The Name Game

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a name!  I was starting to stress that this baby boy would be known as "the one who shall not be named" for awhile, seriously.  Brad and I had a very hard time choosing a name.  We had very strong requirements and it was difficult finding all these characteristics for 1 name:
1.) German origin (Brad and I have a lot of German heritage)
2.) Good meaning
3.) Name that has a nickname
4.) Strong name when he becomes a man
5.) A name we BOTH agree on!  :)

When we chose Avery, it was the only name Brad and I agreed on.  For some reason I think it is easier to name a girl.  We had already chosen a name for this new Brucker if he had been a she.  This time around, we agreed on several boy names that we liked at first, then the list dwendled away.  Finally the only name that fit into place was picked!  Then came the spelling debate.  Good Lord, I was ready to name this boy!  We had a 4 week discussion over how to spell this name, what was most masculine, etc.  If you want the whole story of what and why we debated, email or call me,  it's too much to explain in detail on my blog!



And the winner is....

BODE RAY BRUCKER

Bode: pronounced "Boh-dee"
Ray: my dad's middle name.
Meaning: Messenger
Nickname: Bo

We are so excited to share the news with our family and friends.  I am excited I can now start ordering monogrammed items.  :)  Hope you all love it as much as we do and if you don't, we don't care!  Ha!

ROAK Day 10: Chick-fil-A

December 10, 2011
As Avery and I were running around doing some last minute shopping we decided to stop and grab some lunch at Chick-fil-A.

Yum!  (Only we miss their sweet potato fries!)  As lunch on us was on our list, we decided to check it off.

HELLO! :)

Hope she had a great day!

ROAK Day 9: Take Art Supplies/Activities to Families Waiting in Labor & Delivery

December 9, 2011

Our good friends, the Tuckers, had a beautiful baby boy, Jacob Allen, and when we went to meet this new member of their family we dropped off some supplies for kids waiting with their families on the Labor/Delivery floor of Mercy Hospital.  Our family will be up there in a few months so what better way to show our appreciation than to leave for others.  We left coloring books, crayons, books, toys and puzzles. 

Shot of the table with some of the items we left

ROAK Day 8: Writing a Special Note

December 8, 2011
Brad and I decided to individually write a special note to Avery reflecting on 2011.  How time flies by and we look up and our baby is now 11 years old.  Brad and I will be writing to our children every year from now on to reflect upon how much they grew that year.  We also wrote a note to our new baby boy, though he is not here yet, we felt an urge to write him and let him know how excited we are to meet him in March!  (No pictures since we want these notes to be theirs and theirs only.  What they decide to do with them is up to them, not us.)

ROAK Day 7: Leaving a Treat for our Mailman

December 7, 2011
Today we decided to leave a special Christmas treat for our mailman.  How often are our mailmen/women appreciated?  Not as often as they should be!  Thanks for delivering our daily mail, even though we do get the occasional piece of mail for the street behind us,  we gladly walk it to our neighbor.

ROAK Day 6: Cleaning out the Closets

December 6, 2011

We all 3 cleaned out our closets when we got home from work on Monday.  I had to clean mine out as I am running out of space for maternity clothes/winter clothes.  Avery went through her closet and pulled everything that she had outgrown or knew she would no longer wear.  Brad did the same.  The next day he dropped the clothes off downtown at a homeless shelter.  I hope the clothes will be of good use to someone in need.  Like our Lord who was born in a manger on Christmas day because there was no room in the inn.  May the homeless find room in a dry, warm place this Advent season.  

Fun night with my girl

Avery and I had a fun night together this week as Brad finished up a construction project for a gal in our church who owns a downtown yoga studio.  We had fun shopping, eating, getting Starbuck's and then heading to see the Chesapeake Christmas Lights!  Glad I had my camera!

ROAK Day 5: Pay a Bill for a Family in Need

December 5, 2011
We called our church and asked if there was anyone in our church who needed a bill paid, etc.  I spoke to Pastor Mike and he told me a story of a family in our church who needed their electric bill paid.  Their electricity had been cut off the night before and they have a 5 year old boy.  The dad had been out of work for some time now, and they could not pay it.  How easy it is to take for granted that our family can pay our monthly bills and on time.  I told Mike we would love to help and asked how much the total bill was.  $167.00.  Under $200 and a family would have electricity in a time of celebration and joy.  Of course we'd help.  We dropped a check off that evening at our church for that family.  I pray that this father can find a job to provide for his family.  I am so thankful my husband has many skills and could get a job if needed.  Thank you Lord for providing all we need and more this Advent Season.

Oh Christmas Tree

We have so much fun every year heading out to a local Christmas tree farm not too far from our home.  SHOP LOCAL!  They have beautiful trees to choose from.  You can even cut your own if you decide on a pine.  I love the fir trees, so we always buy a pre-cut one.  :)  We got a huge tree this year, 9.5 feet tall!  We had fun playing in the tree farm and made a great memory.

Picking the perfect tree...

The workers loading our tree

Avery hiding from Brad

Brad and Avery playing chase

Let the decorating begin

All decked out, now I've got to wrap some presents!

ROAK Day 4: Paying Toll Fees

December 4, 2011
We thought this would be a rewarding ROAK because really, who likes digging for change?  I know that before I had a PikePass I always was digging to find those quarters, dimes and nickels and it's a pain!  Hope the cars behind me enjoyed the toll.

Martha Crocker, wha?

So being that I cannot train for triathlon outdoors, my doc won't let me, I have been stuck inside lately.  Since the planning of our gender reveal party, (Gender reveal pics to come) I have been in crazy craft lady mode.  Seriously.  I cannot begin to tell you the number of times I've been to Hob Lob and Michael's in the course of the past couple of weeks.  Most of it is Pinterest's fault, I'll admit, but secretly I love it, that website is like crack. Follow me on Pinterest here: http://pinterest.com/motherbrucker/  Pinterest has me baking and trying new things.  Brad is excited I am in the kitchen again because he normally takes the chef role in our family.  He cooks, I clean.  Fair trade.  For him not to be doing the cooking is a nice break.  I always forget to take pictures of food, I like to dig in and forget!  Check out all these fun wreaths I've been crafting!

ROAK Day 3: Balloon delivery at Children's Hospital

December 3, 2011
On Saturday, we headed to Party Bazaar and picked up a few cheery balloons for sick kids at Children's Hospital.

As we made our way through CH with no idea where to go, we bumped into a very nice gentleman who lead us to a department where we could leave our balloons.

He took us through the ER and Avery had a sadness overcome her spirit.  We discussed how blessed we were that we have never had to spend time in a hospital with her.  I was overwhelmed with joy as we left the balloons with a very nice receptionist.

I really hope that the children that received these balloons had a little bit of happiness brought to their day.  We loved doing this as a family.  We plan on going back closer to Christmas and visiting the children with cancer.

ROAK Day 2: Barnes & Noble Gift Cards

December 2, 2011

Friday evening our family decided to hit up Barnes & Noble to participate in our second day of our random acts of kindness.  Our family loves to read, so this ROAK was a no brainer.  It was so much fun sneaking around B&N trying to stay out of vision of others as to not give away our secret.  We grabbed 2 best sellers and headed to the back of the store.  We decided to go with Steve Jobs' book 

and A Diary of Wimpy Kid - Cabin Fever.   We purchased gift cards and wrote a personalized note on a Charlie Brown Happiness Is... notepad.  We wrote, Happiness is...finding a gift card in a new book!  Merry Christmas!  Avery had fun picking out which book she wanted to put a gc in.  We set the books back on the best sellers shelf and headed out the door...

Terrible picture, we both look tired!

Christmas Wishes - 25 Random Acts of Kindness

Our family has decided to bless others we do not know by doing random acts of kindness (RAOK) each day leading up to Christmas.  We sat down as a family and began our list after our pastor's sermon on Sunday.  Jon spoke in detail about something that had never occurred to me.  Actively waiting for His next arrival.  We too often let ourselves get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holdiay season and become passive waiters, which is easy to do with our full calendars this time of year.  We never take the time to actively wait.  This advent season I am dedicated to actively wait!

ROAK Day 1: Starbucks

December 1, 2011

I had to do day 1 by myself since it was a workday, but how rewarding it was!  Paying $2.11 for a cup of coffee seems like nothing, but you never know how that may have changed that person's day.  Maybe when they left the house they had an argument with a spouse or child, maybe the holiday season is a reminder of memories wished unawakened or maybe just one of those random Thursdays where nothing is going right.  As I read my daily scripture today, I pray for this woman who was behind me in the Starbucks line.  May You guide her through this holiday season with Your presence.