Two Year Well Check

This (just turned) two year old outweighs his (almost) four year old

brother by a whole 8 ozs. now!

We took Gentry to his two year well check yesterday.

He weighs in at exactly 34 lbs.

He is 33 1/2 inches tall & his head is 20 inches round.

His pediatrician said that by his charts he's expecting a height spurt any time.

He'll be on 1 or 2% milk from now on, and only gets 2 cups of it a day.

He loves milk and his daddy spoils him by giving him

some almost any time he wants it.

It's juice & water more often now, though.

Gentry is my big boy.

He wears 2-3T shirts, and 2T shorts.

He wears size 6 1/2 shoes.

He still fits in size 4 diapers.

Hopefully, we'll be coming out of diapers soon ,though. :)

I'm so proud of my babies!

Big or small, short or tall, they're beautiful.

Thank you, God, for beautiful, healthy boys!

My People

We're missing a few, but here's what's left of my immediate family.

This is my mama, Rebecca Lee Kennedy Brackin with her two daughters,

Gena Leigh Brackin Rogers, and me, Carla Shae Brackin Stanfield.

Gena is divorced and has one daughter, Alannah Danielle Rogers.

I have been married to my husband, Larson Dean Stanfield, 

since October 9, 2001, and we have our two boys,

Jubal Talon Stanfield and Gentry Slade Stanfield,

for whom this blog is written.

My daddy, Benjamin Gene Brackin, passed away on September 5, 2010

 when Jubal was 7 weeks, 6 days old. 

His greatest wish was to live long enough to see his first grandson born, and he did.

My brother, Robert Benjamin Brackin, passed away on November 29, 2003.

He was married to Marianne Street Brackin (not pictured),

and they had one child together,

Lyndsay Rebecca Brackin(also not pictured).

I so wish my daddy and brother were here to see our family now.

I know that my boys would have loved their Pappaw and Uncle Bobby so much.

I also know that their Pappaw and Uncle Bobby would have loved them very much!

I hope both my daddy and my brother are proud of me.

I know neither of them were sure just how my life would turn out.

I was a rebel.

I wasn't that bad, but I was a little wilder than they preferred.

I like to refer to myself as a free spirit.

I wanted to experience everything.

This post isn't really about anything specific.

I just wanted to post this picture that I love and put our family's names

on here in case my boys want to look up any of their family history some day.

Maybe one day I'll finish the post that has been sittinig in my drafts for

almost two years that has all of the names and info that I have on our ancestry.

I just want my boys to know something about where they come from.

Who they come from.

P.S. Check out Gentry's face.  That's a Brackin if I've ever seen one.  Ha! 

Hanging Out At Home

With our busy schedules, we don't get much time together at home. It's up at 6:30, Monday-Friday to get to school & work, and we don't get home until after 6 in the evenings.  On Saturdays, my boys get to sleep in, but I"m up and off to work until 2:00, and after that the boys (mostly Larson) are ready to get out of the house for awhile. We usually visit family or make a quick trip to Walmart or something, nothing big.

 But Sundays? Ahhhh, how I love Sundays. I have to say that Sundays are my favorite because no one has to jump up for work or school and we all just get to be together. I love being home. I love being with my family.

Cleaning out all of the baby stuff from our storage house. 

The boys had to play & sit in them one last time.

We hang out in our pjs most of the morning, I may fix us a big breakfast, but cinnamon rolls or cereal might have to suffice, too. ;)

We spend most of our "home" time outside.  My boys do not like being shut in.  They will watch some TV, but they don't sit down long.  My boys are B-U-S-Y!  Matter of fact, that's what Gentry's nickname is:  Busy.  Ha!

Hot & dirty, but cool & cute!

We get hot and dirty, but these boys wouldn't have it any other way.  I, on the other hand, let it stress me out more times than not.  I wish I could relax a little more, but I hate a mess. 

I do let them play until their heart's content and let them get as dirty as they want, though.  They are the only reason I'm more relaxed than I've ever been.  My house doesn't stay nearly as clean as it used to, and that's okay.

Jubal fell out of the back of Uncle Adam's (non-moving) truck.

He was showing us his boo boo. 

A big, skinned-up knot. 

Ouch!

I like hanging out at home with my boys.  I love the time we get to be together.  We are looking forward to having a family vacation this year.  Our first one together ever.  Larson & I have never gotten to take our week off every year at the same time.  I'm always off for the week of July 4th, Larson never could get that week off.  This year, though, we got it!

There's no better way to spend a Saturday night than at home, with both of your babies asleep on your chest.

My arms & my heart are full, Lord.

Thank you!!!

I'm so looking forward to just hanging out with my boys.  We don't get near enough time together.  I know that before long they will be grown and I will miss these days.  That's why I want to spend as much time together and make as many special memories with them as we can.

Oh, and we're getting a little mini vacation time at the beach that week, too.  Just a couple of days, but that's more than enough for me.  Like I said, I like hanging out at home. :)



Gentry's 2nd Birthday

We pretty much started celebrating Gentry's birthday on Friday. His teachers, Mrs. Karen, Ms. Raegan, and Ms. Jordyn threw him a sweet little party at school with all of his classmates.

They had cookies, chips, and juice, complete with little hats, plates, and napkins.  How sweet of them to do this for my baby.  I really appreciate all the women at GCA, especially Mrs. Karen.  It's not just a job to her and I know that my children are not only cared for, they are LOVED at this school.

I had to work Saturday, so we didn't do too much except make a run to Walmart for a few groceries and to pick up some things for his birthday.  I let him pick out his cake, but he ended up picking out Spider-man cupcakes.  Whatever the birthday boy wanted was what he got. :)

He was reminded throughout the day, though, that he was turning two and we continuously wished him Happy Birthday.  He would smile and say, "Yeah."

Sunday morning, Larson & I were up earlier than the boys, but just as soon as they woke up, we let Gentry have one of his chocolate cupcakes for breakfast and sang him Happy Birthday.  We sat out on the back porch and he was allowed to make as big of a mess as he wanted.  Boy, did he?!

We played the rest of the morning and stayed inside a lot during the afternoon because it was so hot.  Later that evening, we went over to my best friend, Darla's and had him a little pool party.  We grilled hotdogs and had chips and cupcakes.  It wasn't anything big, but he had a ball and that's all that matters to me. 

I'm sure the parties will get bigger as he grows and starts school and has more & more friends along the way, but for right now I'm just thankful to be with good friends & family to celebrate my baby boy's life.  He is definitely a joy!

Gentry Is Turning Two

Tomorrow, this precious little boy will turn TWO!

The conception of Gentry was a surprise,

but I'm going to tell you something right now...

God sure knew what he was doing when he blessed us with this sweet soul!!!

He's our demolition man. 

He can make you think that a tornado has just hit.  

Tearing things up, pushing things over, and just making an overall mess of things.

BUT,

He is so kind.

He has a heart of pure gold. 

He doesn't like to be held much, and he needs his space,

but when he's in the right mood, he can't love on you enough.

He gives the sweetest kisses.

He will randomly walk up to you and kiss you. 

He has the most beautiful lips and the cutest pucker ever.

We call it his "duck face".

There just aren't enough words to describe how much this little boy means to us.

We will celebrate his life tomorrow.

We will celebrate the love we have for him.

We will celebrate because God loved us so much he gave us Gentry.

Happy Birthday, my sweet baby boy!!!

Mama loves you so very much.

I pray that you always feel my love and that I show you enough.

You take my breath away with your beautiful soul.

With all my heart forever,

Mama 

Summer Pics

I am so happy about how my boys' pictures turned out. We usually take them sooner, but the time got away from us. Thankfully, the weather was nice even though we were playing it by ear the entire day. At times it looked as if it was going to storm, but it was actually sunny when we met with my friend, Christie, to take the pictures. These were taken at the old Brewton farm. Such a beautiful place.

It was so hard to choose between all of the 144 pictures that were taken. I have narrowed it down a bit, but still have plenty of pictures I want here in their journal. Enjoy!

The days seem to pass so slowly sometimes, but the years are getting away quickly.  I will soon have a two & four year old.  My life is so different now since my boys came along, but it's exactly how I always dreamed it would be.  I have everything I've ever wanted.  My dreams have come true.