Saturday, February 27, 2010

What have we been up to since Daddy's been gone?


-lots of walks and playing at our neighborhood park. I actually got LOST the other day in our neighborhood. I thought I could just find my way back home but I'm slightly directionally challenged and there are a lot of homes in our neighborhood (more than 1,100). Haha.

-I went to a MOPS night out at The Met while Brennan went to their child care. It was a pajama party theme and I was thankful it was scheduled the same time Jon was gone. I soooo appreciate MOPS!

-Yesterday, our friends Tammy and Phil, offered to watch B so I could get some alone time. I went and saw "When in Rome" (first time I saw a movie by myself and I loved it!). The movie was cheesy but so funny and cute- I thought it was great!

-Afterwards we met friends at EJ's pizza. B didn't do so hot so I gulped down my salad and left after only an hour. We went to a friend's house for cake afterwards and he was much happier- I think he doesn't appreciate being strapped into a high chair sometimes.

-Today I'm going to attempt something crafty with my glue gun. Stay tuned. This could be funny.

Annnd Jon flies in tonight (woo hoo)!

Friday, February 26, 2010

What happens when Daddy gives the baths (which is most of the time):





(behold the magic carpet tub mat, we had just bought it and apparently it wasn't sticking to the tub!)

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Brennan's 1st Birthday!


Out to celebrate for B's first birthday! He wasn't a fan of the cupcake.


Talking on his new cell phone from Uncle John and Aunt Kym. It was such a great gift because he just started this week taking cell phones, putting them up to his ear and talking. SO cute! And they even recorded their voices so he could hear them say "Happy Birthday". Kym, you are the BEST toy giver! He adores Scout, too!!

Jon was supposed to be in Vegas for Brennan's birthday for a video shoot, but his boss was gracious enough to switch his flights to Thursday morning instead. It would have sucked for me if he was gone on B's first birthday- even though logically I knew we were celebrating it next weekend- STILL. He took a half day off and we just hung out, went out to eat, had cupcakes and pazookies and went to Babies R Us, haha. I'm just so glad Jon was there!! This next week, the Ackermans and Zuberts come to visit and we'll have his party on Saturday. I cannot WAIT!


It's hard to believe he went from this:

To this:
Some fun things about Brennan at 12 months:
-His favorite things are wheels and lights. He pushes strollers around for hours, and just loves playing with their wheels. And he notices every single light. When we took the ceiling fan off at the apartment, he noticed right away. He always wants to turn the light switches off and on so he can watch the lights go off and on.
-He walks like a pro. Everyone told me my life would change when he started walking, but it really hasn't. He got into everything when he was crawling, so walking is no different! He likes to clap when he walks, kind of like, "go me, I can WALK"!
-He was only sick twice his first year- and both times was ear infections.
-His favorite food is bananas. I'm pretty sure he'd eat a whole bunch if we let him.
-He has slept consistently through the night since 6 months old. This is a gift I shall never take for granted :)
-Right now he takes two naps- one in the morning and one in the afternoon. I'm curious as to when he'll drop that morning nap.
-We love him to pieces and ADORE watching him grow up. We love you little man! Happy Birthday!

Monday, February 22, 2010

I just got back from the zoo- it was a great day!! We went with some other staff wives from the Met. It was chilly at first, but we bundled up and of course, as we were about to leave, the sun came out and warmed us all up. Brennan did GREAT (thank you Jesus!). I have flashbacks of our life six months ago and sometimes break into a sweat when I take him on all day trips with no naps! We threw our friend, Jennifer, a surprise birthday party for her one year old, Noah. So fun!! Noah and Brennan were born one day apart, but really, it was a matter of hours because Noah was born around 5:00PM and Brennan around 1:00AM! It was fun to watch the two boys interact!

Our weekend was pretty low key which we needed. I spent Saturday morning at our apartment- cleaning it from top to bottom while Jon watched Brennan. Luckily I had a sonic diet coke with cherry flavoring to get me through. :) whew. We had our friends, the Schurrmann's over for dinner- our first guests at our new house! We love the Schurrmanns! Without Cathi, I'd probably know like two people in Houston. Sunday we went to church, grocery shopped, organized more of the house and went for a family run. I swallowed a gnat during the run and it totally reminded me of Camp Barakel and the crazy gnats there.

One more thing- one of my good friends in Houston just started blogging- check it out here. Her and I have really clicked and I'm thankful for her! She has a consulting company- consulting for girls ministry programs. Anywhere from tweens to college- and her heart for her ministry is completely evident. Anyways, she's been a blessing to me- and thankfully, our new house is across the highway from hers- how cool is that? And she unpacked my kitchen for me which is even better, ha!

Ok, it's 6:00 and I'm starving for dinner. Too bad I still have to make it. Adios!

Saturday, February 20, 2010

I like to move it, move it. . .

Holy cow, it's almost been a week since I last blogged. We've been packing and moving and unpacking and cleaning and organizing and taking care of our sick baby boy. B had a double ear infection and an upper respiratory infection and went on an antibiotic. . . but he was still tugging on one of his ears and was super duper whiney, so I took him in to the dr's this Wednesday. Turns out he still had an ear infection. It was a rough week because I was trying to unpack and such and couldn't really do much of anything because he was pretty unhappy. I can tell he's starting to feel better though, today he was pretty good!

Tomorrow is church and the park and Monday I'm taking B to the Houston Zoo with some friends. And now, now I'm going to turn off this computer and watch some Winter Olympics with my hubs. Y'all come back now, ya here? I'll blog sooner next time. . . promise.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Moving

So we've been busy packing and moving- sorry I haven't posted much lately! I was really overwhelmed yesterday with the idea of packing the entire kitchen (and most of the rest of the apt), but thankfully, it went pretty darn quickly and smoothly. Jon and I were both kind of shocked how quickly everything came together- it helps that a lot of our "house" stuff was still in the garage packed in boxes. A sweet lady from the Met is letting us borrow her trailer and it's been awesome. We got our keys to the house yesterday and Jon unloaded the trailer while I had B in the backpack and was telling Jon where to put the boxes :) Right now it's gorgeous and sunny out and Jon's about to take our 2nd load to the house. Tomorrow some guys come to help us get the heavy furniture and I think we'll spend our first night at the house. Don't worry, I'll post photos soon!

I wanted to put this video on our blog- I saw it on a favorite blog of mine a week or so ago and loved it. Trinity did this a few years back and I always think it's moving. Check it out. . .



Wednesday, February 10, 2010

He walks like an old man. . .



Well, a week and a half ago Brennan could barely take one or two steps. Now he's cruising all over the place. He really is a toddler- toddling everywhere and it is adorable! We keep trying to catch it on camera- unsuccesfully- here's a short video though!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Last Meal

Well, the B Man has had a cough for at least two weeks, but hasn't been whining or had a fever. I decided to take him into the dr's because his cold was waking him up from a dead sleep (he'd fall back asleep just fine, but it was hard to hear him coughing like that) and he wasn't eating much which is NOT our child. Turns out he has a double ear infection and an upper respiratory infection. The Dr. was impressed we waiting so long to come in! And she was shocked at how strong he is. Yes Dr. person, he is ALL boy. :)


B eating his banana (Jon trying out his rented camera for a side gig)
The only thing he's eaten this week besides formula is bread and bananas. Poor guy.



Jon and I were talking the other night about what our last meal would be. There were no rules- it could be from a restaurant, homemade food, whatever drinks you wanted, etc. I would love to hear everyone's last meal choices!! Here is mine:
Drinks: Water, Blue Heron Wine
Appetizer (oh yes, I thought this through): Fried zucchini strips from Maggiano's (oh how I love that restaurant)
Entree: Mac n Cheese from Troppo
Side Salad with sherry vinagerette dressing from Newk's
Dessert: Homemade cookie monster or chocolate chip pizookie from BJ's

Well, it's approximately one week until we move and we have yet to pack one box. Slackers.

Friday, February 5, 2010

So Long Insecurity and Cake Pops


I am joining the online discussion group for Beth Moore's new book "So Long Insecurity". Anyone interested in joining it with me?? Click here if you're interested and to get more information. It doesn't start until February 11th so you have a week to get the book. I just ordered mine online and I'm crossing my fingers it arrives in time! It's basically two chapters per week with a few discussion questions from her blog. You can read the first chapter of the book here to see if you're interested. I'm also doing another one of her studies at TheMet every Wednesday morning but that particular study doesn't have any homework so I know I can handle another one at the same time. If you've never joined one- now is the time- I'm telling you, I get SO so so much out of her studies.

Ok, in other news, I attempted to make cake balls (also called cake pops) from one of my FAVORITE baking sites, Bakerella. I love bakery's and baked goods and pretty glammed out baked creations, and I wish with all my heart I could do that myself. But let me tell you- baking is not my God given gift. Lord knows that's a fact. I think I'll stick with cooking.
Please compare- Bakerella's cake balls:



My cake pops:
I actually tried to make them on Wednesday night but I burned/scorched the white chocolate (used for dipping), SO, I tried again last night. And I just could not dip the pops into the white chocolate without it being disastrous. THEN I couldn't get them to stay on the stick. I should have taken a photo of the process, it was pretty funny. I tried these out because I was going to make them for B's birthday party but maybe we'll stick with peanut m&m's as favors. . .

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Bootylicious



I turned on some music today and Brennan stood up and started clapping and no joke, booty shaking dancing. It was hilarious! Of course, I ran and grabbed my camera but by that time he was done with the dancing. So here's some footage right after that I caught.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

The Little Things


I'm sorry- I just don't have much to blog about lately. We've just been living life- not much new or earth shaking!!

I was able to go out with some girlfriends TWICE last week so that was refreshing for me. I met some friends at BJ's one night. The next night I met some girls from MOPS at Panera and then we saw the movie, Leap Year. It was adorable. Really, I thought it would be ridiculous and dumb (kind of like Maid of Honor), but it was cute! I'm thankful for the friends we have made here in Texas, truly.

We had a low key weekend and now it's already Tuesday! I've been cooking up a bunch of new recipes lately- we've had tostados, beef brisket and homemade pizza (homemade dough too).

Brennan has been up to lots lately. I swear, he is the most curious little thing. I take him into the bathroom while I blow dry my hair and he tears into the cupboards, or toilet paper, or tries to eat the toilet bowl. He's been standing up a lot on his own and has taken one or two steps here or there- so that's exciting. He wiggles out of my arms whenever we come inside and wants to climb the stairs when we get home.

See? Not much new. But such is life- right? It's made up of the every day little things. And that's what I keep reminding myself of.