11 months

Wildlife Zoo

This is why you keep up with blogging as life happens instead of trying to catch up!

How could I forget! In May Grandmama, Brice and I went to the Wildlife Zoo in Litchfield park. Darren my dad and Aunt Katrina's family went on a hike while we looked at the animals. It was pretty cool and I would say better then the zoo because you were closer to the animals and could feed them (if you paid the feeder .50 we opted to just watch others feed the animals). After the zoo we went back to Wendy's (Katrina's moms house) for a cookout. It was a very nice day!

For a pool fence it looks nice

We got a pool fence. We can now play in the yard and only have to worry about Brice eating rocks instead of eating rocks and falling in the pool. One battle at a time.

Ummm how do you baby proof that?

Yup tonight as Darren and I sat and played with Brice in the playroom. We watched him crawl to the door, stand up, reach for the handle, pull down and open the door inward without falling down and continued to crawl out of the playroom. He was very proud of himself.

Well it should be interesting from here on out!

Easter

Brice had a successful first Easter! He just turned ten months the day before and received his first Easter basket from the Easter Bunny. We continued the tradition of having family and friends over. The guest list included
Grandma and Papa Englert
Uncle John and Auntie Katrina
Auntie Megan, Uncle Bryan, Noah and Owen
Rob, Nikki, Reece and Alexa

There was a small egg hunt and a delicious meal prepared by Darren. It was a beautiful day out.
A special shout out to Auntie Megan her birthday fell on Easter for the first time in her life.

California Trip April 2011

We did the trek again to CA the weekend before Easter to see Riley (and the Aunties and Uncle). Brice was very well behaved on the car ride and so was Buddy (they kept each other company in the back note the picture.) The beach was my favorite thing. It was Brice's first time to the beach and he loved it, we considered a wave machine because it was putting him to sleep. We had a nice lunch on the beach and hung out with some friends. Kyla and Jake cooked up some good food and we hung around a fire outside a few nights. It was a nice get away for the weekend, especially for Darren he interviewed for a job (which he got!) and I picked him up from the interview and we headed to CA. It was a packed weekend!

"My Cousin Baby Brice" Riley Capistron

Yes, Riley loves her some Baby Brice. We had out Aunties in town with a few extra friends for Memorial Day Weekend. Brice loved the girls and the girls loved Brice so it was a great weekend. There was a lot of swimming, cookouts and a lot of pictures taken. I started the weekend by going to the salt River with my dad, Lauren, Liz and Emma. Although we all got burnt it was a nice relaxing trip down the river. Brice even got his first gift from England. Emma brought him a teddy bear from Harrod's. Thanks Emma! We had everyone over for a cookout and swimming including the Olson's and Hulihee's. One day we went to Superstition Farms and feed the animals and we even went to the Hanger Cafe for lunch and watched planes take off. Can't wait to see everyone again we always have a fun time!

What is Brice Doing...Everything

People tell you the first year of a child's life is amazing they learn and grow so fast. Now that I have an 11 month old it has gone by very quickly and is extremely amazing how much happens.

So here's whats been going on...

He has teeth coming in in every direction

He walks holding onto some ones hands

He gets brave and let go completely to things and stands on his own for a few seconds

He is very curious

He has a lot of curls in the back (Darren says I try to accentuate them after bath time)
Loves climbing over Buddy or anything he can


He loves being throw up in the air or put upside down

He likes to turn the page when you read to him

He has a 6 wide foot

He waves and says "ba by"

He says Da Da, Mama, Baba, Bud (sounds like ba but looks at the dog when saying it) he stopped saying up but lifts his hands in the air to get up. And I think I heard him say more or Mu

He skipped over the sippy cup and right to the straw. (Darren thinks him drinking out of the straw is the cutest thing ever)

People said that it doesn't get easier, it just gets different. I am going to disagree (for now). Brice has been a lot of fun and is much easier (I think mostly because I get a full nights sleep). His personality is great and it is just fun to watch him learn. I can't believe I am going to have a toddler soon. That's just nuts!

Mother's Day

I celebrated my first Mothers Day and it was wonderful. Brice and Darren bought me a necklace when they were up in Sedona. And I had a delicious breakfast and dinner preparded by Chef Darren. It was a nice relaxing day and and I love being a mom!

Baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten and the future worth living for." Anonymous

Dave and Jess Visit

Uncle Dave and Jess came to town in May to meet Brice and have a little vacation. We had a great time while they were here. We started off with a cake for them to celebrate their engagement! One day we took them to the ghost town/old mine up the road and had lunch at Tortilla Flats for a little western flavor day. Then we went horseback riding through the Superstition Mountains. I think we did well for none of us having much horseback riding experience. It was a beautiful ride. Smokey my horse was slow and steady. Mousey, Darrens horse, was unpredictable. Rivers, Jess's horse was a close rider and Dave's horse (blanking on the name) was hungry and stopped to eat when he could. One day we went to Sedona which as always was beautiful. We shopped a little, stopped in to to see the church on the hill, took in the fantastic view at the airport (Fun Fact: highest point in Sedona) and ate ice cream for dinner. All in all a great day and Brice was very well behaved.

Graduation Day!!!

As you read previously, Darren graduated with his Masters the end of last year. But this time he walked across the stage! The ceremony was at Chase Field and Brice and I watched as 8,000 people received a diploma that day (undergrads, Masters, Doctorate) It was a long day, but well worth it. Very proud!

The next day Dave and Jess headed back to MA. We hope to see them again soon, we had a great time with them out here.

Out with the old in with the new!

Well lets go back to April 1st, when I lost one job, but gained a new and much more fun job. I was laid off from Kitchell, and am now a stay at home mom. I have been casually looking for jobs, but I am enjoying my time with Brice. It took about a month but we are finally settling into a routine. He is now taking two naps a day (YAY!) and we are eating everything and anything, well except yogurt we had a reaction to that and will try again at a year. We have been busy and had a lot of visitors sine April so read on :)

"Being a Mother is the highest salaried jobs...since the payment is pure love."

Mildred B. Vermont