Bronson: 19 Months old

Kyle and I realized tonight that Christmas is less than 5 months away, which means that our son turns 2 in 5 months also. It is crazy to think about; it seems that we just threw his first birthday. Bronson has been having an adventurous summer so far. We have lots of fun things planned for the month of August including our first camping trip, a trip to Redmond, and a weekend to Sunriver while he spends the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa. I feel that we need the refresher to make us good parents and I know that he is being very well taken care of while we are away. I am really hoping that September will bring good news of a new job, but either way I am keeping faith that the Lord will open the right doors and we will all survive.

Bronson hasn't changed much in size since his last check up. I don't have his current stats, but we measured him last night and he was still the same height from last month. I heard that kids can take a significant slow of growth at this stage.

Bronson talks all of the time now, unless he is around a non-family member. His new favorite word is ball and he even speaks about them in his sleep at night. His favorite toy is a plastic bat and ball that I bought for him from the dollar store. I think I should probably go and get a couple more in case this one breaks. He searches for it right away in the morning and drags the bat with him everywhere. He is SUPER sports related and loves any and all things related to manly things. I guess his all time favorite activity is driving daddy's cars. We spent the afternoon at the Dallas Car Show yesterday and he was very entertained being able to try out all of the muscle cars.

Likes: Balls, Num-nums (sweets), babies, cars, Ni Ho Kai Lan, Yo Gabba Gabba, showers, walks at night, beach, french fries, talking or pretending to talk on the phone, electronics, helping out with household chores, utensils, visiting new places, and of course his parents.

Dislikes: Mommy leaving him anywhere, staying inside, being told No, the fact that he has 14 more years until he can legally drive, staying still for dinner, wearing clothes, and going on long car rides.

I love you baby boy, you continue to amaze us everyday!

Kyle Jr.

Driving the Corvette
Hey Mommy, look at me!

Mowing the lawn with daddy

Building a sandcastle

I have been calling Bronson "KJ" (Kyle Jr.) for awhile now. He loves his daddy and is happy as long as he is with him. Occasionally he does have some meltdowns. Friday was one of them. His number one is mommy right now. But the little boy looks just like his dad and acts like him too.

Bronson has been able to go on many adventures with his daddy lately. His new favorite pastime is helping daddy move the hot rods out of the garage. Kyle has created a way of driving the mustang while sitting in the passenger seat. Bronson loves it and begs all day for the, "CAR!" We have created a gearhead way before he is even 2.

Adventures in Bronsonland

He passed out before we left the parking lot
Auntie Christen and Bronson on the slide

Bronson and Olivia riding the fish

He was so happy!

Riding his favorite ride

Playing in the corn box

They loved this!

Bronson on his first pony ride

We have been trying to let Bronson experience as many new things as possible this summer. One of the things that I look for in activities is that they are low cost. Bronson will not remember many of these activities that he engages in, but I do believe that it is important to expose him to as many new things as possible. This last weekend we were invited to the Linn County Fair by my mom. We are able to get in free because of her job and also lunch and snacks were provided. Total cost for the day, minus gas was $3 for parking. Bronson had a blast and it allowed me to see how much he is growing up. The added bonus was that he got to hang out with his cousin Olivia. They love each other and she is so sweet to him.

Reunion Pics

Shannon and Peyton

Christen, Jim (our bodyguard) and Me

Me, Becca, and Christen

Katie and Reid Capon

Traci and Cassidy Beaver

Me and Mark

Samantha Blythe and her husband Daniel

Rachel, Nathan, and Liam Starr

Mary and her troops

Kandis, Trever and the kiddos

The decorations

Ryan Cole, Mark Robinson, Trisha Clements, and Gabe Mariman

Christen, Nancy, Gabe, Jake, Me, and Cassidy

Me and Becca

10 Year Class Reunion

Yesterday was the big day!!! We celebrated our 10 year class reunion. I had a pretty good time, despite the fact that it kept threatening rain in the morning. Our picnic went well. I think about 40-50 people showed up and some people that we didn't even know were coming showed up. Kyle hadn't been looking forward to it, but ended up having a great time. I think that my favorite thing about the picnic was seeing everyone's children. I tried to get some pictures of the picnic, but for the most part no one wanted to be photographed. I did manage a few that I will share later. Shannon Starwalt (Gerding) brought several photo collages from our senior all night party that her mom had kept. These were a party favorite. If you weren't able to make it I will try sending some pictures that I have from our HS days.

These are the people that showed up for our picnic portion of the event (I hope that I don't miss anyone): Traci (Martin), Cassidy, and Nathan Beaver, Kim Scott and her two children, Kandis (Graves) and Mia Galvan, Shannon, Ryan, and Peyton Starwalt, Stacy Gerding (Koenig) and her husband and 2 kids, Jake and Becca Dorr, Lance Nunn and his new bride, Jesse and Megan Skaggs, Mark Robinson, Mike Dill, Thomas Bates, Kerri Dowless (Christianson) with her children Tanner and Carlie, Jared and Dani Otteniger and their three kids, Rachel Starr (Hinton) with her husband Nathan and son Liam (they have one on the way), Mary Robeson (Wells) and her troops, Christen Oien, Summer Decker (Rohde) her husband Andrew and their children Ayden and Alanna, Mitch Sleeman, Gabe Mariman, Lisa Shroyer (Harwood) with her husband Scott and three children, Jamie Gee (Ziomek) and her kids, Becky and Brad Bennett and their two kids Hannah and Nathan, Samantha Blythe and her husband Daniel, Tena Stone (Bell) and her two kiddos, Nicole Cruise and her daughter, Katie Capon (Dobek) and her husband Reid with their two canine children, Angel Fain and her daughter Ashley, Kim Scott and her two children, Whitney Stearns (Thomas), Tim and their two boys, Travis Pavelek and his girlfriend, and the Deets....I hope that I didn't miss anyone...I felt that I was writing the beginning of the bible.

That night we went to the Frolic and Rodeo. Christen and I got their pretty early and didn't feel like going to the rodeo portion so we joined her little sister for the "pre-party." It made us feel VERY old, but we had a good time enjoying our peppermint patties. Becca is such a sweet sister to Christen and I enjoy hanging out with all their friends. The guys cracked us up because they purposely dressed up like fake cowboys for the Frolic. Christen and I made sure to take pictures because Kyle said to stay away from drunk cowboys.

A few others from our class joined us at the Frolic later than night. If I remember Charlie Rogers and his wife, Jacob Zollinger, Ryan Cole, Maren McGuire and her boyfriend Joe, Pepper Leslie, Brian Whipple, Trisha Clements, Gabe Iltis, and Nancy Drake were added to the other group. We had a good time kicking up some dirt as Traci would say. Christen and I couldn't let the night be complete without a picture with our "bodyguard" Jim. Overall it was a good event. Looking forward to the 20th. I might need 10 years before the next one!

Bronson: 18 Months

Kyle dressed them the same for my softball game

Eating Strawberries that he picked

This is Bronson's new favorite relaxing position

His favorite dinner, dipping french fries

Can you tell what Bronson wants?

Finally big enough to play with his chainsaw

His new bike

1st Corvette ride, June 10th

It is a few days late, but I have an excuse. Monday night both Kyle and Bronson starting throwing up and other than a few hours of quiet our house has been sick every since. I am praising God that I didn't' get this crud and that so far it seems to have been more then 12 hours since the last vomiting episode for either Kyle or Bronson. I hate when my two favorite guys are sick. We took Bronson to the doctor's today, so I have revised stats:

Weight: 21 pounds, 6 ounces 3% tile for non-adjusted age (lost some weight)

Height: 31 1/2 inches, 26 % tile for non-adjusted age (he might be taller than mommy)

Bronson loves: french fries, walks, cars, playing kitchen, ice cream, mommy, daddy, and family, did I mention CARS, going bye-bye, other children, and bananas, he also loves playing on the stairs

Bronson doesn't like: mommy leaving, staying inside all day, the word no, teething, sweet potatoes, long car rides (REDMOND), and long periods of time away from home

Bronson can now say: mom, dad, ball, bath, bed, night night, ya-ya, papa, night night, no, yes, cool, baba, baby, Ayden, dog, cookie, please, good boy, I love you, bye-bye, hi, hello, she she, nana, grandma, brush (for toothbrush) and other words that he copies when we say them (Most people don't believe us, because he won't say them around very many people)

He can sign: more, all done, eat, please, thank-you, I love you (his own version), ball

He now walks everywhere and loves to get into EVERYTHING!!! Kyle and I love this stage. He is changing almost hourly! It is amazing that today when he got measured I realized that his measurements are the opposites of his birth height. He was 13 1/2 inches tall when he was born and now 31 1/2. It just made me realize how much he has grown. Once again I will say, I love this little boy so much. He truly melts my heart!