A rabbit. We suddenly stopped dinner so Braden could take one of his carrots out to feed the rabbit.
He was so excited. He threw the carrot and the bunny instantly ran up the yard.
Braden made me grab the carrot and throw it up to the rabbits new position.
We didn't stay out long enough to see if he actually ate the carrot. He stayed at the top of the yard for quite a while though. We sure did enjoy the few brief minutes with our dinner guest. He is welcome back anytime, says Braden.
They also loved getting Dirty with shaving cream.
Miss Tegan and Braden truly love each other. They are both strong willed and will never give into each other. I appreciate this about her..jpg)
And we all love our neighbor and Braden's good friend Isaiah. He adored getting his hands dirty.
I think they could have sat there awhile longer than we let them. It was a great 10 minutes of entertainment though.
We also played with Ducks (pretend of course) and then headed off to eat some dirt. Pudding dirt that is.
Isaiah really wanted to eat a huge shovel full. We wouldn't let him.
Tegan wanted to catch a worm.
And Braden, well, he definitely made the biggest mess out of the 3 of them.
We love our (pre) pre-school and look forward to the time when they are all happily playing with each other a real pre-school. It's so fun to have some good friends that are all the same age. I am an advocate of getting involved in community activities. I hate missing library time. It's a fun way to get to know other kids and mother's. Who knows, maybe you will be having a ridiculously fun playgroup sometime soon. You can never start too early.
I never thought the day would come when I didn't need a nap. I mean, I HAD to nap the last 2 months of pregnancy and the first month postpartum. If I didn't, I was an awful mom and wife. But now, I get to have productive afternoons. 005.jpg)
I am 1 week out from delivery, Camille was 4 weeks out and Ashley 6 weeks out.004.jpg)
These are the 3 beautiful babies we got in return for those enormous bodies. Brody, Evelyn and Greta. In the same order as their mom's above.
I wouldn't mind Brody marrying either of these girls. Their families are great and they are as cute as could be. We laugh because it is Jr. Junior Nursery corner by the Primary room every Sunday.
Funny Story, the big box actually had 4 sandboxes in it. The store was supposed to just pull out one for us, but we ended up with all 4. Of course we were honest and took the remaining 3 back to the store, but I have to admit we were hoping since it had been a month they would let us keep them. They didn't.
Of course Braden had to decorate his house (with mom's help).
He loves playing in there. He is constantly making me 'food' and making his dinosaurs go to sleep. It is even big enough for me to comfortably sit in there and play.
So, when you get a sandbox, make sure you get a big box to go with it. Braden loves the sandbox too.
It worked fine, but it was big, heavy and uncomfortable. Blake and I discussed getting a new one on Monday night. If you don't know anything about bike trailers, let me tell you, they cost a pretty penny. We looked on the REI website and found some we thought were great, namely, the Chariot (per my friend's suggestion). Blake wanted to see what it looked like, so we called our local bike shop (B&L) and they happened to have this...
The Trek Gobug at 50% off. They no longer make this jogger/trailer, hence the reason for being cheaper. We went and looked at it yesterday and fell in love. Well, I fell in love, Blake was just super impressed. Braden couldn't get enough either. Now we had a choice. We have been saving up to complete our fence. We can't afford both, so what did we choose?
Of course the trailer. Braden does pretty well now in the backyard. We love that our neighbors come back to play and aren't too worried about privacy yet. And Blake says he would have more fun with the trailer than building a fence. I guess we will do that project next year, unless some other fun item comes into play.
Since the weather has been so nice, we have started taking nightly walks. We live in a developing neighborhood, so there are tractors everywhere. Braden loves to take control.
Although we don't like the whining, Braden sure is at a fun age. He is interested in everything and constantly makes up laugh by saying stuff like: "What's goin on guys?" and "I sure do." and who can forget the apologetic no. "No, I am sorry." And he truly is sorry that he really doesn't want to do whatever we are asking. So funny!
We may try and bring out the bumbo and see how he feels about it. You can expect a post.
Braden doesn't realize that he is only 2, while Jackson and Dexter are 4. He thinks he's one of the big boys.
With that, he insists on doing everything by himself. He's a lot more rowdy than he was last fall.
He even gets the concept of swinging and tries really hard to do it himself. This is a modified swing that helps.
We were lucky enough to have Brody sleep the whole 2 hours, so I got to visit with my friends and play with my big boy. He was upset I was taking time away from play to get this picture.
Braden is always concerned that Brodster is with us. I woke him up from his nap yesterday and he insisted I wake Brody up to join us. Fortunately, I needed to wake him up to eat, so everyone was happy.
Brody is pretty tolerant with Braden. There are many a times that Braden insists I hold Brody so dad can play with him. I love Brody snuggles, so I am ok with this.
I have to admit that after this photo was taken, Braden was done having Brody ride the trike, so he just dropped him on the ground. I was pretty upset, but kept my cool. Braden felt bad and kept apologizing to Brody for the next 10 minutes. Needless to say, Brody is very forgiving.
Can you believe Braden used to be that size? One big and one little!
I am glad I am blessed with 2 beautiful boys who already love each other. I don't look forward to Brody crawling because I know Braden will have a heart attack over Brody playing with his toys. Fortunately, that battle won't be fought for a couple of months. We still have time to work on sharing.
Our little boy has a sensitive stomach. I can't eating the following foods or else I pay for it all day by having to hold him. Milk, yogurt, ice cream, cheese (although I still do), broccoli, cauliflower, chocolate and beans. These are just the foods I have discovered. Like I said, I have been on soy milk for the past 2 months and am still not completely used to it. I just can't give up cheese, I have tried but can't. I try to eat smaller portions.
It's worth it to have such a cute and happy baby. He has somewhat discovered his hands. He likes to suck on them. He still isn't a huge fan of the binky, unless he is sleepy. I guess that's ok. He will also finally take the Nuk binky, instead of the soothie. I feel that is a success.
He is awake and alert a lot more. We are even getting great giggles out of him. None of which he will let us get on video.
Overall, I am deeply in love with my second born. I can't wait to see his personality blossom. He sure is opinionated already. I hope he's a little more mellow than his older brother. We will see.
Stage 1: DENIAL - This isn't a new butt. It's the same awesome butt you had the day you got married.
Stage 3: ANGER - Fine. It's not the same butt. It has curves and divots and new places that sweat. It follows you wherever you go. Stupid, annoying butt and its stupid, annoying cellulite! Is it possible to get a restraining order to prevent it from stalking you?
Stage 4: DEPRESSION - No dice. It turns out you can't get a restraining order against your own body. And if you inquire about it people laugh at you. And that makes you cry. As do the elastic-waist pants you just bought, even though you are nine months postpartum. Those lying liars who said "nine months on, nine months off" must have gotten to keep their original butt.
Stage 5: GUILT - You are a grown woman. You have a degree. You know that women should be - and are- more than just hot bodies. You know objectification is cruel. You've read the magazine articles that tell you how awesome you are. You created life. And yet... this butt. IT WON'T GO AWAY.
Stage 6: FEAR - You probably have Flesh Expanding Butt Disease. It's very rare, but if you get FEBD your butt will eventually consume your entire body, preventing you from leading a normal life. There is no cure for this horrible ailment. Best to just go buy a bunch of sweatpants.
Stage 7: ACCEPTANCE - Right. So it isn't that bad, really. Your new butt does come with some features. It's easier to close the car door now. Your kids have something to hang on when you're at the grocery store. And your husband like its. A lot. In fact, your new butt is kind of growing on you...
or this,
or this.
(Note: I know we shouldn't let him wear Blake's old glasses, but it is just too dang cute. We don't let him wear them longer than a couple of seconds at a time. He does love wearing them though. It's like he becomes a model or something.)