Neighborhood Fun

The outdoors.  Believe it or not, we still get outside in this September 90 degree heat.  But my oh my does it cool off in the evening.  Sometimes I have to run back in and grab a sweater.  After dinner, just when the weather is so perfect, the outdoors calls our name.  And if I'm not quick enough scooping the kids out the door, Brenner throws a fit.  And then as soon as I open the garage door, find a perfect patch of grass, and put a plastic shovel in his tiny grip, he's happy as can be.  It used to be chalktime with me and the kids.  And then our neighbor, Sarah, would join us.  And, before we knew it we had all sorts of neighborhood kids over creating chalk masterpieces up and down our driveway.  Daily chalktime turned into volleyball, then into kickball, or even a fun game of red light green light.

 And what does Brenner like to do outside?  He likes to crawl after the ball or play in the dirt with his shovel and explore.

 And here he is waving at all the kids that are running down the street.

My favorite part is when we come outside and we see all the kids at the "big tree" running around, climbing, chasing, just having a grand 'ole time.  Then upon seeing us, they rush over to invite Emmy to join in their fun and games.  And then our yard is soon filled with kids playing offense and defense.  It's been a great time.  Emmy and Brenner really enjoy seeing all the kids.  Emmy is one of the younger ones in the group.  And sometimes, just to get a little extra attention, she folds her arms across her chest, bows her head down, stomps off, and pouts.  When she does this, I tell the other kids to ignore her when she has a bad attitude.  Emmy knows that her friends don't like when she pouts.  Mom, I hope when you're reading this, you're not thinking, "Oh, that sounds a LOT like Megan."  No way would I have ever acted like that, right?  Of course not.

The big tree.  This is the common area where all the kids meet afterschool and after dinner for building forts with the chairs, playing tag, seeing how high they can climb the tree, flag football, and the list goes on.  Sometimes you'll see a cute dog playing there that looks just like our Avery.  Oh we miss her.  Our miniature schnauzer is with our old neighbors in Virginia Beach.  She's very loved and happy as can be.  I don't think I ever posted about it, but long story short, after Brenner came along, Avery went to our neighbors.  It started out as them keeping our dog for us while we got settled with life with 2 kids, then it turned into them falling in love with her, and the rest is history.  It was a smooth transition, but we will always miss her.  And for another little story, last night Emmy and I were talking about people we know that have pets.  And she mentioned, "Mimi and Trinket.  Tony and Avery."  Yes, Tony and Avery.  It made my heart ache a little bit.  Wade and I got Avery a few months after we were married.  It brings back a lot of memories.  I didn't know this was going to turn into a post about Avery, but that's what happens when you're blabbering.  Here's Emmy bringing the attention back to the big tree.

Lately, Brenner has become the impossible.  Impossible at getting his picture taken.  As you can see, I rarely get a picture of the front of his face.  As soon as I get in front of him and push the button to capture that white baby-toothed smile, he has already turned himself to face another direction.  That is why mommy will be saving up for a better camera.  We need speed!  I guess it just makes the good ones, extra good.

My Morning Greeting

I finally got it.  My morning greeting from a handsome little guy in his crib.  Standing.  Emmy woke me up this morning and said, "Mom, come!  Brenner's standing in his crib!  He's standing!"  I immediately grabbed my camera, ran to his room, and snapped a picture. 

 Good morning, my love

Flexing the Big Guns

Just as we got home from the doctor's visit, Brenner decided he had something to prove.  A matter of fact, it was right after I made the last post about his appointment.  He crawled like crazy to Emmy's room, grabbed onto her rocking chair, and pulled up!  He knew he could do it all along, but when the doctor made that comment about his "tone," and then his mommy decided to tell you about it, Brenner knew he had something to prove!  He didn't do it once or twice; he did it all day long.

Brenner's One Year Stats

Brenner had his one year well baby check-up today.  I scheduled it around Emmy's preschool, so she wouldn't have to suffer in the small confines of the doctor's office.  So, it was just Brenner and me.  He's been a little under the weather with a runny nose and a fussy little attitude.  But we went forward with the dreaded shots.  And oh, he was not happy about it.  I promise Brenner, it was breaking mommy's heart more than it was breaking yours.

His physical went great.  He's well and healthy.  He's not walking yet and he's only successfully pulled up twice and that was a couple weeks ago.  Nothing to be concerned about, but the doctor said he didn't have "tone" the way other babies his age have.  Brenner obviously wasn't flexing for him.  =)  So to improve this, we're going to have lots of "pulling-up on things" playtime.  And he'll have extra practice walking while holding onto my hands.  Which he already does really great with.  He can take a few steps this way.  And the jumperoo is still a good and fun toy for this too.  Some day soon, he will be greeting me with a HUGE smile and giggle in the morning while standing in his crib.  I can't wait for that. 

My other concern was sleeping through the night.  Or I should say, NOT, sleeping through the night.  I think he's slept through the night 4 times since he was born.  Seriously.  And it's not something that I can be upset at him for.  He's gotten into the routine of waking up a few times a night to be fed and I never stopped this.  I knew it would get him right back to sleep, no problem.  So I did it.  He's currently waking up 1-2 times a night.  Sometimes he cries through it and falls back to sleep.  And sometimes I go in, feed him for a few minutes, and lay him back down.  Works like a charm.  The only problems are #1 we're not getting much sleep #2 he's not learning to console himself.  My new plan involves not picking him up.  Yeah, we'll see how I do with that.

Who made this big mess?

He's a growing little guy.  I thought he was going to be tall, stalky, and just a ginormous baby for his age.  But, he's average.  Even a smidge below average.  He's 21 lb. 11 oz. and 29 inches tall.  So, he's not mister big baby on campus.  But he is too cute for words.   

Oh Mr. Brenner

A Year of Memories

To my Brenner boy,
How is it you are already one?  I remember the day you were born and how surprised, happy and excited Daddy and I were to meet you 3 weeks early.  The second I saw your little face, my heart doubled in size.  I remember seeing your light blonde hair and thinking how unexpected that was.  I thought you would have tons of dark hair like your sister.  It's funny thinking back at how you were the unnamed baby in the nursery for the first 2 days of your life.  It took us awhile to settle on Brenner Jameson.  But I am just in love with your name.  A strong name for a strong little guy.    

Emmy, right away, was a wonderful big sister to you.  She was very excited to meet you.  And, oh, she was so good to you.  She gave you your pacifier when you were upset.  She found you a blanket if you were cold.  She sat next to you and "shushed" you when you cried.  She greeted each morning with a huge smile knowing that she now had a baby brother to oogle over.

You have grown and changed so much in your first year.  We are so blessed to have you in our lives.  You will continue to grow, change, and learn so much in your next year.  You are one, special little boy.  You're cute as can be.  You have the best belly laugh I've ever heard.  You make mealtimes messy.  You create tidal waves during bathtime.  You're still a snuggle bug.  I love how you crawl over to me and lay your head in my lap.  Then you'll look up at me, smile, and lay your head back down.  It melts my heart.

Your love for your sister is undeniable.  And you are full of surprises.  You never know what's coming around the corner with you.  I'm excited to see when you'll take your first steps.  I'm curious as to what your next word will be (besides mama and dada).  Oh and when will you regularly sleep though the night?

We have so much to look forward to!  Even though your first year has come and gone, and you may think that I can no longer call you my baby, the truth is that you will always be my sweet baby.  I love you Brenner.  Happy Birthday to our little one year old!

Happy First Birthday Brenner!

Ok, let me try and explain this interesting cake.  My mom gave me an idea for Brenner's cake.  How cute would a caterpillar be?  Yes, that's such a cute idea.  And I can get it made out of cupcakes, and they can ice it all together so it looks like a cake.  Perfect!  So I headed to the local grocery store and tried to explain my grand idea for a caterpillar cake.  I wanted bright colors for the caterpillar's body in primary colors, orange, yellow, red, blue, green, and purple.  I wanted grass on the bottom, and light blue on top with Happy 1st Birthday Brenner written in white.

And this is what I get.  A yellowish-orange, and burgundy, with a huge pile of icing in aqua blue on top.  ...not exactly what I had in mind.  But I suppose it could be much worse.  So, there you have it.  At the last minute, I thought of ordering bumblebee and ladybug cookies as well to go along with this bug-themed party.  And those turned out pretty cute.  Even though they were piled high with 4 inches of frosting.  Ha!  What's so funny about that is I specifically said when I ordered, "And I don't want very much frosting on those.  Just a little bit." Anywho, just like I told my mom, it doesn't look so bad in the picture. 

We sang him Happy Birthday.  Then he picked out his cupcake.  I placed it on his tray.  He picks it up with both hands and digs right in!  No testing the icing with a finger or two.  No uncertain looks or glances my way.  He knew exactly what to do.

Thank you Theresa, Sarah, Rebecca, Adam, Bethany, baby Charley, Dustin, Terah, John Franklin, and baby Anna for celebrating with us!  It was great fun!!