The Wheels on the Bus

Andrew rode the bus home from school today. He was SOOO excited when I told him he gets to go on the bus with the kids. The whole way to school he kept saying “ bus…kids…bus…kids”. I have to admit I was waaaayyy less than excited about the whole ordeal. Carter’s napping schedule was the last little push to let Andrew ride the bus home. Carter’s morning nap has been varying in time and length and it would just be easier to let Andrew ride home on the bus so I don’t have to worry about when to put him down and how long he can sleep. (good thing too because he slept for 2 1/2 hours this morning and I would have had to wake him up to get Drewbie!)

The bus driver told me when she would be arrive, so I was ready and watching 10 minutes before that – well…..he got home about 5 minutes later than she had guessed….I mean really…he was on the bus for another 45 minutes since school got out! He didn’t mind though. As you can tell by the picture he was not thrilled to see me! He cried and cried when he had to get off the bus. I am glad he likes it though. I am still not ready to let him ride the bus to school. Hey, as long as I still am able to take him and walk him to class, why not!

I am so proud of Andrew. He is doing so well in school and has made some really great friends. He is showing improvements and is starting to catch on to the routine. I can’t wait to help in his class next week!

This was the only picture I was able to get because he started crying when he had to get off the bus and had quite the melt down. Hopefully one of these I can capture his love for the bus in a picture!

A Time to Celebrate

March 26th, 2008, a day I will remember forever and ever. Last year on this day we were so blessed to be able to officially make Andrew a part of our family. It was a long awaited day and we are so grateful for him and all the joy he brings to our lives.  Julia shared a story with me a while ago about a child who was explaining adoption to her peers in school…..“it is when you grow in your mommy’s heart instead of her stomach.” My little Drewbie grew in my heart and I would not have wanted it any other way. He is such an amazing little boy and I love him so very much.

We love you Andrew!

I Smell T-R-O-U-B-L-E-

I may need to put a baby gate up around the computer!

Carter love, love, loves to be underfoot while I am working. He plays with the printer, holds onto my leg, stands holding onto the keyboard tray and reaches his chubby littler finger onto the number pad and pushes enter and 9 a gazillion times. Thank goodness for the undo button!

 

Good thing he is so darn cute!

The Daily Grind

We were in need of flour, white flour to be exact; the kind we use to make cinnamon rolls and other scrumptious baked goods. Bry and my conversation went something like this is the car…

M: We need more white flour, but the Costco by us only has some off brand and I don’t know if I trust it. Can we go to the Costco by my mom’s to see if they have a better kind?

B: Sure, we can check, but what are we going to do if they don’t have a good kind.

M: I don’t know – we will figure something out.

B: Well, maybe we just need to get some white wheat.

This is where I started laughing…white wheat – nice Bry! If only white flour from the store was as good as ground whole white wheat flour. I am very picky about my flour since I tried an off brand flour once and it was disgusting!!! We did end up buying the kind from Costco so hopefully it will turn out. And yes, I will grind our white wheat, but that is to make our whole wheat bread. I love these kinds of moments….Bry is so smart all the time and I love it when I can catch him off guard a little! He sure makes me smile!

Happy Birthday To Me

I had a very fun birthday weekend this year turning the big 2-5 on March 7th. Bryan was not hesitant in reminding me that I am now a quarter of a century. Thanks Bry! I had a wonderful weekend and got to spend part of it with our wonderful friends Ryan and Megan who came in from out of town for a concert!

The night before my birthday the Hamblys arrived and Bry took my out to dinner. The previous week he asked where I wanted to go and when I picked Islands he said no and that I had to pick somewhere that took reservations. He ended up choosing the Cheesecake Factory for me. Then I asked if we could take the boys and he said no, he had already lined up a babysitter.  I asked if my sisters could come and he said no he thought we should just spend the time with the Hamblys. Wow, I thought – this birthday dinner sounds like a blast! The babysitter arrived and off we went. When we arrived at the restaurant I saw Rich and then Shelley….I didn’t put it together right away that they were there for me. I just thought it was a coincidence! Wrong! Shell, Lu, Rich, and Jason all met us there for dinner! We had a great time – we had a mixture of good meals and not so good meals at the table, but I am pleased to say I ordered something yummy. It was “Crispy Chicken Costoletta”  Chicken Breasts, Lightly Breaded and Sauteed to a Crisp Golden Brown. Served with Lemon Sauce, Mashed Potatoes and Fresh Asparagus

 

My actual birthday started with Krispy Kremes….yum-a-lum (my favorite is the chocolate iced cream filled and the apple filled) 

and then I gave Carter his first hair cut! We spent the afternoon at an outside mall perusing around and had lunch.

That evening we took care of Ryan and Megan’s sweet little Reed. Bry and I relaxed and just took time to be together. It was really nice. That night around midnight or so I decided I wanted to open by birthday present so Bryan brought in the previously posted about hard floor vacuum! I so love this thing.

On Sunday we had church and then went to my parents for dinner, cake, and presents. It was so nice. We had DIVINE tri-tip – it  melt in your mouth, amazing red meat! We played outside for a while as well so the kids could burn some energy.

Bryan even made me a birthday cake that morning with Andrew – yes, I know you very impressed – I sure was! It was so good and we enjoyed it allll week long!

I was so excited to get some much needed new clothes from my parents along with some mango chutney – I am way excited to use it in a recipe. Then my mom got me started with quilting supplies since I want to make Andrew’s quilt for his new big boy bed (when we finally move him into it). 

All in all it was a great day and weekend. I am happy to be twenty-five…a quarter century old! I can’t wait to see what this year has in store for me!

 

Round is a Shape

Alright, so I am not exactly round, but I do need to get my bum in gear. After all, summer is coming! I decided to jump on the band wagon and do Body For Life with my husband, Shell and Rich.

Today was my first attempt…no more mid afternoon secret ice cream fixes, nibble of dark chocolate here and there, and sugar cereal for breakfast! I was determined to be “good” today. I had a BFL breakfast of Total and a hard boiled egg…got Carter down for his morning nap and told Andrew it was time to dance with mommy! I am a huge fan of Turbo Jam so I figured why not start back up. I popped my DVD in and had a go. Seriously…..I was out of breath by minute 13 of the 20 minute workout. I mean come on…I did this when I was pregnant!!!!! Apparently I am a little more out of shape than I realized, but I did make it through and am ready to do more this week. I can only imagine how sore I am going to be tomorrow – but I LOVE being sore after working out.

Hopefully I can maintain this being “ good” the rest of the week. We are hoping to invest in a treadmill here soon so I can do some running while at home with the boys.

Summer, watch out - here I come!!!

Clean Sweep

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Usually getting a vacuum for a wife on her birthday is not the smartest idea…but not the case this year! I really wanted this cool floor vacuum I had used at my sister-in-law’s house. With two little ones I find the floor permanently covered in crumbs and little bits of just “stuff” and it can be a pain to get out the broom to sweep multiple times a day. It was getting old quickly. But this is not the case with this little puppy! The Electrolux Ergorapido 2-in-1 is amazing! It sits on its charger in the corner ready to go and then you can vacuum the floor and even detach the hand dust buster type thingy to clean out the highchair!!! Even emptying the dirt holder is easy breezy. Andrew thinks it is pretty fun to vacuum as well. I carry it to all the rooms that have hard floors, i.e. bathroom, laundry room, etc.  Thanks for the birthday present Bry!!! No doghouse for you!!! If you are looking, Costco is where he found it – definitely a great investment.

Let Them Eat Cake

Nap schedules have changed one again and I find myself with an hour or two one on one time with Carter in the afternoon after Andrew goes down and before he is ready to go down for his second nap. What better to fill the time than a sweet treat to share with this little munchie! This past week we had leftover birthday cake with a glass of milk. Carter was pretty excited. He knows now when I sit on the couch with a little plate and cup that something tasty is coming!! You don’t think he enjoyed it do you?!

Stud Muffins

I love these matching shirts for the boys. They are quite the good lookin’ pair! Carter was not to happy to sit on the floor for the picture, but Andrew was such a big brother to try and help out.

Ten Months

Ten months have come and gone. At times I feel like he was born just yesterday, but other times I realize what a big boy he is getting to be. I just love this little munchkin and the change and excitement he brings into our lives everyday! He is really coming into his own personality. He is definitely a mama’s boy these days. He loves to play with toys that make noise and move, as in the shake-n-go car he has a grip on in the picture. He likes to share food with mommy or daddy and is rather fond of bananas, peas, yogurt, cottage cheese, and ice cream (yup, I admit it – I have let him have sugar). He LOVES water, especially when he can hear running water, as in the faucet, bathtub, or the pond in front of my parent’s house.

• Started eating cheerios on his own 02/13/09. He still struggles sometimes with hard solids like this – I have had to fish a cheerio out of this throat when it slipped down…not fun. He is getting better though.
• Popped 5th tooth 02/16/09
• Popped 6th tooth 02/19/09
• Popped 7th tooth 03/01/09
• Pulled to a stand on the couch all by himself 02/24
• Can drink out of a sippy cup straw as of 02/23 and then out of a normal straw 02/24!!! Hooray!!!!  We just may be successful in never doing a bottle or a regular sippy cup. The hope is to go from nursing to a cup or straw – so far so good. He does really well with a cup as well!!
• Makes this really cute scrunchy face that is quite silly.
• He loves to climb on me when I lay on the floor. It could entertain him for hours…if I would lay on the floor for hours! He has even started to climb on Andrew when he is on the floor. Andrew panicked at first, but now he thinks it is funny.

• He cruises along the couch very well and will hold on with one hand. This little boy needs to stop trying to be so big!!
• His hair is SO curly when it is wet, but lays so nicely when it is dry. We are still working on getting more on the top of his head though.

• First hair cut on my birthday! He sat so good and didn’t even mind the sound or feel of the clippers.

• He is finally starting to crawl the right way. He has done a little normal crawling, but mostly an army crawl. He will get the hang of it soon I am sure!

I can’t get enough of this baby!!!!