The Tree Picture

Dustin (29), Mason (23 months), Bre (26), & Baby (6 months in utero)

I really like pictures in front of Christmas trees. Our tree, however, is all of 3 feet tall. Our only hope was to "adopt" another tree for our photo. Thanks to Erin Schledewitz for being in the right place at the right time, we were able to snag a family photo in front of the big tree at church this past Sunday!

Feel free to share in our joy that Mason is looking at the camera! This is truly impressive as he is obsessed with the tree, which is understandable as it is the largest Christmas tree he has ever seen. We may just have to leave our little 3-footer up for a while. Every night he asks for us to turn on the lights and then he sits in front of the tree as close as possible without actually touching, as he is only allowed to "look with his eyes" in order to save the balls from being used to shoot hoops. He's really into throwing things right now, but balls are the only items he is allowed to throw. It's working out pretty well, there were only a few times the real basketball was thrown at the Christmas tree. We're still working at not throwing at breakables and friends :). Ironically, the only ornament that has actually been broken this year was not by Mason....

Christmastime is such a special time, filled with many learning and relearning opportunities for the young as well as the old! We hope you enjoy the celebration of Christmas this year in all the ways that are special to you and your family!!!

'Tis the Season...

for pottytraining? Apparently not quite according to Mason. However, he does occasionally show interest in using the potty chair. On this particular night (right before his bath) he decided he wasn't going to sit on it... until he put his rainboots on!

Why rainboots? They're pretty much the only shoes he can put on by himself :).

On a side note, the rainboots were $1 at a garage sale and the potty chair only 50 cents!

Non-Perfect Pictures

So I was asked if I was ever going to post again, and I decided that I indeed would.... as soon as I got the "perfect" pictures. But then I reconsidered based on the fact that it had been since the end of August and despite the massive amount of pictures I have taken in that time, I've come to accept the fact that I have an almost 2-year-old who is not yet capable of sitting perfectly still and smiling directly at the camera as I would like and therefore I will have very few "perfect" pictures. Not that I don't like other types of pictures and for me that's not what it's about anyway...

I cherish the pictures I do have, including the many that are blurry as he is almost always moving. I'm just thankful he has a cute profile since I seem to capture a lot of side views :). So in the spirit of non-perfect pictures, here's the attempt at Christmas-themed pictures. I figured by starting early I could get a handful of photo shoots in before the month was over!

The suit I got on clearance for $6.24 at the end of last season. I remember how excited I was when I got it and then thinking how long it would be before he could actually wear it!

Mason's "fancy shoes" as he calls them, which I picked up at a garage sale this summer.

New Christmas vest from Grandpa and Grandma!

He's actually just pretending to take a nap.

He has a lot of hair.... and right now he always has a lot of static going on. I apologize in advance if he accidentally shocks you or your kiddos!

He attempted to say "poinsettia". His version had the right number of syllables... just not in the right order :).

Static in the hair clearly visible!

He's still learning that I will continue to take pictures even if he attempts to hide.

Enjoying a mouthful of dried apricot, his photo shoot treat. We later noted that he may have had a bit too much :).

Singing... the lobby in Daddy's office has wonderful echoing capabilities.

I really enjoy taking pictures, so regardless of the outcome I'm just glad to be able to capture each age and stage! We hope you are your family are enjoying this special time of year and wish you an early very Merry Christmas!

Coming in 2011!

Have you ever tried to tell someone something really important and they just didn’t get it? Like that you’re pregnant, for instance. Yeah, that happened to me when I tried to tell Dustin that we’re going to have another baby! So I’ve given up on doing something unique and creative for every person and now we’re just “telling” people… I know, kind of boring. I really had the perfect plan, but it didn’t quite go as expected. However, the video recording that I have of the whole event is pretty hilarious.

So it is with gratitude to God for the life He has created that we announce our pregnancy! The due date is March 13^th, and I’m currently 12 weeks along. Baby is approximately 2 inches long or about the size of a lime.

We’ve met Baby through ultrasound during our first doctor’s appointment. Heartbeat was good at 154 bpm which has already caused speculation that it’s a girl…. and since we’re not finding out gender this time around, you can have fun guessing with us! I'm not sure I want to go on record with this yet, but I'm leaning towards boy at this point. We're so thankful to have the blessing of another child!

Our Family

I love pictures, and sadly we have very few of our family. It's like our honeymoon, where we have a bunch of just Dustin and a bunch of just me.... at least until we figured out the timer function on the camera and started propping it on trash cans. So a big thanks to our friend Josh Johnson for getting some pictures of the three of us at Yanney Park!

Mason was running around the top of the tower, so he escaped this one.

We have a picture of him like this at 6 months!

4 Years of Memories!

On Thursday, July 15th, Dustin and I will celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary! What will we be doing to celebrate? Well, I'm kissing him good-bye early in the morning and taking off with Mason and my parents to visit my brother and his wife (Brandon and Aurelie) in Chicago. We are, however, celebrating the day before (thanks Scott and Stacy for watching the "Masonator"!).

So, in my attempt to make it as special as can be before we leave I have been working on putting pictures from our past together. Looking back through pictures always makes me laugh, and it was even better as Mason was laughing at me laughing.

Here are the stories, condensed to the best of my ability...

The meeting: I had traveled with my friend Ashley Brown to Milford, Nebraska to visit the Hershberger family (the Brown and Hershberger families did business together and were family friends as well). This is when I was first introduced to Dustin. Two weeks later, we both attended the 4th of July celebration at the Brown's lake and this is where our friendship began. At the end of that summer (2003) we began dating. I was 18 at the time and he was 22. I had just graduated from High School, Dustin had just graduated from college.

Dating: Dustin was the first and only guy I ever dated. I wanted to take a serious approach to dating, not that I was opposed to dating.... I just hadn't wanted to date anyone before. I attended college at UNK while Dustin was working in Lincoln. So we visited each other on the weekends as often as possible. After my sophomore year of college, I decided to work at a summer camp in Lincoln and live there with some friends. We enjoyed getting to spend more time together and pretty soon I knew he was "the one". We had been dating for two years then.

Engagement: Dustin honestly and completely surprised me. We had talked about getting married after I graduated from college, so I was really surprised when he proposed a year "early"! We were traveling together from Lincoln to Overton to attend the annual 4th of July celebration and first ever "Camp Brown". When we arrived at the lake, he presented me with a card and exited the car. I opened the note, which gave me directions to proceed to the front door. After being led on a scavenger hunt throughout the house in which I had to correctly follow the clues, I was led to Dustin down on his knee. We began planning for a wedding the following summer.

Wedding: We were married at my home church in Holdrege on July 15, 2006. On our wedding day, Dustin and I were able to do an additional ring ceremony with the purity ring I had been given as a gift from my parents as a teenager. This was one of the most important things to us that day. I am so thankful for all those that were a part of helping us grow in our relationship. Most importantly, I am thankful to God for providing a wonderful Christian husband and that our focus on Him in our relationship made for a wonderful dating relationship and prepared a foundation for our marriage.

Married Life: As newlyweds we lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Kearney. Both Dustin and I worked and I continued attending classes and then student-taught. We LOVED married life!

Where are we now: We are still loving married life! I am continually grateful for the wonderful spouse and leader of our home that Dustin is. God has blessed me with the perfect man for me! God provided a foreclosed house for us to purchase after living in an apartment for two years. We were blessed to become parents to a baby boy on January 20, 2009! Dustin continues to work as the CFO of Brown Church Development Group, and I stay at home with our son, Mason, and work part-time as an instructor at Sylvan Learning Center.

I love my husband, happy 4th anniversary!

The ring- he picked it out all by himself!

The proposal

Engaged!

Road races- one of favorite "couple" activities while dating

Headed to Colorado to go skiing!

Bentley Milou- The puppy we all gave to my parents for Christmas. Dustin later killed the dog, accidentally of course, by taking it for a long run on a hot day. This happened to be the same day I was trying on wedding dresses.

Picture we used on the wedding invitations.

My brother took some pictures for us after our engagement, which we used as decorations on the wedding reception.

So excited to marry this man!

He can do some incredible things with his face! Here we were playing basketball with friends.

This is the beard he grew while skiing.

I get this look a lot :).

He's a great skiier.... my favorite part of skiing is tree trails!

Always helping out wherever needed!

Headed to one of our best friends' weddings- Derek & Amy Minshull!

He always pays attention to detail.

He was actually just testing out a built-in cot in a tent at Scheel's...

Not afraid to admit when he can't figure things out... like the punch fountain at Lacie and Kelly's wedding :).

Extreme tubing is one of our favorites!

Honesty is one of his best traits.... I learned early on not to buy him clothing.

Our first couples golf tournament together.

Dating

Fun at my parent's house.

Occasionally he doesn't feel well.... but that's pretty few and far between :).

He fits right in with my family!

We take our annual pumpkin carving VERY seriously!

Golfing and very happy.

Our family- brother Brandon and wife Aurelie, parents, and us during the ice storm (in front a fireplace my dad built)

At Jon and Chelsea Isaacson's wedding.

Running on the bike path. Dustin got me into running.

The kitchen where Dustin first told me he loved me :).

The first year we built gingerbread houses at Dustin's family Thanksgiving. We worked on ours for 3 hours...

Love his green eyes!

Married! I love him and I love cake!

Surprise! Dustin's dad arranged for a cool bright yellow car to take us to the reception!

Honeymoon food was soooo good!

We went to Disneyworld (my first time)! It was magical :).

Newlyweds!

In front of our first home, 85 Villa Drive #21.

First year anniversary!

All I wanted for our anniversary was to take pictures :).

Loving him more each day!

We have fun making big celebrations out of little things... showing off our "I voted" stickers!

We're pregnant!!!!!!!!! In our new home with our lovely green wall :).

Welcome Mason Michael! We became proud parents on January 20, 2009

Dustin is a wonderful father!

Mason's first golf tournament.

Mohawk madness!

Mason's first 4th of July at almost 5 1/2 months.

Emily and Marcus's wedding.

Mason loves his Daddy!

Visiting Daddy at lunchtime.

Dan and Jennie's wedding.

Dustin reads to Mason every day.

Visiting Grandpa and Grandma Horn.

We love having a son!

Thanksgiving at Grandpa and Grammy's house (yes, the tree was already up!)

What a wonderful father!

Dustin is always making Mason smile!

It makes me so happy to see my boys having fun!

Attending Dustin's annual alumni basketball tournament.

Our first ever family Christmas card photo.

So thankful for these two!

Ski trip to Colorado (January 2010).

Celebrating Grandpa Bob's life.

Four years of marriage to this wonderful man! Happy Anniversary!

I love you!