first steps

I can't believe it. Yesterday Nyla took what I would officially call her first steps. By no means is she walking, but it's the first steps! It happened at Mrs. Work's house, where Nyla goes to the babysitter. She was in the middle of the room with nothing near her to pull up on for support. So she just stood up on her own and toddled about 3 steps over to Mrs. Work!

I have to admit I'm a little jealous that I didn't get to witness it myself. I feel like I missed out even though I know she'll probably do the exact same thing again for me very soon. Hopefully now that she knows she can do it, she'll try more often.

So since she's about 14 1/2 months old now, then maybe by 16 months she'll really be walking? Hope so since that's kind of getting on the outskirts of "normal"! In any case, I know she can do it and Tyler and I are ready when she is.

seven weeks

Life in the Breeden household has gotten a little busy this fall. As I've already told some people, there is only 1 weekend out of 7 weeks that we'll all be home together. This all started with the Garrett Staff Retreat in Eureka Springs, AR on September 17-19. Now this weekend Tyler went antelope hunting with a friend in Sharon Springs, KS. This coming week he'll be going to Denver for a bank meeting, then Nyla and I will be joining him a couple days later for her surgery (cyst removal). Next weekend Tyler will be off to Kansas City with his dad and a friend for the Nascar races. Next, October 10-13 I will be in Anaheim, CA for a financial planning conference. After that will be the one weekend where we are all home (hopefully). Then we'll be meeting some college friends in Manhattan, KS for a K-State football game. And the last couple things on the calendar for now are the So You Think You Can Dance tour in Kansas City on November 1st and Tyler deer hunting the following week at my parents'/grandparents' place.

By no means am I complaining. At least half of this stuff we chose to put on the calendar and it's fun stuff to look forward to. Would just be nice if we spread it out a little, ya know?!

family photos

We wanted to get family pictures taken after Nyla turned 1 year old so on September 9th, we, along with our photgrapher, headed north of Quinter about 20 miles to where Tyler hunts deer. It's a beautiful place with an old farmstead, lots of trees and a natural spring. These are my favorite pictures taken.

Here are a few additional ones that were taken that day...

eureka springs or bust

The Garrett Planning Network (the company I work for) full-time staff decided to have a Staff Retreat in Eureka Springs, Arkansas where our head hauncho, Sheryl Garrett, lives. She has lived there about a year now and we've all been looking forward to visiting her.

Sheryl rented a lake house for the rest of the staff and our families. It had an awesome view!

I'd say the highlight of the trip must have been the kayaking.

As we were taking this picture, Nyla's shoe fell off in the water!

So Tyler and Travis splashed the water from one side of the dock and Andrea got to be the official hero that pulled it out of the water from the other side of the dock.

It's funny what things Nyla is and isn't so sure about, but she was sure about wanting to touch the fish!

Eureka Springs is a beautiful place and the trip provided some great staff bonding time!

garden of the west

Over the last few months, I have gotten several great pictures of Western Kansas scenery. Maybe there is something out here besides rattlesnakes, cacti and sand after all!

These first two pictures were taken in the front yard at Tyler's family's farm. They are the same, but different. I can't decide which one I like better.

The next two pictures were taken about 20 miles north of Quinter, where Tyler hunts deer.

These last two were also taken north of Quinter. It was a very green summer for out here.

relying on faith in the storm

"'Because he loves me,' says the Lord, 'I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.'"
Psalm 91:14 (NIV)

Our football coach and friend, Greg Woolf, is more rock solid in his faith than most anyone we have ever met. A very nice story was published in the Hays Daily News yesterday, featuring Greg and a small town -  good ole Quinter, KS - and the faith dwelling in those who live here. Click here to read the story.

crazy eyes

Crazy eyes is a definite exaggeration, but Nyla visited a pediatric ophthalmologist in Denver on Friday and we have a couple of diagnoses. The first is that she has a dermoid cyst that we'll be getting removed on October 1st. It's at the tip of her right eyebrow, near her temple. This type of cyst forms before birth and is basically harmless and Nyla's isn't that noticeable, but if it gets bumped, it could rupture and that would be a problem.

Here's a close-up of the cyst.

The other diagnosis is that Nyla has intermittent exotropia, a form of strabismus. In other words, she has a very mild case of walleye, the opposite of crossed eyes. This isn't very noticeable either and shouldn't affect her vision, but if it gets worse, she may need eye muscle surgery when she gets older. For now, we are going to put a patch on the stronger eye for an hour a day to give the weaker eye a workout. This may or may not help, but in any case, this issue is not a major concern right now.

Here she is sporting one of her girly patches. This was shortly after I put it on so she was still kind of crabby about it.