We had Brody's pool themed party on Saturday and it turned out well. We got a jumper for the kids, though I think that the adults had more fun in it. We had good food, good weather, and great company. Here are some pics from Brody's day.
My baby is turning one this weekend and I can not believe it. I thought I would post this early since it is going to be crazy in the next few days. Brody is my little love bug. He has been walking pretty well for over a month now and he is all over the place and into everything. Noah was not quite so mischievous. Brody however, is the poster child for childproofing.
Here is a pic of my little baby... who can get mad at that face?
We just love him to pieces and feel so blessed to have him.
The boys play in a little wade pool in our front yard to escape the heat. They love it!
We had a great day at the beach. We went to Carpinteria the day after the 4th and it was crowded, but still tons of fun. The water was nice and the the weather was perfect. I really wished we lived closer. Noah had fun playing in the sand, he wasn't too fond of the water, I think it was the waves crashing in. Brody however, loved the water. He also loved the sand, eating it that is. Yummy!
Noah ran in to my room the other day and proudly and loudly said, "Tah Dah!" I looked up and saw the mess he had made on himself with markers. Then I walked out into the living room and saw the other mess he had made on my new rug. YIKES! He was very proud of his artwork, I however, was not. Thank God for washable markers!
You can imagine my relief. Noah is officially potty trained! In retrospect, it wasn't so bad, considering that he is not quite two and a half. He proudly wears his Diego underwear and has not had any accidents lately. The last few days, he finally told us that he needs to go poop. Actually, he tells us he need to go pee, doesn't go, and then does this two or three times in a matter of five minutes. Finally, when he can't hold it anymore, he says, I have to go poop, and you can definitely tell that he is serious. So off we go, running to the bathroon. He loves to flush the toilet and say goodbye to his business. He gets his high fives, and a gummi candy if he goes poop, which he loves. We are just so happy for him...and for us.
Well... Brody is 9 months old and FINALLY crawling. He is going everywhere and is into everything. He finds the grossest things and of course they always end up in his mouth. I love when they reach this stage independence.
Noah is almost 2 1/2 and we are working on potty training. JOY! Why is it so difficult? He had gone through some ups and downs. For a bit he was going #2 in the toilet everyday and going pee if we sat him on the toilet for awhile. Then, he rebelled and absolutely refused to go potty. He would run off and hide somewhere and go in his diaper. Today was a great day and we are hoping and praying that it has finally clicked. We put undies on him and told him that he needed to keep them dry. We just kept asking him if he was still dry or if he needed to go potty. Whenever he was about to pee, he would grab his crotch and whine. We would run him to his potty seat and sit him down. Everytime, he went pee. We were so excited and he was very proud of himself. We are crossing our fingers for tomorrow.
(Ciara, if you get a chance to read this, we are trying to keep you posted so that you aren't completely out of the loop. Noah still remembers you and still calls you Ra Ra. We love you and miss you!)
Brody loves taking baths and I thought that he looked especially cute in my kitchen sink.
My parents came to have dinner with us Saturday night and like always, they came bearing gifts. This time however, one present officially made Noah a 4 wheeler and Brody one very excited shotgun passenger. I always wanted one of these when I was little.
We visited the California Poppy Reserve to check out the flowers and it was beautiful. There wasn't a ton of poppies out yet, but there was enough to make the hills bright orange. We enjoyed walking the trails for a little while despite that lovely Antelope Valley wind.
We spent Easter at the Griffiths and my parents were able to join us. We ate lots of food which included: Ribs, Hot Links, green bean casserole, Del Monaco potatoes, salad with pears and gorgonzola cheese, croissants, fruit, deviled eggs, artichokes, rasberry chipotle/cream cheese dip, Coconut cake, pecan pie, and ice cream. You can definitely assume that we were stuffed and needing to go on diets the following day. We had an Easter Egg Hunt for the boys, which was fun this year since Noah actually understood what to do. But all the adults had just as much fun assisting all the little ones. It was a great day with perfect California weather.
This is what happens when you are not working, stuck in Tehachapi, and it is snowing outside. Russ is gonna kill me for this one, but I think that it's so worth the laughs. :)
I love these jammies! They are one piece, with silly football player faces all over, and they are tight. His little body looked so cute running around in them. :)
Anna's big sis Lana has hit me with my first TAG...so here it goes...
What I was doing 10 years ago:
I was in my senior year of high school getting ready to graduate. I had no idea where I was going to college...AV High was just fabulous in preparing it's seniors for going to college. My counselor told me to just go to a junior college and figure it out from there... she was not helpful at all.
5 things on my to do list today:
1)Go to (or try) my nephew, Caleb's, baseball game today.
2)Go to a Baby Shower/BBQ for a friend who just had a baby boy.
3)Go buy a pair of jeans. I am tired of constantly pulling my pants up. My skinny jeans still don't fit me and my after- pregnancy jeans are too big. It is quite annoying. I really need to just lose 25 pounds and I won't have to buy dumb in- between jeans.
4)Look at vacuums. We need a good one for carpets and wood floors. The one I really want, the Oreck, is almost $800 bucks. Too much for right now.
5)Meet with my parents for dinner, they really want to see the boys. My mom goes into Noah-Brody withdrawals if it has been over week that she has seen them last.
Snacks I enjoy:
Fruit, dried mangoes, cheeze-its, yogurt w/granola, m&m's (peanut pr peanut butter kind), jamba juice, an iced blended coffee drink
Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Hmmmm... have college funds for my kids, give to the church (build a new building), buy my dream house, invest, start a business, oh!buy a bigger car and a new truck for Russ, pay off everything, pay for my sister's college debt (she graduated from Stanford and just got accepted to USC dentistry school which is 100,000 a year!), pay off all my family's debt,...I'm a billionaire right!
3 bad habits:
Not making my bed right away (I used to be so good about it, I guess having kids changes this), eating what my hubby eats (I would probably be skinnier if I quit it), ummm...waiting until the last minute to gas up my car, or I wait for Russ to do it
5 places I have lived:
Yokuska,Japan; Great Lakes,Illinois; San Diego,CA; Lancaster,CA; Tehachapi, CA
5 jobs I have had:
Babysitter, Assistant Teacher, Substitute Teacher, Sales Associate, Bookkeeper
5 people I want to know more about(a nice way of saying TAG!):
Dani, Anna, Ciara, hmmm...Jenna, and Val
I have always wanted to paint a wall with chalkboard paint. I stole the idea from Pottery Barn kids. The boys' closet came in the usual, ugly standard white. I thought this would be the perfect place to try it out. Well, we love it! It looks good and is a ton of fun. Now I want to paint everything chalkboard. The pantry door, a spot next to the fridge, the boys' desk...now it's convincing the hubby.
Russell's parents threw us a Housewarming party which turned out to be a lot of fun. It was fun to get together with some friends and family in our new place. On top of that, we were blessed with a few things we needed. We got a really nice rice cooker, dish towels, wall decor, gift cards, money, and our boys got a swingset from my parents. The adults had fun putting it together and the kids loved playing on it.
Now that we live in Tehachapi, we have gotten to experience our share of snow. Though I do not like being cold, I do enjoy the snow. Noah had fun making his first snowman with his dad. We also had tons of fun sledding!
Our little Brody is such a joy! We have been so busy with the move and so many other things that I have not gotten the chance to boast and brag about the newest addition to our family. Brody is very different from his big bro Noah. He was the sweetest baby, up until the colic that is. Thank God that it did not last long! Now that he is back to his sweet self, we enjoy seeing his personality bloom each day. He smiles often, but is much more serious than Noah. He is much more difficult to make laugh. The only person who can get him to crack up is his big bro. He has the cutest bubble butt! We like to call him "Big Booty Bro." His Papa calls him "Bright Eyes," which fits him perfectly. His eye color is really dark brown, yet they seem to sparkle. He says Mama and Dada among other babbly noises. He depises tummy time. He can sit up with and play with his toys and watch his brother play. He adores Noah. He loves to eat and is good at it. Unlike noah, he loves his veggies, he even prefers them over fruit. His hair is really fine and sticks straight up. I try to plaster it down with baby lotion, but within a few minutes, it is back in the air. He is a wiggle worm. You try to hold him and he tries to wiggle out of your arms, as if he can get down and walk or something.
We just love him to pieces and thank God for blessing us with another wonderful little boy.
