Gulbranson's

Speed Update

2010-09-15T11:41:00.000-07:00

For a little while this summer, we attempted to fit as much life as possible into a very short amount of time. At the end of my last post I was, very pregnant, to say the least. Needless to say I was tired of being pregnant and ready to have the baby. So I began to think of all the things they say you should do to induce labor: eat spicy food, bounce on a exercise ball, do a lot of walking. And finally, in one last (unsuccessful) effort, we decided to try an auto collision...

Alright, clearly we didn't intend to have an accident, and we certainly didn't rear end ourselves. But I thought it would make for a good punch line, and I thought it would be better to laugh in this situation seeing as how it was only one incident in a string of bad luck.

Even though our car took an entire month to be fixed, the accident wasn't that serious, and everyone felt pretty ok afterward. I did spend that night in the hospital to be monitored, seeing as how I was 9 month.

Only 9 days later we were back at the hospital, but this trip was planned. And it was time for us to meet our new little lady.

June 10th, 2010

Reagan Jolene Gulbranson

A proud big brother

Luke is 2 now, and very independent.

Here is our first family holiday as a family of 4... The 4th of July. The city of Warner Robins always holds an outdoor concert with fireworks after. This is our third year attending, and it was entertaining as always. One of the better fireworks displays I've ever seen... And I've seen a lot.

(Rabbit trail: The summer I was 18 we made it our goal to see as many fireworks displays as possible. I must have seen at least 10 that summer)

Here it is... All official! He's 2

He was not sure how to go about eating the birthday cake without a fork, so he went for the most direct method... Face to cake.

2 years to the exact minute he was born... it's the clock on my phone... I didn't realize that we had so few time telling devices that weren't attached to appliances...

He even sleeps in a big boy bed!

Georgia Aquarium

Alright, time for some shameless self promotion. Because if I can't do it here, where can I?

I am in the process of trying to start my own business.

Here are some samples of my work.

2010-05-27T13:37:00.000-07:00

Is it still called a babymoon if you take your two year old with you?

I have a feeling that it's not...

Josh was sent TDY to Duke Field in Florida, near Destin. Luke and I were able to go with him for a little vacation.

Like father, like son.

There was a really fantastic park in Niceville, FL... I would drive long distances to go to a park like this... if there was one anywhere near here. There must have been at least 8 diffrent play sets, all well shaded, and with plenty of places for the adults to sit. Not to mention a totally free spray park, which Luke was mostly afraid of. But I know he would get used to it if we were able to go there again.

What would be better on a hot summer day then being able to spend the afternoon splashing in the sun.

These next three pictures are a series, which show how Luke felt about getting sprayed... We would lead him into the path of the water and then walk away... Once he realized he was alone and getting wet he would run to find us...

We also got to spend some time in the ocean... He didn't really like the water there either, but it was easier for me to understand here, seeing as how the waves could knock him over.The only other excitiment we've really had around here was strawberry picking.

New Phone

2010-04-20T05:55:00.000-07:00

And you know I'm excited about... You all know that I complained about it enough.

Here is it, the new Palm Pre Plus.I haven't taken too many pictures with it yet, but here is an examples what what my future blog post pictures will probably look like. I think it is a big improvement. And just in time... Only 8 weeks left until baby June Bug is due.Josh got a new toy as well. This is Josh's new phone, the Motorold Droid... Also very nice...But not as pretty as mine...

Google may not recognize it as an offical holiday...

2010-04-08T18:24:00.000-07:00

...unlike Dr Norman Rockwell's birthday or the Olympics...

But in our house it is a day to be celebrated.
We started a little early, the day before. On Saturday we decided to dye and decorate the eggs.

Since the colors were non-washable, we stripped the children down and limited their access to the dye.

But they seemed to enjoy the process none the less.

One of Luke's favorite new things is stickers. He will take every sticker off a sheet and put it on himself, if he is allowed.

The stickers where for decorating the eggs, but we had quite a few left over... They were not wasted...

Sunday morning, the Easter Bunny had left Luke a wonderful basket of goodies. He got a sand bucket and shovel, elmo book, more stickers, chocolate bunny, egg scouper, fruit snacks, colored pencils, and sidewalk chalk.

The sidewalk chalk was put to use almost right away.

After church we had a barbeque and hid the eggs for the hunt.

It didn't take long for the kids to figure out the goal.

Here is Austin on his search.

And Isabelle finding the very last egg.

They all had a good time, even though it was very hot and sunny outside.

Happy Easter!!

I need a new phone...

2010-03-17T08:05:00.000-07:00

If I am going to continue updating with pictures only from my phone... And it doesn't appear that I'm going to change my ways any time soon... Then a new shiny phone, with a much better camera on it, sounds like a really good idea... Wishful thinking...
Luke and I are currently in Minnesota for a visit, and as with any vacation we've gone on, I've noticed another boot is his cognitive development. He has easily tripled or quadrupled the words he is able to say and it copying everything anybody does. As an example, here is one of our funny new faces that we make.
Here are some super cute new rain boots that grandma got him... They are still a little to big, but he loves them anyhow.

Luke has also forged a relationship with my dog Kyah. She is getting older and must have softened in her older age because she never liked kids and this time I've caught her licking his toes while he giggles... Luke must be growing on her.

I cut Luke's hair one time... And although I didn't do that bad of a job, he needed another one. This time we decided to consult a professional... Luke's Auntie Rachel. She did a very hansom job, and Luke was a real champ... It did help that he was able to watch his favorite new show Yo Gabba Gabba.

We got a chance to dye some Easter eggs... But Luke had more fun cracking the eggs afterword, so we could make deviled eggs.

I have been wearing my poor little boy out... Here he is right after I tried to get him up from a nap... He was so tired that he just slumped down and went right back to sleep on great grandma Jane's couch.

I don't like putting pictures like this up, but I just have one thing to say... Here I am at 27 weeks (which means I have 13 weeks left, during which time the baby is only going to be getting bigger). Already I feel like I don't know how my body can make any more room... I don't know how I can possibly get any bigger... This is the part I don't like.

Finally, I think it is important for me to mention the reason why Luke and I are in Minnesota. In the recent months my grandfathers health has been declining. Luke and I decided that we needed to make the trip to see him. Along with us, nearly my entire family decided that they also we going to come for a visit... All of these visits we're decided seperatly, almost no coordination at all.
Luke and I arrived Saturday, March 6th, in the afternoon. By 7:30am the next morning my grandfather had passed away... Surrounded by his wife, their three sons, his daughter (my mother), their spouses, his grandchildren and their spouses, and his great grand children...
I know he would not have wanted us to be sad for him... He knew where he was going and I'm sure he was ready to get there... But that does not mean we will not miss him...

Lazy

2010-02-20T05:04:00.000-08:00

I thought I would begin this post with a little bit of Luke's favorite art, photography. He likes to take pictures with my cell phone, and there are a few that have actually turned out quite nice... you know, for and 18 month old.

You may see a trend in this post; all these pictures were taken on my cell phone. It's not that anything happened to my regular camera, but Luke has just been moving so fast these days, and I refuse to carry the real camera around in my pocket all day.

This is Luke's first picture... I haven't named any of them, but I guess you could call this one a self portrait.

Here, Luke and I were waiting in the doctor's office... one of our new hobbies. This has to be my favorite picture that he's taken... It has wonderful symmetry, and the red shoe really gives it a pop of color.

We did have one day of snow this winter. I not exactly sure how much snow we got, but we didn't spend much time out in it. Our son is definitely a southern boy. We got him all dresses up and took him out into the falling snow, a lovely winter wonderland, and as soon as he heard the crunch of the snow under his feet and felt the soft flakes on his face he immediately came to a dead stop. This picture shows just how far he got into the yard. He had the same reaction to standing in a large pile of leaves. I'm hoping maybe next year he'll understand.

I have a hard time comprehending how a couple who never had a winter without massive ammounts of snow can have a child who wants nothing to do with it. One of life's many mysteries.

Luke has started a new trend just this week of waking up at 6 am every morning. The first few days he seemed really tired, this picture is about what he looked like before he took his nap. Now, however, he wakes up with more energy than I can even wrap my brain around.

A post nap photo... The only sitting still cuddle time I get with my boy.

And, just in case you haven't seen this picture already. Here she is!

Due June 15th... We like to call her June Bug, because every baby needs a 'in utero' nick name. That's not to say she doesn't have a name.

The death of baby curls

2010-01-30T10:15:00.000-08:00

I finally cut Luke's hair for the first time. On his one and a half birthday... Josh and I had been talking about his hair for a long time and we knew he was way over due. I was afraid that if I cut off all his baby curls they would never come back. Here is a picture just before I cut his hair.

This is a more close up look so you can see just how crazy it had gotten. When his hair was wet it went down past his shoulders.

And I was right, now his curls are all gone, and I don't know if they'll come back.

But he does look more like a little man and less like a baby.
My baby is growning up...

No excuses here...

2009-11-23T20:47:00.000-08:00

This post is not going to start out with me saying anything about how long it's been since I've last blogged, how I really have to make up for lost time, or even that I'm going to do any better from now on. I am not going to make excuses because we have been really busy... I mean really, really busy... And I just haven't had time to blog.

We can start back at the first half of October, with the Georgia National Fair. We didn't have the weather that we were blessed with last year for the fair. We eventually got rained out and just went home. But we did support our local conservatives by buying merchandise, and we were able to get our fried cheese, turkey leg, and corn dogs.

Luke didn't seem interested in much of the stuff that we wanted to look at, but he did love the little chickies. And who could blame him, I wanted to pet the little chickies too... They are just too cute!

Now we can move on to pumpkin carving.

Since we knew we were going to be in Minnesota for Halloween, I wanted a chance to do a little family activity before we left Georgia. I wanted to give Luke a chance to really dig into the guts of the pumpkin and get dirty...

He didn't want to do that.

He did however take a few slices that I shaved off the pumpkin and eat them... And I don't mean just taste them and be done... he ate the whole thing.

These are pumpkin seeds.

We flew home to Minnesota and Luke did very well on the airplane. He took a little nap, which is my favorite part or the flight, and we arrived in one piece.

Here we are at Lego Land in the Mall of America.

Here is Luke playing with a boat at the children's museum.

Now as you can see... From the picture of my adorable Elmo... We are just about to get too Halloween time. Well, on the evening of October 29th we took Luke for his first time to the emergency room because he had a temperature of 102.4.

Luke had the flu... and pink eye.

The next evening Josh developed a fever as well... And pink eye...

I had a sore throat, and a general disagreeable feeling about me, but no fever, and no pink eye.

For Trick-or-Treating we visited all of the grandparents, great and normal, and then we went to bed.

Luke wasn't really sure what he was supposed to do in a pile of leaves...

Luke at Emma Crumbies, in Belle Plaine, MN.

There is no real story to go with these photos... They are just some of my new favorites.

Just to make sure we covered all our bases, we had to make one more trip to the ER with Luke before our trip ended...

Luke had an ear infection, in both ears...

When the trip finally came to an end we were tired from being sick, and tried because Josh never really got to stop working, and tired because we knew that when we got home we would only have 9 days to get moved into a new house...

But our flight was delayed...

And so we had to sit and wait...

And we used up all of Luke's good sitting and waiting time up in the airport.

Our flight home was in the evening, we were delayed almost 2 hours. Luke hadn't had a nap all day. On the plane he was tired, hungry, bored and hot... And Josh and I couldn't wait for the flight to end.

And to add one more worry and complication to everything we've had to do...

We're having another baby!!

I'm not trying to make it sound like a bad thing... It is the very reason we've done most of these things...

Now that I'm almost finished with this post I don't feel like I've told you about even half of the things that have happened.

Like I mentioned, we've moved, and we're so happy that process is over. But I feel like we still have a thousand more things on our plates that need to be done, like yesterday.

Somehow we'll get through it, as a family, we always do.

Birthdays, babies, and baseball

2009-10-06T18:58:00.000-07:00

We had a busy couple of weekends last week and the week before. First here are just a few pictures of Luke being his crazy self while we're hanging out at home.

The first thing that we did was help Luke's buddy Austin celebrate his first birthday... He had a boy party. Here is a picture of him with Austin, Blake, Austin's daddy Eric and Austin's uncle Eugene. The boys all seemed to have a really great time, and made a total mess of the house... So they pretty much just acted like boys!

Here is Austin with his cake...

I guess the pressure to be adorable got to him... It's a tough gig.

We spent the rest of the week waiting for Luke's friend Isabelle to get a new brother or sister... we didn't know at the time...
To pass some time on a beautiful day we took the kiddos to Luna Lake on base and fed the fishes and turtles some bread... Luke decided to keep his bread all for himself.

It was the coolest thing... I didn't think that turtles would come out to eat bread.

Here Luke is with Isabelle... She likes to take his hand and lead him around. He is always resistant... but always seems to give in.
Later the next day the waiting was over! Isabelle got a new baby brother! Yay for more boys...
Now here's hoping that my blogging about her baby will inspire Joy to put up some pictures and tell us all about it!! If she has the time... I mean, she does have a brand new baby...

Now moving on to a Luke first... Luke attended not only his first baseball game, but his first sporting event of any kind.
It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky, cool with a little breeze... Perfect.

And Luke actually seemed to have a really good time!!

Seventh inning stretch time he needed to get up and walk around... But who doesn't.

The game lasted 11 innings and he was in good spirits for all of them.

Josh's Fallon TDY in August

2009-09-24T14:11:00.000-07:00

Mommy's little hero

2009-09-21T11:01:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to take more pictures of our life I have taken the camera with me to a few different places. And I suppose I have potential post in the pictures Josh has brought back from his journeys... I just thought of that, I should have put up some just picture posts... But I still only managed to take pictures at one event, and that was a baby shower for my friend Joy. However I didn't actually get any pictures of the baby shower, just pictures of my baby, er, toddler... This is Luke wearing a mask from the kids show 'Super Why,' which he loves, even though he can't spell, and is no where close to learning how. He likes me to put these things on him... hats, glasses, this mask... But seems to have the urge to take them right back off and get me to put them on again. However, I am happy to announce that this is neither a laughing or crying face, he is, in fact, mugging for the camera... It's adorable!!

Another of Luke's favorite new things is dogs. This is the first small dog he has encountered. He loves the big, gentle ones... He loves to chase after them, and has even met a few who will chase after him in return.

This puppy was so tiny I was afraid that he might hurt it, he's not always careful where he walks.

Giant, talking dinosaurs = hours of entertainment for my son....

I don't have many pictures of Luke and his friends, but here he is with his bestest buddy Isabelle, who will soon be a big sister! Very exciting!

I am very pleased with how this post turned out... Maybe the answer is more coffee!!

Blogging is the new black...

2009-09-04T12:36:00.000-07:00

Luke has started crawling under the guest bed... where we store odds and ends... He crawls under there because that's where the cats go to hide from him... Where the cats used to go to hide from him...

These are the only pictures I've taken in the last month and a half... Pretty sad right.

I have been reading other peoples blogs and I have to say that I feel untalented, untraveled and without hobbies.

I wish I knew how to blog my funny stories... For that I suppose I would have to have some funny stories... Complete with pictures and punchlines...

We haven't done anything since Luke's birthday. Josh did go on two separate TDY's and I feel like all I did was sit around the house with our dear boy.

The only new thing I have to tell is that my little baby is turning into a toddler and will no longer take two naps a day... Just one, and it seems to be getting shorter every day.

I need a hobby, something that gets me outdoors maybe. It will be nice here in Georgia soon and I think I would like to spend our pleasant season outdoors... What should my new hobby be?

Birthday Pandemonium

2009-07-27T13:58:00.000-07:00

For Luke's first birthday I wanted to get some 1 year portraits. I decided the place to take them that was the most fitting for our family and our boy was the Air Museum right next to base. I didn't remember how dark it was in there until it was already too late. Even though I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted I am still pleases with the way they turned out, and as always, our little man was a trooper and didn't hardly complain one bit.

He has really started to love buttons...

Our little cowboy!

Wait for Dad to assemble his new truck. He loves this thing and actually uses it for all of it's intended purposes!

Here Luke is, exactly one year from the minute he was born. I feel like I have started a new birthday tradition of recording what you're doing the moment you were born... however many years later... could be fun...

Cake on his actually birthday!

This is the first time I have ever seen him smile like this. From now on it will be known as his 'cake smile'

We're waiting patiently for his birthday party to start. We had a rodeo party, with lots of friends!

Here are all of Luke's friend... Isabelle, Luke, Blake, Seth V, and Austin.

Time for cake at the party!

Our baby is becoming a little man!

Life... as of now...

2009-07-21T07:22:00.000-07:00

Life has been pretty quiet... But here are some recent pictures.

First Slim Jim... it was an instant hit.

My new favorite picture.

This snow suit may never see any snow, but it fits him right now... and it's so cute.

I can't believe he's almost 1!!

The real 4th of July!

2009-07-05T04:59:00.000-07:00

Early yesterday morning we celebrated our nations Independence Day in a way that we're never celebrated before. We were able to welcome home our own personal hero! After a full day of travel, Josh was returned to us, and we couldn't not have been more excited! Although Luke was a little sleepy, I think that he recognized his daddy right away. And it didn't take long for him to start smiling, even though I had woken him up two hours before he usually wakes up.

It is so wonderful to have our little family back together again!

After we took our airman home, played for a little while and got in a good nap, we decided that we needed to take part in some more 4th festivities. So we made our way to the peach orchard.

Here is Luke having his very first taste of one of my favorite things... Peach ice cream!

I think he likes it!

He is getting so good at standing on his own... He'll be walking soon!

Happy 4th of July! I hope everyone else's was as good as ours!

Our 4th, on the 2nd

2009-07-03T17:46:00.001-07:00

The 4th of July has to be one of my favorite holidays, this year especially. Our city always has a free concert and fireworks display to celebrate. But for some reason it never seems to take place on the 4th. Last year it was on the 3rd and this year it was on the 2nd. Anyhow. Luke and I got together with a bunch of our friends to enjoys this event. It was a beautiful evening, perfect for spending out doors.Here are Luke and his friend Isabelle riding in the wagon, on the way to the football field. They seemed to enjoy the ride and this was the first time we used both seats. I love my wagon!

Here is Luke in his sun glasses, which he actually kept on his face for a while, and his ear muffs. I was hoping that they would keep him from being too afraid when the fireworks started.

My friend Joy and I listening to the concert. We couldn't really see it, being as how we were almost all the way in the back, and there was a giant rigging in front of us for all the cameras and lights.

We're waiting for the fireworks to start... any time now!

Here is Luke enjoying fireworks in red.

And here he is enjoying fireworks in blue.

Although they surprised him a little, he did seem to enjoy watching the fireworks. About half way through the display he did fall asleep... I couldn't believe he managed it, but it had been a long day for us.

Now the real reason why this will be the best 4th ever... Tomorrow morning, on the real 4th of July, we will be picking up our daddy from his deployment!! We are so excited to have him back!!

Cell phone favorites

2009-06-20T13:53:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite pictures of Luke ever... I am so sad that it is a cell phone picture... Yes, it is carrots all over him, and the chair, and the floor... I was covered too

This is the day Luke found the grass for the first time

Before he figured out how to take hats off.

Tybee Beach! Seeing sand for the first time.

This was the day that he learned to stand in his crib. It is now down as low as it will go.

Wrestling with his toys... and losing.

I have no idea why he was laying like this... in my messy closet

Ball tent

This is my view of Luke when we go to the gym.

Part 4

2009-06-18T09:11:00.000-07:00

Giant shopping cart.

Indoor mall

Ice skating rink, in the mall.

Indoor river, in the mall.

Boats for the river, in the mall.

Luke, 10 months old - portraits

2009-06-14T19:09:00.001-07:00

"What I did for my summer vacation." By Luke Gulbranson

2009-06-11T17:56:00.000-07:00

On May 7th, Mom told me we were going on an adventure to a place called Minnesota. An adventure to visit Grandmas, Grandpas, Great Grandmas, Great Grandpa, Aunties, Cousins and other honorary relatives. She woke me up really really early and we got in a car, then a van, then finally we got on a great big airplane. Mom said that Dad flies on an airplane everyday, and this was my first time, so I was pretty excited to see what it was all about.

Here is a picture of me with my Grandma Vera and my Great Grandma Anna!

Here I am again with Great Grandma, Auntie Rachel and my cousins Danielle and Matthew. So many names to remember... Good thing no one expects me to say any ones name!

One day we went to the Como Zoo with Grandma Marianne, and my aunties, Annie and Allison. First we went to the Conservatory... I don't really know what that means, it just looked like we were outside to me.

Mom kept wanting me to smile. I don't really like flowers that much, but they are in dirt, so they must be good!

Then we finally got to the animals. My favorite was the monkeys!

I went to the Mall of America many times while I was in Minnesota, and every single time I saw something different. Here I am at Lego Land playing with the Duplos.

There were so many things that I could play with... It was totally AWESOME!

Here is a picture of me down in the Nickelodeon park. I didn't get to go on any rides because I'm too short. But I did get to drive this bus...

Then I went to Underwater Adventure.

There were lots of cool fish, and you went under the water, and they were everywhere! There were sharks too...

Family picture! I wish daddy was there to see all the fish.

And save us from this pirate! Thankfully we got away just fine.

There were lots of cool places to take pictures.

I even found a treasure chest...

And a turtle that I could sit on... He didn't go anywhere so it wasn't much of a ride.

These pictures may look like I'm still at Underwater Adventure, but I am actually at the Minnesota Zoo! That's right. I am so lucky, I got to go to two zoos!!

There were lots of fish here too. I tried to get their attention by banging on the glass, but they just ignored me.

There was this really cool bear exhibit. My favorite part was these metal bears.

All the kids there were totally excited! If only I could figure out what they were all yelling about?

And I got to see a Giraffe. It came so close.

My Auntie Rachel graduated from the Aveda school what I was in Minnesota. I thought this part was kinda boring, but my auntie sure looked pretty in her red dress.

I went to a place called Red Wing were I saw the biggest shoe I have ever seen... I wonder if giants live in Red Wing...? I didn't see any, but who else would fit in this boot?

Here I am with my Great Grandma Jane and my Uncle Jason.

I met a pretty cute girl when I was there... Her name was Laura and she was one week older then I am. I asked her to call me, but forgot that I don't have a phone...

Here I am with a bunch of my family! Auntie Annie, Mom Auntie Jennifer, Uncle Jeff, Auntie Colleen, Auntie Allison, and Dad.

My Uncle Jeff has a great big motorcycle! I wanted to go for a ride!

I could tell that it could go really fast!

It was soooo cool!

Every where I went, everyone had stairs... We don't have these at home in Georgia.

I'm getting pretty good a climbing up steps.

But there are an awful lot of them... And I don't really know how to get down yet. But Mom is always there for me.

Here I am with Great Grandpa Charles, and Great Grandma Marian.

I had so much fun visiting with my family! I miss them all so much! I can't wait to do it again...

Concentration

2009-06-07T19:47:00.000-07:00

This is Luke with chocolate pudding... he doesn't eat it, he just covers every square inch of his tray with it... And usually a fair bit of his head.

1LT Joshua Gulbranson

2009-06-06T08:52:00.000-07:00

These are the pictures Josh sent me of his promotion... In the JSTARS. I am told that these pictures were taken while they were flying over Baghdad.
Congratulations Josh! We are so proud of you!!

Part C

2009-05-22T18:21:00.000-07:00

Part 2

2009-05-16T21:08:00.001-07:00

It's about time

2009-05-04T15:18:00.000-07:00

Luke cut a new tooth today! I know I've been saying that it was going to happen 'soon' for a long time now, but I'm so excited! I don't have any pictures, I had to fight Luke just to get a quick peek at it myself. It's his top left tooth! Oh I'm so excited! He cut his first two teeth over three months ago... It feels like it's been forever. And I can't wait to finally be able to give him foods that he can chew and eat. He is always looking at what I'm eating; looking like he wants to try it too. I let him try anything that I think will be mushy enough for him to eat. He loves tomato's, just like his daddy.
In other news, it's almost time for us to make our trip back to Minnesota. I'm really looking forward to getting a break, and for Luke to gets lots of extra attention, and to not have to look at my face all day, everyday anymore... I think he's getting tired of me. I don't blame him, I'm tired of just me too. It's weird that we have been busier now that Josh is gone then we have been for a long time. Also he will have new places to explore. He has found the toilet paper now, I think I'm going to have to keep the bathroom doors closed. Oh well, I knew he would find everything sooner or later.
So to all my Minnesota people; we'll be seeing you soon!

Teeth

2009-04-27T14:29:00.001-07:00

Are you getting sick of my constant blogging yet? What can I say, I have a bit more free time on my hands.
Anyhow... I finally managed to capture those elusive little teeth on film. He has a set of top teeth ready to move into position any day now... maybe even tomorrow!

These last to pictures remind me very much of the way my sister looked as a baby. And I think he is going to be a curly head like my sister as well... Josh doesn't think so, but I'm pretty sure about it. They may be cute, but be careful folks... he's a biter!

Pictures from far away...

2009-04-26T17:20:00.000-07:00

I know this one is a little blurry, but it's all I got.

Thinking of our hero

2009-04-25T08:00:00.001-07:00

On Thursday morning Luke and I had to say goodbye to Josh as he left for his first deployment. We are excited that he is finally getting to do what he has been preparing for so long. We are so proud of our own personal hero and are looking forward to the time when he will come home to us again.

We will be thinking about you all the time Josh, we love you and miss you!

Like a weed...

2009-04-24T05:34:00.000-07:00

This is just going to be a really quick update, and I know I'm behind, but I'll catch up later. For right now I wanted to point this out so we still have time to get to the gym before nap time.
These two pictures were taken exactly one month apart. The one on top from today, where you can clearly see that Luke's head is up to the top of the desk. Also notice the half smile... He knows he's standing on his own and he is proud of himself. I often find him standing up in his crib after nap or in the morning... I have a picture of that too, but I'll put it up later.

Now here you see, in the picture from a month ago. He is not so sure of himself. I believe that moments after this picture was taken he lost his balance. Also, I know it's hard to tell but there about a 3 inch difference in his standing height... I didn't think he was suppose to start growing like a weed until... while I don't know... later.

Atlanta Childrens Museum

2009-03-29T06:54:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, we had some pretty bad weather coming to town, and we did not particularly feel like sitting around the house all day. So we loaded up our baby and took a drive north to Atlanta. This is only the second time that Luke has been to Atlanta and the last time was when he was 10 days old. We started off our afternoon by stopping at a place called the Sliver Skillet for breakfast. I found this place because, as most of you know, I am a huge fan of the food network and this place was featured on one of my favorite shows, Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. The Silver Skillet has been voted the best breakfast in Atlanta, and I think that they lived up to that title.

Next, our main event of the day, the Atlanta Children's Museum. I didn't really know what to expect going in there, and although I'm sure it would have been way more fun for him if he was a little bit older, there was still plenty of interesting things for him to experience.

I wish we had a pile of big blocks like this at home for Luke to play with, he really enjoyed them.

He's getting a lot better at standing while holding on to things... I'm very excited!

We were happy to have some fun family time!

8 Months

2009-03-24T18:56:00.000-07:00

I can't hardly believe it!

This position has recently developed into more of a tent position... Like if he was trying to do a bear crawl. Although he still isn't crawling on his hands a knees, he gets around just fine with a low crawl. I'm getting my exercise in!

We got the chance to have a 'play' date with Austin this week. I don't think it can really be called a play date yet, they have to learn to actually play with one another first...

But we still had fun!

Josh's AWO Graduation

2009-03-14T08:05:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, along with the sand and sun we enjoyed, we got to celebrate Josh finally being done with all his training! He is now officially an AWO! Luke and I are very proud of him, he worked so hard to be good at his job and it really paid off! We were happy to celebrate Josh being DG for his class. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful, smart husband, and Luke has the best example in the world, his poppa!

We attempted to let Luke pin the wings on daddy, but as usual, he just wanted to eat them. With mom's help we did get Josh pinned!

We were also happy that we could share this time with Josh's parents, his aunt and uncle, and his cousins.

It seemed to take forever just to get here, and so much has happened since our Air Force adventure has begun, but I wouldn't change a thing. I am excited to see what happens next!

Sand & swimming

2009-03-09T04:40:00.000-07:00

We had a couple of new firsts this weekend! On Friday night we were able to go to a hotel where Josh's aunt and uncle were staying and going swimming in the pool. This was the first time Luke was ever in a pool! He cried a little bit at first, but we're pretty sure that was because it was a little cold. He really enjoys splashing around in the bath so I figured that he would really love the pool.

Luke has never been one to hold on tight when I'm carrying him around, but in the pool he was holding on so tight. I don't know how he knows to be afraid of these things...

It didn't take too long and he was having a great time, smiling, laughing and splashing.

On the way home that night it didn't take him long to fall asleep in the car. And for the first time ever we were able to take him out of the car, out of the car seat, and put him in bed without him waking up at all... One tuckered out little fellow.

The next day we made another trip to Savannah GA, this time we went to the beach first...

Josh and I have always been a little sad that Luke wasn't able to see the beach in Florida. But we were excited for Luke to see sand for the first time, even though we know that he puts everything in his mouth. And he did put sand in his mouth...

It was fun to see Luke pick up the sand, he would run it through his fingers and then look at the ocean and then back down at the sand.

Luke really enjoyed the beach, until all the sun, wind, sand in his diaper, not napping, not getting as many solid foods, and not getting enough play time caught up with him. Promptly after leaving the beach Luke fell straight asleep in his car seat and didn't wake up until 3 hours later... Needless to say, we will be spending this week resting up. But I will remember this trip... it was a good one.

Snow day

2009-03-01T14:23:00.000-08:00

We had ourselves a little snow day today... Not that anything was closed. This is the first time that Josh and I have seen snow in two and a half years and this is the very first time that Luke has seen snow at all! I don't think he noticed much of a difference. I know there isn't much on the ground, and it probly won't last long, because it's suppose to be in the 50's again tomorrow.

This picture is not from today, but it was just too cute to leave out...

I think Luke finally figured what his johnny jump up is good for... I hope these things are really as secure as they say they are.

2009-02-18T06:53:00.000-08:00

I think it's possible that we have the happiest baby in the world. Oh sure there are times when he gets over tired and up set but I think that's only because he doesn't want to go to sleep... He's a lot like Josh and I in that respect. Not much as been happening the past few weeks, so I just decided to put up some good pictures of him smiling, although it is only a fraction of what I enjoy every day! Here is Luke sitting next to an obvious baby-proofing issue... Thankfully he did not even know it was there.

All better.

It has been really nice a sunny here just about every day, and our new thing is going outside in the afternoon for just a little while to play. Just yesterday Luke discovered the grass. I don't have any pictures of that yet, just the ones on my phone.

He's getting to be such a good sitter!!

This is the only really good picture of Luke pushing up onto his hands and knees. Every once and a while I will see him move forwards but mostly he just scoots backwards. Even with only being able to move backwards he is still all over the rug in the living room... It's a good thing we got that rug. I'm sure sooner then I know it he will be following my around the house where ever I go.

One new thing did happen to us last night. Josh passed his check ride! He is officially done with his training and can wear his wings now! His flight didn't land until after 8 and by the time he was home Luke had already been asleep for a little while, but he wanted to be up to give daddy his wings for the first time... But not without tasting them first!

We are so proud of our Poppa!

I got a new camera and I love it!

2009-02-06T06:19:00.000-08:00

These pictures are so nice I don't know if I even want to put too many words to muck them up...

This is Norman... while my mom was here we decided to go to see a plantation and Norman decided that he would be our tour guide. He hardly left our side after this picture was taken.

Yes it is a wreath made of cotton... we do live in Georgia

This is the Whistle Stop Cafe where the movie Fried Green Tomatoes was filmed... We did eat there.

I love this camera... now if only it was fast enough to catch Luke doing all the things I wish you'all could see.

Sitting

2009-01-27T13:49:00.001-08:00

Our little man is 6 months old already... I can hardly believe it! He has gone from such a sweet, quiet bundle of joy to a wonderfully happy little man. We went to the doctor yesterday and found out that he is 27 1/2 inches long and 19lbs and 8oz and she thinks he is going to be a big boy... nice and tall like his daddy! He is learning many new skills, he can now roll over; and prefers to sleep in his side at night. He has learned to shriek at the top of his lungs; he doesn't seem to want attention from it, he just likes making the sound. He cares very much if I leave the room. And the best of all his new skills is his ability to sleep up to 9 hours at a time and go to sleep in his own crib, by himself.

One thing that he still doesn't really understand is sitting up on his own. Here he is at the aviation museum at Robins AFB, sitting very well, but he is strapped in...

He can sit on his own for 30 seconds to a minute or so, but we're not quite sure that he knows he's doing on his own.

Sometimes I prop him up in hopes that he get the concept.

He has started eating more solid foods now, and that means he gets to sit in his big boy chair!

Here we are at the commissary, and Luke has made himself very comfortable in the seat. Although he can't seem to sit up straight, he can get his feet up on the handle bars. Some day soon I know he'll get it! He is such a smart little boy!

Savannah Georgia

2009-01-06T12:07:00.001-08:00

After Christmas, but before New Years, we were pleased to be able to make a trip to the very historic Savannah Georgia. It is a two and a half hour drive, so it makes a nice day trip but you could easily spend many days there. We spend one whole day and didn't even see one fifth of everything I would have liked to see just in the down town historic district. There is also the ocean, many house museums, civil war battle fields, estates outside the city, and the Terra Museum (Gone with the Wind). I am sure there are many more things that I didn't even know about that would be worth seeing... One thing that we did know about and wanted to make sure we saw was the food networks Paula Deen has a restaurant there called Lady and Sons. It just so happened that when we rolled into town here sons where there, at the shop next to the restaurant, signing cook book and taking pictures... Well I love cook books, so we got one and our picture taken, and we had a pretty good start to our trip. Us with Jamie and Bobby Deen. I'm sorry I really don't know which one is which. They have their own food network show, which I have never seen, sorry to say.

River front road, still decorated for Christmas.

The bridge to Tybee Island, and the beaches of Savannah. I wish we would have had the time too see them.

We took a trolley tour, which was awesome! We learned many things and saw stuff like the place where the bench scene that is all throughout the movie Forest Gump was filmed.

There are so many beautiful historic buildings.

Here we are eating at Lady and Sons. We originally had reservations for 9pm, which were made that morning. That was the first time they had a available because they were so booked. Keep in mind that this is a three story restaurant. We were looking in the shop near by at about 6:30 and we stopped and asked if anything sooner had opened up, and they said they could seat us right away! It was wonderful, because we still had a two and a half hour drive home. And let me tell you, the food was so great. I would have waited until 9 to eat that food! There is definitely a return trip in our future.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2009-01-04T06:01:00.001-08:00

Luke's first Christmas officially started with his first trip to see Santa on December 23rd! We were expecting to get a picture of him crying on Santa's lap, but he is the best baby, and is not afraid of strangers... yet.

Here Luke is will all of his loot from Christmas Eve. He did get more on Christmas morning and even the day after, but I don't have a picture of those things. Among the things he loves the most are anything that plays a song or makes noise, like his piano. And now, as I type this paragraph with Luke sitting in my lap, he has found a new love for the computer key board and the sound that it makes.

Luke trying out his new piano.

Looks like he got exactly what he wanted!

This is how all his gift unwrapping looked. He is at the stage where if he can see it and get his hands on it he will put it directly into his mouth.

We had a wonderful family Christmas, just the 3 of us! The next day we were pleased to welcome half of our family into our house for the next week. We would have loved to have filled our house with both sided of our family but we were very thankful for the time we could share. We did a lot of fun things between Christmas and New Years including a day trip to Savannah Georgia, which I will not include in this post, but the next one.

Here is Luke in his new Happy 2009 tee shirt, all ready to party!

Getting th party started with some yatzee!

Making some noise with Dad!

My sister-in-law and I dressed alike! This was only partially intentional.

Happy 2009!

Missing snow

2008-12-09T06:48:00.000-08:00

I know it doesn't seem right... or even possible... to miss the snow. And I'm not going to tell you that I miss the snow for the whole winter, because I don't. When it gets to be February and March and it's 75 and sunny, I'll feel really good about the weather. But right now, when Christmas is approaching, this is when I miss snow the most. Even more this year because I want Luke to experience everything about Christmas, and I'm not going to lie... it's just not Christmas without snow...
So I went through all my pictures and found a few with snow. Keep in mind these are old, but bare with me...
This is from a sledding experience in Grand Forks, ND. We had a big snow... 10in or so... After sledding we tried to play on playground

But by that time everything was already starting to melt, because it was March, and we didn't have any real snow gear on, so we just got wet

This one is a way back picture... Yes that's me in the front, sledding with all my cousins on my Dads side... Corey, my sister Annie, Allison, Tanya, and Jeff.

Here is Josh flying in the winter time. He went flying with his friend Tim. Flying in winter is something he is pretty used to, he got his licence in the middle of winter, on his 17th birthday. Temps in Minnesota in January can easily be below zero.

Lastly, here is a view of the airport from the air.

I can't wait for the first time that Luke will get to play in the snow. Some of my best memories were made in a snow fort or on a sledding hill.

Mmmm... Squash

2008-12-03T15:20:00.000-08:00

Today we took Luke to the doctors for his 4 month check up. He had to get some shots, that he did not enjoy. No teeth yet, and not really anytime soon. The doctor also told us that he was probly ready for some more solid foods. We decided to start with squash, because if he is anything like mom and dad and we start him with fruit he will never want to eat his veggies...

He wasn't so sure about it at first.But after a few tries he was enjoying himself, and even getting upset if I took too long to get him his next spoonful.

He ate quite a bit of it and probly would have finished the container if I had let him.

What a messy eater! But I think that he is excited about his new food. Next sweet potatos and carrots!

Getting ready for Santa

2008-11-30T12:58:00.001-08:00

After thanksgiving was done, and we had eaten all the turkey we could eat, it was time to start getting ready for Santa to come!

We were able to find plastic ornaments so that we don't have to worry about Luke or the cats breaking any of them.

I don't think Luke quite understands that Santa is going to bring him toys. It would help, of course, if Luke played with his toys. Here he is looking a little happier.Our little present, under the tree...I have to show him how to put decorations on the tree so that next year Dad and I won't have to do any work.

As always, his favorite part was looking at the lights.

Thanksgiving day

2008-11-28T11:39:00.001-08:00

In preparation for thanksgiving we got Luke a Bumbo chair, which he loves. He likes sitting up like a big boy.

He helped Mom in the kitchen for a little while, until he decided that he wanted to hang out with the manly men!

Luke loved sitting outside with Dad and the boys, talking, picking up pecans, and shooting a bow and arrow.In the morning Luke watched that Macy's Thanksgiving day parade from his new chair

Yay! first thanksgiving and 4 months old!

First ride on a real swing!

2008-11-24T10:00:00.000-08:00

What can I say... it was a little chilly but he loved it!

Cleaning out the cell phones

2008-11-21T09:55:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures that have been taken the past month or so. Like I say, whenever you need the camera it's never near by, thank goodness for camera phones or we wouldn't have these priceless pictures... even if they are a little blurry.

Luke used to go to sleep quite easily...

This is the perfect example of having a camera at the right time... he's not scared in this picture, I believe he was about to yell something at me and I snapped the picture right at the right time to get this face.

If you look closely you can see his sticking his tongue out. He doesn't do it as much anymore, but I believe that it is a part of the whole teething process... No teeth yet.

This is one of the only pictures I have of Luke's Halloween costume. There is a bear hat to go with, and as you can see there is bear tail on the baby butt! It was a really warm costume for him to wear.

And just a few more we missed from Halloween. If only he really understood what was happening around him, he's missing some of the best holidays!

2008-11-10T13:15:00.000-08:00

Alright, so I haven't been taking very many new pictures lately, but let me tell you, this kid has learned a few new tricks... So I know the picture is a little blurry and that's because the camera is never around when you need it so most of our new pictures are taken on either mine or Josh's cells phone. Either way, this face is priceless. Luke loves to stand! Although he can't balence, if you hold his hands and give him a little support he'll pull himself to the standing position... and he could stand all day if I would let him!
Something else I never expected was how much this kid would love his baths... These pictures are about a month old.

He loves the tub. He cries and cries when he has to get out and gets all cold. He hasn't learned to splash yet, for which I am thankful.

I almost forgot...

2008-11-03T15:40:00.001-08:00

I almost forgot my favorite face of all... The lip!

Making faces at mom

2008-11-03T13:32:00.000-08:00

Since Luke and I are home most the day together we spend the majority of our time... when not sleeping... just sitting making faces at each other. I have done my best to try and catch some of them, it's a pity that you always seem to miss the best ones. Luke is learning to sit, and I would say he's doing a good job. He can't sit on his own but he definitely wants to, which I think is a good place to start on the road to success!

This kid is constantly sticking his tongue out at Josh and I. It all started around the time he began drooling none stop, so I wonder if it has anything to do with teething...

Along with drooling all the time, he also sleeps less, which to me is a sign that we will be seeing teeth sooner then we thought!

I don't think that Daddy and I could ever stop loving this little one, he is perfect in every way to us!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T12:07:00.000-07:00

This is Luke's First Halloween, and although he's not going to be trick-or-treating we still wanted to do something to celebrate. We would have let him carve the pumpkin, but he still doesn't quite have a good handle on how to use those hands.

We did let him take a good look at those pumpkin guts, and we tried to get him to decide what kind of face the pumpkin should have.

This is a picture of Luke right up next to the pumpkin in the dark. I know it's hard to tell but if you look closely you can see his hands and face.

Three months old already!

2008-10-23T15:15:00.002-07:00

I can't believe that he's 3 months old already! (well technically not until tomorrow) Our little boy is growing up, he's already gotten to do and see so many things, it's just to bad he was asleep for most of them. In September we drove up to Minnesota so that he could meet his whole family! It was a 19 hour drive and we stayed there for more then three weeks, it was a lot of fun! Here are some pictures of Luke just a few days before he turns 3 months old.

He's started to know that he has hands, but he's still not very good with them. He will look at them a lot, and he will grab my fingers if I hold them where he can reach and then look at my hands. The only thing I wish he would get the hang of is toys, so that I don't have to think up new games to keep him from getting bored.

He hasn't laughed yet, but he does smile often! The trick is trying to catch the smiles on camera. Once you pick the camera up and hold it in front of him he gets distracted from what he was smiling at and is curious about the camera... This picture I just happened to snap in the right place at the right time.

He is the best baby!

We are trying to teach him to sit up, but he's not very good at balancing yet.

As for Josh and I, we are doing really well. About 2 weeks ago Josh started his training, he will have a few months of academics and then he will actually start flying. By the beginning of next year he will have his wings. Luke and I spend our days talking, taking pictures, napping and playing games. I feel really blessed to be able to have this time with him. And I promise that I will get better about this blogging thing. I have so many pictures and we have done so many things, I'm not in need of topics yet!

He's here

2008-08-24T22:10:00.000-07:00

I know this is a little late... Actully one month late, but Luke Joshua Gulbranson is here. He was born July 24th, 2008 at 5:35pm. He weighed 6lbs 14oz and was 21in long.

Even though he was due August 7th, my doctor had told me that she wanted to deliver early because I had high blood pressure. On the afternoon of July 23rd Josh and I were having a typical day, he had come home from work and I had been feeling fine all day. Shortly after he came home I noticed that my ankles were more swollen then normal and upon further examination I noticed that it could be preeclampsia... I called the doctors office and they had me come in that afternoon. Pretty much the first thing out of her mouth was, 'I don't like this... let's have a baby.' I felt shock for one moment and then my mind was flooded with questions.
Once we arrived at the hospital things seemed to slow down. Even though I was contracting on my own nothing seemed to be moving along, after 8 hours I was only 4cm, at 12 the next afternoon I was finally ready to get started. To my dissapointment my doctor was in surgery somewhere and I was forced to be patient. Finally after 22 hours and 58 minutes Luke offically became a part of our family, and I was glad he decided to join us.

Peaches!!!

2008-07-04T22:43:00.000-07:00

We've been in Georgia now for half a month and it's about time we try some authentic Georgia peaches. We went to the Lane Packing Peach Orchard to see what it was all about. We went on a self-guided tour of the plant and watched peaches go from crates off the tree to crates that go to the grocery store. They have a "you pick" but it's only for strawberries and they're not in season right now so we bought some fresh peaches to take home and some peach cider to try.

Peaches come in from the orchard

Then they're washed and waxed
Then each peach gets its own sticker and its picture taken to determine color and sizeThen, based on the size and/or color the peaches are pushed through specific holes in this conveyor so that they can be boxed up with similar peaches. This is where they go after they fall through the belt and then they're boxed up from here

Off to the grocery store

4th of July

2008-07-04T22:22:00.000-07:00

For the 4th of July we went across the street to the high school football stadium for a free concert and fireworks. The Air Force Reserve band played some songs and than Lonestar played. It was pretty good and they played all of their popular songs. The fireworks were good too and they were timed to music. When it was all over we watched everyone get in their cars and try to get out of the parking lots and sit in traffic. We just walked home!

The Air Force Reserve Band
Lonestar

Museum of Aviation

2008-07-04T22:16:00.001-07:00

We went to the Museum of Aviation close to our house. They have quite a few airplanes outside but we didn't look at them because a storm was coming and it was really hot outside. Supposedly it's the second largest museum in the Air Force and it's only 5 minutes from our house!

It's A Boy!!!

2008-03-18T13:59:00.000-07:00

The new addition

2008-01-02T22:37:00.000-08:00

Today we saw our baby for the first time, we were so excited!

9 weeks old today!

New Year, same old stuff

2008-01-01T19:30:00.000-08:00

Our New Year's eve was spent with some good friends from Josh's ABM class, around a nice warm fire, because it was a chilly 45 degrees out.

As the night wore on, the music got a little louder and the fire got a little bigger until finally the moment we were all waiting came. I'm not really sure is we counted down to the exact midnight because everyone's clock said something different.

At the end of the night, after the dance competition, and the fire jumping competition, everyone was ready to hit the hay. But I have to say, we could have had all the fun if we didn't have such a beautiful clear night to celebrate on.

Felix and Penelope

2007-12-25T11:11:00.000-08:00

Squadron Christmas Party

2007-12-24T19:03:00.001-08:00

Our Squadron Christmas party was pretty fun. It was a chance to dress up and we won some stuff but the coolest thing was an Ipod shuffle!

This is Josh trying to look like a gangster or something. Eric, one of his classmates let him borrow the suit.

This was one of the wreaths. I think the picture's pretty cool.

MU-2 Flight

2007-12-24T09:09:00.000-08:00

Part of ABM training is flying on some of the planes down here at Tyndall. Josh just got done with his MU-2 flight. He was in the lead plane and they shot down all the other planes...simulated of course!

This is a picture of Decaf 2 off our right wing. We're flying over Mexico Beach and that's the Gulf of Mexico out there too.
Our Wingman
A better shot of Decaf 2 over Mexico Beach

Class Christmas Party

2007-12-24T08:59:00.000-08:00

The other day our class decided to have an ugly Christmas sweater party. Erica even wore her sweater to work earlier in the day!

Back (left to right): Sharon, Steve, Joe, Ryan, Keith, us, Eli, Kelsey (Front left to right): Christy, Julie, Danielle, Lisa (behind Danielle), Jim

Sharon, Danielle, and Kelsey are spouses but everyone else is in my class.