Happy Father's Day, Jared!

Jared is such a wonderful daddy to Brenna. She loves him so much already. Some of their favorite things to do together are playing on the floor, making goofy noises, playing peek-a-boo, and riding on daddy's shoulders. As soon as Jared walks in the room, there is a huge smile on Brenna's face. I am so thankful for a husband who spends time with our baby. He not only plays with her, he helps out a ton. Thank you, Jared, for being such a great daddy to our beautiful baby girl. You are already a great example to her of what our heavenly Father is like. I love you!

Clothes Swap

Last night I participated in a Clothing Swap. It was a lot of fun! This is how it works. Everyone who participates cleans out their closets and picks 10-15 items they don't want anymore. It could be shirts, dresses, jackets, pants, purses, shoes, belts, hats, jewelery, etc. You drop them off at the hostess house a few days before the event so she can sort through and organize them by size/type/etc. When you arrive at the swap, you rummage through the clothes and try on anything you want, but then you have to put them back so other people can try them on. To make it fair, everyone draws a number and then you take turns and pick one item each round. After 4 or 5 rounds it's a free for all. I drew #3 last night, so I fared pretty well :) My first pick was a pair of dark jean trousers from Express. They are really cute, but of course I have to get them hemmed!!! I had a ton of fun since it included some of my favorite things.....people, clothes, food, and good deals. :)

Congratulations Ryan & Dana!!!

My brother, Ryan, got married this weekend to Dana Miller. We are so excited for them. The wedding was beautiful and Jared & I had the priviledge to stand with them as a bridesmaid & groomsman. We love Dana and are so excited she is officially part of the family now!

A little bit about me.

My friend Nealy tagged me for this. She is a great friend from college and has a great blog. This is actually my first post...thanks Nealy for getting me out of my comfort zone. :) I actually wrote out the answers on Sunday afternoon, but am just getting time to post it.

I am…a mommy of a 7 month old.
I want…to go to the Caribbean sometime.
I wish…I could blog as well as my friends Nealy & Steph :)
I hate…to be late.
I miss…free time. I feel rushed lately.
I fear…mice.
I feel…tired. I just got back yesterday from my brothers wedding. Tons of fun, but exhausting.
I hear…nothing. I'm the only one not napping at my house.
I smell…the after effects of a yummy lunch my wonderful husband made us!
I crave…chocolate M&M's.
I search…for good deals, especially at garage sales & thrift stores.
I wonder…what life would be like if my first pregnancy wouldn't have ended.
I regret…not going on a nice vacation before we had a baby.
I love…my babe, Jared.
I ache…after I hold Brenna too long. I'm definitely out of shape!
I care…for my beautiful baby girl Brenna.
I always…am ready for ice cream.
I am not…creative.
I believe…that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
I dance…the Swing w/ my awesome partner Jared.
I sing..."You Are My Sunshine" to Brenna every night before bed.
I cry…on Monday mornings...well, not every Monday morning.
I don’t always...remember to put the laundry in the dryer.
I fight…hardly ever.
I write…in a prayer journal.
I never…enjoy cleaning the bath tub.
I listen…to the radio.
I need…lots of sleep.
I am happy…with my life right now. God is so good.

Now I'm tagging Hollie C. & Kristy S.

Weekend on the go, go, go!

We had a fun-filled crazy weekend...glad for the gorgeous weather. Friday night we helped a couple in our Connection Group move...all their stuff into a Uhaul in 1 hour! Saturday morning down to West Des Moines to participate in the March of Dimes for Babies walk at Raccoon River Park. We walked to support Nolan (Nick and Jacky Sklenar's little boy) who was born premature. 3.5 miles around the lake...pretty windy, but we weren't blown off course. Carl...you da man behind the stroller...get that grass out of your teeth yet? (Questions...ask me sometime) Saturday afternoon went to the Van Cleave farm to visit grandpa and grandma and many other family members...a get together to visit with Aunt Betty from Michigan. Check out dropshots for the up-close pic I got of a Baltimore Oriole on mom and dad's deck...amazing orange colors! Saturday evening we traveled to Clear Lake to visit our college friends Kyle, Nealy, Abby, and Andy at the cabin. Enjoyed some much needed relaxation, fellowship, and good food...might have stayed up a little too late, but it was worth it to watch some episodes of the Office (Season 1) and play a little Wii with Kyle and Andy. Sunday afternoon back home for a few minutes and then off to softball practice. Afterwards did the mowing, vacuumed out the Acura, and Steph and I cleaned up around the house. We're beat, but had a great time seeing everyone. Glad we got the weekend on camera...some great memories to bring in May.

Table Manners 101

Brenna usually doesn't join us for meals except while in her exersaucer or bouncy seat on the floor next to the table. A lot of times she gets fussy and seems to demonstrate that she's feeling left out. During one of our evening meals last week, we decided to put her up on the table with us...we think she is an extravert. We could tell she enjoyed that place of honor much better. There was some tin foil on one of the plates to keep some food warm and she couldn't keep her eyes off of it. Pretty soon she was bending way over to grab at the foil, and before we knew it she was nearly up-side-down. I told Steph to run and grab the camera. It was so funny. We'll have to help Brenna with a few of her table manners so she doesn't do this on her future dates.

Can Someone Say Disco Fever?

So we got together with Caleb, Maranda, and Easton the other night to watch some NCAA basketball. Caleb pulled out Maranda's shades and this is what happened. So funny! Easton would stick his tongue out or get big eyes while the flash was going off. Brenna was in bed already otherwise we would have tried it on her too. See more pics on dropshots. Someday these pics will be on his wedding video for sure!

"Captive" - Easter Production

Well, we are free from the POW camp now. All 5 services went really well. It was a lot of fun to hang out with the guys and bring our church a little something different than the traditional Easter service. Pretty positive response from most people. It was good having Jeff Dodge explain the different characters and the roles that they played. Here is a picture of what we looked like. The guys were so filthy and by the last service their clothes were pretty much black with make-up. This week I'll be Mr. Brown the Fox again for D6. Hope you can all come out and enjoy a laugh as I impersonate James Brown in an afro wig and fox tail. Swedish pigs are on the menu.

Charlie, Mr. Brown the Fox, Officer #1...let me explain

Many of you remember that I was Charlie in our church's Christmas production this year. Some of you know that I have shown up one time so far on stage at our church's family ministry (D6) as a James Brown impersonating fox named Mr. Brown the Fox along with the other Nursery Rhyme Woodland Creatures, and in a few weeks will make another appearance. Not many of you know that I will be acting in our church's Easter drama entitled "Captive" in a small but less than insignificant part as Officer #1. It takes place in a POW camp in the jungle...going to be pretty intense. I want to invite all of you to join us at one of the 5 services this coming Easter weekend to watch the drama and witness me in a full military uniform. I need to practice my salute. Go to the following link to get more information about the services and come to church so you can pick up your free tickets to one of the services.
www.cornerstone-church.com

Brenna's First Solid Food

We've come to a pretty huge milestone in the growth and development of our 4.5 month old...SOLID FOOD! Let the games begin. So apparently, you buy these rice flakes, mix them up with some of mom's milk, and watch your infant lap it all up like a dog and that's their introduction to solid food. Pretty funny stuff. It seemed like she enjoyed the food for the most part. The majority of it ended up in the convenient plastic pouch on the front of her bib. I guess so you can spoon it out of there and back into her mouth...we didn't do that by the way. From here it's on to a bunch of messy clothes, sticky floors, and crusty dried stuff on the walls. Can't wait! Enjoy the video on dropshots.