The story of the missing camera

Most of you know that I lost our camera. I've been really upset with myself over it. And I couldn't, for the life of me, remember anything about the last time I had seen it. Only vague details of packing it in the diaper bag to take it somewhere with the boys. (which turned out to be wrong anyways) Monday night I finally did a thorough search of the van to make sure it wasn't hiding somewhere. (I'd been avoiding this because I really didn't think it was there, and it made it seem more real that it was gone. I know, it's not logical. I know.) I told myself I would do this same kind of search of the Subaru in the next day or so to verify it wasn't in there either. BUT! Yesterday, before I got a chance to do more than plan my search, Alex called to tell me he had found the camera!!! I was so super excited. He'd randomly opened the center console in the Subaru and there it was! (We obviously don't use the center console often.) Neither of us could even guess how it got there. (I'm in the Subaru these days about as often as we use the center console.) There was not even a little whisper of a vague memory of putting it in there. Then Alex got home and I turned the camera on to make sure it still worked. These were the only three pictures on the camera-




Can you guess where we had the camera last?.............. The Seahawks game!! I had taken it but then I didn't want to take it into the stadium, so, I left it in the car. Out of the eyesight of any potential thieves. And the camera owners. Apparently the phrase "out of sight, out of mind" is really, really true. At least in my case.

Best job ever.

Being a mom has got to be one of the most challenging and most rewarding things I have ever done. I have heard this said probably a million different times and a million different ways, but not one makes it less true. It astounds me. I can go from being beyond frustrated at Brady for not obeying, for being able to tell me exactly what he should be doing and promptly doing the exact opposite to beyond full of warm fuzzies when he pulls out something like "I hope you have a great time in the shower mommy". Geez. What a rollercoaster.
I am just so thankful that God starts us off with sweet little babies that we can snuggle and love, that love us so much, despite how often we mess up. Can you imagine if he started us off with teenagers? Yikes.
I am even more thankful that God is my strength and I don't have to try to do this parenting thing on my own. Even though I get distracted and try. Because I fail. So hard. Yet, God is there with forgiveness. With strength, patience and that knock-your-socks-off kind of love that can only come from him. For me, and for him to give my kids through me. Wow.

Long time, no post

Well, I have been failing pretty miserably in keeping this blog updated over the last few months. We've been busy with life. Here are a few of the highlights:

Kellen is now almost 11 months old. I cannot believe it. His being super tiny doesn't help it feel all that real. He had his 9 month check up and was in the 1st percentile for his weight, the 11th percentile for his length and (drum roll please) the 65th percentile for his head circumfrence. Gotta love my big-headed boys! :) Kellen is walking so much more now and he's been using signs more and more to communicate with us. It's great. He knows the signs for eat, more, milk and sleep and sometimes all done. He isn't too consistent on the last one.
Brady has been trying to earn the privilege of sleeping on the top bunk of his bunkbed. He has a chart and gets a sticker to put on his chart whenever he does a good job of obeying and staying in bed at naptime or bedtime. It's not going so well. He's really excited about the reward, and the idea of earning his stickers. Something just isn't translating to him actually staying in bed on a consistent basis. Oh well.
As Kellen is getting bigger, he and Brady are starting to play more together. I managed to capture a rare moment of spontaneous sharing.


We've been having fun doing some fall type activities lately. Krista and I took Brady, Kellen and Bentley to an apple cider mill with some of the other moms in the community. It was pretty fun, but I was disappointed we didn't get to see how they made the cider. We got to see some animals though and even feed some goats!






We also had fun playing in the leaves recently. I've discovered we had a scary leaf monster lurking in our pile of leaves. :)


I'll probably be blogging again soon. I'm very excited to show off our halloween costumes. :)

Future stunt double?

Or maybe a competitor in the X-games? Who knows what this crazy kid will end up doing. This is one of his latest ways his come up with to entertain himself. (Ever notice how with Brady you can interchange the phrase "entertain himself" with "injure himself" and it still is applicable?)

Busy, busy!

Wow! So much has been happening. Brady turned three, Kellen is eight months, Whitney got married. Phew, I'm exhausted. Luckily, Alex has this week off for vacation and we get to go to Heron Island this coming weekend. Yay!
Brady's birthday party was a lot of wet, crazy fun. He was so excited to have so many friends over and be able to be playing in the water outside. He still talks about his "happy party". I was surprised none of the kids seemed too interested in the slip 'n' slide. Brady warmed up to it after seeing some of us grown-ups using it two days in a row. He let Drew push him down on his belly and then it was all over. He was hooked. After Brady's birthday part, we got to go to the Rainier's game with Nick and Renee. I was very happy to have the opportunity to experience the amazing seats Alex had described myself. I was not disappointed! It was pretty freakin' sweet, even though we had to leave early.
Kellen is as cute as ever. Alex and I are really enjoying how cuddly he is since Brady was SO not into snuggling as a baby. Kellen loves giving wet, sloppy kisses which frequently transform into him eating your face. He is also quite good at blowing raspberries. Including the kind on our bare shoulders or legs. He's made some pretty impressive farting noises that way. Such skill. And at such a young age. I'm so proud! (sniff, sniff)
This last week was full of Whitney's wedding activities and wedding. It was such a blast! A flurry of activities, laughing hysterically and LOTS of dancing. I loved her friends from college and it's sad that all the festivities are over and I probably won't see them again. :( The wedding itself was so beautiful and I feel so privileged to have been a part of it. Ah, man. I'm getting all emotional again. Well, here are some pictures from the recent happenings in our lives.

It's already July?! Dang!

I can't believe how fast the summer is flying by! I know time flies by when you have kids, but I think God pushes the extra-super-fast foward button in the summertime.
Kellen is now 7 months old. He's getting cuter everyday, in my humble opinion. He has been giving psuedo kisses. It's very sweet. And wet. ha ha He's now using a combo of "real" crawling up on his hands and knees and his patented army-crawl-wiggle-worm move to get around. And he is still pulling up on everything and getting better at sitting himself down on his butt instead of falling on his head. That's always good.
We're planning Brady's 3rd birthday party. It's craziness! So, I was talking to Brady about his birthday party and trying to get his input on what kind of party he wanted to have. After a lot of "happy birthday" answers, he replied with "brown birthday party". I still haven't figured out what that means exactly, but it was pretty amusing. He also got to experience his first fireworks this year. Previous years, there has been NO way we were keeping him up that late. He loved them! I'm pretty sure he thinks we should have fireworks every day of the year.

Fun weekend

This last weekend was a very nice treat. My mom and step-dad came down for a visit and stayed the whole weekend. It was great to be able to visit for more than just a couple of hours. They came down in their fancy new motorhome. It's really quite impressive. Brady had a blast playing in the "motor bus" and having Grandma and Grandpa's attention. Kellen thought it was great to have some new people to spit up on. hee hee Then to top that off, they watched the kiddos on Saturday night so that Alex and I could go out for date night with the Websters. It was a blast! We went to Bargain World (a thrift store) and shopped for outfits for each other. We each had a budget of $10 and found some pretty spiffy stuff. And then, when we went to the register to get rung up, we found out everything was half off that day! Nice little perk, if I do say so myself. We donned our awesome attire and then went around Tacoma taking pictures. It was super sweet. The pictures turned out AMAZING thanks to Lindsay's skills. We posted some of the pictures on facebook and one of my favorite comments was from a friend saying she'd pictured us having a lovely dinner and civilized conversation. Ha ha! This is MUCH more my style!

Baseball adventure

The following is a blog entry by the one and only Alex Macheras. Enjoy.

Last week, my friend Nick asked if we wanted to go to the Tacoma Rainiers game at Cheney Stadium. Brady and I took him up on the offer. Since it was a Thursday night, Kathy was out (she hosts So You Think You Can Dance parties at our house that night). Brady was super excited for the days leading up to the game and I was also very excited about taking Brady to his first baseball game, although a bit skeptical about how Brady would do in that environment. Brady is a very active boy, and likes to be mobile, not to mention the game started just a little bit before his normal bedtime. I told Nick beforehand I had no idea if we would last two innings or the whole game. We met Nick and his friend and headed over to the will call to pick up the tickets he was given for the game. At this point, he mentions he got these tickets from the parents of a kid he tutors, who, oh by the way, happen to have the last name Cheney and are the same family that the stadium is named after! Not only did they give him tickets to the game, they gave him their box seats for the game, which were like the best seats in the house! It couldn’t have worked out any better for Brady's first game. Brady and I had like six seats in the first row (right on the field next to the Rainiers’ dugout) for him to be able to run around in and almost not be in others’ way. There were a few ladies in the box seats next to us that were very gracious with Brady as he continued to invade their space. These seats were super awesome for me as well, because it was fun being so close to the players. A couple times I was able to hear players come back from their at bat and talk to other players about how the pitcher was throwing certain pitches, etc. We also had a few memorable moments from the game. Brady’s favorite part of the experience was seeing the mascots. Between one inning the mascots were running around throwing frisbee’s into the stands. The nice lady next to us spoke up as the mascot was throwing them to have them throw Brady a Frisbee. The mascot ended up throwing it to her, who in turn gave it to Brady. Brady was excited to get a Frisbee.

Jamie Burke (catcher for the Rainiers/Mariners) wasn’t playing in the game but he was sitting on the dugout steps which happened to be directly in front of us. Brady was taking a drink from our water bottle when the bottle slipped out of his hands and splashed as it hit the ground at his feet. Not a big deal EXCEPT it also happened to splash Jamie Burke! He turned around and looked trying to figure out what exactly happened. I said sorry to him and he went back to watching the game. (side note: Jamie Burke was called up the Mariners a few days later and in that game he hit a two run home run to lead the M’s to a win that night. So, if any other Rainiers are reading and want my son to spill water on them, let me know! ) One of Brady’s favorite spots was standing up on the footrest at the fence to the field so he would put his head over and look at who knows what (field? Into the dugout?). I had a number of players tell me they were worried he would get hit with a foul ball. Little did they know I think my son’s head is made of whatever that stuff Wolverine is made out of! In case CPS is reading this blog, I had my baseball glove on and was ready to catch any foul ball coming our way. Brady doesn’t have his own glove yet, but I brought Kathy’s glove for him to wear, which he did for short periods. The other memorable moment I didn’t even really see. It was between innings and Brady was in his favorite spot looking over the barrier while I was looking back talking to Nick. Next thing I know, Brady turns around and has a baseball in his mitt! I have no idea who in the dugout gave him the ball, but thanks to whoever it was! Brady was super excited to get the ball. A little too excited as I had to chase him around a bit and get the ball before he threw it on the field or at someone who wasn’t ready for it.

All in all, we lasted 5 ½ innings, not too shabby for his first game if I say so myself. At that point, he said he was ready to go home. So, he came away with a Frisbee and a baseball, had the best seats in the house, interacted with players, and had room to run around and play near our seats. I don’t think Nick thought I was having much fun (or just felt bad because I wasn’t able to watch the game much) since I spent most of my time redirecting and watching Brady, but Nick, if you are reading this, I had so much fun! Really! I also had to convince my friend Leif later on when recounting this story, that despite me not being able to pay attention much to the baseball game as I would have liked, that I did have fun as well.

Anyway, thanks to the Rainiers and Nick for making the experience a special one!

This and that

So, I figured it's about time for an update of sorts. Kellen is now six months old. Six months! He had his six month check up on Friday and he's doing well. He weighs 15 lbs. now and is 2'1.4" long. He's in the 10th percentile for weight, 15th for length and 66th for head circumference. That's my big-headed little man! Why do my children have such large noggins? I have two theories. One, they are extremely intelligent and need lots of room for their gigantic brains. Two, God saw fit to give me more reasons to quote So I Married an Axe Murderer. "I'm not kidding, it's like an orange on a toothpick." Also in regards to the doctor's appt.- I have to continue to just ride this whole wonderful spitting up thing out. And Kellen is now on drops for his eye because the culture came back with some sort of bacteria, so hopefully that will help it clear up in the next few days. In other Kellen news- he tried squash for the first time yesterday and seems to have his brother's affinity for food. I hate to be comparing them constantly, but they are so similar sometimes!
Brady has been doing really well lately. He's getting so vocal, speaking in full sentences and we have really been enjoying getting a little bit more of a glimpse of what goes on inside that head of his. I really need to do better at writing down the funny things he says or capturing them on video. It's just so hard to recreate his cuteness! He has been using the potty more and more and has even been running up to me on his own, exclaiming "Pee pee in potty!" and then actually goes when he gets to the toilet. I never knew I could be so excited about anything relating to a toilet. He has also been doing a much better job at staying in his bed at nap/bed time and he no longer needs the gates up to keep him in his room! Woo hoo! I've included some recent pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Kellen can sit up now!

They look nothing alike, I know.

Brady being his normal silly self.

Freakin' insane

So. Kellen is in the first stages of crawling. Yep. He's 5 1/2 months old. Oh my. Here's a video to prove I'm not exaggerating.

A little somethin' somethin'

There hasn't been much in the way of excitement happening around here, but I figured I should write a little to keep y'all informed. :) Kellen is getting so big! He's a very busy little boy. He loves being on the floor to roll around and explore. I'd give him a lot more free range if he didn't spit up so much!! So, for now, I try to keep him confined to a blanket. He also can now sit up in his exersaucer by himself (w/ no blanket for support) and he digs his jumpy seat. He's not so good at the whole sitting up business, but I think a big part of that is he won't sit still long enough!!
Brady continues to be hugely entertaining, incredibly sweet and an incredibly huge test to my patience, usually in the same day, sometimes in the same hour. I really need to do better at writing down more of the things he says/does. His latest obsession is his friend Alli. She is nudging Noah over to share the top "obsession" spot. If we're going anywhere, it's "Alli house?". He talks about wanting Alli to feel better (she was sick, like, three weeks ago) every few days. And when you are talking to him, he'll randomly throw her name into the conversation if you ask him a question. Even just this morning, Krista asked him what he wanted to play and his response was "Alli. Alli toys." It's pretty funny. I love that he is starting to show concern for other people- his friends when they get sick and when I bump something and make noise or say "ow", he quickly asks "Mommy okay?". What a sweet boy.
I'll leave you with an amusing story. I went in awhile back to check on Brady before turning in for the night and while I was picking something up, he shifted in his sleep. Right off of his bed. Into the position you see in the picture below. I couldn't believe he didn't wake up. I'm just glad I thought to grab the camera.

Crazy sleeping boy

Enjoying some brother bonding time

Jam session

Here is a little video gem for your enjoyment. Don't ask me what the turning around and banging on the fridge thing is all about. Musical genius? Maybe. Now if I could have just gotten a video of Kellen playing the piano with his head....

Mmm....food.

Here is the promised video of Kellen enjoying his first rice cereal. (at least I think I said that in my last post) I tried to edit it a little for you as it's not that exciting. I love Brady's shout out to Alli. He may be a little obsessed. I guess he got his mom's stalker gene. hee hee

Time flies

Wow. I can't believe it's already been two weeks since I've posted anything on here. I guess I'm not doing a good job keeping y'all in the loop. We haven't been insanely busy here or anything, but there have been some noteworthy happenings. Kellen and I went away for the weekend a while back with some of the other ladies in our community. It was really fun, even if I did return home a little sleep deprived. (one of the other babies had a rough time of it at night) On Sunday we went to one of the tulip fields and enjoyed walking around and taking in all the flowers. That is, until I discovered Kellen had decided to end the experience with a big bang. He had the most disgusting blow-out diaper. Mind you, I was wearing him in the Baby Bjorn. I had put my hand down on his foot and felt something wet. I thought he had spit up again, but oh no! I looked down and saw lovely, yellow baby poop. We all booked it back to the car. He had it down his front, out the sides and completely up his back, thoroughly saturating his onesie. Let me tell you, changing a poopie kid in the backseat of a car while he's trying to squirm away from you is SO much fun! Then I had to change my shirt (thank goodness I had brought an extra one) in a parking lot full of people. Oh well, I have a good story now, right? :) These are some pictures from the weekend, thanks to my amazing friend Lindsay.



In other news, Kellen has officially started eating rice cereal. He's only had it two times, but he likes it! I have a video I'll post when I get around to getting on the computer. He is very excited about it, he just has to figure out how to swallow the stuff! He is also starting to really enjoy his jumper thing (the one that goes in the doorway). Which I'm excited about because he's not digging his little bouncy seat very much anymore.

Easter egg hunt

Man! I'm on a roll this morning! Blog number three. I guess that means I haven't been doing so well at keeping this updated. I just wanted to write one more quick little post about Brady's first egg hunt. We went to our friend's house for some egg hunting and a nice lunch. He didn't really get the concept of grabbing as much as he could as quick as he could (which is just fine by me). He picked up the first egg and shook it, then opened it because he had to see what was inside making the noise. Krista and I convinced him that he could open them later to check things out. It was pretty funny trying to direct him to the eggs but still letting him be the one to find him. The picture I'm posting is a favorite because he's looking so intently for an egg when there is one right next to him. The kids also had some fun with bubbles. Scented bubbles! Who knew there was such a thing?

Constant entertainment

Brady is my source for much amusement. (and frustration, but that's another blog.) I don't know where he comes up with some of this stuff, but it cracks me up. Here is a short list of things he has done lately that I find particularly entertaining.

1. He has a toy microphone and was going around the house "singing" all morning. (singing = yelling into the mic) I guess he decided hanging on to the mic was too much work or something because the next time I turned around I found he'd come up with this clever way to be hands-free. The second picture is him singing into the mic- no need to remove it from it's handy new holder!




2. Brady was coloring. I heard him say something about taking off his sock. I turned around and found him with the marker wedged between his toes. I'm pretty certain he's never seen this done before.



3. I don't know if you can watch a show in any cooler fashion.



4. These last pictures are not necessarily funny, but just too cute. It was actually nice here and we went outside to enjoy the sun. Brady had lots of fun using sidewalk chalk and I had lots of fun taking his picture and watching him be cute.

family date

A couple of weeks ago, on Alex's Thursday off, we decided to go and ride the lightrail with the boys and use a gift certificate we've had forever to Hello Cupcake (a little cupcake bakery) downtown. We knew Brady would love riding on the "train" and who doesn't love a yummy, free cupcake? It was a fun outing and it didn't rain on us! Score!

Some fun video

Well, I found the cord I need to upload video to our computer, so I thought I would treat you to some video goodness. The first video is of Brady singing "Wheels on the bus" to Kellen and it turns into peek-a-boo. Very cute, if I do say so myself. The second is of Kellen performing his latest feat. (He's actually quite good at it, which is a little frightening considering his not yet four months old and he hasn't spent as much time on the floor as Brady due to the lack of carpeting downstairs! I fear I could be in for it.)

Astounded

Brady has accomplished what Zoolander himself could not. Let me explain....
I had put Brady in his carseat at nap time after one too many times of trying to convince him to stay in his bed. I went back in to check on him and he trying to say something to me about his diaper. I take a moment to try to figure it out and for a moment am completely confused. He looks completely normal- fully clothed, still strapped in. Then I glance to the side of his carseat. His diaper is laying on the floor. I look back at him to double check that I'm seeing everything correctly. Yep, pants on, fully strapped in. I'm not exactly sure how he did it, but he has pulled off Hansel's infamous runway move. I was impressed.

Microfiber couches and other things I love

I just finished licking the brownie bowl clean. Maybe it's not the healthiest choice, and maybe I shouldn't be admitting to that, but boy are my taste buds happy! I also just wiped down our couch. (not at the same time and one was not the result of the other) And I was reminded of how much I LOVE our couch. When the salesman told us how easy it would be to clean, he wasn't just feeding us a line! I cannot even imagine what it would look like between my messy self and two young boys prone to making all sorts of messes. (maybe it's a genetic thing?) All I have to do is wipe it down with a damp cloth. Seriously, if you are in the market for a couch, I would highly recommend you put microfiber on your list of things to consider. The last thing I've been just doing is dancing around the kitchen listening to pandora.com. Which brings me to two more things I love- 1. Pandora. Being able to listen to my High School Musical station one minute (yes, you read that correctly.) and my Weezer station the next makes me extremely happy, especially considering how ADD I can be when it comes to music sometimes. 2. Having small children gives you a reason to dance around the kitchen like a huge dork. "What? I was just entertaining Brady." Of course, not having children didn't really prevent me from doing this. I guess it just gives me extra incentive. And Brady eagerly joins in. Alex was never as willing of a participant.

Ho hum.

So, I have lost the cord I need to use to upload video onto the computer. Which means no video for you of my children being their adorable selves. I know, you're sad. I hope to find it soon. I don't have much motivation to write much, but feel like I should. Like maybe our family is actually checking this to keep updated on the kiddos and yet not leaving any comments ever. (hint, hint....if you ARE reading this, let me know)
Anywho, Kellen and I had a great time in San Diego with Layci. First, we got to spend time with Layci. That would make it awesome, period. Then, add in a few days of nice, warm sunshine, actually laying out by the pool (!!) and yummy food and you've pretty much hit a home run. So, yeah. Good stuff. Kellen loved all the undivided attention.

The beach and the ocean are behind us. No, really.

Kellen lounging in the hotel.

I am very much enjoying the different stages the boys are in right now. Kellen loves to be held and talked to and will smile and laugh at you, which is just awesome. He has also found his hands and would be happy if he could have them in his mouth at all times. He is still trying to figure out how to manuver them though. He also loves to kick his legs all the time. I'm thinking of letting him try the jumper thing soon. (how crazy is it that he's getting old enough for that?!) Brady is as entertaining as ever. He has a great sense of humor and I am loving being able to see his little personality coming out as his vocabulary grows. And grows. And grows. It's crazy how much he talks that I can actually understand!

Adventures

So, I'm going to try to undertake writing out an update. Hopefully I can bust it out before one of the kiddos needs my full attention. :) We've been pretty busy lately. I joke that we decided to cram all of our activity into one month. I feel a little bit bad though, because at the end of the month, Brady will have stayed home for all of the trips. Oh well.
We started off the month by having a Super Bowl party and getting some of the area neighbors to come over that we either didn't know at all, or not very well. It went pretty well, in my opinion. It was a bit of a meager attempt, but I'm proud of us for branching out anyways. We really do want to get to know our neighbors and have an open, inviting house- even when that pushes us far beyond our comfort zone.
The following Friday was my 30th (crazy!!) birthday and Kellen and I left to go on the women's retreat for the weekend. We stayed in these "cottages" in Seabrook, Washington (which is right by Pacific Beach and Ocean Shores). Our "cottage" was a really nice, roomy and very nicely furnished three-story house. I was surprised with flowers and a letter from my very sweet hubby and the South end ladies blessed me with a very generous gift certificate to a salon and spa and a dance party with my very own strobe light. Saturday dawned sunny and gorgeous!! It was so perfect to have a beautiful day to enjoy the beach. It was a great weekend of refreshing and connecting with God and some South End ladies.


This last weekend, Valentine's day weekend, Alex and I got to get away together for the weekend. Well, we also had Kellen, but it was still very relaxing. Grandma and G.G. came and Brady had a grand time being the center of attention and playing out in the dirt with worms and everything! We were able to stay at our friend's cabin on Heron Island (it's a little private island off the Key Penninsula) and enjoyed time reading, watching movies (uninterrupted, imagine that!) and looking for cool rocks and seashells down by the water.


The rest of February should prove to be just as eventful. This Thursday is Kellen's two month check-up and he'll get his first shots. My mom and Dennis might be coming to visit this next weekend and the following weekend Kellen and I are flying to San Diego to spend time with Layci! I am very excited!

Shenanigans

Well, I haven't posted in awhile, and I'm going to do an "official update" later on, so I thought I would post pictures of some of the various activities I have found Brady doing when I come back from changing Kellen's diaper, putting Kellen to bed or even just using the bathroom. Enjoy!


Packing himself in mamma's bag.



Brady found the hat and put it on himself. Here he is practicing his "blue steel".



And my personal favorite (he was fully clothed and did NOT have slippers on when I left him)....

Oh the joy.

I think it is written somewhere that every mom has to have some sort of "poop experience" that might be funny to look back on at some later point in time. Don't ask where this mysterious book of rules and regulations might be, I just know that it has to be out there somewhere. Well, this last Thursday I added (or Brady did for me) another chapter in my things-my kid-has-done-that-will-be-funny-later book. Brady had been happily playing in the entryway and I was working on something on the computer. I had checked on him several times and he was doing fine, no signs of the impending disaster presenting themself. I heard him go upstairs (which is a normal occurance- he goes to his room often to get toys) and I thought nothing of it. A little while later I thought "he's been too quiet for too long". (another rule- long lapses of silence are generally bad, which seems a bit backwards to me) As I walk out into the living room, I'm met with the scene of Brady with no pants. And no diaper. And poop smeared on his legs and hands and caked in his nail beds. Sweet. I look around and find his diaper on the floor. (not poopie side down- thank goodness!) I head upstairs and find poopie wipes in the diaper pail, poop smears on the chair and put all the information together to figure out he has removed his diaper and tried to clean himself off. At least he didn't just play in it. At least he was trying to do something right. This is what I'm telling myself as I scrub him down in the shower (which he didn't even need! I'd just given him a shower the night before!). All I can say is yuck, eww, nasty, gross. I felt like I was smelling poop the rest of the day. And that is how I spent a good part of my Wednesday afternoon.

A random assortment of information

It seems like both boys are growing so much each and every day. It's exciting and kinda sad at the same time. Brady is talking SO much. He is constantly trying out new words and copying everything Alex and I say. It is very entertaining to witness him exploring language but can be very frustrating when I don't know what he's saying because it could be anything now, not just one of the handful of words he was using. He also has been much more interested in coloring as of late. He use to just scribble a few lines on each page of his coloring book and be done in like two minutes. Now though, he can spend a good chunk of time coloring and he even tries to color specific parts of a picture. He does really well when he concentrates. Any sort of headlights or eyes in his Thomas or Cars coloring books are his favorite thing to color.
He is also a great big brother. He loves to say "bless you baby" when Kellen sneezes (or coughs or makes any sort of noise that could be mistaken for a sneeze) and "baby crying" whenever he hears Kellen and we haven't done anything about it yet. He is very gentle and gives his brother lots of hugs and kisses everyday. Kellen loves when Brady comes and talks to him. Brady has even got him smiling and doing his little laughing thing. I tried to get it on video, but of course by the time I got the camera, Brady was much too interested in something else to be bothered. He also really enjoys "holding" Kellen. Kellen pretty much just lays there across his lap but Brady is always sad when I move him. I'm very excited to see how their relationship grows as they each get older.
Kellen is really starting to fill out. We don't have another appt. until the middle of February, so I don't really know what he weighs but he's starting to get the fat rolls on his thighs and arms. I love it! He is trying to figure out his hands too. He likes to suck/gnaw on his fists and he is starting to get much better at getting his fist to his mouth to do so. It's pretty fun to watch. We'll probably also be putting Kellen in his own room soon. He's ready and he can be so loud when he's sleeping! He makes these grunting noises and he sounds like a little gremlin. Either that or my mom's old dog, Mini. Alex says we should record his noises and sell them to Hollywood for special effects.
I leave you with a video clip of Alex and Brady trying out the new basketball hoop. I love how Brady is trying to figure out how to dribble the ball when it's bouncing away from him. Yeah, I think my kid is pretty stinkin' cute. :)

Happy moments...

This morning has been full of spit up, Brady getting into things he's not supposed to and strange animal noises coming from upstairs. (Luckily I have discovered it is just birds on the outside of the house. whew.) In the midst of all that though there are moments like this one.

All by myself....

Today is officially the first day that I am on my own for the whole day with the boys. I've been given the okay by the midwife to work my way back into lifting and all the other things a mom of a toddler does that I haven't been able to do since the c-section. Of course, this is also the day Alex plays basketball after work, so it's an exceptionally long day. I'm certain I will make it through okay, but I don't want to just make it through. I want to find creative ways to keep Brady entertained and happy, make yummy, healthy food, get some chores around the house done and maybe find some time to relax. Is that asking too much? ha ha I know I have lofty goals and they probably won't be accomplished today but I hope to be able to figure it out. I guess it's a good thing I have God's help, hmm? I know it's by His strength alone that I might be able to be the kind of parent and wife that I'm talking about.
Wow, that was a tangent. Where's the sock? (Hannah, I'm sure you'll be the only one who gets that) Anywho, for my first day on the job (he he), it has been a pretty great day so far. Brady slept until 8 and Kellen didn't wake up to eat until 9. Sweet. And Kellen is starting to really be smiley after he eats in the morning. (oh,no! could he be a morning person? yikes!) And he's even starting to have this little laughing noise that he does that is just about the cutest thing ever. I tried to get it on video but realized I was out of tape! Bummer. Overall, I am feeling like I just might be able to do this. Let's hope the feeling isn't too fleeting. :)

Taking it back to the old school...

We have a lot of video footage from Brady's first 2 years of life that I haven't done anything with, so I thought I'd start off my video uploading adventures with a clip from Brady's second birthday. I'm sure it will be a winner!

Joy, in a fun, foamy package

So, I've decided to start a blog and I ended up spending way too much time trying to come up with a good name for it. I ended up being inspired for the title by the foaming handsoap I just bought at Bath and Body Works. I cannot explain why, but foaming handsoap makes me immensely happy. I love it. And it just made me realize that life is made up of the little things that make us laugh or bring us joy and that's what this blog is going to be about. The funny thing that Brady said that day. Or the fact that Kellen peed on one of us when we were changing his diaper. Not exactly a thrill a minute kind of blog, but I know our families, and maybe some friends, will love it. Especially if I can figure out how to download clips from the video camera and load them on here. And just in case you were wondering....the soap scent is coconut lime verbena. So good.