Pucker Up

Okay, so the poll is closed! The majority guessed it correctly...please comment to let us know what you voted! Brett is SO Mommy's little boy...lil' sour puss.



Next post will include a video of Brett showing off his bilingual prowess - he learned a word in Portuguese! The little genius.

Truckin'

Oh, how our little boy loves his automobiles. These videos capture just a little glimpse of his obsession with all things wheeled...


A special thanks to Grandpa Boehme for sending Brett such a cool police car and fire engine!

Also, be sure to vote in our poll (on the right)!

Brett's Second Soggy Easter

This year we again braved the cold and rain at our church, Athey Creek, which met outdoors at Hillsboro Stadium. Last year, on Brett's first Easter, we met at Lewis & Clark, complete with high winds and freezing rain! Woohoo! This year was a tad bit more tropical...in the 50s, and just some sprinkles from above. Brett, however, stayed toasty-warm in a locker room with 20-or-so other toddlers. He promptly fell asleep on the ride home, and then refused to nap the rest of the day. Amazingly, he had plenty of spirit and spunk all day and night, despite the lack of sleep!

Grandma and Grandpa Brown visited for dinner and an indoor-egg-hunt. Even after a little practice with his buddy, Toby, Brett did not quite comprehend that his basket was for collecting eggs. He was much more interested in shaking the basket so eggs would fly all over the room.

We also got a little blast from the past as we watched an OLD video of mommy at her first Easter Egg hunt - a little older than Brett is now. So fun!

Side note: we have the wonderful Wright family to thank for the fact that Brett's play structure is finally assembled in the backyard! Thanks guys! Now we're just waiting for a sunny day to go break it in a bit.

Not exactly loving on the Easter Bunny

Mommy's first cookie bouquet!

Trying to get a picture of Brett's cute Easter outfit. The vest is custom handmade from Etsy, the shoes are from Grandma's last trip to China!

Outfit photo attempt #2

#3

Kutless leading worship

Konked out after the outdoor service at Hillsboro Stadium

(Mama and Daddy would've been asleep too, had it not been for some scrumptious Dutch Bros. coffee!)

Good little Easter snack

Eating an Easter cookie, which he was supposed to decorate. I dubbed it "decorEATing"

Outdoor egg hunt with Toby

Hunting for eggs inside with Grandma...but really more interested in throwing the grass everywhere.

Yay, the play structure is done! Go daddies!

There needs to be a "No Girls Allowed" sign somewhere up here.

A little snippet of Brett's first egg hunt with his buddy, Toby.

Humpty Dumpty x7

I'm not sure if this was a late April Fool's joke, or an early Easter activity, but today Brett decided to surprise me with a little mess in the kitchen. I was busy preparing his breakfast and had stepped away from the open fridge for a moment, when I heard some rustling around and then, CRACK-CRACK-CRACK. Looking over my shoulder, what did I see but the little stinker surrounded by broken eggs, all over the floor! I was able to salvadge four of them in a tupperware, but three more had just splatted all over the place. In order to clean up the mess, I plopped Brett in his high chair with some bananas and milk. By the time I'd finished mopping up the floor, he had emptied half his sippy cup of milk all over the high chair and floor. Aaaack!

Later, he found his way into my makeup drawer and drew on his own face with eyeliner. Thankfully, none managed to get anywhere else.

Umm, I thought we still had 9 months to go until the terrible twos! Hello?!?

The evidence.

What I slaved away to make for his breakfast...chocolate-peanut-butter-banana-bread. I guess he must have wanted an omelet instead.

As per Rachelle's request, here is the recipe for this tasty bread. FYI, I HATE banana bread and usually won't go near it...but I also hate to waste those old mushy bananas...so I freeze them and when I have enough, I try to make something at least palateable out of them. This is my favorite recipe so far. The chocolate and peanut butter do a great job complimenting (i.e. disguising) the bananas. It works well as muffins, too!

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1T baking powder

3/4t salt

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 large)

1 cup skim milk

3/4 cup creamy natural peanut butter w/ salt (I prefer unsweetened)

1t vanilla extract

1 egg

4 oz. dark chocolate chips

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9×5 inch loaf pans (or muffin tins).
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, combine mashed bananas, milk, peanut butter, vanilla and egg.
3. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir just until combined. Mix in the chocolate chips. If you love chocolate, add more...I only had a partial bag left, so I used about 4 oz.
4. Split evenly between the two pans and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Even better the next day. Yield: 2 loaves.