Model in the Making?

Uncle Justin thinks so! He saw the striking resemblance between the Polo model and his nephew and took it upon himself to whip this up for comparison. I think if Kaiser grows out his hair and buffs up a little, he might just have a shot at the BIGTIME!!! :) (Though Mr. Lauren may insist that the gigantic bandage on his face be retouched before the ad hits stands...)

Just Because...

Not much to say this Sunday night, but I've taken a couple of pictures yesterday and today that I knew the grandparents would enjoy, so I thought I'd share.

 My walkin' machine!

 Massive Headwound Harry's healing progress, nearly 2 weeks out.

 Pausing to smile for Mommy during one of his stair-climbing sessions.

Using Daddy as a ladder to climb "up on da woof". 

(Note Brett's strategic hand placement -- ha!)

 Got the brothers to sit for a pic before we left for church.

Our first attempt to teach Porter how to say that he's ONE year old!

(Jefe will be so proud.)

Hope y'all had a fantastic weekend and a wonderful start to your week!

Our EXTRA Thankful Thanksgiving Week

It's been an incredibly fun and memorable two weeks for the Bralys. The night after our return to St. Louis, my brother and Amanda trained in from NYC to spend several days in the Burgh. The boys and I were excited to see them once again, and of course my hubby was beside himself to have his BFF with us for the holiday! Before I get started detailing our time together, I'd like to give Amanda a huge shout-out for bringing her big ole fancy camera along to take pictures. She gets credit for well over a third of the shots which follow (and many of those in the three posts before this one). Thanks for letting me steal them, A!

Monday morning brought crummy weather, so we opted for indoor activities. The attending Brett is rotating with was out of town, which meant he was off work and was able to hang, too! Once the six of us all got up and moving and ready for the day, we loaded into our 4Runner and drove to the Children's Museum. Since our last visit back in August, they've changed up several of the exhibits, which made for a fresh, new experience with our out-of-town guests. 

Making eyes with this handsome fella on the way there.

Giant interactive kaleidoscope!

Porter took a turn as our subject.

He was thrilled about this opportunity.

Checking out the cool images projected up on the wall.

Glad to be off that turntable!

Kaiser and Uncle J trying to stay upright in the gravity room.

Getting a boost...

...to catch some falling letters!

Porter's first spin in the SmartCar.

Go speed racer!

Someone took it upon himself to scale the ramp.

He was well supervised.

Flying himself back to Oklahoma!

Taking a break with Miss Amanda on Mr. Roger's Neighborhood trolley.

Watching parachutes fly up a wind tunnel.

Dropping rocks to make music, Plinko-style.

The bulk of our time was spent in the museum's current traveling exhibit, "How People Make Things". It was definitely interesting and engaging for kiddos and adults alike!

Using suction to make a mold of my hand.

Filling molds of everyday plastic objects.

We watched this robot assemble and disassemble a play trolley.

Again...and again...and again.

Kaiser tried his hand at it, too.

Porter couldn't be left out.

"A little help here?"

Spinning a wheel to deform a penny.

It turned out that the water play floor was closed that day, and since we still had a couple of places we wanted to go, we left the museum and drove to South Side. Brett took us to Fat Head's, where we ate yummy sandwiches, fries, and salads. 

Porter doing his best to get some laughs from the table.

Though our meal was good, we didn't want to eat too much, seeing as our next stop was just a few doors down:

I'm pretty sure Amanda's only request when they came to Pittsburgh was that we make a trip to our dear friends' shop. :) As always, the shakes lived up to all the talking up we did.

Uncle J went with vanilla; Kaiser shared Mommy's piece of cake.

Porter's first time to partake. He's officially a MSF die-hard fan.

No bite goes uneaten!

"Don't even think about taking this cup away."

After finishing his portion, Kaiser helped polish off everyone else's.

They'll be back!

So will we. :)

Stuffed and sleepy baby boy.

Flirting with Miss Amanda in the backseat.

That evening the four grownups had dinner plans, so our babysitter Megan came over around 6:30 to take care of the boys. Brett and I were looking forward to going out on another double date with this terrific twosome.

Ready to hit the town!

Our reservations weren't until 8:00, so we took a drive up to Mt. Washington to see a view of the city at nighttime. While we were up there, something really special happened...

Guess who got ENGAGED?!?!

That's right, Justin asked Amanda to MARRY HIM!!! Now, this came as no surprise to Brett and me; we've known for a little over a month that Justin planned to pop the question while they were here with us. When we got out of the car and started walking, I pretended that I'd forgotten my phone so that we could go back and give them some privacy. We'd hoped to sneak back close enough in time to get pictures of my baby bro down on one knee, but leave it to us to take too long (and him to ask too darn quick!) so that we missed it. Sigh. At least we were there to get shots of the fiancees post-engagement. Of course, they were all smiles and glowing with joy!

So thankful for God's perfect plan.

On top of the world!

Smooch.

After taking pictures, we drove downtown and went to Market Square and PPG Place to walk around. Christmas trees are already up and lit, so we took advantage of them for some more photo ops.

Could be the Christmas card!

Pretty.

Couldn't stop hugging.

Feel the love.

The old married couple posed, too. :)

Next we walked to NOLA on the Square for some celebratory drinks. (Well, just B & J partook.) While we were there, these two were understandably busy sharing their exciting news with family and friends.

What did we do before iPhones?

We had just enough time for the guys to finish their beers and for us to walk over to Six Penn. Brett and I ate at this restaurant a year and a half ago, and we've been wanting to go back ever since! I have to be honest: my hubby's food was not his flavor this go-round (last time the steak he had was the best he'd ever eaten), but the rest of us enjoyed our meals.

My delicious falafel and his not-as-delicious burger on a bacon waffle.

While at dinner, we asked what exactly Justin said leading up to "Will you marry me?", talked about our own engagement story, and discussed their wedding plans (which are already in full force). May 5, 2012 -- it'll be here before we know it!! :)

Happy, happy, happy.

And we're so happy for them!

We were back home by a little after 10:00, as Brett had a long day at work that would begin before the sun came up the next morning. He and I went to bed feeling so honored and blessed to have been present for the best night of Justin's and Amanda's lives (so far)! 

Tuesday while eating breakfast, Kaiser asked Uncle Justin and Aunt Amanda to tag along to music class later that morning. They couldn't resist that invitation. :) In over two years of taking Music Together, I've never pulled out my camera during class, so I was so glad that Amanda brought hers along and was able to snap a couple of action shots. We always have fun, but having additional family memebers there made it over-the-top fun for a certain almost 3-year-old!

He can be quite the performer when he wants to be!

Porter loves watching Miss Karen.

Freestyle dancing with Uncle Justin.

Aunt Amanda cuts in.

My perfect partner.

Workin' the scarves.

We had leftovers from the previous day's lunch and dinner in the fridge, so when class ended around noon we opted to go home to eat, then play before naptime.

Uh-oh, Uncle J-Bag busted out the chicken puppet!

Hi-larious.

Kaiser teaching Aunt Amanda "how to take a nap on da fwoor".

I had made and frozen a lasagna a couple of weeks prior, which I thawed and cooked for dinner, and we had a low-key night at the Braly casa.

More interested in being silly than in eating his lasagna.

Trying to give his input on our Redbox movie selection.

Kaiser asked our guests to read him a bedtime story...

Suckered into a second book! :)

After the boys went down, Brett and Justin ran out to rent Super 8 and grab some ice cream. It wasn't the best Steven Spielberg flick, but not the worst movie we've ever seen. 

While spending nearly week with Amanda in St. Louis, I learned that she is a huge breakfast lover. Thus, we felt compelled on Wednesday morning to share with her one of our favorite places, the Dor-Stop Restaurant. We don't go all that often, but chances are if you've come to see us here in Pittsburgh, we've taken you here. We went around 10:30, and fortunately Brett was able to meet up with us after some early education meetings but before afternoon clinic.

"Is it time for bwunch yet?"

About to dig in.

Banana oatmeal hot cakes -- my favorite.

Cranky Porter threw a fit, so Daddy showed him some new dance moves to keep him distracted.

After stuffing ourselves, we parted ways with Brett and headed down to Oakland to the Cathedral of Learning. Again, we've taken several of our out-of-town visitors here to tour the beautiful nationality classrooms, which already have up their Christmas decorations from around the world.

Porter was all about this educational opportunity.

Uncle Justin manning the stroller.

A few shots of the lovely decor.

Ready to learn!

It's a hard knock life.

Wondering where Baby Jesus is in this nativity.

Now there's the happy child I know and love!

Let's get serious.

Guess who Porter found?

Peering down on the city from the top of the Cathdral.

My bandaged boy.

"I think I can see our house from here!"

Later that afternoon, Brett (whose clinic finished early) and Justin went out to grab a beer together, while the girls stayed home with napping babes. I snuck out around 4:30 to go to a haircut appointment that I'd scheduled several weeks ago, and Amanda was nice enough to babysit for me. By the time I was home a little after 6:00, the guys were back and then headed out shortly thereafter to catch a hockey game. They were able to score pretty good tickets just three rows up from the ice. Unfortunately, the Penguins lost, but that didn't keep two not-hardcore fans like Brett and Justin from having a great time!

Thursday morning was a nice and lazy one. :) We all hung out in our pjs for hours, eating, playing, and watching the Thanksgiving Day parade. Around the 11 o'clock hour I got busy prepping the turkey to stick in the oven around noon. It was only my second time to make one, so I wasn't the most confident cook; however, armed with T-Pa's instructions, I jumped right in!

Examining the specimen.

Butter + herbs + onion + orange + apple + chicken broth.

We'll see what it looks like in about 4 hours!

Right around that time, the sun started shining, and Kaiser was begging to go outside. So, after the boys ate their lunch, we all spent some time playing in the backyard together. After three somewhat glum days, it was great to get some fresh air and vitamin D! 

All bundled up.

Getting a golf lesson from Daddy.

Strike a pose.

Several trips down the slide for this boy.

"1...2...3..."

Going down is almost as fun as climbing up! :)

Uncle J offering a few baseball tips.

Swing, Batta Batta Batta!

Such an adorable munchkin.

Moving on to his third sport.

We wrapped up outside a few minutes late for nap. Both boys went down easily, but apparently Porter was concerned about missing the football games that were on TV and woke up screaming after only an hour and a half. So, he got a bit of solo playtime and a mini photo shoot with Aunt Amanda before Big Brother joined the land of the living.

"Berkeley's bed ain't too shabby!"

Cranky turkey turned happy turkey.

Spotted Uncle Justin peeking out the back door.

Those blue eyes melt me.

The turkey ended up cooking a little faster than I'd anticipated, so I bumped up our dinner time from 5:30 to 5:00. Feast your eyes on the finished product:

Success! (Or, at least, not a total failure!)

Brett going Dexter on the bird.

Jokester pretending to cut himself.

These two supervised the carving process.

Hungry man waiting for his grub.

Before we sat down at the table (and the boys inevitably got messy) I wanted us to take an official Thanksgiving Day 2011 picture.

Test shot turned out super cute!

Best Pittsburgh Thanksgiving to date. :)

We dined on turkey, sweet potato and green bean casseroles, and rolls. Nothing fancy, and not a crazy amount of food, but everyone (except finicky Porter, of course) seemed to enjoy it! We held off for a while on eating the pumpkin cheesecake I'd made for dessert, and instead let our meal digest while we hung out in the living room.

"Lemme hep you pway dat song, Daddy."

Uncle J's legs were just beggin' to be climbed...

That evening Porter was really having a ball practicing his walking, which in turn provided ample entertainment for the adults. He's been toying with the idea for a couple of weeks now, and the farthest he's gone is 24 steps. What follows is far from his longest stretch, and you can't see his feet well, but it is the first video footage I was able to get of our baby moving upright completely on his own. Go, Porter, go!

After all that food and playtime, both kiddos didn't have any trouble falling asleep. Then we settled in to watch the Pittsburgh-set movie The Next Three Days, which Brett had picked up at the Redbox earlier that morning. Once we finished that, we put in The Dark Knight from our own collection. Brett and I didn't quite make it to the end before having to call it a night, and Justin and Amanda did the same right after the final scene.

Brett lucked out once again and had Friday off of work, so we all drove down to Oakland once again for our first trip to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. We walked through the wing dedicated to rocks and minerals, and saw some really pretty stones and gems and crystals and whatnot, but who are we kidding? Our primary purpose for the visit was to see these:

DINOSAURS!!!

"Woaw."

A tad spooked by this one?

Just hangin' with his uncle, aunt-to-be, and Stegosaurus.

Who knew looking at bones could be so much fun?

Making a fishy face to the creepy fish.

Mug shot with the triceratops.

Daddy and Porter checking out T-Rex.

My cavemen.

With the underwater creatures.

Playing paleontologist.

We stopped at a really cool area for kids that had tons of large plastic boxes with pictures of animals painted on the outside. When you opened them up, there were various items from/examples of said animal. For example:

"Dese shawk teef are shawp!"

Trying to take a bite out of Daddy with a coyote skull.

Checking out starfish with Mommy.

Unfortunately, our time was limited, and there was so much more left to explore when we left the museum, including a special exhibit especially for children called "M is for Museum". Brett and I are definitely considering a family membership! 

From there, we walked down Forbes to Schenley Plaza, where we stopped to eat at a new restaurant called The Porch. We took advantage of the beautiful day and dined outside on, well, the porch. It was a fantastic choice for lunch. We all thoroughly enjoyed our sandwiches and pizza and agreed that there were several items on the menu we'd like to try!

Nice view of the Cathedral of Learning from our table.

This stinker was tired and acting way high-maintenance.

The buddies were happy with their "Roasted Pig" selection.

Playing with Daddy after he'd finished his meal.

Our walk back to the car took us by Dippy the Dinosaur, so we stopped for a quick photo op.

Hard to get all three of them in the picture!

"Enough with the dinos. I want to go home!"

There's no place he'd rather be.

That afternoon while the boys rested, we all hung around, watched football, played on the computer, and some of us may or may not have fallen in and out of sleep. Come dinnertime, rather than go out again, we all attacked the fridge full of leftovers. Porter, who hadn't had a huge appetite on Thanksgiving, seemed to enjoy his food much more the following day.

Hard to believe it, but he did get quite a bit in his mouth.

Let's get this mess cleaned up!

Sadly, that night was our guests' last one, as they were leaving very early the next morning. We all had fun playing together in the living room before it was time for the boys to go to bed.

Driver taking a pit stop.

Showing off their impressive Lego creations.

"I think I'll just crawl right in here and take a look around."

"What? Is this against the rules?"

Lego bucket as hat = Laugh out loud funny.

Shooting baskets (and maybe trying to cheat a little bit).

Gosh, his nephew's going to miss him!

Uncle Justin and Aunt Amanda were kind enough to read Kaiser a bedtime story once again, then hugged and kissed the Braly boys goodnight/goodbye. We stayed up and watched Waiting for Guffman, and then the couple got packed up/cleaned up and ready for their 4:00am wake-up call (to catch a flight back to St. Louis at 6:00). 

Well, little did their tired selves know that their sleep would be cut short by 2 hours! Brett got called into surgery in the middle of the night and had to wake them at 2:00 so that they could get to the airport, as he knew that by the time he was out of the OR it would be too late. J & A were troopers and rallied to get out the door within 10 minutes. I know for a fact that they were exhausted by the time they made it back to Oklahoma City on Saturday night! 

Justin and Amanda -- 

We can't tell you what joy it's brought our family to spend nearly two weeks in your presence. We are already going through withdrawal! Thank you for not only choosing our home to spend your first Thanksgiving as a couple, but also allowing us to be a part of the blessed event of your engagement! What a privilege, and we praise God for bringing you two together. We also appreciate you lavishing so much love and attention on our boys; it's clear that they absolutely adore you (as do their mommy and daddy). We hope it comes before your big day in May, but regardless of the date, we will be anxiously awaiting our next chance to see you again. Lots of love, and you know that you are always welcome to take a getaway to the Burgh! (That is, at least for the next year and a half...)

XOXO, 

B, K, K, & P