Our Weekend...Basketball, Christmas & Wine

We had a pretty busy weekend, but Brennen got to spend time with both his Nana & Papa and his Grandma & Uncle Chris (Grandpa was at the lake)!  Friday night Ryan had his first basketball game of the season and we had his work Christmas party.  I dropped B off with Ryan's parents and headed over to my brother's house to watch the KU game.  Ryan wasn't done with his game until around 10:30pm, so we didn't get to the party until around 11pm. I was pretty tired by then, but managed to last until 2am! 

Saturday morning we picked Brennen up and grabbed some lunch and headed home to put him down for a nap.  While he was out, Ryan and I got the Christmas decorations out and put up the tree so when Brennen got up he could help us decorate it.  His face lit up when I brought him out to the living room and he saw the tree all lit up.  I wish I would have caught a picture.  He was really into putting the ornaments on the tree and clapped his hands and said "yay Brennen" after placing them where he wanted them! 

Papa letting him ride Rudolph!

Ready to decorate!

"Yay Brennen!"

He was so proud of the tree

Saturday night B spent the night with my mom while we had another night out.  We had bought a Living Social coupon for a wine tasting at Cellar and Loft so we enjoyed an evening with our friends Landon & Julia.  We had a blast.  It is kind of a hard place to explain.  It isn't a restaurant and isn't a store. It is just a big wine cellar that has different events all throughout the week. You can purchase wine and beer and we got a cheese & meat sample platter and a chocolate sample.  You can become a member to either the wine club which is 2 bottles of wine a month or the beer club which is two 12 packs a month. Then with the membership you can attend any of the events throughout the weeks for free.  It was a really fun place and I could definitely see us going back!

After we were done there, we decided to head back to Landon & Julia's house and play some Wii U. Ryan and I had never played this before and we had an absolute BLAST!  We played a chasing and a ghost game that were so much fun.  I don't think I have laughed as much as we did in a really long time!

Sunday we had a relaxing day and Ryan had practice in the afternoon so Brennen, my mom and I did some grocery shopping.  We also took advantage of the beautiful weather we have been having and let B play at the park.  It was a high of 70 degrees! Not bad for December 2nd :)

B is getting really good at playing by himself while I make dinner

It was a fun weekend, but a tiring one.  Already looking forward to the weekend again!  Hopefully the week will fly by!

Recovery Week

Last week was spent recovering from my 5-day Thanksgiving weekend!  It was a wonderful and relaxing break and I was so happy to get to spend lots of family time together.

Friday we just took it easy at home all morning then headed out to Ryan's school to let Brennen play for a little while.  He had a blast running around the gym!  That night we ventured out to the mall for some dinner and walked around for a little bit.

Playing in his jammies all morning

Our one purchase...the Mickey Mouse Look & Find book!

Saturday my mom, Brennen and I headed to our second Thanksgiving celebration.  Ryan had basketball practice so didn't make it. 

Our wonderful hosts, Martha & Jonathan

The whole group!

Sunday was another day of just taking it easy. We went over to Ryan's parents to let Brennen play with his cousins.  Then, Ryan had practice again in the afternoon, so B and I spent some time visiting my parents. 

B helping Grandma clean!

I only have one picture from this past week. With Ryan's new coaching job, our nights are mostly spent at my parent's house or just hanging out at home.  I did go to dinner with some high school friends this week and that it always a great time catching up!  Ryan was home Wednesday night because he had early practice, so at least we got to spend one evening together!

After walking the dogs, B wanted to swing!

Thanksgiving 2012

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  We had a wonderful day and have so much to be thankful for!

I took the day off Wednesday to help my mom get everything ready.  I got to her house at about 8:30am and I didn't end up leaving until 4:30pm that afternoon.  I never expected everything to take that long, but it was nice to get most everything done ahead of time.

Some of what we made...cranberry apricot chutney & green bean casserole

We are not really potty training yet, but we do let Brennen sit on his potty whenever he wants just to be getting used to it.   Wednesday while we were at my mom's I was changing his diaper and he wanted to go sit on the potty.  I asked my mom if he had ever actually went to the bathroom on the potty for her and she said no.  He had never gone at our house either.  But of course since I said that, sure enough he pee peed in the potty.  I think I scared him half to death because I started cheering and he got this terrified look on his face.  He hasn't done it again since, but like I said we are just letting him get used to  the potty for awhile.

So proud of himself!

On Thanksgiving we took it easy and stayed home all day and went to my parent's house around 4pm where we had a great dinner!  Ryan's parents went to Texas to visit family this year, so we only had to have one meal.  It was nice not to have to indulge so much!  We definitely missed spending the day with Ryan's family too and seeing his family that usually comes in town!

The start to our day...B wanted to wear his KU hat as soon as he woke up.  We enjoyed some beer & football while B took his nap.  We are keeping Ryan's parent's dogs while they are out of town. We aren't used to lap dogs, but they are good girls! 

Baby Shane's first Thanksgiving!

Such a big boy not needing the handrail to walk up the steps

Meg & Dustin

Dad carving the turkey

Uncle Dustin & Brennen being silly! 

So thankful for our wonderful families! It was a wonderful Thanksgiving that made me realize how blessed we are!

Brennen 19 Months Old

My baby is 19 months today!  I really can't believe how fast time is flying by.  He is turning into such an amazing little boy and I just can't get enough of him!

Here he is this morning.  After I got him out of his crib and I was changing his diaper he said "snack" which means he is ready for breakfast, so I asked him if he wanted a bar (granola bar).  He said yes then said "chair, Elmo".   This meant he wanted to sit in his Elmo chair to eat his breakfast.  Then he said "Mickey, ball", which means he wants to watch the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episode that we have DVR'd about the bouncy ball. (I think we have only seen it about 1 million times.)  He knows what he wants and it is so fun to see him grow and change everyday. I just love the way he sits with his legs crossed and has his little pinky finger sticking out. It just cracks me up!  And he never wants to get dressed right away.  I usually let him run around in his diaper for 5 minutes until I tell him he is too cold.

My happy boy!

This picture was taken about a week ago, but I just LOVE it and I don't think I have posted it here yet. 

Just a few things I want to remember about this time are:

- You watch MMC as often as we will let you and you are crazy about the hot dog dance.
- You love playing with your trains (choo choos)
- You give your dogs bones and tell them to "sit"
- You could read books all day long
- You are in size 18 month clothes, size 6 shoes and size 4 diapers
- You can jump!
- You are pronouncing all of your words very well (some of my favorites are "biscuit", "money" and "love you")
- You love getting money and putting it in your piggy bank
- You can count to 10 (usually you skip 4 and 8, but with a little help you say them all)

I look forward to watching you grow and learn new things everyday!  Happy 19 months my sweet little man :)

Double Weekend Recap

I never got around to posting last weekend's recap, so I am just going to do both in one post.

Last weekend, we had a very busy weekend but we had a lot of fun!

Friday night we made some last minute plans and went to Panzon's with some of Ryan's coworkers. Brennen ended up just staying at my parent's house, so he got to have two sleepovers with them this weekend.

Saturday we watched our nephew Landen for a few hours and him and Brennen had a lot of fun playing. Then he took a 2.5 hour nap so I knew he had a good time!

Brennen loves his Landen!

We took B over to my parent's house Saturday night and my cousin Sheila was over there with her new baby Shane.  Brennen decided he needed to help Grandma feed the baby.  He was adorable! 

Saturday night we celebrated our friend Rachel's 30th birthday.  We went bowling and dancing and had a blast!

Happy Birthday Rachel!

Sunday my brother had booked a tour at the Boulevard Brewery, so Aunt Sarah, Caden & Landen came over to watch B while we went to the tour.  It was actually a lot of fun and I would definitely recommend trying it out if you have never been. I am not a huge beer drinker, but over the past year and a half I have learned to actually enjoy beer, so it was fun to get to try new kinds.

It was a wonderful weekend, but very busy.  On Sunday night I was really just wanting one more day to relax and do nothing! 

This past week seemed to go pretty fast.  It was Ryan's last week before starting his coaching job, so we tried to enjoy his free time as much as possible!

Friday night we ordered pizza and watched the KU basketball game.  It was so nice to just relax and spend time together!

A little half time play break!

Saturday, Ryan took a class out at Smoke n' Fire to learn more about his smoker. Then, we had Syler's 3rd birthday party at Monkey Bizness.  It is an indoor play place and Brennen had a blast!  After a much needed nap, we did some yard work.  Because of the wonderful KS weather, we had to get some of our leaves picked up.  It was in the 70's on Saturday and dropped into the 30's and rained most of the day on Sunday.  I am not quite ready for the cold yet.  Luckily, it is supposed to warm back up into the 50's for the rest of the week.

B playing and enjoying some birthday cake!

Here is B being silly in the bath. It was time to get out and instead he said "night, night" and didn't want to get out.  He thought he was pretty funny!

Since Sunday was so nasty out, we stayed home most of the day and got some organizing done around the house.  Ryan's parents came over for breakfast and to spend some time with Brennen. 

My happy boy...I just can't get enough of him!!

It was a very relaxing weekend, which was much needed. We have a pretty busy week and weekend ahead, so hopefully the work week will go by quickly and the weekend will be here before we know it!

Tracy