, and some crazy couple with bad hair…

Pretty Alisha. (Brian’s cousin)

Uncle Harlan…

Elvira

Gigi (Addie and BriBri’s other grandma) had a cute picnic set up for the kids after trick-or-treating, complete with hotdogs, chips, and eyeballs (grapes), and scary music and candles. Thank you Gigi!!

Goblin Parade in downtown Rogers on Halloween. LOTS of people! Brett waited patiently, but was pretty shy when it came to asking for candy-wouldn’t say “trick-or-treat”, but just held his bag right out to collect the goods.

Halloween cupcakes Brett and I made. This was the first batch of cupcakes for both of us . Beautiful.

On the road again!

2011-11-23T15:31:00.001-06:00

We are on our way to Paragould for Thanksgiving. In the mean time, here are some more phone pics...they add up quickly! Not sure what order these will post, but...
*daddy's basketball game-his team won the championship game of the tournament!!
*OHMS band concert-this was only half of the band, the other half played right before
*a project to keep busy
*my little ham
*Thanksgiving art from daycare; I love this kind of stuff, it makes me smile
*at Owen's 3rd cowboy birthday party

Random Phone Photos

2011-11-12T12:59:00.001-06:00

We are on our way back from Russellville after meeting a new baby in the family, and I thought this might be a good time to share some random pics from my phone. I just got my iPhone in August and am pretty much in love with it. I just downloaded a blogger app so I could blog a little on the go. I'm not sure how to download more than one picture with all the comments in the right spot but we will see how it goes. I think these will all be pretty mixed up.
Brett can remove his clothes in seconds. He's getting pretty good at putting certain things on now too, with a little help...he can pull up and snap his own pants, put shoes on, but shirts- I think it will be a while on that!
He loves bubbles in his bath. He always says mommy get me a beard. But it really sounds like he's saying mommy get me a beer. Kinda funny.
In the recliner photo, I think he looks like such a little man. He had just finished a big meal and he was sitting there holding his belly watching tv.
In another, we attended First Friday on the square recently and the theme was Toyland. There were life size replicas of Lightening McQueen and Tow Mater! I don't remember the last time I wades through a crowd like that.
We also went to Toys R Us last weekend so Brett could e out what he wanted to put on his Christmas list... So fun!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-01T20:44:00.001-05:00

A couple weekends ago we went to McGarrah Farms in Pea Ridge. We just couldn’t have asked for better weather and it was such a great little family outing. We were the first ones there when they opened that day.

It was hard to pick the perfect pumpkin. There were so many to choose from!

Brett loved getting to pull the wagon. He also was very proud of is Jack-O-Lantern stamp we had to get on our hands to enter.

These cracked him up a little.

These red trees were gorgeous. We went on a little hayride behind a tractor through a path in the middle of these trees….lovely!

We did a lot of hay jumping.

Brett went on the mule train ride all by himself. He was most excited about this…he couldn’t wait to go for a ride when we got there.

After that we headed out for pizza and then home for a big nap. Sweet day with my sweet family.

Pre-Halloween Fun

2011-10-28T21:24:00.001-05:00

Here’s a few photos of our Halloween decorations this year. I looove working on pumpkins! I looked around online to get a few ideas and decided to try the cat and the ghost. So fun! I love Halloween! I’m already excited to make more pumpkin critters next year!

Mine

Brian’s Brett’s

Brett’s….he was also a big help when it came to scooping out pumpkin guts!

Door wreath I made

Our little pumpkin family

My FAVORITE pumpkin.

Throwing Rocks

2011-10-08T21:18:00.001-05:00

Brian went to the Razorback today with Ray Ray, so Brett and I were on our own. We made a quick trip to the grocery store. He's so sneaky these days...we always wind up with something in the cart we didn't know was there until it's already paid for! The last time we went to Wal-mart we came home with a package of four extra toothbrushes. Had no clue till we got home. A random small truck-one of the ones that's right there while you're waiting to check out. The people that plan those things really know what they're doing. A ball (like we don't have enough of those)...I could go on. Trying to get better at catching these things! I used to wonder, when in college working at all the retail stores, why in the world people didn't just put things back where they belonged?! What was so hard about that??? Were people raised in barns??!! Now I know. They had small children with them. I do things now that I never would have done before....like, let him carry something around that I know we're not going to buy for awhile until he gets distracted with something else, then I take it and hide it randomly on a shelf halfway across the store from where it came from, to avoid any potential toddler meltdowns. Also, like leaving a shopping cart right next to my parking space when the cart station is just down the lane - like I'm gonna leave my kid in the car by himself while I wheel the thing where it belongs, or leave him in the cart or standing in the road next to me while I put groceries in the car JUST so that I can take him with me to put the cart where it belongs....it's a whole new world now. Amazing.....anyhow, back on track - after coming home from the store this morning with a giant bag of cheetos i had no intention of coming home with, we ate a nice lunch and spent the next two hours to ourselves. Me on the computer having some "quiet" time and he in his room pretending to nap. I wanted to put in the voice memo I recorded on my phone of what he was really doing (singing Twinkle Twinkle at the top of his lungs) but I can't seem to do that on here...he ended up not napping, and after a failed attempt at kite flying we went to lake Bella Vista for a tricycle ride and some rock throwing. He also LOVED the ducks and geese but I did have to tell him not to pick up THOSE “rocks” over where the birds were hanging out-gross! GREAT fun and an extra tired boy on the way home.

In mid-jump – he said he was “gonna make a big spwaaaash!”

Addie’s 6th Birthday

2011-10-07T22:29:00.001-05:00

Ohhhh my goodness. This is so quick and easy I already want to blog again. This past weekend we went to our niece’s 6th birthday party in Kansas. The weather was absolutely beautiful and we spent the entire day outside. All Brett ate was chips, grapes, and ice cream, when he finally stopped to eat. Between learning the real ins and outs of football, running around with the cousins, climbing and swinging and sliding in the family play area, and the playground that was just a short wagon ride down the road, this kid was busy, happy, and pooped by the end of it all. The birthday girl:

Some group pics:

Birthday Girls Sister Bri Bri. She calls Brett “My Bwett Bwett”. They are two peas in a pod. It will be fun to watch them grow up together.

Brett and Grandma Peggy

That’s my husband under all those kids.

Baby Jacob…

Didn’t take long for Brett to take off on Addie’s motorcycle. So what if it’s pink?

A few recent pictures of my favorite model...

2011-03-25T22:26:00.005-05:00

Life is going on...

2011-01-25T20:39:00.005-06:00

Here are some pictures I took of the young man on our snowday. When I showed him the snow out the window that morning he kept saying "towman!" This was his first "real" experience being out in the snow. It took what seemed like upwards of 20 minutes to get the garb on. We soon discovered that there was just no way to get his thumbs where they are supposed to go in the mittens and that if he fell down he was unable to get himself back up again (just like the kid in Christmas Story...)My mom got him these adorable ski pants and boots (which he looooves and wears around the house) and mittens for Christmas, so he was all set. Once the ensemble was complete we waddled out the door...he mostly prefered to just walk around in it and, despite not having opposable thumbs, he really enjoyed himself. He did do a little sledding (another gift from my mom - thank you Memaw!), but had to be "coerced" - all the while we told him it was REALLY fun and that he would like it, we PROMISE!! So, he let Brian pull him around for a bit. We didn't stay out too long because it was sooo cold, but Brett really hasn't gotten to play outside a lot lately because of the weather and it was really nice to get outside for a bit in the fresh air. Brett was not as ready to come inside as we were.

I Heart My New Camera

2010-09-24T23:45:00.002-05:00

Brian got me this super awesome Canon Rebel T2i camera for my Birthday/Christmas/Valentine's Day/Mother's Day/Anniversary. I am infatuated with it and can't wait to get some more things figured out. It will definitely be a work in progress, because it is much smarter than I am. I got to fiddle with it today some - here are a few pictures I took with it. I have a LOT to learn about all the different settings and possibilities! AND any tips on photographing people who don't sit still are welcome! More soon.

Half -Way Between 1 & 2

2010-09-16T20:56:00.007-05:00

Where did the last 6 months go? On Brett's first birthday in March he was not yet walking and only saying a few basic words...and very much still a BABY. What a whole new little boy from just 6 months ago! He has grown leaps and bounds. Here are some (lots of...) pictures I took of Brett outside playing in our yard on his 18 month "birthday". Outside is definitely this little guy's favorite place to be. First though, a picture from his first birthday 6 months ago (this picture is courtesy of my good friend Kate! thanks!):

And now...

Bubbles

2010-08-26T21:05:00.002-05:00

We have had plenty of fun in Brett's kiddie pool this summer...I didn't manage to get Brett going on any early swim lessons this year, but I was so excited about this...

Take Me Out to the Ballgame....

2010-07-27T20:41:00.000-05:00

I love my job. Especially right now. It is so much fun getting to be with the little man all day every day (and the bigger one too!). We have been staying just busy enough, I think. Lots of walks, wagon rides, visiting friends and family...I just couldn't ask for a better summer vacation. The only problem, of course, is it's gone way too fast!

Brian's mom bought 30 tickets to a Naturals baseball game, and a whole big slew of family came down from Kansas last month to spend the weekend. It was so much fun. HOT, at first, but sooo much fun. And the babies did great, even though they were up way past their bedtimes!

Grandma arrived a day early, with a little present for Brett - a new pool! Such fun. Thanks Grandma, we were definitely needing one of those! Brett has been taking advantage of that thing most every day (us too!). He loves it. More pool pictures some other day.

Here he is in his Natural's hat. He got that hat last year at his very first game.

Here's what he looked like in it last year...

It was so hot when we got there, but once the game started lots of clouds started rolling in along with this AWESOME breeze that might as well have been air conditioning. We thought we were going to get wet, but no rain-just fresh air - and it was PERFECT.
Brett played, watched, clapped, and ate lots of junk food, like cotton candy, cheetos, ice cream....(as you should at a game, right?)

Here is Brett ignoring us at the playground. We were calling his name in an effort to get him to come back our way...

but he had more important things to do than listen to mom and dad.

Peggy fed Brilynn ice cream and Brilynn fed Brett ice cream. I think that system seemed to work out pretty well for a bit, until the bites were just coming in to fast for Brett...maybe he got a brain freeze?
Some of our other family and friends enjoying the game...

The Chicken - very entertaining for the kiddos, as long as he kept his distance.

Kissing Cousins

An abundance of Cheetos

Brian's brother Rob and his Hannah Montana Bag. Just kidding. Not really his. He is outnumbered in a house full of girls!

This game was SO much fun, even more so to have so many family and friends there too. Thanks Peggy for organizing it!

Lost In Translation

2010-07-23T20:57:00.008-05:00

Long time no blog! I think it's safe to say that, particularly since Brett started walking around mid-April, things have gone quickly from baby-hood to toddler-hood around here...and it's happening so fast! When did we acquire this walking talking little wonder?? Brett started to become a little extra chattier after he got tubes in his ears in May (he had had 6 ear infections in 10 months, the first one when he was less than 5 months old-absolutely no problems now!), but now things are actually starting to make sense. I love listening to him "talk". It's crazy how, in just the past couple weeks, he's picked up a few more words all of a sudden. I know he also understands a lot more than he can say or express too. He's a little sponge. And, of course, we think he's the smartest thing ever!! There are a few things he's been saying for several months like mama, dada, bah (ball - has now become "bot" for some reason), ba-ba (usually something to drink) and he's been doing a signal for "all done" for a while now, and in the past couple months he's been doing the signal for "milk" and "more". So, for anyone interested, here is a sampling from some of sweet boy's ever expanding vocabulary with translations where necessary. :)
"Bite"
"Moe" or "muh" - more. Sweet thing loves his bites.
"shoosh" - shoes. Loves shoes. His shoes, our shoes, one shoe; doesn't matter.
"Ot" - hot
"bye-bye"
"Peese" - please. sometimes does hand signal for this one too. Has to REALLY want something to say this.
"MAOW!!" - meow. he says this just as excitedly as it looks.
"kkkkk" - kitty
"Buppy" - puppy/Buster
"Boo" - Peekaboo
"up" - ...sometimes sprays the p sound.
"waa waa" - quack quack
"mehmoe" - Elmo. He's just recently started noticing/being somewhat interested in some things on tv. Yo Gabba Gabba, Looney Toons, and the Garfield show also catch his attention now and then. Sometimes also uses "mehmoe" to refer to Gymbo the clown at Gymboree.
"Out" - Ouch.
"cheesh" - cheese or keys; again, pretty similar. The kid loves cheese.
"tcheetch" - teeth. He says this when he takes a bath since we brush his teeth in the bath.
"da-doo" - ???? We have no clue what this is yet. still trying to figure this one out, but he's said it several times
"La-Low" - Jello
"beebee" - binky
"baby"
"djootch" - juice
"nuh" - no. Generally accompanied by a shake of the head.
"psew" - pew/yucky - has just begun to connect this "word" to all diapers and trash cans.
"uh-oh" - nothing to explain here! probably the most used word at our house right now. That and "moe".

Around all the learning to talk, our little funny guy is also pretty good at tickling our feet, giving zerberts, throwing the bot for buppy, giving hugs and kisses, and cracking us up. It's awesome that he's starting so be able to communicate now. Many things are still a guessing game, but....So cool.

(psew) ("Mehmoe, anyone?")

Happy Easter

2010-04-05T21:53:00.008-05:00

This weekend we hung out with Brett's Uncle Jeff and Aunt Stacey quite a bit, and did lots of eating...we really enjoyed the weather this weekend, and loved just being able to stay around home.

Brett got caught up on sleep, taking a 3 hour nap each day. We also, of course had to go see the Easter Bunny. Brett was clinging to my shirt with his little kung-fu death grip when I tried to sit him on the bunny's lap and started to fuss when a nice little girl came along and distracted him just long enough for me to snap a few pictures!

I have to include this picture of last year on his first Easter...it's blurry because it's a picture of a picture...

We "hid" some Easter Eggs here at home - I put puffs in most of them, but we discovered he also likes Peeps (and why wouldn't he?!) so I added a few little bites of peeps in some of them. It was so much fun watching him crawl around and find his eggs and eat the treats in them. He got the hang of it pretty quickly! He would find one, make an excited sort of noise, and crawl after it. He played with those things for the longest.

Brett also spent some time doing one of his other favorite things...watching the laundry. LOVES it. Glad someone enjoys laundry! What a nice, relaxing weekend!

First Steps

2010-04-02T20:51:00.003-05:00

Exciting stuff in our house - Brett has started doing a little walking! He can go back and forth a little between me and Brian now, but he hasn't just taken off on his own yet (that's ok, we are really in no hurry!). He also cruises along walls and furniture, and he will walk holding your hand. He's definitely all boy - he's had an accident report two days in a row at daycare for scratches and carpet burns on his face after tripping and falling or fearlessly diving over the climbing mat things. Anyhow - I looove watching his little smiling face stumbling toward me with his arms in the air! So stinkin' cute.

A Boy and His Dog

2010-02-25T12:13:00.004-06:00

Brett loves Buster. The sight of Buster often causes Brett to smile, laugh, and squeal with delight (and dash across the room after Buster as fast as his hands and knees will take him). As of right now he is lovingly referring to our dog as "Buh-buh". Not only does Brett try to share everything with "Buh-buh" (food, binky, toys...), he also gives the doggie a lot of love. I'm so excited that Brett has begun showing love and affection! We love his sweet hugs and "kisses"...and so does Buster - well...sometimes.

Kisses...

More Kisses...

A return kiss (to be expected, right?)....

Hugs for dada...

And a big kiss for dada's nose!

So sweet.

Look At Him Go!

2010-02-18T21:00:00.002-06:00

High Quality Entertainment

2010-02-18T20:34:00.002-06:00

Who knew these things were so much fun?

Brett's New "Do"

2010-02-16T21:07:00.004-06:00

Time for a big boy cut! We were scared that Brett's hair was on it's way to
mullet-dom. We just couldn't take the chance of letting that happen to him, so....we decided to go ahead and get it all shaped up so he could be looking spiffy for his upcoming first birthday. We weren't sure what to expect...but he didn't cry at all! What a big boy. I was a little torn about getting his little hairs cut for the first time, but it turned out great!! Just adorable.
Here's a couple before pictures...getting kinda shaggy! We also remembered to scrounge up a few little snipits to save in his baby book.

And During....

And After!

Hello Jello

2010-02-16T20:58:00.004-06:00

An instance where I didn't really think it through....
Strawberry Jello + Baby = big red stained mess.

Big People Food

2010-01-23T21:52:00.004-06:00

One of our new things over the past couple weeks is...no more baby food! The week we went back to daycare/school after the long break, he began trying "real" lunch at daycare and I continued the baby food at supper. Then one night he completely shunned the baby food - held up his hand and turned his head as if to say "Mom - I'm to0 big for this stuff now. Give me the real stuff". This has actually turned out to be much easier, in some respects, since he can pretty much eat whatever we eat (in small pieces). Thought the grandparents might like to see him enjoying a meal or two! In one video he was sooooo tired...he had only one 30 minute nap at daycare that day, finally went to sleep when he got home - and we only got him up long enough to eat dinner, take a bath, and go right back to bed! He is really enjoying breads right now, like pancakes and rolls...he also still LOVES fruit. He likes potatoes alot - i baked sweet potato fries in the oven one night and he even likes broccoli and cheese. Brett is a big fan of cheerios too. And I'm a little thankful (sometimes) for the floor cleaning crew (Buster). Because a lot sure does wind up down there.

Bah.

2010-01-15T21:52:00.003-06:00

HE CRAWLS

2010-01-07T21:34:00.008-06:00

We've lots of catching up to do as usual, but first things first! Had to post a video - this is mostly what we've been up to since we've been out of school this whole week for snow/cold (nobody likes getting out of bed when it's this cold anyways!)!! We have really loved our extended time off and have enjoyed getting so much family time. It's made for a nice long holiday break. Christmas was so much fun with our families and our little one--will save those photos for another day. I'm extra thankful we were home this week - otherwise we wouldn't have gotten to see Brett's next two milestones firsthand because he would have been at daycare! Little man turned 10 months old yesterday. It's so hard to believe! He is truly the center of our world and the joy of our lives. I'm not sure where the time goes, but every night when I'm rocking him before I put him in his crib I think about how small and sweet and cuddly he is at that very moment and just try to soak it all up. But back to the video - Brett is officially on the move! And he is just about to be EVERYWHERE. For the past month or so he's been acting like he was getting ready to crawl just anytime. He started out trying to get on all fours but would always get one leg stuck underneath him...then if he got brave and leaned (or lunged) forward he would just fall on his face. The day after Christmas he took one tiny "step" forward--just barely! This past Sunday when I was taking down the tree he was finally motivated to take a few more "steps" when he saw all the ornaments laying on the floor. He really loves going after those things he can't have! Yesterday he would look at a toy and whine a little before he would realize he could actually go after it himself. Each day since then he's gotten a little braver and has finally started to realize that he can go....today he explored a little further...and I know he is just about to figure out he can go just about anywhere he pleases. Today he also pulled up to a standing position for the first time, using his red wagon his grandma Peggy got him for Christmas. We brought it in from the garage so he could play with it since it seems it will be awhile before the weather is decent enough to take him for a ride. I thought some folks might enjoy the video of Brett doing what he does - particularly his grandparents. We think he's pretty fun to watch. :) And the ball. Have I mentioned this boy is obsessed with the basketballs? They bring an instant smile to his face. He loves to sit and roll it back and forth with us. That's a video for another day. I was trying to urge him to crawl after his ball so I could get him on video crawling a little more, but he actually didn't....so I sound like I'm talking to Buster telling him to go get his ball. We did a little 10 month photo shoot last night in the new outfit his Memaw got him for Christmas - which is getting a bit more difficult since he's a busy little fella these days.

I love these sweet feet.

The End.

Sick Day

2009-12-10T22:18:00.005-06:00

Brett had to stay home from daycare one day this week, doctor's orders - bronchitis and a slight ear infection...Despite his being a little under the weather, we had a really good day just hanging out. We stayed extremely busy doing lots of important things...

Put Me In Coach

2009-11-23T22:13:00.005-06:00

Check out this "official" BHS basketball uniform...too cute! I think he's ready to play!

Found a Turtle

2009-11-02T19:19:00.005-06:00

Brett went on his first trick-or treat Friday. My sister-in-law Stacey works at the home office where they decorate and hand out candy to tons of little kids for Halloween. We saw all kinds of cute kiddies in cute costumes. Brian and I now have lots of candy to eat...I guess Brett will be able to help a little more with that next year. We didn't even have one trick-or-treater at our house this year! Here are some pictures from baby's first Halloween...

Brett with Aunt Stacey

He was a little scared of the pumpkin at first...and also of the black panther

You'd be upset too if you had just gotten all in your costume and then had a poopy diaper.

Since we went trick-or-treating on Friday and don't really live in a "neighborhood" we opted to stay in Saturday evening for a photo shoot (plus...like Brian and I really needed any more candy!)

still not quite sure about the large black kitty, who is mostly only viewed through the window and from the safety of mom and dad's arms...not on ground level

This was also Brett's first hands-on experience with these crunchy things. He didn't try to eat them though-I was surprised

I thought I should throw this one with the random bunny hat in here too, from this weekend...tortoise....hare...you know...

That's How I Roll

2009-10-19T19:28:00.004-05:00

Since shortly after Brett turned 6 months his new mode of transportation is rolling. At 5 months he learned to roll from his belly to his back; then after 6 months he learned how to roll back onto his belly...then he got faster. And now he can roll continuously. He prefers to sit up and play most of the time now, but when he does play laying down it's not uncommon for him to roll up against the furniture. Then he looks surprised when he looks up and sees that he is so far away from all his toys!

How did you get over there?!

The Best 7 Months Ever

2009-10-16T21:26:00.005-05:00

Brett turned SEVEN months old on the 6th. I can't believe this sweet baby has been with us and blessed us for seven months already. He brightens and brings so much joy to each and every one of our days. When I drop him off at daycare in the mornings I can hardly wait to see that little face again!

Here's our boy on his one month birthday...

And here he is on his 7 month birthday (same bear).

Table Manners

2009-10-16T19:58:00.004-05:00

So we finally got the little mister a high chair a few weeks ago. We love it. A designated "this is where you eat" spot. We started off using the bumbo chair/tray and the bouncy seat, but it was high time little man starts learning to eat at the "table". He loves it too. Lately he has been patting things with his hands. He loves the noise it makes when he pats his hands on his high chair tray. He also pats his toys, my leg, my arms.... He also likes to try and reach for the bowl and spoon. The other day I turned my head for like a milisecond and he flipped the spoon, sending sweet potatoes flying through the air, landing on his forhead, in his hair, even on the carpet. It took me a little while to locate the spoon. Little man is also learning how to drink juice once in a while from a sippy cup. Sometimes we offer his formula in it because for some reason he's not alway fond of the regular bottle since he's been teething.

Somebody should teach this young man not to put his feet on the table....

HE SITS.

2009-10-03T21:44:00.005-05:00

One of Brett's new tricks--what a big boy! I guess we are now one step closer to mobility--yikes! Time to start thinking about baby proofing the house?

The past month or so has been full of major milestones...we've noticed that it seems like things are starting to happen very quickly now. All of a sudden he knows more, understands more, and can do more...In the past couple weeks Brett has started to be able to sit up all by himself. Not for very long, but he's getting better every day. He weebles and he wobbles sometimes, but we make sure we catch him before he falls down!

Now that he can sit up and is getting this whole new fun view of his world, he sometimes doesn't think it's near as much fun to lay down anymore. He loves to sit.

I'm having so much fun sitting on the floor and playing with my little boy!

Company and Cooties

2009-09-26T22:51:00.013-05:00

The bad news is, Brett has been sick with something or another for about 6 weeks straight...as soon as he's almost over something, here comes something else. He started daycare the first week of August and since then he has had:
1. the snots. lots of snot. nasal decongestion, followed by a cough
2. thrush. originally diagnosed as hand, foot, and mouth disease, but changed to thrush after we went back to the doctor for - you guessed it - the snots...and a much much worse cough, that turned out to be....
3. the croupe. oh, that nasty croup. poor baby. and the chest xray - poor baby and poor mommy. we both cried and baby was promised that mommy would hold him for the rest of the day after that. Once the croup started to FINALLY clear up, and the cough was almost gone, there was a reappearance of um...yeah...
4. the snots. followed by the cough. Again.

We are still waiting on this one to go away (or almost go away??), but we have a 6 month checkup with the doctor this next week. We want this baby well! The good news is, right now, although snotty and coughy, he is all smiles and playing as usual!!! We are looking forward to him finally having more good, full nights of sleep like he used to get before he was sickly so often.

In other news....we have had lots of company!

Since Brett was sick over Labor Day weekend we couldn't go to meemaw and papa, so meemaw and papa came to him!

Then Aunt Sue was so wonderful to come stay with him while he recovered from his thrush and croup since he couldn't go to daycare...

Then grandpa came down to pick up Aunt Sue and took us all out to eat at Shogun's for my birthday! LOVE Shogun's. Ate it ALL.

Then we trucked to Kansas for a surprise 80th birthday party for Brian's grandma, who's birthday isn't really till November (surprise!). Good times! Brian's mom and her siblings rented this awesome cabin house in Kansas that was big enough for the entire family to sleep over and have a great time.

80 years and still going strong! Happy Birthday Grandma!

This weekend, we have gotten to spend at home relaxing. Went to Fayetteville...And our sweet friends from the Burris Abode came over to say hi and snap some wonderful pictures of Brett outside in the beautiful weather. I even got to clean. Did I just say GOT tO clean? Yeah, I think I did. I never thought I would ever hear myself say this, but, I cleaned the house--and I liked it. Perfect day.

Bikes, Blues, and...Babies?

2009-09-26T22:22:00.008-05:00

My dad has been in town for a few days attending the Bikes, Blues, and BBQ festivities. He loves riding his motorcycle all over, and has accumulated lots of biker gear and patches on is trips. Saturday night we decided to go with him to check things out (by car, of course...Brett is not quite big enough to fill out a helmet yet...). We went to the location closest to the U of A and had a great time. The air was fresh and cool, the sun was shining--just the best day! We even saw some guys doing some stunt riding, which was pretty cool, but we didn't stay for the whole thing. I felt a little out of place amongst the leather, fringe, and do-rags, but I think Brett and his grandpa fit right in.

We really enjoyed all the people, tents, and looking at all the bikes. BUT - I think, by far, the coolest thing we saw was...a motorized cooler! You heard me! Some chick went zooming by on a cooler, yes, your standard rectangle-ish cooler with a white lid, with wheels and handlebars. Just what I need.

Happy Boy

2009-09-22T19:48:00.003-05:00

I'm so in love with this toothless little grin...

Baby's First Basketball Game

2009-07-28T11:28:00.003-05:00

Brian's basketball team recently attended a camp/tournament thing in Springdale. Over the two days they won all their games except for the very last one, the one Brett and I attended.
Brett really seemed to watched intently as the boys ran up and down the court....like he was trying to get it all down! He even looked like if he could take off after them he would. He was only startled by the buzzer the first time he heard it. This was the first of MANY MANY MANY basketball games, I'm sure....I wonder if we have a future gym rat on our hands.

Breakfast of Champions

2009-07-19T21:52:00.011-05:00

We started to practice feeding Brett rice cereal with a spoon recently...I'm not totally confident yet of how to work it in and how much, etc, but he's really doing a great job with the whole spoon thing! He is eating some along with his bottle at breakfast time now and dinner time. Lots of the time he even laughs and/or sqeals in between bites, and on more than one occasion has said "MMMMMMMM!". I can only assume that it was not a coincidence and that he was indicating his cereal is num num to his tum tum. Brian disagrees - he was brave enough to taste it...but, when you have nothing much else in your diet to compare it to, I'm sure it's fabulous!

Check out the goatee...believe it or not, the mess on his face in these particular pictures is actually more low key than what it is sometimes....

Mr. Independent also likes trying to grab the spoon himself and "helping" me pull it to his mouth sometimes. Must be good stuff. Sometimes I think he just likes nawing on the spoon.

Did we get more on his face/bib/hands/legs/mom than in his belly? Probably. Did we have fun trying? Of course!

Brett's Travels

2009-07-14T18:45:00.013-05:00

We left the Thursday before the 4th for Kansas and stayed through Sunday. Brian's grandma has a quarry, which is just a big swimming hole. It's complete with a floating deck, a slide and a diving board. They also have a nice covered picnic area. This is his family's favorite place to spend lots of summer days and nights. It really is nice hanging out there, I love it and wish we could go more. There was good fun and GOOD food. I wish I were back there again right now!

Brett had a good time. He and his cousin Brylynn even had a place to play and nap...

...and he got to hang out with lots of folks he doesn't see much, like cousin Kristi and her husband Adam.

He also got to spend time with grandma Peggy and aunt Stacey.

He even went for his first "swim"!

After we came home, Brett celebrated his 4 month birthday by tolerating his mother and her camera once again...Brett is now 15 pounds 11 ounces and 24.5 inches long! He started eating a little rice cereal in his night time bottle with his formula a couple weeks ago, but tonight at dinner time he tried eating some on a spoon for the first time; he managed a couple bites, but it will take some practice!!

"Really. Mom. Enough with the camera. Please."

A few days later Brett and I headed out for northeast AR to visit my side of the family, while Brian had to stay behind and work. I was a little nervous about a big road trip just me and the babe, but he did really great on the ride--we only stopped twice! Once we got there everything went downhill....our first night there we got up in the middle of the night and Brett was burning up with his first fever--I had to run to Walmart in Paragould at 2 am and got home to find his temp at 102.8. After a few hours of tylenol we were able to get him in to see a WONDERFUL pediatrician in Paragould...long story short, after 2 days of dr. visits, blood drawn out of both arms at the hospital (HORRIBLE), a shot in the leg, a perscription for that yummy pink amoxicillyn (sp?), and some ear drops and pedialite, we felt we were on the road for recovery. My mom and I pretty much held him for 3 nights. He was crying whenever he was awake, poor baby! He was just miserable. It was hard for him being sick for the first time away from home and away from daddy, but I'm really happy my mom could help us out and help take care of Brett--Meemaw took such good care of him. Thanks mom! She pulled some all-nighters and actually got less sleep than I did! It was also hard because he was sick the whole time instead of getting to visit and play with everyone. We also had to cancel out on seeing some dear friends and their baby boys who we don't get to see very often...hopefully we'll see them next time! On Saturday his fever was under 100, so he and I made the trek back home. He's feeling MUCH better now and back to his old smiley self!! That was a crazy and stressful few days though. I didn't think he would get sick for the first time till he started daycare!!

Where We Are

2009-06-24T17:56:00.018-05:00

It's obvious I'm having trouble playing catch-up over the past few months (since March 6, to be exact!)...so I'll just begin with the present while I continue working on the longest blog ever that will hopefully include all the wonderful highlights beginning from when the best thing that ever happened to us happened to us---when Brett joined our world. There is, of course, an overwhelming number of pictures and lots to tell about our sweet little boy's first 3 months of life!

I think one of my main problems is, since there are so many photos, that when I get all the photos on here I have a heckuva time moving them around to where I want them. Takes forever and frustrates me beyond belief. I am posting several pictures, and after what seems like forever, I totally give up on moving them ANYWHERE so that they will be in any kind of relation or sequence to whatever I happen to be typing about in any particular paragraph. If anyone has any inside tricks on how to make blogging life easier in that respect, do tell. So all the random pictures will just be where they will be. Random. Happy viewing.

So here we are. Brett is 3 months old already...he'll be four months in less than two weeks! We can hardly believe how fast he is growing and changing. We know he currently weighs between 13 and 14 pounds. The most growth happened between 2 to 3 months - he just blew up and filled out overnight, it seems. He gained 5 pounds between his 2 month and 3 month birthday. I recently packed away his newborn clothes. Here's a picture of the preemie sized onsie he wore when he was first born (the red one--it was actually big on him too) compared to a onsie he can currently wear. I was actually successful at moving this picture where I wanted it.

He is starting to be much more aware of things around him and seems to have grown out of the newborn phase and very much into the infant stage. He likes the tv. He's recently noticed Buster...I think they are going to have lots of fun together before we know it - Buster better watch his tail!! Brett also really enjoys just sitting in his bouncy chair and watching whatever's going on around him, and kicking; his little legs go ninety to nothing at times. He loves playing on his back under the toys on his play gym...he's able to hit the toys to make them move and spin a ball that makes a song play.

He can now grasp some of his toys and hang on to them and wave them around...he is also starting to try to put them in his mouth. I love watching his pudgy little fingers try to reach around the toy to grasp it--he really looks like he's concentrating to make this happen! He has his fist in his mouth all the time now too. He also is really starting to like to "talk" alot, which I love to hear! We have lots of "conversations" around here lately. You would think he's telling big stories. Funny ones, too.

We love his smile. It melts our hearts and seeing it is the best thing in the whole world. I am bewildered at how much time I will spend in his face making wierd, contorted faces and sounds of my own just to see one of his smiles. We have even heard something that resembles a chuckly. He makes some of the best faces. There are the regulars, like happy, unhappy, mad, but there is now also bewildered, surprised, startled, and even shy. There are some pictures of Brett's face that Rachel took for us during our first family photo shoot recently (thanks Rach!) that show a few of his many faces. Will post some more of these wonderful photos she took soon.

Sleeping is good. Or it was. We made the move from the bassinette in our room to the crib in his room; this went fine...the first night he woke up one more time than usual, but after that it was back to normal. He has been sleeping at night in his Miracle Blanket for a long time, and will usually sleep anywhere from 4-6 hours straight in it during the night, only waking up once to eat. We began considering anything around 4 hours a "bad" night. On average, he would most of the time sleep at least 5 or 5 and a half, but was starting to go to 6 more...one night even 6 and a half! So anyways, you know - if it ain't broke...try to break it. We decided we would go ahead and try to wean him from his miracle blanket this summer while we are not working, plus he is really starting to get a little too big for it - it doesn't wrap around him quite as easily as it used to. So on Monday night we did our normal bedtime routine and put him in a sleep sack instead - he slept for maybe two hours, then woke up every hour after that. We just finished night 3. It's getting a little better. We are going to try to be consistent - hopefully after a few more nights he will sort of get the hang of sleeping without being so confined and begin sleeping as good as he was. Hopefully.

So that's where we are. :)

My New Favorite Thing!!!

2009-02-23T19:15:00.005-06:00

Check this out! I have been wanting one for a while; ever since my preggo friend Kate told me about hers. When I thought about a grabber I pictured the little plastic ones with the dinosaur head and teeth. But they actually make serious grabbers. It even comes with a lifetime limited warranty and an instruction manual :) . I couldn't have been more tickled when I saw Brian come out of Walgreens with this little lifesaver. I was giddy. No more killing myself trying to bend over!!! I spent the rest of the afternoon happily picking things up off the floor with my new claws that had sometimes not been worth trying to bend over to get at the time. Dryer sheets. Coins. Socks that fell between the dryer and the wall. Clumsy me, I dropped something again--NO PROBLEM! My back has never felt better (well not lately anyways). This little miracle will definitely make life a little easier over the next few weeks!

As for my car...it's still in the shop. The latest place decided it's the catalytic (sp?) converter. This will cost another $700 in addition to the $600 we've already spent. We are just thankful it's not the transmission (we hope...). We really hope this will fix it, guess we won't be sure till we get it back later this week. Hopefully my car will last another 3 years or so, at the very least.

Last weekend was busy. Not only was it Valentine's Day, but my love's birthday. He was unfortunately busy with basketball games, so I filled his car with I love you sticky notes while he was at the game Friday night, gave him a couple of cards, made him one of his favorite cakes. Happy Birthday Sweetheart!!! ..I also got to attend the wedding of a great friend, Shannon Shirley, from work. I gave up on trying to take any pictures because they were all too dark, but here's one of their backs! I can't wait to see some others that Kim, Rachel, and Kate took...
Shannon and the wedding were beautiful!!! I couldn't be happier for them, she is just lovely. I was also very excited to see Gloria there, who moved off to the Batesville-ish area for her first teaching job. I miss her lots!
After I got home from the wedding and Brian got home from his game, we were content with snuggling in the bean bag chair in front of the tv for the rest of the night.

It was a busy, fast weekend, and our last free one I think for a while! This past Friday night I was able to go to the movie "Confessions of a Shopaholic" with some girlfriends. I'm grateful for the time I have to go out with them while I can, I know my free girlfriend hanging out days are now very limited, at least for a while. Saturday Brian and I went to our friends Jarod and Lindy's house. They are due with their 2nd baby girl around March 23. They had a housefull; Brian got to play poker and I got to eat and visit with Lindy, which was awesome. She's the one who sold us our house. I had wanted to take Brian out for a nice birthday dinner, but Sunday we had fun visiting a casino and trying our luck (we didn't have any) on the penny machinesinstead. We wanted to celebrate his birthday a little more since we didn't get to last weekend, and we figured this might be one of our last sort of spur of the moment"outings" together for a while...I also got a new "do"....it's a little shorter than i meant for it to be, but it's very easy for now and I will grow my longer hair back eventually!

Update

2009-02-18T20:03:00.011-06:00

Ice Storm

Let's start with some pictures I took of our ice storm. We were very lucky...we only lost power for about 2 and a half hours, but thousands of others were without power for days and weeks. We were out of school for four days. Brian and I were very thankful to be holed up in our cozy warm house with all the comforts...tv and internet. Several of my kids at school told me they had to stay in a hotel for a few days...

Showering Babies

Rachel and some of the other lovely ladies I am honored to work with at my school threw a shower for me and my friend Kate, whose baby boy is due within a day of ours. What a way to welcome our new little ones! We really felt loved. The whole staff was there to wish us well, and there was tons of yummy food, presents, and even a money tree and a money diaper wreath. We work with a generous, amazing family of coworkers. Rachel took these great pictures...

New Sleeping Quarters

My hips hurt to bad to stay sleeping in the bed anymore. Thank goodness for our beanbag chair. Brian put it by the bed and "fluffs" it for me every night. I start off in the bed so he can put his hands on my tummy and feel the baby moving till we go to sleep...then I usually wake up in a couple hours and move to the bag. This thing has been a life saver and I didn't realize how much sleep I had been losing till I tried sleeping in this thing. I felt like a whole new person!

Superdad

Brian is nearing the end of basketball season--last week! He has been very busy helping wash baby clothes, doing dishes, helping with laundry, taking care of me, helping me up when I need it, and hugging me when I cry randomly for whatever reason. I have been very clumsy lately and breaking lots of things: dog bowl, skillet, creamer dish, the laptop. It's very frustrating to drop things because it's such hard work trying to pick them up! My car is also having troubles, possibly the transmission. In between school and games Brian has been running it all over town trying to get the problem identified and fixed. It's been to 3 different places and gotten the transmission cleaned and worked on, and new fuel filter, a flushed fuel filter, new tires, and it still isn't running right. We are very worried it needs a new transmission and he is taking it somewhere else tomorrow. I have been driving the civic that we got back in the summer. I'm so thankful he is taking care of all this car stuff, he's been trying to make sure I don't worry about a thing. He's my hero.

30 WEEKS DOWN

2009-01-19T20:36:00.004-06:00

No, I'm not holding a big red exercise ball - that's my tummy. I can't believe we only have 10 more weeks till our due date. I'm actually not in any hurry to have the baby, I'm pretty content with him all nice and snuggly in there. Maybe I will feel different in a couple more months. At the beginning of the pregnancy, 10 weeks seemed like forever, now it is going so fast. 9 weeks of school left till spring break....woohoo!! It also seems like lots of weekends between now and then are going to be busy with something or another too. I also finally found someone to sub for me, so that is a big relief to be able to check that off my list. I have been getting so much done at school lately, lots of it I normally wouldn't do ahead of time like this - it's been great--I decided maybe I should go on maternity leave every year...

I am really enjoying being pregnant and love to feel the baby kicking and squirming. He is usually most active when I am not. I'm not sleeping all that well because of lots of hip pains, but other than that everything is great. I am thinking about ditching the bed for our big fluffy bean bag chair. Brian is busy with basketball season but still managing to be a wonderful husband...he did laundry this weekend and even brought me flowers for no reason. Such a lucky girl, I know. I also REALLY enjoyed getting out with some girlfriends on Friday night to watch Bride Wars and buying some baby and maternity clothes. I'd better take advantage of getting out of the house for dinners and movies and shopping (and eating!!) while I can!

JUST AN OBSERVATION

2009-01-01T17:47:00.004-06:00

So I was just going through some pictures on our new laptop....

This is me in early October.

And this is me now, the weekend before Christmas.

Any questions?

I mean, WHOA. The belly has taken on a life of it's own (literally!)...and I still have 3 more months! I'm just sayin'.... Will I be able to stand upright without tipping over in the next few months? Seems like I'm hungry....quite often... Regardless, I know the end result will all be worth it.

It's a BOY!!!

2008-11-03T19:37:00.003-06:00

We had our big ultrasound today and it was so exciting! She was certain it's a boy, and pointed out his "business", as she called it, a few different times. It's so good to know who's in there now, he has more of an identity now (we can stop referring to him as "it")...and the best part is I can go shopping now!...which I did immediately after the appointment of course. He is weighing in at 11 ounces and his little foot measures a little over one inch long. We got to see all his organs and his heart beating away...she said they are all looking good and she measured everything and looked for all his bones...we also saw him yawn, making sucking motions with his mouth, hit his knee, move his arm up around his face, and man was he ever kicking!! Made me sort of glad I can't feel it yet, he was really going at it! A few people told me to drink some caffeine beforehand to make sure the baby would move around plenty so we could see everything...no more caffeine for him!! He was all over the place. I will try to get a couple of the pictures scanned in soon...it was so amazing to get to see him!

Get well Dad!

2008-10-08T18:27:00.002-05:00

So my dad had knee surgery today--AGAIN. The first time they just scraped away arthritis and then he was fine...not even any pain afterwards! Just a routine outpatient procedure - then several days later all of a sudden he was in lots of pain and apparently his knee was full of blood clots. He had to have today's surgery in the hospital and will have to stay a few days and be hooked up on an iv of antibiotics for infection. He was supposed to come see us in a couple weeks so I'm sad he probably won't get to now. I love you dad! I hope you feel better and get well soon!! You will get be back on the bike again very soon!

I have a blog?

2008-09-28T12:30:00.006-05:00

Brian is busy putting lots of photos from our laptop on cd's today, so he can delete stuff in hopes of making the old laptop faster...and I have finally put photos from summer that were on my camera on the computer...What with a little one on the way now, I suddenly have the urge to try and become more organized around here (for fear of never having time to become organized after that, plus so much company...you people better come visit us!!) - which has not, by the way, over-ridden my urge to procrastinate. We still have 6 more months, right? That feels like forever!

Last weekend I finally drug out all the wedding parafanalia out of the closet in what will become the baby's room - the dress, the big fluffy skirt thing, tons of gift bags, cards, leftover invitations, programs, leftover unused votive candles...you name it. Even some Christmas stuff - and i relocated it to another closet. BUT, I did manage to throw lots of stuff away and make it a little better organized. I'm planning to have my dress cleaned and preserved BB (before baby) because I haven't done that yet. I should make a list. Anyways...here's the new and improved (and mostly empty now) baby's-closet-to-be. I'm thinking we can add another shelf below since the clothes will be so short.

I also already got a diaper bag, a gift from my sister in law Stacey. Not only is it RED, but it looks sort of like a big purse and has a little portable changing pad and an insulated bottle holder. I wonder if Brian will carry it....I have checked into manly looking diaper bags, but they are expensive online. We have a small sampling of a diaper/wipes collection started as well. Below is the "new storage closet" with the wedding leftovers and a variety of clothes I am hoping will fit me again someday (note all the "skinny jeans"). Rachel and I were talking the other day about how funny it is, the range of pant sizes in our closets; we could have a boutique.

In other news, Brian came home with a new chewy that is actually Buster Proof. He can't tear it up or break it at all. It's made of real bone. Although he did manage to lick all the goody out of the middle of it pretty fast. I've sort of been wanting to go check out this dog park in Rogers sometime when the weather's nice, if any of you other doggie-mammas are interested...

My Chair Awaits...

2008-06-03T19:35:00.004-05:00

Another one bites the dust! I can't believe I have survived 6 whole years of teaching. This was a fast and busy year with a few exciting moments and a few little bumps, changes, and new things along the way. I'm excited to have formed a few new friendships this year as well. After some major cleaning up in the music office yesterday and this morning, changing my first ever diaper (Audrie came to school this morning!!), and getting all checked out, I spent my first free afternoon doing a little bit of shopping for a little summer attire (new bathing suit included-yikes! didn't try it on, just grabbed one that looked large enough and got it overwith...it had to be done, after all), after having to drop my wedding ring off--my middle diamond fell out at school this morning while cleaning. I'm so glad I saw it and it's not sucked up in a vacuum or stuck to the bottom of someone's shoe. I also did lots of thinking about Brian and my first anniversary coming up so soon! I was still soooo busy with the wedding crazies this time last year! I finally returned home to find the yard freshly mowed, a sweaty husband, and a happy dog. Now all I have to do is make my list of things to do around the house (and wherever else) on my free time around going with B to basketball tournaments (of course I still sometimes have that guilty little "I should really get a part time job or something" nagging feeling...but it goes away pretty fast)...The picture here is of what will most likely be one of my favorite spots this summer, cool beverage in one hand, book in the other. My lounge chair is now all set up, sprayed free of dirt and cobwebs, and ready for business!! Feel free to bring your chairs over and join me!

Our little patient, and other randomness

2008-05-27T18:08:00.005-05:00

Buster had surgery on his leg last Tuesday to repair his knee that wouldn't stay in place. Although he is not using this leg (he only walks on 3 and the vet said he may not use it for a few months) he is getting around quite well and seems to be feeling better. We hope this will make him feel better in the long run. It hurts me just to look at it! He gets his staples removed next week...poor baby. And how would you feel if you had to wear a funnel around your head?!

As for the other randomness, check out the size of this moth! I have never seen a moth like this; all the ones I've seen are small and some shade of ugly brown, gray, or black. He flew in our house the other night and he was just beautiful!

Finally, here are some adorable pictures of little miss Audrie (Rachle and Jamie's almost 4 month old) taken during a visit at our house one night recently. She certainly knows how to work the camera...

...but I think she finally grew tired of all the flashing in her face. :)

It's awfully quiet around here...

2008-05-09T22:47:00.010-05:00

There's something missing...it's my husband. I have to admit it CAN be nice having the tv ALL to myself for a bit (I just watched an awesome marathon of What Not to Wear-one of my favorites!!), but even that can get old after awhile. He's in Vegas...he's having a great time I know; he always looks forward to this yearly trip, has been counting down for months, and is even having some luck there so far!..on the other hand... I still have 2 more whole lonely days to try and keep myself entertained and busy till my other half returns...what's a girl to do? I suppose I'll have to find some errands to run tomorrow (aka shopping), wahahahahahahah (evil laugh)....or maybe I'll just take Buster for a walk and a fun little field trip to Petco. Sounds like a plan. I miss you honey!

In the meantime...I think I will do some random posting till I'm ready to go to bed. It's so late (well, just after 11 p.m.)...but this is the latest I've stayed up in a while! We have recently had several great weekends in a row. My mom and stepdad came down weekend before last, along with Brian's mom Peggy. It was so great having them! We hung out, shopped a bit, and ate a LOT. If you haven't tried the new steakhouse at the mall...you definitely should. Brian, mom, and Ken all thought it was the best restaurant steak they've had in a good while. Jeff and Stacey fried catfish that Saturday as well...good stuff! We had a great visit and wish they could come more often...

The weekend before THAT we went to Kansas for a memorial golf tournament for Brian's friend Choke, who was killed in an accident last October. The weather was perfect and I enjoyed spending some time with Brian's friends he used to work with and hang with in Kansas. And it was such an awesome way to honor his friend...there were tons of people there! Here are a few pictures...what a swing...My view most of the day...

Even KU and K-State fans got along on this day...This is Shank. He and his wife Sandy came to visit us one weekend last fall for a razorback game.This is Allen and Teresa, below. Brian and Allen are high school buddies.
Well...off to bed now. 2 posts in one week...new record!! Woohoo!

Long Live the Weekends!

2008-05-04T21:15:00.008-05:00

The past several weekends have been great. What's even better--I counted and there's only 20 more days till we get a semi-permanent, 2 month long weekend!! I can't wait. Thursday night Brian and I went to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings, then to see Iron Man. We enjoyed it, there were lots of funny parts. Friday night we just hung out and ate some tacos I fixed. Saturday we spent the morning at Lowe's buying stuff for our yard; Brian bought me a rose bush and some flowers to plant around the mailbox. He also bought a large planter and a hanging planter for flowers. The weather was perfect for working in the yard and hanging out on the deck with Buster and Jordan. Our little hummingbird friends are even starting to come back. Today we went to Sam's and then I cooked...it has been so nice just being home!!

Watch out Tiger Woods

2008-04-06T22:03:00.002-05:00

Me & Brian in 35 years

Last year Brian started trying to teach me how to golf. It was comical, really. If I even hit the ball at all it would go maybe 10 feet and I would have to chase after it, swinging wildly trying to hit the little thing. The weather was so nice this weekend we decided to take advantage and went to the driving range yesterday and today. I have to say out of the two of us I win the Most Improved Award! It's still hit and miss so to speak, but I think I'm getting a little better sometimes. And who knew swinging a golf club could make a person so sore!! It was like a little mini work out. Anyhow, my vision is for us to eventually (many many many years from now) become one of those cute little blue-haired couples who own our own golf cart, wear elastic waist band khaki pants and matching embroidered shirts who spend the days golfing away in Bella Vista...I still have a long ways to go. Some of those little ladies out there meant business.

Feeling nastolgic of skinnier days...

2008-01-03T21:46:00.000-06:00

Sigh. It's THAT time of year. Christmas was absolutely wonderful with each other and our families. But the holiday eating has commenced, and after all the fullness I'm left feeling empty. I'm frustrated from a major weight setback that has been coming on for the past year and a half--beginning to culminate shortly after the awesome cruise trip where this picture was taken. It took so long to even get to that size, the best shape I've been in my adult life, before the trip...and has been so quick to come back full force since! Cruel world!!!! Will I ever be able to "bring sexy back"?? It's just too hard to motivate myself when I'm starting completely from scratch all over again. Bah humbug.

I really stink at this

2007-10-15T19:26:00.000-05:00

Ok, so if anyone even still checks up on me or even cares, here is a new blog entry finally. However, I'm sure most have given up on me...I think I may be writing this for myself. Last week really kicked our butts. Maybe I'm getting old. I was more tired than I have felt in a long while...maybe too much too soon after the whole surgery episode?? Nah....it's been a few weeks...But 30 is supposed to be the new 20, right? Oh yeah...I'm 30. And I have been for a whole month now too. And I was feeling less than celebratory, let me tell you. I have to thank my wonderful hubby for cooking for me and my friends who came to help me mourn the loss of my twenties: Shannon, G, and Rachel. Thanks for the support gals!! Anyhow, B and me went to Kansas weekend before last for a visit and a wonderful b-day party for my cute little neice...followed by a funeral in Kansas on Tuesday for Brian's good friend and mentor, Choke...I was excited to meet many of B's old friends from his first job in KS, but under very sad circumstances. What nice people. This was followed by working football games Thursday and Friday night, and a lot of napping this past weekend--we even sold our Razorback tickets so we could stay home and be HOME, but apparently didn't miss too much...it was nice to clean house and snuggle with my hubby and the little furry one (Buster) all weekend. We have also recently managed to rent and watch almost the entire first season of Heroes (THANKS G!!!! :) Yes. Addicted to yet another tv show. So good. And, Kim, if you read this CONGRATULATIONS on your website--it looks wonderful. Your pictures are amazing, better than any photographer's I saw while I was shopping around way back when...for anyone else randomly reading this, her website is http://www.kimlowery.com/. I was just looking at it. Check out her awesome talent. I think I'm blogged-out till...next time...back to being a bean bag blob for tonight and watch some more Heroes...

I know I just got married and all, but...

2007-07-17T08:17:00.000-05:00

I've fallen in love again...

Our new puppy Buster has changed our lives (and our sleeping habits!). He is sweet as can be and I love watching him sleep and play. The best is when he crawls up on your shoulder, nuzzles his nose in your neck, ear, or whatever, and sleeps. We visited the vet yesterday...unfortunately, our itchy little Buster has a form of mange that he got from his mother, who was a stray, and he's so little that his immune system wasn't strong enough to fight off this common mite that lives on most dogs from developing into mange (the other pups in his litter got it too). It's not contagious to people or other dogs. We now have medicine, but it's not a guaranteed "cure", it could recurr if he gets over it at all, and it sounds like it will be a slow process. I believe it only began showing itself quickly over the past week, the week before he came home with us. When the family who had found the mother and puppies sent me pics of them July 9th, there were no visible bald spots or sores. Poor little guy. What sweet innocent puppy deserves this? I wish I could make the itching, sores, and bald spots disappear right NOW. I'm glad he's with us now and has a chance to hopefully feel better and get healthy. Wish us luck with the healing process!!

Jordan

2007-06-23T22:58:00.000-05:00

This is our large black panther. I mean, kitty. Brian has had him a long time, way before I came along. He used to be an indoor cat, but due to a few disagreements between he and us on where he should pee in the new house, he is now an outdoor cat. After some excessive meowing (constantly) he's really adjusted quite well. He stays on the deck most of the time, but is currently beginning to enjoy the more adventurous yard, and has even made a new friend out there...I believe he also laughs silently while sitting and watching the racoons mess with our hummingbird feeders in the night. I love dogs, but have never ever really been a cat person at all. EVER....but...he's grown on me a little and it was rough in the beginning but....I guess I can say he's the only cat I've ever llllloo....lllllllllll....well I like him a lot. There. I said it sort of. He's a good kitty kitty.

Our humble abode

2007-06-19T21:28:00.000-05:00

This is our new hizz-ous. We bought it in May and couldn't love it more. It's not right next to anyone and we are surrounded by trees (love that) and bugs (hate that). It's kind of a mess right now, but starting to take shape on the inside; this week I'm working on putting away the massive mound of leftover wedding paraphernalia and finding a place for wedding presents...that's a good problem to have though! We still have a lot of unpacking to do from boxes in the garage. We actually haven't really missed any of the stuff that's still packed though. Maybe we should just burn it...yeah, that'd be easier.

TA-DA! Our blog debut...

2007-06-18T15:20:00.000-05:00

Ok, I guess we're a little behind on the whole having our own space on the internet thing, but...I promise to keep up with this on a mostly-semi-daily-ish basis. I'm not usually just terribly exciting, but there's been tons of excitement lately...Brian and I are newlyweds (brand-spankin' new-lyweds...married June 9!) beginning our new life together as husband and wife, and created a blog so that you all can check in on us whenever you like! (well...that, and "everybody's doing it" ...so blogging seems like the thing to do.)

And so these...."ARE THE DAYS OF OUR LIIIIVES..." exciting or not, right!

Oh...and uh...Brian doesn't know we're doing this yet...

And not to disappoint--more wedding and honeymoon pictures coming soon, of course!