Brandon and I met in 2002 when I was a freshman in high school, and he was a sophomore.
Spring of my freshman year I was dating Brandon's best friend at the time. Brandon would bring him to my house since he could drive and we were not old enough to yet.
We broke up that summer, but Brandon and I stayed friends. We became very close my sophomore year. He was one of my best friends. We said I love you every time we got off the phone. I became part of his group of friends. He would pick me up for school when I needed him to.
Throughout my sophomore year I dated several guys. Brandon never said anything about it. Our group of friends constantly made comments about how cute/perfect we would be together. I was NOT willing to make that change in our friendship. He was someone I trusted with everything. There was nothing I could not talk to Brandon about. I explained to him I was scared if it ever ended we would be giving up a friendship. He said he understood.
We ate lunch together every day. We spent most of our weekends together. Whether we would go to the mall and dress each other up in stupid outfits, or hang out at his house. Ryan was normally with us, so it never seemed like a "couple"
At one point, I told Brandon I could see myself marrying him, I just could not date him.
In December of my sophomore year the guy I was dating was in musical with Brandon. He bragged about cheating on me to Brandon. Brandon immediately let me know. Needless to say, we broke up.
In February, I dated a different guy. I had already made plans to spend Valentine's Day with Brandon. I ended up standing Brandon up to spend it with the guy I was dating.
In March, Brandon and I started dating. I told him we could try, but he had to swear we would still be friends if it did not work out. We dated not even 3 weeks, and I told him I thought it was awkward. We broke up, but still stayed close friends.
In May, my best girl friend, Sharlene, and I went to Brandon's to swim one evening. For some reason, Brandon was different to me this night. I can remember every detail of the evening and realizing my feelings for him. We made plans to go to the beach the next day. When I went home with Sharlene that night I told her how I felt. We talked about it all night and decided I had to tell Brandon. The issue was I had a boyfriend. So, I called him that same night and broke up with him. After that phone call, I called Brandon and explained my feelings. It went really well, and he was happy!
The next day Brandon, myself, Sharlene, and her boyfriend went to the beach. By the time we came home from Galveston Brandon and I were dating. This was on May 26, 2003.
We dated the rest of the summer and the following school year. We spent nearly every day that summer together. We went on a trip with our group of friends to the Frio River for a week. He was a Watch Dog for the cheerleaders his Senior year. I was a head cheerleader on the squad.
We went to homecoming together. I took him to Cheer Banquet. He took me to his prom. We had a blast his senior year while I was a junior.
Our songs were ...
My Best Friend by Tim McGraw picked by Brandon
Watch This by Clay Walker picked by me.
The boys are 19 months!
They are wearing 18 months clothing.
Hunter is still in size 4 shoes, but they are starting to get tight.
Drake is in size 5 shoes.
They are still wearing size 5 Pampers.
They had their first trip to the ER together this month. They were diagnosed with Croup.
The boys had Croup on Halloween, so they did not get to trick or treat that night. We went to trunk or treat the Sunday before, and they loved it! They were two monsters, which was perfect since they love to make monster noises. They spoke to everyone and loved to play the little games.
We had an eventful month with the boys catching a stomach virus. They caught it from daddy, then they passed it to me. It spread through Brandon's family too. We were not able to celebrate Thanksgiving this year. The boys went to Meme's with Brandon while I stayed home sick. Around 2 pm I decided I needed to go to the hospital, so Brandon left the boys there and took me to Texas Woman's.
My daddy came home this month, and the boys were perfect with him. They did not have to warm up to him at all! We did not get to spend as much time with him as we normally would because of the stomach virus.
The boys did not eat more than crackers, cheerios, and pedialyte for a week straight due to their stomach bug. The first couple times we tried to feed them anything other than that they threw up all over again. They have sensitive stomachs that take longer to recovery. Totally makes sense since we could not switch to regular milk immediately. They are now on refular whole milk :)
The boys will repeat anything you say now. I love to hear Drake say "oh gosh" Their little voices are adorable. They both pronounce Barney correctly now. Hunter says it perfectly and often, Drake not as perfect.
Hunter is in a "momma" phase. From the time that boy wakes up he says momma repeatedly. After the first hundred times ... oh. my. gosh. I repeat his name or ask him what several times, but it does not make him stop.
Hunter has started giving kisses more often. Drake gives the most perfect kisses. He loves to kiss!
They switched cribs for about a week. They preferred to sleep in each other's crib rather than their own. When we ask them if they are ready to go night-night they always run to their room and stand at their crib. For a week, they ran to each other's crib and would throw a fit to be put in that one.
The boys absolutely love books. They sit and look at books daily!
They are starting to build with their blocks more often.
They understand the concept of picking up their toys, and often help me.
They love to put things in the trash and put their diapers in the diaper genie.
They put their clothes in the dirty clothes basket.
Stranger danger has completely passed. Drake takes longer to warm up to new people, and does not showcase his personality immediately. Hunter does not take long at all! He will let strangers hold him now. They both love to say hi and bye to EVERYONE. They also say hi and bye to objects or animals. bye deer, bye car, etc.
They have started to pull their own pants up when they get dressed.
We really noticed how much the boys want to be alike this month. When the boys got sick, Hunter was sick first. Drake's did not hit until 4 hours later. I had bathed the boys and put Hunter in a christmas shirt. I did not put one on Drake. He came running in the room wanting the shirt on. So, I put it on him. Then, Hunter threw up on his shirt. I bathed him and changed him. Drake threw a fit to have his shirt taken off. We have noticed this continuously happening.
Drake has such a sweet heart. He will always pick up two toys and take one to Hunter. He will get both of their snack cups, and take one to his brother. When I fix their cups with milk, Drake will take the first one to his brother and wait for the second one. It melts me to see the love the boys have for one another.
Hunter is very aware of my belly and the baby that is in there. He walks up to me often and says baby. He will lift my shirt and kiss it. Lately, my belly button has become a fascination. Drake will also say baby, but he does not do it as often as his brother
They absolutely LOVE their new cousin Bowen. They will do anything to help with the baby. Bring a pacifier, a blanket, etc. They love to give him kisses.
