Week In Review

This week was the first week I have worked all five days since before Christmas!!! We have all struggled with getting back into the swing of things.

Our week was pretty normal, but by Friday Brady told me, "No Work, Mommy. No Go".  I agreed, but headed to work anyway. I am so thankful for weekends!!!  Of course he was fine when I dropped him off at daycare yesterday and didn't even notice I left. That makes me not feel so guilty.

Last night we went to a free family movie night at the Elementary school where Caleb's mother teaches.  They showed Alpha and Omega in the gym. They had pizza, popcorn, and candy for sale or you could bring your own food. Brady loved watching the big movie and all the older kids. It was a fun, cheap family night.

The movie is about wolves. Caleb called it Lion King with wolves.  That is a pretty good description. Brady LOVED it. He keeps talking about it today. He has told me no less than 1,545 times since last night, "I dog, Aaaoooooh!!!"  There is a lot of howling in the movie!

Today the weather is finally nice (high 50's), so we may try to get outside a little after nap time.

Happy Weekend!!!!

2 year old check-up

Brady had his 2 year old check-up today.

I had planned on only working a half day this morning, but we had another snow storm last night. The roads were really, really icy this morning. Since I was only working until 12 anyway and I would have had to go in late, I decided I would just take the whole day off.

I think it is safe to say that Brady HATES going to the doctor.

He rarely gets sick, so we don't go that much. (Such a blessing!) It seems to really scare him when we do go for check-ups, though. Brady cried from the time they called his name until we were alone in the room. Whenever anyone entered, he would say, I have to potty while screaming. We went to potty once, but then I realized he was just trying to get out of his check up! Crazy Kid!



Brady and I before we left the exam room. I was trying to distract and calm him from his recent shots before he traumatized all the kids waiting in the waiting room.



Stats:

Weight: 29 lbs 11.5 oz- 70th percentile 

Height: 36 1/2 inches- 90th percentile

BMI: 15.7 (They didn't actually tell me his BMI. I calculated it on my own because I wanted to know and am a nerd like that. I calculate like 40 BMI's a day, it gets in your blood!) 

Developmentally he is right on track and maybe a little ahead in some things.

Here is the list of things the pediatrician expected him to be doing at 2 years:

•  saying about 20-50 words and making 2-3 word sentences- he says way more words than that and says a lot of sentences.
• using a fork and spoon to eat- does well with both
• climbing stairs and throwing a ball- Constantly both
• Likes to show independence, may say "no" often- Definitely nothing to worry about there.

It is always nice to leave the Dr. with a good report! I am so thankful for a sweet, healthy little boy!

Brady did have to get his finger stuck and one vaccine. Of course, he hated that as well. He kept telling the nurse, "all none"(done). He was really sweet to everyone as they were leaving our room and as we were leaving, though! They all had to laugh!

He loves his snow boots!!!

We ended up getting milkshakes on our way home for a treat. Brady said, "all betta" when I gave him his.

You can see his little finger all bandaged up. By the way, I ordered a kids shake and got this huge one. Brady didn't even drink 1/4 of it.

When we got home, he told Caleb, "Brady sick" and held up his finger. I am not sure he understood the whole doctor thing! Ha ha! The good thing is we don't have to go back until he is 3.

Waffle Night

 Every once and a while, we have waffles for supper.

It is one of our favorite nights!





notice those little fingers stealing blueberries off my plate.





Last night was one of those nights. There is just something fun and special about it.

Maybe its because for one night chocolate is not only acceptable, but encouraged as part of dinner!



Brady had already had a bath, so we opted to eat syrup smothered waffles before putting on pj's



Whatever the reason, it is a fun special treat!

We have several different toppings, usually stuff I happen to have on hand.



This time it was chocolate chips, blueberries, and bananas!

I cooked up some sausage and each waffle was made to order.

It is really easy, quick, and fun!

It gets us all out of the rut and monotony that week night dinner can become!

It also gets everyone involved in the preparation of dinner, not just  the eating it part!

I wish we all got this excited about dinner every night!

I would be mom/wife of the year! Ha Ha!!!

A little advertisement....

My awesome husband surprised me with a kindle e-reader for Christmas this year.

I just want to take a minute to express how much I LOVE this gift.

I casually mentioned that I might like to have one, but was not 100% sure I would love it.

When I opened it on Christmas morning, I was excited but still a little on the fence about it.

I am on the fence no longer.

I love it!

Essentially, it is like an ipod for books.

I have really gotten interested in reading over the past 3-4 years and with this little puppy, my ability to satisfy that interest has really been made possible. I am flying through my personal reading list.

(on a side note, any good reading suggestions would also be appreciated.)

In fact, I love it so much, Caleb has decided he wants one for himself as well.

 Or it could be that I never put mine down long enough for him to use it.

Here are few reasons I am loving it...

• convenience
• small, lightweight, fits in my purse
• so easy and quick to download new books
• all books are in one tiny space
• can read in the sun
• most kindle reads are cheaper than the book and some are free!!!
• Just bookmark it our turn it off and my place is saved. (Very important with a toddler running around)
• comfortably fits in my hands(I have small hands and sometimes books are awkward for me to hold and be comfortable. Does anyone else have that problem or is that just me?)

I feel like everyone who enjoys reading must get one!!!

I really do take it everywhere!!!

O.k. so that is my advertisement for the year.

Finally Friday!!!

It is finally Friday!

I love Fridays!

This one kicks off a long weekend. (I am off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday!)

Tonight, the only plans my boys and I have are getting in our comfy clothes, cuddling on the couch with our blanky, Buzz, Nemo, Marley, and woody buzz blanky, and eating pizza or paazza.

And because it is still super cold and snowy outside, we will rock our Elmo slippers as well!

Nights like this make me all warm and toasty inside!

Happy Friday!

We Love Snow!

We woke up to a snowy tundra this morning!!!

About 5 inches, which is a lot for us!!!

My work decided to close due to the inclement weather, which was great because I wasn't going anyway! Ha! Caleb's meetings were also cancelled so he stayed home with us, too! Yay!

We got out and played in the snow a little while this morning. Brady LOVED it! He kept saying, I playing in the snow! This is the first year he has understood about the snow and that you can play in it. So fun!!!

He cried and threw a major fit when we came in.  Fit and tears ended immediately after I fixed us all some hot chocolate and Caleb and Brady cuddled up on the couch to watch Toy Story!

Brady is obsessed with WoodyBuzz right now! 

It isn't suppose to warm up and we are expecting another inch or so tonight.  Meaning an encore snow day may be in order for tomorrow. We shall see.

 I am NOT a fan of driving in the snow! Actually, I hate it! So, when it comes to snow/ice, I stay home as much as possible.

I love days like this with my boys!!!

Happy Snow Day!!!

Life with a 2 year old...

*This post includes talk of pee pee, potty accidents, and other issues involving toddlers. If this in any way offends or bothers you, please stop reading now. Thank you!*

Last night, Caleb, Brady, and I bundled up to go grab some dinner.

We had a couple gift cards from Christmas so we decided to choose from those restaurants. We wanted to get home early, so we needed something quick.

 Our first choice was too crowded.

As we were turning around to go to the other restaurant, Brady mumbled something about pee pee.

We asked him if he needed to potty he said, no!

Caleb pulled into a parking spot, I got out to make sure he hadn't had an accident.

All was well, so we headed a few miles to the other restaurant.

When we got there, I asked Caleb to take Brady to the bathroom.

Caleb comes out after a little while and says, "uh we had an accident."

 "What kind of accident?"  

 "You know how sometimes he pee pees over the seat."

"Yeah"

"Well, he did and now it is on his pants."

Brady is sitting enjoying his sandwich at this point.

I had Caleb go get the extra pants out of the car and back to the bathroom they went.

We all proceeded to eat our meal.

Brady spilt his yogurt on him and the seat.

His sandwich contents ended up on his shirt, mouth, hands, table, and seat.

We used up every napkin in sight and Brady says louder than I prefer that he has to potty! Again! 

Off we go to the bathroom!

Brady runs into the men's room without me, because well he has already been there twice!

 I get him out of there and head to the ladies room.

As I am getting him on the potty, I realize he only has one shoe on.

I asked him about it, and he said it was out there.

I think/hope he means the table and not the men's room.

I clean him up and carry him back to the table, motioning for Caleb to look for the other shoe.

He finds it and starts laughing.

We decided to go home, before someone deemed us incompetent parents!!!

Life is starting to get interesting!

Brady's Room

Now that Christmas and birthday are over and everything is back to normal, I wanted to post about Brady's room now. He got so many nice things for Christmas and birthday!!!

This is the wall the door is on. The door is on the side of the grill not pictured.

His room is now toy mania! He loves it and tells us to come in there all the time. It is more like a play/toddler room than a nursery now.

 This is what you see from the hallway.

I realize it is a little excessive, but we did not purchase the majority of these toys. He really is so blessed to have so many people that want to shower him with gifts and love.

Eventually we will change the crib, but for now it is still the best option for him at night.

Brady's new table is in the corner of the living room. It actually works out nicely because it gives us a limit of toys allowed in there. The one basket on the table is all the toys we are going to keep in there. It is much less cluttered looking and feels cleaner.

I was a little worried about how we were going to find a home for all the new toys, but we managed!

A few Brady stories

This week has been extremely busy at work and has been really rough. I am so exhausted!!! I have really missed Brady this week. He is just sooo fun right now! He keeps me laughing all the time.

Here are a few of his fun stories...



I got Caleb this workout thing(he asked for it) for Christmas and Brady had to have a turn.

The other night he was playing with his train table and lined up all the trees. He pointed to the biggest tree and said, daddy tree, pointed to the other big tree, mommy tree, pointed to the little tree and said, Brady tree, and then pointed to the other smaller tree and said, Marley tree. We were like, yep, that's our family.

Last night I was talking to Caleb and Brady was trying to tell me something. I must have ignored him because he took my face and said,"Hush Mommy!" Then continued with his story. Oh my!

EVERY night after dinner, Brady gets down from the table moves the trash can away from the wall and asks if we want a snack or tea tea water(Sweet Tea). Then he gets down behind the trash can and makes some noises and hands us the snack or tea tea water he "made".

The other day we were playing with play dough. I made a square out of my play dough. Brady grabbed it, put his head on it, and pretended to snore. I asked him it was a pillow and he said, uh huh. Then asked him if he needed me to make a blanket, he said, "yes for my toes". I made a blanket. Then made a play dough man for the pillow and blanket. Brady said, Shhh hes sleeping! Then of course he picked him up and his arm fell off and Brady continued to demolish everything I had made.

Monday night, we were telling Brady he had to go back to daycare tomorrow. He replied, "Kellee's?"(that is his babysitters name). We said yes are you going to be a good boy. He said, "I bite, po po there".(Sophie, a girl at daycare who we have a history of biting.) I COULD NOT BELIEVE HE SAID THAT!!!! We of course discussed how we don't bite our friends and how we go to time out or get spankings if we bite. He finally agreed we don't bite po po, but it took a while!

 He keeps us on our toes! There are tons more stories, but I would be here all night!  He is so funny and talks all the time. I never know what he is going to say next! A little Scary!

New Year's Eve and New Years Day Recap!

We had a few friends over to bring in the new year.

Brady stayed with my parents since he is too little to stay up and it would have just made everyone miserable. I think he had a great time with my parents though! I am soooo thankful for two sets of grandparents that are willing and able to watch him for us some.

We had about 12 people plus two little ones. I decided to just do finger foods since it would be a long night and we could eat all night. We all ate, visited, and played the Wii. We had other games, but we all got new dancing games for Christmas and never stopped that long enough to play anything else. My sister brought the Michael Jackson dancing game and we ended up with both versions of Just Dance.



This was before the dance-off and the couch got moved.



This was mid dance off. Notice the couch is missing. I was sitting on it.



The little ones and their parents left around 10:30-11:00 pm and the rest of us ended up having a very intense boys vs. girls dance-off. We danced for nearly 4 hours non-stop. We took one 2 minute break to watch the ball drop and yell Happy New Year! It was so fun! I am not sure when the last time I laughed so hard was. None of us could believe we did it for so long.



The girls watching the ball drop. Ignore the disheveled hair of mine and t-shirt. We had all pulled our hair up(we took it down for the pic. Ha!) and changed to t-shirts at this point.



The boys. They were mad because they hadn't beaten us yet. I just noticed the clock says 12.

 In case you are wondering, the boys only beat us one time the whole night!!!

 The next day we had a birthday party to go to. So we picked up Brady and headed to the party. Little Grady's birthday is exactly one week and one day after Brady's! (Another reason we wanted him to stay with the grandparents)

His mom made this cute Tractor cake.

They got this bouncy thing for Christmas and all the kids LOVED it. It is not huge but big enough for the kids to play in and small enough to keep in their garage. Brady had a blast!!

 I guess the party was a success because Brady ate 2 hot dogs, a piece of cake, and crashed as soon as we got in the car. Crazy Boy!

I am off today, so Brady and I have just played and stayed in our pj's all day. Tomorrow starts back to regular life. I have enjoyed this holiday season so much. I am sad to see it go, but I know we will all benefit from getting back to normal.

Welcome 2011

Happy New Year!

I am not one much for new year's resolutions and such, but I always want each year to be better than the last.

Of course, I want the usual things like to get healthier, save more money, pray more, worry less, etc etc. I really do want those "cliche" things for our daily lives and each year ahead.

But, I also have some big plans for 2011. I feel like some of the events of 2010 have been preparing us for a better 2011. We have been blessed so much this year in so many unexpected ways. Our lives are different today, than they were a year ago. Our goals and plans as a family have changed. Our relationship as a family has grown and developed. Our relationship as a family with God has grown and developed.

My prayer is for 2011 to be a year we see some of our plans and goals through. And through the year, our family will grow and improve in all aspects.  

The one thing I know for sure, whatever comes our way in 2011 good, bad, or ugly, we will serve and praise God through it all.

Hope everyone had a wonderful New Year's Eve and has even better 2011!!!