2 years

these tiny footprints have made an imprint on this world & on the hearts of many. you are very loved and dearly missed baby boy. happy 2nd birthday Brenham!

February 29, 2008; 5:15PM - 5:18PM

I collect....

Hand Sanitizer.

Not really on purpose but I was trying to think of something I collect so I could participate in Kelly's Korner, Show us your life post and all I could come up with was hand sanitizer, lol.


This "collection" started about a year and a half ago after I was told by my doctors how prone I am to sicknesses after the transplant and they advised to wash my hands often...I guess I take that to the extreme!

I have some in almost every room in the house....take a look:

cute little ones in the bathroom

diaper bag

gray's room

living room end table

kitchen

and some back stock in the bathroom cabinet

ok, you can go ahead and tease me now :)

"Hello, Poison Control Center, this is Helen"

that's what I heard on the other end of the phone last tuesday morning!

I had just gotten Grayden ready for the day, diaper changed, new outfit on, hair combed and his rosy red cheeks Vaselined and then it was my turn to get ready. So I put gray in the living room to play so I could go get ready. A few minutes later I realized he was being very quiet in there so I went to check on him and this is what I found:



He had gotten into the Vaseline and was eating it by the handfuls! After staring at him for half a second I snapped these terrible blurry pictures like any true blogger would and began to clean him off. As I wiped down the tub of Vaseline I read the back label where it said "if swallowed seek medical attention and call poison control right away". YIKES!

To make a long story short I'll just tell you that he was fine, Helen was really nice and said its really not a big deal, there is just something in there that acts like a laxative. So we had a few messy diapers that day, a good reminder to me to watch this boy like a hawk and a good long talk about why we only play with toys and all was well! Thanks goodness!

Valentines Day

Since Valentines Day was the last day of our retreat we didn't do anything too exciting that day. Grayden made us some valentines with his grandparents and aunt lisa while we were away. They are so cute and was such a great surprise to come home too. We spent the evening cuddling and relaxing and celebrated more the next night with a nice dinner at home and a redbox movie!

Cran Hill Retreat

Robb and I took our youth group kids on a weekend retreat to Cran Hill Ranch last weekend. We had tons of fun playing with the middle schoolers are taking part in all the fun activities!

But the best part was the worship and speakers, they did a great job challenging us all to live the Christian life out loud so everyone will know our faith by the way we live! It was very cool to see the Spirit moving in the kids! It makes all the sleep-less nights, pillow fights, and scary stories worth it!

9 month old

Grayden, I can not believe you are 9 months old already. Time flies with you in our life!

You celebrated your birthday with a sleepover by grampie and grammie l's house while mommy and daddy were away with the youth group kids!

Here's what you've been up to this month:

You cut your first two teeth!

You eat 5 bottles a day and 3 meals; mostly purees with a few finger foods mixed in. You started to refuse all green veggies.

You wear 6-9 month clothes

You love to clap and play peek-a-boo

You recently started to do itsy bitsy spider...its so cute!

You are close to being able to stand independently but you get a little too excited and jump instead!

You are so tough, you take some pretty good spills and shake it right off. Such a big boy!

You are doing a great job sleeping most nights but occasionally need daddy to comfort you/ i don't think he minds though!

Physically you haven't done anything huge this past month compared to other months but mentally you are developing so fast...I love to watch you explore and figure out how your toys work. You are really smart and pick up on things we teach you really quickly. My favorite is to watch you turn pages of your books you take that task very seriously.

You love to push your scooter around and you are getting really fast!

You've had 4 haircuts so far...it grows so fast!

You surprised us by climbing stairs this month!

We love to watch your little personality develop.

You babble all the time lately but you aren't saying any words yet...hopefully "ma ma" in the near future!

You are the happiest baby, you hardly ever cry and are always smiling and giggling...you even laugh when mommy tells you 'no' no matter how serious I am.

We love you so much buddy, more than you will ever know.

Mommy and Daddy

watch this

this video was shown at the retreat we were at last weekend..its amazing

unplugged

I've been unplugged from the computer for the past few days (other than the times I use my parents computer), ours bit the dust and after a few stressful days wondering if my pictures would be recovered all is well and a new laptop is on its way!!


i have lots to post about when it arrives including; Grayden's 9 month post, our weekend retreat with the youth group, valentines day, and all about a Tuesday morning phone call i made!!


Hope to be back blogging again soon :)

filling in the blanks.

Early in my pregnancy I set out to find the perfect baby book where I could journal and document all the special moments in my pregnancy, upcoming birth and childhood of our firstborn. I went to every local book store and baby shop and searched tons of online sites and eventually found a cute gender neutral, polka dotted book and I got right to work on it. I couldn't wait to fill it out every blank.

For the next couple months I wrote about mommy and daddy and filled out a section about that years current events. I put ultrasound pictures on the page that said "Before you were born; first pictures of baby" and wrote down the names we were considering, the foods I was craving and the date that I first felt movement. I journaled about how we told our families and friends the news and about my different doctor's appointments. After Brenham was born I filled in his name, birth date, weight and length. The doctor that delivered him and the nurses that took care of him.

And that's where it stopped.

I couldn't fill in any more blanks. Nothing about the hospital visitors or gifts. Nothing about baby's pediatrician visits or vaccination schedules. No first bath or coming home pictures to tape in. There are lots of empty spaces.

After Grayden joined our family I bought a similar book and went to work filling in some of the pages in his baby book. The exact pages I hadn't been able to fill out in Brenham's book were the only ones I could fill out in Grayden's.

I feel really blessed because of that.

I am so thankful I was able to experience 21 weeks of pregnancy, morning sickness, cravings, labor pains and know what its like to give birth.

Likewise, I am so thankful to be able to mother and nurture a child outside of the womb, to cuddle and snuggle my little boy and tuck him in at night. To take him to his pediatrician appointments and teach him to walk and talk. To write about his first bath, first haircut and first tooth.

Both of my boys have been a dream come true and an answer to prayer in their own special ways!

"Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise....You give and take away. You give and take away. My heart will choose to say Lord, blessed be Your name"
~Blessed Be Your Name, Matt Redman

what a wonderful weekend

We had a really fun filled weekend!

Friday night we went to visit our friends Ryan and Rochelle and meet their new babies at the hospital. We had a great time with them and feel honored to have meet their miracle trio! I have a special place in my heart for tiny babies! They are beautiful! <3

Saturday I went to an all day scrap booking event. My friend Angie, her sister in law, and myself all cropped til we dropped and had a great time while we were at it! I worked on Grayden's book and finished 16 pages but that hardly made a dent! I only got through the end of his first month!




While I was gone the boys spent lots of quality time together and I came home to a spotlessly clean house, freshly washed bed sheets, a bathed baby and a homemade cake with cream cheese frosting :) The table was set and there was a roast thawing in the fridge for Sunday lunch after church! And I spotted a gift bag underneath his bedside table, which he admitted was my valentines day gift!! My heart was swelling...I could go on and on! I have the best husband ever!

Sunday we went to church, enjoyed that yummy roast, took a family nap and got ready for the Super Bowl party with our friends! The food and fellowship was great but I wouldn't be able to tell you much about the game! In fact, as we were pulling into the driveway at home I thought I should at least ask Robb who won the game! haha! So congrats Saints!

Hope all of you had a great weekend as well!

Jack vs Jake

In our house Monday nights are spent as a divided family.

One parent is vegged out in front of the tv in the bedroom and one parent is relaxing in front of the other tv in the living room. And the baby is being passed from one room to the other. And that's the way we like it. Just for that one night.

The reason?

its the whole Jack/Jake debate.

Robb goes for Jack Bauer and gets sucked into the intense drama of CTU and Jack's ability to escape death 47 times an episode and I go for Jake Pavelka and become captured in the intense real life drama of a lonely bachelor looking for love amongst the crazy bachelorettes.
You see, my blood pressure can't tolerate the chilling sound of the ticking clock as the hour goes by and Jack's life is in danger once again and likewise, Robb's manly hood can't stand the fairytale love stories that go on between one man and each of the 5 remaining bachelorettes.

Its ok, we understand each other like that.

Who steals your Monday nights? Jack or Jake?