New Do...

Last night Bryson's Aunt Becki came over and cut his hair. I felt really bad because he had just fallen asleep, so he was cranky when she was cutting it. And then the poor little guy - I had to hold his head really still when she did his neck and ears. She did a great job for him to be moving so much. I think she only missed like two hairs. She was cracking me up because she kept saying she should have worn a mask so he would not know it was her and not like her anymore. I promise Bryson still loves his Aunt Becki. He even went right to her when she was done!

I think I shed a couple of tears, and when he fell asleep I kept rubbing his head - I know I am a sapp! After everyone left Bryson kept rubbing his head and letting out a cry. He looks like such a little man now and not a baby anymore! I have to take a double take when I look at these pictures. I already miss the little curls behind his ears.

Here are some before pictures.

Love those waves!

Here is the whole process - he had to have the baby crunchies in his mouth and he kept throwing these plastic balls to everyone sitting around watching!
Haylee was such a big help in keeping him distracted.
Amy put some of his hair in a ponytail so Becki could cut his first curl for me to keep in his keepsake box.
Bryson's first curl.
And, here are the after pictures - he just looks so grown up. Tissue please! :)

Not sure he liked it after seeing it! :)

Here are a couple of videos of the process - poor Becki was just following his head jerks everywhere!

And, here is proof my husband is a bad influence on our child. You can see where he gets the punching thing from.

Happy 24 + 1 week B-Day Amy!!

So this is a little late, but Happy Birthday Amy. On July 9th Amy J turned the big 2-4, and she tells all of us this is the last birthday she is celebrating. Uh, hello wait until you are told you are now in your late 20s and then you will wish you were 24. :)

Amy is one of those women you hate because she is naturally beautiful, has great hair, and whether she is wearing t-shirt and jeans or all dressed up she always looks good! She can throw her hair up in a clip or ponytail and she looks like someone at a salon fixed it.

She can always make me laugh, and if you do something stupid - well she is always there to laugh at you! :)

She would do anything in the world for you with no questions asked. We have been close since I started high school, and we have remained close since! I love you Ames!!!!

This is Bryson and Jamison's first time to meet!

Amy, Haylee and Jamison - Easter 2008
Magic Kingdom 2008
Animal Kingdom 2008
I am so proud to call you my sister and friend, and Bryson is so blessed you gave him the best gift ever - a best friend (Jamison). I am so glad I have someone else to compare notes with! You are a beautiful young woman!

3 Days!!

My little man will be 1 in three days! I am having mixed emotions about this - on one hand I am loving the stage he is in right now. He is so much fun (I'll explain more later). Then on the other hand a part of me is like he is not a baby any more - I have a toddler! It is really weird to think back to what I was doing a year ago this week - all big and pregnant and walking everywhere trying to get him to hurry and come! When I think back on the first week after his birth - those days could not have passed any slower! I just kept telling myself if I can get past the first week I am good - I am still telling myself that today! I still can't believe I have this beautiful baby that is turning into a handsome little man (I am a little biased)! :)

The past month has been so busy and crazy! Bryson got another ear infection during the week of the 4th of July, but he still enjoyed the fireworks. I was kind of scared he would not like them, but he sat there and clapped and every now and then I would hear him say "boom."

He is talking so much and getting his own little personality. Did I mention he is now a walker?!?! Yes, he started taking steps back and forth to people around 9 1/2 to 10 months old and then when he turned 11 months he got brave and would walk back and forth between furniture. Well, last Monday (7/7) he started taking off and has not stopped since! He has totally got the drunk man walk going on - and he will get his hands out to balance himself. It is so funny.

Here are a couple of pics of him in his new swimsuit - Brian had to remind me not to call it a bathing suit because that is what girls wear! :)
He loves to swim, but does not fight me to get out (I love it)! He just has not been able to go very often because out of the past 6 weeks he has had ear infections for four of them.
His daddy has taught him to punch, which he has been doing for awhile now. But, now he will punch and say "Pow." He will also punch someone when they try to give him kisses, which I have started to get onto him and Brian for. His first word besides dada and mama was "ball," which is more like "ba." We can not go anywhere without him seeing something shaped like a ball and he starts yelling "ba, ba, ba, ba." It could be a dinner roll, an orange, or rolled up socks - it is all ba, ba, ba. He also will hand me a book and say "bu, bu, bu," and climb up in my lap for me to read it to him. On 7/7 we were loading him up in the car and he saw some birds fly off and he pointed at them and say "ook." I said did you say look, and he says ook. Then I said can you say bird? And he concentrates real hard with pursed lips and says "bur." He amazes me.


He is really into pointing at things, so I will ask him where daddy is and he will look at him and point. When I ask him where the dog is he will do this little bark "ar, ar" and then point to Mason. On momma - he will point to me and then lay his head on my arm or chest. It is so precious. He has also discovered his belly. I will ask him where his belly is and he will raise up his shirt and point to his belly. He will also rub his head when you ask him where his hair is.

Saturday night we were picking up the house a little bit, and I was putting his toys in our ottoman and he grabs this tiger from "Kung Fu Panda" and starts hugging it. I walked out to put some towels up and the next thing I know he has crawled inside the ottoman, and is "reading" his little monster book. I was cracking up. When he finally got out of it he decided to use the lid as a slide and climb up it and slide down.

Look how shaggy his hair is. He is actually supposed to be getting it cut tonight. Pray for me because there are way to many firsts happening this week for me to deal with - first b-day, haircut, etc.
Things are going to be so crazy with putting his party together, but I am really looking forward to it. We are taking him to the aquarium in Jenks on his birthday. Brian and I have never been so we are really excited.

7 Years!!!!

Last Monday (6/16) was mine and Brian's 7th Wedding Anniversay!! And no, it does not feel like it was just yesterday! :) This also means this year we have been together 10 years! Most of you that read this know how we met, but for the others I will take you on a walk down the "Earp Memory Lane." We met in high school. I remember the first thing he said to me, we were at a football game, and he said "Hey Mandy, was that your mom that got pulled over in the parking lot yesterday?" I was so mortified, but at the same time excited that he knew my name. I went home that night and told my sister Amy about it and I said "I am so going to marry that boy." Brian and I dated my freshman year (his junior year) of high school for about a month. And, he decided we were better off being "just friends." We dated again my sophomore, his senior year, for like two months. And, again he decided we would be better off being "just friends." We dated again my junior year for about four months, and again he decided we were better off being "just friends." Do you see a pattern here? This time I told him we were not friends to not bother ever calling me again. Of course I had to see him the next day at the play-off football game. He tried the old friend route, and I totally did not speak to him. I will have to say "thank you" to my friend Shayne for being there for me after each break-up. You know break-ups are so much more dramatic when you are in high school. :) My family always joked that he broke up with me right at the end of football season, which was pretty accurate. Anyhow, then my senior year a friend of his told me Brian wanted to know if I was dating anybody, and I said no, which was such a lie. I know I was just glutton for punishment, but remember I knew we were going to get married. :) So, Brian and I had our first date on October 17, 1998, and we have been together ever since.

We have had our rough patches, but in the end there is no one else I would rather be a parent with and spend my life with than him. I still look at him sometimes and it amazes me I am married to him. He is a good dad, and I am so thankful he stays home with Bryson on his days off. Of course every time he calls me he is out of breath from chasing Bryson around the house.

It is really sad I do not have any pictures of just the two of us on my camera, so here are pictures of the three of us in the last year. Bryson looks like a little buddha statue in the first picture.

Happy Anniversary and I Love You Babe!!!!

Happy Father's Day!

I know I am a couple of days behind, but we can't get Internet where we live so I have to do updates at work during my lunch break. That being said - I would like to wish all the dads a very Happy Father's Day! I love my dad and I am so appreciative of everything he does for our family! I can remember him umpiring extra softball/baseball games one summer to pay for my high school class ring, which now makes me feel very selfish. He did it without complaining. He has done many things like this over the years and I want you to know I love you dad! Words could never express the gratitude I owe to you and mom! Thanks for being such great grandparents to my little man - I know he loves you all so much!

I also have great in-laws - although my father-in-law likes to sneak Bryson food! :) I know Bryson will have so much fun in the pool this summer with his grandpa. Bryson just better not have a better tan than me! :) Happy Father's Day Mike (Grandpa)! Thanks for being so good to baby mack!

To my husband (who does not read this, but I guess he might see it someday so I better be nice), thank you for being such a great daddy to Bryson! Thank you for watching him on your days off, so the grandmas get a break! I know Bryson loves you and loves playing around with you! His eyes light up when you walk in the door, and the grin never leaves his face! You can make him giggle at the silliest things, and then of course when he gets the hiccups you are done! :)

Here are some pictures of Bryson and his super cool (so he thinks) daddy! :) Bryson at 1 month.

Bryson at 1 day old and he already has a smile on his face!
Momma's boys - Bryson 3 months and Mason "the shaggy dog." Check out how chubby Bryson is - I guess seeing him everyday I never thought he was that chubby! :)
Brian and Bryson (4 months) watching one of his first OSU basketball games.

10 months, 5 steps, 4 teeth, 2 ear infections, and 1 messy little boy!

My little man turned 10 months old on the 18th of this month! Less than two months and we will be having his 1st birthday party! A week before he turned 10 months was my very 1st Mother's Day, and my little man was so cute! I was getting ready for church and Brian came in holding Bryson, who had a big grin on his face and he was holding a card in one hand and a jewelry box in the other. He was so proud of himself let me tell you. It was the cutest and sweetest thing. He handed me my card and then my box, which was a beautiful silver heart necklace with diamonds around the heart and in the middle it said MOM. My boys did very good for their 1st Mother's Day! I was just proud Brian remembered to get a card. :)

This month has been so much fun, but very tiring. Bryson is going non-stop and he hardly takes naps during the day now. He loves playing with little basketballs. He will throw them and then chase after them, and then he will continue to do this until he gets tired which is usually awhile later. :) He is pulling up even more now, and he is getting really brave because he will not hold on. We were playing in his room the other day and he pulled himself up on his toy chest, and then he saw a big toy a few feet away he wanted to play with. I just sat back and watched as he was trying to figure out how he was going to get to that toy, and all of a sudden he let go of the toy chest and took three steps towards the toy before he came crashing down on top of it. Grandmas don't worry he was not hurt! :)

I love to let him pull himself up and then have him walk back and forth between two people. He has gotten up to five steps before falling. He is so funny though because he gets so excited and every time he gets the hiccups!

He also is getting four teeth on the top now. I was really surprised when I saw them starting to come in because he has not been cranky. However, we both went to Urgent Care on Sunday because he was not feeling good, and I had a sinus infection and I thought I had busted my ear drum. It turns out we both had ear infections along with colds. I have not had an ear infection since I was three. I now feel very sorry for any baby that has one because I am telling you it is very painful and your ear feels like it is constantly stopped up. We are both feeling much better now - it was just a crummy 3-day weekend with us both not feeling well.

Meet my Mr. Hollywood wearing his Aunt Katie's huge glasses!

Last week we gave Bryson his own plate of spaghetti and below is what we ended up with. He had it everywhere. Needless to say he went straight into the bath tub. He would get so mad when I took the plate away!
Can you say kiss me momma!
This was him after the plate was removed.
Here is a video of the experience. It was hilarious because the dog had a field day gobbling up what Bryson dropped.

P-Baby's B-Day Party!!

On Saturday we went to Peyton's birthday party (my friend Shayne's little man). We had such a great time. It was so good to see everybody! Bryson got to finally meet Miss Mackenzie (sorry if I spelled it wrong). It seemed more like a basketball reunion than a party - the babies could have cared less. :) It just amazes me we were all so close in high school and now we all have kids of our own ranging from 14 months - 9 months + Miss Jacie Jo 3 1/2 years old (future babysitter). It is crazy that is has almost been 10 years since we have graduated. My how things change. It was so funny watching the babies interact with another - they are all so precious!

Mackenzie, Bryson (still holding the ball from Friday), Hunter, and Peyton

All the babies before the Dorito mishap.
So, Bryson took a bite of Peyton's Dorito, and I thought I had gotten it out of his mouth, but as I was snapping pictures he started choking, and Brandi got the chip out of his mouth, and then he proceeded to throw-up everything he had just eaten. Then Peyton started throwing up - it was like a scene from Stand By Me (eating contest scene)! :) We decided they were a little to young to have Doritos.

Thanks Brandi for saving my son!!!

1st attempt to get all the babies to sit still. We had to keep putting things in their lap. As you can tell from the pictures above - Hunter does not like to sit for very long. I don't know how Brandi keeps up with him! :) That is probably why she is so skinny!

Let's see Bryson - how many things can you hold and fit in your mouth!
Mackenzie wanting to play with the frizbee.
Mackenzie and Bryson


Hunter and Bryson fighting over a sippy cup lid. It was so funny one would have it and the other would take it, and it would keep going back and forth! I was cracking up because they have known each other the longest and they were already taking stuff away from one another.

Mackenzie
Bryson and Peyton

Mackenzie trying to sneak the ball while Bryson is not looking. :)

Here are some of the 97-98 b-ball team! Kelli and Jacie Jo (3 1/2), Leslie and Mackenzie (9 months, me and Bryson (10 months), Brandi and Hunter (14 months), Shayne and Peyton (11 months)

Just us girls before we got in the Jupiter Jump! :)
We had such great time - thanks Shayne for inviting us! It was so nice to visit and catch up with everyone! By the way the bink is back. I thought I lost Bryson's pacifier, and we looked everywhere for it. So, I thought okay it's lost and we will be done with it; however, on the way home Bryson just bawled! He is teething, and I knew he would want a pacifier and I really did not want to go to Wal-Mart that late. We have others, but he would not ever take them. Of course he took them that night. Then Sunday afternoon Brandi calls and Bryson's pacifier was in Hunter's bag. So, all is well again in the Earp household!