Hmmmm

Has anyone noticed that this blog is non-existent lately????

Maybe I should give it up and just put updates on Facebook.... all of you who read it are my friends on there too...

Opinions?

Oh and there is a picture...but I think it is on FB so you have probably already seen it if you are reading this!

MVI_3000.AVI

This is Brant having fun in the snow...which is now ice!

Brant's Christmas Day!

We all had to take turns in the cold with Brant. Thank the Lord it wasn't rainy all day. We had a blast watching him enjoy all of his presents, but this one is the BEST!

Merry Christmas to ALL!

The Years Fly By

This was just insane to me as I look back on this year (and my millions of photos). And all I can think about is how different it will be next year with a 4 yr old and a 6 month old... I am learning quickly to savor every moment!

Family Weekend in Macon

The family headed down to Macon this past Saturday for birthday fun for BA (30th by the way!). We also attended my friend Joni's wedding on Saturday night which was a blast. Ms. Debra's entire family - minus Shannon, Stacey, and kids - came over to the house too, which was great!

I got to meet Christy (yay) and see family that I hadn't seen since our wedding! It was a great time of family, but the best part was watching the kids play together. Can't wait for Jackson to get big and be running around with them too!

Here are some pics from the day!

Here are Hadyn and Brant playing Air Hockey


The cousins playing with the dollhouse


Nana and Brant setting up the dollhouse


The cousins pause for a photo-shoot


All the kiddos on the trampoline


Chris, Christy, and Jackson


Nana, Aunt Pam, Aunt Carol, Allyson, Lauran, Kaitlin, and Hadyn

And last, but NOT LEAST, the Brandon Arnold Family!

Thanks for all the love you guys show us!

November Already?

October was one BUSY month in the Arnold Family:

• La's wedding
• Fall Festival
• UGA football
• Financial meetings galore
• Bathroom reflooring
• Brant's First Field Trip
  
• Halloween
• not to mention things at work, etc.

Needless to say we have been crazy lately. I am so happy it is fall and that things might begin to settle down... oh wait... Dad's Bday, BA's Bday (30 by the way), Ashley's Bday, Mom's Bday, Thanksgiving, Christmas....

DOESN'T IT EVER SLOW DOWN???

Now I know why they say that the older you get, the faster it goes. I think it just means that you have more to keep up with and worry about, so you never feel like there is a dull moment.

I have to be reminded to slow down and breathe, and that I can't do it all. Like Blog...

Here are a couple of snapshots of our life this past month with some excerpts along the way.

This is Brant and his friend, Trey, bouncing in a jumpy at the FFTF Fall Festival!


This is Brant touching a snake at the Chattahoochee Nature Center's Halloween Hike


This is Brant posing by the Turkey on his field trip (MiMi went too) to Berry Patch Farms.


This is Brant smiling with his "happy pumpkin" after we carved it together. Daddy was busy tiling the bathroom floor, so we headed to the pumpkin patch down the road and got 3 pumpkins. 2 for Brant and one for the porch. He helped carve until he had to help dig out the yuckies inside. Not his favorite thing... he said it was sticky and slimy. He told me to finish.


Here is Brant (power ranger) and his friend, Porter (Woody from Toy Story) racking up in the candy department on Halloween.


Brant enjoys looking at all the blow ups and the lights more than getting the candy. Although, once he felt he had enough, he was ready to get home and eat it!

Brant and Brandon had lots of fun in the leaves yesterday. They would rake them in a pile and take turns jumping in. Then they covered each other in leaves. Brant had tons of fun with Daddy this weekend. Good thing, because BA has to work almost every Saturday in November, so we will not be seeing him too much! :(

Happy November all. No promises, but I will attempt to have more than one post this month!

Who is this heart-throb in this picture?
He had ME at hello for sure!

Keep an Eye on your Camera

If you are near our son, keep an eye on your camera. I walked into my bedroom last Saturday night and this is what I found. Apparently, Brant is trying to perfect the self portrait that his Mommy is famous for. Check these out!!!


Don't you love how he squints when he smiles?

I could stare at this smile all day long!

I love this last one because it is a great look at how well his chin is healing!
Thanks for all of your prayers!

Too Cute Not To Post

I have no words...

Perspective

Perspective: the state of one's ideas, the facts known to one, etc.
Keeping this definition in mind, I will let you in on what I discovered last night at our school's Family Skate Night at Sparkles.

I remember the Monday night skate nights that I attended while going to Hopkins Elementary School in Lilburn, Ga. I remember going to Skate-A-Long off Beaver Ruin Rd, over by the Southern Athletic Club (which I used to think was so cool). I remember how the skating rink wasn't the best place to hang out on any night other than your school night, and even then it was questionable. I remember skating to all the songs, holding hands with my friends as we fell on our faces, the hokey-pokey in the middle of the rink, and all the dumb speed skaters that thought they were so cool. (I bet they have gained some perspective now that they are older!)

However, the one thing I remember the most is Mom being there and being apart of it all. Even when I didn't want her there because I thought she was cramping my style, she was there and laughing with me, laughing AT me, and praying I didn't kill myself.

I didn't realize all of this until I gained some perspective last night.

Brant COULD NOT WAIT to skate. All he could talk about was how he was going to skate with his friend Trey (pictured below). He said I wasn't going to help and that, "He could do it himself!" I finally understood what Mom felt like when I was little. Here I bought the tickets, am going to pay for it letting him stay up later, and am chasing him around making sure he keeps those stitches in. And him, well he didn't want anything to do with me!

BUT I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ANYWHERE ELSE FOR THE WORLD!

As you can see below, he DID need me. I have never felt more uncoordinated in my life than when I was on that rink in skates trying to move and hold up a 27 lb. little boy who did not understand how to support his OWN weight on his skates. But at the same moment I felt like an idiot trying to keep him up, I felt like the luckiest person in that building. I won't ever trade those kind of moments with my son for anything in the world.

The only thing that could have made my time with Brant better was if his Daddy was in town to share it with us. I hate that the most about Brandon working out of town. He feels like he misses the little moments like this where Brant is experiencing things for the first time and soaking it up... and that's what life is all about.

I can only imagine what the day will be like when Brant accepts Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior. What a MOMENT that will be!

How thankful I am that each and everyday I am gaining PERSPECTIVE to help me understand and appreciate all of life's little moments.

A Video to Wet Your Appetite

STITCHES

For those of you who don't already know... Brant has had his 4th trip to the ER in his 3 years. Apparently he DOES take after his Daddy in some areas!!!

Just a refresher:
1st trip - 8 months, bit into the coffee table and both bottom middle teeth were facing outward
2nd trip - 13 months, in Destin FL, fell and bit the dust on a tile floor, thought he bit through his lip...no stitches required
3rd trip - 15 months, ran and hit the door hinge at school, 5 stitched in the middle of his forehead
4th trip - 3 yrs, chased a dog and pulled on his tail, pulled him down, bit through his lip... 6 stitches outside, 3 inside (approximately)

He is a trooper. This one looks like it hurts more than any of the others. But he doesn't even care. Nana took such good care of him he says its all better.... "Don't worry about it," he said.

Love you all.
Here is a picture!

::Labor Day Weekend::

So its Labor Day (September 7), almost a full month since my last post. I am finding that being an elementary teacher, a single mom during the week, in a bible study, serving the church, and cleaning take more time than I thought, and I wish God could multiply my time. I know that one post a month is horrible, but I feel as though most of you know what is going on in our lives...even if I don't write about it up here.

Needless to say we have a had a great weekend. Brandon's sister, Aunt Ally, came up for a visit and Brant has ADORED having her here. On Saturday we hung out and played... and anxiously awaited our HD receiver so we could enjoy our new TV to the maximum degree! It got set up right after UGA kick-off, and although we lost, I will say it was enjoyable to watch on the big screen in my own living room. Ya know - not having to find another reason to go over to my parents house and act like it wasn't just to see the games! (Love you guys!)

Then on Sunday my parents took our family to the Braves game. Yes - Brant has finally been to Turner Field... and he LOVED it. Here is a picture of what he saw from our seats.


For the first 30 minutes he just looked around. He was in awe of the field, the players, the stands, and the cheers. After the newness wore off, he wanted to explore. Brandon and I set off to take him around. We went to Tooner Field where he played on the miniature diamond, then we set off to the alleys to take a look at all they held. He saw radar guns where the "big boys" saw how fast they could throw. Then he saw a batting cage for the "hard bats and hard balls" as he liked to call it. Then we FOUND IT! A batting cage just for Brant. Pro Hitter JR. It tossed wiffle balls from a simulated pitcher on the screen and it looked just like the ball was coming out of his hand. Brant took a turn and missed all 5 balls (they were coming in high) but he looked great doing it. We took him back to our seats to watch more of the game, but he was through watching... he wanted to play! So Mimi, PawPaw, and Ally took him back to the cages for his shining moment. The lines were long and he waited patiently, watching all the older boys go before him. Apparently he was taking notes while he waited, because they all said that when he stepped in there for the 2nd time he was ready. On the last pitch he HIT THE BALL. He then decided to run around the batting cages, as if he was running the bases, and then slide into the home plate. MiMi said everyone watching erupted in cheers and applause for my little ball player! He was so excited to come back and tell us all about it. IF ONLY WE HAD IT ON CAMERA!


Needless to say we had a blast. And now we are Laboring hard on Labor Day (go figure). Brandon is hanging the TV over the mantle and I am cleaning around the house. Once he is done we will rearrange the furniture (AGAIN) and get the living room set up for his (Brandon's) optimum viewing scenario!

Brant has been swept away for a spontaneous week at Nana's in Macon. He is so excited and I know will have much more fun than he does here! However, I am gonna be one lonely mommy without him!

Love to all!
And sorry there aren't more pics from the game, but my battery died :(

::Still Blogging::

I promise I haven't stopped blogging... but a lot has gone on since our vacation to the beach.
In bullet form:

• Brant had his 3 year doctor's appointment
• Brant caught the Chicken Pox at his "well" check
• We had the Pox for a week, which technically was a GREAT week for Brant. He stayed at Mimi's, played with Hayden (his BFF) non stop, got a helmet and a new "aluminum" bat, and went to the Rome Braves' Stadium to get tickets to his first game and ended up being able to go in the stadium and look around (almost walked onto the field).
• He then went and spent the week in Macon with Nana and Grandpa
• Came back to go to the Rome Braves' Game that got RAINED OUT. How to explain to a 3 year old that his first real ballgame has been rained out (while the sun is shining overhead) is a little tricky.
• My friend Sarah came to town for a couple of days
• We then spent 3 days at school (my pre-planning) on our later summer schedule
• Only to head back to an earlier schedule ( with me teaching ELEMENTARY SCHOOL - YAY!!!) on August 10th
• BRANT IS POTTY TRAINED! It just clicked with him. We are still working on it to completion, but he has gone ALL WEEK AT SCHOOL WITH NO ACCIDENTS! We are all so proud of him! And he loves his underwear...in fact, I need to get him some more.
  

Needless to say, our last month has been a little hectic. All the while BA has been traveling back and forth from Columbus in a car that may not last much longer and has no AC.

I promise to post more soon. Once I get my bearings on my schedule and my life... I will post regularly!

Here is a picture or two of Brant at school this past month to wet your appetite!
Love to all!

SGI 2009

So I was not sure how to sum up the vacation. I think I could blog about it for a while. So I decided to just make a video about it using Windows Movie Maker. Never tried this before.
So let me know what you think!

::What Time Is It?? ITS SUMMERTIME!::

So. It is SOOOO HOT when Brant at I get off work and get home that we end up in his pool like every afternoon. Here are some pics from today! He is a crazy man... and I can't wait to get to the beach and have LOADS of uninterrupted fun with him, my hubs, and the rest of my family!

Love you all! EnJoY!

Is he getting bigger or what?

He loves to spray mommy and daddy!

Cool picture!

Sunshine!

He seriously looks huge in this picture...even though I know he's not!

Happy First Birthday Lee

One year ago today, I was rushing with my mom and sister down to Piedmont Hospital to witness ( from the waiting room ) the birth of my nephew Lee Thomas Hardman. I married into being an aunt, to 3 wonderful kids (wassup Gatlin, Ashton, and Caroline!) but becoming an aunt by birth to one of your own sibling's children is something so different to me! I think it has to do with the fact that I am a girl for starters. But to be a mom first, I was able to understand what my brother is about to feel for this little person. Knowing what a great uncle he was and what a great aunt Amelia was, and understanding how that is going to make them even greater parents was neat to witness. Knowing all of that while I was waiting in the hospital is a feeling that is too difficult to put into words. I couldn't wait for Lee to get here and my brother experience the blessing of being a dad, yet even more so, I couldn't wait to be as great of an aunt to their child as they had been to mine!

I will never forget the look on my brother's face when he exited that delivery room to let us all know that "Lee Thomas Hardman is BORN." It will be with me a long time... and I will live to tell Lee how I was in the waiting room watching the Bulldogs as we waited for him to arrive.

I love being Aunt Lin-Lin... only wish I could see him more! Can't wait for his party this weekend. And for the many summer birthdays that he and his cousin Brant will share as they grow old together!

Love you Hardmans... savor every moment because they go by WAY too fast!

Brant's 3rd Birthday

SO, Brant's third birthday has come and gone! WHEW... it came and went fast... and I still can't believe that I am the parent of a 3 year old. It really does fly by... I used to laugh at everyone who said that like... REALLY?? (cause in the baby stage you think it will never end sometimes). But it really is true. I know you want to see pics from his party, so to get the good stuff of his third bday, just click on the photo above of him finishing off his cupcakes after everyone was gone!

You are my Sunshine!

You are my sunshine
My only Sunshine
You make me happy
When skies are gray
You'll never know BRANT
How much we love you!
Please don't take my sunshine away!

1 week till we are 3... can you believe it?
Love you all!

Final Memory With Nanny

Was taking pictures at Nanny's funeral on Saturday and found this photo on the camera. Hadn't loaded it onto the computer yet, but this is Brant's last moment with Nanny. We visited her on Mother's Day, just 9 short days before she passed. He went back to her room and visited and I went back to take pictures. He was fanning her with a large fan and they were watching videos of him on this blog. He was making her laugh, and getting a kick out of himself as well. I am so thankful that he had 3 years with her. He WILL remember when we tell him the stories and show him these pictures. I only wish he could have had the wonderful 26 years I had with her. She was truly an amazing woman, with more to share on love, life, and others than most around. She will live on in me until the day I die and get to go see her!

We will continue to love you and miss you Nanny. You were one of a kind!

Memorial Day Slideshow