Fact: My baby is a human vaccuum cleaner.

Little B has turned into a mad man...or baby. whatever. Anyway, now that he is mobile he is going crazy. He gets into everything, he attempts to climb everything, and he BANGS everything. Yeah, just about everything we own has his grubby lil' fingers prints on it now.

 His newest fettish is eating everything off the floor. I don't even know how he finds some of the the things that he puts in his mouth. I feel as though I am gagging him twenty times a day. Yesterday for instance, he managed to rip off both of his OWN socks and shoved BOTH of them in his mouth...at the same time. He also found cat food, styrofoam pieces, a rock, a pen cap, and a bobby pin. I am not lying.

 However, even with the new desire for unedible objects he is not nearly has fussy anymore. After his birthday we took him into the hospital on the 10th to get tubes put in his ears.

Hallejulah! I heard angels singing that day.

 It took awhile for him to finally sleep through the night, but his is doing it now. He has always been a happy baby, but now he is a happy/mountain dew crazed/candy fed baby.

 My second round of giddiness happened when John finally got his buck. No more hunting season meant ...prepping for fishing season.

Correction: He has already begun the ice fishing season.

While John and the boys reduced the fish populated at Highlight, Brecken got to play with his cousins he was a bit dramatic at times. Note: I have become this crazy camera lady when it comes to taking pictures...I figured I would take a break over Thanksgiving and not torture the family.

Anyway, Thanksgiving was great the food and company were awesome, ghe shopping was not as great...I will say it again: I hate waffle irons. here's the story 'bout that adventure.

Other news: Our dear friend Colleen had her lil' babe Maddie over the Thanksgiving week. Brecken still is not quite sure what she is....he is a bit skeptical about this whole baby business.

 I also learned a valuable lesson over Thanksgiving: A spoon in the bottom of a bowl will end the life of a beater. 'nuf said.

 And the best part about November: Little B STANDING on his own!

YEAH!!!!! Okay to be honest this was not the very first time, but it was the first time I actually got a picture.

FYI.

If you are really bored interested check out my sister's blog. She is doing 25 days of ugly sweaters. That's right folks she is going to wear an ugly sweater from now until Christmas. Yeah, she is just that classy.

Happy Birthday Little B!

It's crazy to believe what we were going through this time a year ago. Buying a new house, bed rest in Billings for three weeks, and WaLah--a 2 lb. 15 ounce little munchkin. He is truly a fighter, he was fighting for life back then and he is still a fiery little carpet crawler now. Believe me. Everything that I did to torture my parents is now coming back to haunt me. 

The doctors told us after Brecken was born that if this had happened thirty years earlier we would have both died and I am so thankful for the technology that we have today that kept us both alive.

I am also so thankful that Brecken has had the ability to grow and become such a strong little man. I love pulling out his first diapers to compare them to his diapers now. It just seems so unreal that a human being could fit into something so small.

There is only one regret I have..I wish we would have been able to get an ink stamp of his hand and foot the day he was born, but I understand he was too fragile for anyone to touch. So instead I look at this picture to remember how small his little feet were. Even back then his little feet looked so tender and perfect.

Now, a year later I still feel as though I am being blessed everyday. I love how Brecken makes me laugh and how my personality he possesses. John says he acts like me--it is kind of cute now, but I am imaging him to be a terror when he gets older. I love his squishy face that he makes when he is frustrated, I love his contagious laugh, and I love his excitement when he sees John or me walk into a room.


I DON'T love, however, that everytime I punish him he laughs at me. No joke. I spank him and he laughs. I say, "NO" and he laughs. It scares me how mischevious he already is...

I love that for Halloween he let us dress him up as a monkey, then a chicken, then a monkey again and he never cried or complained....well, I guess he kind of cried (but I blame that on the ear infection).

Everyday I try to thank my Heavenly Father for my precious boy and the miracle that he is in my life and after everything we have been through over this past year I am so thankful that I get to tell my little man Happy Birthday today.

Happy Birthday Brecken we love you!

I don't even know how to explain this...

So I am trying to find words for the experience I had this morning. I still can't even begin to describe what went through my head at the exact moment it happened..it was weird, because I do remember panic, embarressment and complete madness all occuring at one time.

Now, some of you will understand what I am going through, others may want to block me as a friend on facebook, and some of you will laugh hystarically.

Before I get "ahead"(no pun intended.you will understand in less then 30 seconds what this means) I need to explain what happened last night.

So, last night B and I attended the annual pumpkin carving party at the Barnwell abode. It is always so delightful and fun. John, however, didn't show up. Yes, he was hunting, and yes he finally killed an elk. Whatever, I am fine with that. So when he got home late last night he decided in his infamous wisdom that he would quarter the elk in our garage. Whatever, I am still fine with that. Then, came the realization that he needed to do something with the elk once he was finished. His plan: put it in the garbage can. I am not fine with this.

Hello! for those of you that have never been up close and personal to good ole' Wapati...well let me tell ya, they are big....our garbage on the other hand is NOT that big. John kept barkin' at me because I wasn't being that helpful so I huffed into the house and said as I slammed the door, "Fine you try to put a square peg in a round hole."

Ten minutes later. Tap, tap, tap on the front door. I opened. John replied, "I put it in the garbage can" (emphasis on snotty tone that came from his mouth). I believed him and then finally was able to go to bed at 2:30 in the AM.

NO. No. the story is not over. So, I left the house kind of late today and when I opened the garage door and walked outside this is what I saw.

BAHHHHHH! I almost died. I remember repeating something in a very loud voice that I am sure the neighbors heard. Obviously, John and I have to completely different perspectives on what it means to put the elk in the garbage can.

I called him right away, trying to remain calm and said, "There will be no negotiation. The elk that has taken up residency in our FRONT yard has to go." Further, I tried to explain that there was more than a handful of reasons on why this was soo wrong. First, our garbage pickup doesn't happen until Tuesday and that head will not be sticking out for 5 days. Secondly, Halloween in on Sunday and everyone and their dog will be coming up our driveway. Third, this is not what I had in mind for scaring the trick-or-treaters. The list could go on and on about the reasons on why this is not o.k.

note: John I love you, but the elk has to go. sorry.

For everyone else, please don't judge ;)

This is why I love this kid...

Yesterday, as I was getting Brecken undressed to give him a bath he decided to poop, while in my arms. Gross. Really gross. If it would have been any other kid I probably would have thrown up right there, but I didn't. I just looked at him and he smiled at me with this look that said, "That's right, I pooped and there is nothin' you can do 'bout it."

This video is why I don't give him away at times like that....

Organized? Yeah Right.

So, someone told me the other day that they couldn't believe how organized I was...Yeah. Well. Um. They haven't been to my house. Obviously.



Oh, and yes that is Brecken laying on the floor at two in the afternoon with no clothes on.

Funny story about no clothes. The other day Brecken peed thought another outfit. I am guessing it is time to go up a size in the diaper area. Anyway, so he peed through an outfit and I wasn't home. So I thought, "hey I have to stop at Target anyway so I will just run in and buy a new outfit." First off, I didn't think other mothers judged other mothers.

O.K. so maybe I did walk into Target towing my baby around in a diaper. But did it require them to stare at us, yes, it was a little cold, but did they want him to stay in the wet onesie instead?

So, after the gaukers kept on staring, I decided I would just put the new outfit on him in the store. Second problem. NOW, a new set of mothers were not only staring at my naked baby, but they watched me rip the tags off the clothes as I put them on my baby who was sitting in a shopping cart in the store. Really, did they think I was going to just now walk out of the store?

And finally, because I was so over being stared at I just walked up to the register, handed the tags to the cashier, who by all accounts was no more than 17, who said, "Where's the outfit?" ....sooooo, I now had to explain my story to another person, again.

By the time we got to the car...he needed a diaper change.

So, back to the point. No, I am not organized. Yes, I use to be before Brecken. No, my house is not always clean. I often don't shower everyday because I would rather sleep then get wet, which then requires another hour to get ready. The answer is to my "fake organization"....I am good at perception. As I assume most mothers are.

And by the way. My punk is chewing on our coffee table right now. This is what he looks like if you want a mental image.

{Family Pics}

A few weeks ago I decided it was time to take a family photo. I had to plead and even bribe John to do it, but I have the evidence that he cooperated. I also decided Brecken "needed" one-year photos as well. Yes, I know he is only 11 months, but in Montana you never know when it will snow. And, in my defense if this year is like last year we will have 80 degree weather one day and 20 the next. Yeah, I am not a fan.

Kelty ended up taking our pictures and she did such an amazing job. Brecken was cooperative for the most part. If he wouldn't have been in the hospital for so long, which meant a million shots, I would have updated him on his Tetnus. He licked and chewed on every vehicle at the car lot where the pictures were taken.

I thought getting John to take the pictures would be the most stressful part of the process, HOWEVER. Now let me emphasize the however...my pants became the issue. Now, a dirty little secret that people didn't tell me was once I stopped breast feeding all my weight would come back. Fast. I mean like 12 days fast. So, the beautiful pants that I bought while I was breast feeding needed a little help to fit on to my body. It included Spanx, laying on the floor sucking in my gut, sweat, and a brief glimpse of Julia Roberts in Eat, Pray, Love.

Why is he so happy and why am I so miserable?

Really, I should have known this day would come. I always thought all my possessions would be fine, but they're not. I underestimated the skill and power of the 15 pounds that enable his body to move. Yes, it happened and I have had to watch the horror unfold.

In the last two weeks I have watched Brecken begin to kind of crawl, then crawl, then stand up, then get in the drawers in my bathroom, then tear every one of my magazines to shreds. Oh yes, did I mention he attempted to eat the magazines before he ended their lives. Yes my Real Simple magazine, of which I have waited patiently all month to read became a chew toy before I even cracked it open. My beautifully designed house, while not baby proof, has become a treasure chest of chew toys for little b. The books are missing covers, the pretty flower arrangements have miraculously begun to re-appear in his diapers, and the tv antennae...well it didn't survive.

And why is he so happy? Well, he has come to find out that cords are his best friends, curling irons can easily be ripped off the counter, tv's can be unplugged, and the vaccuum cleaner cord is great to get tangled in. He knows that he is now in control. That's right. My 3-toothed monster has found the new joy in crawling, grabbing, pulling, and screaming.



Along with "firsts"...he experienced his first Bobcat Football game. The chaos that occurs at the game is right up is alley. It is chaotic, loud, busy, messy and has a distinct smell. Oh right, I am talking about my house ;)


Did I mention that he now yells some form of "MAMA"....when he wants something. It is the beginning of the end folks.