Daddy's 5K Run Weekend

Back during the April 20-22 weekend, we went back down to Auburn for Kurt to run in a 5K that Saturday morning!  It started at Toomer's Corner and ended on the 50 yard line in the stadium!  That's such a cool idea!

When we got there on Friday night, we went to downtown Opelika for a festival they were having.  They had a band playing, and most of the stores were open late, so we had a good time just walking around and listening to music.  We did get to try out a new Italian place called Ma Fia's, and the pizza was delicious!  Jack had a huge kid's slice and of course he had to pick up the whole piece to eat it!  When it got late and we needed to head to the condo to sleep, we ran into uncle Keith, aunt Phoebe, and cousin Mallory!  Jack had a blast playing with Keith since he held him up high in the sky!

Bright and early Saturday morning we went to see Daddy start his race!  There were so many people there, and even parents with their kids in jogging strollers!  I guess Daddy could've done that and taken Jack with him, but that might have slowed him down a tad! We even got to see Aubie riding in a car after the race started!  He must have come to wish the runners good luck!

Daddy finished the race!  He even finished in 24 minutes which wasn't even enough time for Granna, Jack, and me to get to the stadium to watch him run in!  As soon as we were walking in he called saying he was done!  He was too fast!  He actually came in 52nd place out of 603 people!  That is awesome!  Cousin Amy ran in it too, and finished quick as well, plus we got to see Aubie again and get a picture!

Once we left the stadium, Jack wanted to see Cam Newton's "statua" again up close, so we had to get a picture of him and Daddy with it.

Sunday afternoon we went to watch Auburn play baseball!  Friends of Granna's let us use their awesome seats right behind home plate, so we had a blast being able to sit up close!  Jack watched the entire game and loved every minute!  We even walked him down closer so he could get on tv, and several people saw him! :-)  We even got to see Aubie again and he let Jack sit in his lap!

Sweet boy had such a busy weekend that he fell asleep on the way home that afternoon!  He always goes so hard when we are in Auburn!  He must love that place as much as his mommy and daddy do! :-)

Here is a video from the weekend:

I forgot to add one video from the weekend that was from Daddy's phone, and it's a pretty important one, so here it is...

April Beach Trip

After A-Day on April 14th, we headed down to Panama City Beach to stay with Granna and Poppy at Edgewater!  We were so glad to be heading down to the beach, and it was a much-needed mini-vacation!

The weather was so beautiful on Sunday when we woke up, so we of course headed out there as soon as possible! The water was very cold, but Jack didn't seem to mind!  The only word to use for him is fearless!  He wanted to dive right in!  He loved the waves and loved getting seashells! I'm thankful Daddy and Poppy played with him in the water because it was way too cold for me!

He also loved the pool and hot tub.  The hot tub wasn't very hot at all, and even felt good with how windy it was outside and how cold the pool and ocean were.  Jack loved swimming around in his floaties.  He is truly my little fishy!

Sunday night we went out to dinner with MawMaw and Pawpaw who were also down at the beach.  We went to The Back Porch (yes, same place as the one in Destin), and it of course was delicious!  We then walked around that shopping center (Pier Park) and got some ice cream, plus Jack and I rode in the small choo choo train they had.  The Miracle Strip amusement park is now a part of that shopping center, and Jack would have loved to have gone, but maybe next time when he's bigger!

It was early enough to take him into Tootsie's, though, and we knew he'd love all the music and dancing! He had a great time, and we all had a blast watching him!  He was the hit of the whole place!

The next day was about the same as Sunday, but thankfully a little warmer, so we just played at the beach and pool all day! Jack couldn't get enough of the ocean and pool, so we let him play in them until he was tired!

That night we went out to eat at Tacky Jacks and it was very good as well.  I've only been there for breakfast, so we enjoyed going there for dinner, too.  We even got a family picture before we left, and even though it's not our best, it's still ok with the pretty beach behind us!

After dinner we went to Pirate Island Putt Putt since Jack loves golf so much!  I remembered I had a token in my purse for a free game, and Jack was free, so I just stood by and watched so it would all be free!  Granna and Poppy played too, and Granna let me play some of her shots so I didn't feel left out, which was very sweet of her.  On the very first hole, Jack went first, and got a hole in one!  Since it was the first hole, you know that meant I didn't have my camera out yet to get it on video!  I was so upset! :-(  At least we all remember it!  He was so excited!  All 5 of us got a hole in one that night, so that was very exciting!

We headed home after lunch on Tuesday, but before we did, Jack wanted to just stare at himself in the mirror in the living room!  It was the sweetest thing!  I guess he knows he's the cutest boy in the world and just wanted to look at himself! :-)  Thanks so much to Granna and Poppy for letting us come to the beach with them for a few days!  We had a blast!

Here are some video clips from the trip:

Auburn A-Day

Auburn's A-Day, or Spring Practice, was a few Saturdays ago on April 14th.  We went down to Auburn the night before and had supper with Uncle Jim.  Deena and the girls were out of town, so we hated to miss them, but we had a good time with Jim at Buffalo Connection!

The next day we wanted to be on campus by 10 since they were doing the reveal of the Heisman statues for Pat Sullivan, Bo Jackson, and Cam Newton! There was a huge crowd there, of course, so we didn't get to see much of the talking and presenting beforehand, and didn't get great pictures, but we did get up close to see Cam reveal his own statue, and that was very cool!  Jack couldn't believe how close Cam was to us!  He loved it!

Mommy and Jack just hanging out before the reveal of the statues.  Poor guy still had his bad scrapes on his head, nose, and mouth.  Barely looks like himself! :-(

After the reveal, we went over to the fields by the ROTC building where they had some activities for kids.  They had a "jumpy jump" as Jack calls it, face painting, baseball throwing, and football throwing.  We even got to see the marching band up close when they came through and played a few songs!  Jack loves the marching band so he got very excited!

Cute face painting of a football helmet!

Shaking his shaker listening to the band

Video clips of him playing

Finally time to go in the stadium for the practice!  It was pretty hot, so we made our way to a shady spot right on the 15 yard line.  They were pretty good seats!  Uncle Jim came in with us too, so we were glad to spend more time with him.

Practice was interesting for a little bit, but after a quarter, Jack was getting a little bored, so we ended up leaving at halftime.  We were at least glad we got to take him into the stadium since he's always asking to go and doesn't understand when we say it's "closed", especially when they keep the lights on!  He's such a huge fan! :-)

When we left we headed straight for the beach to go see Granna and Poppy (that blog coming soon.)  He hadn't napped yet, so he fell right asleep in the car.  Sweet boy had another great A-Day experience (his third so far), but was definitely worn out!  At least Auburn won that day! :-)

It's Another Boy!!!

Yes, Baby Branch 2 is a boy!! We are so excited and can't wait to meet the little guy, and we are glad Jack will have a buddy to play with!

We had our ultrasound on April 12th, and everything looked great with him and me! He was measuring 3 days early, but they are still leaving my due date at September 11th.  He moved around a lot and looked so cute, even in black and white! :-)  Here are some pictures:

This is the "It's a Boy!" picture!  The very top is a leg, then not a leg, then another leg!  Ha!  That's what the ultrasound tech said when she told us he was a boy! :-)

His sweet foot!

Here he is looking at us!

After our doctor's appointment, we went to Mama Becky and Daddy Mer's house for supper and a small "gender reveal" party!  Kurt and I had bought two baby outfits the night before, one blue and one pink, then took both in the car with us to the doctor, then wrapped up the blue one for Jack to open in front of everyone before dinner.  He finally pulled out the blue outfit for everyone to see, and everyone was so excited, but also shocked!  Most everyone thought we were having a girl for sure since I had been so sick this pregnancy, but no, another healthy boy!!  We got to tell Jack he was getting a little brother!! So exciting!  Also, yes, my face is priceless in the 2nd picture!  Thanks Daddy Mer for capturing that!

Jack celebrated immediately with tacos!

Sisters! So glad Amy and her family could be there that night, too!

Jack is finally understanding how awesome it will be to have a little brother to play with!  Also, I'm sure you can tell in the pictures, but Jack had a bit of an accident earlier that day before the doctor's appointment.  He was running towards a baseball bat, tripped in his shoes on the carpet, and hit the corner of the wall head on, giving him a mini-gash and goose egg on his forehead, a bad scrape on his nose, and a busted upper lip!  Poor guy just wanted to play baseball!  Needless to say, it was very hard for his mommy and daddy to leave him after this, but thank goodness Mama Becky could take care of him and make him feel better!

We have pretty much decided to name the new baby Charles Coleman Branch and call him Charlie!  Coleman is a family name on both sides, plus Charles Coleman was Daddy Mer's granddad's name!  We didn't even know that until we came up with the name a few weeks ago!  It's so fun to call Charlie by name, and Jack can barely contain himself that he will be able to play baseball with Charlie someday!  Sweet brothers!

Easter Weekend 2012

We had so much fun this past Easter!  We had a very busy weekend with family and friends and have lots of pictures to show for it!

Jack and I started the festivities Friday morning by dyeing the deviled eggs I was making.  He helped me put the color tablet in the glass, fill it with water, then dip the eggs in there!  The hardest part for him was waiting for them to fully get colored before taking them back out!  He was such a good helper, though!

Later that night, we went over to Mama Becky and Daddy Mer's for dinner.  We had a delicious meal, and then several selections for dessert.  I had personally brought over s'mores for the kids, and even tried out blue peeps to make them Easter s'mores, and they were a hit.  Jake, Brooke, and Blakely at least loved them, but Jack didn't understand what to do with the marshmallow being blue.

After dessert, MB and DM gave all the kids their Easter bags.  Jack got lots of goodies, and he especially loved his ring pop.  He even held it high for everyone to see.

Saturday morning we had Jack's friend Sawyer's 2nd birthday party. It was held at a fire station that also had a pavilion and park behind it.  We had a great time and we are so excited for Sawyer that he is now in the cool 2 year olds club.

The birthday boy!

Jack got to try out the hat and truck too!

After the party, we went over to Papa and Sherbo's for lunch.  We had another delicious meal, plus Jack got another Easter bag from Papa and Sherbo. He got more wonderful things to play with and of course eat!

The preschool cousins sitting at their cute picnic table!

Sister and brother picture!

Time to go hunt for Easter eggs!

Now enough with the Easter eggs, it's time to play!

Papa, Sherbo, and the kids (minus Abby who was napping!)

Easter morning!  Jesus is Risen!  We enjoyed so much explaining to Jack this year about Jesus dying for our sins and then rising from the dead!  He learned more in Sunday School that morning, too, and kept telling everyone that day "Jesus is Alive!"  Yes he is buddy!

That morning before church, though, we did show him that the Easter Bunny came to see him! He loved going through his basket to see all the new goodies and candy!  We even let him have some candy before his real breakfast.  I guess that's allowed on Easter and Christmas, right?

Sweet boy in his Easter outfit!

After church we had lunch at Mama Becky and Daddy Mer's house!  We didn't think it was possible 3 times in one weekend, but yes, we had another great meal, and more Easter fun with family!

Easter family photo

Cousins!

 Hunting for Easter eggs!

Playing his new harmonica

Loving on Daddy Mer

 We left him alone for one minute, and he got a hold of the Redi-Whip can!

We had such a wonderful time with everyone and we are so grateful for all of our meals and Jack's gifts, and especially for God's Love for us!

Here is a video from that weekend!