A post for the little man

I wrote about Braden yesterday and thought I would post a little something about my little man. This little boy worships his older brother. Even though Braden pounds on him and strikes fear in his eyes, he loves him unconditionally.

He also loves his dad. Blake favorite part of the day is coming home and seeing the excitement on Brody's face. I would have to agree, I love when Blake comes home too.

I love knowing that I am his #1 woman in his life. He loves me (maybe not as much as his dad) and I sure love him.

He was 13 months as of yesterday and still no signs on walking. He loves cruising and holding onto stuff and walking, but just doesn't care about attempting it himself. Brody is more than capable of doing it, but just doesn't want to be bothered. I can tell he will be a stubborn one, even more so than Braden. He is already eating us out of house and home. He doesn't like the bland Gerber foods (for toddlers), he enjoys the finer things in life. I try and give him baby type foods and he will throw them off his tray and yell at me. This little one has a temper, but I still love him.

Happy Birthday Braden

Three years ago today I was snuggling with my firstborn son in the hospital. I remember the sweet little spirit that was in that room and it makes me wonder, where did he go? We now have an opinionated, sassy, smart and funny little boy. We got him a bike for his birthday. He was so excited and exclaimed, "This is the coolest present ever." He got on and tried to ride it for about two seconds before declaring that Grandma and Grandpa Barnett's lego set was even cooler. There's no winning I guess.

Here he is opening the legos. Braden starts pre-school on Tuesday. Official pre-school, not just me and him pre-school. He is so ready for it and we know it will be a great experience for him.

And now the traditional list of things we don't want to forget about this moment in time.

1. He knows the most interesting facts and says the most bizarre things. (unfortunately he's been using the word freakin lately. We have no idea where he got this from, we don't really say it. we are trying to ignore it, as to not give that word power.)
2. He LOVES sword fighting, shooting guns (anything could be a gun), killing anything, dragons, and knights.
3. He loves to watch movies. I remember thinking, when he was 2ish, that he wouldn't be able to sit through a whole movie because he is too squirmy. Well, he can now. I usually save little tv shows or movies for the hour before Blake gets home while I prepare dinner. It's a life saver.
4. He thinks he's always right and if he's not, he's a great negotiator.
5. It's a chore to get him to sit down and eat. He will always eat the following: hot dogs, peas, corn on the cob, ham, chips, mandarin oranges, juice, fries and anything candy related.
6. He beats up on Brody all the time (it drives us crazy) but he can also be so sweet and loving.
7. Lately he's really into hugs and kisses and i love you's.
8. He LOVES books and has most of his memorized, he will just sit there and 'read' to himself. He also loves it when I make up stories with him.

The list can go on, but I will stop right there. I just love my big boy. I can't wait to see him develop into a great young man. I hope the tantrums stop before then. We love you Brado potato.

Braden's Third Birthday Party

Today we had Braden's 3rd Birthday Party. We can't believe he's almost 3 (his actual birthday is tomorrow). As the invitation states, he had a knights of the round table birthday. Click each picture to enlarge.

I was so proud of myself for making this green and blue dragon cake. Braden's been talking about this for months. I am quite fond of cake decorating, I already know what I am doing for Blake's (it's a secret). We all loved eating it, especially Brody, he LOVES sweets.
We made some different games. We made a mase with an old sock and rice. The kids had to throw and hit the dragons (upper left side picture), a dragons cave where old dragons tales are told (bottom right), and a dungeon cave. Brody LOVED crawling through the tunnel. Unfortunately, a bunch of boxes doesn't hold up to 15 kids, so it eventually fell over and ended up in the garage.

We split into groups and the kids went to 3 stations. #1 Dragon Fighting School, #2 Dragon's Cave (stories) and #3 Practice Field (mase and dragon). Presents were a huge hit, but really it's when we put the tiara's and matching earrings on the little girls. Look at the bottom middle picture. All the boys and girls were very quiet during this part. So cute.

I attempted to make a really cute knight outfit, but was completely outdone by all the other mothers. It was fun and Braden liked his outfit. Blake and I had some great help at the party. Megan, Jane and Jaclyn were huge helpers. They ran a station, took pictures and helped with the kids. THANK YOU! (Megan's in the bottom right picture.)

After each of the stations we got together and played some more games. Ring around the roses, popcorn in the pot, etc. We had snack time where we ate with our hands (like they did in medieval times) and had a trumpet to blow (which Braden calls the Moroni trumpet, so cute!).

Each child went home with a tiara (girls) or sword (boys). It was organized chaos, but Braden had a great time and that's all the matters. I love living here and am so grateful that Braden has made such wonderful friends (I have too). It was a great birthday party. I can assure you we will be playing with dragons and knights for a long time.

Pre-school: Shapes and Colors

Last week we studied about colors and shapes. Braden had a really hard time with these (before last week that is). Aunt Amber sat down and taught Braden all about shapes. He's even mastered the rectangle. For some reason the color red does nothing for Braden. He has all his other colors down (unless you put him on the spot and he feels embarrassed), but red is a whole other story. He mostly calls it yellow, but other colors are mixed in. At least my dad and brother will be proud. According to them, red isn't a real color anyways (because the the Utah Utes).

To practice our colors, Braden spent a good 30 minutes coloring this box.

Both boys think this boy is just great. It has been a boat, house, pirate ship, space ship and probably many more things I have not been told.

Surgery Follow-up

Last Friday we headed to the Tri-Cities to have a follow-up appointment for Brody's surgery back in December. The Tri-Cities is about 2.5 hours from here. Blake took the day off. We literally just drove there, stopped at a park and ate lunch, went to the appointment and then came home. While in the car, Braden entertained himself by taking pictures. He's getting good.

The appointment went well. The doctor said he couldn't have been more impressed with how it was healing. We will have another follow-up in a year or so, after the swelling has gone down. He also recommended Brody meet with them when he's a teenager so they can go over what happened and what that means for his future. It's nothing too big, but good for him to know, especially when he's having kids of his own (in like 30 years). We have been so impressed with Seattle Children's Hospital and would recommend them to anyone, if you needed them.

Goofing Around

Grandpa Forsberg went to Disneyland and insisted they get these hats for the boys.

Braden thinks you HAVE to wear them when you are throwing the football around with dad. Brody and I just get a kick out of the colors.

Blake is so cute and always wear them. It's what you have to do to get the throwing practice in.

However, he wasn't too excited I was taking pictures. I sure love my husband. He's the greatest dad in the world.

I can't wait for summer to arrive so the kids can wear them outside. I love fun and silly hats. My mom always seems to find the cutest ones (like this one).

Hanging Around with Aunt Amber

Amber spent a typical week with the Barnett family. Braden attached to Amber right when she walked in the door. He especially loved her ipad. Let's be honest, we all loved her ipad.

Amber was so patient at teaching Braden how to use it. It was so cute and he would literally sit there for an hour with Amber and play. I wish she lived closer.
It took Brody a little longer to warm up to Amber. He was mostly curious about this new person staying in our house. He liked playing with her stuff too.

We played some games, watched some tv and movies and even stayed up til past midnight (I know, we are rebels) to talk. That was probably my favorite night. I have been in the family for almost 6 years and am continually learning stuff about Amber. She is great! She will KILL me for writing this, but she's in the market for a handsome young man. If you would like to set her up, give me a call. Once again, she will kill me for posting this, but she's amazing and totally worth it.

It was really fun to see the brother and sister interaction. I have always seen them act like big brother, little sister. This vacation was slightly different. Not as much harassing from Blake, just a really nice time. Good conversations, lots of help (thanks Amber) and some good bonding time.

I took some incredibly cute pictures of Amber with the boys, but I promised I wouldn't post them, so I won't (unless she gives me permission). We are so glad you came and hope you come again, soon. Even if you wanted to come again with your parents, we would gladly accept you.

Valentine's Day, plus some

Aunt Amber showed up on Sunday night and she came bearing gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Barnett. Braden and Brody were happy to get a cute little book that was read by Grandma Barnett. (Did anyone watch Modern Family last week? Similar to that, but read nicely.) Braden has listened to it everyday. Thanks Grandma!Brody will get in on it too.

That night for dinner I made them steak, potatoes and fresh green beans. We topped it off with peanut butter fudge bars (thanks Nicole for the recipe). The bars lasted us all week.

Aunt Amber came with us to Braden's gymnastics class on Tuesday. They just so happened to be flying again. Braden made sure the teacher knew he didn't want to go high.

He is a cautious little boy. Daring when he wants to be, but mostly cautious. She lifted him up just enough for his toes to drag along the trampoline. The other kids flew up to the second level where the parents were.

Afterwards we stopped by McDonald's to get some lunch. Braden used the money Grandma Barnett gave him for V-Day to buy his little happy meal. Brody thoroughly enjoyed the hamburger. He did end up eating more than half of it.

We watched the 'Social Network' that night. It was a good movie and makes me think what incredibly good looking actor would play me in a box office hit. Who would play you?

Before Church

There's always those 30 minutes before we leave for church that are super fun. The boys are dressed and ready to go and they have so much energy.

It's one of my favorite times of the week, as long as I already have the stuff ready for church and am not running around.

Brody's First Hair Cut

Brody's hair was getting a little shaggy. He didn't have tons of it, but he started to get bed head hair, so we decided it was time to cut his golden locks.

He did pretty well for the first half. He wasn't quite sure what was going on. As we were nearing the end, he started to get upset. Needless to say, it's not the perfect haircut, but it works and he's a handsome little boy.

He looks like a little military boy. Blake and I still have to do a double take when looking at him. It's funny what a haircut can do.

Randomness with Mema

It was so fun having my mom here. She watched the boys all day while Blake and I went to Spokane to attend the temple, go out to eat, look at minivans and shop. It was nice to know that we could just relax and enjoy ourselves without having to rush back. Here are some other things that happened while my mom was here.

She read Braden books.

And more books. And even more books.

Of course she came bearing gifts. In fact, she brought a HUGE box full of gifts. They are actually for Braden's birthday party, but still, Braden couldn't have been more excited. We went shopping at Wal-mart and she couldn't help but buy Brody a little shopping cart. Braden loves it too.
This little boy is so close to walking. He cruises everywhere and pushes anything, as long as it will move forward.

He sure loves his Grandma. He was a perfect angel for her and only started to fuss when we walked in the door, typical.

I wish we lived closer. It would be nice to have family to available. I know I have said it before, but I will say it again, there are many people in Pullman that are our family. We love it here and not having family close is a sacrifice, but we won't be moving anytime soon (if at all). We hope to have Grandpa and Aunt Kalen join Mema next time. You are welcome anytime. Thanks mom for all the good girl talk.