Video Overload

My handsome boys in their matching ties.


A couple of weeks ago Brian came home after his classes and said, "Let's go bowling." So we had a fun, spur of the moment family date. Neither of us got the greatest scores, but Bracken clapped for us after ever strike and gutterball.

Grandma Sue and my little brothers and sisters have been asking for videos of Bracken. Here you go! (P.S. Does anyone know a simple way to edit videos? I wanted to cut off the end of some of these videos because they got too long, but after a couple of hours of frustration, just put the long version on here.)



Grandpa Rob and Grandma Sue gave Bracken blocks for his birthday. He bangs them together, dumps them out of the little wagon they came in, and breaks the towers we build for him. I think Brian and I have as much fun playing with the blocks as Bracken does. One of Bracken's favorite words is "Wow!" He says it a lot when he knocks over our towers.

Walking and Talking:

Bracken loves his walker. He's walking (and falling) all the time now, but he still likes the support of the walker, walls, or furniture for the most part. He is a noisy kid! He is almost always "talking," roaring, making car noises, or banging things together. He even hums to himself as he falls asleep.

When Brian was little his Dad would get tired of reading the same stories to the kids over and over again, so to jazz things up a bit he'd read backwards. Brian is continuing the tradition and every once in a while I'll hear him reading backwards to Bracken.

And here's Bracken walking on his own!

Ready for Spring!

The sun is shining today! There's still snow on the ground, but I'll take what we can get right now. Is anyone else ready for spring? We seem to get a taste of sun, warmth, and melting snow...then it dumps another couple of inches of snow on us. Thankfully we live in a house with lots of windows, just having natural light makes winter better.

To get out of the house Bracken and I bundle up really well and go for walks whenever there's not too much snow on the ground. We go and get the mail and take out the garbage. We go to the library (another thing I'm especially grateful for in winter) and to the grocery store. We visit my sister Shaylee at work. In the morning Shaylee and I go to the gym or run, and once or twice a week Brian watches Bracken while I go to the institute and play the piano. At home we pop popcorn (Bracken loves watching it pop), and eat it while reading Dr. Seuss books. Actually, we usually eat all the popcorn and then read, because Bracken doesn't want to do anything but eat when there's popcorn around. With all of this, cabin fever hasn't been too bad, but I'm still ready for spring. What do you do when you have cabin fever?

Now onto the picture. Linsy and Kylie came over the other day and we spent all afternoon together frosting tiny easter sugar cookies. Linsy and I had fun together, and Bracken had fun with Kylie around. Bracken thinks it is so fun to tickle her toes while saying "tickle, tickle, tickle!" and then pull his hand away laughing. Kylie's a good sport with all his tickling and poking. I love having family close by.

Tupperware Drawer

This is designated as Bracken's drawer. It's the drawer he can attack without being told "no." He can throw everything out of it, then crawl in and out of it himself. This is how he entertains himself so I can make dinner or do dishes. I love my tupperware drawer!

(Notice the blue blanket next to him. It's become his almost constant companion. I'm not sure why he loves it so much, but he wants it by him when he plays, in the carseat, when he falls asleep, even when he eats. Silly kid!)

Baby Goats

Bracken and I went on an overnight trip to see my family last week when Brian was up to his ears in homework. Bracken loves his aunts and uncles and had a great time. We went to a friend's house early in the morning to see his baby sheep and goats. Bracken didn't notice them too much until I picked one up and it keep nuzzling his face. Then he was facinated and kept petting it.