Odds and Ends

Just playing a little catch up on things we've been up to!

A few weeks ago, the weather was so nice that I bundled the kids up and busted out the wagon they got for Christmas. It was so great to get outside...even if it was just for a day! Of course this is what a walk always does to a child!
And the other weekend, Chad and I took the kids to campus to roam around in the gym

A child has an entire gym to play with balls galore and of course her favorite thing to play with is the drinking fountain!

Brielle did have fun running down the court with her Dad...of course her idea of running is making Dad run while she rides on his shoulders!

And who doesn't wish every shot they did could be like this! (If only my lay ups could've been this close to the hoop...then I wouldn't have had any problems!)

Bryce had a good ole time too...just roaming and playing

And this little man turned 8 months old this past week. My goodness...how can that be?! He is crawling all over the place, standing and walking by all the furniture, and even conquering the stairs...ay yai yai...he is keeping us on our toes! But, oh man, this poor little boy has been struggling lately because of his teeth. He just hasn't been his normal happy self...2 teeth have popped through the surface...so hopefully that will give him some reprieve!

And we had a special Princess Valentine from our Prince Charming on Tuesday night...complete with cupcakes and candles!

And we start our kids with washing and drying dishes early in our household! Brielle's washing and Bryce is helping with drying!

Isn't this just the cutest?! (I'm bias I know!)

My parents were in town this past weekend and of course with everything going on these are the only 2 pictures I got the whole weekend! We had such a great time with them and, as always, Brielle continually asks to see Grandma and Grandpa just minutes after they leave!

Either my dad is boring company...or they tuckered her out!

A Visitor to My World!

So on most days I spend all day with the kids and by the end of the day my patience can run pretty thin. A lot of the time I get frustrated with them or short with them or I get impatient and snappy and I feel like the worst parent in the world.....especially since Chad is normally a patient, calm, and collected person even with the kids.

But.......Chad got firsthand experience of my world on Sunday. I suggested that he and Brielle make cookies together while I did some cleaning before the Super Bowl. It started off well.....but then I kind of enjoyed watching his fuse grow short (hee-hee) as Brielle:

1-stuck her hand in the flour in the mixing bowl

2-dumped an unknown amount of the teaspoon of baking powder on her feet (leaving Chad to guess how much to add)

3-demanded that she crack the eggs (and you can guess how that went)

4-violently stirred the dry mixture without being asked to do so sending a good bit of it to find a home on the floor.

5-ate "finger-fuls" of batter and picked out chocolate chips..........and (drum roll!)

6-sneezed in the batter

Oh, may I just say that witnessing this whole experience made me feel a whole lot better about myself and how I feel about the kids after a long day with them! Thank you Chad! And despite the sneeze...the cookies still turned out really good!

I think Chad was as hot as the oven by the end of it, but the cookies turned out great! Anyone want to try some?

Whole Bunch of Stuff

I thought I would do a blog entry about what the kids are into lately to give an idea of what a day in our life looks like. Starting off with Brielle...she is currently in this phase where she wants to change her clothes every 5 seconds of the day and switch from princess dress (which in our house...EVERY dress is a princess dress) to ballerina back to princess, so I thought I would just take a picture of what she wore in a single day. Out of her pj's, Brielle first asked for her ladybug costume from LAST halloween (not this past one...the one before!) So on it goes... (also...Brielle is also into just saying the word cheese for the camera...no smile... just a very emphatic cheese expression...so pardon the facial expressions...and the bed head...which is a very common hairdo for us over here!)
So then out of the ladybug costume...then into a ladybug dress

...then onto the ever popular trend of a summer tank top paired with a pair of winter tights...

...and then the very trendy navy spring dress paired with a black pair of tights (with Minnie Mouse on them of course!)

...apparently she didn't think the dress matched the tights so off with that one and on with this one. Whew...this one looks so much better! :) We can already tell Brielle has such good fashion sense!

I must admit before having kids I vowed I would never let my child have Disney characters on their clothes or shoes, I would make them wear clothes that matched, and they would without a doubt never have light up shoes. Well...the other day we went out in public with a hot pink sweatshirt and jeans tucked INTO red Christmas socks while wearing Dora light up shoes and a Dora backpack...needless to say I have classified "what you wear in public" as a very small battle to fight...there are so many battles in a day that it just isn't worth it! Brielle you wear what you want girl...as long as it gets us out the door on time I am fine with it!

Brielle just loves her Dad. Last weekend we had enough snow that Chad could take her outside and build a snowman and go sledding...she loved it! (And yes, that is Dora the Explorer on her jacket...what can I say?!)

Brielle is really starting to get an imagination and play pretend which is so fun to watch and also be a part of. I must admit I was a little concerned that she might have accounting written all over her future as she was naming her pet dogs such creative names as: "Brown dog", "Fire Truck Dog" and "Piper's Dog" She loves Dora and anything princess and loves to dance. She is such a sweet little thing to her brother. She always loves on him and smothers him and tries to include him in things we're doing as best as she can.

Bryce is 7 1/2 months old and can officially be labeled a crawler! Its like something finally clicked and he realized by crawling he can go anywhere he wants to! Our lives as parents just got a little busier! Bryce has always been such a smiley thing and he's always ready to flash it whenever we enter the room...just warms our hearts! He adores Brielle...so much so that whenever I carry him into Brielle's room in the morning he gets so squirmy because he wants to get down and lay and play next to her. He is always trying to be where she is. He is still not the greatest sleeper and gets up at least once during the night...which we're working on and hopefully will have figured out soon!

Bryce is also going to be our climber. he is always pulling himself up onto things and try to get up on things. Brielle was not like this at all, so I am going to have my hands full!

Here are just some pics of the 2 of them together. I just love watching them interact together and see glimpses of what kind of relationship the two of them can have as they get older. Bryce is so lucky to have a big sister like Brielle. She has not shown one ounce of jealousy whenever I need to take my attention away from her to focus on him. She just loves on him and is always throwing unexpected hugs and kisses his way.

In other news...Chad's mom came across an old T-shirt that Chad wore when he was a little tike and they were RD's in Durfee Hall so we just had to take a picture of it. Oh, how I love that shirt with his jean diaper!

Chad's parents came out this past weekend. Brielle was counting down the days until they came and was so excited for them to come. She had so much fun and played so hard that on Monday after her cartoon was over she said "Mommy its nap time!" and walked right upstairs to her room. If only every day could be that easy for nap time! We loved having them out too...to catch up on things and hang out...and not to mention extra hands with the kids and a night out with just the two of us!

Odds and Ends

So last week as I was putting things away in Bryce's room I turn around to find this...when did my son get so big that he can pull himself up in the crib?! Well...next item on the agenda...lower the mattress!

And all of a sudden he's standing like a champ by his musical table. Seriously...I feel like Brielle was just doing this...time is flying by way too fast!

And we're in the potty training mode over here. We started right when we got back from Michigan and we're making strides. Can you tell we go to all measures to make sure Brielle goes on the potty...her wish to potty is our command (even if it involves bringing the toilet to her while watching cartoons!) I can already sense that Chad is going to want this kind of service once March Madness hits.

And just a few more pics of our little man. He changes so much so fast that I just need to post updates for everyone out of state.

And more pics from bath night. Bryce scooching under the bath just cracks me up!