7 years ago today...

Sorry it has been a couple of days since I have been on blogging, but Molly and I have been out of town for the past couple days in NYC for our anniversary. Yes, today is our 7 year anniversary. Today 7 years ago, many of you and other friends and family joined with Molly and I to officially begin our life as husband and wife! And what a party it was!! There are lots of details that I don't remember, somethings pass in blurs and other images from that day are seared in my memory.

I remember vividly getting ready with my brothers and my friend Ray Stuart in one of the rooms at Highland and thinking how amazing it was to have such Godly men in my life supporting me on that day. I remember the moment the church doors opened and I saw Molly and the GORGEOUS dress her mother had lovingly crafted for her. Being the traditionalist that I was, I didn't want to do our pictures before, because I wanted to wait to see Molly until the aisle. I also didn't want to know anything about the dress. Although, I did have dreams about it being covered in a band of red sequins...thankfully that dream was not true!

We would like to thank each and every one of you for being a part of our lives, whether it has been in our single or married lives you have had an impact on us, and we thank you sincerely for that. For the lessons you have shared and the love you have freely given, we can not say thank you enough!

Sorry for the lack of pictures on this post. I can't seem to find the images we had scanned in at some point :( maybe I will find them later

Cats and Dogs, Living together...Mass Hysteria!

It may sound strange to say this, but this ornament brings back fond memories of Christmas mornings spent with my brothers. Now you may wonder how a dog in a dog house and a cat on top of the dog house would evoke such emotions, but bear with me, they are in fact my memories. If you notice the year on the dog house, it is 1989. For those of you that can do the math, that would have been the first Christmas that my little brother would have spent with the family. He was a mere 3 months old, and now, as a 20 year old, it is strange to think that he has been around that long. Maybe I am really in denial because I don't want to admit, that he is in fact 20 years old.

My little brother and I had a love/hate relationship until his early teenage years. He came on the scene and stole my position as the youngest child and grandchild and he was, to put it mildly, a punk. I mean look at him now, can't you tell he is a punk? Maybe not...I digress. Having that kind of love/hate relationship with him, I avoided or pestered him for most of his early years and did little to foster a friendship with him. I am thankful, however, that cooler heads have prevailed in the last 10 years and my brother and I have been able to become friends.

My older brother, Brandon, and Nick and I have a very strange relationship...as exhibited by the dog and cat in this ornament. Living in peaceful coexistence, even though at any moment we could have snapped at each other. How my mother survived summers with all three of us, I will never know! Hopefully she will be able to provide much needed counsel in the coming years as we, God willing, will have sibling issues in our own house.

Christmases in our house were always spent waking up as early as possible....Yes even 4 am on occasion, because I was too anxious to wait to see what Santa had for us. We would all sit around the Christmas tree and begin the carnage that most refer to as unwrapping gifts. In the orgy of tape, ribbon and paper, we three would often find time to see what the other was opening to assess the "playability" of the toy being opened across the way. But the real fun came after all the paper was cleared away. We would display our treasures and pick out what we wanted to play with first and spend time as brothers enjoying our gifts. Even though we are now in our 20s or 30s (Brandon...old man!) I feel like we can still have those moments together! Albeit, now we have more sophisticated tastes so we quote obscure movie lines while opening presents...as indicated by the Ghostbusters quote in the title...

On a side note, I had a moment today where I was swept into a flurry of emotion. I was in the kitchen listening to a song and for some reason my mind settled on my cousin Gene. Gene passed away about a year and a half ago and there was just this deep desire to talk to him and more importantly to hug him. Gene was like a bigger brother to all of us and I hope he felt as much a part of us as we felt included in his circle. He was a bear of a man and there was something about getting a hug from Gene that was special. It wasn't your average hug, it was a full body hug. More than once I think he realigned my spinal column with his hugs! I think its funny how memories can flood back into your mind at random times and for some reason my mind was consumed with Gene. I miss seeing him at family functions and I miss his laugh. In this Christmas season, I hope you find yourself consumed with loving thoughts of family members past and present. May those happy thoughts comfort you in the days to come...

A Special Talent...

While some people may boast of talents in acting, writing, singing, stalking, etc., my secret talent lies in an age old trick known as guessing my presents and guessing everyone elses. I know, I know...don't everyone jump up and get all jealous, but it is a little trick I have up my sleeve. I get the "gift" honestly. My mother has always had an uncanny ability to pick out her gifts, and it never helped that I was unable to keep a secret when it comes to presents.

One Christmas in particular jumps to the front of my mind in which this gift was a problem. For those of you who remember the restaraunt Sizzler, as you left the restaraunt, they had some fantastic butter mints. My mother has always been notoriously hard to purchase gifts for and my father has always experienced the full brunt of that difficulty. The Christmas in question, when my dad asked my mom what she wanted, she responded that she wanted a box of Sizzler butter mints, knowing in her heart that it would not be possible and really meaning it in jest My father, however, was determined.

Surprisingly enough, the venture was an easy one. He approached the management at the Sizzler on New Cut Road, which I think is an abandoned Hollywood Video now, and they agreed to buy and extra case and let him buy it from them. My father triumphantly brought the box home and wrapped it and placed it under the tree, happy that he was able to outsmart my mom and get her exactly what she wanted. However, that would be all thwarted by me!

One day my mom and I were sitting in the front room of the house wrapping Christmas presents and I just couldn't hold the secret in any longer. The smell of Butter mints was oozing out of the box and it was more than obvious that there was something in the large box underneath the tree that was emitting the fragrance. As we were wrapping, I ever so deftly mentioned to my mom that it smelled exactly like Sizzler Butter mints. I even went as far as to ask her if she thought it smelled like Sizzler Butter Mints as well. Little did I know that she was already well aware that the box contained said mints and was impressed with my father that he had gone out of his way to get her exactly what she had asked for that year.

Yes, this was a time where I used my "gift" for ill and not good, but it is one of those funny things that I remember about my proclivity for not keeping a secret. Molly has dealt with this as well because I have not been able to hold some of her gifts until Christmas and have practically burst before giving them to her. I guess its a good thing that Santa keeps secrets so that I won't end up telling Ainsley what Santa is going to give her. Here's looking forward to those great memories!

Santa Full of Cookies - Day 3

Happy Tuesday everyone!

As I mentioned the other day, there are many reasons why I have originally gravitated to an ornament, and in this case, I can say I picked it out because it was just so cute. It involves two of my favorite things: Santa and cookies! The ornament is dated 1992 and apparently at the age of 11 I had impeccable taste in decor. What can I say?

This ornament, however, has had a very interesting struggle. When I got the ornament in 1992, I did not know at that tender age that it would set off a firestorm of conflict in my house. In the days before we got our own storage boxes at my parent's for our ornaments (yes we all had individual boxes marked so that we knew which ornaments belonged to whom) my mom would simply write our names inside the box whenever we received an ornament. Upon receiving this ornament, my mom wrote my name on the inside of the box and placed it in the pile to pack up for the next year. In the ensuing months between the dismantling of the tree and the reassembling of the tree that most of you refer to as January-November, my mom must have conveniently forgotten who the ornament belonged to, and had fabricated a lengthy story about her ownership of the ornament. I however, could not be swayed and stood by my conviction, and her handwriting which plainly displayed my name.

As the years went by it became a playful back and forth in relation to the ornament as to who it belonged to and how I could possibly feel okay with taking an ornament from my mother. I never backed away from my convictions and pressed forward knowing the truth. As we were preparing the tree in 2001, many things were flying through my head. I had just proposed to Molly 1 month before and we were preparing for our wedding in December of 2002. (Monday the 14th will be 7 years!) I knew it would be my last time setting up a tree with my parents, and it was a bittersweet moment. As I put that ornament on the tree, I remember my mom making some comment about how this would be the last year that I would place the ornament on their tree and I, as I often do in these cases, got really emotional. It was at that moment that I set a plan into motion for Mom's Christmas present.

My plan was to find this ornament and buy it for my mom that year. I turned to the only place I knew to find random gifts at the time: EBay. It didn't take long to find one of them, but I knew I was going to be paying a premium price for the ornament and the shipping. However, I knew the present would mean a lot and I bought the first one I could find. On Christmas morning, I left a note on the present saying that now my mom could always have that ornament on her tree, and she opened her own Santa Full of Cookies. It was one of those moments that I think I completely shocked my mom and I know that she was touched by the gift. Now every year, when I put up this ornament I can think back to years of loving banter between my mom and myself and the memories of putting our Christmas year up as a family. Here's hoping that Ainsley, Molly and I will have those same types of experiences in the future.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Memory of the day!

First off, I hope you each had a great Monday! I know mine was a little hectic, because I feel like my kids are already ready to go on break (and I can't say I am not ready just as much as they are). Have a lot of other things going on around school and I know the light is at the end of the tunnel for the upcoming break!

Well, back to the Christmas memories! This is a "fairly recent acquisition" in the Braun ornament collection, but the story for it goes back farther than the ornament itself. I remember when I first saw this ornament in last year's Dreambook, I knew it would be added to the collection. Not only do Molly and I have a deep love for teddy bears, but this father daughter teddy bear scene has taken on new meaning as Ainsley has entered our lives. Just taking a look back at the pictures from the last 16 months, Ainsley has enriched our lives in ways that I don't think people can understand until they have kids. She is an interesting and confusing meld of Molly and myself and we both marvel every time she does something new, cute, or all of the above.

This ornament also holds special significance because of a particular bedtime song that we play every night before Ainsley goes to sleep. The song is "Waltzing with Bears" and if you haven't heard it before, you need to look it up, and if you have kids, you should add it to the list of songs you sing to your own child. It is always the first song that plays when we put Ainsley to bed, and I wonder sometimes if she even gets to the second song before she is out cold. We have definitely been blessed with a child who loves to sleep! It has also been very cute to see how she responds to the song when we are not at home and are trying to put her to sleep. Several times when we have been out of town, it has only taken one or two verses for her to go to sleep in a strange place.

All of this to say that Ainsley has truly made Christmas a new experience! And while last year she probably had no idea what was going on, both Molly and I look forward to Christmas this year and seeing our little girl light up on Christmas morning!

A Christmas Memory a Day...

While Molly and I were putting the ornaments on the tree and decorating the house this year, with the help of the illustrious Lindy Ebbs, I thought about how each of these tiny pieces of plastic and other materials held some sort of memory for me. Upon entry into Molly and my house, it may seem a bit overwhelming during the Christmas season especially when you look at our tree, or should I say trees. We have two prelit 9.5 ft Christmas trees that are chock full of Hallmark ornaments. Some I have gotten over the last 7 years of Molly and my marriage, but there are a great many that I collected long before Molly entered into my life. Each one of them carries significance and each of them has a story to tell. In some cases the stories are about Christmases spent with family and friends, in others it involves a childhood or adulthood obsession with something, and in still other cases, it involves an ornament or decoration that was just too darn cute to pass up. But in all cases, these are memories that I cherish, and I want to share with you. I will *hopefully* be sharing one memory a day over the next couple of weeks, and my sincere hope is that it inspires you to look around at the things you have hanging on your walls or tree and think about the people who have touched your story.

Today, I want to start off with something that is not in fact an ornament on my tree, but a decoration on our staircase. This is Randy and Ramona. You might recognize the reindeer as Hallmark decor staples. These are dated 1986 and I am pretty sure Hallmark has put something out with them every year. But it is not the date on these stuffed reindeer that set them apart. It is from whom they came that set them apart. Attached to both Randy and Ramona is a small tag with a To and From tag placed by Hallmark and on that tag is a name that to me can only signify one person in this world: Nannie.

Nannie (Mary Frances Smith) is my mother's mother and for those of you who don't know, lived with my family and me for most of my childhood. I would say she was a quiet force in my life, but I don't know that quiet is the best way to put it. Let's just say she was a force. She cooked a mean sausage gravy (one that I am glad to say I can almost recreate); baked fantastic jam cakes, German Chocolate Cakes, and Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies; told fantastic stories (esp her story of cutting a dog's tail off just to prove to a boy that she would do it. Fearless I know!); and genuinely loved her grandchildren like they were own children. While I may not have always liked what she had to say to me, I can say with all assurance that she has influenced who I am in every way.

Unfortunately, Nannie was diagnosed with Alzheimer's about 10 years ago and has steadily declined over that time period. She is currently in a nursing home in Louisville and I am thankful that she is still able to recognize me and Molly when we go visit, and I think she is starting to pick up who Ainsley is. God knows every time that we visit that I wish Ainsley could remember all that goes on, because I want her to know this woman who has had such an influence on my life. I wish my Nannie knew that we could have chosen no better middle name for Ainsley than Frances because my hope is that she can become the woman that Nannie is. I also would be remiss to acknowledge that Ainsley is able to have a Grammie that is who she is because she was raised by this fearless woman.

I can really say that I can not explain to anyone the feelings I have had when Nannie has visited with Ainsley and just the rush of emotions that I experience. Whether it is Nannie playing Pattie Cake, Nannie playing Trottie Horsie with her, or the tenderness that Nannie shows towards Ainsley and vice versa the experience is one that makes me choke up.

These stuffed reindeer who are 23 years old this Christmas are gentle reminders of the Christmases that I spent at home with my parents, brothers and Nannie. Those are the kinds of things that make Christmas for me.

Thanks for reading! Have a great week and hopefully I will "see" you tomorrow!

I thought these were uploaded the other day but I was mistaken. Better late than never. This last week has been a stressful one on an emotional level. Our best friends from college moved to Pennsylvania on Friday to begin the next chapter in their adventure of life. Although we celebrate this day that we knew was coming we had plenty of tears to honor their departure. The last few nights Ainsley has been fighting chest congestion. Although this makes sleeping difficult she has been a big trooper! We purchased a humidifier this evening of which I have no expectations so we shall see how things go. This week we are going to be getting family pictures taken by a high school classmate of Brent's. Then on Thursday we will again be hosting family Thanksgiving. When this note is completed I have to go remove the 25 pound turkey from the freezer so it can begin the long journey to the Thanksgiving table. Not sure where it is going to fit in the already full refrigerator nor where the additional groceries I need to purchase are going to go. The joys of Thanksgiving!

Apple Butter Day

On Halloween weekend we traveled to Philadelphia, PA to participate with the Stratton Family (Molly's Mothers Family) in the tradition of making Apple Butter. Last year this was Ainsley's first trip to meet her Webster Great Grandparents as well as cousins and extended cousins. This year although the group was smaller in number we had a very enjoyable time. Ainsley traveled very well for being 15 months old and having to sit in a confined space for two hours! Friday we spent the morning visiting with Molly's Grandmother and Ainsley had great fun playing with the "toys" from Great Grandmom's house. She never got tired of the flour/water mixer or the measuring cups that are probably older than Molly! Saturday was filled with cutting and cooking Apples. It was another gray day but thankfully it was significantly warmer this year. Ainsley has now been to the farm three times and we have yet to make it to the barn or ride a tractor but we did get some very nice pictures with Brent's camera. So I realize these pictures are overdue but so is life!

Happy Birthday Little Girl!

Three in the Family
July 24, 2007

Cute Bow

July 25, 2008

First BIG Smile

September 15, 2008

Baby Dedication

October 19, 2008

Christmas 2008

Chicago

February 28, 2009

St. Patrick's Day 2009

Easter 2009

One year ago today our daughter was born at 10:08 am . All week Molly has been mentioning things that happened this time last year. It is so hard to believe that Ainsley is already turning into such a big girl. This week we have been switching over from formula to milk and she is able to eat most table foods with her two little teeth. Tomorrow we will be having a party complete with catepillar cake (pictures to follow!)

Signing "Please"

Over the past month or so Molly has been working with Ainsley on the sign language for "please." (This sign is made by placing your hand in the center of your chest and making a small circle.) Before Brent went to Washington DC we saw her make the sign for the first time. We were both caught by suprise and with some encouragement she made the sign again. Well last Friday she made the sign for Molly several times at one meal. And then Sunday by golly she was an old pro! There has never been any doubt in our daughter enthusiasm to eat and this is no exception. Now when you ask Ainsley if she wants some more of something and can she say please she puts her right hand to her chest or her belly and gives it several good pats. It is so funny. Its like she is communicating, "Yes, I would like some more of that to put in this tummy right here!" What fun!!

Tuesday we took Ainsley to have her one year pictures taken at Picture People. She got fussy about halfway through but with help from some goldfish crackers things were soon better. The results were amazing (and expensive). We had some taken with her current favorite stuffed animal, a malard named Max. Then some family pictures. We tried getting some of her standing up but all she wanted to do was crawl...Lastly we had some taken with her birthday dress and some purple cupcakes (thanks to Brent!). She was really not to sure what to make of the cupcakes and insisted on picking at the icing. We kept trying to have her hold a cupcake but she would rather just eat it while we held it. Looking forward to Saturday with more cake and icing fun!!

Father's Day 2009

Hello World

Brent's First Wedding Cake

Look at me!

Yummy!

Strawberries with Daddy!

Mother's Day 2009

For more photos

Life at the speed of baby!

We cannot believe that we have reached the month of July. In less than a month Ainsley will be turning one year old. We look back to last year at this time and what changes...It has been an amazing, wonderful, and truly life changing journey. Since we posted last there have been a lot happening in Ainsley's life, hence the delay in posting! So here are some highlights!

At Ainsley's nine month well baby check up she was just over 20 lbs. This is only a pound more than the last weight check at seven months but she made up for it in height.

In the middle of May Brent made his first wedding cake. It was three days of hard work and lots of icing. Although he enjoys making and decorating cakes, he thinks wedding cakes might just be too much cake for him.

At the end of May Ainsley went with Brent and his family to Huber's Family Farm to pick strawberries. She had a wonderful time! She completed a thorough examination of several strawberries: smashing, squishing, and of course the all important taste test. When she was in the shopping cart at the market she even turned around and sneaked one out of the basket! Needless to say she was one sticky mess who had a great time.

Through out May Ainsley had been getting around more and more with scoot, pivot, reach, and some one arm pulls. But after visiting with her friend Catherine Stuart, Ainsley learned some new techniques that she was proud to show off. The very next day Ainsley pulls herself up on her knees and crawls! For the next week or so she would switch back and forth between army crawl and up on her knees. Over the past few weeks she has been pulling herself up onto her knees in her crib but just this week she has begun to pull herself all the way up to standing! Brent said that yesterday she was trying to pull up on everything that would stand still including herself!

The first week of June we took our first offical family vacation! We traveled to Savannah, Georgia and Tybee Island. On the first leg of our journey we stayed one night with Molly's Uncle Bill in Macon, GA. Ainsley had a great time showing off for a whole new audience. In her efforts to move around she got herself into the legs of their bar stools. She had great fun although she could not quite get herself free. In Savannah we visited the Juliet Low House, took a Paula Dean Tour, ate at Paula's resturant The Lady and Sons, and walked around the beautiful city. We then spent two days out at the coast on Tybee Island. Ainsley was not to sure what to think of the ocean and beach the first day. However on the second day she had a blast! And of course everything went straight into her mouth. Brent and Ainsley had a lot of fun splashing with the waves. Several times the wave would be bigger than we thought and she would get a face full of splash but she would just laugh and squeal. Molly and Ainsely spent some time playing in the sand bar splashing the water and eating sand. (Ainsley would try to eat the sand not Molly.) The last leg of vacation took us through Gatlinburg for an overnight. Brent had a good time remembering past vacations and we even took some pictures near the stream that Brent had his picture taken in as a small child. Since we have been home Brent has been enjoying his summer vacation and having lots of Ainsley and Daddy Time!

I think that brings things up-to-date and pictures will be posted soon.

Happy Easter! The Lord has Risen!

As mentioned before we traveled to Birmingham at the end of Brent's spring break to introduce Ainsley to some more members of Molly's extended family. What an amazing blessing all the family and friends who love this little girl! One highlight was meeting Gigi for the first time.

Molly's Aunt Pam and Uncle Peter

Molly's Cousins Andrew and David in Birmingham

Ainsley helping Mommy dye some Easter eggs.

Happy Easter Daddy!

Brent and his brother Nick (with piano cuff links!)

Following Easter Lunch with Brent's family we had a light dinner with Brent's Nannie. Each interaction between Ainsley and Nannie is a true gift. Ainsley is very much in the pre-mobile squirmy stage (not sure if that is an official category) but for the most part when she sits with Nannie she limits her movement to only the most important.

Just yesterday Ainsley began to wave "Hello". She has been working on the reverse wave off and on for a week or so but then it was like the little light bulb just clicked. She has also recently discovered her toes, well as least the left ones, are good to put in her mouth. I believe she is also working on her second tooth because yesterday she had an unusually mopey, clingy day. She did however get to play in her walker at Grammie's for the first time and that seems to be a big hit. Lets just say her sock bottoms were grayish black!

This is a busy week for Molly at work but look for more pictures to come as we are going to the Sims's to celebrate Papa's Birthday/Easter tomorrow.

Spring is Here!

The last few weeks have been very eventful in little Ainsley's life. Last week durning Brent's long awaited spring break we took Ainsley to visit her Gigi (Sims) in Birmingham, Alabama. We camped out with Molly's Uncle, Aunt, and their menagerie. It was a wonderful trip with visiting, good food, laughter, yard sales, and a FIRST TOOTH! While enjoying our Bogangels lunch on Sunday Molly noticed the first glimmer of a tooth on Ainsley's lower right side. Ainsley also has learned to clap her hand and puff her checks out while blowing against her lips. It goes without saying that we are amazed daily by how much she is growing into a small person and no longer our little baby. It is a very bittersweet moment.

On Wednesday we took Ainsley to get professional pictures in time for Easter. I know you will all be shocked to know she was cuter than ever and hammed it up for the camera. I will have more pictures this weekend as I am planning to dye easter eggs on Saturday and of course Easter Sunday. 

More Pics

First Trip to the Swimming Pool

Yesterday Molly and Ainsley, joined by Morgan, Catherine, and Andrew went swimming at the YMCA. There was much fun had by everyone. Ainsley had not one tear or moment of distress but kicked her legs the time they were in the water. She loved zooming around in Molly's arms or jumping up and down. She did not even have problems with the continual shower of splashes provided by Andrew. Both Molly and Ainsley had an early night and lazy next morning due to being so worn out. Also before swimming, Morgan and Molly had another photo shoot with Catherine and Ainsley. What a wonderful day off!

Well we were not sue it was possible but we have gotten cuter pictures of Ainsley! That is truly hard to believe so here they are for you to judge!

New pictures! The blanket Ainsley is playing on was originally Molly's Dad's (Papa) and last week during one of our bonus warmer days Ainsley and Molly played in the backyard with the dogs. This afternoon Ainsley and Molly went on a walk joined by Ginger and Madeline. Since Ainsley was in a pretty happy mood (which is most of the time!) Molly put her in the stroller front facing for the first time. It is amazing how just that simple change of position can make Ainsley seem like such a big girl! By the end of the nap she was well worn out from all the fun! However she did wake up when Brent got home and surprised us both by rolling over from back to front for the first time. It was so funny to watch her because she kept staring at us as if to say, "What's the big deal?!" We were both very excited!