How To Eat Mashed Potatoes


Besides learning how to eat mashed potatoes during thanksgiving dinner, we have so much to be thankful for this year. It goes without saying that we are beyond thankful for our baby boy. He has turned our light of life up high and bright since the moment we learned of his existence.

So I won't get all mushy gushy on how much I love my baby boy- this whole blog is dedicated to doing that. Instead, I want to point out three "in between times" I am thankful for, that if I don't note now, I may forget ten years down the road.

I am so thankful for baby noises. His babbling makes me think that he has so much to tell me. He talks with so much enthusiasm too. I think we are going to have quite the gabber. My favorite baby noises are his belly laughs. You could combine all the wonderful noises in the world and they wouldn't compare to the deep belly Briggy laughs.

I am thankful for the indescribable bond with my son. He is a very social little bug, but when mommy is around, he would prefer to be in her arms only. I will never take this for granted  especially on the days I have been working countless hours and worry that he is going to forget me- then when I see him, he ALWAYS reassures me of the mutual love we share.

I am thankful for my partner in this parenting experience who is willing to lower a crib to the lowest setting in the middle of the night because I catch our crazy monkey on the video monitor gathering the blankets in a pile to step on so he can try climbing out of his crib. Ryan and I may not always know the right answers- but we try our best to be patient with each other in our first experience with parenting. He is my teammate, my best friend and rock.

What an unbelievable year. We are truly blessed.

From our family to yours....


Her Baby's Baby

My parents have been on a trip to NYC since Saturday morning. I love that city so much. I am thankful they were able to escape for a few days together. I volunteered to watch their house and their pup while they were gone.

It has been nice sleeping in my old room. But its a little different than when I was in high school. These passed 4 nights, I have shared my full bed with my husband, two dogs and at various times in the night, a baby. Needless to say, it was "cozy". I know Ryan will appreciate getting back to our own bed soon.

I assumed that work would slow down this week since it was the week of Thanksgiving. Fortunately, it has not. (I truly am thankful for it.) I have more active buyers and sellers right now than I have ever had at one time. In the meantime, I am still trying to take care of things for two households. I am not looking for a pity party- but sometimes a girl hits a wall. So I am SO thankful to Diane, Missy, Ryan, Bev, and others who have helped me juggle working and being a mom while my primary babysitter has been gone.

I have always been so appreciative of my mom. (Even more so than ever this week.) Not only what she does for me, but how she extends that motherly loving grace to those I love as well. My husband, family and my friends have all seen the nurturing spirit of this wonderful woman.

However, the love she has shown my son since before she even met him has floored me. I can't even comprehend my own love for him, so how can I begin to comprehend her love for him? She would do anything for my baby. She volunteers (YES-VOLUNTEERS) to watch him for me while I work with my crazy, inconsistent schedule. And she does it with a happy heart.

I know I am so fortunate to have my mom watch my baby so I can work. It eases my stress to know he is with her.

So thank you, Mom, for loving your baby's baby.

Loving Briggsy before his arrival
This is love.
Sweet chubby baby.
He has no choice but to be a Sox fan.
Love for her froggy.



Precious Moments

One of our friends who met Briggs in person for the first time this weekend mentioned to me that he looks like a "Precious Moments" baby with his big eyes. I thought that was such a cool thing for her to say. No one had ever made that comparison before. Now looking through his pictures, it really is true.

It's ironic because as a young girl I used to collect the little figurines. They meant so much to me because my mom would help me carefully pick one out- one in which spoke to my heart. If you aren't familiar with them, they are a Christian company. Each product has a scripture written on it. Each Precious Moment has a purpose, a message to portray that glorifies God and the love he has for His people.

A warm sense of love wrapped around me when I thought about what this could mean. My Briggsy belongs to the Lord. I am blessed enough to be his mom but ultimately he is His. He is God's "Precious Moment" baby. God knows his purpose. I pray God will use Briggs to help spread His love. What more could a mother ask for?

I give all my praise to The Lord for giving me the opportunity to have such a special part in raising God's Precious baby for His Purpose.

Catching A Baby Frog


Baby's First Halloween has kicked off the holiday season with Baby's firsts. It was also a first for us because it was the first time since we've been married that we didn't pass out candy- which has always been a fun experience for me because Ryan always gets suckered into giving kids way more candy than he should. We usually end up passing out items from our pantry by the half way point.


So I'm sure the kids of the neighborhood were very disappointed when they found a sign on our front door reading, "Sorry we aren't here- we are out trying to catch a baby frog! Happy Halloween!"

Luckily, we did catch the baby frog. We took him to both sets of grandparents where he received more kisses than candy. We also took him down my parents street to see everyone I grew up around. I'm not going to lie, we brought Briggs's Halloween bucket with us to ask for candy. Is there a rule against this? Obviously, we are not giving the candy to our 9 month old son. Should we be ashamed that we are bringing our cute baby frog to see our neighbors and in return receiving candy for... ourselves?

Rhetorical question. I don't want to know the answer. :)

I hope you enjoy the pictures in our quest to catch our baby frog. Happy Halloween!

The Great Pumpkin Briggsy Brown!

The family trip to the pumpkin patch was one to remember. Briggs enjoyed his first hayride, Dad enjoyed his apple snacks, and the Ryans enjoyed picking out the perfect pumpkin!

Despite the cold (why don't we live in warm weather again?) Our day of "fall family fun" with the boy was a success...until we got home later that night to find out that Ryan's pumpkin was half rotted-ha! It's the memories that count, I guess.