Angel's Among Us

If you are reading this blog then you have to understand that (not to be rude) this isn't really for you. It's for me and my family. So some things may seem a bit detailed or boring or maybe even sappy. I'm just trying to freeze time a bit and make this as close to a journal as possible. This particular post may seem a bit cheesy but that's the mood I'm in after putting the most sweet baby to bed.

The minute my babies were born I always felt that special feeling that a mother feels when a new spirit joins the family. With Keaton this was very true. I had this overwhelming feeling that he was so special and that he will do something great in this life. He continues to bless each day with his angelic qualities. He is such a good baby!

My little guy is getting so big! He is still learning to walk (his "late" walking is something he must have inherited from me). He wants to hold my finger instead of go out on his own. I'm enjoying the 1:1 this allows as he drags me to whatever he wants to do. Yesterday we were outside with the neighborhood kids and Keaton walked me to a play rocket and he bent down and picked it up. Then he walked me over to the launch pad and put the rocket onto the stick. Then he walked me to the pump that the pad is hooked to and he started to pump it! I had to help him remember the last step which was to pull another handle to launch the rocket. He watched it land and then we started it all over again. It's amazing to see what he has learned just by watching the kids play.

Keaton has some serious moves and he will do some dancing if he hears music or singing. He is a great audience as he will clap and say "again" after I sing to him. I've been reciting the ABC's and singing the song to him. If you ask him where the ABC's are, then he will point to letters that he sees. I'm pretty sure that I have another genius on my hands.

Keaton has a cute way of crawling. He keeps one hand fisted and the other hand flattened out. That's what he is doing in the picture above of him in the striped shirt. I love it! He also has another fun habit- he loves the tag on his favorite blue blanket. He hold it and rubs the tag between his thumb and finger when he is soothing himself. It's interesting that he does this because Blakers also did that with his blanket. When I lay him in bed and give him his blanket I always say "tag, where are you?" and he will laugh his contagious laugh and sometimes repeat "are ooo".

I feel so lucky to have Keaton with us. He brings out the best in our family.

The Year Was 1987...

The year was 1987 and there were headlines a-plenty. Challenger explodes 30 seconds after lift off...the cost of gas is $0.93 a gallon...microwave pizza makes its first appearance...$0.22 for a postage stamp...Darren Bryan makes it through the 12th grade. Yup, that's right. Our favorite dad was once a Wildcat from Las Vegas High School.

Darren and I had a fun time meeting up with his high school friends this past week to celebrate their 20th reunion. He has been very good to stay in close contact with his buddies Dan Hollingshead, Ken Hogan, and Mike Collins. They have awesome wives and kids who are fun to spend time with, too.

The reunion committee put together a small bio book and Darren's responses to a questionnaire were printed. He recorded that his greatest accomplishments were his kids and his favorite place to vacation is Disneyland (surprise?!- actually funny thing is that as I was typing the word "Disneyland" Darren started talking to me about renewing our annual passes!). Darren has accomplished so much over the past 20 years. I am so proud that he supports our family in so many different ways. Being a stay-at-home mom is one of my most prized possessions and that is only made possible by having a supportive husband. Our children have a father who is very involved and who makes an effort to really play with them (sack-o-potatoes, bull, Sunbeam karate).

Some fun trivia about the year 1987: The Cosby Show, Family Ties, and Cheers were the top TV favorites. Top Gun, Crocodile Dundee, and Platoon were the top movie makers. Aerobics was big (picture high cut leotards with sweet leg warmers and matching head bands). Ronald Reagan was president. A Nissan Sentra only cost $4,959!!! People were gearing up their telescopes to see the return of Halley's Comet. I gotta be honest with you- when you think about Karate Kid, Growing Pains, pegged jeans, and mullet hair you can't help but consider growing up in the 80's to be a privilege!

You are a great example to us, Dad. We love you.

I'm Stickin' To It...

I'll be honest- I never thought I'd be a blogger. I don't even keep up on my emails! But I have something that really bothers me- you know the kind of bother that sits in the back of your mind and resurfaces frequently enough to remind you that it's there. The bother that I'm referring to is that of "backed-up scrapbooking". I am so behind! I have so many awesome pictures and stories but they aren't put together in a way that my family can enjoy them. So here I am- trying to save a little piece of mind while I document pieces of our lives. My inspiration to do this comes from watching my sweet boys grow and do amazing/funny/crazy things that I don't want to forget. The story that ultimately pushed me over the blogger edge is one involving my Blakers...


It just happened to be an extra busy morning. It was Ethan's first day of piano lessons that are scheduled before school and we needed to leave in five minutes to be there on time. Darren was not home from his bike ride, yet, so I was with all three boys. It's usually not a problem unless someone gets too curious. I was rinsing a dish and Blake was sitting on the counter next to me. All the sudden he started crying a very anxious, scared cry and when I turned to him he was putting his hands in his mouth. I thought that he'd hurt his finger and was sucking on it. I immediately went to him and tried to look at his fingers but I couldn't get them out as quickly as they should have come. Why? Well, I guess that darn super glue really does work on all surfaces. Yes, he had bit into a small bottle of super glue and his first reaction was to try and get it out with his fingers. Once we got his fingers unglued from his mouth the next step was seperating the tongue from the teeth and the teeth from the lips. As I did this, I told him to hold his tongue back so that it wouldn't reapply itself and then I held his lip away from his teeth. This initiated another problem- now his retracted lip was stuck to his chin and my fingers were getting stuck together! I moved his lip off his chin before we were in serious trouble. Now the next step was damage control clean-up. I had to floss the dried glue out of his cute little teeth and peel pieces of glue off of his lip and chin. I couldn't get it all off and what was removed left irritated, red skin. I couldn't help but want to cuddle him and comfort him because he was so scared he was shaking. But all is well- he's a survivor. When we got back from piano he was smiling and ready to go to preschool where he shared his story with everyone. I heard him warning his friends about his run-in with glue.


So there you have it- a boy, some glue, and a strong desire to remember the story. This is my life...they are my inspiration!