P.S. Don't worry, I will be getting Brandon gloves that are not purple!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Snow Fun
Much like the rest of the east coast, we had our first snow this past weekend. Brooke loved it, Brandon not so much.
Christmas Day
We have been very lucky this year and Christmas day was the same. There were a lot of gifts under the tree and a very excited 3yr old. This was the first year that she actually came and woke us up.
Having young children really brings back and exciting feeling during the holidays. Brandon was excited as well, but he still really didn't get it. He was just happy there was a box of Lucky Charms under the tree. Brooke went through all of her gifts fairly quickly, while Brandon finally finished a few days after Christmas.
I didn't take too many shots, because I didn't want to be stuck behind the camera all morning, but here are a few.
Having young children really brings back and exciting feeling during the holidays. Brandon was excited as well, but he still really didn't get it. He was just happy there was a box of Lucky Charms under the tree. Brooke went through all of her gifts fairly quickly, while Brandon finally finished a few days after Christmas.
I didn't take too many shots, because I didn't want to be stuck behind the camera all morning, but here are a few.
Dogs and Trucks
It was a truck and dog filled Christmas this year. We spent Christmas with my side of the family the weekend before Christmas, which is the usually tradition. The kids and I enjoyed spending time with my family and my brothers were home from college with is always nice. Unfortunately I didn't take nearly enough pictures of the kids with the family during this last trip :(
We had a Thai Christmas with Amanda and Steve. Brooke wouldn't try the food, but Brandon did. We also spent and evening with my Mom and Stepdad, and my Dad and Stepmom. It was a visit packed weekend.
Here are a few of them opening gifts at my sisters.
Merry Christmas to Brandon
What does he get?? 2nd year molars. What joy. His bottom 2 are halfway through the gums, and boy does this explain a lot. Not sure how I missed them breaking through, but lets get these molars overwith.
Odd Mom Jobs
If you don't have kids, you will probably find this repulsive.
I have a new job to add to the list of mom jobs. Brooke currently has a queen size bed, so when we have visitors, we put her in our room on an air mattress and let the quests sleep in her room.
As I was changing the sheets in preparation for my Dad and Stepmother to visit, I noticed a few specks on the wall that her bed is up against. After closer inspection I realized....they were dried boogers stuck to the wall. I can now add "booger scraper" to my list of fantastic jobs.
We had a little talk (Brooke and I) and her room is now equipped with a box of tissues on her bookshelf. Here's hoping that I don't have to scrape any more boogers off the wall in the near future.
Gross but funny.
I have a new job to add to the list of mom jobs. Brooke currently has a queen size bed, so when we have visitors, we put her in our room on an air mattress and let the quests sleep in her room.
As I was changing the sheets in preparation for my Dad and Stepmother to visit, I noticed a few specks on the wall that her bed is up against. After closer inspection I realized....they were dried boogers stuck to the wall. I can now add "booger scraper" to my list of fantastic jobs.
We had a little talk (Brooke and I) and her room is now equipped with a box of tissues on her bookshelf. Here's hoping that I don't have to scrape any more boogers off the wall in the near future.
Gross but funny.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Pajamas and Santa
Another fantastic story hour with Miss Michele and Santa (if you forget about the older obnoxious kids who probably shouldn't believe in Santa any more, and whose parents did NO parenting what so ever)
I try to give all children the benefit of the doubt, but this brother and sisters duo really challenged me, I walked out at the end and all I could say to my self was WOW. Moving on....
Miss Michele always does a fantastic job, she loves what she does and she loves the kids. We started with some crafts, moved onto some songs once the Big Man arrived and then he read us all story, finished off with some pictures and candy canes.
It was a stretch for us because it didn't even start until 7PM, which is very close to bed time for the kids, but they stuck it out and I think they had a really good time.
I try to give all children the benefit of the doubt, but this brother and sisters duo really challenged me, I walked out at the end and all I could say to my self was WOW. Moving on....
Miss Michele always does a fantastic job, she loves what she does and she loves the kids. We started with some crafts, moved onto some songs once the Big Man arrived and then he read us all story, finished off with some pictures and candy canes.
It was a stretch for us because it didn't even start until 7PM, which is very close to bed time for the kids, but they stuck it out and I think they had a really good time.
Gift Giving
Not trying to toot my own horn or get all emotion, but I wanted to capture this.
For those of you who know me, know that I can't wait to give gifts for the holidays. I have a very hard time not giving gifts earlier than I am supposed....I always struggle with this...
This year there is a gift that I am especially struggling with. I wanted to give it to my SIL 2 weeks ago. As soon as I came up with the idea of giving this gift I couldn't think of anything else until I had it, or it was made. I am not saying it is "the perfect gift" by any means, but it means a lot to me and I am sure it will mean just as much to my sister in law.
She has entered into a whole new world the past few months, and I want her to know that I support her 100% of the way.
My gift started out as a simple order from a blogger online, who happens to have already taken the journey that my SIL is taking right now. Without realizing it, my money was refunded and my gift canceled. I guess they ran out of the sizes I needed. So here I am a 2 weeks out from Christmas and the gift I was most excited about just got messed up. I wasn't going to be happy until I figured out some way to make it happen.
So my journey starts with making purchases at walmart, not in the right colors or sizes that I wanted, but it would have to do with the time frame I was dealing with. Next stop was Old Navy where I found all the right colors, but 2 were short sleeves and 1 was long sleeve...we were getting there. Then I walked back to walmart to return those that I had purchased a few moments before. So....I had the blank shirts...half the battle.
A guy in town and also a family friend does screen printing, I emailed him tons of pictures, told him what I was looking for, gave him a print out when I dropped off the shirts and left hoping for the best. When I got them back I was elated, they had turned out exactly as I had hoped, now my only problem was holding onto them for a week until Christmas.
So we have one style done!
In true Wendy fashion, I always outdo myself, while sitting on these shirts for a few days, I came up with a different style that I liked even more than the first. One stop to a different walmart and I was off with more blank shirts. Screen printed the following day and a little sewing by me (not a pretty sight)...
and we have round 2!
Needless to say I can't wait to give these to Sierra. Technically she gets to open them because I didn't get her a toy, but I think they are for Kris as much as they are for the rest of the kids.
So to Kris, you know I support you 100%, and I can't wait for you to have these shirts. To me, they already mean a lot more than just a t-shirt. To me they represent the paper work journey you have already been on, everything that you are hoping for and the physical journey you have yet to take. I hope you love them as much as I do. I am so excited for you and your family and I can't wait to meet my little niece or nephew. I know we still have awhile to wait, and the hardest part of your journey hasn't even started yet, but I am right here with you wishing, waiting, and hoping. From when you get that first picture, to when you hop on that plane to Africa, I wish you nothing but the best. So here is to you, what you are doing and one less. XOXO
First Idea
Second Idea
For those of you who know me, know that I can't wait to give gifts for the holidays. I have a very hard time not giving gifts earlier than I am supposed....I always struggle with this...
This year there is a gift that I am especially struggling with. I wanted to give it to my SIL 2 weeks ago. As soon as I came up with the idea of giving this gift I couldn't think of anything else until I had it, or it was made. I am not saying it is "the perfect gift" by any means, but it means a lot to me and I am sure it will mean just as much to my sister in law.
She has entered into a whole new world the past few months, and I want her to know that I support her 100% of the way.
My gift started out as a simple order from a blogger online, who happens to have already taken the journey that my SIL is taking right now. Without realizing it, my money was refunded and my gift canceled. I guess they ran out of the sizes I needed. So here I am a 2 weeks out from Christmas and the gift I was most excited about just got messed up. I wasn't going to be happy until I figured out some way to make it happen.
So my journey starts with making purchases at walmart, not in the right colors or sizes that I wanted, but it would have to do with the time frame I was dealing with. Next stop was Old Navy where I found all the right colors, but 2 were short sleeves and 1 was long sleeve...we were getting there. Then I walked back to walmart to return those that I had purchased a few moments before. So....I had the blank shirts...half the battle.
A guy in town and also a family friend does screen printing, I emailed him tons of pictures, told him what I was looking for, gave him a print out when I dropped off the shirts and left hoping for the best. When I got them back I was elated, they had turned out exactly as I had hoped, now my only problem was holding onto them for a week until Christmas.
So we have one style done!
In true Wendy fashion, I always outdo myself, while sitting on these shirts for a few days, I came up with a different style that I liked even more than the first. One stop to a different walmart and I was off with more blank shirts. Screen printed the following day and a little sewing by me (not a pretty sight)...
and we have round 2!
Needless to say I can't wait to give these to Sierra. Technically she gets to open them because I didn't get her a toy, but I think they are for Kris as much as they are for the rest of the kids.
So to Kris, you know I support you 100%, and I can't wait for you to have these shirts. To me, they already mean a lot more than just a t-shirt. To me they represent the paper work journey you have already been on, everything that you are hoping for and the physical journey you have yet to take. I hope you love them as much as I do. I am so excited for you and your family and I can't wait to meet my little niece or nephew. I know we still have awhile to wait, and the hardest part of your journey hasn't even started yet, but I am right here with you wishing, waiting, and hoping. From when you get that first picture, to when you hop on that plane to Africa, I wish you nothing but the best. So here is to you, what you are doing and one less. XOXO
First Idea
Sorry for the cellphone pictures, the gift is already wrapped and these are the only pictures I have, but I will see if I can get a good picture of her 3 kids in them on Christmas day or whenever they wear them! If you can't tell, the button I sewed on it in the shape of a heart :)
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Familiar Situation
Some of you who have been reading this for awhile will remember a post from a few years back that had a little something to do with Brooke locking herself in the bathroom.
Quick re-cap:
She locked herself in, she was 1, I was a good 6 months or so pregnant with Brandon, Eric was already at work, the screwdrivers didn't worked, so I ended up kicking down the bathroom door.
Fast forward:
The door has never been fixed...big surprise, but I'm glad it hasn't been (you can still close it and lock it as is so no biggie).
A few nights ago at my moms house Brandon figured out how to lock doors on purpose, and now knows how to lock the bathroom door. Long story short, he locked the door, I went to get check on the bath because the water was running....and I couldn't get in!!!
Luckily Eric was home this time, and the screw driver worked for him. No damage done, but the bath was FULL!
So to all you parents our there, have keys for all the rooms that have locks or be prepared to improvise!
Never a dull moment :)
Quick re-cap:
She locked herself in, she was 1, I was a good 6 months or so pregnant with Brandon, Eric was already at work, the screwdrivers didn't worked, so I ended up kicking down the bathroom door.
Fast forward:
The door has never been fixed...big surprise, but I'm glad it hasn't been (you can still close it and lock it as is so no biggie).
A few nights ago at my moms house Brandon figured out how to lock doors on purpose, and now knows how to lock the bathroom door. Long story short, he locked the door, I went to get check on the bath because the water was running....and I couldn't get in!!!
Luckily Eric was home this time, and the screw driver worked for him. No damage done, but the bath was FULL!
So to all you parents our there, have keys for all the rooms that have locks or be prepared to improvise!
Never a dull moment :)
New Words
It is always exciting when your children learn new things and new words. With that said, it's always fun when those new words are "my" and "mine" or as Brandon regularly says these days "mines".
Before asking for a drink he would say "drink please" and now he says "my drink".....not sure how we jumped from A to B, but we are working on getting back to A.
It is so funny how the second child learns so much faster than the first in certain situations, especially ones concerning possession of things.
Before asking for a drink he would say "drink please" and now he says "my drink".....not sure how we jumped from A to B, but we are working on getting back to A.
It is so funny how the second child learns so much faster than the first in certain situations, especially ones concerning possession of things.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Santa
We finally went to go see Santa today. It went pretty well, we've never really had a screaming moment with him. The only screaming picture we have was with the Easter bunny when Brooke was a few months old.
When Brooke was Brandon's age she didn't want to go close to Santa, but Brandon didn't have any problems this year. He acted shy, kept his head turned away and didn't look at Santa, but sat on his lap and got his picture taken.
When Brooke was Brandon's age she didn't want to go close to Santa, but Brandon didn't have any problems this year. He acted shy, kept his head turned away and didn't look at Santa, but sat on his lap and got his picture taken.
EMMA
My sister-in-law lives fairly close to us so we see her on a pretty regular basis. Our kids are close in age so it works out pretty well! During our last visit, Brandon couldn't seem to get enough his cousin Emily. He kept yelling "Emma" while we were trying to eat lunch. He even climbed down off his seat and insisted he had to sit with Emily. Finally, he got what he wanted, and was happy as a clam.
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