Our 200th Posting!

Our first posting was in December of 2007. Here we are almost three years and 200 postings later! So much has changed. We have grown from a couple into a family of four. What an awesome journey it has been so far. We can't wait to have more adventures and share them through our words and pictures.

Fall Weather + A Walking 13 Month Old = Fun At The Park



Wood + Dirt + Grass = Letting Boys Be Boys





What happened when I told B he couldn't eat the wood chips....don't worry, he cheered up quick.


One of the lights of my life!

The joys of boys!

My favorite part of any day is hanging out with the kiddos. It really doesn't matter how tired I am or what kind of day I have had, everything is right in the world once I am home with my boys. Luckily, most of my days are really good, but there is nothing like coming home to family when you are tired and need to smile.

James usually wakes up between 6am - 6:15am on weekdays. We have had to do a little tinkering to our morning routine, but it's nice to spend extra time with him. Brendan is usually still snoozing when we go in to get him ready for school. James loves to run in yelling "Good Morning Baby". We've been working on waking Brendan up without yelling, but to be honest, he does not really seem to mind. We get a smile from him right away which is so typical of B.

We load up in the car after everyone one is dressed and groomed with all the gear we need. We drive to work chatting and pointing out things to Brendan. We point out every stop sign, stop light and school bus. We count every bull dozer and I act as though I have never seen anything so amazing. We talk about how the sun rises in the east and how the sunrise looks like cotton candy. It is a special time that I really treasure. I drop the boys off at school and get their breakfast all ready so they can eat. Then I am off to work a few blocks away from their school.

I pick the boys up as soon as I can after work, sometimes even before 4pm.It makes our early mornings SOOO worth it! They are both loving their new school and are learning and lot and doing so many neat things. Once we get home we play and then James helps me cook dinner while standing on his stool. His favorite thing to make is breakfast for dinner...scrambled eggs, waffles and fruit. I can still manage to sneak sweet potatoes into the waffles but James is starting to look suspicious. Brendan sits in his high chair and just laughs and laughs at us. After they eat, we play in the playroom again. It has been so hot. We are all ready for fall weather so we can play outside again and resume our evening walks. Watching them play is lots of fun, especially when they start playing together or playing with me. Brendan will toddle over to me and hand me something and say "Look". I can't enough of him! James wants me to tickle him and I pretend to smell his little feet and Brendan will collapse in my lap doing his belly laugh to get some snuggles. Oh yes, these are the joys of boys!

We wrap up their day with a dunk in the tub. Sometimes I think it would be easier to hose them off in the yard! Bath time is so messy these days with water splish sploshing everywhere. I should just wear a wet suit. After bath time, we put on jammies and cozy up with books and music and singing and prayers. I love the feel of these little bodies melting into me at the end of the day. James likes to sing to B, usually the ABC song or Twinkle Twinkle or Itsy Bitsy Spider. I cannot believe the love these boys already have for each other. There is not a single day that goes by that I don't stop dead in my tracks and have this amazing revelation that these are MY beautiful boys! Somehow the feeling of awe and wonder of them never grows old. I will thanks to the Lord for these two miracles for the rest of my life and it will never be enough to express how I feel and how blessed I am to be called Mommy.

James and Brendan are both growing like weeds. Some times I catch a glimpse of them where I see a little peek of what they will look like when they are all grown up. It seems like every morning when James wakes up and comes to find me, he is taller. Brendan is walking more and more and will cheer himself on saying "Go B! Go B!". I have never seen something so precious. Oh yes, these are the days! These precious fleeting days!

We are busy little bees!

Over the last month, Brendan turned one, James had his tonsils and adenoids out, Brendan got his first hair cut and "graduated" from Early Childhood Intervention after making lots of progress with his motor skills and we started potty training James. James' recovery from surgery was pretty tough for about 11 days, but he is feeling so wonderful. It was like they operated on his personality because he is no longer "high maintenance". I think the poor kid was sick so much that he was just a perpetual grouch. We are so glad we opted for surgery.....it is amazing what a difference it has made in everything for him, from his mood to his sleeping to his temperature level. It has been amazing! Brendan also started taking first steps. Watching him cruise along the furniture and then timidly step away and try walking is precious. He is so ready to be independent! What happened to my cuddle bug? He is ready to explore everything. We are at that stage where he is in to everything and he is dodging disaster minute by minute. He is constantly almost shutting his finger in drawers and almost hitting his head on tables. I must gasp about 20 times a day because I think he is about to knock himself out somehow. He is no longer content to sit on my hip while I go about my housework. He wiggles to get down instead and investigate. If only he would listen when I whisper in his ear that I think he should just stay little. The boys also started a new school and they seem to like it a lot. I am very happy that it was an easy transition for them.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the last 4 weeks. Life is a happy blur of fun moments, most revolving around the joys of parenthood. These are our ordinary but wonderful days. I wish they could last forever. Our house is in constant commotion and you can always hear the sound of a kiddo...usually laughter, or a little voice or babble. More and more we are having to referee the boys as they learn to share toys, etc. It is pretty much only quiet at nap time and bedtime. James had turned into an utter chatterbox and is so inquisitive. I am LOVING our conversations. He is also hilarious. Of course he is at his funniest when he is being utterly serious with his big brown eyes looking right into mine. Here are some of his funny comments as of late:

Mommy: Be gentle. James: No, Mommy, I'll be James.

Mommy: Would you like some fruit? James: Well, of course! (said like, DUH MOM!)

Mommy: Are you excited to be a spider for Halloween? James: No, siders (no p) scare me. They have 8 arms. I will be a pumpkin with Bendan (no r).

James: (to me) Cheesecake pooped on the ground! (to Cheesecake) Way to go Cheesecake! I am proud of you. Next time tell Mommy you have to go and poop in the toilet.

He also has started looking at characters' expressions in books or movies and then he makes the expression and tells me how the character feels. It is priceless. I am hoping to get in on video because it cracks me up. He does a great imitation of the Evil Queen from Snow White.

Brendan's sense of humor is emerging too. He has this throaty, scratchy little laugh that makes me giggle so much. I love the sound of it and will spend the rest of my life doing whatever it takes to hear that sound. These kids of mine are PURE JOY! My heart is so happy. I love being their mom and all the memories we are making.

Extra Extra, Read All About It! Brendan Turns 1!

Brendan turned one year old on August 5th. Can you believe it? Our little baby is growing up! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRENDAN! My, how big you are getting and how you light up the room when you smile with your precious grin and little teeth! Your giggle is infectious and you just make every moment a little better and a little brighter.

I have not blogged in quite a while. I started back to work and we are back to the daily grind. Oh how I miss you days of summer! But no matter how busy and hectic our daily lives become, I am going to do my best to periodically update the blog. This will be a particularly long blog because I have a lot to catch up on about Brendan's birthday. So let me start at the beginning...

On Brendan's actual birthday, my dad was staying with us to help me take care of the kids. James had his tonsils and adenoids out on August 4th and it involved about a 10 day recovery where James was really not feeling well. He is all better now thankfully (more on that in a later post). My dad made Brendan a peach pie for the family tradition of each person getting a homemade pie on their birthday. Brendan spent the day playing and getting spoiled!

On August 10th I took Brendan for his 1 year well child check up. It went well. Our pediatrician relocated so it was our first time meeting the new pedi. I really liked her, although Brendan did NOT like when she had to look in his ears. He was pretty mad! That is a new side we are seeing of our sweet B. I think everyone who has met Brendan pretty much agrees what he could go down in history as one of the happiest and easiest babies of all time. In the past couple of weeks, he is still our happy, easy guy most of the time but we are starting to see him showing us his opinion on things and speaking up when things are not going his way. He has added a few more words to his vocabulary and we are getting lots and lots of babbling. When he gets mad he has a special noise to show us his displeasure. He has also figured out how to be loud, and I mean LOUD! At the doctor, he measured 29.5 inches long and 20.5 lb. He is meeting most of his milestones on time. Brendan was recently diagnosed with a motor delay (fine and gross motor skills) and we have been working with Early Childhood Intervention. He is 2 -3 months delayed with motor skills but it looks as though it will not be long before he is caught up. He is doing really well in the cognitive, language and social/emotional areas of development. He is making awesome progress already and might get to exit the program soon!

Here's a quick list of B's favorite things at 12 months:
Foods- toast, pears, chicken nuggets, strawberries
Songs - Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Yesterday by the Beatles (I sing it to him every night before bed)
Books - in that phase of being a total squirmer at book time, but seems to like Jamberry and The Nose Book
Toys - nerf balls, Winnie The Pooh Train, the ball popper, the diner, bath toys
Things To Do - taking a bath, snuggling with momma, cruising along the furniture, playing with our doggie, dancing to music

The last year has been so wonderful. B was the missing piece to our puzzle and I can honestly say that I barely remember life without him in it. Now it seems normal to have my hands full, a kiddo on each side on my lap, two slippery wiggle worms in the tub every night, and two heads on my shoulder when it is time to snuggle. It fills my heart up every day. Who knew you could love so much? So happy first birthday Brendan! I am so glad I am your mommy! Thank you for bringing me so much joy these past 12 months. My heart smiles every time I think of you. Watching you grow and explore each day makes me so happy and I cannot wait for all the amazing memories we are going to make together. The world is such a better place because you are in it Brendan. :-)

Up next....Party Time!

We celebrated Brendan's first birthday at his safari bash on August 14th here at our house. We had a big turn out and it was wonderful party. It was so nice seeing everyone and hearing all the laughter in the house. I certainly loved James' first birthday party too, but this first birthday was so different. We had a house full of kids here! I once read that mothers should never feel guilty about not having the same amount of time to spend with their second born children because they are born into the magical world of childhood instead of into a world of adults like firstborns. This is so true. James's first birthday was nearly all adults and Brendan's had 10 children and their families and their parents plus godparents too, and Nana and Granddaddy!

I think all the kiddos (and Mommies and Daddies) had a really fun time at the party - at least it looked like they did. I love parties and planning B's was great. I loved doing something special for him. We decorated with lots of balloons, crepe paper and party goodies, hired an entertainer and tried to think of every last detail from the safari themed food, handmade invitations and safari hats and favors for every child. The birthday boy looked snazzy in his custom outfit I ordered on Etsy. He looked SO stinkin' cute! Brendan's favorite part of the party had to be eating his smash cake. It was pure heaven for him! We let him eat it for about 15 minutes and he was covered in blue icing. I loved watching him try to figure out how to eat the cake. At first he tried to pick it up but it was to big, then he tried to put his little face down into it, but he couldn't reach. Finally, he figured out how to pull off pieces of it and taste it. This boy loves cake! And his first taste of cake was delicious thanks to Kara Clayton! She made it to match the plates and decorations we picked out. She makes some yummy cakes! It was so tasty and completely gorgeous. The party entertainer, Dena, from Silly Shindigs was second to none. She tailored her entertainment to the toddler crowd and our safari theme and boy oh boy did the kids love it! They were totally engaged and James is STILL talking about her two weeks later. I know we will be using Dena again in the future. Bravo Silly Shindigs! Last but not least, my buddy Nell from Cowtown Camera Girl, took pictures of us. You can see a cute collage if you visit her blog (you can click on her blog over on the right). I always love seeing Nell, and it was extra nice this time because she brought her own little cutie along. He was a safari animal expert! :-) All of the little ones were so well behaved and things flowed smoothly. Watching the kids interact with each other, play, eat a "picnic" on the dining room floor and open Brendan's presents for him (each opened and showed B what they brought while he was finishing his smash cake) were each special memories I will always treasure from that day. Brendan received some really fun and thoughtful birthday gifts including a ride on train, a new monogrammed back pack, some great books, several toys including a musical instrument set and $1,000 for his college fund. Thank you to our family and friends who came to the party to celebrate with B! You made the day one we will never forget. One of my favorite things is to have my house full of the people I love, and all of us together in honor of our one year old sweetheart, well, what a great day!

We are on to the next stage now! I can't wait! What an exciting ride this is! We love your Brendan! Happy Birthday!

Here are some pictures from the party....more to come once I can figure out how to upload the rest to Blogger. :-)

Catching Up After a Busy July

Summer is slipping by, but I refuse to give up on it until I wake up and have to go to work. I will squeeze out EVERY SINGLE LAST SECOND OF SUMMER and love it. I haven't blogged very much because I have been so busy this last month, but I was motivated to catch up after visiting the awesome blogs of some friends. I am kind of copying one of them here, by catching up on everything we have been doing lately. So, here goes nothing!

July in Review:
We started out the month celebrating the 4th of July with my wonderful parents. I already posted pictures of that, so I won't do that again.

Right when we got home, Daniel's brothers Andrew and Kevin came to visit. How I loved seeing those goofballs! Hanging out with them was really nice, now that we are all grown up. I was blown away talking to Kevin because he is all grown up now. When I think of him, I still envision the 10 year old version of him, not the 21 year old man he has become. We had a good time hanging out, although James was in rare form. Turns out he had strep AGAIN (more to come on that later). He always gets crazy when he gets strep. Here are a couple of pictures of the boys with their fabulous uncles!





In between Daniel's brothers coming to visit and our trip to New Braunfels, we just enjoyed some great family time. We checked things off our summer fun list. I watched as my Summer Project List grew longer and felt only moderately guilty and moderately panicked that barely anything was crossed off.







We wrapped up July with a trip to New Braunfels where we stayed with my parents in a condo and celebrated my dad's 59th birthday. We visited Gruene, went swimming, hung out at Landa Park and took James to Schlitterbahn. The boys got cookies from the oldest bakery in Texas and we ate big home cooked family meals together. All and all, it was a great trip. Brendan loved his time in the pool. He kicked his little legs and really tried to swim. He looked so cute in his tiny little suit in his float. Daniel and I took James to Schlitterbahn (HUGE Waterpark!) and had SO MUCH FUN! He was in heaven! He played and played and played and was so good. He was precious in his tube going round the lazy river. It brought back memories of when I was a kid and we used to go there. I am so excited for next summer when Brendan can go too! I wasn't brave enough to take my camera around all that water, so you will just have to imagine how handsome my guys were! Now we're back home and I am getting everything unpacked and looking at what things I still have to get done before school starts back up. James is having his tonsils and adenoids out next week and my little love bug B will be turning one next Thursday! It just keeps getting busier and busier around here! Updates on James' surgery and Brendan's birthday to come.