Oh, Boy.

In the world of little boys there is not much down time. Maybe the occassional nap (if Mommy is lucky!), but for the most part it is 110% go time all the time. My boys are all boy. Through and through - snakes and snails (and rocks) and puppy dogs' tails... They are drawn toward dirt and bugs like a chef to an unchopped onion. It's like they can just SENSE its presence in the room and are utterly determined to exploit it for all its worth. And then eat it.

Brayden got his first real black eye this weekend. Jumping on the bed. No matter how many times you tell him not to do something, he feels that he NEEDS to continue doing so. Even after his near brush with death, he can still be found using his mattress as an indoor trampoline. Boy.

Tyler was found the other day with a runny nose. And a ladybug stuck in his snot. Boy.

Brayden recently decided that it's worthwile to learn how to make himself fart. And although that probably comes from me, it's still a BOY tendency. So... Boy.

Tyler has already learned how to wrestle and understands what "Get 'em!" means. Boy.

It also seems that the boys think our house is one giant jungle gym. Anything that sits, stands or lays still for more than a few seconds is likely to get scaled. But watch out, because it's also likely to become formerly mentioned trampoline as well.

But I have to admit that (even though I'm worn out most of the time) my days aren't boring. Ever. And with both boys doing something new almost every day, it's even kind of fun. Brayden is starting to pick up new words - today he learned hiccup (ah-gop) and tried to sing, "I just want to celebrate...another day of life!" (well, he sang "el-bay....iiiiii-eeeee"). Tyler is getting closer and closer to walking. Anyday now. And we think he's starting to try talking, too!! He will mock our sounds and about 80% of the time we can tell that he's trying to say something after us!! I can't believe that my little boys are growing up so quickly. I'm sure that I have so much more boy-ness to look forward to....

If You're Happy and You Know It....Say NO!

Two major things with two major boys. Tyler has figured out "If You're Happy and You Know It." He claps at all the right spots and knows to wait for the "clap your hands" part. It's just too cute. He gets this proud and happy look on his face whenever he's doing it, too. Then there's Brayden... He's learned the word, "No." He says it ALL the time now, even if he's not really meaning "no" at the time (e.g. "Brayden, do you love Daddy?" "No."). He says it so defiantly, too. It's so very funny. Well, sort of. Before now he'd just ignore us when we told him to do something, but now he tells us no. Amusing, huh?

And in other news... We got our taxes done and thanks to our two little tax breaks, we're getting a hefty amount back. Using almost all of it to pay off debt, but had to use a little to get a new dryer. And washer. But we got a good deal - 15% off sale price, $200 off the washer/dryer combo and 12 months no interest/no payments. So we got a black Whirlpool Cabrio - which is what I've wanted for over a year now (well, the Cabrio, not necessarily the black...). John's really excited, though because HE wanted the black ones. The only thing that stinks is that we have to wait until 2/5 to get them... Oh well, though.

Brayden is 2 years old...

I can't believe that two years could go by so fast. John & I say all the time that it's hard to remember Brayden as a baby because it's all been blurred by Tyler coming into our lives. But at the same time, I can still see it all as clear as day because being a mommy for the first time doesn't just disappear. It seems like from the day they are born and on, a child is doing something new every day. You'd think it would slow down after they start walking and stuff, but no. You can just SEE Brayden's brain expanding every day. It may be a new word or some new physical skill (like scaling the wall to get to his lamp), but let me just say no day is boring with this kid around. He never ceases to amaze me at the things he figures out and/or remembers. Just today at the doctor's office, he remembered that the toys were in a drawer - not on the shelf. Or yesterday, we sang "Happy Birthday" to him and after that he started singing it himself. Mind you, he's probably only heard the song a handful of times in his entire life!! But my favorite thing that he has started to do in the last month is how he brushes his teeth. I'd been having problems getting him to open his mouth and let me brush his teeth - but he was perfectly willing to chomp down on the brush once it was in there. So one night, out of the blue, I started "singing" the theme to 2001: A Space Odessy (you know - dum, Dum, Dum, DA-DUM! Bum bum, bum bum, bum bum, bum bum). And lo and behold, he opened up. Then the next night - this happened:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v675/ritzbits/?action=view&current=102_4927.flv

Steel trap, I tell ya! The kid can remember anything. But he's got a stubborn streak in him that mirrors mine to no end. He will (most of the time) refuse to say or do things on command unless he wants to. He does not like to be told no, and when told no will see if there is some other way to do said thing without getting caught. He's the classic "toe the line" kind of kid. And I guess I should put his stats in here as well - he's 35" tall (36" if he's laying down - which is how they measured him at the doctor) and 27.5 lbs. We were so excited about his height because at 36", he can ride some of the bigger rides for kids at SDC!!! I can't wait to let him ride a roller coaster!!! Well, anyway - we're heading to Fletcher tomorrow and so I need to go to bed.

And stuff...

I really don't have anything to say, much less anything DEEP, but I just realized I need to write something, even if it's nothing. We've had a few weeks of new stuff - Brayden's learning a new word or two every day. He still isn't talking *clearly* but I know what he's saying and he'll usually attempt to say a word at least once. Ty has started babbling and it seems like he knows what he's saying. He'll say, "mamamamama" when he's upset and wants me. "Dadadada" toward John and "Bababababa" around Brayden.

Brayden has started saying words together like, "Brrrr - Cold!" and "Whoa! Wazzat?" His cutest thing right now though is any loud knock or bang he yells, "Min!" which of course is "Come in." I'm trying to teach him to say, "Who's there?" instead so that we can work on jokes. He and Ty dressed up as Batman & Robin for Halloween. They were so cute!!! Brayden can say "Ba-men!" Ty pulled up all the way to his feet for the first time yesterday. We think he'll be an early walker like Brayden was. It's so exciting to see him growing up, but John & I both miss having a little bitty baby.

We finally paid John's car off this week. One less bill, but it still seems like we never can catch up. We're hoping for a really good tax return to put towards debt and climb out of our hole. It sure would be nice to have some breathing room. It's odd because I'm not super worried about stuff, but I probably should be. :)

Okay, Brayden's done eating & Ty's fussing, so I have to go. Now.

Icky finicky

I have the blahs. I also have the angries. This causes problems. I don't want to do anything, and EVERYTHING is upsetting me, but I don't want to do anything about it, so I get more angry because I'm not getting anywhere. Make sense? Not to me either. I think I'm nuts. Oh well. I'm not sure, but I think it may be a touch of PMS. I don't want it to be, but at least then I'd feel justified in my craziness.

This week's been hectic already. We had missions emphasis at Newcastle this entire weekend which meant lots of driving and trying to be social when we were tired. But it all went fairly well. We spent the weekend at Mom & Dad's though so they could watch Brayden while we were missioning. That helped out a ton. I'd have liked to leave Tyler too, but Mom isn't quite comfortable with that yet since he's still attached to his food source (i.e. me).

Last night I didn't get a whole lot of sleep... Tyler decided he didn't want to sleep alone, so I took him and slept with him on the couch in the living room. That actually wasn't too uncomfortable, but at the same time, it's a lot more pleasant to sleep without a child on you. But I have to remind myself that these days don't last very long and someday I'll be wishing that I had my little cuddlebug back. Maybe.

Herman & Melissa had their baby last night. His name is Noah Rylan. He was born at 1:40 am, weighed 7 lbs 13 oz and was 20 in long. He looks a lot like Herman. Holding him gave me baby fever again, but I think my ickies tonight made me get over them. I really feel like I'm not a BAD mom, but at the same time, I'm not the best either. I get really frustrated easily and have a hard time coping with the crying boys when I'm tired. I think it all comes down to me being selfish. I'd rather do things like mess on the computer, watch TV or play xbox than do laundry, dishes or read a book to the boys. I would really like to work on that, but I keep making excuses or saying to myself that I'll do it later or tomorrow...

Tyler is 6 months! (and more)

We all kind of slept in today - until 8!! That was nice. Ty actually woke up at 7:30 but I put him in the pack-n-play and he just goofed off for 30 minutes. So then we all got up and Brayden & John had breakfast. Then John headed out to mow. I got some stuff done and then the DHL guys came with part 1 of John's birthday present (the tv wall mount). So he spent the next few hours setting all that up. He got the tv on the wall right about noon and we had to leave because Ty's appointment was at 1:30. So we went and had pizza at Pizza Hut for lunch and then rushed to the doctor. Brayden did a pretty good job waiting... He now likes to smile at strangers and say something that sounds like "hi!" It's a riot. Ty & I finally got called back (only to wait some more). He is 27 1/4" long and weighs 17 lbs 4 oz, that puts him in the 75th and 40th percentiles respectively. Dr. Holter said that it's right about where he likes to see breastfed babies at this age. We talked a little about Ty's rash that I assumed was from the rice cereal. He said to try oatmeal cereal and that I can start introducing veggies and then fruits. I can't believe Ty's this old already. Where'd my baby go???

After the appointment, we all went to Lowes to get a shelf for the A/V stuff and then to Walmart. I had to do some grocery shopping, so I took Brayden and John took Tyler. Things took a little longer than expected. Brayden kept wanting to help push the cart, but then would stop and run away. I tried putting him in the cart, but then he wanted out... When we finally got done, we went to the pharmacy to ick up Ty's prescription for his diaper rash. Of course it wasn't done yet - why would it be??? So we had to wrestle the boys for another 30 minutes or so... Yuck. By the time we got home it was almost 4. Brayden needed a nap; Tyler needed to eat. John finished the mounting of the A/V stuff and tv. I dealt with Tyler... Tons of fun.

But tonight - Ty actually crawled!! He moved his arms and knees!!! We were really surprised and excited. Also, Brayden tried to repeat after me when I said, "A-B-C." The boys are both growing up so quickly.

Tyler is 6 months!

I cannot for the life of me believe that my baby is already six months old. Time has just FLOWN by. He's getting more alert by the day. He interacts with Brayden a lot - even when Brayden doesn't want him to. They enjoy watching The Backyardigans together. It's really funny because Ty giggles when he hears the theme song. Reminds me a lot of Brayden a year ago. He's already pushing up and scooting - he has yet to actually crawl, though. Friday he learned how to push himself up into a sitting position. He's doing it all the time now.

We have his 6 month checkup at the doctor's tomorrow, so I'll come back then and post his stats and a few more things. But right now I need to go and cuddle him... He's crying instead of sleeping. But that's my boy!

Somewhere in Missouri

John, Tyler, Alan, Jen and I all took the long car ride to Branson this weekend!! In fact, we're there right now. Alan & Jen were going, and John's been wanting to go so bad, that we just decided to tag along. (We left Brayden with Grandma because we weren't prepared to deal with any toddler meltdowns.) We're all sharing the hotel room, gas money, and FUN!!! John, Alan & Jen went go-kart racing last night (Ty and I went to the outlet mall to check for good sales... no luck), then we all went to Shorty Smalls for dinner. We headed back to the hotel room after that and stayed up WAAAAY too late playing Phase 10. It was a lot of fun, though. This morning (not so) bright and early, we all got up and around and headed to Silver Dollar City. We all have season passes (thanks to Mom & Dad giving them to us for Christmas!!) and we had 4 guest passes with us as well. Obviously most people who are coming to SDC at this time of year have season passes, so it was kind of tough to find people to use them on, but finally after waiting a little while, this couple came our way. They were actually from Canada (!) and were so excited that we wanted to take them in for free! They even took our picture!! We're probably gonna end up in someone's scrapbook.

So we get into the park... John sees that the cake/bakery when you first come in has BISCUTS & GRAVY!!!! So of course he had to get some. He's chowing down on them while we walk through the park heading toward some rides. He has them all eaten before we even get to Wildfire. They all rode while Ty & I watched. I didn't want to ride because the last few times I've gone on it, I've gotten a really bad headache... So then we headed to Powder Keg. After a while, I see John finally coming out of the ride and he's pointing at this little kid beside him. I'm thinking, yeah, that's nice, you rode with a kid. And then I look more closely and it's my cousin Peter!!! It just so happened that John got in line RIGHT BEHIND my uncle and two of his four kids. Crazy stuff. Their whole family and my Aunt's mom, dad & sister were there today having fun, too! It was so great to see them - since we moved, we don't see our Arkansas family as much as we used to...

After all of that, we headed to some other rides - Alan & Jen rode the new Barn Swing - that was INSANE stuff. Then we wanted to eat, so I got fajitas; Alan got a Philly Cheesesteak and we all chowed down. BUUUUUT, then it started to rain. And it pretty much rained the rest of the day off and on. But we had ponchos and Ty did okay in the snuggli under the poncho. We still had a TON of fun. It was just so great to be back here having fun. Not being able to come to Branson on any given weekend is one of the only downfalls of not living in Joplin anymore.

SOOOOOOOOOOOO.... the day's winding down... Alan & Jen are out eating Olive Garden (John & I had pizza in the room so Ty could sleep). As soon as they get back, we're going to go putt putting at Pirate Golf! John's napping right now too so I hope that when they get back he'll be all charged up. We've had such a great time so far! We needed the vacation so very badly. And Branson was pretty much the perfect place. It's so relaxing for us here - it's where we used to go on weekends to "get away", where we go for Christmas with our families, and where we went on our honeymoon. It's just full of "warm fuzzies." You know?

This ended up being a lot longer than I'd intended.... Isn't it always? So in closing, I'll just say thank you to Erin for keeping us posted about the OU game while we were in the park. Thanks to Mom & Dad for keeping Brayden. And to Alan & Jen for letting us invade their space. That is all.

Alan's Married & Ty's 3 months!

Not only did my baby brother get married today, but MY baby is three months old. Yikes. Where does time go? Watching my little baby brother stand up next to the woman he's now married to, smiling during the ENTIRE ceremony made me realize how fast it all goes by. Alan was only 10 when I left home, so in a lot of ways, that's how old he'll always be to me. I can't believe that he's a man - grown up, moved out and married. I know that someday soon I'll be sitting in a church crying as my little boy walks me down the aisle so I can give him away to the woman that will take my place. It seems so impossible right now, but I know it's all only a breath away.

But I also need to talk about how Ty is growing & changing for my memory's sake. He's transitioning into size 2 diapers & FB mediums - so I guess he's probably weighing around 15.5-16 lbs now... He can fit some 6-9 clothes, but he's still mostly in 3-6. He's always got a smile for you...IF you're holding him. He is such a cuddler - he hates to be put down or left alone. He loves to "babble" and squeal. He found his thumb/hand this weekend and has started smacking on it any chance he gets. I'm not sure if it's because he wants to suck his thumb or because he's working on teething (he's drooling excessively also). We're trying to get him to roll over, but he's not in to it. He does scoot, though. It takes him a lot time to get anywhere (he mostly does it when he's frustrated), but he can really get around. He's almost worked himself off of our bed!! He's a good napper - sometimes he'll sleep for 2-3 hours!! He doesn't sleep through the night yet, but he's come close a few times. He usually gets his last feeding/play time around 11ish and then sleeps until around 3 or 4. Of course he sleeps the best if he's in the Snuggli or if we're holding him while he's asleep. I put him in the walker the other day and he really seemed to like that, which wasn't surprising considering that he LOVES to "stand up" while we're holding him. He also likes the Johnny Jump-Up. I think he's going to be an early walker like Brayden was. I guess that's about all?? I just have to say, though... Tyler is the most adoreable baby in the world. I love him to pieces and can't wait to see what kind of little boy he's going to be!!!

One down...Five to go

Junior High camp starts today... We've got 160+ gonna be here. Yikes. But that's nothing - we had 180 last week for Senior High. It's so great that camp is growing again. I'm still miffed that so many bunks were removed from cabins and then DESTROYED. I mean, come on - we could really use some of those beds now. And where are all the mattresses???? (And why is the rum always gone? Just kidding.) Back when I went to camp here, we could sleep 18 per cabin!!!! Now it's down to 12-13! That's a LOT of campers that we could be housing that we are unable to. Granted, there's a lot of space in the cabins now, but seriously it wasn't THAT bad when I was a camper. In fact, I enjoyed having so many in our cabin.

On to other things...

Brayden STILL isn't talking. He's started mumbing sentences in toddler-speak, but I can't understand a word of it. Every now and then there happens to be an understandable word, but I never know if it's on purpose or not. Like he says something that sounds like, "Gotta go!" (for going outside), but I'm not sure if that's actually what he's saying. He has started being able to point to body parts when asked. His favorite is his belly button (and jamming his finger in anyone else's too!). I know he knows how to count - he says something like "one, two, three" and then does something like fall down or throw a ball. Also, his Baby Tad (a Leapfrog stuffed animal) has a 6-minute lullaby countdown, but you have to hit the button 6 times to get it to the limit. He knows how many is 6 - he'll press it 6 times and then stop and smile. And he got out my rubber gloves the other day and put them on. He LOVED camp last week... He got to swim, run around, eat lots of food AND play on some big congo drums (there's a name for them like jimbo drums or something, but I'm so un-musically inclined that I have no idea what they were saying they were, and even if I did, I couldn't spell it). He is going to be like Daddy and play every instrument he can get his hands on. But I think he's always going to lean toward the drums.

Tyler is cooing more and more everyday. He has started being able to see farther distances - he'll track us as we walk across the room. He is such a cuddler. He HATES being put down or left alone. He almost rolled over the other day, but alas, it was just chance. He loves his swing and being strapped onto me in the Bjorn carrier. I've mastered being able to have Tyler strapped to me and carrying Brayden on my hip at the same time. Oh... by the way, Ty's 2 month well-baby appointment was last week... he is up to 14.5 lbs!! Brayden got on a scale, too - he weighs 25. Both boys have nice little round bellies. We still haven't found a food that Brayden won't eat.

Well, anyway... time is ticking away and the campers will be here before I know it - before I'm READY for it. So I gotsta git. Please keep us in your prayers - trials seem to be the norm this year and it's starting to wear on us. Thanks!!!