Oh How He Loves....

Hello hello everyone!

Well it's been too long as always, but as you'll see we've been very busy living life and having a blast! Before you dive into our crazy life, take a break and see these beautiful pictures my sweet friend and photographer Maura Johnson took for us a couple weeks ago. Shout out to Maura, she and a couple of her wedding shoots will be featured in the next CitiScapes! To see her work or if you're looking for a photographer, check out her website MauraDawnPhotography.com

Our sweet boy

16x20 Cross painting I just finished for a silent auction to raise money at Bright Haven.

Purple, black and white Hogs painting for Zayley's nursery!

Pink and brown Hogs for big sister Bryley's room.

Brown and white Hogs painting.

Obviously the Hogs paintings are the most requested, but I'm hoping to experiment with some new ideas I have!

Gourmet? Not quite, but edible!

Just call me a baby food chef. Ha! Ok not really...but it was interesting and fun making Grahm's baby food myself. The first round I made sweet potatoes, pears, green beans, peas and carrots. I made a pretty small batch of each and everything lasted about a month! Steam/bake, chop, blend & freeze...easy-peasy! Last week I made a second batch of everything but also made baked butternut squash and apples. He should be set for quite a while haha. Grahm likes everything so far, expect the peas...not a big fan there but we keep working on it. He also loves fresh smashed bananas and avacodo. Well now that you know our kiddo's meal preferences, check out some "first-bite" faces haha.

Momma making baby food!

First bite of sweet potatoes. MMmmm they were a hit!

Carrots took a little getting used to, but he loves them now.

Green beans - a success! He likes those just like momma and his Grandmas.

He loved his first try at peas. Now he puts up a fight so I have to mix them with rice cereal.

Lil' Mozart

I grew up playing the piano. I can't remember what age I started lessons at but at least by age 9 or 10 so I've been playing for about 15 years or longer. I don't remember pieces well, so I generally need sheet music to play. I got pretty rusty since I moved away after highschool because I didn't have access to a piano since I left mine at mom's for my sister to learn and play on. But this last year my dad was remodeling a house and the lady wanted to get rid of her Kimball piano and told him to take it if he wanted it. I was sooo excited. We didn't have much room for it, but you don't pass up a free piano so we managed to squeeze it in the living room! So I play around on it when I get the chance and Grahm likes to join.

Playing on the piano with momma

Happy Halloween & UCA Homecoming!

My step-sister Brittany and her husband had a great family & friends Halloween party at their house. Dad went as Joe Dirt & Tiff was an Indian. Grant & I were MaryAnn and Gilligan.

"Do it Like a Big Bear - Grrrr"

Yes...we actually say that for the UCA Bears haha.

As we get older fewer of our Spring '04 Alpha Tau pledge class make it back to Conway for UCA tailgating & homecoming game. I didn't know a single girl in the active classes from our sorority, lol - I think that means I'm getting old! :) We still have fun coming together, catching up and cheering on the Bears. Grant & Grahm got to go this year, so showing them off to my old college friends was the best part of my day!

A few of my sorority sisters...

Nikki (now lives in Dallas), myself, Kara, and Natalie (from L.R. area) at the Alpha Tau tailgate!

Our lil' family at the UCA homecoming tailgate & game.

Natalie (or Grahm's "Nini" as she's called) chillin' after the tailgate.

Grahm was just too cool in his shades.

Grahm & Momma headed home from UCA. The stomach flu actually made its attack that morning but we'd been looking forward to the trip so I toughed it out. It ended up being a rough afternoon so we didn't stay long. I knew I was going to get sick and ran into the gym where the UCA basketball team stared at me, the crazy girl searching for a good place to lose her cookies. Grant & Natalie got me some sprite & dramamine at WalGreens in Conway and I slept the whole way home.

Halloween weekend

Grahm playing with his puppies Jax & Bella

Grahm also had his two bottom teeth break through Halloween weekend! Hopefully they'll all come in two at a time :)

Grahm the Lion with Joe, Laura Jade and their dog Ginger on Halloween!

Mom made him a little Halloween basket of Pedialyte popsicles and a tshirt. He enjoyed his first popsicle!

Grahm with his Aunt Sara (and her boyfriend hiding in the background lol).

Grahm's first Halloween! We had fun taking him up to J.B.Hunt on Friday for tricking-or-treating at the office, Brittany & Nathan's party and then around to friends and family on Halloween night. One of the managers at Grant's store actually let him off a bit early so he wouldn't miss out on Grahm's first Halloween - yay!

We decided on a Lion costome because Grahm went through this phase when he would make this raspy growling sound all the time. I read that babies do that when they start 'talking' because they like the feeling it makes in their throat while discovering to make sounds. Well he must have loved it! So we started calling him "our little lion" and thats what led to his first Halloween custome.

A lion on the prowl!

Watching football with daddy! Grahm thinks he needs to eat and drink whatever we're having.

Go Hogs Go!

I came across 4 tickets for the Hogs vs. UTEP game, but Grant had to work so I took Sara, her boyfriend Kyle, and my friend Laura Jade with me. It was Kyle's birthday and Sara was looking for something fun to do for him. He had never been to a Hogs football game! Now that's just crazy! So she surprised him with a scavenger hunt that ended at my house and we all headed to the game. Laura Jade had never been either so it was fun getting the opportunity to take them all to the game. It was cold that night but luckily Trent and Naomi sat in their family's box seats since she's prego and it was so cold so they gave us their lower level seats so we didn't have to sit up high in the cold! haha. The view is much better from the lower level 50 yard line!

Me, Sara, & Laura Jade...cold but ready to cheer on the Hogs!

Sara and her boyfriend Kyle with us at the Hogs game. Happy Bday Kyle!

Go Hogs Go!

A few shots of Mallet completing a hand off and then a pass. We stomped UTEP! 58-21

"GO HOGS" UofA Marching Band at half time

Me and Sissy at the Hogs vs. UTEP football game!

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him"

1 Samuel 1:27

On November 14th, 2010 we took part in the baby dedication ceremony at Fellowship during the Springdale community worship service. Our family, friends, community group members, and others were there to support us in dedicating Grahm and committing to teach and raise him according to God.

The verse we picked for Grahm is Ephesians 1:18-19

"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his imcomparably great power for us who believe."

Zayley Hope Bratcher
That afternoon, Naomi's mom, mother-in-law and I threw a surprise baby shower for Naomi! Her second little girl is on the way, due in January. Naomi generally finds out everything, so we were pretty excited to have kept it a secret. When she showed up with her slurpee, she thought she was going shopping with Christi, Trent's mom. It was a fun afternoon with her family, friends, and our cell group girls.

Sarah, Benita, Naomi, Sarah & I

Here is the painting she asked me to do for Zayley's room. Her decor is purple, black and white. They are huge Hog fans too!

And big sister Bryley couldn't be left out, so she got a brown and pink Hogs painting to match her room!

Grahm hanging out with Joe & wearing his camo hat.

Grahm's second go 'round with a popsicle. He was hilarious! He wanted to hold it himself but he would start crying because it was too cold on his hands. I tried to hold it for him, but he would whine so I just took the wrapper off and let him make a mess and learn. He went straight to the bath tub afterwards.

Loving you is like a walk in the park...

The Bruns side of the family is spread all over, from NWA and Fort Smith, to Tulsa/OKC and West Palm Beach, FL. But once a year we try to get together at Devil's Den park, relax and enjoy catching up. One of my cousins, Kelly, and her family were able to make it out this year from FL. I haven't seen her in probably 5 years, she'd never even met Grant it's been so long. It was so great to spend the day talking and playing with family.

Dad, Tiff & Grahm by the camp fire

My dad and his Grandson. I have a feeling there will be a lot of fun memories made between those two.

Me and my sissy! You just have to give her a big squeeze every now and then.

Taking a walk down by the creek. Grahm loved looking up at the leaves and trees all around us!

Well here's our crew! And it all started with that cute couple on the far right over 50 years ago!

Picaso or Picas-toe?

My favorite kind of fridge decor.

Ya know, I thought it would be a few more years before Grahm started bringing home little art projects and what not from school. However, it's been a wonderful surprise to have his little hand and foot prints turned into fun art and sent home from Bright Haven. Leaving him is still a struggle but we really feel blessed to have a place like Bright Haven!

Happy Turkey-Day!

We spent most of Thanksgiving at my Grandad's in Cassville, MO. There was a big turn out with Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and all the kids. It started snowing around noon and everyone ran to the windows to watch. It was beautiful and the roads cleared up before we drove back home that evening. Grant had to work Thanksgiving, but we brought him home a big turkey leg and lots of sides. I put Grahm to bed around 8 and went straight to bed myself because I had to be back at Wal-Mart 3 hours later to get ready for the big Black Friday sales! Most of the toys we wanted for neices, nephews & Grahm went on sale at midnight so I got there around 11:30pm. After I was done with the midnight shopping, I checked out and loaded up the car. I came back in and checked out the lines for the electronics I would be trying to get at 5am. There were already lines forming for the laptops! Ahhh! Sooo, I grabbed my book (a wonderful Francine Rivers piece) and walked the store to plan my shopping strategy. Grant and I decided this year to get a new laptop since our computer, passed down from his family, is ancient (although we're appreciative to have used it, it was time haha). So I got my ticket and was 4th in line for the HP laptop I'm currently typing on (yes, we opened our big present early!). As a few people may have noticed on my facebook, I was humored to see that Walmart sells toilet seat lids with flowers and dragon flys on them. Interesting...Anyway luckily our line was in the stool aisle so most of us grabbed a stool off the shelves and had a seat...for 4+ hours. WOo hoo. Anyway, I got our laptop as well as the other items we were hoping to get our hands on for Christmas presents. It was a sucessfull Blitz shopping day!

Grandad playing in the floor with Grahm on Thanksgiving.

All played-out, snuggle time with Grandad.

Grahm and Aunt Sara

Grahm has been army-crawling for a while now, but he's really starting to move around. About a week ago, I was making his baby food and I went in the kitchen to check the green beans in the steamer and I noticed Grahm was too quiet. I went back in the living room and he was gnawing on the dogs bacon flavored bone! Eeewwie! This past weekend, I was cooking and Sara was watching TV while he played in the floor. Next thing we know, he crawled under the table and got his hands on the picture albums. He knew he was busted! haha. Time to super-baby-proof!

Shout out to the Hogs for winning the boot and beating LSU! Looks like we're headed to the Sugar Bowl!

Go Hogs!

Love,

G&B + Grahm!