Family Trip to the Zoo

This past Monday, Wade was off work, and we decided to take the kids to the zoo. We met our good friends there. And little Evey and Emmy held hands almost the entire time. It was so cute! The funny thing is that Emmy could barely keep up with Evey. Evey was on the go! Places to go, more animals to see! Brenner hung out in the stroller most of the time. Soon enough Emmy will teach him all about animals. Her favorites were the lions and the elephants. I can't believe how many animals were not there. I was talking about seeing the monkeys all morning, and when we finished the park, I said, "Where are the monkeys? There have to have monkeys." Nope, no monkeys. We didn't see a lot of animals that I expected to see: hippos, bears, tigers (they were actually working on the tigers' exhibit). But it was still a wonderful time. There was a 4 month old giraffe, so that was neat to see. I'm glad we had such nice weather that day. Here are a few pictures of Emmy and Brenner's day at the zoo! P.S. I am having technical difficulties with my pictures. I hope to get this fixed soon. I have a few more posts I'm working on, but the pictures are not cooperating. For now, this is all I can do...

Brenner the Screeching Pterodactyl

He has found his voice and loves it! He does this new screeching sound that totally sounds like a dinosaur. (And yes, I know what a dinosaur sounds like...I've seen Jurassic Park)! I remember saying that exact same thing when Emmy was a baby. It's absolutely adorable and Wade just cracks up. I have to remind myself that Wade's never seen this stage. He deployed when Emmy was 5 weeks and came home when she was 8 months. So all of this is new to him. I love that he's here for this.

Brenner has also found both his hands and he holds them together like such a gentleman. He is really trying to sit up too! He's a strong little guy. I had him in his little bath seat that he lays on in the tub and I sat him up so I could wash his back. And he decided to clench his hands onto the front of the seat and hold himself up. I couldn't believe it! I had to unclench his hands to lay him back down. He's decided that he's 4 1/2 months now, and it's about time to be more independent and stop relying so much on his Mommy. Oh Brenner... You will always be my baby. Even when you're big like Emmy.

4 Month Check-Up

Our Brenner boy has grown! He wasn't more than 17 pounds like I thought he would be. But he's close! He weighed in at 16 lb. 13.5 ounces. He's 26 1/4 inches long! He's in the 87th percentile for height, and 81st percentile for weight. He likes to bat his toys. And he enjoys sitting in his Bumbo, as long as it's not for more than 5 minutes at a time. He LOVES playing peek-a-boo! He's discovered this game with Daddy. Brenner can't get enough of it. We'll put a blanket over our head and pull it down and say "Boo!" And he lets out the biggest belly laughs you've ever heard. He's become very good at self-soothing. Sometimes, when he's very fussy, he doesn't want to be held and snuggled. Instead he prefers to be put down and left alone. Even though, I'd just like to rock him. Other times, he prefers to be walked around. He still very much enjoys his swing. This is where he usually takes his long naps. He's not sitting yet, but he's getting there. I'll lay him on the floor, pull his arms forward towards me, until he's sitting up. He really enjoys sitting like a big boy. He'll even balance for a few seconds. And then I'll slowly lower his body back down. And then I'll pull him slowly up and back down, and it makes him giggle. We're also working on rolling. I'll lay him on his side, put his arms up and roll him over. His big sister is having lots of fun with him too. She knows that being silly makes him laugh. So she finds new ways everyday to make him smile. Brenner you're the greatest! Here are some recent photos of our future linebacker!

Big boy in his Bumbo!

He plays so hard, he puts himself right to sleep.


Brenner and Daddy


Big sis and lil bro














The 4 of Us: Christmas Day 2009

Brenner's 4 Months!

And what a big boy he is! Brenner has his 4 month check-up on January 4th, so we'll have to wait on his measurements... Happy 4 months little man!

Merry Christmas Emmy and Brenner!

This was our first Christmas spent away from family. While it could have been a sad one, we had so much to celebrate! It's Brenner's 1st Christmas, and Emmy is getting at that age where the magic of Christmas is alive! Well, not really. I had the presents sitting under the tree all week, and she never got curious, which I thought was pretty funny. She didn't really understand the concept of Santa, although she knew that he said, "Ho Ho Ho!" I didn't even take the kids to see Santa this year. Shopping with these 2 has been quite the task, and the long lines seemed never ending, so maybe next year!

We woke up Christmas morning, got a few goodies prepared, and headed over to the Harpers for a Christmas brunch. We had some great food including biscuits and gravy, ham, french toast, cookies, monkey bread, apple crisp, Bloody Marys and Mimosas mmmm... Thanks Harpers for such a wonderful time! What great friends we have to celebrate these wonderful holidays with!

Then we came home, opened up presents and spent the evening video chatting with our families. I'm glad you all got to see Emmy and Brenner via Skype. Well, Brenner fussed while skyping with my family, and he was fast asleep while with Wade's family, but you get the idea. He's our future linebacker. He likes to eat and still fusses quite a bit. But despite that, he really is a happy baby. He laughs and smiles like no other. I had him sleeping through the night for about a week, and then Wade got home. That seemed to mess up his schedule because now he wakes up almost 4 times a night! We'll get that little guy back on schedule soon I hope. He's been discovering toys lately. He likes to watch tv and look at the fun lights on toys. He can grasp things in his hand. He hasn't rolled over yet. And tummy time is not his favorite, so Mommy needs to work on that. We love that little man!




And Emmy is just a crack up. While video chatting with my family, she fed her new baby doll. She got to see the whole family. She hasn't seen Skylar or Austin for a year! Yet, she calls all 3 of my brothers "Skylar." And Wade's family got to video chat with Cinderella, Ariel, Princess Aurora, and Snow White! Emmy decided to play dress-up and wanted to show them all of her neat costumes. And then she'd ask Caitlyn and Colten, "What costume are YOU wearing?" (On a side note, yes, those are bruises on her face. Emmy is quite the klutz. She got those beauties from running into the door and into a glass table. She is very accident-prone. Wade has learned that "chasing" is not a game to be played indoors.)
Emmy got a Snow White doll from Santa.

She got ABC stacking blocks. This is her famous "Ta-Da" pose.

And it wouldn't be complete without her pony on top.

One more Ta-Da!

Emmy and her "Giggle, Giggle, Quack" book. Very excited about this!



I'm so glad we got to "see" you guys! Emmy and Brenner were officially spoiled this Christmas. Thanks to our families for all the fun gifts! We love you so much and we are looking forward to seeing each of you soon!

Christmas Eve

This Christmas Eve, we decided to get together with our great friends the Corbetts. Both of our families stayed in town, so we thought what better than to spend the day with each other. We spent the day at their house watching the girls run around and the sweet baby boys sleep, eat, and play. We are truly grateful to be in the same town as this wonderful family. Here are a few pictures of our fun day. Thanks for letting our family invade! It's always a fabulous time! Love you guys!

Derek, Drew, Wade, and Brenner


Kamryn and Emmy
Emmy got a fun pony with snap-on accessories and books from Kamryn.

Brenner got a shirt and a spinning toy from Drew.

Kamryn got Guess Who and a shirt from Emmy.

Drew got a couple shirts and teething keys from Brenner.

I got some Polka Dot Riesling, a cute scarf, and really cute earrings from Lindsay.

And the master barbecuer got some BBQ ingredients, and he can't wait to grill!

Lindsay got mixing and prep bowls from me.

And Derek got Gentleman's Jack from Wade.