Brandon Gilbert

Ryne Pulling up in Bed and Watching Your Baby can Read





Ryne Practicing for the Showcase Showdown on The Price is Right





Ryne’s First Meal feeding himself: Brown Rice, chicken, peas & carrots.





Ryne watching YBcR and dancing to “Head and Shoulders.”

We’re only two months from the big 0-1 and it’s unbelievable how much my little guy has grown since he was born. All the new stuff he does on a daily basis just amazes me. He learns new skills so quickly that I can’t even keep up. Here’s a list of new things going on with him:

1. 3 Teeth; Two bottom fronts and top left.
2. Pulling up on his own on objects other than Mom and Dad, though he doesn’t pull up in his crib.
3. He has two toy boxes in the living room. He has quickly graduated from not knowing how to get the toys out to pulling the box over to spill them out to now sitting by the box and pulling them out one at a time.
4. He’s walking like a champ holding onto Mommy or Daddy, but this past couple of weeks has been moving holding onto other things.
5. He’s been singing along with the radio, though without words…mostly humming.
6. He’s starting to get the hang of waving bye-bye.
7. He’s learning to clap and recognizes the word “clap” from our Your Baby can Read DVDs.
8. He has learned the “High Five” and enjoys it quite a bit….unless he’s in an ill mood.
9. He’s feeding himself well with finger foods and occasionally with a spoon.
10. He, unlike his father, apparently likes Mexican food, and had some chicken, refried beans, and guacamole from Las Maracas this past Sunday. He ate as much as his Mommy would give him, and since it was her idea, I made sure she was on Diaper Duty for the rest of the day.

It’s so funny how fast time goes by, and I know it will only continue to do so. I mean, he’s still in diapers, and I’m already hearing verses from ” Cat’s in the Cradle” in the back of my mind. I’m really excited for all his progress, but I’m struggling to keep up. He’s a lot more mobile and demands a lot more of my time, and so I haven’t updated this as much. I’ll try to be better about that. He also has entered into a phase full of tantrums…speaking of which…

Some of our friends know her as Jamie. Two people know her as Daughter. Two people know her as Daughter-in-Law. To regular readers of this blog, she is TheBrandNewMom. But to the most important person who calls her something, she is “Ma-muh.”

She is my wife, and pretty much the rock of our family, aside from Jesus of course. She’s humble, caring, and Freaking Gorgeous. I definitely out-kicked my coverage, if you know what I mean. She makes things better just by being around. There’s no debating it. TheBrandNewSon came into this world knowing that Ma-muh makes things better. When we’re alone sometimes and things don’t seem to be going his way…who does he want? That’s right…Ma-muh. Don’t get me wrong…he’ll say my name all day long and smile and laugh with me, but when something needs to be done or he doesn’t feel his best…he knows who to call for.

She makes things better for me as well. As I have nursed my bruised ego for these past 11 months, she has been there to help me pick it right back up. For someone who writes many words during the week, words still fail me to describe her awesomeness. She will think this is all unnecessary and untrue. She’ll probably get a little upset at me with such a Public Display of Affection. But, I can’t help it…I love this woman, and so does our son. And it’s because we have him that today is HER day. Happy Mother’s Day, Jamie. You’re the best…and thanks for sharing life with me.

P.S.  , b bf b[’\fgdfdzsddgjjjjhjygxdfvghuui ioio i (That’s Ryne’s way of saying he loves you too…he typed it himself!)

When I first signed up to review the book, Plan B: What do you do when God doesn’t show up the way you thought he would? I didn’t realize that I would actually be using the book to help review my own life. Never has a book captured my attention, convicted me, and caused me to change my line of thinking quite like Plan B. And that was all within the first 25 pages.

Combining personal stories with the Biblical stories of David, Joseph (of The Coat of Many Colors fame), Ruth, and Joshua, Pastor and Author Pete Wilson tells the story that is universal to all of us: We will all have a Plan B moment. That moment when our own plans don’t turn out the way we thought they should and we have to start over on those plans or start a completely new plan altogether.

Central to the theme of the book is that while we sometimes associate our own plans succeeding as being in God’s favor, that doesn’t mean that because our plans fail that God has abandoned us. This was especially relevant to me as I continue to travel through my own Plan B moment. I understand the temptation to think that God has abandoned me when things seem to always go wrong ,and have given into that temptation more than once.

Plan B has helped me tremendously to understand that while I may not know what God has in store for me, I can always remember that he IS with me. Everyday, many people begin their own Plan B moments. I highly recommend this book for them.

*Note: Thomas Nelson Publishers provided me with a free advanced copy of this book for review, however opinions expressed are mine entirely.

We’ve had some interesting weather in Nashville so far this year. First there was the “Snowpocalypse.” And now we’ve had “Splashville.” If nothing else, we Nashvillians can certainly come up with kitschy Catch Phrases. This flood is has been pretty bad, though. For a more serious post about the flood, check out It’s Not Just About Me. Here is some video we took of various stuff from around the North Side of town. ..including our own back yard.

This is of the one and only way for us to get out of our apartment complex:

This is of our Backyard:

This is below Old Hickory Dam:

Steps Leading to a Fishing Spot (Usually the fishing spot is 40-50 feet below this point. Also, I thought I was just taking snapshots, not video…so, sorry.

More video of Old Hickory Dam and Lock