Adding to your Vocabulary

Dear Brantley ~

Your two words you kept repeating today were "hello" and "tongue." You would put your toy remote control to your ear like a phone and say "hewo" over and over. So cute! Then I was working with you on your Your Baby Can Read cards and you were loving the Tongue card. Every time I would show you that one you said "Tug" and would stick out your tongue.

You and Asher are getting better at playing together. I love it!

I Love You So Much!!

Mommy

Sand and Water... That's Momma's Boy!!

Dear Brantley~

You absolutely LOVE being outside! So this morning I took you out and let you play for a long time. You almost always head straight to your sandbox. You climbed in and began playing. Bentley hopped in there, too, and stayed with you the entire time.

The only problem with you and the sandbox is that you always want to pick up a handful if sand and drop it out in the grass. You'll do it over and over again until we make you stop... which is as soon as we realize you're doing it.

After your nap you wanted to go out again, so I smothered you in sunscreen and let you go again. You played in the sandbox for quite awhile. I was cleaning the outdoor cushions. When I took them to the side of the house to the waterhose you chased after me. You were acting silly and playful, so I barely squirted you with the hose. You laughed so hard!! So I squirted you a little more. This went on until you were dripping wet. You were so cute! You and I were both laughing so hard and having so much fun! It was awesome!!!

I dove a little further into the book The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian today. I have prayed hard for you every day since before you were even conceived, but from now on I will be praying a little differently. I hope to cover every aspect of your life in prayer so the devil never has a chance to slide his way in.

I Love You So Much!

Momma

Moon Sand and Fuzzy Balls

Dear Brantley ~

Today I tried two new things with you. One was an overwhelming success! First I made moon sand. You just wanted to pick it up and drop it on the floor outside the box. So that didn't last long. So then I gave you some fuzzy balls and an empty juice jug. You played...

And played...

And played...

Also, this morning on the phone you told Nana "I Yub Ü." You totally melted her heart!!

I Love You So Much!!

Momma

Oh My Love...

Dear Brantley~

You stole my heart. Completely. I thought your daddy had all of it, but you came along and stole it. And somehow Asher did the same. I don't know how all three of you can fully have it at the same time, but you do. This morning you were your usual precious self. I got you out of bed by singing the Good Morning song that I always sing to you in the mornings (Good morning! Good morning! You slept the whole night through. Good morning! Good morning to you! Boop... boop boo do!). You grinned from ear to ear like you always do. You had been playing up there for about 45 minutes when I went up to get you. You woke up, made some noise to let us know, and then you just played in your crib. You were in such a good mood. When I walked in the door I saw one reason why. Bentley was in there sleeping on the big bed. She has gotten to where she loves to sleep up there with you. You love it, too. And so do I! I think it's so sweet that she wants to be with you like that, and I think it's so sweet that you want her there. I can only imagine how precious it will be when you have a bed that she can get in with you.

You played while I got our tax information together to take to the tax preparer. You, Asher, Daddy, and I all left to go to the air base to get our taxes done. You and Asher sat there quietly the whole time we were getting our taxes done. You made us so proud! Then again, you always do. When we were leaving the people working there kept commenting about how good y'all were the whole time. That is always so awesome to hear.

When we got home you went out front with me and played in the garage while I pulled out the miter saw and cut some wood I needed to make some planter boxes so I can get my herbs planted this year. When Asher got up from his nap Daddy took both of you out back. Asher sat in his bouncy seat while you played around in the yard and the mud. You got filthy, but it was so cute! You have SO MUCH fun playing outside! I love watching you! We stayed outside for a few hours. Finally I took you in, fed you supper, gave you a bath, got you to sleep, and took you to your bed. About 30 minutes later, though, you woke up and would not quit crying this horrible cry. I could tell something was wrong (I don't know if it was a bad dream or if your new tooth coming through was hurting you), so I brought you downstairs. Asher woke up about the same time, so daddy got him. We sat out on the back deck (it was an absolutely beautiful night) in the rocking chairs, daddy rocking Asher and me rocking you. Asher went to bed first. You stayed there with me for a couple of hours. I finally had to get you back to your bed. It took me a long time to do it, though, because you were so content cuddled up on my lap with a soft blanket over both of us. Every once in awhile you would just look up at me and look deep into my eyes. Like I said, you stole my heart! I will never be able to explain to you just how incredible it feels to hold you in my arms like that. When I finally took you back to bed I sat next to your bed for a long time. You laid there with your face up against the slats just staring at me. After about 10 minutes you rolled over, but you were still awake. I started praying over you, and I could hear you drifting off to sleep. By the time I finished you were sound asleep. Stole. My. Heart!

I Love You So Much!!! I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Mommy

Another Tooth!!

Dear Brantley ~

I discovered a new tooth on you today!! It's the one just to your left of your top left front tooth. Every new tooth gives your smile a whole new look. I love the adventure with the teeth (although I don't like the pain you have to go through with each one). I'll try to get a pic for you when I can, but you don't like for me to look at it right now. 

You are such a good little tooth brusher. You get so excited when it's time to brush your teeth. You always let me brush them first, then you grab the brush and chew on it for awhile and suck the rest of the toothpaste off. You smile and giggle the whole time.

You got your belly filled up on leftover chicken spaghetti, so it's time (actually passed time) to get you to bed. You have a big day of school tomorrow! Your favorite bedtime books right now are Green Eggs & Ham by Dr. Seuss and Llama Llama Nighty Night. I usually read them to you in that order. I may try putting Asher in there with you again tonight. We'll see how this goes. :-)

I Love You So Much!

Mommy

Outside at School and Messy at Home

Dear Brantley ~

Today was a school day for you, and your teacher said you had a great day! I can't remember her name. It's Miss Jolie and Mrs. Kasey's mom. You've been real shy with her ever since you moved up to her class. Today she said you really started breaking out of that shyness. It was a beautiful day, so you got to be outside quite a bit. You attempted the slides on your own today, and you loved them!! She said you got pretty confident and started to go after the bigger slide, but she stopped you because she was afraid you would hurt yourself. I was so excited to hear you were having a lot of fun and coming out of your shell!

When I got you home I decided to let you have a little messy fun. We started by me painting your hands green and doing a handprint St. Patrick's Day shamrock craft. Since that left me with a lot to clean up I decided we'd just continue the mess. I got out a bowl of Jello I had made a few days ago and I put it on your highchair tray. At first you were very careful with it like you normally are.

Then you started to realize that I was going to just let you have fun.

Then you really started getting with it and having a ball.

I decided, why not add supper to the fun? So I plopped some chicken spaghetti down for you. I gave you a spork, but you had no interest in using it since you were getting to have fun with it.

And this was the final result before I rushed you to the tub for a nice, long bath.

I'd say you had a good time! Haha! We played and played in the bath, and you had a blast in there as well. Overall I'd say you had an awesome day! Let's see what fun we can get into tomorrow!

I Love You So Much!!

Mommy

Mommy & Me

Dear Brantley ~

You and I go to a Mommy & Me dance class on Friday mornings at Page & Co. in Cabot. Liz Coker teaches it, and Addison is always there. You're always the youngest one, and you're the only boy, so you are pretty shy in the beginning. You won't let go of me for the first 10-15 minutes, and it's only a 30 minute class. By the end you start getting more comfortable and you start to have some fun. Today you held onto my legs as I walked across the room to put my phone and keys down and then back. Mrs. Liz took a pic of you because it was so cute. 

By the end, though, you were having fun going through the tunnel.

You're still trying to learn how to feed yourself with a spoon. Today you were trying for awhile, then you just got frustrated and started sticking your hand in your mashed potatoes to feed yourself with you hands. Haha!

I Love You So Much, Sweet Pea!!

Mommy

Learning to Read

Dear Brantley ~

I bought Your Baby Can Read for you when you were born. We've worked on the flashcards off and on for awhile, and you love watching the DVDs. Yesterday I was clapping and telling you to clap. You looked across the room, saw the flashcard that says "clap" (not the picture... the word), walked over to it, picked it up, carried it to me, and handed it to me. I was amazed. So today I decided to test that. I laid out several of your cards like this:

I asked you, "Where's clap?" You picked up the one that says clap and handed it to me. I praised you and then said, "Where's hi?" You picked up hi and handed it to me. I praised you and then asked, "Where's tongue?" You picked up tongue and handed it to me. I sat them all back down and asked, "Where's clap?" You picked up clap and handed it to me, and then you walked off. Wow! Brantley, you will be 14 months old tomorrow! Do you realize how incredibly awesome that is??? I am SO proud of you! You are awesome!

Today was my first shot at putting you and Asher down for a nap at the same time in the same room. It only lasted 45 minutes. You woke up with a dirty diaper, got noisy, and woke Asher up. So I hung out with y'all in your room for about an hour because Daddy was napping, and I didn't want us to wake him. After about an hour I took y'all downstairs. You were in such a good mood. I got you a bath, and you just played and played. You never want to get out of the bathtub. You love your baths!

Another big thing of yours right now is opening and closing the refrigerator. Every time I get you some juice I hold you on my hip so you can help. I tell you to open the door, and you open it. I get the juice out, and you always close the door on my arm before I get it pulled out. Haha! Then I get it out and tell you to close it, and you close it. I get your juice, mix some water in it, and then have you open the microwave door. I put the juice in, and then you close it. You do the same when we put the container of juice back in the fridge and when we get the sippy cup out of the microwave. Today you started trying to put the lid on the sippy, too. It looks like we'll be working on that one tomorrow. :-)

You and Cleo have become so close. She was real skiddish around you in the beginning. I used to always tell her you would be her best friend someday. When you started picking up your food, she started to figure out what I meant. You started throwing food to her. I got onto you for it, and then you started sneaking food to her. She absolutely adores you now, and you love climbing on her and laughing at her. Today you were wallering all over her as you drank your sippy. She was loving it. Of course, by the time I grabbed the camera you had quit so much cuddling, but it was still cute.

Tonight you ate Butternut Squash & Brussels Sprout Frittata. You devoured it! I love your healthy tastebuds! I hope that continues as you get older.

Tonight is Asher's first night in the bedroom with you. I am so excited to see how it goes. I think it will be so neat for y'all to sleep in the same room together. Speaking of sleep, I'm exhausted. I'm heading to bed.

I Love You So Much!!

Mommy

Walking and Loving

Dear Brantley ~

Tonight you hardly crawled at all. It has been the longest transition from crawling to walking of any baby I've ever seen, but I think you are officially primarily walking. You took your first steps so many months ago. You have a mind of your own, though. You want to do things on your time, not anyone else's. We had no doubt you would be walking full time at 8 or 9 months, but you just continued to walk some and crawl some. Tonight you were all over the place on your feet, not your hands and knees. I think you've finally decided it is much harder to carry things when you crawl than it is when you walk.

Today Asher was in his bouncy seat watching tv. Your "recliner" was next to him. You went over to it, climbed into it, said "Asher" a few times, sat facing the tv, and reached over to pet Asher. It was so sweet. You haven't quite figured out why you can't hit him on the top of the head over and over, though. Haha!! You are so sweet and such an awesome big brother!!

This morning I was in the bathroom getting ready for the day. You were in there with me. You kept talking to me in your language, and I would repeat every word you said. I tried to trick you and throw in a "Mama" so you would say it back to me (because the only time you ever say it is when you're upset). You looked me straight in the eyes and said, "Dada." Then you started laughing so hard. You are such a little stinker!! You knew exactly what you were doing!!

Yesterday you weren't feeling good. I think you're teething, plus you have a cold. You were really fussy yesterday morning, which is very unlike you. You, Asher, Daddy, and I cuddled up together in mine and Daddy's bed for a large portion of the morning. You and Asher are so incredibly sweet together! As soon as we put both of you between us, you laid over on Asher. Then he started reaching out and touching you, which is huge because he's just starting to learn control of his hands. Y'all ended up cuddling between us for quite a while.

Later in the day you two chilled in your chairs next to each other watching tv.

I can't even begin to explain to you how much I love you boys!!!!! You two and your daddy are my world!!

I Love You So Much!!!!!

Mommy

Taking Care of Asher

Dear Brantley~

You are such an awesome big brother! Your love for Asher is amazing. It absolutely melts my heart to see how much you love him and how good you are with him. Today I sat him in the bouncy seat. He had been in it awhile when he started to fuss. You immediately started going toward him, so I stepped back and watched. I wish I would've grabbed the camera quicker because it was so picture perfect. By the time I got it you were backing out. But you sat Clifford (the paci with the red dog attached to it) on him to try to cheer him up. When he didn't calm down you then climbed into the bouncy seat with him. You were so careful to not get on him, but you were on all fours around him. You loved on him until he started calming down, and then you backed out of the seat. He started to fuss again so you got near him, but when you saw me watching you stopped from getting in the seat again with him. I tried to encourage you to go ahead and get up there, but you didn't. You are so incredibly sweet!

Later I had him in the floor changing his diaper. You were about 5 or 6 feet away from us. When I finished I left him there while I got up to throw the diaper away. I watched as you walked toward him to make sure you didn't accidentally fall on him or anything. You got to him, knelt down, put your forehead against his forehead and loved on him like that for a bit, and then you kissed him on the face. You got up and played with one of your toys for a minute, and then you knelt back down, grabbed his hand, and kissed it.

I cannot even begin to tell you what you do for my heart. You are such an incredibly awesome little guy!! 

I Love You So Much!!

Mommy

Bathtub Drain

Dear Brantley ~

So... you've probably figured out by now that you (and Asher) are pretty much the most precious things to ever walk this earth! Y'all are too perfect! This morning we woke up late (all of us, believe it or not) and we had to rush like crazy to get to daddy's doctor's appointment at the VA in Little Rock. You, Asher, and I dropped him off at the door of the hospital because we were too afraid to take you and Asher into the hospital because of all the sicknesses going around right now. I drove around with you and Asher while Daddy was in there. Y'all were amazingly wonderful. After we picked him up we drove around for awhile with y'all, went to Chik-Fil-A to eat, and then drove around some more. Y'all were absolutely awesome the whole time!!

Again tonight as I was fixing dinner you went to the pantry, grabbed a thing of baby food, brought it to me, and just handed it to me and looked at me. Lol! You are way too cute!!! I told you I was fixing dinner and would feed you in a few minutes. I set that container of food on the counter. You looked at me with a disappointed look, and then walked back to the pantry, grabbed a glass jar of baby food, and tried to bring it to me (but you dropped it before you could). So I put you in your high chair and went ahead and gave you the veggies I had planned for dinner tonight. You were just too cute to pass up.

During your bath tonight you cracked up as I pulled out a container of bubbles and started blowing them at you. This was the second night that you've thought those were hilarious. It's so stinking cute to see you get so tickled at them. Then when I pulled the drain stop out and set it on the side of the tub, you figured it out. You grabbed it off the side of the tub and stuck it back in the drain. Then you pulled it out, put it back in, pulled it out, etc., until all the water drained out.

I finished getting you ready for bed, and I got milk in a sippy for you and held you in the recliner so you could drink your milk until you fell asleep. Asher started crying just as I did, and Daddy was trying to do something, so I had him put Asher in my lap, too. You reached over to touch him as soon as he got in my lap. You love him so much! You are such an awesome big brother!!! And I have to say, holding both of you in my arms at the same time is heaven. Seriously... heaven! I have never been happier!

I Love You More Than You Will Ever Know!!!

Mommy

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Dear Brantley ~

It's your second Valentine's Day! You, Asher, and Daddy are the best Valentine's I could ever dream of having! I can't even begin to tell you how much I love you, and that love grows by the day. You have the sweetest, most loving, amazing personality. You are so much fun! Today you took off walking even more, but you still keep reverting back to crawling. I guess you will just wait until you decide you're ready to give up the crawling altogether. You've been walking for months.. like 6 months... but you still keep going back to crawling. Today you walked more than crawled, though, so I think any day now you'll decide to primarily walk. 

You still love to push the dining chairs around. Your ride-on Mickey Mouse firetruck is probably your favorite toy. You love to pick up items in front of you on the floor and put them behind your back. You will do that over and over again with items until there is nothing left in front of you, then you turn around and do the same thing putting them back where they were. You are still obsessed with opening and closing doors and drawers. You pull diapers out and strew them across the room several times a day. Playing "Where's Brantley" behind my back is your favorite game. You'll stand behind me when I sit on the floor. I'll ask "Where's Brantley" several times, then you'll peek your head around me and smile real big at me. I exclaim "There he is!" and you start giggling. You also love for me to get on all fours and then lower myself to the ground. You'll climb over my back from one side to the other and land on your head, do a roll, and get up to go back over. You still like the song Skidamarink, but If You're Happy and You Know It is beginning to rank right up there. You enjoy riding on my shoulders, then doing a front flip to get down. Your favorite word is Asher. 

This morning Daddy went to meet another wounded warrior at McDonald's for coffee, so I cuddled in our bed with you and Asher. You were so incredibly sweet! You kept rubbing his hands and face, and you'd bury your face into his belly. You rubbed your face against him over and over again and just kept giving him love. It was absolutely precious. You have no idea how much you melt my heart. 

For some pics from today:

You wanted to help me vacuum this morning, but you didn't want to get out of my way in the floor. So I put you on my shoulders, and you rode there while I vacuumed.

Here you were pushing the dining chairs around:

And then mesmerized by the crystal in the curio cabinet:

Of course, I have to throw in the sweetness of your Daddy. He gave me an incredibly sweet card, an angel to go on my momma bracelet that represents the babies we lost while trying to conceive you (because it already has charms to represent you, Asher, and Connor), and these beautiful flowers. Take note, son. Learn from your Daddy. You don't want to be one of those boys who doesn't get something sweet for your girlfriend/wife for Valentine's Day. 

I Love You SO Much, Sweetpea!!!

Mommy

12-Month Wellness Check and Shots

Dear Brantley~

Today were your 12 month shots. I honestly think it hurts me more than it does you. I absolutely breaks my heart to see you look at me in pain with a look of "why are you letting them do this to me" on your face. I know it's for your own good, but it's still hard. You were 29.75 inches and 22 lbs 10 oz. After we got home I played with you in the floor quite a bit, and we had a blast with your Elefun toy that you and I love to play with together. You just giggle and giggle when we play with it. I love to see you so happy like that! Then we went to Kroger. They gave you a sticker while we were there, and while I was feeding you dinner tonight you took it off your shirt and started playing with it. It was your first experience with a sticker, and it was so cute! You kept trying to throw it, but it was stuck to your fingers. You would just laugh so hard and then try it again. You are so much fun! I absolutely adore every little thing about you!!!!!

I Love You So Much!!!

Momma

Oh! By the way, you are getting your fourth tooth in. I noticed today it has broken through. It's your second front, bottom tooth. So cute!

First Smoothie

Dear Brantley ~

You took your nap today at lunchtime, so in the afternoon you were needing a meal. You went to the kitchen and started getting fussy. Although you're not quite telling me yet what you want, I knew you were hungry. I looked to find something I could fix you for lunch. Everything we had that would not take a long time to fix was highly processed food that I just didn't want to give you (Spaghetti-O's, Vienna sausages, etc.). I knew that I planned to fix myself a green smoothie after I got you something to eat, so I decided I would fix you one, too. I just threw together a few things that would be good for you and that you are able to eat, but I had no idea how it would taste. Kale, apple juice, one apple, one carrot, two slices of pineapple, and greek yogurt are what ended up in there. You had gotten real fussy by this point, so I didn't know if it would calm you down. I put you in your "recliner" (aka bouncy seat) and handed your smoothie to you. You went to town on it!!! You seemed to love it! 

Today is Daddy's hobby day, so he had been out taking pictures. He came home as you were lying there, and he got a kick out of how much you seemed to love your first green smoothie. And I love the fact that you seem to be all about healthy eating! 

I Love You!!!!

Momma

Haircut and Shopping

Dear Brantley ~

Could I possibly love you more??? I never dreamed I could have this much love for someone. Today was our day. I was so excited to spend it with you! I was going to take you to get a haircut, then it was going to be just you and me all day. Daddy had trouble with his pain this morning, though, so I quickly knew our plans would have to change. I took you for your haircut (which you screamed almost all the way through...lol) and then I thought we would run to Wal-Mart real quick before going home. I realized I needed to run to the bank, post office, etc., also, so after doing all of that and before going to Wal-Mart I called to check on Daddy and Asher. Daddy was feeling better and wanted to get out of the house. I knew it would be difficult for him to get out and about with Asher, so I offered for them to join you and I. So we didn't quite get the alone time we were planning today, but it was fun nonetheless. You were such a perfect little angel all day, and so was Asher. 

Tonight Asher started crying, and you very plainly said "Asher" several times in a row. We were so excited! I had heard you do that before, but Daddy didn't seem to quite believe me. Tonight you proved it to him, though! I was so proud of you!

Stephanie Pack sent me a facebook message tonight to let me know that she got your cake finished for your birthday Sunday. It is SO cute!!!! She did an amazing job!!! Your party will be Crayola themed, but it's not going to be a big party. I had planned to have several kids your age over for it, but with Christmas and Asher's birth and everything I have just been way too swamped with stuff and way too exhausted to get everything ready for a real big party. So we will only have family here for it, and I'm stressing myself out over it all. We're going to have a great time, it's going to be a fun party, and everything will be wonderful. I can't wait to post pics for you!

I Love You So Much!!!!!!!

Momma

Not Quite Official

Dear Brantley ~

You took 14 continuous steps today! You're getting closer and closer to walking full-time, but you're still lacking some confidence. I expect it to happen at any moment, though. You've been taking steps for months. 

You and I got to spend a lot of time together today, and I absolutely loved it!!! I've been missing you so much! Although I love every second I spend with Asher, it's been hard to cut back on so much of my time spent with you. Today Daddy spent more time with Asher than he has been, and I got to love on you all day. You are such a sweet sweet sweet little angel. All I have to do is smile at you and you start smiling real big. You love it when I snap and dance. You love it when I turn on the hairdryer. You love it when I blow my nose. You love it when I do the airplane while feeding you. You love it when I say "Mmmm... Yummay!" after giving you a bite of food. You love it when I sing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" to you. Oh, there are so many things you love. Some are silly, some are sweet, some are unusual... But the one thing they all have in common is that I absolutely love them all!!

Daddy was saying today that it amazes him how you and Asher make him look forward to getting up every day. Someday you will understand what all your daddy has gone through and how difficult many days are for him. But getting to see you and Asher, watch you play, love on you, cuddle with you, and every other interaction with you makes him feel like life is so much more worth living. He loves you SO MUCH!!! And I believe it goes without saying that I do, too! :-)

I Love You!!

Momma