I'm back!

Sorry it has been so long since I have been on here to update all of you on what's going on in the Brillhart household. Leyton is 7 months old now and getting bigger by the minute! He has got seven teeth, weighs 21 pounds and sleeps through the night almost every night! He loves eating his vegetables and fruit now, and is getting very close to crawling. He loves to play with the dogs and watch Sponge Bob on the TV when daddy lets him. He has been in great health and has done extremely well with teething so far. He's a great eater and sleeper! Anna and I have been extremely blessed with such an awesome baby to start!

Also Anna is about twenty weeks pregnant with baby #2 and is as beautiful as ever. She does this pregnancy thing with an amazing amount of grace and beauty. Her morning sickness gets better and better every day. We will find out the gender of the new baby on September 21! So all of you out there reading this weigh in and let me know what you think we are having!

Other than that Anna and I are just busy busy busy being parents and keeping up with Leyton! We are really looking forward to September 21 to see what the new baby is. Ill write again very soon!

Anna is pregnant!

I have been told that I am allowed to publicly announce that my wife is pregnant again!!! Due date for the new baby is February 2, just five days after Leyton's birthday! I am totally excited!!!!

What's new...

So many new things going on in the Brillhart household, I thought I would share a few with you in no particular order...
Leyton is getting bigger and bigger every day.
He rolls over every time you lay him on the floor.
He's trying very hard to start crawling.
Formula poop STINKS!
We went to St. Louis last weekend and spent time with family.
Josh, Penney and B are coming to Goshen next weekend.
Leyton laughs uncontrollably at me when I "get his piggies."
Anna and I both are swamped at work!!!
We are counting the days to our Smokey Mountain vacation!!!


Last weekend we got to spend Thursday night, Friday, Saturday and part of Sunday in St. Louis with the family. We love going to St. Louis and seeing everyone. We were fortunate this time that there was a family party planned as well as a game night for everyone on both sides to get together. Friday night was game night with all the Wilhelm's and we had such a wonderful time seeing everybody. Makes me wish we could get to the Lou more often. Then Saturday was Anna's brothers graduation party and the whole family came to that. I feel bad because it was Joel's party to celebrate his graduation from Vanderbilt University where he majored in Chemical Engineering AND Math, but Leyton has a way of stealing the show! Anna's mom and dad both come from pretty big families so there was no shortage of people who were ready for their turn to hold him! Leyton is an amazing baby and loves going to see new people all the time, he doesn't mind getting passed around. So the afternoon was a success! All in all it was a wonderful weekend spent with a wonderful family. The Westwoods and the Wilhelms both exemplify the type of closeness and love for one another that I want to instill in my family. The siblings all love one another very much and as both families grow in size they do a wonderful job of keeping it close.


We also have a Smokey Mountain vacation planned with Anna, Leyton, myself, Anna's mom and dad, Anna's sister and her husband and Anna's little brother. We could not be more excited and ready for a whole week of no job responsibilities and quality time spent with family! We are all staying in a cabin in Pigeon Forge, TN with a beautiful view of the mountains! That is my idea of vacation, a book, quiet and a view of nature! We have been very blessed this year that this type of vacation is in the budget for us all and we are pumped and counting the days! 13 to be exact! I should really tell you what I am excited the most for is to rule the tennis courts while we are there! Bob, Andy and Joel you are all going down!!!


So that's a brief overview of what's going on now and what's on the horizon for my family!

The worst fifteen minutes of my life...

Today Anna and I decided at Leyton's nap time we were just going to let him cry it out as opposed to picking him up when he started crying. It was the worst fifteen minutes of my life...

Happy 4th of July!

The 4th of July has to be, easily, one of my favorite holidays every year. Some of my fondest childhood memories came on this day years ago. When I was a little boy we would spend the 4th at my Aunt Lisa and Uncle Gary's house in Syracuse Indiana every year. My cousin Todd and I would play with fireworks all day long in front of the house while "Proud to be an American" by Lee Greenwood blared in the background all day! Then when night fell we would pull out the lawn chairs and watch the fireworks over Lake Wawasee! Those are some of my favorite memories of my childhood. There was a year when our older cousin Jason hid my other cousin Todd's fireworks up in a tree and when Todd climbed up in the tree Jason moved the bicycle Todd had used to climb up there leaving Todd stuck up in the tree, crying, with his fireworks. Coming home late smelling of sulphur and smoke with my fingertips all singed from the lighter I was using to lite my bottle rockets and firecrackers. We even got to spend a couple 4th's in Florida with my Grandma and Grandpa Peterson when they lived down there! I cant wait for 4th of July's to come and watching Leyton enjoy the day as much as I used to! So everyone have an awesome and safe 4th of July!!!!

He's one step closer to freedom!

So tonight for the first time I came up with the courage to put my son in his crib to sleep. I sat in there with him and sang to him until I could see his eyes were getting heavy, then I just hummed until he finally fell asleep. As I stood there over him watching him sleeping in his very own crib, in his very own room (which is not my room anymore) I was overwhelmed with two very different emotions at the same time. First, I was sad. My son was making his first step to freedom, he's not sleeping in our room anymore. I used to be able to wake up in the middle of the night and hear him breathing and lay back down knowing my son was right there and he was okay. Now he's in his own room and sleeping in his own crib and I think that I'm probably going to cry myself to sleep tonight as I think about him growing and all the "steps" he'll be taking until one day he spreads his wings and flies for himself. With all that being said, there is the other emotion that I was feeling as I watched my son there sleeping in his room, in his crib. I was so proud of my little man and his first step towards independence from me. I then saw all the times that I will be proud of him as he makes his transitions toward freedom some day. It made me think of the day that he will ride the bus for the first time, or the first time that he stays overnight somewhere other than here. Or when he graduates from high school and makes his move to manhood and goes off to college all on his own. The thought of those mile stones make me incredibly proud of my son and all that he is going to accomplish along the way. So tonight I'm kind of torn... I'm very proud that Leyton is moving out on his own, but deep down I'm kind of bummed out that my little man wont be there when I wake in the middle of the night. So tonight I may cry it out a little, but tomorrow Ill be okay!

He needs me...

The other night Leyton was laying on my lap on the couch sleeping. In the middle of his sleep he started to get a little fussy. I don't know if he was just having a bad dream or what but it was bothering him. So I put my hand down there to let him know I was there and he grabbed hold of my finger. As he was holding my finger I quietly was saying "don't worry daddy's here." And believe it or not he quieted right down and fell back to sleep. So I continued to whisper "daddy's here" a few more times until I knew he was good and out and as I was doing that it hit me pretty hard that he needs me. Not in just the obvious ways like he needs me to help feed him and change his diaper and transport him places, but he needs me to let him know that I'm there for him and that Ill be here to protect him... It's kind of a heavy load, but I was so happy to know that in that moment what he needed what his daddy to tell him it's okay and not to worry because I'm here. I really cherish the role of his father as he is growing and developing. The things that he needs from me continue to change as he does and it's extremely exciting for me to be here during all of it and give him what he needs. Now it's just the sound of my voice and the touch of my hand that helps. Soon its going to be the touch of my hand as I steady him as he takes his first steps. Then it will be his first ride on a bike. Soon he'll need me to teach him how to hit a curve ball (I cannot wait for that day!), and how to read defenses on the football field. He's going to need me to show him how to swing a hammer and turn a wrench. But he's also going to need me to comfort him someday when that first girl breaks his heart, or his first friend abuses his trust. The boundaries of the things that he needs me for seem limitless now and will only get greater as he grows. To be honest I really cannot wait for each one as the time comes and he needs me for something new. So Leyton, whatever this world brings to you over the years don't worry because daddy's here!