Just Stand There

Marshall stood on his own today without hanging on to anything for balance.

Therapeutic Ducks

The past few days have been rough. All four of us have been sick for weeks and just can't seem to get over it - even with antibiotics. Marshall is on his third antibiotic for the same ear infection and the rest of us are battling sinus infections and general ickies. All of this boils down to no sleep, too much time stuck in the house, and lots of crabbiness.

On the verge of a mental breakdown, I got the kids ready this morning and headed out to the gym. Usually a good workout and a peaceful shower can clear up my mood. No luck today. This was a strong funk and the family was paying for it.

Late this afternoon, Brenna started talking about bicycles and on a whim I decided to dig out my bike and trailer. I bought a bike trailer to take Brenna biking with me almost two years ago and then found out I was pregnant, so it's been sitting in the garage collecting dust. Today was it's maiden voyage - and there couldn't have been a more perfect day for it!

I loaded both kids into the trailer not knowing what their reaction would be. They loved it! :) We took a quick ride to a nearby pond and watched the ducks. As I sat there on the sidewalk holding Marshall and watching Brenna talk to the ducks I knew this would be a memory I would treasure. A wonderful, calm, happiness came over me. Once again, the cherished moments always seem so simple and unplanned. We just need to take a deep breath and slow down.

Just a Minute, Sweetie

Lately when I've asked Brenna to do something, she responds in the sweetest little voice with "Just a minute, sweetie." it's all I can do to keep from cracking up.

A Year Ago Today

At this time exactly a year ago I was cuddling with my new baby boy in the hospital. I can't believe it has been a year already. This has been the fastest year of my life and time doesn't seem to be slowing down at all. It was a wonderful year, but part of me can't help but be sad that my babies are growing up so fast. I'm excited for the new phases to come and know that I will be forced to say goodbye to others. Every night at bedtime I hold and hug Brenna and Marshall because I know that there will be a day where they won't want me to... and I'm sure that day will come too soon.

In celebration of his birthday, Marshall began a new phase. He has always been a climber, but today I caught him scaling the stairs with Brenna. Both of them were giggling and crawling up the steps. By the time I realized it, he was already up to the landing. This boy has no fear. I'm afraid of the bumps and bruises we are going to see with him. Brenna was, and still is, so cautious. Marshall does not share that trait with his sister.

As much as I wish time would slow down, I do so enjoy watching Brenna and Marshall grow up together. You can tell already that they love each other. Marshall giggles so much with Brenna and Brenna tells me that he is her "favorite." They are starting to play together - when Brenna isn't yelling at him for touching her stuff. I'm sure both will continue for many years.

I can't imagine my life without both of my children. To be completely honest, this past year has been difficult with two small children, but I would not trade it for anything. Watching them together, hearing them giggle, seeing Brenna try to teach Marshall... it all makes the difficult times totally worth it.

A year ago...

Meeting Marshall

Kisses for her new brother

Cuddling with my baby boy

Today...

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!

Brenna decorating a cupcake

Such a happy guy!

Time Out for an Adventure

I have so much to get done today and the tension just kept building all morning as I was trying to complete tasks. At noon I finally gave up and decided that we all just needed to get out of the house. I loaded both kids into the stroller and walked up to Chick-fil-a for lunch. This probably doesn't sound like much of an adventure to most people, but with two unpredictable children anything can be an adventure. Both kids made it through the 20 minute walk without any major meltdowns. We ate in the restaurant - which was a first (we usually just drive through). Brenna was fascinated by the indoor play structure and willingly choked down a piece of chicken to get to go play. After that, we ran a couple quick errands at the shopping center then headed toward home. One last stop at the neighborhood park to wear off any energy that may be left, and now we are all in bed for a late nap time. :) I'm glad I took the time out. It didn't help with my to do list, but our impromptu adventure was much more fun for everyone than my cleaning rampage in the house this morning.

Love is in the Air

Nights like tonight make up for all of the rough days. Brenna's sweet, nurturing personality was in full-force. Hugs, kisses, "I love you"s, and love pats were in generous supply. Marshall joined in by giving Brenna tons and tons of kisses - stopping to clap between each (his new skill that he is very proud of). In all, a very happy night.

Tea for 3

We have officially entered tea party phase and Daddy is one of her favorite guests. Tonight, I put Marshall to bed and came out of his room to find Brenna and Stephen on their way to have a tea party before bath time. You gotta love a daddy who will sit and sip pretend tea from tiny blue cups. :)

Hey, what's taking so long in there?

The entire roll.

Brenna Calls Mia

Brenna's pretend cellphone conversations have become more complex lately. What used to just be "hi {giggle}, bye" has turned into calls with a purpose. At 2 1/2, she is now scheduling her own playdates.


These videos show a "conversation" between Brenna and her friend Mia. She wants to play with Mia after she takes her nap. The cell phone is not real - she's not really talking to anyone. 

It's a Joke

Brenna has learned a joke... sort of. It took me a couple days at first to figure out what she was trying to ask me. It all became clear when she informed me it was a joke.

Brenna: Why 6, 7?
Me: I don't know. Why?
Brenna: 6, 7, 8, 9. It's a joke! (hysterical laughing)

I think I like her version more than the usual "why is 6 afraid of 7?" :)

Yay! It's a school day!

Attention Everybody!

Brenna has taken to announcing our presence. I'm not sure where this came from. When we leave the house, she stands in the driveway while I put Marshall in the car and proclaims loudly, "Attention everybody! This is Marshall buddy and Mama!"

I'm waiting for the day when someone is walking by when she does this. :)

Mama's Little Helper

We've hit the phase where I can't work in the kitchen without Marshall "helping".

Fighting Naps

This is a picture of Marshall trying not to take a nap. He fell asleep sitting up with his head against the crib. I have a picture of brenna doing the same thing at about this age.

Found the picture of Brenna:

Playing with Food

This morning started with screaming, tantrums, and general crabbiness (not just the kids). I never would have guessed the memory we would make shortly thereafter. Once everyone had calmed down (and I had my cup of coffee), I took both kids up to the game room to play. I was hoping a change in location would equal a change in mood. Brenna went to her play kitchen and prepared a big bowl of wooden vegetables for our "lunch" then sat down next to me on the floor. Marshall crawled over by us and instead of Brenna flipping out over him touching her stuff, she gave him a spoon. I watched as together they mixed the bowl of veggies. No screaming. No pushing. Just calm playing. Then, without being prompted, Marshall scooped his spoon though the bowl, moved it to my mouth, and fed me a delicious bite of pretend lunch. :) The three of us sat there and fed each other one of the best lunches I can remember.

Foo Finishing

From the moment Brenna found her voice as an infant, she has always been a chatterbox. I remember having long, incoherent conversations with her as a toddler - her speech completely animated, but not containing a drop of English. Now at 2 1/2 years old, her grasp of the English language is impressive, but also contains a few unique Brenna words and phrases. My favorite of these is "foo finishing". This was a phrase that she began using in her early speech development and we continue to hear daily. Our best guess is that it translates to "not through finishing." Here's an example:

Me: Brenna, are you done eating?
Brenna: No. I foo finishing.

This term confuses most people as they think she is saying that she is done. She will correct them - "NO! I foo finishing!!!!"

Marshall is now starting to jabber. I'm excited for this phase and to see if he too will be so creative with his language.

Time flies by

It's been about a year and a half since I last posted a family update. Wow, time has flown by. In that time, Stephen has earned his pilot's license, Brenna has grown into a full-fledged 2-year-old, and we welcomed a new baby boy named Marshall into our family on Feb. 12, 2011. Life is crazier than ever.

Marshall will be 11 months old tomorrow and I'm not sure where all the time has gone. Watching him every day reminds me of this time with Brenna and I find myself remembering some of those baby days and wishing I would have recorded them. So... here I am back on the blog with the intent to keep better track of our family life and preserve as many memories as I can.

Wish me luck.

Almost flying

Well, as it turns out, a LOT of dust has to be blown off. I've been taking flight lessons all year, though my instructor only teaches on the weekend because of his day job, which is handy with my day job. It's been 9 months since I started, but only flying on the weekends and only then when we're in town doesn't leave much time.

I'm probably a month away from taking my checkride, but for those interested, I thought I'd post a little update on the last few flights I took. Here's a view of the following three flights courtesy of my handy-dandy GPS that I throw up on the dash when I'm flying to log everything.

Flight 1 (red): This was my long cross-country flight to KLFK (Lufkin, TX) on . At least the first half of it before my GPS battery died...

Flight 2 (turquoise): This was my flight from this past Saturday (January 1, 2011) where we practiced stalls, steep turns, and slow flight.

Flight 3 (blue): And finally this was my flight just yesterday (Sunday, January 2, 2011) where I put the eye-blockers on and flew completely on instruments. My instructor told me where to go, got me good and lost, took the foggles off and then said "ok, take me back home". I'm writing this post so you know what happened.

Click on the picture below for the details.

Mid-Summer Update

Where has the time gone?!?! Somehow I blinked and Brenna has gone from crawling to almost walking and is over a year old! Brenna's birthday was more of a birthday week. Grandma Judy flew in from Minnesota and Brenna finally got to meet her uncle Tom who flew in from Georgia for the occasion. Birthday week festivities included a trip to the Houston zoo, a weekend at Stephen's parent's ranch, and lots of time to play. I spent way too much time trying to perfect a monkey-themed cake, but the final product was worth it.

We've been spending a lot of time at the pool this summer. Brenna LOVES to swim. She's fearless and doesn't mind dunking her head under water - definitely a fish like her mama. Looks like I finally got my swimming buddy. :)

Stephen has been spending a lot of time in the air. Besides his traveling for work, he has been working on his pilot's license. He flies almost every weekend that we are home and is really enjoying it.

In between chasing Brenna, changing diapers, meals, and naps, I've been trying to keep up with projects around here. My to-do list just keeps getting longer and not much gets done. I've just learned to accept that this is how things will be for the foreseeable future... and that's a big step for me. :) So, I can now check off "update blog" on the to-do list, but I better add it right back on or the next update won't come until after Christmas!

Finally Mobile

The end of my calm days is here. Brenna learned how to crawl!