Sunday, January 30, 2011

Graeme's Baptism.....

We headed to Fort Worth this weekend for our precious nephew's baptism. We love our little Graeme and we are so thrilled to be his godparents!! :) We were more than honored to stand up there on Sunday morning and pray over him. We look forward to do anything that we can to teach him all about Jesus, and to be there for him as he grows up. We do adore that little bundle of joy....as well as our other wonderful godchildren-Lainey and Riley. :)

Here are a few pictures from Sunday morning at Graeme's baptism.... The proud parents. :)
Godparent pic :) A family pic with the grandparents and cousins too. :) Cory, Jen, and Graeme with Pastor Pete. :) He did an awesome job in the service.
Cory decided he wanted to close his eyes for this shot. :) Mimi and Popple hanging out with Mr. B....
Lainey loving on Braden...... :) Sweet sweet cousins....Come on Braden...let's hang out. :)Miss Lainey is so cute. :) Precious Graeme......We decided to dress the kids up in their "letters" and take some fun photos. :) We tried so hard to get them to all look at the camera. :) Love how alert Graeme is in this first pic at 8 weeks old. :)Sister/Brother photo opp......Let's all look at Graeme! :)
We drove back on Sunday afternoon and decided to stop in Waco for a little while. Braden needed to get out of the car and burn some of his crazy energy, and the day was absolutely gorgeous out. So we headed to Baylor to let him run around...and he loved it! :)Love this face.....
Playing with Dad.....
Love the fish face..... Some guys started playing basketball and Braden was mesmerized!! He watched without moving for quite some time!! He sure does LOVE sports! :)

We made it back to Austin on Sunday evening after a fun time with family. :) We are so blessed!!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

I Am 17 Months Old!!

Braden just turned 17 months old....so fun! :) I think this stage is my favorite one so far. We have had such a good time with him recently....he keeps us on our toes but he is such a blast to be around at the same time. He is an active, active boy....and he is becoming so independent. At the same time he is so sweet and so innocent. He is just such fun to watch. :)

Here are some things that are going on at 17 months old:

1) Braden puts puzzles together well now. He knows all the different pieces and can bring them to you or say their names. And he knows where almost all of the pieces go. We have also been working with him on his colors and numbers and he is doing so well. :) He often knows what number comes next in order and will shout it out.....and he always says "YAY" when we get to ten! :) It is amazing to watch his little brain work.

2) Like I have mentioned for quite awhile now....he talks A LOT!! He has so many fun words new words since I last posted about all of his talking. It is so cool to watch all of these new words emerge. :) Love that he can say "Bugbee" now too. :)

3) In addition to the new words, he is starting to put words into phrases. A few of his new ones are:
Hallelujah!
I love Jesus (yay!!)
Gig'em! WHOOP!
No no Obama-Chris taught him this one of course. Often it has turned into "No no Mama" though...so I am not quite as stoked about that one. :)

He still says the ones that he learned awhile back too..."I Love You" and "Happy Happy Day!!"

4) He is really starting to know himself. You can ask him "What is your name?" and he will say "Braden". You can ask him how old he is and he will say "One"...and hold up 1 finger. :) And we are working on "Where do you live?" With a little help he will say "Austin".

5) He is doing great identifying animals of all kinds-farm animals, artic animals, zoo animals, etc. He is doing very well with their sounds too....a snake goes "sssss", a lamb goes "baaa", a cow goes "mooo", a horse goes "neigh", a chicken goes "cluck, cluck", a rooster goes "cooka-doodle-do", a puppy goes "woof woof", a cat goes "meow". If you ask him what a fish says he gives you the cutest fish face. :) He can also do a few other fun ones that make us laugh so hard...."what does your bootie say?" and he will answer "toot toot", and "what does an Aggie say?" and he will answer "whoop!!". :)

6) We are to the point where we can almost have a real conversation with him and that is such a huge change. He understands MUCH more than he can speak.....but his words are pretty awesome. :)

7) He is very into testing boundaries right now. He is trying to figure out what all he can get away with. He oftens tries to test the limits just to see what pushes our buttons...and then he will smile of course. :)

8) Braden is starting to understand a little more about where Brant is and what that all means. You can ask him where Brant is and he will point to my stomach. He can say his name as well. And then sometimes I will find him just standing in Brant's room looking around...trying to figure it all out. I guess he must be thinking "why is there another crib in here?", and "why is MY glider in here?" :)

9) Braden's molars are coming in so he is starting to look like he has a lot more teeth. :) We are still keeping up the brushing twice per day. :)

10) He still loves books but you can really read them now. He is over just turning the pages all the time. He wants to curl up in your lap and actually listen to most of the books so that is fun. He is also starting to get more into paper books vs just the cardboard baby ones. :)

Couple of pics at 17 months. :)
Serious face.... Happy face.....I LOVE laughing with Daddy!!! He is so funny! :)

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Baby Luke Is Here!!!

It was an exciting day on Wednesday, Jan 26th. :) My best friend of 22 years had her first baby that day...and I was THRILLED for her and her hubby Doug. :) It was a wonderful day in that I got to meet that sweet bundle of joy that we have been talking about since May. :) What a huge blessing he received by being welcomed into such a sweet family that will just love him to pieces. :)

I am so excited for Jenn and Doug, and for this miracle that they welcomed that day. I was so glad to be able to be there to share in their joy right after he was born. :) I am also more than stoked that baby Luke and baby Brant will be the best of friends...as they will only be about 8 weeks apart. I could not be more excited to raise our boys together....something that we have talked about for ages. :)

Doug, Jenn, and Luke-The Bugbees love the three of you, and we cannot wait to watch this little man grow up, and be there for all of his special moments. :) Welcome to the world Luke Steven Meyer!! :)

First moments with Dad........



Amy came to hang out at the hospital too...and to meet this sweet little bundle of joy. :) Awwww...I love you Luke!! :) Sweet Dad and son time........
Grandpa Tom and Dad with Luke.... :)
Grandma Pat and Dad with Luke.. :)

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Women's Retreat Adventure

This past weekend I headed out to Camp Buckner in the Texas Hill Country for an awesome weekend of refreshment and renewal!! I went to the Women's Retreat that my church hosted from Friday-Sunday, and it was such an eye opening experience. :) I REALLY enjoyed myself and all that I learned. It was fun to have a relaxing time with girlfriends and just be real about life. The speaker really touched me, and I enjoyed the good mix of free time and planned activities. :) I got to take a really nice 2 hour nap on Saturday which was one of the highlights of the day. And I did not have to sleep with a baby monitor for two whole nights!! HA!! :) I even got to stay in a nice little chatueau with my girlfriends...so I did not have to rough it in a cabin with 20+ women. :) That was a nice perk for a 30 week preggo woman! LOL! :) Overall it was a really good experience and I would love to go back.

It helped that I have an incredible hubby that was willing to keep Braden all weekend. They had a fun time being boys and going to the gym, Children's Museum, getting B a haircut, etc. :) He even took him to church on his own...what a stud! :) Thank you so much Chris! I really appreciate you letting me go and get some much needed time away. :) You are the best!

Go Camp Buckner! :)
Our little chateau.. :)
And from the front. :)And some of my favorite rocking chairs on the property. :)I realized at the end that I did not even take any pics with my friends! There was so much good stuff going on that I forgot my camera during the days....and that takes a lot! :) Maybe I will remember it next time. :)

Saturday, January 22, 2011

One Foot In Front Of The Other...

Well Thursday I forgot how to put one foot in front of the other. Truly. :(

I was up at the office for a meeting that day, and as I walking out of the building at 5 pm, I decided that would be a really fun time to fall in front of everyone in the world. Oh yes...I ate it in front of a lot of people in the main lobby of one of the buildings. Goodness. :( I saw it all in slow motion for sure...and down I went on all fours. Sheesh! My wrists and knees slammed into the tile floor and there you have it. Right away I knew that it was going to hurt in a major way. In addition to the humiliation of falling in front of a ton of people, I also had my bags go flying over my head and shoes go in different directions. A guy walked up to me and brought me my shoes...and asked if I was ok. I just wanted to get the heck out of there!! :) That was all I cared about at that point.

So once I composed myself and I was able to limp out to my car, I did. I knew that I had not actually hit my stomach or anything but I was getting sorer by the minute. Seriously! I was really starting to hurt all over-knees, wrists, hips, back, etc. It was already after 5 so my OB's office was closed. I waited it out on Thursday night and just made sure that I felt Brant move. :) Once I did I felt better....but I was still so sore!!

So Friday morning I decided to go ahead and call my OB's office and just ask if I needed to do anything. They said it should not be a big deal but to go ahead and come in and do a quick monitoring before the weekend. So I just headed up there and sat and listened to Brant's heartbeat for about 15 minutes. All sounded great so they told me that I could go ahead and go....but just be careful. HA!! She said that my center of gravity is just off right now! :)

It took me a couple of days to feel better where my pelvic bones did not feel like they were cracked or something. Once that pain went away things were much better!! I am VERY thankful for that!! :) So now I just need to focus on putting one foot in front of the other for the rest of the 3rd trimester. :)

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Daddy's Hat....

I sure do LOVE wearing my Daddy's hat!! :)

Mama's Song...

I have been in love with this song by Carrie Underwood since it came out last year...but still to this day, everytime I listen to it I get all emotional. :) Pregnancy hormones probably do not help either. :) It is called "Mama's Song" and it seriously rocks. I just love it! :)

I am sure most of you that love country music know it well...but for anyone who doesn't...it is about a girl finding love of her life and her telling her mom how good he treats her, and how she does not have to worry about her anymore. She says she hopes she has found the answer to her mom's prayers in the man she has chosen.

The lyrics are great but the chorus is better. It says:

He is good, so good
And he treats your little girl
Like a real man should

He is good, so good....
He makes promises he keeps
No he's never gonna leave

So don't you worry about me
Don't you worry about me

It is such a simple but powerful song...and it just really touches me b.c I know that my parents were thrilled, and their prayers were answered when Chris and I got married. I think he was exactly what they had been praying for all along. :) He is an amazing man, and on my "bad" days I don't think that I deserve him. :) But he loves me anyway...and he treats me just like the song says-"like a real man should". He keeps his word and his commitments, and he is the most patient, kind, and caring person. He makes me a better person by being with him. I feel incrediblyblessed to call him my husband...and I hope he knows how much he means to me. :)
I love you Chris! :)

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Santa Fe.....You Took Me Away!

Chris and I took one last babymoon before they cut me off from travel in a few weeks, and Baby Brant gets closer to making his arrival. :) All I can say about our amazing weekend in Santa Fe was "bliss'. From the incredible resort.....to the relaxing 5 hours in the spa...all the way to the the yummy food that we had. It was just a super fun weekend, and we were SO glad we were able to get away for the MLK weekend together. :)

We owe a huge thanks to Chris's mom for keeping Braden for us while we ventured out for our weekend in New Mexico. We REALLY appreciated it and Braden had a wonderful time...hanging out with his grandparents and getting to play a lot with his cousin Riley. :) He was happy to be hanging out in Dallas during that time. Not sure he even missed us at all! HA! :

The place that we stayed out in Santa Fe was 5 star all the way...seriously incredible!! It was called Encantado, an Auberge Resort. There are just a few of them around North America, and I knew that I wanted to check it out. :) It called to me. HA! :)

We showed up pretty late on Friday night b.c our flight was delayed almost 3 hours into Albuquerque and then we had to drive to Santa Fe. But they treated us awesome from the minute that we arrived...even if it was really late. :) We had a personal escort to our villa..and they were willing to set up the fire in the fireplace, etc. The had lots of neat little perks like free non alcoholic drinks from the mini bar, champagne in the room, heated bathroom floors, personal driver service back and forth from downtown Santa Fe, and even a super sporty 2011 Mercedes convertible to drive while we were there. Oh yes...that was the BEST part!! We loved kicking in around town in that fancy car! :)

Here are some pics from our weekend of fun and relaxation. :)
We love you Encantado Resort!! :) And our view of the Sangre' de Cristo Mountains.... We loved our villa!! :) So nice!
We loved all of our free Izze Pops in the minibar. :)
The Mercedes convertibles really were beckoning us to check them out. :) So we obliged. :) Chris with his new car.... :)Ahhh....the day at the Japanese Bath House and Spa. Go Ten Thousand Waves!! We had a wonderful time for 5 hours there.....very relaxing and incredible hour and a 1/2 long massages. I did not want to leave after the treatments! :) We also loved the foot soak and the relaxation room. :) On our way up to our private hottub that we rented.......
It was so nice to sit in there when it was super cold outside and snowy. :) YAY! :) The cold plunge...as if we needed that with the temp outside. :) Please don't tell me it is time to leave. :(
More beautiful homes...........After the day at the spa, we headed downtown to check out The Plaza and some of the fun places down there. The super cute Inn of the Anasazi.... :)More cute hotels around The Plaza....
We grabbed some lunch at The Ore House.....
Some of the cute art galleries that are literally everywhere.....Very sweet to send champagne. Too bad my preggie self could not really enjoy it! :)Dinner at the Coyote Cafe...YUM!! :) Seriously scrumptous!!How cute is this ice cream sampler? :)
After some really good sleep, it was time for Atomic Grill for breakfast. :) Hanging out around town......
The Loretto Chapel.....
Peppers, peppers, everywhere......... :)The Cathedral Basillica of St Francis of Assisi....
After some touring it was time for something sweet! :) Check out that amazing chocolate crossaint! :)
Canyon Road....filled with restaurants and art galleries.And one last really good meal at Del Charro before we had to head back to Albuquerque. :) SO YUM!!! We were so sad to see the amazing weekend come to an end...but we were sooo excited to get back to Dallas to see our baby boy!! We had missed him so much!! :)
Chris-thank you for taking this awesome trip with me and for the great memories!! :) Cannot wait for our next adventure. :)