Beaten to the punch!

So, Brandon totally took my anniversary idea. He sneakily commandeered the computer during his classes yesterday, so I wouldn't see the blog too soon.  What a sweetheart.  Don't I have a great husband? I certainly love him. I'm so grateful for his solidarity in all we've been through.  

Brandon is also an extraordinary father, something I knew would be true only a couple of months after I met him.  All I had to do was watch him with his little brothers (then ages 2 and 6), and I knew he was the man for me.  Scott absolutely loves his dad, just in a different way from me.  I'll always remember what happened right after Scott was born--he came out blue and wasn't breathing well, so after I held him for a second they took Scott to the table to resusitate him.  Scott let us all know he was breathing by wailing at the top of his lungs, but as soon as Brandon came over and called him by his name, he was comforted. Scott knew his father's voice!  If ever Scott was extra fussy in those first few months, Brandon was the one who could calm him.  

I love the fact that Brandon and I, while not opposites, definitely are not identical.  We complement eachother. Brandon helps me to be spontaneous and enjoy the finer things in life, to play more and relax.  I help him to be responsible and do his homework :) (hooray, only 7 weeks until graduation!).  I admire how far he's come and how hard he's worked to achieve this.  This is the first semester he hasn't worked nearly full time while attending school.  Even with 19 credits and many upper-level courses, he still strings for the local newspaper on the weekends, not to mention watching Scott for 3-6 hours a day while I give voice lessons.  Brandon is dedicated to our family, and he works hard to provide for us.  I am excited for our future!

I love you, Brandon.  You are always quick to serve me, and you treat me like a princess.  I couldn't imagine eternity without you and our little Scott.  Happy 3rd anniversary, sweetheart, and here's to many more!

Baby winter clothes

Scott is so darn cute in his new winter hat, mittens, and booties. Here he is trying them on, October 22.

Happy Anniversary!

I can't believe I've been married for three years already. Yep, three years ago today, Mandi and I were sealed in the Salt Lake temple. We were married in the morning and then had a reception that afternoon/evening. It was a pretty darn stressful day, but completely worth it.

Here is a list of some things I love about Mandi Leigh:

1. She makes me a better person. I know, I know, every male in the Church says this, but it's the truth. Sure, I'm still a slacker to some (large) extent, but I doubt I'd be finishing my bachelor's degree this semester if not for her. And spiritually, she's helped me to be more patient and kind in general. If improvement is the goal of this life, marrying Mandi was the smartest choice I've ever made.

2. She's a wonderful mother. I love that she reads up on how to care for Scott and knows way more than I do about what medications are okay to give him, what to feed him when, etc., but doesn't go overboard by wrapping him in foam to prevent injury. Scott definitely loves her more than me, which is fine, since she's the one who did all the work in getting him here. Scott can be hard to handle, especially at night with his infrequent sleeping schedule, but she never complains. I couldn't ask for a better mother for my kid.

3. She loves education. Once we got married, she didn't drop out of school, but instead continued on and earned her bachelor's degree last December. And she didn't stop there; she's currently taking a GRE prep class to help her get into a master's program. Her priority is our family, but at the same time she wants to keep learning and improve herself. I respect and admire that.

I love you, Mandi. I'm happy we were married and look forward to spending the rest of forever with you.

Love,

Brandon

Breaking in the new swings

These are from Oct. 21; I'm catching up on all my blogging :)

They built some new baby swings at Porter Park a few blocks from our house, so we had to go try them out.

"Going on a walk to the park is the BEST!"

Cute little tongue tasting the windy Autumn day.

"Ooooh, look at those big kid toys over there!  What do you say, Mom?"

Scott is sad because he needs to learn to walk before he can play on the big playground. 

But swings are still really fun!

Safely back home with Dad (there is some sort of sporting event playing on the TV behind me, that's why neither of them are looking at the camera). 

Caution: Extremely cute pictures follow

Scott was offered a little green apple.  He wasn't so sure at first, but after he got used to it, we couldn't pry him away.

****************************************

 Scott: "Watcha doing, Mom?"

Me: "Oh, just taking pictures of you because you're getting so good at crawling."

Scott: "Check out my form.  I'm a pro."

Scott: "I also found this glass all by myself.  Hooray!"

Me: "You are so cute and smiley today!"

Scott: "Yes, I know.  I also like to stick out my tongue today."

Scott: "It's so fun, I think I'll do it for the rest of the morning!"

Applesauce Adventure

Tonight I let Scott feed himself for awhile.  Here are the results:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

And here is him playing in his walker.  He really likes it a lot, but I wouldn't let him have the camera, so he was crying at me.

And here are Scott's FOUR top teeth that came in all at once last month.  He now has 4 on top and 3 on the bottom; tooth grinding is his newest favorite activity.

Harvest Time

Above are the fruits of my very first solo canning experience-6 quarts of applesauce.  I also did some frozen apple pie/cobbler filling.  It feels good to be so active in providing for my family,

 although I was really nervous that, as it's my first time canning, the jars wouldn't seal and we'd be eating applesauce for the next 2 weeks.  It is hot, sweaty, sticky work, but I felt close to my mother, Grams, and Grandma Nedra as I continued the family tradition of laying up in store.  I am so thankful for the random woman in Broulim's who turned to me in the checkout line and asked if I wanted apples to can. The Lord is providing for our family.

Below are some pictures of Scott I've been meaning to post for awhile, and, with the laptop trouble and a dearth of double-A batteries at our house (for the camera), haven't been able to till now. Enjoy!

          Little explorer.

BYU-I baby.

We start 'em young, here.