Another month....almost!

I am having trouble keeping track of what I have posted and what I have not....

Let's see- Brenton knows about 35 words now, but definitely picks and chooses when he wants to use them or use the good ole' "AHHHHHH!" to get our attention! It is so great, though- ball, up, truck, bus, taco, fish, ice, more, boom (usually pronounced boom-buh....it has 2 syllables in case you didn't know)....and on and on. Sadly, he has not yet said any of the nice- manners-words like please, thank you, you're welcome....we're working on that- little stinker!

We've had a lot of fun in the past few weeks- we went to Tulsa for Aunt Maranda's big 17! Yay High School Musical on ice! :) Of course it was great to spend time with my family- I miss them all the time. A few weeks ago the bank sponsored a family event at All Star Sports and Brenton got to ride-rides and play all day. Last weekend we took Brenton to a thing they had here in Wichita that was all about big trucks. Basically, whoever sponsored the event just had big trucks of all kinds parked in a huge parking lot and kids could climb on them and check them out, sit in the seats, push all the buttons, honk all the horns....etc. Brenton loved it! We sat him in the police car (yes, I know- that's not exactly a big truck) and the policeman taught him which button makes the sirens turn on and Brenton had it mastered. He would drive, drive, drive the steering wheel, then turn to his right and dink! SIRENS non stop! Then the policeman handed him the PA announcer-thing that projects outside the car and Brenton spoke right up and said, "HI!"! It was cute! After that we went to a new pumpkin patch and it was a lot of fun, too. They had a sandbox made out of dried corn kernel instead of sand (which I loved! no mess like sand!), a big hill-slide, animals, a playground, a little train, and of course lots of pumpkins.....or BALLS if you are Brenton. He was running around the field saying, "ball! ball! ball!" and picking up pumpkins and throwing them about 5 feet.....good thing he didn't actually break any! :)

So....I gotta run chase the baby and head off to the gym! Here are some pictures!

Let the traveling begin!

Now that Travis is no longer working at Red Lobster (yes, the end of an era, I know) our weekends are amazingly FREE- OPEN- NO PLANS- FREE TIME- ABILITY TO TRAVEL!!!!!!

So....here are visits to Manhattan and Tulsa in a nutshell:







Ok...this was in Wichita....but seriously- is this what Grandparents are for, or what? We were definitely not allowed to put the slide into the pool when I was growing up...boy have times changed!













Travis' grandparents in Manhattan
















She is an experienced wiggle-worm-book-reading-Grandma....and is about to be a Grandma X 3 in about two weeks!



















Grandma sets them up....Brenton knocks them over....Grandma sets them up.....Brenton knocks them over.....Grandma sets them up.....Brenton knocks them over.....




















Brenton and Sadie....they have both grown A LOT since their last time together.....but they still both fit in the chair....together. Sadie followed Brenton around all weekend and when she wasn't....Brenton followed her around....they are a great pair!

















Well, this one is in Wichita too.....but look how great he is doing! Brenton has great aim, but his biggest challenge is in getting food to stay stuck on the fork!






















ONLY GRANDPARENTS WOULD LET YOU LICK YOUR BOWL CLEAN.

(Queso at Ted's in Tulsa)

















And our trip would not be complete without CHICK FIL A!















And then we tortured my almost-17-year-old-little-sister!!! BEFORE

















AFTER- she got her ears pierced!!









So....we have been having a great time! This past weekend we even got out our bicycles and went for a long ride at the park! Brenton loves his new bicycle chair! We even have a few new little ones around us to enjoy- introducing:












Gavin Andrew! Hmmm....looks like I'm ready for 2.....NOT QUITE YET!




















And Erick! SO CUTE!

Pants!

I just have to tell you this really cute thing Brenton did this morning....

I was getting him ready for church (we're about to leave now) and I dressed him in new clothes he got for his birthday: khaki pants and a green and blue striped polo shirt. After I got him dressed I stood him down on the floor and you should have seen his reaction! He looked down at his feet and legs with the funniest face and slowly tried to lift his feet to walk....and then it dawned on me! He has not worn pants (as opposed to shorts) for a long time- in fact, not at all since he started walking! He thought the pants were pretty strange....but it only lasted about 2 seconds and then he was running around again like normal! :)

All picture post- keep scrolling down!!

So....that's our big-one-year-old in a nutshell! The party was at my sister's house, he loved his cake-- every piece of it! Someone gave him a piece of chocolate and a sucker and a juicebox when I wasn't looking! Brenton loves his new toys- check out the harmonica in his pocket! The radio flyer red race car is what Travis and I got him for his birthday- he has already figured out how to stand up in it! Brenton has picked up both swimming (the random guy in the picture holding him is his swim instructor) and golf! Oh- and check him out lifting those 1 lb. weights!! Whew.....isn't he cute!! :)

1st Birthday!

Brenton is now over 1 year old and we had a blast for his birthday! I have a bunch more pictures to upload still, but overall we had lots of people, lots of cake, lots of other sugar, lots of presents and special things, and LOTS of fun!

Brenton is about 25 pounds and 31 inches and is getting smarter all the time. He can now shake his head "yes" and does it very inappropriately! :) By inappropriately, I mean we will say something like "Brenton, you get down from there- mommy said" and he will grin from ear-to-ear and shake his head "yes!"!!!!! It is very cute- hopefully he will realize he can't just get away with things because he is cute at some point in his life!

Let's see....he can also say "mo" (more) now, and "ah" (all gone/all done), and he chatters lots of other not-understandable gibberish. I don't think I've updated his words in a while....so these added with the old ones make a total of about 15 probably. He got lots of new toys for his birthday that he is figuring out like blocks, a basketball goal, toy tools, and many more and he likes to see how things work by inspecting them, taking them apart, and NOT putting them back together!! We took swimming lessons recently too- by we I mean me and Brenton- he loves, loves, loves the water still, but has not exactly realized that he is going to have to learn to move his arms and kick to propel himself- he really enjoys being held and moved around- not so much doing it himself happening yet!

The newest not-so-fun discovery is that he has found me in the shower a few days. Yes....NOT FUN. He pulls the shower curtain open so fast and sticks his head in.....he gets wet....the floor gets wet....and the only way to prevent it is to block him from the hallway so that is what I have resorted to.

Travis is still working for Coleman and is really enjoying it. He probably won't be working for Red Lobster for much longer- we've had about enough of that place to last us a lifetime! He also took pictures at a wedding of a couple that we know a couple of weeks ago and not only did he do a great job, but we did it together and really enjoyed working together again. We also spent the most time together without Brenton that we have in a full year (at least)-- and it was wonderful!!! If you are interested in seeing some of Travis' work I would highly suggest navigating yourself to the Coleman website:http://www.coleman.com/coleman/home.asp The small picture towards the bottom on the right of the girl with the "Road Trip Grill LXE" Travis photoshopped, as well as if you click on "tailgating" from the "categories" menu you will see a picture in the center that Travis did basically all of (it says "Grill Hard. Play Hard."!! It is so awesome to actually see his work!! I guess you might be wondering what he did to those pictures.....there are lots of things, actually....sometimes it is correcting something on a person, sometimes it is removing labels from clothing that they don't have copyrights on (the blue jerseys were actually Dallas Cowboy jerseys), making the food on the grills look fresh. I hope that all makes sense.....I seem to be getting distracted often by a certain little boy and keep forgetting what I have already written....sorry the grammar might get a little out of control! Anyway- he starts back at Friends next Thursday for his last semester of college!! Yay for graduation in December!! We are counting down the days!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What about me....??....I am still enjoying working at the bank. I was promoted at 90 days and given a nice little raise (usually promotions do not happen until at least 6 months- so this was both unexpected and a nice way of being recognized for good work). I've spent a lot of the last several weeks preparing for little man's birthday and now am looking forward to our upcoming trip to Tulsa to see my family.

For those of you who don't already know- Travis' truck got totaled about 2 weeks ago in the WSU parking lot. We have been waiting on the other insurance company and should be receiving a check this week (FYI-there is only one business day left in this week- so I'm not exactly holding my breath!).

We'd love to hear from all of you so send us an email at t.m.wells06@gmail.com! Also, please send us the email addresses of any family/friend connections you have that I might not- I would love to continue updating my address book!

Now....for the pictures!





Brenton's first haircut.....and first sucker! :)












......after the sucker was gone........
















Brenton- our pride and joy :)- at 1 year!


















SO FUN!









The rest of the actual party pictures are yet to come! Check back again!