Making It Through

This week, some type of illness hit our family...in a wave.

After we got home from the library on Wednesday, and ate lunch, I noticed that Brady felt a little hot. Sure enough, he had a 101.4 temperature! He also had symptoms of the "common cold" - runny nose, his mouth hurt (I think that he had a sore throat) and he was tired looking. The fever lasted for two whole days (Wed-Thurs). Now, he still has a little bit of a runny nose and an occasional cough. Thank you Lord for You healing!

The cold hit me on Thursday. I was not surprised. Brady has been snuggling with me (how could I say no!) and giving me lots of hugs and kisses. It was inevitable that I would get hit with the cold also - although I was praying that I wouldn't get it! Anyway, I went to bed at 9pm on Thursday evening - which was early for me!

That evening was eventful though -
*9:15pm - Smiles cried out at - not sure what the problem was
*10:30ish - Smiles cries out again - he pooped. Thankfully, Dawson took care of him...the cold had gone to my head and there was not way that I was going to get out of bed...and Dawson did not ask me to! He is so great!
*2am, we hear a a big thump and crying/screaming. Brady had fallen out of bed! Somehow, he managed to get over the guardrail!!! Thankfully, he was fine, just a little shaken up. He must have had his butt in the air, sleeping on his belly and rolled over - that is just a guess. I have no idea how he would have managed to fall out otherwise! All was quiet until...
* 6:15 - I hear Smiles waking up. He was fine in his crib until about 6:45 - when I went in to nurse him

So, that was Thursday night. Can I just say that I was ready to call in sick on Friday! However, since that does not work for a SAHM, I decided that we would keep the day low key. I was still not feeling well - just well enough to take care of the kids. So, we watched videos for most of the day, ate food and took naps - I really did not get a really good one. Dawson came home a little early, and I gave the kids to him and crawled into bed.

Do you know what was so cute? Brady came upstairs, just to be with Mommy. He sat and laid on the bed with me. He just kind of hung out with me while I was resting. I remember doing that with my mom - it was cute.

Today, I am feeling a lot better - just a cough and stuffy nose...however, Dawson is coming down with this! So, please keep us in your prayers!

Squealing With Delight!

It has been so interesting for me to see, through my sons' lives, what it is like to be the firstborn and then the second born. I was the second born (and youngest) and I always had an older sister to play with and talk to. I was actually very sad when my sister went away to college! The first born only has mommy and daddy (which is just fine!) to interact with all of the time. But a second born (or thereafter) has an older sibling to connect with - and their connection is different. I am not sure how to explain it, but if you have more than one child, you have probably experience how they interact.

I LOVE to see how excited he is when Brady walks into his room when he is waking up from a nap - he laughs, and his arms start flapping - it is so cute! A smile instantly appears on my face! Another fun moment is when Smiles and I go into Brady's room to get him after his afternoon nap - yes, he waits in bed for me to come and get him! I can feel Smiles' anticipation as he is leaning towards the door, waiting for me to open it. Then when we enter the room, he smiles, laughs, kicks his legs, waves his arms, etc! It is so sweet! Brady also gets excited and hugs Smiles and plays with him and makes him laugh more.

It has been fun to watch Smiles enter this knew phase of his life...he squeals with laughter and delight...and I love it! It is so cute to hear and to experience. He gets so excited, that a squeal of laughter is the best way that he is able to express himself.

Do you know what I love the most about this laughter and delight? I can already see the loving relationship that is forming between them, that I continue to pray for. I pray that their relationship will be so strong, that they will not just be brothers, but also friends. My desire is that they can experience a friendship with each other, like I have with my sister. She had always been there for me, she will always be there for me - that is what I desire for my boys.

I love my two little boys! They are so sweet and bring joy into my life. I am so thankful that the Lord placed Brady and Smiles into my life!

Saving a Few Bucks at Giant

If you live near a Giant Food Store and want to save a few bucks this week, check out this post that I wrote on the Created and Called blog!

What Has Been on My Mind...

Smiles' News:

Early Sunday morning (like 3 am!) - "who is crying?...oh, it's Smiles...why is he awake? Hunny, Can you check on him? Good, he settled down."

Later Sunday afternoon - it hit me...I think that Smiles is teething! He is 8 months and does not have any teeth yet...let me feel his gums...c'mon, Smiles, let Mommy feel your gums...after "wrestling" a little with him - I feel a little bump on his bottom gums...yea, he is probably teething.

Brady's News:

Pull-ups are bought. The little potties are in place - now, I just need to get Brady to understand what he is supposed to do on the potty...I have no clue what I am doing! So, I have been praying and asking the Lord for help...what would be a good incentive for Brady. He really likes the Lightning McQueen Pull-ups...but stickers? M&M's? a Toy? I am not sure what will work for him with this potty training thing...do, God, please download this to me!

Other things on the mind:

I need to do some more cooking

I need to clean

I need to do some laundry

I need to go on a date...yea, that is scheduled from this Saturday! Woo Hoo!!! I am going on a date with my Hunny! We have not done this for a L-O-N-G time. What are we going to do? I have no idea at the moment, but I know that cooking, cleaning and laundry will not be a choice!

What did you do on your last date?

Fun in the Kitchen

I really enjoy cooking and baking. It is fun to find new recipes to try out and to enjoy the final product. Having young children has definitely made it more difficult to find the time to spend in the kitchen - I still make dinner (and breakfast and lunch), but it is not always as creative as I would like it to be...but it is still good!

Anyway, on Sunday I was able to spend a few hours in the kitchen - Dawson spent time with the kids...and my mother in law came over to weed for me! I am so blessed!

What did I make? Nothing spectacular, but I used what I had in the fridge and on the counters so that my ingredients would not go bad! The fruits of my labor included: baked ziti, zucchini au gratin, sliced green, red, and purple peppers for fajitas, prepped eggplant to fry up and make into eggplant parmesan, apple sauce - for us and Smiles, and I pureed plums/prunes for Smiles - he loves it and since they had fresh ones at the orchard we went to, I figured that it would be cheaper for me to make some for him! Today, I also added pureed nectarines to Smile's baby food!

It was fun and I was happy to see that those fruits and veggies would not be neglected any longer, but they were made into some yummy meals! I need to get back into the kitchen tomorrow and make a few more things. I have a whole chicken to bake, pears to make into something, a peach Kuchen that wants to be made and probably many more things to come! We will see what tomorrow holds...beside our trip to the library! Brady was so excited that we were going to the library again, that he kept asking if we could go tonight! It was definitely a test of patience for him...I am so excited that he enjoys reading!

I Can't Wait!

I have been trying to think of more creative activities that I could do with my 2 and 1/2 year old, Brady. Sometimes I feel like I am not really sure what is his age level or really what to do, but recently, I have realized that there are so many things that I can do with him that are art related. We color, draw and occasionally play with play dough, but I have not done a whole lot more than that, in the art category. A few months ago, we bought fingerpaints as a birthday present for Abram. I decided to get the Color Wonder ones for him so that his Mommy would not have to worry about a mess - she had enough to think about with a newborn! So, I was thinking that I would get the same ones for Brady.

On Sunday, I went to Michael's with my 50% off coupon! Before I went into the store, I began to think about what I was going to buy and a thought and picture came into my mind. I could envision my son fingerpainting with the real "messy" kind of fingerpaints - and he was having a blast and giggling! Excitement started to well up inside of me...but I was also thinking about the mess that fingerpainting can make...so, I was wrestling with what choice I should make. I mentioned it to Dawson and he told me to do whatever I thought would be "right" - or something like that. I knew that whatever I bought would be fine - Brady would have fun...I just had to decide what I wanted to do.

Brady and I went into Michael's and I found the non-messy fingerpaints and picked them up, but as I looked at them in my hand, I felt that this was not what I was supposed to buy - I felt that I was supposed to buy the "messy" fingerpaints - so, I put the Color Wonder ones back and picked up a four pack of paint. You know what happened next? A huge smile came onto my face and excitement welled up inside of me.

I am really looking forward to using these fingerpaints with Brady and making some really cool pictures! WE are going to have a lot of fun using these TOGETHER! :) We have not had a chance to do anything with them yet, but we will soon - YAY!

When I was thinking about this today, I remembered back to my college days...I was a biology major and I had many, many labs experiments that I had to complete. While in the laboratory, it is important to measure things correctly and to keep your area clean and neat - no messes (on purpose!). During my sophomore year of college, I took a pottery class as my art elective - not an "easy" elective - in fact I probably was in the pottery lab, throwing pottery, about 20+ hours a week - and I enjoyed a lot more than organic chemistry! In fact, I loved it! If I had more time in my schedule, I probably would have taken Pottery II - in fact the instructor encouraged me to do so - I thought that was a little funny, considering I was a Biology major!

Do you know what I loved about this class/lab? While I was working in this lab, I got REALLY messy - in fact, I had a special outfit that I kept in my art locker that I only wore while working with the pottery...it had clay all over it! The cool thing about it was that I was ALLOWED to get messy! I LOVED it - it was almost like a "freeing" thing.

This is the same excitement that is welling up in me as I look forward to the fingerpainting. It is okay to get messy. It will wash off - and it will be done outside, in a place that I will not mind cleaning up. So, now I will find an old couple of dress shirts from Dawson to use as our smocks and it will be time for Brady and I to create! :)

What Do You See?

Brady sees an elephant, horse and dog in this paint splatter (it is the inside cover of a book). He told us this without us even asking him...I sense some artistic talent - which makes sense considering that his Daddy, Grammie and Great Nanny are all artistic - I have some in me too, just not completely fine tuned!

I can see an elephant, horse's head, fish, person's face, a cat, a cartoon type of martian, and another face.

What do you see?

Movin' and a Groovin'

"Why is he still awake? He is supposed to be taking his nap!"

Those were my thoughts this afternoon after I had put Smiles down for this second nap. He was not really crying, per se, but he was making noise - and this was going on for about 20ish minutes, which is not normal for him. So, I decided to go in and check on him...

What did I find?

Smiles was on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth! He has done that a few times on the floor, but his belly was completely off of the ground! Amazing! I am not sure if he was sort of "stuck" - because he had done a 90 degree turn and looked like he was about to hit his head into the rail of the crib while he was rocking. So, I checked his diaper, made sure there was not gas in his belly and layed him back in his crib...that was the last that I heard of him until he woke up!

It is so much fun to watch Smiles grow and develop. He is definitely becoming more mobile and I am realizing that I have to look around again and be sure that there are not too many things around that he could get into! While on the floor, he is rolling around more, moving around in a circle on his belly and while sitting up, he will lean forward so that he falls over (onto his face - I think that he has learned how to do it so that it does not hurt too much!), and he is also beginning to pull himself up! I feel like all of this happened in the last two weeks - well, at least an increase in everything! He is so adorable, I love him and I am enjoying watching him enjoy his new found freedom!

Our New-To-Us Car

Here is a photo of our new-to-us car...thanks to my friend, Krazy Klingers, for asking me to post one! :)

I just have to say that I am really enjoying driving our Toyota Sienna - although it is so huge compared to our KIA! I enjoy all of the room that we have and it is fun to pick up other people to join us on our little adventures!

Today, for our weekly library trip, Grammie and Barber came along with us. We live within a mile or two of each other that it is easy for me to pick them up - we are so thankful that we all live in the same town! I could not have fit both of them in our KIA - maybe the Intrepid...but that was no longer an option since last October! My sister would have come too, but she had a meeting to go to...maybe next time! Barber was so cute when he got into the van (it was his first time in it) - he thought that it was so cool that he got to sit in the very back of the van!

I am so thankful for this van - it may not be the most fuel efficient (compared to the KIA), but it is a great family car!

Brady and The Butterfly

Brady enjoys being outside - running around, carrying around sticks, looking at ants, crickets or whatever insect is around to look at, blowing and chasing bubbles, playing at playgrounds, etc.

Yesterday, my parents were over eating lunch with us outside on our new-to-us picnic table. Brady was all done eating and asked if he could be play - so, we let him run around while we finished eating.

We noticed that he we chasing a butterfly. As we were commenting on how cute it was, we suddenly see that he has a long stick in his hand and he starts to whack his stick at the butterfly! We started to crack up...I guess boys will be boys! (And don't worry, the butterfly was not hurt at all!)

One of Brady's Favorite Things

You know what I said to get Brady upstairs quickly?

I just told him "Smiles and Mommy are going up to read library books before nap, and if you want to join us, you can come up too."

Guess who came upstairs immediately? Oh yeah, Brady was there in "two point two" (as Dawson likes to say).

Brady LOVES books and he LOVES the library - he loves ABC carpet, the books, and the table that he can sit at and read his books. We spent a little longer at the library this week because Grammie came with us and entertained Smiles a little bit while Brady and I picked out books to read.

I love our weekly outing! We checked out 5 books for Brady this time, and I don't think that I will ever go over that limit because we usually read all five books when we sit down to read them - and that is about 2-3 times a day! :)

In the morning, can you guess what Brady does as soon as he gets out of bed? He goes over the the library bag in his room, and takes out a book to read!

I LOVE the fact that my son LOVES books and LOVES to be read to and he likes to "read" the books to me and with me. Sometimes when I read a book, I will pause and let him fill in the words to the story - it is fun when we read together.

Smiles is also enjoying books too - he has been actually looking at the pages and not just putting the book in his mouth...although that still does happen too!