first of all let me just say that this visit to the Children’s Museum reminded me of the first time we took Grayden to a children’s museum in Florida almost exactly a year ago. My how much has changed!
This museum was great, he’s at such a fun age to do these things with! He knows where he wants to go and what he wants to do!











 
a spot for Gray to see the fish

and a spot for mom to see the fish :)








at the hair salon with mom :)


i always had a crush on Ken ;) he’s not quite as cute 20 years later!
sadly, we didn’t spend much time in the Barbie exhibit!

the train exhibit was a huge hit!

After we left the museum we dropped my mom and dad off at the airport for their flight to California for another convention and then we hit the road for home!
It was a nice little getaway!

We just got home last night from a business trip to Indianapolis for Robb, my Dad and brother-in-law Kyle. Us wives and the kiddos (me, my Mom, Mindy, Grayden and Makenna) tagged along.
The drive down there went fine, Grayden only slept for 30 minutes but he did great! The most exciting part of the 4.5 hour drive was that we drove past a Panera Bread with a drive-thru!!  Can I just tell you that I have been wanting a drive-thru at our Panera here FOREVER! I’m so jealous.
Starting Monday morning the guys went to their classes and meetings

and the girls and Gray spent lots of time bonding in the hotel room and we did a lot of shopping!

our hotel

grayden and cousin makenna, look at that smile!

enjoying breakfast at Panera!


watching Boz on the DVD player (thank you Jippings:)

loved spending so much time with my niece, she just turned 1 month old on the 8th, getting so big!

Robb took Grayden swimming in the hotel pool Tuesday night, at first he had a pretty tight grip around Daddy’s neck but he loosened up after a bit!



The guys finished up their meetings early Wednesday afternoon but we couldn’t head for home until we took a trip to the Children’s Museum!
That deserves a post all its own! Coming soon!

out little man is quite the eater. i thought it would be a good idea for the sake of my memory to document what he eats in a days time!
For breakfast at 8:30 he had a waffle, a little orange and 2 slices of turkey bacon and milk

but he was still hungry

at 10:30 he had some pretzels

but he was still hungry

at 12:00 he had lunch, a hot dog, some kidney beans and carrots and dip with water to drink

but he was still hungry

after he his nap he had another snack, some yogurt

but he was still hungry

we went to church for dinner and Grayden had meatloaf, mashed potatoes and corn!

but he was still hungry

he went to grandma and grandpas house after dinner so we could go to class and he had string cheese and crackers there!

but he was still hungry

he had milk before bedtime!

What a little piggie!

I’d love any ideas anyone has on what to feed our little bottomless pit! I don’t think he ever gets full :)

We donated this book to our church library in memory of our precious firstborn. It’s the sweetest book, I love the way it describes Heaven in a way a child could understand.


I want to thank you all for your sweet comments and emails, you have no idea how much it means to me to know he is remembered and loved by so many.
We had a nice day remembering him, missing him and celebrating his short but meaningful life.
We headed to the cemetery after Robb got home from work and released 3 balloons. We then headed out to dinner and enjoyed the rest of our night as a family.




We felt your prayers, thank you!
“For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. 
The sound of weeping or crying will be heard in it no more.
Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days”
Isaiah 65: 17, 19-20

Today we celebrated Brenham’s 3rd birthday in Heaven.
I’ve thought about him all day today.
I’ve had reminders of him everywhere.
When I took a wrong turn on the road today I turned around in a funeral home driveway. It reminded me of when we went to the funeral home to plan Brenham’s memorial service and burial. I remember talking to the funeral director and picking out flowers. I thought about when we walked into another room and saw the itty bitty caskets displayed for us to choose between. I remember thinking how unfair it was to be picking out his final resting place on a day we had planned to register for baby gifts and pick out bouncy seats and pack and plays, places for him to rest, temporarily.
When we went to buy balloons to release at the cemetery tonight I saw a little plaque that said “Those we hold in our arms for a little while we hold in our hearts forever” and I was reminded of those precious moments we spent holding Brenham in the hospital room knowing he was gone but needing something for my empty arms to hold on to.
I met a hearse on the road on our way home from town and I was reminded of his burial service. We rode from the church to the cemetery in the back of the funeral director’s car with Brenham’s little casket sitting in the middle of us. Robb and I each placed a shovel full of dirt in the hole after his casket was lowered into the ground. I can still hear the sound it made as the dirt hit the casket. It was the middle of Winter but I don’t remember feeling cold, in fact I didn’t feel anything. Totally numb.
I had to call my OB’s office today to inquire about switching birth control pills and I was reminded of when I dialed that same phone number with hands shaking from pain in my boss’ office at work 3 years ago today. I was in the worst pain of my life and the contractions were so strong I could barely breathe let alone talk. I remember my doctor telling me to come right up to labor and delivery and that’s when I knew things were bad.
Today we celebrate those reminders of him and thank God for the promise of eternal life with Him in Heaven, where we’ll all be together again some day!
Happy Birthday Baby.
I’ll see you on the other side

~yesterday it was pajama day at a play group we go to and i let grayden wear his Mickey Mouse pjs because he loves Mickey so much and i love him so much! I was NEVER going to be that mom that dresses their child in character clad clothes…just not my style (especially in public)…my how things change!!

~i woke up to a big thud this morning, grayden climbed {not so gracefully} out of his crib and landed with a BANG! My heart skipped a beat and I jumped out of bed and ran to his room to find him laying on the floor, so scary! there were a few tears (from both of us) but within seconds Gray was asking for crackers already! While he had breakfast I spent some time online looking for big boy bedding!

~Robb made a new years resolution to read more this year and I've kind of adapted it for my own. 3 books down already (I normally only read on vacation so 3 books by February is huge for me!) I HIGHLY recommend “The Hole in Our Gospel” and “Same Kind of Different as Me” read that one in 3 days (another large accomplishment for me!)

~the other day I discovered just where to plug our vacuum into the wall so that I can vacuum the whole main floor with out moving it! Bonus! I’ll definitely miss that when we move some day.

~ I bought milk last week that expires on 2/29…there is no 2/29 this year…i know.

~speaking of Brenham’s birth date lately I keep having dreams (3 to be exact and they are more like nightmares) that I’m in a  hospital in pre-term labor again ( for the record I’m not pregnant in real life, in case anyone was dream-interpreting). I can only ever remember having 1 dream specifically with Brenham in it. And it was a long time ago. I wish I would have more of those and less of the other. They are horrible.

~Gray can now count to 20 and spell his name!

~I’m super looking forward to Spring, I can’t wait to be able to play outside…we are bored in here!

~We’ve been so fortunate that Grayden has stayed so healthy this Winter, it seems like there is so much going around these days and he hasn’t been sick at all! So thankful for a healthy babe!

That's all for today!

i love you like crazy gray-baby!

We took Grayden bowling for the first time a couple weekends ago as a part of our annual Church Bowling Night.

We had a lot of fun but I think we might wait another year or before we take him again :)

Love,

Grayden

how's that for random!

My sweet baby niece:

Makenna Sue

February 8, 2011

8:02 pm

8lbs 5oz. 20 inches

Congrats Kyle and Mindy

She is such a doll!

{first time auntie!}

{first time uncle}

{kisses for baby cousin!}

I'm so excited to be an auntie, let the fun begin!

We had so much snow dumped on us last week!

Pictures don’t even do justice to how much snow there was!

Grayden loved playing outside…

the snow was fun for a day or so, i actually enjoyed being forced to stay home and cuddle up in the warm house but now I’m ready for Spring!!

Grayden received sessions to Kindermusik as a Christmas gift from G & G L. He had his first class on Monday. Robb had the day off work so we could all go together, Grayden loved it, just like we know he would!

Grayden’s love for music and his killer dance moves are something he definitely inherited from his birth parents. They both love music and are very talented in that department, we think its really special to see that develop in him and can’t wait to see where his love for music takes him!

The other day he took a toy hammer to his mouth and said “i sing, i sing”! So cute.