Beach Bound Tomorrow::

My mom is on the way down here, as I type, to pick us up. We are spending the night in Acworth and leaving first thing tomorrow morning. We will be at the beach until next Saturday. I will try and post as I am down there so you all can see some pictures.

Pray for Brandon and his job. They are finishing up the building and getting the final things done. His last day in Macon will be this coming Tuesday the 3rd. The he will be in the office once we get back from the beach. We will be looking for a place back in the Kennesaw area, so if you know of any good deals send them our way!

::Love you all

McDonald's::

Brant and I decided...well mostly I decided...to break in the new car seat and go to the playground. But for those of you who didn't know, it was like a SAUNA today in Macon, so we packed up after 5 minutes and beat red faces to head to McDonald's. I bought a Large coke...very large...so I didn't feel bad about using the play place and I let Brant loose. We played for about an hour and a half. He met a very nice 5 year old girl who taught him the ropes and basically wanted a little brother after the play date because my son is so cool! Here are some pictures for your enjoyment!

They were taken with my cell phone - that's why they are a little blurry.

Needless to say, after an outing like that he was pooped. So on the car ride home, this was the view from my rear view mirror. --I didn't take the picture while moving!--

I know he looks uncomfy, but as my Papa always said about us grand kids..."If they weren't they would move." And I agree. My Papa was a smart man!

Beach Countdown Begins::

4 Days and my mom will be here to pick us up and head to Destin, FL!

We are really excited! Brandon will be heading down on Tuesday night after work, but we will miss him terribly until he gets there! All of the family is going to be there, even Nanny, and we are looking forward to game night every night! I especially can't wait to see my sister.

All of us in Macon are doing well. Brandon is staying busy with work, while I am staying busy at the pool, keeping Brant entertained and his mind off his molars. He is still pretty irritable about them. No side effects to tell of from his MMR vaccine yet, so that is a blessing. I can't wait for him to talk. He talks all day in his own language and looks at me like I am supposed to understand him, and sometimes I really can. But it does keep me laughing!

Well thats it for now. I promise to take lots of pictures for all to see.

--Oh yeah - the picture at the top is the house we will be staying in. FUN!--

Family::

This is a picture I stole from Allyson's facebook profile. It was taken at a celebration for Mr. Jimmy's Birthday. It is the entire Arnold Family, including our family, Brandon's brother Shannon and his family, Brandon's three sisters, his mom and dad, and his PaPa and Nana Iverlene. Oh yes, and I can't forget the family dog Sparky.

--Notice Brant in the back pulling Nana's hair!--

I am sure that I will have more fun family pics to share after our July 4th beach trip with my family! CAN'T WAIT!

Change::

Not too much exciting news here. We came back to Macon on Tuesday after spending a few days at my mom and dad's. We got back and Brant was of course happy to see all his toys. It's like those are his friends, and when he is gone too long they have to catch up on what happened while he was gone. He just sits and talks to them; it's really cute.

Biggest thing going on here is change. Brant is getting his first molars. One on each side of the top of his mouth. I couldn't believe it, like he doesn't have enough teeth already. But at least now I know why he has been such a weird eater lately and putting EVERYTHING in his mouth. My mom sent me a pretty good diagram if you are interested.

Brant has the bottom four teeth, top four teeth, and now his first molars on the top are coming in. As you can see from the picture, he's a little ahead. Very exciting for us here at the Arnold home, except for the irritability and night waking that it brings. Tylenol is our friend!

The other change is that we are getting ready to move back. We will be headed back to the Kennesaw area, at least that's what we think, the week after July 4th. A lot to get done:: moving, finding a new place to live, me finding a job --if that is what the Lord wants-- and other stuff.

Keep us in your prayers if you can remember. Love you all!

The Checkup...

Brant and I have been at MiMi and PawPaw's house since Saturday night. We spent a fun-filled day with PawPaw on Father's Day, away from Brandon...which was sad, but we decided that PawPaw needed to know how much we love him!

It was also, as you will soon see, time for Brant's one year check up. To most of you, that may not mean much. But to all of you mothers out there, it means one word...SHOTS. The appointment started out great. We weigh nearly 20 lbs and are 29.5 inches tall. This must be some cause for concern in the height department because the doctor started asking how tall everyone in the family was. But hey, we started out small and we are still playing catch up, which I think we are playing quite well, might I add. We got all checked out and got to play with the fun doctor toys.


After all of the fun was over, the doctor exited and Brant thought that it was time to go. However, being his mom, and the extremely smart lady that I am, I knew that wasn't true. We waited for the nurse to come in, the infamous nurse, who was ready to give my sweet little boy FOUR shots. Two in the left leg and one in each arm. He took the leg shots okay, but the arm ones threw him off because he has never had a shot in the arm before. I would say that I have some pictures of this, but I thought that would just be way too cruel to take his picture and make him think that I was amused. However, after I went to the waiting room and gave him to MiMi and he settled down, I got a picture of him in the car seat. Not a happy camper, but trying to smile.


After we got home, we took Brant to the pool for some fun. However, the pools at Bentwater are apparently cracking down on babies in the pool. We weren't allowed in without "rubber pants." I couldn't have even told you what those were until my mom had been to three stores to bring some back to the pool. Long story short, once he was finally ready for the pool he was pretty tired and ready to go home.

As we speak he is in bed, but his leg is really hurting him. It is one of the hardest things to watch your child in pain and knowing there really isn't anything you can do about it. I know that this is the most shallow representation of that, and I know many parents who have been through so much more, but pain on any level with your child is hard. I thank the Lord every day for a healthy child and for healing in the lives of those who aren't. Here are two last pictures from this afternoon. We are heading back home to Macon tomorrow. We can't wait to see Daddy!

Never have been a reader...

I never have been the strongest of readers. In elementary school, I think I stood out just because I could spell and made good grades. I got through school by reading what I had to, even if it took me a couple times to get it. I took the SAT and realized that reading comprehension wasn't my thing. In college, I never read...no lie. Not even when I was supposed to. And now, I read a lot. I read my bible, I read a number of parenting articles, and I read books with Brant.

Long story short, let me tell you about Tuesday night's occurrence. Our routine at night is dinner, playtime with Daddy, and then bath time. After his bath, he goes to his room and Brandon helps him pull the ceiling fan chord...no doubt the highlight of his night...for real. After that, Daddy retreats to the kitchen to make his bottle while I get him ready for bed. We lotion, powder -- for baby soft skin of course -- put on our pj's, brush our hair, find our blanket, and begin reading books. Usually we read about three...

We began our night with Where is Elmo's Blanket?, which is a new favorite. We then moved onto The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Then, we went to his all-time bedtime book which is Corduroy. This is where he got bored. I am not lying to you when I write this, you can ask Brandon, but Brant took the book from my hand and began to read to himself, out loud. Of course, not in our language...but in his. Apparently, as I found out that night, I don't read well.

Side note: I would like to point out to Bryan that I used the correct adverb, WELL, above.

All that to say, I am going to begin working on my reading skills so that my one year old does not get bored when Mommy reads to him at night.

The video I tried to post yesterday...and yes for those of you who are thinking it...I am addicted to this blog.

Yes...ANOTHER post!

I know that this is my second post today, but I just got some more photos taken by my sister at Brant's party. There are some shots that are duplicates, so I went through and picked out some really good ones. My favorite picture is the one above! I LOVE IT! The rest are pretty good too! Just click on the picture below to see them.

--Thanks LA for being an avid reader and participating in this fun experience!--

Brant Birthday from LA Camera

--The cover is for you Ash!--

Happy Birthday!

Today is Brant's Birthday! Everyone who wants to can leave him a comment and one day when he is older I will show him. We gotta let him know what a LOVED child he is! I took these pictures today right before I am going to teach recreation at VBS -- that is why I look a little rough. No need to get dolled up if you are gonna get nasty right after! Brant is going to spend the day with his Nana -- Brandon's Mom. Don't be jealous mom, you get a week at the beach with him before you know it!

Having fun with all my presents!

Toy Box Wanted

Do we need a toy box or what? This is what I return to at night after bedtime has come and gone. Let me tell you, finding an efficient way to organize these has yet to hit me. Since Brant's birthday party, he has wanted to open a new toy each day. We have only opened three...although that's not the looks of it from this picture.

Most of his old toys are put away because he has no desire to pay attention to them anymore. So, these are only his new toys, yet I have less room than I did before. I am beginning to realize that the older he gets, the more parts will be included in one toy! Gone are the days of a two second pick up of the living room.

I took a video tonight of Brant...the last night before he is one! I can't wait to show it to him when he gets older. I was going to post it, but Google wouldn't let me upload it right now. I will try again later.

Here are some other photos, mostly for my mom, that I took today:

He loves his new car seat!

Well, the Braves game is about to start and its also bath time. Maybe the Braves will pull out a win for me against the ole' Twins. What do you say Dad? And hopefully I will pull out a win tonight in my card game against Brandon. We have started playing cards...so far we've played two world series and we are tied. Wish me luck.

Till next time...

Celebrate Good Times...

As some of you know, on this past Saturday, the family celebrated Brant's first birthday. Even though his birthday is not until this Wednesday, we went ahead and celebrated...mainly so his Auntie LaLa could attend before having to leave to go work Superwow. If I could explain his party in one word it would be FUN. There were all kinds of fun that I will describe to you in photos.

--The rest will be shown in a web album, and if you are reading this and have any photos that could be additions...BRYAN...then please send them my way!--

::CHAOTIC Fun::

::MESSY Fun::

Although, Maybe it wasn't so "FUN" to Brant...

::AND OF COURSE...PRESENT Fun::

There were many other types of fun that were experienced at the party, such as: Family fun, Food fun, Friend fun, etc. However, I didn't feel as though I had the photos to justly express them. So, if you have other photos, please email them to me. Also, check out the web album by clicking on the photo below, to get the full effect --from my camera-- of the party!

Brant 1st Birthday

We love you all!

A glimpse at the first year...

So, after a year at home with our bundle of joy, I have decided to make it easier for everyone to keep up with us. As most of you know, we are a little unsure of what the future holds for us. Will I have a job? The way it looks...NO! Where will Brandon be based? Where will we live? All of these are questions that remain unanswered at the moment.

All we DO know is that we have ONE -- so I don't sound conceited by saying THE -- of the cutest and most adorable children on the planet. Since he will be turning one next Wednesday, I thought I would begin our blog by letting you in on the first year of his life with pictures.

So my attempt begins::