And we have another tooth!

Bray-Lynne got her second tooth in today. I tried very hard to get a picture of her teeth this morning but she wasn't having that :) It's more fun to stick her tongue out or bite down on mommy's finger than show those 'toofers'. The past few weeks have been pretty amazing. She's cut two teeth, started sitting without assistance and has started to army crawl. She pulls herself forward on her arms while scooting on her tummy. If she wants something bad enough she has figured out how to get it. Here are two pictures of her from this morning. The first picture is of her sitting like a big girl. The second picture is her "look". It is her new thing when she is being bashful. When she meets a new person or sees someone she hasn't seen in awhile she gets this look that makes us laugh.

As it turns out...

As it turns out I'm not as tough as I think I am. My nerves of steel are actually non-existent in times like these.

Some of you may know that I was planning on taking a "girls" trip to Savannah, GA to visit my college roommate. Two of my other friends were also going. We were leaving for Kansas City tonight and flying out tomorrow morning...returning Sunday. Obviously, since I'm blogging, I cancelled.

The plan was that Brandyn and Nana were going to team up to care for Bray-Lynne while I was gone. I had each days clothes laid out with post-its for what outfit on which day, I had a list of how much to eat and when, how many naps, etc. etc. I was heading out after Brandyn's slow pitch softball game tonight but I came home and literally panicked.

Tears, sweating, loss of appetite ... I couldn't bring myself to go.

I need my family and that's the bottom line. I thought I needed a break but when it comes right down to it that's not true at all. Truth is, I'd rather bathe, change, feed & rock my precious baby girl to sleep each night than leave. I love my friends and want to spend time with them but I'm not ready to leave just yet. I'm sure there will be a time when I'm ready to leave for a few days but for right now I'm happy right where I am.

Weekend in Iowa City

This weekend we took a trip to Iowa City for our Grandma Filer's memorial service. Although the weekend was emotional it was great seeing family we don't get to see that often. We haven't seen some of our family since our wedding almost two years ago! We had dinner on Friday night, the memorial on Saturday morning and a brunch to follow. After brunch we spent the day at the pool. We got a few pictures from the weekend. Another big event that happened this weekend is that Bray-Lynne's first tooth finally broke through! We were all admiring it at brunch on Saturday. The other one has yet to break through but I think it will be very soon!





Bray wasn't quite sure about her sunglasses. She thought they were kind of weird.

The Best Days of Our Lives!

Happy girl!
The bow :)
Love those baby blues
Playing in her exersaucer
Smiles!



I promised to keep up with this and it's been on my mind a lot so here's another post! Today has consisted of changing diapers, making bottles, cleaning house & doing laundry. In the midst of all that "work" there is this tiny person that makes all that seem like no big deal. And, as I go through my day I find that it's easier to think "the laundry can wait" because I just want to spend time nurturing our daughter! Bray-Lynne needed a nap pretty bad today (...still does haha). Anyway, I was working on getting her to sleep but it's not coming easy. Her teeth are RIGHT there and cause her lots of troubles throughout the day. All the sudden daddy came home for lunch. We came out to see him and Bray went from unhappy & tired to all giggles and smiles. That type of moment just makes our day! I took some pics of her the other day. She's finally getting enough hair for a bow!

She's Everything

The last two years has been a whirlwind but the last six months has been an even bigger one! Our baby girl is now six months old and we can't believe it. It has been so fun watching her grow. We have many adventures and we love to see her take it all in. I don't think we've ever been so enthralled with someone! She is ever-changing and never ceases to amaze us. Bray is starting to develop her personality and it is so fun to watch. Here are some pictures...enjoy :)

My heart breaks as you take your long journey

Well, it has been quite a long time since our poor blog has received any attention. We haven't posted since Bray-Lynne was born...soooo, about 6 months! Anyway, today I started thinking about how much Brandyn and I have gone through since we've been married. Our two year anniversary is coming up and the past two years have flown by!

To begin with...we graduated from UNI in May of 2007. That same weekend our Grandma Becklund suddenly got sick and passed away. Two months later we got married and bought a house. We were married four months and got a boxer who we named Cubby. Five months after Cubby we found out we were expecting our first baby. We welcome Bray-Lynne Grace (The name Bray-Lynne was our own creation. The name, Grace, was our Grandma Becklund's middle name) to the world on December 23rd, 2008. Six days before that we welcomed our first niece into the world. About a month after Bray-Lynne was born we decided we'd move to Pella so Brandyn could begin farming and I could be a stay-at-home mommy. Just recently we lost another grandma (our Grandma Filer) to sickness.

When I stop and think about that...all I have to say is wow. There obviously have been many other things that have happened but these are the big ones. You may wonder why I chose to write a summary of the past two years. Honestly, losing a very special person in our lives has really made me stop and think about everything life has brought us. We are thankful everyday to be able to live such wonderful lives. We have the best family and friends you could ask for.

As for the title of this post...that may be a question of yours as well. Brandyn and I like to listen to the album "Raising Sand" by Robert Plant & Alison Krauss. Yesterday, I drove into town to do some errands and the last song on the Raising Sand CD came on. I didn't realize it 'til yesterday but the last song is about a person dying and taking their long journey to Heaven. The lyrics say...'my heart breaks as you take your long journey' but it also says that one day we'll walk hand in hand with the loved one and big family above. I've listened to that song several times since then and for some reason it's brought comfort to me after losing someone we cared so deeply about. Brandyn and I were very close to both sets of grandparents but in particular my Grandma Filer.

Gram Filer was a widow for 12 years before she finally got to be with her husband in Heaven. She also finally got to reunite with her first born child (my Uncle Lloyd). It was so hard because my grandma was always this spunky woman and for some reason I think we thought she'd never die. She was just shy of her 90th birthday...turning 90 on November 22nd (same day our nephew, Lake, was born)! My entire family was coming to Iowa City to throw her a surprise party next weekend...we had this whole scheme so she'd be surprised. I was working on a slideshow for her. This surprise party has now turned into a memorial service. I'm still doing the slideshow and that has been good 'therapy'. Although this loss has been tough we find comfort in all the great memories we have with her.

** I am technically challenged sometimes and can't figure out how to get the youtube video on our blog. At any rate this is the song if you'd like to listen. The video is slideshow created by some random person. Also, part of it is blacked out. The point that you get to hear the song. Visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9TmJBBKYmU.


I think that is all for this post. I will post more again another time and update you on Bray-Lynne. I will also get some pictures up of her!