A little catching up....

This post will consist of a couple of things since I have some catching up to do on this blog:)

First.....
Brantley and I love reading together and we try to do it at least once everyday. I am usually the one holding the book while we read, but recently I have starteed giving her some books that I know she won't destroy so that she can practice opening and closing the book and turning the pages. Though I know she loves our reading time together, I think she is most interested right now in how they taste and feel on her gums.

 Next.....
I LOVE when my mom comes to visit or we get to go to her house. We have so much fun together. This past weekend she came in town to go with Brantley and me to the local country fair. Eric stayed home to have new internet and cable installed. All in all, everyone in our house was excited on Saturday. I had looked forward to going to the fair with my mom and Brantley ever since I knew it was going to be taking place. We got up early on Saturday, packed all of our stuff, and headed out early to get a good parking spot. Well guess what? It rained!!! We sat in the car for a while and prayed for it to stop. It did.....for like 2 minutes. During the 2 minutes it stopped we were able to get out of the car and B into her stroller. We got about 20 yards away from the car and it started raining again. We toughed it out for about 10 minutes, but I started feeling like a bad mommy when it started to rain and I looked down only to see my child getting drenched, but with a smile on her face as she played in the water that was collecting in her stroller. She was loving it! We packed up and headed home. B took a 3 hour nap and then we headed back out to do what we do best....SHOP! We had the best time, the 3 of us girls:) Later that evening my mom and I were watching a decorating show on t.v. which gave us the best idea...let's redecorate and rearrange the den. So, we stayed up until 1am rearranging and redecorating the den. The best part was it didn't take any money. We just simply moved around things that we already had. I do have the itch to repaint a portion of my kitchen, so that is on the list of things to do in the next couple of weeks. I LOVE YOU MOM!

Finally.....
Brantley crawls everywhere now and is pretty stinkin fast at it too! She recently has started pulling up on EVERYTHING!!! We are constantly moving things out of her way that might harm her. She has also become quite the little helper. She loves standing at the dishwasher while I unload the dishes.

Until next time.....

Let me give you a tour of my house:)

This post is dedicated to my most wonderful friend, Christy, whom I can always count on to be one of the first people to read our family blog and remind me when it needs to be updated. I love you friend!

Hello friends and family! I would like to give you a little tour of my house today. I hope you enjoy! ~Brantley

Hello! Welcome to my house. My name is Brantley and I will be your tour guide today.

This is the dishwasher. This is where Mommy washes all of my bottles.

Here you will find the oven. Mommy bakes lots of yummy things in this.

Next, is the guest bathroom. Uhm...I love the way this rug feels.

"Daddy, this rug is awesome."

Now we will move into my Daddy's office. These are the new air filters that he is going to change out.

 "Daddy, what do these things do exactly?"

This is my Daddy's closet in his office.

And this is his file cabinet. Now, if I could just get this thing open.....

Next we will move to my Daddy's office chair. Don't worry Daddy, I will tighten up this wheel for you.

Now, we move out into the hallway...Hey..what are those? 

Oh nevermind...that just looks like too much work.

Over there you will find the laundry room where Mommy washes everyone's clothes.

This is called the pantry. Mommy and Daddy put all of my yummy snacks in here. ( yawn....I am starting to get a little sleepy.)

And that my friends concludes today's portion of the tour. Join me later as I show you around the rest of the house.

Brantley has started crawling

Well something momentous occurred a couple of days ago. Our child has started to crawl. On her 8 month birthday we saw what appeared to be two or three steps of crawling. This is just another reminder that our little girl is growing up and growing up fast. We were so excited about this major event in her life that Megan and I screamed with joy; this, of course, resulted in Brantley crying. Well we visited Megan's Mom's new house this weekend and I got to video her crawling. I feel as if she is progressing quite well and I am a proud father! I hope that all of you enjoy!!

I love you, B!

March 31, 2010

My Sweet B,
    Well, another month has gone by and you have reached the 8 month mark.  I knew that time went by fast, but since having you I feel like in the blink of an eye another month has past. Last night your Daddy and I were talking about you being a year old in 4 short months and I quickly felt my eyes fill up with tears and my bottom lip begin to quiver. That conversation quickly came to a close.
Brantley, you truly are my blessing straight from heaven!  I cannot imagine my life without you. The laughter that you fill this house with, the babbling that you love to do, and the sweet cries that let me know you need me, are some of the greatest sounds to my ear. When I look back through pictures of the past 8 months it is amazing how much you have grown and things you have accomplished.
I love watching you sit on the floor and play. I love watching you roll around everywhere. I love waiting in anticipation each day as you prop yourself up on all fours and try so hard to figure out the concept of crawling. I love going on walks with you and talking about God’s beautiful creation as you listen to me so intently. I love going shopping with you and watching you get so excited about sitting in the front of the shopping cart. I LOVE listening to you laugh with your Daddy each night. I love giving you baths and watching you splash in the water. I love dressing you each day and admiring how adorable you look. I love getting ready for church each Sunday and waiting to see what your Daddy dresses you in. I love riding in the car with you and watching you gaze out the window at all of the things that pass by. I love holding you and feeding you your bottle. I love it when you smile! I love kissing you on your sweet cheeks. I love getting you up in the morning and watching you get so excited about another day. I love watching you sleep with your bottom straight up in the air. I simply love you my sweet child.
Above all of this, I love praying for you. I love praying for your relationship with the Lord to develop at an early age. I love praying for the gifts and talents that the Lord has given you and that you would use them to honor and glorify Him in all that you do. I love praying that you would grow into a woman whose love for the Lord radiates in your life. I pray that your Daddy and I would seek the Lord in every step of raising you and that we would make Him proud in our decisions. Though I will always be your Mommmy, I do pray that one day, when you are my age, that you and I would share in a sweet and wonderful friendship like the one that I share with my mom. 
My heart spills over with love for you and not a day passes by that I do not thank my Heavenly Father for choosing your Daddy and I to be your parents and for you to be our child.
                            I love you!
                                Mommy

Below are some pictures we took today before going on our morning walk. Enjoy!

TOP THIS!!

This past Thursday, March 18th, I celebrated my 27th birthday! The day was filled with sweet cards, phone calls, texts, messages from amazing friends, and the sweet day with my Brantley Boo! This day was also filled with some other surprises as well.....I woke  up Thursday morning to my sweet hubby telling me bye and singing "Happy Birthday" to me as he headed off to work. I got out of bed, headed to the bathroom (as I am sure is everyone's first stop in the morning) and on my way saw a sweet sign on the mirror from my husband wishing me a Happy Birthday along with some Monopoly money. I thought to myself, "Aww..he is so sweet. I sure do wish that money was real." I then headed to the kitchen to make Brantley's bottle before getting her out of bed and what should I see on the kitchen counter waiting for me????? A CHICK-FIL-A BISCUIT!!!! My husband had gotten up extra early to go get me my favorite breakfast biscuit! I then noticed three cards sitting on the kitchen counter. So, as I gave B her bottle I read each of them. The first was a card from Sadie, then a sweet card from my daughter with her hand outline, and then finally a card from my sweet husband. Inside this card he had written me a poem. Now, I am not going to share the poem, but it basically told me that my mom was coming to watch Brantley for the weekend (which I had been told earlier that she was coming to spend the weekend with me!) and he and I were headed to Charlotte to go shopping (hence, the monoply money that would be converted into real money that I could spend), eating, and whatever else I wanted to do! I was thrilled!! Now, this was the first time that I was leaving Brantley over night, so of course there was a slight sadness that lasted oh... about a minute....and then I realized that she would be with my mom and I was filled with excitement!!!!!!! A whole day and a half to spend with my awesome husband!!!!

We left early Friday morning and headed straight to Concord Mills. Now, this man went in every single store that I wanted to go in, helped me pick out clothes, gave me his opinion on how they looked and even encouraged me to get other things.......AWESOME!!! We then got to eat where I wanted to eat!!!! He also made reservations at the incredible Renaissance hotel with a king bed and got us free breakfast there!!! We were walking distance from Southpark mall which is home to the marvelous Cheesecake Factory. So, after strolling around Southpark we made our way to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner.
And if that wasn't enough, we then got up on Saturday and he said, "okay, so what would you like to do today?" we did a little more shopping and enjoying the beautiful weather before heading home.

Now....can we say....INCREDIBLE!!!! There isn't a day that goes by that I am not reminded of how blessed I am to have Eric has my husband, but this my friends, was just pure goodness! On the way home today I couldn't stop telling him thank you! Yes, the shopping was great, the food was wonderful, and I have to admit that not having to worry about feeding and nap times was an added bonus, but the time that I got to spend with my best friend was priceless!

Thank you Eric! I love you to the moon and back!

Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall

Brantley has discovered that she loves sitting in front of the mirror and looking at herself or one of us sitting behind her.

On Sunday we had Parent/Child Dedication at church. Here are a few pictures of the day:

Brantley is getting ready to eat some lunch before taking a nice long nap.

"Daddy, why are you taking so many pictures of me eating?"

B and I ready to go!

Hello World! I am 7 Months old!

Hello! I am 7 months old!

 

My Daddy and Mommy say that I am growing up way too fast. 

I want to share with you some of the things that I have been up to in the last month.

 

I like sitting in my high chair at the table and eating yummy solid foods.

Can you see my cute littly toothie?

 

I love sitting on the floor to play.

Our family loves to go for walks around the neighborhood and I love being able to watch where we are going.

I enjoy drinking water from my sippy cup during the day. 

I sometimes like to hold my bottle myself.

 

I love my new big girl car seat!

 

I like to stand at the coffee table with my Daddy right behind.

I love to splash in my new duckie bath tub. ( Mommy forgot to take a picture of me in it this morning during bathtime.)

Mommy and I love to go shopping together and I really like sitting in the shopping cart.

My Daddy and Mommy say that I am growing up too fast. I have no idea what they are talking about.

Love,

B