Cheese-Ball

Brooks loves saying "cheese" for the camera.

As soon as he knows you have taken his picture, he rushes over to look at it.

I think Amy Jo and I have ruined him with excessive photo takage.

Play Dough

If you are on Facebook, you probably saw the not so psyched picture of Brooks when he was clearly done playing with his play dough.

Here are a few of him actually enjoying it...which lasted less than five minutes...to his defense, he was ready for nap time (a duh moment for me, and he was coming down with a high fever, which I discovered after his four hour nap)...oops.

Lesson learned.

Sunset Over Aspen

This was the view of the sunset over Aspen Mountain from our back porch last week. It was truly magnificent. In six years, I have never seen anything like it. God is so good.

Blue Eyes

He gets away with a lot when he flashes those baby blues...

Discovering...Ornaments

Brooks was so helpful putting up the tree. He made a lot of new discoveries. It was pretty cute.

Let's just say the glass and "special" ornaments are at the top of the tree this year.

What's in a Name?

One of the tougher decisions parents need to make is naming their babies. There is a lot of pressure when picking a name. We always picture our child as an adult either playing sports or running a major company (hey a parent can dream), and say their name in association with a profession to see if we find it too trendy or something that will go out of style and sound unprofessional some day.

With Brooks, we actually picked his name while driving down the road and listening to Sirius radio. A Garth Brooks song came on the radio, Bryant looked down and said, "Brooks! That's a cool name!" And I instantly loved it too... so it stuck. We came up with Liam as Bryant wanted our first son to have an Irish name, and Liam is the last half of William (Bryant's first name). So, we went with Liam Brooks Ragan, and we call him Brooks, and it suits him so well.

When it came to choosing a name for boy number 2, I decided to pray about it and see what God wanted us to name him. Within days we were sitting at a Sunday night service at our church and Brent preached about courage and mentioned the stories of Joshua (also the name of his son born in August), and Caleb from the Old Testament. I quietly stored that in the back of my head as a possible name, but wasn't totally sold...yet.

That night we were laying in bed, and Bryant randomly said, "what about Caleb?" I excitedly replied back, "I knew you were going to say that!" So, we decided to try it out for a while, and decided we really liked the name.

Then Bryant went on his trip to South Africa. While there, the group spent a lot of time at Northpoint Church in Johannesburg. During a Wednesday night prayer meeting, the members of the church prayed over the guys from Aspen. A random stranger came to pray over Bryant and part of what she said was, "...And I just felt God say that you are like Caleb..." When Bryant told me this story, we knew that was the name God had for our second son.

Now to pick a middle name. As I mentioned in a previous post, this will probably be a game time decision.

It has been a while...again

We have had a great fall and beginning to winter. We have record amounts of snow (123% above average on the slopes) which would be so awesome...if I were skiing this year.

Bryant went to South Africa for two weeks and while he was away, my mama came to help me out...and it was such a blessing to have her here! She took great care of us and Brooks warmed right up to his Mema!

Bryant's trip was life changing. The things they learned and experienced were incredible!

Brooks is already 19+ months, and time couldn't seem to be going any faster. It feels like he should be six months old...but then I wouldn't be 30+ weeks pregnant with Caleb _____ Ragan, due in February! (we are still going back and forth on middle names... it might be a game time decision based on the direction of or "discussions"). Brooks is saying so many words (most of which we only understand because we know what he is trying to say). My favorites are of course, please and thank you, and he is saying "good girl" to Mali, and pretty much any other animal is a hoooooooooooorse! Oh and any food he wants is a "cook-ie." He forgot to learn how to walk and went straight to running. That is pretty much all he does to get around now. I am having a harder time keeping up as my belly gets bigger by the day!

He is quite a risky guy...one of his favorite activities is climbing up on our headboard and doing superman dives into our pillows. Oh and the laughter! He has the best, most contagious laugh I have ever heard. It is awesome.

We are so thankful for every smile and laugh (and there are a lot) we get from him. He is truly a blessing.

We had a great ultra sound appointment today and got wonderful pictures of Caleb. I have been preparing myself to meet a totally opposite boy from Brooks, just in case Caleb is born with dark features, small brown eyes and hair, (still adorable but different than our big blue eyed blondy) but based on the pictures, he looks just like Brooks did, at least the features, we obviously won't be able to see the colors until his arrival.

So, in addition to being in my third trimester, our house is under contract and due to close either in the beginning of January, OR February, days after my due date. We are praying for extreme favor and the earlier closing so we can move into another house before we go into the hospital...we should know in a matter of hours or days when it should happen. You just never know with the banks these days.

I am excited to move into a new house (new to us) and have a little more space for when our families and friends visit. Plus there is something refreshing about purging and moving. The house we love is a lot closer to the Everetts and the grocery store, both places we visit on a regular basis... in fact, I could load the boys in the Chariott and walk to the grocery store on a sunny day. Now that is enticing!

Below are pictures of our boys, within two weeks gestational age...Brooks at 32 weeks and Caleb at 30.5 weeks.

Liam Brooks

Caleb (Schmaleb)

Houston and Iron Horse Ranch

Bryant and I had such an amazing week in Houston that we decided to extend our trip. He accepted an invitation to stay and hunt opening day of deer season with a good friend on his ranch. The Everetts were able to come down for a few days too.

Over the course of two weeks, we met incredible people and visited old friends.

We had amazing adventures.

Enjoy the slideshow of our adventures by clicking on the picture above...

XOXO,

Becs and the boys

This Time Three Years Ago...

We were in Europe on our honeymoon...

It was amazing.

Bryant surprised me with tickets. I had no idea where we were going.

He booked the first three nights in Venice, and the rest was a big three week adventure.
We ended up taking a jet boat to Croatia for five days, flying to Naples and staying in Positano for a few nights, and then meeting up with friends from Aspen in Tuscany, and travelling with them to a small Italian village called Talamone, and spent our last night in Rome before flying home to our life together.

It was a dream.

I love my husband for his sense of adventure.

He is amazing.

I am a blessed wife.

Waiting for the water taxi to dinner is Positano. Sigh...

Visiting Monteriggioni in Tuscany where I found some fabulous shoes!

Snorkeling in Capri...Yeah, my husband works out.

Sunset in Rovinj, Croatia. It was breathtaking, every night.

After dinner drinks at a restaurant in Rovinj, Croatia that was literally on a cliff over the water. Here I am soaking my feet in the sea.

Oh how I love you, September

I love the the fall...

I love the crisp air, the rain, the leaves changing color, apple harvest... all of it.

I love the anticipation of nearly ten family birthdays, including my own, (December must be a

cold month!) our anniversary and football season.

September is a whirlwind!

This year for my birthday present, my sister in law took me to a new photo location to do some test shots.

Brooks was a pain in the buns. If I even touched him, he screamed. Despite the toddler toils, she got some fun shots... I admire her patience.

Here are some fruits of her labor...

He was clearly done at this point...and frankly, so was I. :)

Fire Truck Adventures

My nephew Tait got a new electric firetruck this week.

I rarely hear Brooks laugh as loud and hard as he did the first time Tait took him for a spin in their driveway. It was priceless...

And the Flavor is...

A BOY!

I had to have an ultrasound at 14 weeks so my midwife felt comfortable with me spending a week on a remote island.

When she was looking around I asked if she could see any plumbing, and low and behold, she could indeed...

Sometime in February we will be bringing home baby boy #2. I am so excited and nervous...but I am sure the nerves of having a second boy and becoming quickly outnumbered in my house (we have a female dog which evens out the count, for a few more months at least) will subside the second I see his chubby little cheeks.

I am a day away from 17 weeks already, and can't believe how fast the second pregnancy is going. I guess chasing around a busy and quick toddler makes it hard to sit down and focus on being pregnant, like I was able to do the first time around.

So far, all is perfect, and Bryant and I are praying for more of the same. We have our big ultrasound appointment in late September, and once we get some cute images of the little bugger, I will give you a look see.

Until then...

XOXO,

Becs, and the boys

Guemes Island

The view of Mt. Baker at sunrise from Guemes Island Resort

There is a small island in the San Juans that my dad's family has been visiting since 1962. My Grandpa Everett started taking his eight kids to the Guemes Island Resort on vacation, and someone from the Everett family has been back every summer since.

This summer we had the opportunity to go back for a week and meet my entire immediate family along with some extended family and dear family friends. There were close to twenty people in our group. We had such a great week, crabbing, skipping rocks, playing horse shoes and cribbage, laughing and reminiscing.

Amy Jo took a large group photo and the amazing shot of the sunrise our first morning. I will post more pictures when I upload mine, too.

Family Photo Session

A few weeks ago my sister in law, Amy Jo did a family photo session for us at a local ranch. As usual, we had a great time, and are so excited about the photos. I also grew to appreciate her patience and love for capturing toddlers, as our little brute was not easy to corral this time around.

Here are a few of our favorites...As you can tell, I am a sucker for the vintage action

There were several more we loved, but those will make their debut on our Christmas cards...

You can view a sampling of the rest of her work at www.lottalovephoto.com

Love,

Becs and the boys

News!

My computer at home is not reliable, and when Bryant happens to leave his laptop or Ipad at home I usually have to catch up on work, so I have been very absent from posting...and there is a lot to share.

We have had a great summer in Aspen so far. The weather has been amazing, allowing for many bike rides, hikes and outdoor adventures. Brooks loves to be outside.

I recently spent a long weekend in Seattle visiting my best friend and her family and attending my 10 year class reunion. It was so great to see old friends and catch up...although, reunions are far less informative now that Facebook keeps me posted on most every one's whereabouts. While I was in Washington with Brooks, Bryant was in Haiti on a mission trip. He had an incredible experience...life changing. It was his first time in a 3rd world country, and they didn't spoil themselves. From sleeping on concrete with a sheet as covering, to visiting some of the most vial post earthquake areas of the country, he said it was pretty tough, but he would do it again. I am so proud of him.

The greatest part of summer has definitely been getting a positive pregnancy test in early June! We are due to have Ragan baby #2 in mid February! I am now 11 weeks, and feeling fine. I have been able to stay active this time around since I am not behind a desk and I am chasing a crazy toddler all day long. It has definitely been more exhausting, but I think my jeans will be a little less snug in the end (fingers crossed), than the last go around. We had a really fun ultrasound at 8 weeks and everything is checking out great.

So, that is us in a nutshell... We head to Washington again in August to spend a week in the San Juans with my family... I can already taste the fresh crab and clams!

Until next time,

Becs

Stacation

Last weekend we decided to flee from our weekly dose of spring snow and head south to warmer weather...if you consider Durango south.

It was an amazing drive though Ouray, and over Red Mountain Pass (I thought I was going to barf...or jump into Bryant's lap on several hair pin corners, but restrained myself for the safety of all passengers in the car). There are no guardrails, and a MAJOR drop off. There is a memorial for snowplow drivers who have died trying to maintain the road. It is gorgeous, but I don't think I will be making that drive again any time soon especially with my little man riding in the back seat.

I booked an adorable studio on VRBO (which has become one of my favorite booking sites for vacations, and my expectations have always been exceeded when booking a property on the site). We walked around town, and by walk, I mean we followed our little walker as he did circles, tried to pick up garbage off the sidewalk, and touch every new object he could find, and we road our road bikes while pulling the little dude in the charriott. We had great sushi (always a wonderful surprise in the middle of the Rockies), and we spent the enormous amount of windshield time chatting about life and big adventures ahead.

On our way home we explored Telluride, which was a ghost town, tumbleweed included, but gorgeous non the less. It felt a little like the movie deliverance when we drove past the local town folk. They just stared and watched us as we drove up and long after we drove away. Little creepy. How people live their year round is beyond me, but a weeks vacation would be nice. It felt like a small village in Europe minus the goats and bell wearing cows running through the streets.

This week, my best friend Sarah came down from my hometown Bonney Lake, Washington to visit for a few days. The best thing about her visiting is the time we spend in our jammies on the couch chatting until about noon everyday. There is never awkward conversation or weird lolls. We just chat, and giggle and belly laugh...like the good ol' days of eating nerds and drinking WAY too much diet pepsi. She left yesterday. I miss her like breath.

I would LOVE to share some cute pictures from our adventures last weekend, but this computer is sickly with a horrible virus that is basically only allowing me to use the Internet, and nothing else. She will be going to the IT dr. soon.

Until then,

Becs & the boys

Where have we been?

Brooks' one year photo taken by Amy Jo of Lotta Love Photo

All over.

Brooks is now one as of April 21st, which blows my mind.

I have been working from home since mid December, which has been such an incredible blessing.

I spent ten days in Washington visiting family, enjoying my parents, and welcoming a new cousin into the world (big congrats to Kelly and Ben, and welcome to the world little Cade)

...and I just got back from an incredible Ransomed Heart Captivating retreat where I spent quality time with the Lord, met some incredible women, and actually made it through (although barely) four days without Brooks and Bryant.

I thought I would have all the time in the world to blog and eat bon bons while "working" at home (see post natal blog about stay at home moms for reference), but as any other SAHM knows, that just isn't the case. My time is consumed with playing with my boy, trying to stay on top of the house work and be a good Titus 2 wifey-poo, my new found love of sewing/creating, and getting outside to enjoy this amazing place we live (when it isn't dumping snow).

In other news, in December we got a call from my parents letting us know my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, a call no child ever, ever wants to receive, but to sum it up in an inappropriately short paragraph: praise the Lord, the doctors found it at stage 0, were able to remove the lump without a full mastectomy, she made it through six weeks of radiation while spending the week days three hours from home in Wenatchee, and is now on the road to a full recovery.

Praise the Lord from who all blessings flow!

As you can probably imagine, I have a ton of pictures to post, but I may just put them on a picasa album so they don't take up so much space. I have had a lot of fun with my new camera.

Thanks for checking in, even though I am embarrassed to say, it has been over four months since I have done the same.

All my best, and tremendous blessings to you, friends,

XOXO,

Becs and the boys

Splish Splash!

Brooks is fascinated with the bath/shower. If we are filling the tub for him, he gets so excited for his bath...

And if either of us are in the shower, he will stand at the bath the entire time, water spraying his face and hair and try to get in with us.

It is pretty cute.

He is pretty cute. He must take after his daddy.

XOXO,

Proud Mama

College Habits Die Hard...or Not at All

I distinctly remember sitting in the dungeon/basement of the house I lived in Sophomore year at WSU playing on Naptster (remember Napster?!) on a Sunday night thinking, I really should start that 10 page essay due tomorrow...and inevitable by 9 or 10 I would start it and finish around 2 or 3 in the morning, or at least in time to shower and head to my 9:15 English class to turn it in to a professor who could read me like a book (after all, they were an English professor).

Procrastination...

Well, I am taking a virtual class right now, and I have a zillion excuses why I haven't finished the homework...and have only finished the first of three L.O.N.G questions, including writing this blog about not doing it...the funny thing, it is a fun and very enjoyable class that I willingly signed up for in early December, but...

Old habits do die hard...

Should I make my husband cookies, or finish my homework?

Start the chicken pot pie or do my homework?

I think I have a problem...and I have a feeling EVERY Sunday night/Monday during this class is going to be the same thing...

As my old boss used to tell me over and over..."there is no hour like the 11th hour." And thank goodness for that!

XOXO,

Becs

A Great North Idaho Photographer

photo courtesy of the Vintage Barn Show

Last September I went to the Vintage Barn Show in Rathdrum, Idaho.



Where is Rathdrum, you ask? It is near Coeur D'Alene, Idaho.



Where is Coeur D'Alene, you ask (if you have been living under a rock)? It is about 30 minutes east of Spokane, Washington on the 90.



My family is all nestled in the Okanogan Valley in Eastern Washington, so many of them met us there...



It was a blast! We stayed in an awesome house on the Spokane River and when we weren't shopping at the Vintage Barn Show, (which was AWESOME!), we played, played, played!



A highlight of our trip was meeting Christina G who is a tremendous photographer...I mention her because she just updated her website, which you can view by clicking here... Christina G Photography, and to be totally transparent, if I mention her here, I am entered in a little giveaway she is doing...and I LOVE fun giveaways...So, take a peak, and if you live in the great northwest, give her a call.



All my Best,



Becs

Updated: Mercy and Sharing Co founder, Susie Made Another Appearance on CNN

Update on Mercy and Sharing: Susie Krabacher, co founder of Mercy and Sharing was on the Campbell Brown show on CNN again last night (Thursday) with another update on their progress in Haiti...I will post a link as soon as it is available on their site.

For regular updates on Susie and her team, become a fan of Mercy and Sharing on Facebook and Twitter

photo courtesy of Mercy and Sharing

Temporary medical beds set up in the streets

We don't have cable at home.

But I am in front of a computer all day covering at the office.

So, I swallowed my resistance and started reading and looking at photos of Haiti.

Wow.

Joe and Susie Krabacher are Aspen locals who go to our church, Crossroads. They have been working with the people of Haiti for over a decade through their organziation, Mercy and Sharing. They have orphanages, clinics and feeding programs set up throughout the country to help those in need...and now the need is greater than ever.

100% of every dime donated to their organization, Mercy and Sharing goes to assist the people of Haiti as the overhead for their foundation is paid by the Krabacher's and their board members.

100%

Even if you do not have the means to help them financially, please keep them in your prayers. Susie is on the ground in Haiti and promises not to leave until she finds the children who have been missing since the earthquake.

She was on CNN yesterday (January 20, 2010). You can view the interview using this link:

Susie Krabacher on CNN

You can follower her updates on Twitter and Facebook as well.

Best,

Becs

I.have.a.new.best.friend...

Shows you how close we are! I put Prairie Woman instead of Pioneer. Silly me! For some reason, I had prairies on my mind.

She just doesn't know it yet...or know me, for that matter.

She is creative, and spunky, and she is living a life sort of opposite of me.

She is a city girl who married a cowboy.

She can cook, oh can she cook!

Her name is, Ree...and she is the Pioneer Woman.

Do you want to get to know her too?

All you have to do is visit The Pioneer Woman

Dear Mr. Sleep,

I miss you. For some reason, your visits are short and often forced.

Please come back, and visit Brooks too...for at least 8 hours a night. I am sure he misses you, even though he doesn't really know who you are.

Miss You,

One Tired Mama Who Hasn't Slept an Eight Hour Increment in at Least a Year (Including Pregnancy)

Fun.With.My.Canon

w.r.i.t.e.r.s b.l.o.c.k

I am absent from the blog...

But more present in mommyhood than ever.

When we got home from Charleston I started "working" from home.

I thought this would mean more work than it has been, but it turns out, I have been able to spend most of my time playing mama and maid (I am being silly about the maid part).

My day has become scheduled...8:30ish the boy is up, we eat breakfast together after daddy leaves for work...he plays until about 10:00ish and then naps for an hour or two while I clean a closet or tidy the house...he wakes. We typically have an afternoon adventure such as hiking Smuggler mountain with Aunt Amy Jo and Tait, and then he takes another nap around 3:30...daddy is home around 6:00, we play as a family, eat dinner, play some more, and then Brooks heads to bed...

I couldn't be more happy and am so thankful the Lord has opened the opportunity for me to be at home with my boy. What a joy.

Everyday when he is napping I check into my favorite blogs (see blog role to the right). I am so inspired by so many godly women who give a peak into their world as mommies and wives...and then I start a blog entry of my own...and get stuck.

So, I am praying for inspiration. I have a zillion fun pictures to show you that I took with my new camera! I have some really fun adventures to share with you... but they will come in time.

As a family we are dealing with some health issues, and focusing our time on praying and supporting our loved one who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer (but asked to remain anonymous, and I love and respect that).

I love you all...my cup runneth over.

Until I can put my thoughts into better words,

Becs

Uh Oh!

Mama got a new camera!

There is so much to learn.

Hopefully I don't get too distracted and forget about my new job...director of domestic affairs, Ragan division.

XOXO,

B