PICTURES!

5 months!

Brenton is 5 months old today and since the last time I actually got a few minutes to post on here a LOT has happened! Brenton's first Christmas was a blast-- he successfully made it through like 5 million Christmas-es and ended up with some great stuff. Thanks so much to everyone who listened to our requests-- Brenton now has clothes to last us until he grows again! Oh yeah...and of course like a billion new toys! :) Brenton is sitting up really well now, but still falls over when he gets too excited or tries to lunge for something. He doesn't quite seem to have the "I have to pull myself back up when I fall" reflex yet. He NEVER wants to be laying down now, though-- he insists on sitting up or standing all the time. He is so cute! We can already hold his fingers and stand him up and he will move his feet to take a few steps toward something that he wants....or start jumping up and down (probably because he loves bouncing in his rainforest bouncer). So many things (as I always say) are changing....he doesn't like his "baby" car seat, he wants to sit up and look around even when he is eating, he is picking things up, etc... wow! I still can't believe it! A couple of weeks ago we were at Great Grandma and Grandpa Hinkle's eating dinner and as usual Brenton was sitting up on my sister's lap as he refused to be left out of the 'action'. All of a sudden as we were talking he reached out, put both hands around my sister's cup (full of water), picked it up, and put it to his open mouth!!!!!! INCREDIBLE to watch-- he is so smart.....and obviously ready for some new challenges. Brenton also had his first taste of one of the greatest foods in the world that night-- mashed potatoes! He did great...so we started feeding him baby food shortly after. We are still trying to get consistent with a routine at this point, but he is getting better with the spoon all the time (with the exception of wanting to do it himself) and definitely prefers the good stuff- like mashed potatoes- over the baby food. I don't blame him! He is definitely starting to eat more as well....so we are trying to add more options than just milk.

Travis and I had a great Christmas as well....of course most of our attention was on Brenton....and for some reason Santa couldn't fit us a new house into his sleigh-- I guess we'll have to wait for the Easter Bunny. ;) Travis' time off from school has been great-- Brenton is enjoying having both of us around-- when the new semester starts I think we are going to have some more adjustments to make.

Today was a great day for me-- I got a makeover! Travis nominated me for a makeover at a salon and spa here in town and out of a whole stack of applicants I was selected! I had a great time, it was really nice of Travis to do that for me. Oh yeah...I forgot to mention that you can see the before and after of my makeover on KAKE News at 5pm next Monday, Jan. 14th. hahahaha....try to "miss" the before picture....it's not so great!

Now for the good stuff....let me see if I can get some more recent pictures up soon! We misplaced our camera between Christmas Eve night and Christmas day night so I will have to have our parents email us their pictures. Everything else is still in the camera waiting to be uploaded.......

Brenton was so cute in church this morning! A lady in our sunday school class had on this wild suit jacket that was black with neon colored plaid and Brenton kept leaning over my arm trying to grab it....the jacket even had fringe along the edges of the sleeve so when the lady (who was sitting in front of us) put her arm up on the back of the chair next to her he grabbed it! Anyway...here is another picture that we took of him to remember 4 months.

4 Months

December is finally here!

Wow-- December is finally here and flying by just like the rest of life. Brenton will be 4 months old this week-- I can't believe it. That means we've enjoyed him here with us for over 100 days now...and he has experienced probably well over a million "firsts". I can't help but think in everything that we do together it is the "first time" for him. Not just first holidays, and first milestones, but first time he moved his hand just like that, first time he saw that wall across the room, first time he felt the cold Kansas wind, first time he wore a coat, first time he saw animals, first time he made that sound....ok I'll stop because obviously this list could go on forever. I am so thankful for this little miracle of life, though-- he has shown me that life truly is a blessed miracle that we should not take for granted. Although his "firsts" are so exciting and wonderful to see happen, I've found myself experiencing "firsts" of my own because I have begun taking the time to realize the value of the little things in life. Try it-- you'll be blessed.

So...on Brenton's list of firsts in the past few weeks: Thanksgiving, meeting more friends and family, making all kinds of chatter, going to the zoo, getting a Christmas tree, visiting Chick-Fil-A like a hundred times in one week, rolling over with the help of the couch cushion, giggling, eating cereal....and like I said...the list goes on and on. Here are a few pictures:



This is mom's cousin playing with Brenton's play gym!

Another long post!

Wow...with as many pictures as I want to post on here...I should post more often! First things first, though-- this website is not giving me the option of posting video now, so I don't think I will be posting anymore unless that changes. Too bad...

Well, let's see...last weekend we went with Aunt Michelle and Uncle Jason to the pumpkin patch to get pumpkins. Our favorite pumpkin patch is closed this year, so I was a little upset...but we managed to get out of there with two pretty nice pumpkins.












Then, we went to the circus!! Brenton LOVED it-- he stayed awake and literally watched almost the entire show! He must take after his mommy :) And yes, I shoved my face with cotton candy and snow cone!
























And then we went to Great Gma and Gpa Hinkle's to carve pumpkins, roast the seeds, and put a silly clown hat on Great-Great Gma Frances!


























Finally, on Sunday, we went to introduce Brenton to Travis' family in Manhattan (by the way...did you see how bad those wimpy wildcats did Saturday?! uh-oh...I might get in trouble for that one! ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK GO KU!) Here is Brenton with Great Gma and Gpa Anderson, Great Aunt Cindy and Great Aunt Arlene, as well as cousins Eric, Caden and Nathan....I guess we missed out on pictures of cousins Holly and Emily. We'll have to sneak those during the holidays.
























And we got to see Heather and Josh-- congrats to them-- they are getting married in May!





































Wow! What a busy weekend....and then a fun, fun week with Brenton's first Halloween! Here we are: Abby and Peyton-- our puppies, a witch and a pumpkin, then Brenton meeting Aunt Tammy for the first time, and all of us having fun. Brenton made it around 2 blocks of trick or treating with the gang and only had to go home early because he all of a sudden became a very stinky giraffe-- if you know what I mean!































And, yes, Brenton is waving to you in one picture and getting ready to devour a tootsie roll in the other! jk....we're better parents than that!


So...I'm sure this post took up a TON of space, but come on-- you know you loved it! We are still having a blast with Brenton (good thing, right?) and enjoying each other...a little bit...as well. ;) Here are a few things to be looking forward to in our posts: Brenton turns 3 months old this week! hopefully we'll get him measured and weighed to see how he has grown, an early Thanksgiving with my parents/family this next weekend, Brenton's new amazing talents with toys-- including grabbing them, picking them up, and successfully putting EVERYTHING in his mouth, maybe a special Friends football game for the alumni-- that's right, folks-- alumni (ME! I got my diploma in the mail- it's official!), Brenton possibly cutting teeth early, and possibly a trip to visit Lisa and Caleb. All right...now that you're drooling (that's all we're about around here!) with anticipation...I am outta here!!