The Brannans

Sunday, December 25, 2016

Colorado and Christmas 2016

The sweetest blessing under our tree

Give the boy a ball and he's happy!

Checking the dog's heart with Levi's new doctor kit

Ridin' in style now!

Cool new tent from my mom

Homemade birthday cake for Jesus!

Church Christmas morning

My boys :)

Christmas Eve service

Lights at the Zoo

Breckenridge

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

When I was a little girl, my dad and I used to turn the music up loud and dance together in our living room. When we were in the car, we would turn on our favorite song and roll the windows down and sing. We shared a mutual love and passion for music. To this day, I can hear a James Taylor song or the first note of Van Morrison's "Have I Told You Lately" and instantly, I'm dancing in the living room with my dad again. Now that I have a child of my own, I think it's one of God's sweetest and kindest blessings that Levi's absolute favorite thing to do is turn on the music and dance with me every single day.

In those moments, I can't help but think of my dad. On this day 8 years ago I told him "I love you" for the last time. So much has changed in those 8 years, but God has not. He is still the same loving God that He was on November 22, 2008. I still miss my dad every day, but the Lord has rooted invaluable truths deep within my heart that have helped me carry on over the years and have drawn me closer to the heart of Christ. In the words of Charles Spurgeon: “I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages." It is through loss that I gained a fresh perspective on what and Who will never change:

1. God is Sovereign. And nothing and no one can interfere with that. "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted." Job 42:2

2. God is good. Even when the loss is great. "For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly." Psalm 84:11

3. God is more concerned with our character than our comfort. "...but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Romans 5:3-5

4. God's plans are perfect and better than ours. And it's ok if we don't understand... because we will- one glorious day. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord." Isaiah 55:8

5. We were made for eternity. This earth is not our home. Hallelujah! "He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end." Ecclesiastes 3:11

6. There's nothing like a father's love. My dad was an amazing, godly man who showed me and told me every day how much he loved me. How much more does our Heavenly Father love us! "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are." 1 John 3:1

7. His grace is sufficient in all things. "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." 2 Corin. 12:9

8. This life (and the one to come) is about His glory. "And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high." Hebrews 1:3

I miss my dad. Plain and simple. I wish I could tell him I love him one more time. I sure wish Levi could have met him. But through it all, the Lord has used my dad's passing to give me a laser sharp focus on what is important in this brief life. It means we rest in and rely on the faithful Rock of Ages. We hug a little tighter, blow bubbles in the yard a little longer, say I love you often, laugh and let the little things go, take more pictures, invest fully in those we love, and turn the music up loud and dance.

I'm eternally grateful that over the last 8 years the Lord has used the absence of my dad to help reveal His presence to me. What a good, good Father. I can't wait to hear that heavenly music play and dance with him again.

"Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ."
Phil. 3:8

Saturday, October 29, 2016

Levi {17 months}

The weeks and months keep rolling by and our baby grows more and more into a little boy every day. He has the biggest personality, the best facial expressions, and always keeps us laughing. He is silly and sweet and continues to learn new things every day. He is a mover and does not sit still for long-- just like his daddy. He cuddles with me in the morning while I drink my coffee and watches Mickey and loves to hand you a book and crawl in your lap to read. He is happiest when he is outside and when the music is playing. He has started to exercise his own will and can challenge us at times-- mostly when he doesn't want to get in the car seat, doesn't want to eat his food, when it's time to stop brushing teeth and I take the toothbrush away, or when we tell him he can't play with our phones. Otherwise he has a sweet, happy disposition.

Levi has learned to fold his hands to pray and says "amen" and it is a wonderful reminder of what life is all about. This is the good stuff for sure. I love spending my days with him and watching him grow. Ryan and I say all the time how much fun the last 17 months have been watching him learn new things and getting to love him with a fierce kind of love. So grateful for the blessing he is and for this sweet, sweet season of life. Thanks be to God!

Size: still in size 5 diapers, wearing mostly 18 month clothes-- he has short legs so he wears size 12-18 months in pants and 18-24 months in shirts. Weighs approximately 24.5 pounds.

Likes: Finley! This boy loves chasing, petting, hugging, taunting, hitting, loving and playing with Finley. They are usually never more than a foot from one another all day long. He also loves any kind of ball to kick or throw, being outside (we are usually outside most of the day either in the backyard or at the park playground), blowing and chasing bubbles, brushing his teeth, playing cars, Family Feud (this child will come running when he hears the theme song start playing and loves to clap along with the players. It's really very funny.), Mickey and the hot dog dance, dancing to music (he points to our bluetooth speaker and begs me to play music several times a day. His favorite song is Brand New by Ben Rector and My God is so Big from his Bible songs), when Daddy comes home, when Daddy throws him on the bed, and just Daddy in general. He wants to be anywhere and do anything his daddy is :), his pacis and loveys (within the last month he started wanting to sleep with his Mickey and his loveys and it melts me. He also has to sleep with a paci in his mouth and one in each hand). He still eats lots of veggies (loves squash and zucchini) but his favorite foods right now are: Chick-fil-a waffle fries, potato chips, and fruit cups.

Dislikes: his car seat and sometimes his high chair, getting his hair cut- he cries and clings to me like he's being tortured. And the fun part is his hair grows super fast so we get to do this every 6 weeks. Fun times. He also doesn't really like meat (I can rarely get him to eat any meat. I try to give him beans and peanut butter for protein), being dropped off at Sunday school (he still screams when I drop him off- but only for a minute or two), gets shy when he has an audience or a crowd

Milestones:
~Levi can now eat soy!! We started a soy trial on Sept. 23. He had some runny diapers for a few days as his stomach was adjusting, but they cleared up quickly and he has had no other reactions. Such a HUGE answer to our prayers!!! He has been eating Belvita bars, teddy grahams, animal crackers, and other similar soy filled snacks :)
~His vocabulary really blossomed over the last month and I feel like it grows every day. These are the words he uses regularly: dada, mama, water, sit, drop, hot, no, no ma'am, down, God, where is it?, ball, dog, hi/hey, sky, amen, Holley, see ya, cheese, choo choo, tree, socks, shoes, and roars when asks what sound a lion makes.
~He uses sign language as part of his daily vocabulary as well. Here are the signs he uses regularly: more, please, thank you, help, milk, down, hot, rain, water.
~Has 12 total teeth and working on #13 and #14.

Sleep: Sleeps 7 pm - 8:30/9 am and thankfully continues to go down without any trouble. We read books, pray, lay him down and walk out and he is usually asleep within 5 minutes. He takes an afternoon nap (usually 1.5 hours or 2 hours) from 1:30-3 or 2-3:30. Nap time varies depending on what our schedule is for the day but I try to put him down in the early afternoon.

A boy and his dog

Night in the Boondocks

Our little Halloween penguin

Levi loves his Aunt Holley. Hugging necks is his new favorite thing and it melts us all.

Our little punkin

Celebrating Holley's 22nd birthday at Tsunami

How Levi prefers to eat his dinner.

Train ride with our best buds

Fair time

Zoo with my mom- he adores her.

((Psalm 13:6))

I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me.

Monday, August 22, 2016

Sweet Summertime

We have had the best summer!! I think this is the first time in a very long time that I am sad to see summer end. I'm usually itching for fall to get here by now but I wish we could hang on to summer (sans the hot temps) a little bit longer.

We were able to check things off our summer bucket list and spend some very intentional time together as a family. The summer is a little bit calmer for us without Wednesday and Sunday night church activities so we soaked up a lot of quality time and made every effort to be outside, be adventurous, and simply enjoy being with each other. Levi is at such a fun age and is learning new things every day. I have loved every minute with him and I want to remember this summer forever :)

Here are some fun things we were able to do this summer: Roadtrips to New Bern to see Mimi and Poppy and the Fickles, Charlotte to shop at the mall and eat at Cheesecake Factory, and Greenville (twice!) to visit Aunt Meg and the boys; play dates with friends; mornings and afternoons at the pool (we spent several days a week at the pool and loved it!!); swinging, sliding and playing in the sand at the playground; playing with Finley and blowing bubbles in the backyard; VBX and SummerSalt for Ryan; Fireflies game with our SVBC family; pool party and paint wars with our SVBC students; half marathon training/running 4 days a week; going out to breakfast after our long runs on Saturday mornings (we've tried to eat somewhere new each week as a reward after our runs and it's been so fun); and last but not least... the Riverbanks Zoo and splash pad!

Update on Levi at 15 months:

Likes: being outside!!, going to the zoo and splash pad, chasing and playing with Finley, feeding Finley his food and filling up his water bowl, playing in his big blue truck, reading books, dancing to any music, his mega Legos, veggie straws, Annie's canned organic biscuits and fruit, bathtime (he bolts to the bath when we ask if he's ready to take a bath), brushing his teeth (also bolts to the bathroom for his toothbrush when we ask if he wants to brush his teeth), his paci- he would keep it in his mouth all day if we let him but he only gets in at bedtime/nap and in the car if he's fussy.

Dislikes: water being dumped on his head in the bath, when Mommy says we can't go outside, meal times, his car seat most of the time

Milestones:
~Levi now has 10 total teeth and the 11th just popped through on the bottom, wears 18 month clothes, weighs 23 lbs, size 5 diapers and is still dairy and soy free
~He can identify his tongue, eyes, ears, nose, head and feet when asked and points out specific things he recognizes (tree, fish, dogs on tv, and things like that). We are now working on animal noises.
~He understands most everything we say to him, can follow simple instructions, and can tell us what he wants (snack, paci, go outside, etc.) I feel like we can have conversations even though he doesn't talk. :)
~He does well with more, milk, please, thank you and hot in sign language.
~He can say mama, dada, Holley (pronounced "Hi-ya"), tree ("ee"), water ("wa-wa").
~He holds up his #1 finger when asked, "How old are you?" and loves to brush his hair with my brush when I ask him.
~He has his favorite books and likes to point out specific images on the pages each time, "read along" with me, and do the motion for "pee yew" when we read about the stinky dump trucks in "Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night?" We've ready some books so many times that he knows what's coming on the next page. He also loves to say "dibble dibble dibble" when we read about the rain in his Dr. Seuss book.

~Graduated from the nursery to the toddler class for Sunday school (He's in SS for two hours on Sunday morning and for an hour on Wednesday nights. I'm thankful for this time he has with his friends and teachers to begin learning about Jesus and I'm also thankful for time to worship and teach our class on Sunday mornings and hear Ryan preach on Wednesday nights.) ~Plays very well by himself. We have independent play time every morning after breakfast and he explores all of his toys and entertains himself for over an hour.
~He has still never been sick!! Thank you, Lord!

Sleep: This boy remains a champion sleeper and still goes down without a problem and never wakes in the middle of the night. When it's time to go to bed at night we ask him, "Levi are you ready to go night night?" And he will wave night night to us and run to his room all on his own. Makes me laugh. He sleeps 7/7:30 pm-8/8:30 am. He takes a 1.5 hour morning and a 1+ hour afternoon nap most days but we have been really flexible with that this summer if we have things to do or places to go. There are several days when we skip morning nap and just take an earlier afternoon nap but he is happiest when he gets two naps.

*(Update as of 9/1/16: we have officially dropped morning nap. He started taking a longer morning nap and refusing his afternoon nap so we decided that was a sign he was ready to go to one. He has transitioned well and is very ready for his nap when it's time. He now naps right after lunch for 2+ hours. Usually 1-3 or 1:30-3:30 pm)

Here are a few snapshots of our summer!