The day after we all returned from our adventures out west was deemed the unpacking/settling back in day. Brod found lots of entertainment through us not giving him too much attention. Above he is stuffing his face from a cookie that he stole. Somehow this kid got into a plastic cookie container (without us knowing) and was walking around eating his treasure!

 That same day after we got back from the dog park we found B saddling his doggy. So Trig is huffing and puffing from his exhaustion at the park which is making a great ride for the Brodster. We just love how much he makes us laugh though out the day :)

 We never thought we would see the day for the front facing car seat, but hello front facing Brody!!! It's taken a bit of getting used to but I think he is a fan. He struggles with falling asleep in it though. It's just  a lesson that he will learn eventually, right?? Please say yes because we have a few big car trips planned in the next couple months!

 

 Mike and Meghan had fun running in a 10k last weekend. They did great also! Meghan 2nd in her age division and Mike 6th in his :) Brody and I were so proud getting to watch them. Maybe it's the pregnancy hormones but tears kept coming down my face as I waited for Mike to run by us (or maybe allergies), I'm just a proud wife and Brody is a proud son!

 

As cute as Brody is, we are seeing more and more of his personality shine though. As everyday goes by I continue to see more of my personality shine though him, stubborn and not delighting in correction. He is very much into throwing himself on the ground lately when being "corrected" while wailing loudly or with diaper changes you would think we were slowly biting his toes off one by one! What our neighbors must be thinking! This beautiful showing of his "independence" and vocal skills have left Mike and I with headaches by the end of the day. We continue pleading with the Lord for wisdom in raising and guiding our (what I think is becoming our) strong willed sweet little boy. But it all becomes worth it again within a split second when he snuggles up on our laps, runs over and plants a huge, wet, slobbery kiss on my cheek, flashes us a huge 5 tooth smile or gives us a huge belly giggle! Side note: Mike and B got me roses the other day. I went to smell them and B began giggling with my sniffing them out. So now even a few days after sniffing flowers is just too funny for the boy :)

Our week away

This last week Mike took a group of college students on a trip to The Grand Canyon and Zion National Park. Initially B and I were going to tag along with the camper but after finding out The Grand Canyon didn't have electrical hookups for heat, we bowed out. Staying home for a week by ourselves was out of the question. So the next best option was to be dropped off at our great friend's home in New Mexico! Though we missed daddy lots, what a GREAT week we had :)

Brod tackled the 10 hour drive great! We left at his bedtime and drove through the night with him sleeping all but 9 hours! We've learned this is how we will handle long car trips from now on :)

 This is one of my favorite pics of B with his buddies. He loved having playmates in the bath tub with him and not only his buddies but his first bubble bath! :)

 My aunt and uncle also live in New Mexico real close to our friends so we got to spend a couple days with them also. They have two "doggies" that loved Brody and of course Brody loved them also.

 Aunt Donna took us to the Zoo. B's first zoo trip! What a blast seeing all the animals, B was so amazed.

 This week had LOTS of firsts for the B man including lunch at Chick fil a! Yum, yum! B got his first apple juice with his meal (sugared down and everything!) and loved every drink! This picture makes me laugh. Do we look crazy? 4 kids, 1 on the way and two momma's.....eyeyeye :)

The week had to come to an end as the crew swung though and picked us back up. We were both super excited to see daddy a week is a long time to be away! Thankfully we were in great hands and had a super time! Spending a whole week with my sweet friend really gave me an insight into their real lives. Sense becoming a mom I have loved watching how other families "do life" together. What fun! The great part about saying goodbye this time is that we will be back in a few weeks for our 6th annual Memorial Day Trip!

Dr. update

We had a baby appointment today. Little girl sounds great and so far is growing exactly how she needs to be growing. I have one more appointment left before going every two weeks, how crazy! We talked about the strategic plan this time around with monitoring baby girl. We've always been discussing it, however up till the next appointment (25 weeks) the plan didn't play into place due to baby girl not being at a viable age. So now that she has almost met that 25 week mark, we will be in full baby watching mode. My doctor has sent me a referral to be seen by not only him but also a High Risk OBGYN monthly to monitor babies growth. Honestly when he mentioned the "high risk" word by brain stopped on those words. We feel good about this decision though because the more eye's on baby girl the better, right?? I've always known pregnancies from here on out were going to be monitored closely but the reality of it never really sunk in until now. My brain keeps going back to being pregnant with Brody and remembering how clueless we all were that something not good at all was happening to him, and thinking what could have happened. However, I have to put that behind me. We serve a Great, Generous, Protective God who holds us in His hands and says, "do not worry". And really I have no reason to worry. He held Brody in His hands those last few days of pregnancy and has blessed us with an incredible boy! So, I'm looking up to where my help comes from and trusting in His provision and His faithfulness, because great is Him faithfulness!!

Fun pics as of lately

 Mike is getting ready to take some college students on a backpacking trip next week. They are heading to the Grand Canyon and Mt. Zion. The fun part is they are dropping B and I off in Albuquerque for the week!! We all can't wait :) Anyways though, when daddy begin packing.....watch Brod!

 This shirt is a bit big on this child, but it is one of my absolute favs he wears. Really, I'm not sure why. There is just something about it that screams BOY I guess, I just love it :)

 We have entered the "bed head" days for this crazy boy!

 Mike received an I Pad a few weeks ago as a gift! Crazy, yes I know! Between him and B though, I never get time on it. Mike put some fun games on it that even a 1 year old can play. These Apple people sure have thought of everything. Here he is drawing using his finger as a piece of chalk. This boy is so smart!

 We were eating at our favorite Mexican place the other night when a balloon guy came to our table! B LOVES balloons and so he was enthralled with this guy.

 Brod was made a doggy in honor of his love for them :)

My big belly at 21 weeks. Sweet girl has been moving up a storm the last week. She found my right hip bone over the weekend, oh girlfriend! She is sitting a whole lot lower then what B did which is causing for some uncomfortable moments and lots of lower ligament stretching pain. Half way there, we can do this! Brody has loved rubbing his baby sister, even though I do believe he is just playing with my belly button :)