Tree Time!

Last year when we put up our tree, Brennan showed absolutely no interest in it. He only wanted to pull books off the bookshelf. This year was a much different story! He was so excited to help decorate and it was a lot of fun to watch his interest and involvement in family Christmas traditions develop. Next up on the list of fun Christmas things...make an Advent calendar, send out Christmas cards, and indulge in the yearly dose of "White Christmas" movie magic!

Brennan helped put up the first ornament on the tree--his "Baby's First Christmas"

The finished product

Leaf Fun

We spent some time playing in the many, many, many leaves that have fallen in our yard. Brennan really got into the fun!

He loved watching Daddy throw the leaves up in the air, but never quite managed to repeat it on his own.

Getting ready to dive right in!

This look captures all the joy that came with playing in the leaves!

The Cure?

For the last several years, I've thought it might be fun to make a gingerbread house. My parents graciously bought and sent one for us to do as a family project this year. Today was the day to put it all together. It was a lot more work then I was expecting! So I think I might be cured from wanting to do this every year!

The boys getting in on the fun

Work in progress

The finished project. Far from professional, but a decent first attempt.

Naomi's Guide to Prepping the Bird

Let's see ... turkey breast for $8 or entire 11 lb. turkey for about half that? Not a tough decision. There was a downside though: Naomi would have to clean and prepare the turkey. This is not something she's had the opportunity to do yet in her life, so a learning experience was in store. And by "learning experience" I mean "photo op". Here is Naomi's guide to prepping the bird. (Move over Rachael Ray).

Step 1: Remove giblets. (Be sure to only use thumb and pointer finger so as not to goop up other digits).
Step 2: Carefully inspect bird cavity for missing neck of bird.
(Discover that bird neck is crammed in other end of bird).
Step 3: Display still-frozen bird neck to camera and make grossed-out faces (not shown).
(Be grateful that bird head was not included).
Step 4: Give bird a bath.
Step 5: Dry bird off with paper towel pat-down.
(Shave, lotion, deodorant and after-shave not necessary).

Step 6: (Not shown). Give bird a lovely spice massage and rub down, then throw it in the oven for three hours.

Step 7: (This is where I come in). Eat bird.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Intensity

Brennan has really begun to show an interest in helping us as we cook or bake. His idea of helping tends to be emptying out the container of utensils and playing with them as we do the work. Today, I gave him some of the leftover dough from the apple pie crust and let him go to it. At first he didn't know what to do with it, but he eventually really got in to playing with the dough. He didn't want to stop playing with it once the pie was in the oven, so off to the kitchen table he went for some intense playtime with the dough!

A New Saturday Tradition?

One thing that I've always loved about Saturday mornings was having unlimited time to read. Since Brennan came along, it's a luxury that doesn't happen very often. But this morning, Brennan crawled up on the couch with several books and had a blast looking through them. Maybe he'll start his own Saturday morning reading tradition!

Joys of a Yard

We've enjoyed getting to spend some time outside before winter sets in. John has been diligently working to rake up all the leaves and pine needles that have littered the yard. Due to an incredibly wet October, the progress has been slow, but we've gotten some play time in around the piles (which Brennan likes to lay in, stand in, and "help" Daddy bag up). Today, he spent some time collecting sticks, pine cones, and leaves to add to the growing piles. After being pretty unsure of himself in the yard at first, he's really warmed up to the idea of having a big place to wander, explore, and play.

The Winning Recipe

A couple of people have asked for the apple pie recipe, so it here goes. It's actually just a recipe I found randomly off the internet!

Mix in a large mixing bowl:
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vinegar

Peel and slice 5 tart apples. Mix them with the spices. Add apples to your pie crust. Place about four chunks of butter on top of the apple filling, then top with your second crust. Cut strips of tinfoil and place them around the edge of the pie. Take the tinfoil off about 10 minutes before the pie is done. Bake at 400 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

Festival Time!

In lieu of doing the traditional Halloween activities (in part because I'm not too keen on celebrating Halloween and John is undecided), we opted to attend a fall festival at a local church. They had tons of games for kids to play in order to earn candy and small toys, bounce houses, and a Christian illusionist. They also had a cornbread cook-off, a chili cook-off, and a pie contest. I entered the pie contest with two pies, an apple and a chocolate chip (two of the three pies that I know how to make). For me, the best part of the night was discovering that my apple pie had won first prize out of 41 pies!

The award winner!

It was nice they were lenient with him when it came to the games. But he seemed to enjoy getting to play and then choose his prize.

He tried the bounce house for the first time and really enjoyed being in it.


Bouncing boy!

He wasn't too sure about the whole cotton candy thing, but feeding it to Daddy was great fun!

Brennan's First Haircut (if you don't count the ones done by Dad)

Before ... wild hair!

During ... why is this lady attacking me with scissors?

After ... such a handsome man!

Ten Apples Up on Top

We spent the morning out at Carter Mountain Orchard picking apples. We went out there last year and had a really good time, so we think this will become a yearly tradition. Brennan was able to be much more involved this year. His favorite activity was picking up the apples that had fallen on the ground and carrying them around as he made his way down the row. He wasn't quite so keen to try eating the apples, but we enjoyed the ones we sampled!

We finally convinced him to actually pick an apple and this was the result of his hard work.

A little too high for him!

Once he dropped the apples he was carrying, playing in the long grass and picking the flowers held much more allure.

So much hard work required a bit of a break...especially to gear up for heading back up the mountain.

Peter Panda

Brennan attended his very first birthday party today for his buddy Caleb. We went to Build-a-Bear and then to the food court for some lunch and birthday cupcakes decorated by Caleb's big brother, Manning. We had a really good time celebrating with friends!

He chose to build a panda bear, but wasn't really sure about the whole stuffing it thing.

He loved the finished product, which we ended up naming Peter Panda.

If I had a Homer Hanky...

...I'd be waving it proudly! Way to go, Twins! Ah, such a great time to be a Minnesota sports fan!

On Our Nightstand, Part 6

Here are some more books that the Downer family has been enjoying as of late:

1. "Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith" by Rob Bell
2. "Your Boy: Raising a Godly Son in an Ungodly World" by Vicki Courtney
3. "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini
4. The Broadmoor Legacy series and the Brides of Gallatin County series by Tracie Peterson
5. "Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers: Prayer for Ordinary Radicals" by Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

Pumpkin Picking

We went to the Hanover Vegetable Farm with our church's playgroup this afternoon for a fun outing. We enjoyed viewing the farm animals, playing in the giant box of corn, and racing rubber ducks. A tractor pulled a hay wagon out the pumpkin patch, where the kids got to explore and pick out their pumpkins. Then we got to enjoy roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over a bonfire. The weather was perfect for October, making the day even more enjoyable!

He was excited to see the pumpkins and enjoyed patting them as he passed by them! He even tried carrying a couple that were just a little bit too big for him still, but he made a valiant effort.

The dirt road, rocks, and pumpkin leaves held more appeal than the actual pumpkins themselves.

Playing with new friends in the giant box of corn was a big hit!

Another Special Spot

Brennan recently discovered his own special place to hang out and enjoy some peace and quiet.

The Hiding Place

Here's a peak into Brennan's room, with a surprise.

The Fantastic Four--Downer Style!

D2 is on the way!

We are super excited to have another little one entering our family in late April. I've been feeling pretty good, and I'm hoping that morning sickness will decide to skip me this time around! I had my first appointment today, which made everything feel more real--especially getting to see D2 in an ultrasound :)

Welcome Home!

We are all moved in to our new house! We had a lot of help from some tremendous friends here in Richmond to get all our possessions from one place to another. We were thankfully able to stretch out the move over several days, so we could take our time with getting our boxes over here, leaving last Saturday as the day when all the big stuff made the move.

We feel incredibly blessed to have found this place we'll be renting for hopefully the next several years!

Playgroup Potluck

Our church has a playgroup that meets weekly in the mornings. Due to my work schedule, I'm unfortunately unable to participate (although there is talk of starting an afternoon group for moms like me who work in the mornings). But we did find out that they do monthly potlucks, and tonight was the first one that we attended. It was a lot of fun to get to meet other families in the same stage of life, and Brennan enjoyed being outside and around the other kids. Once he got warmed up to the idea of playing with the others, he and his buddy Josh spent some quality time in the sandbox and in the playhouse together. We're already looking forward to connecting more with this great group of people!

Pony Pasture

After having gone to Pony Pasture (which, contrary to it's name, is not a pasture, nor are there ponies) last week with my mom, we decided to head out there today to let Brennan get some final water fun before fall sets in. We rock-hopped out into the James River and waded around a bit. Brennan really enjoyed the water, and is probably already looking forward to the days when he's older and can swim in the river instead of just wading in the shallow end!

Grandma's Visit!

My mom got to come visit for a few days to spend some quality time with us and her favorite (only) grandson. Brennan was a little shy at first, but he quickly overcame that and Grandma became his favorite buddy! We'd go out places, and he'd reach for her hand to hold. They read lots of books together, played with toys, and enjoyed each other's company. It was definitely a nice treat to have my mom here to visit--made even better by the fact that I got to celebrate my birthday with her for the first time in eight years! Yes, today is finally my golden birthday--on the last possible day that anyone could ever have their golden birthday!

We spent one morning at Maymont Park. This tree had perfect limbs for a photo op!

Daddy helped Brennan navigate the stones

Feeding the goats was a fun activity!

We visited Short Pump Town Center and got to explore a bit before dinner. Brennan was desperate to get a chance to play in the water instead of sitting on Grandma's lap.

This child is fascinated with water. We went to play in the pop-jet fountains at another mall a couple days ago, which he absolutely loved. Then we took my mom to visit Pony Pasture, an area along the James River with huge rocks that you can walk on to get out in the river a ways. Brennan wanted his shoes and socks off so he could stick his feet in, and then had a fit when we needed to leave the water!

He needed to pat every light pole we passed (and there were a lot of them!).

What a fun visit with Grandma!

The other benefit to having my mom here to visit was she got to help us pack. Yes, pack. We got the good news that the applications to sublease our current place have been approved. The two guys who will be renting it are signing the lease on Tuesday, and we will be moving in just under two weeks! While the whole idea of packing and ultimately moving (again) is not all that appealing, we are super excited to finally get to move to a single-family home and have a huge yard for Brennan to play in. He definitely needs more outdoor time than we can adequately give him in our current place! Stay tuned for pictures of the new Downer home!

A Pirate's Life for Me

A park near our house sponsored a "Pirate's Paradise" event today, complete with dunk tank, bounce house, airbrush tattoos, arts and crafts, games, singing pirates, and a pirate who walked around and greeted the kids. Brennan was a little overwhelmed, but he participated in a bean bag toss, which earned him one gold pirate coin. Then they uncovered a sandbox full of fun treasures, which he really enjoyed getting to dig around in. The treasure hunt didn't last as long as he would have liked, but he sure had fun getting sandy!

Goodbye Shared Walls?

After many years of living in places with shared walls (15 years for John, 8 years for me), we've decided it's time to broaden our horizons and explore the possibility of renting a single family home. And that possibility may become a reality in the very near future.

John is still part of an email list for a men's Bible study that he attended for a few weeks last summer. One email came through very recently asking if anyone needed a house to rent. John replied that we might be interested, and we weren't expecting much. From our limited experience looking at rental homes, we've discovered that most of them are pretty run down and way overpriced. We began communicating with the guy to get more information, went to see the place this past Sunday, and absolutely fell in love with the place.

We are going to begin the process of trying to sublease our current place today in the hopes of being able to move at the beginning of October. All prayers would be greatly appreciated in this process!

We feel really good about proceeding with pursuing this option. Even the financial aspect has worked out in such a way that we definitely feel blessed with this.

Things we are really looking forward to about moving to a new house:
1. Color on the walls! The walls are painted nice colors throughout, which is greatly appealing.
2. Newer appliances, so we don't need to wonder if today is the day that our appliances konk out due their ancient age.
3. Huge yard and back deck! We are really excited about having a big yard for Brennan to play in. This will make going to the park a luxury instead of a necessity for outdoor time.
4. Good amounts of space between us and our neighbors. Now, our current neighbors are very nice and we haven't the kinds of problems that we've previously had with loud, obnoxious neighbors, but there's just something about having nothing but the great outdoors on the other side of the wall.

Things we are not looking foward to about moving:
1. Packing.
2. Moving.

Fountain Fun

With a heat wave gripping Richmond right now, I ventured out with Brennan for some fun playing in the fountains at the Stony Point shopping center. He didn't seem to enjoy them as much as he did the first time he played in them, but he still had a good time before the desire to wander overtook him.



It was a bright spot in an otherwise difficult day in the world of parenting (again). Brennan was having a day where he needed constant attention, having even greater difficulty than normal when John was fixing his lunch and I was getting changed out of my work clothes. My biggest struggle with him today was that I just could not get him to stop throwing things--toys, coasters, books. Yuck. Nothing seemed to work. He just didn't seem to get that throwing things brings consequences he won't really like (i.e. taking away the thrown object, mini-spankings, time outs). Nothing. And the throwing continued. This whole new phase of toddlerhood has caught us a little off guard and I don't really feel prepared for it!

Speech Therapy, Here We Come!

At Brennan's 18-month check-up, his pediatrician expressed some concern in regard to Brennan's speech, so we were referred to Early Intervention. Thanks to the government, the intake and speech evaluation are free, so we were totally on board. John and Brennan did the assessment this morning with a speech therapist and physical therapist (they always evaluate in pairs).

Overall, the assessment went well. His motor skills are right where they need to be, with a little work to be done in the fine motor skills area. The big area of concern is, of course, his speech. At nearly 19 1/2 months, he really only says "Dada," "uh-oh," and "down." He has said other things, but only once or twice and then has never really repeated them. And the therapists agreed that this is definitely an area of concern. His expressive communication is really only at about the 12-14 month range, which is enough to qualify him for speech therapy.

At the initial intake, we received the good news that we qualify for a government program that will pay for his speech therapy. We were incredibly thankful to hear that news and are now relieved that Brennan will get the services he needs without us having to stress about how we would be able to afford it.

Speech therapy will start in the next few weeks with a therapist coming to our house twice a month to work with Brennan. We also came away from the assessment results today with some more things that we can do to help Brennan on his road to talking.

I did have a moment earlier today where I wondered if we did or didn't do something that would result in Brennan needing speech therapy (i.e. do we not talk to him enough? read to him enough? is not around other kids enough?). When I mentioned this to John, he reassured me with what he was told by the therapists after he expressed a similar concern during the assessment. He was told that there is no correlation between his lack of speaking and his environment. The therapists assured John that they see kids who are in full-time daycare come in with speech delays on a regular basis, so we didn't need to worry that we had done something to cause a speech delay.

We are grateful to have the assessment done and glad that Brennan will start receiving the services that he needs to help him start talking. And we are so grateful that God provided a way to make it financially possible for us to have this happen. We'll keep you all posted on the road to vocalization!

Parenting Challenges

Even though Brennan still isn't really talking at this point (19 months and counting), he really does understand what we say quite well. We try to use every opportunity he presents us with to reinforce the idea that we expect him to listen and obey. Some days he does better with this than others. Some days, he's like the perfect child and other days, it's like he's completely forgotten every instruction we've ever given him. This week has been a prime example of this roller coaster. On Monday, he did fantastic, but he tanked yesterday. Weeks like these are definite challenges. But it made me remember and draw comfort from a blog post my friend Anne did quite a while ago, which has stuck with me all this time. She had been experiencing similar challenges with her oldest son, and a friend's advice helped her to keep things in perspective and view the growing up phase as a roller coaster--there will be ups and downs, and it's all a part of learning and growing.

It's a good reminder to me that I need to just simply expect ups and downs with Brennan, instead of expecting a constant up pattern of growth and development. And I need to remind myself of what an overall great kid Brennan is instead of focusing on what I wish he would do or learn or how I would like him to behave.

This whole parenting thing is quite the adventure! (And it's only just begun...)

Baking with Mama

I decided to bake an Applesauce Spice Cake (from scratch!) today, with a little help from my boy. He helped stir the flour and hold the mixer. He was pretty pleased with himself and was very interested in helping out. (And, yes, he did want to wear the monkey backpack around the house.)