::Creek Walk::

On Tuesday afternoon, the fam went to our local park and had a blast. Brant played on the playground and then of course gravitated to the creek to throw some rocks. He got a little more curious this time and decided to step in the creek. This led to a walk for a good ways down the creek. Here are some pictures:

Brant found a tree he liked and decided to sit on it!

Also, Brant found a rabbit and decided to try and get it. This is the video:

::The Weekend::

This week has officially begun...and boy are we excited! Brandon is on vacation, we are headed to the GA Aquarium on Thursday, and then it's a holiday weekend! What is there to be bummed about?

Last weekend started off great with a visit to see Uncle Bryan, Aunt Mena, and Baby Lee. I was in heaven holding him the entire night, and Brant was in heaven because he left with MiMi. Here is Brant's very first picture with his new cousin.

On Friday night before we headed to my brother's...Brandon came home with a HAPPY for me! Front Porch Furniture! It is awesome. We put it together Saturday morning and sat together before our day began. Then on Sunday night we enjoyed the pink sunset after the storms. I am so excited to be able to have this and spend time together!

Saturday was jam-packed with Joni's birthday at the lake and then softball games. Brandon broke another finger, so all is well. He is bummed it started his vacation, but he'll live. He is being a great patient and following instructions. So, slowly but surely it is getting better!

Below are some pictures of my first flower arrangement made by flowers from my yard. I am amazed at how pretty it turned out to be...once again, credit to the previous home owners for planting some pretty awesome annuals! And without watering them due to the ban, I think they have turned out pretty well!

So - here is a HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOUQUET for Ms. Debra (Brandon's Mom) whose birthday is tomorrow! Hope your day is awesome and filled with joy! Wish we could be there, but we will see you soon! You deserve it!

::Update from Us::

So, I know that I failed to acknowledge Brant's 2nd birthday! The VERY REASON FOR THIS BLOG, and he didn't even get a birthday post. I will obviously skip this story when I am telling him about his childhood. We did however, have a birthday cookout on Father's Day. And here is the look that we saw the most! He got it...it was great! I can't even imagine what it will be like next year when he is anticipating it...such fun!

Below is a picture of Brant's return to his very own backyard. Apparently he was watching Nana water the flowers when he was down in Macon for the week (they took him for a week to spend time with him and allow me to be available for the birth of my nephew). He asked to "water flowers." So I gave him the hose to see what he would do...and this was the result.

I know some of you have kept up with how I was worried about Brant not eating at school. Well, I just wanted to put up a picture to prove that he is a great eater now. He still needs some work with the utensils though!

Under here is Brant's new obsession....COUNTING! He has learned to count to ten and will count anything in front of him. This is a picture of him at school counting his friends before they go outside. They all sit by the door and sing songs before going out, and Brant decided he would count his friends for the teachers. They said he did a great job, but that after 10 he looked confused. Well...at least he has caught up to Bryan's intelligence level at that age, right Bub?

This is Brant counting again. This time he and a friend were counting pine cones. I got suspicious and asked for the rest of the story and found out that after they were finished counting they started chucking them at each other....great.

So as you can see, we have been up to lots of fun over here. Brant turned two then went to Macon for a week, my brother had his little boy (a buddy for Brant - who will meet him this Friday...pray for gentle touches!), Brandon is working his tail off submitting bids, I got my first paycheck for my extra-curricular sports program...which blew me away to get paid like that for something I LOVE, and I am getting to see my sister almost twice a week. Life is good.

Like I said, Brandon is working hard and getting to take some time off next week as a reward, so we are going to take Brant to the aquarium for his birthday present from his Mama and Daddy. On Friday Brandon and Brant are going to get to meet Lee, my new nephew. We have Joni's birthday party this weekend at the lake and our last two church softball games. So, although this weekend is jam packed, hopefully we will slow down a bit and get to relax. Can't believe it is almost July...this summer is going by too quickly!

Love to all!

Apologies

Last night when I hurried on to post the picture of my brand new nephew, Lee Thomas, I noticed it has been a long time since my last post. I guess it is time for me to get on the ball.

We have been staying busy with work, softball, and Brant. He had his 2nd birthday party on Sunday and it was awesome. So many family and friends stopped by to help us celebrate and he was loving every minute of it. After that he went home with Nana and Grandpa to Macon so I could be free to be with Baby Lee when he arrived. And also cause Nana hasn't stole him in a while and she was due.

Here are some pictures since I posted last...I have more but these are the ones I HAVE to put up now.

Loving the shower with daddy....he screamed, "Its RAINING!"


His first shower with Daddy

Check out that cupcake...he was tearing into that icing.

Showing off his presents to all his guests

NEPHEW

I am officially a new aunt! My brother and his wife finally had their baby at 7:08 pm tonight. His name is Lee Thomas Hardman. He is 7 lbs 12 oz. and 20.5 inches long. He has a beautiful head of hair and mommy and baby are doing great! We are so excited.

::School FUN::

The last two days at school Brant has been having a blast. Not to mention he is talking up a storm...he is starting to piece together a few words to try and form sentences. So excited. WORDS! WORDS! WORDS!

Here are two pictures you just have to see!

::It's Broke::

Today while playing outside, Brant and I discovered a frog. He was hurt, and at first that what Brant was saying. "He hurt. He hurt." So I went and got him some water to see if it might put some life back in him. There wasn't anything noticeably wrong with him, so I thought maybe he was just dehydrated or something...what do I know about frogs? So as we got him some water I went to get the camera. When I started videoing...Brant changed his story to, "It broke." I thought that was the cutest thing ever. He was very concerned for the frog, and sadly I say that the frog is now dead...but Brant made me move him, "there" and to the "bush" about a dozen times. What an adventure we had this afternoon.

Here is a clip...Enjoy.

::Lauren Walking::

WAHOO!

::Off The Payroll...Sort Of::

Well, I am back from a weekend in Lynchburg, VA watching my little sister graduate from college. It was such a sweet time of family and the focus being on her...and baby hardman. We all had a great time and I wanted to post some pictures and a video for all to see. Lauren is home for a while, which I am ESPECIALLY thankful for, and make it a point to see her in case she ends up going to D.C. and follow her heart. (Why she has to do that I'll never know...JK)

What a great family picture...minus Brandon and Brant who would have been bored out of their minds.

Love the School of Religion...and all 1 million graduates!

Lala and Pat Pat...as they are known to my little one.

The ones who made it possible for this INCREDIBLE day to happen!

::The Video::

::Big Boy Bed::

So, I know it has been a little while, and I apologize. I do post as often as I find time between work, cooking, cleaning, being a mom....oh how quickly life changes!

This past weekend was spent at home...Brant at MiMi and PawPaw's. Brandon and I got lots accomplished and that's where the story begins. As I was deep cleaning, sort of...and Brandon was cutting the grass in the rain, I decided that it was time to go ahead and change Brant's crib into a toddler bed since I was moving it to vaccum. I decided to be "resourceful" as I called it, and do it on my own. Without instructions, and without Brandon's opinion...I began. This was not so complicated...take off the front panel, put on the wood slat to keep the mattress from sliding. I could handle it. Well, after using my little wrench for a good while on my own I called in reinforcements. Brandon came in, assessed the situation, and determined that we did not have the proper screws to secure the new slat. Frustrated and impatient as I was, I said fine. He said, "so put the other back on?" I said, "I'll handle it."

Looking back I am not sure Brandon feels that my way of handling it was best. But my decision was to go ahead and take the rest of the crib apart, put the full matress for his future bed on the floor, and go from there. Needless to say...this is a jump without any type of warning for Brant. I will say that it is going fair. We had two great nights this weekend, due to the fact he was exhausted. However, last night he put up a fight. I think he slept by the door the entire night...he and Porter must have had a chat about it on Saturday. But, we are sticking to it and I am sure that I will report in no time he is a full fledge BIG BOY minus using the potty!

Here is a pic of him on Monday morning when I went to wake him up...priceless.

Also, Brant has had a few accidents since I posted last. He fell and hit his head on the coffee table, and then he went to Nanny's and hit her table and got a black eye. I don't have a pic of both, because I blew it, but I do have one of the first injury.

Here it is...

Look for a video later on...its of our "Little Tiger Woods!" I'll post it as soon as it uploads.

Love to all!

Am I an Eater now?

I know I just posted...but this is too good not to put up right away. Apparently I like to eat now. One of my new favorites is Spaghetti.

Check me out!

::Family is the Best::

I will say that one thing I have come to enjoy is being around family. Friends are great, and I love to hang out with them too, but nothing makes me happier than being able to be with family. There is just something great about being able to be vulnerable and real without ANY fear of judgement around those that you love the most. And even still, that is hard to do, but if you can't do it around family, then where can you?

All that said, we hung out in Macon this weekend and it was well needed. It had been too long since we had seen Brandon's family and I am so glad we made the trip. We got to check out the girls' dance recital, celebrate Shannon's birthday, and be with all of the family at ONE time. That hardly every happens, so we soaked it all in. Brant had a blast with all of his Aunts and his cousins. We were all sad to leave.

I will post some videos later on this week that are just too cute to miss.

Until then, here are some pics from the weekend...

This Week

This is our week or so in pics (of Brant of course). We have been running...work and the warm weather have kept us busy. We have been enjoying being outdoors and loving the long days. Brandon has had numerous trips to the doctor for his finger, and we still aren't exactly sure what is wrong with it, so continue to be in prayer about it. We definitely know it is broken, but he is going to get an MRI on it to see what further damage has been caused. This coming weekend we will be heading to Macon for happy and sad occasions. Brandon's cousin passed away this week after being in a coma for a week from a 4 wheeler accident in Alaska. I would type details, but it would be long. Just be in prayer for the Arnolds. It is his Dad's brother's son, and he was a little older than Brandon. On a happy note, we will get to see all of the family and celebrate Shannon's birthday. Not to mention see Lauren and Kaitlan's dance recital. So, we have a busy week ahead...and I can't wait to let everyone in on my new professional endevour once I have more details. Love to you all...

I think Brant may love Coke as much as me...uh oh!

What a cutie pie on the way to the park.

Lovin' the water and sticks!

This is what I do all the time now!

::Give HIM Praise!::

I don't know if all of you saw this or not, but if you fell asleep like I did, then catch the end of Idol Gives Back. They ended with Shout to the Lord...

It is incredible to me that such a secular show with MILLIONS of viewers would end in such a powerful way!
This is AMAZING...I have chills!

::School Pic::

I will write more later, but I wanted to get this up there for those of you who are asking for it! Here is his latest school picture taken this week.

Enjoy!

::BBALL::

So, one of Brant's new loves is basketball. MiMi and PawPaw got him a basketball goal for Easter and it is his new fave. We know his Aunt Ally is going to be SO PROUD! He still plays baseball, hockey, and golf...basically anything with a ball of some sort, but he is lovin' basketball...or "BA-UH-BALL" as he calls it.

Last Friday night, Brant was playing outside with his ball and goal. He made 2 shots and was loving the praise he recieved from Mom and Dad. However, he kept trying and just couldn't make it happen again. This frustrated him to no end. Some of you have seen the video, and I wish I could get it to work, but it is just too long. Needless to say, he would shoot, and then cry, and I mean cry big alligator tears until he could concentrate and shoot again. He would do this only to miss and cry some more. He ended up getting very frustrated, so we tried to help but it only made him more mad. He made BA and I go inside the house while he stayed outside trying to make it. He had such determination, but it was to no avail.

So, when he wanted to get it out on Saturday morning I was very hesitant. I didn't want his failure to ruin our morning. I just didn't have very much confidence in my 21 month old to make baskets. Let's just say he isn't necessarily built for the game, if you know what I mean. He is short, white, and at this point in his career he can't jump. And if he's anything like his mama, he never will. But what he lacks in stature he makes up for in determination, or what my husband likes to call "want to."

Without further words...here is the video I took on Saturday morning, not 12 hours after the mental breakdown.

::Braves and Warm Weather::

So on Monday we went to the Braves game, that is I went with everyone else. Satan definitely tried to ruin my day and my birthday present from my parents, but I didn't let him. Brant went home from school with a high fever, which turned out to be a sinus infection. Then Brandon called me midday and told me he was going home because he wasn't feeling well. He ended up not coming to the game and just watching it from the bed at home. So, bummed as I was...I went to the game with the rest of the crew and had a blast...that is until the 12th inning when we finally lost. Always a excited to get to go to a game at all though, and now that it is baseball season I am even more pumped! Watchin' the Braves as I type...

Here are some pics from the game...

This is the girls as we expressed what we were feeling after we tied it up in the ninth!

This is my picture with my husband (at home in bed).

Today it was a gorgeous day and Brant and I headed to a new park (new to us) for the afternoon. Apparently you can't play on the playground in our neighborhood without being an athletic club member, so we found a free place to play thanks to Russel and Olivia. Let me just tell you, WAY BETTER. It had trails, baseball fields to watch, a creek, and a playground. Brant had a blast exploring and getting into everything he could.

Here are some pics from our afternoon...

Horses are so much fun

Gotta love the swings

Sitting and throwing some rocks into the creek. I showed him how to throw the big ones in the deep spots to make a huge splash. He was lovin' it.

Big gulps eh? Gotta stay hydrated after all that play...

I have some videos from this weekend to put up that are priceless, but they are taking forever to download. So be patient...and hopefully you will be seeing those soon!

Love to all! Go Braves!

::February Scrapbook::

Finished the February Scrapbook page. For your enjoyment...

The first picture is both together like it will look in the book and the next two are pictures of each individual page...