Daddy Steve & Brody

Daddy Steve got something new for his birthday. It's some kind of mixer/recorder that he can record his music digitally on. He can hook up his guitar amp and his mic and then make his own cd. It's really cool and sounds awesome! Last night Brody got to spend the night with Daddy Steve and Namaw. He always loves to go upstairs with Daddy Steve and sing into the microphone while Daddy Steve plays guitar. Last night Daddy Steve recorded Brody singing a few songs with him (a capella). It's so sweet!

(Click on the link below or on the title to this post to hear them sing together.)

Brody Sings with Daddy Steve

7 1/2

Last night Barrett slept 7 1/2 hours without waking up!!! Brody was sleeping 8 hrs by 7-8 weeks. I don't know if it's because Barrett's quite a bit smaller than Brody was, but it's taken him a few weeks longer to sleep thru the night...and a few weeks seems like a loooong time to a tired mommy! For the past month he's been going anywhere between 5 and 6/1 hr stretches at night. I'm hoping last night was the first night of a new trend! Yay for sleep!!!

Doctor Day

Today was the day for doctor's appointments. Barrett had a 2 month appointment and Brody had his 2 year well-check. We arrived at the dr's office at 9 am (15 minutes before the 1st appt since Brody is a new patient and I knew there'd be lots of paperwork to fill out). They called us back to a room by 9:25 and we didn't get back to our car until 11:20! Even though either a nurse or Dr. Prater was in the room with us most of the time...it was a looong morning!

Barrett was first. He weighed in at 10 lbs 4 oz and was 23.1" long. (Brody was 2 lbs heavier and 1 1/4" longer at 2 months). He got 2 shots (4 different vaccines) and an oral vaccine. He cried, of course, when they gave him the shots, but he calmed right away when I snuggled him. During his well check, we found out that Barrett has an inguinal hernia. She told us that it will require surgery, but that we should be able to wait until after Mike gets a job and we have better insurance again. If it starts causing him pain or becomes inflamed, we'll have to do surgery right away. It was a little discouraging to hear that our little baby will have to have surgery. We'll wait until he's a little older before we meet with the urologist, and until then we'll pray that God will heal him.

Brody weighed in at 26 lbs and is now 35" tall. He got 2 shots and took them like a champ! He started to cry a little, but the tears came to a halt as soon as the nurse offered him a toy car. He didn't even flinch when she pricked his finger and was fascinated as he watched her get the blood out of it. I was glad they had a bin of toys in the room. The balls and the dump truck kept Brody entertained during our long visit!

Barrett will have to go back for more shots at 4 months, but Brody won't get anymore until it's time for him to start kindergarten!!!

No Accident

I don't think I ever blogged about the fact that Barrett's rolling over wasn't just an accident. The boy started rolling over (from front to back) at 5 weeks old. Crazy! I'll try to post a video of it soon.

Erin & Sydney

I have been missing Kansas lately. I miss our friends, our church, and the country life. Sometimes I wonder if people there miss us too...

Yesterday Teri emailed me and told me the sweetest story. When we lived in KS, Erin (Chris & Teri's daughter) and Sydney (one of Dwayne & Rene's daughters) loved Brody. They would run to see him at church and take him off and play with him until it was time to leave. Teri said that the other day Erin asked her if she could print some pictures off of my blog of the boys and our whole family. She said that she wanted 2 sets of the pictures. When Teri asked her why she wanted them Erin told her that she and Sydney wanted to hang them in their lockers! How sweet is that?! Of course it made me cry just reading that...and made me miss those girls even more.

Erin, Brody, & Sydney at our going away party at Sterling Lake Kidist (no clue how to spell it), Erin, Sydney, & Staci
Erin was always ready to play with Brody...even on cold winter nights.
Sydney showing Brody how to use a saw while helping Mike and Dwayne work on her tree house in Colorado.
Thanks Erin & Sydney for loving our little boy so much.

I hope that sometime this next year you'll get to come down for an extended visit!

Big Bear Campground

We fell in love with the Big Bear Campground bedding the first time we saw it at Target. It's made by Woolrich and we knew it would go perfect with the boys' log bunk beds. At Christmas Daddy Ken, Grandmommy, & Sharon gave Brody sheets for the bunk beds that are from this collection (I hadn't even mentioned to them that I was wanting this bed set). Every time we go to Target we check to see if it's on sale. After 9 months of waiting and watching...we finally just gave in and bought it. Grandmommy and Sharon gave us some money to get something for the boys and it was able to cover most of what we bought (thanks Grandmommy & Sharon!!!) Grammy gave the boys the teddy bears and the lantern style lamps. This is Brody's bed for the time being. If you ask him he'll tell you that "when I get older Barrett will sleep here and Brody will sleep on top!"
Brody loves his new bedding. I need to video him telling you about his bedspread. He has the biggest Texas accent when he says bedspread. It's so cute!

Here's one of the lamps. The other one will eventually hang from the ceiling up by the top bunk.

The Party

On Saturday we had a birthday party for Brody. There were almost 30 people from our family that joined us in celebrating Brody (and Daddy Steve's) birthday. Mike was the cook for the day and his hamburgers were out of this world! I have no idea what he did to them...but I've never had a better burger! I was in charge of the birthday cake. Here's a picture of the cake that Grammy and I made for Brody. Lauren and Katelyn told Brody to lick the icing off the toy screws that were on the cake...then Angela told Brody to keep sticking them in his piece of cake! What a mess!!!
Brody, Lauren, Katelyn, & Collin enjoyed swimming (even though it was overcast and cool) and then it was time for presents! Brody was very excited to open presents this year. Here he is sporting a cell phone (from Lauren) and his new REI backpack.
The most dangerous present was waiting for Brody outside. I'm not sure whether the real golf clubs (from us) or the golf cart (from Daddy Steve & Namaw) will cause the biggest injury. The golf cart has some get-up-and-go! I think that adults were almost run over more than once by kid drivers!
Another exciting thing about the party was that all of GG's grandkids were there! The six of us went outside with Daddy Steve to have a picture taken. It felt very strange for the 6 of us to be there alone (without any spouses). It's been over 15 years since it was just the 6 of us. Here's the picture of Jon, Josh, Tyler, Caleb, Julie, & Staci.

It's so fun to live near family again!

Hawaiian Falls

Today Audria and I took Brody to Hawaiian Falls waterpark. All summer we have had above average temperatures. I have no clue how many days have been above 100 degrees...but it seems like it's been over 100 degrees EVERY day. Today was the exception. A cool front came thru and it was 75 degrees when we arrived at the waterpark around 11:30! Not only was it cool, it was also overcast! Audria is cold natured anyways, so we were both dreading the cold that we knew was awaiting us.

It was a great waterpark for young kids. Brody was a little timid at first. There were quite a few kids there and the water was loud and some of it hit you pretty hard (especially the water that fell out of the HUGE bucket over the kiddy park area). After we realized that he was a little small to go down the twisty slides by himself (he was flipped around and came out on his belly facing up the slide) we started taking turns going down the slides with him. He really thought that was fun! He also liked the lazy river. His FAVORITE part of the waterpark, however, was the sidewalk with water shooting in arches out of holes in the ground. He ran thru the water, walked under the arching water, and spent lots of time plugging up the holes with his feet and hands. We finally pulled up some chairs and watched him play.

The sun came out after lunch making it more enjoyable for Audria and I to be in the water. We stayed until 3:30 (well past Brody's nap time) because he was having so much fun. He was asleep 5 minutes after we got in the car and slept until 6 pm! We'll definitely be going back next year.

2 Years Old

Two years ago today Mike and I saw our precious little Brody for the first time. I remember the love that we felt for him at that very moment...and I don't know if I would've believed you if you told me that we'd love him even more today. It has been such a blessing to be his mom. He teaches me new things every day. I am constantly amazed at the new skills he's learning and love the conversations that we're able to have now that he's speaking in sentences. I love this boy so much and look forward to every single day that I have with him.

Brody at 4 weeks old Brody at 1 year old Brody this morning (at 2 years old)

Here's a video I took yesterday while Brody and I were outside playing:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRODY!!

Grammy's Here!!!

Today Brody, Barrett, Namaw, and I went to a baby shower for Mark & Angela. We were excited to get there because Grammy came to town last night and we hadn't seen her yet. Here's a picture of her holding Barrett for the first time. These are some of Angela's best friends. Meredith & Summer have been friends with Angela since she lived in Abilene. Janet (on the far right) grew up with Angela in St. John and now lives in the DFW area. It was fun to get to catch up with them. They are all such amazing people!
I think that Brody will be excited to open presents on his birthday. He LOVED helping Mark & Angela open their presents.
After the shower Grammy came back to our house where Brody commanded her undivided attention. He showed her all the toys in his room and had her on the floor playing with him for hours. Mark & Angela came over later for dinner and to watch the Olympics. It was another fun day :)

Anniversary Date

Today was so much fun! We started the day with our normal workout routine (Mike at 5:30 with Dad and me at 7:00 after he got home). Then we got a few things done around the house before heading to Daddy Steve & Namaw's house to drop off the boys. Brody was excited to spend the day with them!

Around noon we drove to Dallas for a day together...sans kids!!!! We talked the whole way without any interruptions from the backseat. It was nice. We went to REI (where I got an awesome watch that illuminates hands free with just a flick of your wrist), the Galleria Mall (which is enormous!!!!), dinner at a delicious Mexican restaurant, Babies-R-Us, & Target. We finished off our date with coffee at Starbucks. We sat there drinking coffee and talking for an hour or so. It may not have been the anniversary in the mountains like we wished for...but it didn't matter. All that mattered was that I got to spend the day with the one I love!

When we picked up the boys, Dad showed us part of the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics that he dvr'd. All I can say is WOW! I can't wait to watch the whole thing!

9 years

Today is our 9th wedding anniversary. It has been an amazing 9 years and I can't wait to see what the next 9 hold in store for us! It's so fun to be married to your best friend.

We're going to go out tomorrow for our anniversary, so today I went to work and Mike took Brody to the Fort Worth Zoo. They had lots of fun. Mike said that Brody was really interested in all the animals this time (rather than the screws on the bridge and construction workers like last time). I'm glad that they got to have a special father-son day!

I got home from work to find that Mike and Brody bought flowers for me. Brody picked out the sunflowers (which will now always remind me of Kansas) and Mike got me roses.

Mike was also preparing a delicious dinner for us! He made pasta with HUGE shrimp and mussels. He also made a salad and some bruschetta. I think we were both surprised when Brody started gobbling down the mussels. He at more than Mike! After dinner we took Brody up to Daddy Steve and Namaw's house to swim. What a fun day!

Barrett's 1st Trip to Temple

This past Friday Daddy Steve, Brody, Barrett, and I went to Temple. Brody and Barrett did great on the car trip. Brody talked nonstop and Barrett slept. Grandmommy was excited to see us when we arrived. Before long Cindy, Brady, and McKenna showed up. Brady brought his guitar and amp and gave us a concert. He's a talented musician! He's also really good with kids. He was showing Brody some of his guitar tricks and didn't even seem to mind when Brody tried to pick the "dots" off the neck of his guitar (thankfully Brody wasn't successful)!

When they left to go pick Ginger up from work, Daddy Steve took Brody on a walk. Brody woke up from his afternoon nap wanting to "go to Daddy Steve and Namaw's house to swim", so Daddy Steve took him to the park...next to the city pool. I thought that sounded a little cruel, but he said that Brody loved just watching the kids swim while he played on the playground equipment.

We spent the night on Friday and on Saturday morning Ginger, McKenna, Sharon, & Sheila came over to visit. I thought I caught a smile on camera...but it was more like the end of the smile than the full thing.

Brody was telling everyone about the train he saw in Colorado, so Sharon & Sheila suggested that we take him to the Whistle Stop. There's a passenger train that comes thru town and next to the train stop is a kids park.

Daddy Steve and Brody playing in one of the train cars. The floor was actually a big sandbox.

After playing on the kids trains, Brody wanted to go see the "real deal"! Can you find Brody in this picture? It really puts the size of the train in perspective (either that or it shows how little Brody is)!

There were some old train cars that you can explore. Here's Brody inside the engine car.
I love this picture that Daddy Steve took of Brody. It was time to leave the train yard to go get lunch. Brody didn't want to leave.
After lunch Daddy Steve worked on Grandmommy's honey-do list, Brody napped, and Ginger and I went shopping (shoe shopping for Brody).

We had so much fun visiting family in Temple. I'm glad that we live close enough to get to see them more often now!

HE PASSED!!!!!

Mike has been studying for his project management certification for about a month and a half now. Today was the big exam day. He had to be at a testing center in Dallas at 8 am for the 3 hour exam. He just called me a few minutes ago to tell me that he is officially a CAPM (certified associate in project management)!!!! I'm so proud of him!