New adventures for the summer's end

Summer is coming to an end but Brenner still has some time for new adventures. We have some pictures of those - but first a couple Brennerisms for this week. Brenner loves trail mix with M&Ms. He will eat all of the M&Ms first. When I ask him if I can have one, he says that I can only have the brown ones. Unless there are two brown ones right in the row - then he says "Mommy, we can share" and pops the second into his mouth. We are also telling him that Nola will be fragile to which he responds "I'm NOT breakable". We will remind him of that next time he gets a good bonk! Nola was following in her big brother's footsteps this week with being ornery - I had some pretty good contractions for a few days - doesn't seem like anybody thinks we will make it to October 4!
Grandma took Brenner to the park since the weather was absolutely fabulous this week. BHP made some new friends and was nice enough to share his toys!

Here is Mr. Goofball at Hilbrenner lake, where he went fishing with Papa. They caught 4 channel catfish - which Brenner described as "slimy". But the highlight of that day (I write sarcastically) is when Matt heard a frantic "Papa, Papa, Papa - stinky!!!!!" coming from the backseat before they got to the fishing hole. Matt looked back and Brenner had cat poop all over his face, hands, pants, and shoes (you may recall that Matt thinks there should be a season on cats since he is so allergic to them). The only thing Matt could figure out is that Brenner fell or stepped in some at Grandma's house. What a mess - I was so glad not to be there!

We helped Uncle Shawn celebrate his 40th birthday at a pool party. Brenner started out in the kiddie pool.......................

Then Matt asked him if he wanted to go down the big slide together........

...........and here they are! It was getting dark so the picture isn't great but if you look close, BHP has his tongue sticking out (just like PawPaw Hinckle!). Brenner loved it and went down 8-10 times - he just kept saying "One more time!" It wore Matt out!

Night-night routine

We have our bedtime routine down so we thought we would share it with you! Brenner usually goes to bed at 7:30 pm, which means he is up early in the mornings. That is great during the week because we get to see him before going to work. Not so great on the weekends when Mom and Papa want to sleep in. For this weeks Baby Nola update, it appears we have a gymnist on our hands - lots of turning, bumping, and kicking - enough to take my breath away sometimes! The nursery is almost set up - thanks to all who have let us borrow things!!!
Getting ready for bed.....first, we pick out our jammies. This can take a while.....his first choice is always Thomas the Train, then Mickey Mouse...after that it is up in the air.Next mommy and BHP read two books. Brenner inevitably tries for more and sometimes I let in.....as long as he picks out a book that I like too :) Lately BHP has been wanting teddy bear stories, Thomas the Train, and Clifford. So - for this picture - Matt thought it was hilarious saying "your mouths are never both shut at the same time". Funny, Papa, real funny!

Next we head to the bathroom to use the potty and brush our teeth. BHP always wants to do this on his own. However, I found if I sing the "Name Game" song he will let me do the final brush.

Last up is goodnight prayers and a song (this has been Where is Thumbkin for weeks now). Then BHP asks "What I'm going to dream 'bout, Papa?" When we asked him tonight the answer was he said snakes, crocodiles, and poop. The last one always seems to make his list....glad I am not in his dreams. Sweet, sweet kid - we are blessed! Brenner told us at dinner that when he got bigger he was going to have a baby. When I asked a girl or boy he said "boy" and that he would name him "Baby Nola Boy" - don't think there will be another one of those in his class!

Weekend getaway

Matt had a great idea for us to have a weekend getaway sans BHP. Grammy Vo was nice enough to babysit while we enjoyed some time alone.
Grammy Vo and PawPaw Floyd showed Brenner a great time. They took trips to Cabelas, Deanna Rose Farm (BHP fed goats, rode a pony, and raced pedal tractors), and went fishing. He didn't want to leave! Thanks, Grammy and PawPaw!!!!!

Matt and I went to the Nelson Atkins museum, where we went on one of our first dates 11 years ago! Lunch at the Roselle Court was fun and relaxing. And some of you have been wondering about the baby bump - so here is a picture of that as well! Baby Nola is doing just fine!

We went to Jack Stack to celebrate Grandpa Bob's 73rd birthday. Janet, Matt, Susie, and Lauren were all there to wish him a great birthday!

There were some air bags in a package we got. After Brenner popped them, he put them on his hands and feet in order to become a frog. He was hilarious jumping around shouting "ribbit, ribbit". Notice we are still huge fans of the "goofy shirt".

Brenner vs. a house full of girls

Summer continues to flyby with new adventures everyday. Brenner has been very helpful getting Nola's room put together. We had our preschool home visit tonight, and Brenner was quite the ham. He had to show his teacher almost every room in our house. Thank goodness we had had friends visit over the weekend, and the house was clean! I went on hopefully my last work trip last week - Nola hates changes in altitude! The plane rides were super uncomfortable for this little active girl...so much for my wish of a calm child :) Despite the travel, our doctor says Nola is doing great at 32 weeks!
Check out the crazy cantaloupe from our garden!

Brenner can slip-n-slide with his eyes closed!

My college girlfriends came for a visit this weekend. It was such a wonderful time. Brenner was the only boy but held his own! There were numerous times when I heard another kiddo saying "the little boy keeps pushing me"!

Brenner and Gigi are close in age and played well together. Here they are jumping air mattress to air mattress. Brenner came in for a hard landing on Gigi but both were quickly up and jumping again!

More Brennerisms

Oh this Brenner is one funny guy! Here are some recent Brennerisms to hopefully amuse you. While walking down the sidewalk (really he was dilly-dallying as usual), Brenner looked up and was scared by some people with dreadlocks - he sort of jumped out of the way. Brenner looked at Matt and said "That is some silly hair, Papa". We have also been trying to prepare Brenner for Baby Nola - letting him know that new babies cry a lot and are small. Although Brenner says she is a "Big, giant baby!!!!!" to which I respond that I sure hope not! Anyway, we were showing BHP his new born pictures when we came across one that showed him on the scale at the hospital. Brenner was concerned with all of the machines and shouted "Mom, what's wrong with me there?!?!?!" He was quite upset but we reassured him that he was just fine. Now we all know that kids are sponges and BHP's vocabulary grows daily. This morning a measured his height (he grew an inch in the last 3 months!) to which he told Matt "Big enough to drink your beers, Papa!" Not really what you want your 33 month old saying. BHP even told me the other day that "Papa went to get a barely pop" - I suppose that is just a little tribute to Grandpa Hunt. The stories are endless - Brenner keeps us on our toes each and every day.
Brenner helping clean up the "sprinkles of love " (eg Emi hair). He does a fine job and even hums a bit with the vacuum.

Brenner was really excited about Emi's new dog bed - he wouldn't even let her lay on it for the first night! However, he didn't like the idea of sleeping all night on it!

Some critter was munching on my flowers so Brenner and Papa set up the game cam to identify the culprit. Thus far we have evidence that some bunnies are in the vicinity but a ground hog is expected to be causing trouble too. Brenner assures "We take care of that hog, Mom! Don't worry!".