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