The Brandt Family

The New Boat

2009-06-29T14:02:00.000-07:00

While I was on my adventures in Illinois Dave decided to have a Father's Day Adventure of his own. He went and got himself a boat. Here's a sneak preview of our fun with the boat.

Trip to Illinois

2009-06-29T13:06:00.000-07:00

Drayton and I took a trip to Illinois these past few weeks. We spent a few days up north in the Dixon area and forgot to take pictures of the relatives we visited. I'm a little upset about that. Then we headed down to Gibson and stayed with Oma for about a week and a half. It was a long time to be away from our home and our puppy. We both were glad to get home.

We met up with Amy and Jesse at the park. Here's a few picture of those two silly little men. Jesse's putting rocks in his ears and D is eating them. You gotta love two year olds.

It was so hot and humid in Illinois Drayton is beat red and covered in sweat. Another reason to love the dry heat of Utah.

We spent quite a bit of time with Steve, Jamie and Lacy. They were so fun to be with. And I was so happy to finally have an inclosed yard where I could relax and let Drayton just go. Lacy was a good little Mama. They took a couple of baths together after a long afternoon of playing and when I finally got the camera out D got all upset cause Lacy wanted him to sit down.

Steve was a good entertainer. Here they are doing each others hair.

Tobie and Darcy recently got a swimming pool and we got to hang with them a few days to enjoy it and their great company. It was nice to spend quality time with them and catch up on life. Its always great to spend enough time with old friends that your beyond just catching up and just talking to talk.

Tobie was even lucky enough to get some cuddle time with the D. This is a rarity these days cause he's always on the go and no time for loves and cuddles. I hate it.

Oma took us to the Tea Room in Paxton. The food was good and it was fun to just sit and relax.

She also took us to the Miller Park Zoo. Drayton loved it. His highlight was the Merri-Go-Round and the seals. He could have spent all day watching the seals. Too bad it rained a little bit that day, but thank goodness not enough to ruin our fun.

Grandpa Brandt was so sweet to come up and meet with us in Gibson. It was the first time D and I have met him. It is funny to see how father is like son. David and Merle had so many of the same qualities. It was priceless to see Merle play with Drayton.

Easter

2009-04-24T15:48:00.000-07:00

Dave was out of town for Easter. We celebrated it a week late. It was more fun than I thought. He was excited to pick up all the eggs. He didn't care much for the eggs that had toys in them, unless they were a car.

John Deere my BFF

2009-04-16T15:45:00.000-07:00

Dave bought a few tracter (yeah more than one, Whatever). Everyday when we get home Drayton insists on sitting on it. He'll sit out there for a half hour if I let him. Actually, now that I think about I don't know how long he'd sit out there 'cause I've always had to drag his psycho little body screaming histerical into the house so he can eat dinner. He loves his John Deere tractor.

Tantrums? He's not 2 yet.

2009-04-04T15:42:00.000-07:00

Drayton has learned about tantrums. I had hoped this type of behavior would be late in arriving, but it looks like it is early. This picture shows an absolute mild form of his experiences. I'll post more in future as taking a picture is best way I've been able to manage my own feelings about the writhing, screaming, maniac child. I have a serious of really good ones that should be put up. One is in the bathtub, another in the car, I'm sure I'll be collecting endless photos of the demon child that sneaks out of my darling precious little man.

Vegas Baby, Vegas

2009-03-31T15:38:00.000-07:00

I realize that I look really buggy in this picture but it was the best one I had. Additionally, most of the other pictures that were taken on that trip weren't really appropriate to put on my blog. So enjoy this picture of me as a weirdo and my great friend Michelle. Jacque, Drayton and I met up with her in Vegas. It was great to hang out and catch up. I miss her so much, and Ang too.

Grand Junction, CO

2009-03-15T15:22:00.000-07:00

Drayton and I met our friends (Rebecca and Jimmy + kids) from Texas in Grand Junction Colorado. It was so great to see them and catch up with each others life. We went on a short hike. Drayton loved it. He was in this carrier for about 2 minutes and then had to hike the complete mile and a half on his own.

This is Independence Rock in one of the National Park close by.

Here I am trying to capture what adventure I have left in my little soul.

On our hike there were several little alcoves like this one. It was great!

This is Drayton being silly because he's so tired. He'd be silly crazy and then histerical. You gotta love a tired baby.

Jacque came with and she did a great job spoiling D. Here he is enjoying is breakfast since Jacque was nice enough to rig the whole situation up.

Cowboy Boots

2009-01-26T16:16:00.000-08:00

Christmas

2008-12-25T15:23:00.000-08:00

GreeKee

2008-12-15T16:17:00.000-08:00

Hangin Out Havin Fun

2008-11-20T15:21:00.000-08:00

Friends from Texas

2008-11-16T16:20:00.000-08:00

Dave's New Truck

2008-11-15T18:10:00.000-08:00

Dave traded the Jeep in for a new truck. Hard to believe, but we get better gas milage, cheaper payments, and lower interest rate. Plus he loves it!

Dave's Work

2008-11-15T17:57:00.000-08:00

Here's a few picture's of Dave at work

Halloween

2008-10-31T15:18:00.000-07:00

Hangin' out at Home

2008-10-18T12:59:00.000-07:00

Drayton has really taken to this tote. I use it to put his too small clothes into. So it was out one day while I was moving storage stuff around and he thought it was the neatest thing on earth. Everytime I try to put it away he gets upset and throws himself on the floor like a crazy kid. So we've decided to leave it out till the novelty wears off. Here he is enjoying the tote in the buff.

My boys have recently taken to chillin' with each other. Fred has always kept his distance, but now that Drayton is older I think he's realizing it is okay to hang together. So here they are getting close.

Just like Daddy

2008-10-18T12:56:00.000-07:00

Dave found a cute little CAT hat at the CAT dealership. It fits 'D' so well. I found a pair of carhard overalls at a second hand shop and had to buy them. He's like a little mini-Dave now.

All Natural Popcicles

2008-10-18T12:46:00.000-07:00

Dave is a popcicle fanatic. He eats an all natural grape popcicle every evening that he is home. So sometimes Drayton really wants one too. So here he is after a tough meal (speghetti in the hair) enjoying his popcicle with his Daddy.

Buddy's

2008-10-18T12:43:00.000-07:00

That silly little boy. I went to get him from a nap and this is what I found. He was laughing so hard to himself before I went in. Looking at himself in his little mirror that is strapped to his crib.

2nd Anniversay

2008-10-18T12:11:00.000-07:00

We headed down to Moab for our Anniversary. We were able to take the back side trail at the Archs since we took the Jeep. The trail was awesome, and a little scary at times. We did have a small mechanical problem, but since Dave is so handy it didn't pose a problem.

The last day we were there we did the Gemini Bridge trail. We were going to mountain bike it, but after riding our bikes about a 100 yards we decided that was stupid 'cause we have a Jeep. This is Gemini Bridge.
This is the opposite side of the bridge. I stood on the ledge and jumped up and down while Dave had a fit over it. It was fun!

Big D's First Birthday

2008-07-29T15:26:00.000-07:00

We celebrated the big day at Gma and Gpa's house in the backyard. We had a little kid pool, and a slip and slide. He didn't care much for the slip and slide, maybe next year. He actually got pretty upset with me when I slid him down it. He loved playing ball in the pool though, and eating popcicles and cake.

He loved the presents he got. He didn't quite understand how to open them up, but once they were opened he loved them. By the end of the day he had a little sunburn, but not bad. I should have put sunscreen on him, but he's never burnt before so I didn't think anything of it.

Mirror Lake in the Uintas

2008-07-10T23:39:00.000-07:00

I've always wanted to take Dave up to the Uinta Mountains and that is just what we did for the 4th of July. We didn't have any fireworks or parades, just the smell of food cooking on the camp fire and our cozy little baby snuggled up watching the flicker. After setting up camp we ventured off to Mirror lake and walked around it. It was so beautiful up there. Dave kept saying how he wished he could bring Tobe here to see it, and to camp like we camped.

This is the part Dave really wigged out over. That mound of white right next to him just off the trail is snow. He couldn't believe snow what still up there. It got real chilly at night; if you can imagine.
We thought it would be neat to come back with either a paddle boat or a blow up boat to really enjoy the lake. Lots of people were fishing, but that part doesn't seem all that neat after catching those huge fish in the gulf.

Quiet Sundays & Long Walks

2008-07-10T23:28:00.000-07:00

It was a quiet Sunday with cinnamon rolls for breakfast and playing with Drayton in our bed. In fact it was beyond quiet, it was peaceful. Content to just be together as a family with all our cares off the plate. We lounged around and decided to go for a walk. We started at Vivian Park up Provo Canyon. They have a bike and walking trail all the way down the Provo River till it runs into Utah Lake. We walked the first 3 miles. . .

Till we got the Bidal Vail Falls. We enjoyed the view and the cool water and headed back for the car.

It was a completely uneventful day, but at the same time very eventful. The long talks and the enjoyment of mountain, the river, the falls, and each other was priceless. We haven't had moments like this for a long time. It was an overdue quiet sunday with a long relaxing walk.

Next time we plan on biking all the way to the lake.

Drayton's Best Friend

2008-07-10T23:12:00.000-07:00

The older Drayton gets the more he is taking a liking to Fred. Now I can't say so much for Fred liking Drayton. We are struggling to teach him how to be soft. And with him on the move her is constantly after Fred. Fred does good though, just keeps on moving away from him. They really are cute together. You can tell sometimes Fred really likes the attention. Drayton enjoys climbing in and out of the dog kennel. It frustrates me cause it is one of the only places I don't vacuum regularly so he gets out covered in black dog hair. OOOoooohhhh!

Here's a good example of him attempting to be soft but failing miserably. Poor Freddie!

Father's Day

2008-07-10T22:03:00.000-07:00

We spent Father's Day with the family. Playing games and eating food. It was nice to be outside and enjoy the weather. Here is Dave chillin' with D. They both look pretty grumpy in this picture, but they aren't.

One cool thing about leaving near Mom and Dad is being able to celebrate days like this with them. It has been a long time since I got to tell my Dad Happy Father's Day and I love you in person.

Drayton really enjoyed the food. Here he is eating frog-eyed salad. He loved it!

The little man and his daddy had quite a bit of fun playing around. This is the day we realized he knew how to throw a ball. It is fun to play catch with him. Well, not quite catch but something similar.

Bathtime at Gma's

2008-05-18T23:08:00.000-07:00

Grandma's big sink is the perfect size for Drayton's bath time. He loves it! Plus it allows us to clean the kitchen and him to play longer in the water.

Josh is helping him out tonight! What a good cousin.

Happy Birthday Dad

2008-05-18T22:58:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Dad's birthday today. It was a little BBQ and pot luck side dishes. It was good to chat and spend time with everybody. We spent some time looking at all our pictures of hiking Timp on the big screen TV; that was lots of fun!

As always, Drayton's cousins took good care of him. Here's Cayden taking him for a spin in his walker.

I asked Mallory to give me a big smile and this is what I got. She is so darn cute!

Timpanogos Hike

2008-05-18T22:42:00.000-07:00

Dave wanted to hike to the cave at Mount Timpanogos, but couldn't make it cause of work. But we went anyway since we had it already planned. My brother and sister's family came to join Drayton and I on our hike. It was awesome. It allowed me to know exactly why we moved back here. The scenery is gorgeous, the weather wonderful, and you can't beat time with family. I love them all so much and it has been so good to spend time with them now that we live close by.

Here's a picture of the whole group.

Drayton took a nap the whole down. I was so glad Todd was there to help me with him. I would have been really sore if I didn't have him to help carry the little man.

Another Good-Bye Texas

2008-05-18T21:57:00.000-07:00

This was my last Beach Day in Texas. Well, hopefully not, I hope to come visit and have many more. Jess opened up her beach cabin for us to hang out it. It was fun! Here is Kasi chillin' on the beach.

Matthew is enjoying the waves. He's a silly kid. I miss you Matthew!

Drayton took several breaks from the sun in the Beach Cabin where Mexia and the other kids took good care of him.

We played washers while we were at the beach. It seemed to go on forever, but I think I was just a little preoccupied. I especially loved to watch Megan try out her new ballet moves; Jess is such a good teacher.

Meg played with D and he loved it!

Good-bye Texas

2008-05-18T21:43:00.000-07:00

We had the big Yearly Crawfish Boil and the girls turned it into a good-bye texas party. We had a lot of fun. I'm really missing the girls now that I'm here in Utah. Here you can see how much fun we have together trying out our oral mech exams on each other, and imitating our clients. Brandon was such a good cook, he even made it less hot so that I could actually enjoy the flavor. Thank you!

Easter

2008-03-28T19:26:00.000-07:00

I wondered what the Easter Bunny was going to bring for Drayton. I'm was happy to see only functional toys that he could enjoy instead of lots of candy to make his mom fat. It as a good day!

1st Haircut

2008-03-10T19:31:00.000-07:00

I had really wanted to wait for his first birthday but his hair was looking ridiculous. It was so stragley, and people wouldn't stop telling me how bad it looked. So we went and got it cut. I cried once I was in the car. It made him look like a little boy and not a baby.

Poopin' and Eatin'

2008-02-10T19:09:00.000-08:00

Here's a few funny pictures of Drayton eating and pooping at the same time. The first one is just eating and getting messy.

Just another day!

2008-02-08T14:02:00.000-08:00

Drayton always has fun at Stacy's house. Here they are outside playing around.

Christmas Morning

2008-01-08T22:00:00.000-08:00

This will probably be the only Christmas I'll be able to sit down to breakfast before having to deal with Santa Claus' surprise. Drayton ate gram crackers (Gpa introduced him to them on our vacation) while I ate the famous egg breakfast.

Then we were off to see what Santa brought him. Santa kept it pretty simple this year given Drayton's level of interest.

He got the classic holiday cartoon series with Frosty the Snowman, Rudolf the Rednosed Reindeer, and more. I'm sure he'll watch them every year during the Christmas season.

Mom's christmas tree was beautiful, as always!

Sunday at Gma's House

2008-01-08T19:54:00.000-08:00

Drayton got all bundled up to make the walk to church. You gotta love how comfortable that coat looks.

This was his Sunday outfit that he grew out of while we were in Utah. He still looks pretty darn cute though.

Drayton - 5 months

2008-01-08T19:09:00.000-08:00

I'm realizing my baby isn't a baby anymore. He doesn't like to cuddle so much these days or let you hold him like a baby. He's got to be up where he can see things. I'm learning to cherish the times he actually smiles at my kisses. His hair is getting so long. But I'm still sticking to the one year mark for a hair cut. He still hasn't rolled over since the one accident at 3 months, but he'll get there.

He got his first Harley shirt. Daddy was so proud.

Snowmobiling

2008-01-08T18:40:00.000-08:00

Our snowmobiling trip is quite the story. We've been planning this outing for over a month with the help of my brother. We were all set up to rent 4 machines and borrow 3. The kids were coming up later to sled and play around. As Dave said, it was going to be a "Winter Lake Powell" event. But to our dismay the night before the rental machines didn't show up, and one of the borrowed machines broke down. We got screwed. We were all SOOO MAD but mostly really sad and disappointed. But our good neighbor Dave came in for the rescue (seen below). Because he had three machines Robert and the Dave's were able to go. They had a blast.

This is Robert getting stuck in the snow.

Here' s Dave taking a break from the rough ride. They actually drove across Strawberry Lake, only later to find out it was only froze over 3 inches. DANGEROUS!
Dave the Neighbor was smart enough to make them each wear a GPS tracking device just in case of an emergency.

Salt Lake Temple Lights

2008-01-08T18:19:00.000-08:00

We were able to make a trip up to Salt Lake to look at the temple lights. It was pretty cool. They seemed to use a lot of orange lights this year. The consensus among our group was that it looked pretty tacky. But still amazing, the time and effort left us all in awe. Robert and Janet's crew were fun to hang out with, depite it being ridiculously cold.

Josh came along too. His company was great. Later we went out to dinner and the conversation was enjoyable. Here Dave and him are goofing off. Boys will be boys!

It would have been too cold for Drayton so he stayed home with Grandma. But here's Dave and I all bundled up.

This is a picture of the organ in the tabernacle. It was amazing to see the acoustics of the building. They dropped a pin and you could here it as if you were right next to it. Plus she talked in a normal voice while turning in a circle and the volume never changed. It was cool!

Christmas Eve

2008-01-07T22:48:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve was spent at Grandma's House. We did the traditional play of Christ's birth. It was nice to remember what the season is all about. Here's a few pictures of hanging out with the family afterward.

Drayton was up way past his bedtime. I think he was on the look out for Santa. Doesn't he know that is a naughty thing to do! HA!

Zach was so good with Drayton. It was nice how well his cousins took care of him. It gave me a nice break!

Progressive Dinner

2008-01-07T22:11:00.000-08:00

Just as we arrived in Utah we sped off to Price to start our Progressive Dinner with the family. For those who don't know what that is - We eat one course of the meal at each family's home; appetizers at one house, salad at another, etc. It was so good to see everybody. Jon's family was awesome as they shared their talents. It was a lot of fun!

Cayden and Skye met Drayton for the first time and took care of him like pros. Skye is the little Mama, despite dropping him once. No worries, he didn't land all that hard. It was good to see him with his cousins. It made us really see the benefits of living closer to home.

Here he is opening his first present.

Drayton got a little car to ride around in the gift exchange. I'm sure he's going to love it as soon as he realizes what it actually is.
Here's Daddy teaching him to do a wheely on it!

Belated Suprise Birthday

2007-12-18T17:11:00.000-08:00

With the help of Dave's friends we pulled of a belated suprise birthday party for Dave. So thanks to all for showing up and help planning and pulling the event off. Especially Steve, you made things so easy for me.This was also the first time his friends got to see Drayton. It was great to show the little guy off. And he was such a trooper with the staying up late. He's so laid back.

Great Grandma & Great Oma

2007-12-18T09:28:00.000-08:00

Grandma Rorer lit up when she saw Drayton. The two of them had a blast together. I'm so glad. Those moments alone made the trip worth it. We took Pam (Dave's Mom) over to visit Grandma Rorer. I only wish we had more time to spend with them all. It felt like all our visits were rushed. But I'm thankful to be able to visit them.

Oma (Grandma in German) was so excited to see him. She thought he was so cute and hansome. It was nice to see them spend some time together.

Airplane Ride

2007-12-18T08:58:00.000-08:00

Drayton had his first airplane ride this past weekend. I was very nervous about it, because he had been a little sick before we left. When the engines geared up for take off his eyes got wide and worried. Dave and I put on the biggest smiles ever to try and asure him it was all okay. When the plane took off, he broke out into a huge smile. Dave was so proud of his little thrill seeker. Oh, notice the shirt, Thank you to Steve. We love our little Illinois pride clothes. They will come in great in big ole Texas.
The plane was practically empty. So Dave got three seats all to himself. It was a great flight. On the decent I got a little scared. The plane was wobbling pretty good. I looked at little 'D' and he obviously caught on I was scared. He had his bottom lip pulled down in a big square frown and was about to cry, but I quickly changed my tune and he was all smiles. Its crazy how easy they pick up on your vibe.

Tummy Time

2007-11-11T10:10:00.000-08:00

Drayton rolled over the other day. It was a total accident and hasn't happened since, plus it surprised him more than anything. So hopefully after a couple more accidental roll overs he'll figure out its something he can do on his one. He doesn't like tummy time all that much. He only tolerates it for a few minutes, and then he throws a fit.

Halloween 2007

2007-11-11T08:55:00.000-08:00

Halloween was a short one this year. We are lucky to keep Drayton up till 7:00pm, and Dave had to work late. We ended up waking him up at 8:00 to put his costume on and take pictures with his pumpkin. It was fun though, even though it was only a few minutes. Next year we'll be able to get into it a little more.

Dave and I carved pumpkins for the three of us on Hallow Eve. It was a good time. We had lots of talk about past memories, good times with friends and family, plus the roasted pumpkin seeds were good. I love Dave, our time together is always a good one. That's how you know your with the right person, when being together is all the fun you need.

We were pretty impressed with their turn out. Dave's ended up pretty manly and mine was cute, plus Drayton has Dave's eyes, and my smile. Yeah, we spent way to much time thinking it all out, but that was the fun part.

3 months old

2007-10-28T13:59:00.000-07:00

Drayton and Dave hangin' out watching TV together. It seems he's looking more and more like Daddy the older he gets.

Check out the double chin. He's our little chunky monkey!
Here's the little guy sleeping. Notice how he clutches that blanket, he can't seem to sleep without it. His little greekie.

Eating Cereal

2007-09-28T19:26:00.000-07:00

This is totally the best picture we've gotten of his pricelss smile. I never thought a smile could bring tears of joy to me, but this Mom stuff is more awesome than I ever thought possible. I love my little 'D'.

Drayton got to try out some cereal for the first time, and it was all caught on camera. Here he is alert and wondering what he just ate.
His first spoonful of rice cereal. I manned the spoon and Dave manned the camera.
And his surprise reaction to this totaly foreign substance, and definately nothing like the booby juice he's used to.

San Antonio

2007-09-28T19:04:00.000-07:00

When hurricane Humberto hit and we lost our power we had to leave town. Drayton couldn't handle not having A/C so we decided to vacation in San Antonio for the weekend. Funny thing is 10 minutes before we got in the car the power came on. Here's a picture of the boys. Dave's friend Paxton and his son Maddox came with us for fun, plus to lighten the expense. Here we are at Sea World!

They had this cool water skiing show. Here's a picture of just one of the stunts they did. They did a lot of jumps and barefooting. I learned that to barefoot the boat needs to be going at least 35 miles per hour, that was nice to know 'cause my family has always wondered on our many trips to the lake.

Here we are waiting for the big Shamu show to start.

The next day we headed to downtown San Antonio. It was strange to see a major city built up around the Alamo. Not quite how I've always pictured it. I still never got the whole story on the Alamo, though. I'm going to look it up on the internet. I figure now that I've lived in Texas I should really know that.

The river walk was one of my favorite parts of the trip. Under the city they have a river with restuarants and shops all along the edge. Its sirene!

Blessing 2

2007-09-19T18:53:00.001-07:00

Here are the professional pictures of Drayton in his blessing outfit. He's such the little man. Funny story to go along with it. We got up that morning and took all the necessary precautions to have a good picture day: a nice morning bath, used one of the better diapers, fed him just before picture time to make sure he was happy. I finished combing his hair and Kristi (my sidekick) mentioned we should change his diaper just before the shoot to make sure he's content. That's when we realized he's had a blow out. Completely up his back, out the diaper, soaked through the undershirt and the blessing outfit, not to mention out his pant leg. 30 wipes later, there he was ready for pictures in a poo'd on outfit. I was tempted to just say forget it, but this was my third attempt to get out and get this done, and if I didn't get it done soon he was going to out grow the cute little booties Gma made. As you can see it all ended up working out okay. I just felt bad for making him sit in his own poo for an hour while we took pictures of him.

I love the hat. We got one picture developed into Sepia and it looks cool cause of the hat. Seems like he's old timish, if you know what I mean.Here's the one smile we got. He's been smiling so much lately and it was like pulling teeth to get this one smile and his hand's in his face. I think he was a little peturbed about the poo on his clothes. He looks good though!

I like how the shawl Gma made looks in this one. This one is my favorite.

Blessing

2007-09-09T19:37:00.000-07:00

Today was Drayton's big day at church. He looked so cute in his all white clothes. Not to mention cozy too, thanks to Gma's hard work on the blankets. Everybody loved them, the highlight of his outfit was the booties though, no body could believe Gma made them herself. Thank you Mom!

After the blessing we headed off to the Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Of course this is completely unmormonlike, but sometimes its just not practical to meet at a two room apartment to celebrate such an event. Anyway, here's a picture of our little family on his big day.

Here's the wonderful Stacy! She's Little 'D's babysitter, and not to mention a great friend. Thank you for showing up Stacy and Dennis, and Sandra D too (she always brings happiness with her).

Another friend, Amy. She's one of the many second hand mother's he's developed at school. I love my girlfriends at school. What would I do without y'all? Isn't Drayton adorable in his little hat. We weren't going to use it, till we saw it on him.

Rebecca and her family came in full force. I must say the Major's family has been so good to us. They are one of the few reasons Southeast Texas has been somewhat tolerable. Thank you Majors, more than you will ever know. You truly are sent from God in our time of need.

So that's the crew that showed up to celebrate. It was nice to have friend there since we don't have family around. Especially for such an important event. Also, I plan on getting some professional pictures of Drayton in the next week or so in his blessing outfit and I'll post those once they are in.

1st Anniversary

2007-09-05T19:44:00.000-07:00

We headed out to Fredricksburg thinking it would be a great get-away. Only to find the town filled with way too many people. We felt like cattle being herded, and it just wasn't what we were looking for for our Anniversary vacation. It was a cute town, we just weren't in the mood to deal with people. I guess we're getting anti-social in our aging. This is a picture of Dave enjoying his Sunday Brunch.

Since Luckenbach was only 5 miles from Fredricksburg we had to head down there just to be able to say we'd been there. For all you non-old school country fans, this town is in the song by Waylen Jennings and Willie Nelson called "Back to the Basics of Love"

"Let's go to Luckenbach, Texas,with Waylon and Willie and the boys,

This successful life we're livin'got us feudin' like the Hatfields and McCoys.

Between Hank William's pain songs

andNewberry's train songs

and"Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain,"

Out in Luckenbach, Texas,ain't nobody feelin' no pain.

We finally found our element out at Enchanted Rock. We hiked around for about 4 miles. We will definately be going back for some extensive hiking. We only wish we would have found this little gem on day one instead of day 3 of our vacation. Little D enjoyed his first hike too.

Sleepy Night Night

2007-09-05T19:20:00.001-07:00

These are Dave's favorite moments, when the little guy is peaceful. There is something priceless about a sweet sleeping baby. Not that he's a terror when he's up, its just that there is something beyond serene when he's sleeping. Like maybe he's talking with God or playing with angels.

Dave enjoying the moment!
Dave caught me attempting to enjoy a few last minutes of sleep before facing the day after a long night of up and down feedings. I love the one eye open sleep he's got going on here. He's not sleeping all that soundly, hence me hoping he'll drift off for just a half an hour.

This one isn't a sleepy night night shot, its a booby bliss shot. Those moments after feeding when he acts like he's high of the booby. Let's hope this kind of passion doesn't stay with him in his teen years.

Bath Time

2007-08-30T19:55:00.000-07:00

It seems like everybody got to show off bath time pictures. So here's Drayton getting all cleaned up. He isn't quite able to splash and play yet. He pretty much relaxes, it's almost like he melts a little in the warm water.

In this picture you can see he is getting to his relaxing. Soon after this picture he just fell asleep. He's so cute!

Our Hairy Man

2007-08-30T18:03:00.001-07:00

As most of you know, Drayton has been blessed with a crazy amount of hair. So we thought we should post pictures of all the fun we have with it. First you see his nice looking hair, combed over like a good little boy.

We also tried out a little mohawk. This is my personal favorite.
Lastly, this is his fuzzy head. This is his natural look, just after a bath. To be honest, this is how he looks most of the time. It relaxes after half a day or so.

1st Family Photos

2007-08-17T12:42:00.000-07:00

Here's some pictures we had taken about a week ago. It is our first family portrait. I wasn't especially happy with them, but they do the trick.

This is Drayton with his Daddy. Isn't he precious. Once again the hair rocks, we'll have another blog coming soon all about the hair. I think you'll enjoy it!

So at first glance it appears we have an awnry baby. Well we don't. This is another Mother's lesson that I learned. Last I check he was only eating about 2 oz. of booby milk (that was when he got home from the hospital), so because we were on the go I supplemented with 2 oz. of formula and thought we were good to go. Stupid me! After fighting him for decent pictures, we headed out for Houston, at which time I hooked myself up to the milker (Dave's new nick name for me is Nelly Bell) and realized the kid is eating like 3 1/2 oz. So he was starving all through pictures and I was clueless. Mom stuff is a new world for me, it's a learn as you go. I really hope Drayton survives all Dave and I's learning experiences.

Here we are again. Aren't my two men hot?!

First Photo Session

2007-08-05T00:15:00.000-07:00

His first photo session was our first day out. Mom, Dad and Jacque were wonderful to come along. It was actually quite the learning experience. He ended up pooping all over Grandma during a diaper change, I realized I didn't bring an undershirt for him, and he was hungry half way through. This baby stuff takes a lot of forethought, I'm used to just up and going and doing. I'll get it figured out soon enough and he'll be a going baby.

Check out the hair on his arms. You can't see it too well everywhere else, but it is there, believe me. He's our hairy little man. I love it!

He's Here! :) Drayton David Brandt

2007-08-01T17:14:00.001-07:00

Drayton arrived on July 24, 2007. We didn't anticipate his arrival that early. After attempting an external oversion to move him into the head down position instead of breech, his heart rate kept dipping low and I was having inconsistent contractions. Thus, we were unable to go home and wait a week, we needed to have a c-section that day. The doctor had three emergencies and one schedule c-section besides us and we finally rolled into surgery at 10:00 pm. Here's a picture of Dave all ready to observe his little boy come into the world. He was sooo nervous. He paced around wondering if he was ready, but hey, ready or not here he comes!

Drayton weighed 6 lbs 4 oz, and was 18" tall. He's covered in hair, on his head, arms, back, it is everywhere. He's our little monster. Actually, he's a really good baby. He doesn't keep us up at night or all those horrible things people told us to get ready for. We actually have to wake him up to get him to feed so that we can maintain a schedule.He's got my nose for sure and Dave's chin. He's got an obvious dimple in his chin just like Kirk Douglas. His complexion is dark. He is a very pretty baby, but we are partial. We thought he had a gimpy ear, but it must have been from being smashed for 9 months, cause it's going back to normal.

Here's a picture of me and my son at the hospital. I was exhausted, I didn't sleep much in the hospital. Life is getting on its way now, and I'm figuring out this Mommy thing. I'm liking it, it will be hard to leave him for the little time I have to for school. I'm just glad my professors are working with me and I'll only have to leave him for 15 hours a week.

Beach Days

2007-07-18T19:27:00.000-07:00

This will be a summer I won't forget. I've created friendships and learned lessons I'll charrish forever. We've all reached the half way mark, hard to believe but true. I pray you will keep in contact as we all venture off to our future endeavors. This summer will be nastaga for me that I never anticipated.

In the gulf coast there are a lot of the Red Fish. I've thought it was funny, cause they aren't red, they are yellow. Anyway, they are pretty big. Brandon caught two this day, one of which was 42". On another day (one that I didn't have a camera) he caught two baby sharks. That was cool to see.
The famous pointing pictures, headed off by the famous Jess. I love it! I'll never point or see somebody else point without thinking of your cheerful, boisterous personality.

This is me doing my sexy belly dance. Kristi is the founder of the belly dance, discovered in late night clubs when she's three sheets to the wind. Funny thing is she actually got a completely sober pregnant chic to dance along with her.

Oh, and the Puppies. The chihuahua was just a temporary stay, he's a cutie and I'm glad we found him a home. I hate all the strays we have around town.

This is the crew. Well some of them. We had a fun time. I'm glad Jess figured out the timer on her camera so that this picture was possible.

Those girls were so considerate of me all summer being pregnant. I was pissed off that I wasn't getting tan on the back and they dug a little hole for my belly. It worked pretty good, but strained my back. But I did get some sun on the back.
Here I am putting my belly in the hole. That is pretty sad looking, crazy pregnant lady.

I'm becoming a fattie

2007-07-17T23:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm officially 37 weeks along and the little guy is still breech. The plan is to get an ultrasound and an X-Ray tomorrow and find out if we can go without a c-section. If it looks good, then we will attempt to turn him. If he turns then we'll induce right away, if he doesn't we'll go ahead with the C-section. We're looking at turning him on Friday if the scheduling works out with all the hospital staff. Which means we will be having a baby Friday, CRAZY! All the scheduling is up in the air, so we'll keep you posted.
35 weeks! Five more weeks to go. I'm not sure I'm ready for it. I'm getting to the uncomfortable stage, but not quite uncomfortable enough to say I'm ready. I can see that attitude coming shortly though. I've got an appointment on Tuesday and hopefully the little guy has done some moving around and is standing on his head. We'll see!

He's really starting to poke out there. Yesterday was the first time I thought I'm absolutely sick of being pregnant. But he still better wait till the school semester finishes before he comes. I'm so excited to see him though.

I had about a month inbetween pictures, so here's the latest. I'm having difficulty with reaching my feet, Dave has been nice enough to tie my shoes for me.

26 weeks ~ It seems my butt is growing just as much as my belly. Aaaauuugggghhhh!

This was a horrible outfit, I won't ever wear it again after seeing this picture.

He's moving around quite a bit now. I think we've decided a name, Drayton David Brandt.

This is a cute outfit, I should wear it more often.

It's a boy!!! I'm pretty stoked. I'll be taking a weekly picture and posting it here for all to see.

Baby Shower

2007-07-02T13:47:00.001-07:00

The girls from school threw me a baby shower. It rocked; thanks to these beautiful woman who headed it off. THANK YOU! I had tons of fun, too!

Ms. Creative (Kristi) put together the two block cakes. Being the speechies that we are she put "It's a boy!" in phonetics. Amy tracked down a specialty cake, despite having to compete with all those 07/07 weddings. I appreciate all the time and emotional energy that went into them. Plus it was cool to see Drayton's name on the cake.

This is Mitzi trying to figure out just how fat I am. I guess she figured I was the length of her leg from the heel to her knee doubled. Great method!

It wouldn't be a baby shower if we didn't smell messy diapers. Patty, I love your facial expression on this one.

Another silly game, but it was a blast. We shoved balloons up our shirts to see who could fit the most. A couple got 9 ballons up there. My super prego shirt fit 9 too.

Check out all the loot I got. You girls rock. Thank you for helping with Dave and I's new addition!

Mom and Dad

2007-06-30T20:25:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd include a picture of my heros. It seems the older I get the more I learn to appreciate all they are. Especially with my own little bundle of joy on his way. My Mom often says to me in our recent conversations, "I'm glad its you and not me," and I agree they've done there share to improve this world with eight wonderful souls. I'm just priveleged to have their example to follow as I try to help Drayton become everything the Lord has planned for him to be.

They've never been dog people, but they sure are now. It is kind of weird for me to see them treat these cute little dogs (Gracie and Squirt) so well, but I have my own little puppy and completely understand.

I love you Mom and Dad!!!

Right Side Up

2007-06-19T16:08:00.000-07:00

Today we had our 34 weeks check up. Come to find out he's right side up when he should be upside down. We're hoping he'll turn in the next 3 weeks, otherwise we'll attempt to turn him manually. It did give us the opportunity to get another picture of the little guy. It is a close up of his face, hopefully that will help orient you to what your looking at.

Hair Chopping

2007-05-10T20:44:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm chalking this one up to the hormonally pregnant woman inside me. I don't like it, the haircut not the pregancy.

The before picture is much better. But, oh well, what is done is done. I think my face look fatter, I didn't realize it had filled out so much with the pregnancy.

So to make is all worse, I can't even get it to look as good as the stylist did. I'm hoping I'll get the hang of it here soon.

Crawfish Boil

2007-04-01T18:04:00.000-07:00

One of the big things to do in South East Texas in early spring is a Crawfish Boil. They boil a bunch of live crawfish and then spend the night working for the meat. It was really spicy, too spicy for Dave and I. But it was great to hang out with friends and just be together.

Here's some of the girls from school. They are great, I'd be lonely here without them. Amy hosted the crawfish boil so I could see exactly what it was all about. Luv you, Amy!

Here we are just chillin' with friends at the boil. It was nice to finally have a group to hang out with here in this new place.

First Pictures ~ Drayton

2007-03-01T23:57:00.000-08:00

Here's our little boy. I think the ultrasound made reality sink in for me. I can't believe I'm going to be a Mom, I'm kind of scared.

This is a picture of his chin. We were checking for a cleft, no cleft, WooHoo!

This is his heartbeat. It was about 70 beats per minute. It kind of scared me being so high, but they say that is normal for 20 weeks.

What a cute profile!

Here's his merchandise, proof of a boy!

In the Beginning

2006-09-02T22:17:00.000-07:00

In September 2006, shortly after arriving in Beaumont, TX for graduate school, Dave and I eloped to South Padre Island.

I got the memorable wedding I've always wanted, and the man of my dreams!

We found a local hang out that made us feel like me just stepped into a Kenny Chesney video. They even grilled up the trigger fish we caught deep sea fishing that day.

Fred

2006-08-15T18:31:00.000-07:00

We had to include a little bit about our puppy, Fred. He really isn't a puppy but it seems he's stuck looking small the rest of his life. Everybody thinks he's a puppy, and he eats that up. The other picture is him falling asleep on the beach. He's been a handful, but we love him

The Black Pearl

2006-07-01T23:20:00.000-07:00

Our first summer we spent together with the "Black Pearl". Isn't she beautiful. We both miss her!