Family Photos

Our precious boy

Happy Family

In our 1976 Corvette

Mr. Personality

Mommy and Bronson

Daddy and Mommy

Deets Family 2010, Menari Photography

Laughter...

Swimming at Otter Beach with Olivia and She She

is the best medicine. Bronson and Kyle are two of the funniest guys I know. Kyle and I are amazed at the sense of humor that is contained in our toddler's body. He makes up jokes on a daily basis and will do nearly anything to make someone laugh. This week has been a rough week, but so worth it! On Tuesday I decided that Bronson was plenty old enough to stop drinking bottles and took them away cold turkey. He has done amazing. Here is the following minor snafu...(Please keep in mind that he learned this bad word from me after I stepped in some dog poo while wearing flip flops) This is a lesson in don't say anything in front of your kids that you don't want them to repeat.

Wednesday Morning riding to Ya-ya's house

Ya-ya: Bronson, what do you want for breakfast?

Bronson: I would like a bottle.

Ya-ya: I don't have bottles at my house. You only drink from cups now.

Bronson: Please have a bottle.

Ya-ya: No honey, we don't have bottles anymore.

Bronson: (under his breath) oh Sh*t!!! Just lovely, but you can tell his frustration. She chose just to ignore it since he didn't think she could hear it. We have decided that some things are better left ignored than making a big deal about it.

Other CUTE things that Bronson has said recently:

• Holy Mackerel, Holy Cow
• I want to give you slobbery kisses
• Mama, I really really love you
• I can't find it anywhere
• Why are all the cats naked?
• Olivia is my cousin (this is his most favorite sentence to repeat over and over again)
• That is super cute
• So so Silly
• Those are my girls (speaking of Mary and Gina)
• I have a brother named Jackson, but I call him Jack
• I am a baby genius

Jesus has highlights

Bronson says the funniest things lately. He also says some of the sweetest things too. Recently he started telling us that he loves us without any prompting. He will also tell me that I look pretty or that something is very cute. My other favorite thing that he says is thank-you whenever you give him any compliments. This past week he started responding with, "Yes, I do" whenever you ask him a question. I love watching his language take off.

While I was pregnant with Bronson for obvious reasons our attendance to church began to decline. After having Bronson it has been incredibly hard to keep a regular Sunday schedule. Our number one concern is that we don't want to get him sick. It seemed that whenever we took him to a large crowded indoor environment we would end up at the doctor's the next week. We finally settled on taking turns going to the service and leaving when Bronson began to squirm too much. It has been one of my biggest struggles as a parent, because I get a new boost of energy from being able to worship with my church family. Kyle and I both have a strong relationship with God and want our son to grow up to also have  a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Despite our lack of attendance of church, we know that we are teaching Bronson about Jesus. This past week as I was putting Bronson to bed he asked for me to tell him a story about Jesus and then immediately asked if we could pray to Jesus for all the babies. He also is very quiet and well behaved during his prayers. We have been praying together as a family since the day he was born. We started the tradition of praying over him while he was in the NICU and still pray each night as a family. He loves to put in his own prayer requests. I have found lately that he will remember to pray for things that I have forgotten about. He has such a desire to serve other people.

This morning when we woke up I told Bronson that I had a great dream with him in it. He politely told me that he had a dream about Jesus and him vacuuming all night. He still has a huge obsession with vacuums. When I asked him what Jesus looked like, he told me that he had long hair with highlights. Kyle and I cracked up. He overheard Alex and I talking about highlights the other day and now constantly talks about who has highlights. He told Kyle and I that Jesus has blond highlights. I thought this was story for the babybook. I am looking forward to hearing all about his many dreams tomorrow when he wakes up.

My brother, Jackson

Ultrasound July 26, 2007: Found out we were having twins!!!

There has been lots of new conversations in our house lately. Bronson is quite the talker and says things that I didn't think I would hear for years. His most recent topic of conversation is heaven. He told me that his grandma is in heaven taking his brother Jackson and baby Lindsay to the park. Apparently when he asked his Ya-ya a few months ago about where his grandma was she told him that she was in heaven. He came up with the rest of this on this own. Kyle and I aren't really sure how to approach the topic of Jackson with Bronson, but it is a part of our life. I am not really sure how much he understands, but he is very interested in talking about Jackson lately. He also tells me several times a week that we "need to pray for the NICU babies." A co-worker of mine made some blankets for the NICU babies and Bronson was so happy that he had "Dees" (name for blanket) to take to the NICU babies. He told me that the babies were cold and needed their dees. This boy has such a heart of gold and is so caring about babies and others.

Saturday morning when I got him out of the shower he boldly stated to me that he had a brother named Jackson, but he calls him Jack. I have never even said anything like that to him, but he now talks all the time about baby Jackson. Right after this his words were, "My name is Bronson and my brother is Jackson." This comment melted my heart, but I really don't know what to do about this. Kyle and I are praying about how to approach this issue when Bronson is at an age that he understands. It is a tough topic. As you can see from our ultrasound, they began life together. How do you explain to a child that their identical twin is in heaven?

Missing My Man

Kyle and Bronson are staying in Blodgett tonight. This has seemed to happen a couple of times lately and I realized tonight that although I enjoy the peace and quiet for the evening, I never take advantage of it. I have got nothing done tonight, but a couple of research topics searched on the Internet. I am missing both of my guys like crazy, but especially Kyle.

I can't believe that this year marks 13 1/2 years that we have been together. He still continues to be my best friend, however, I am constantly striving to be a better wife and partner for him. It is so easy to let your marriage go and put it on the back burner and I never want that to happen to us. I am not ashamed to share that we have went to see counselors on several occasions in our marriage. We feel that the most important relationship we have on Earth besides our relationship with God is our marriage. If your marriage isn't strong everything else suffers.

As I was looking up some information tonight in regards to rekindling our marriage I found a great article that I would like to share..."Marital love is like a fire. If you do nothing to a fire, it will eventually die out. You have to keep fanning the flame and place logs in the fire to keep the flame burning. You determine the brightness of a fire."

1. Spend time together. We have started making it a priority for one date night per month complete with Bronson gone for the night.
2. See the best in each other. This step is important to look at your spouse with the same eyes that you started with. Don't let others determine the character of your spouse.

3. Publicly show affection. The author states this is important to establish boundaries for others that are possibly looking to impose on your marriage. Kyle and I do not worry about adultery; however, I am not naive to think that others don't look for opportunities to make their moves.

4. Be attractive. I am one lucky woman when it comes to having an attractive husband. I have struggled with my weight for several years since we have gotten married, but I feel strongly that it is important to take care of yourself and stay attractive for your partner as well as for your own self esteem.

5. Talk to each other. It is important to make a habit out of talking to your spouse everyday. Kyle's new way of doing this in a romantic way is that he texts me everyday to let me know he loves me or is thinking about me. It means a lot to me.

6. Submit to each other. This one is HARD for me. I always want to be in control, but I need to realize that Kyle has great ideas and that his opinion matters just as much as mine. Letting the other person have a voice is a strong factor in providing a safe and meaningful relationship.

I know this seems like a weird post, but I thought it might be nice for me to be open in regards to our marriage. Kyle once wrote me a letter in our high school days that ended with the statement that he hoped to be part of the "greatest love story ever told." I feel so lucky to be living this dream with him!

Summertime 2010

Bronson and Olivia on 3rd of July Fireworks

Enchanted Forest July 4th

Bronson playing with all the boys on 4th of July

Bronson and Uncle Jim riding the little CAT at Auntie Jill's

Playing at the beach with Daddy July 12th

Olivia and Bronson playing in the pool

Sadly another month has past since I last posted. Bronson is getting closer to 3 and slowly becoming a kid rather than our little baby. His new hobby is changing the octave of his voice and loves to say, "Hold the baby" in a funny voice. We love his new talent. He also loves to call himself and other people by nicknames. Some of the nicknames for Bronson include Buba, Bubby, Babykins, Pumpkin, and Stinky Winky. He has tons of other ones, but these are a few that he will call himself. In the last couple of days he has decided to start calling me just plain old, Mom and it is breaking my heart. I am really hoping for mommy for longer, but what can you expect.

This month has been amazing and difficult at the same time. I love my job and feel so great about going to work everyday knowing that I am not watching the clock or counting down the hours until I get home. My new job is challenging, but in a great way! I couldn't have asked for my prayers to be answered more. We have been spending a lot of this month doing fun stuff on the weekends including several visits with Olivia and Nana. We took the kids to Enchanted Forest on the 4th of July and then finished the evening off with a BBQ at Auntie Jill's house. We watched the big fireworks the night before in Independence with Auntie Christen, Nana, and Olivia. Kyle and I have also taken Bronson to 2 cars shows and to the coast this month.

This past weekend Kyle and I left Bronson at our house with Nana and spent the day on the river with some friends. We try to make this an annual trip and always enjoy it. It was a busy weekend combined with helping Jim throw his huge housewarming party. Kyle and I both have enjoyed watching the process of Jim's new house being built from start to finish. I am hoping to post more in this next month, but can't promise a schedule when the weather is so inviting outside. I love summer!!!

He is 2 1/2 today!

1st movie, Toy Story 3

Summer Cruise

Father's Day 2010

Attempting the water slide

Waiting in line at VBS

Riding the tractor at Auntie Jill's

Our big boy is 2 1/2 years old today! He has been up to some pretty exciting things. The biggest is that he has slept in his own bed for the last week. It melts my heart when he wakes up and doesn't cry but just walks into my room and says good morning. This morning he woke up at 4:30 and said, "Mama, scoot over please." I don't mind. I love snuggling this little guy. I thought I would share some wonderful pictures of this little man, including his attempt to go down the waterslide at VBS Sunday.