Funny Convos

Lately I have been in the company of toddlers/pre-schoolers and their funny conversations.

While we were giving the kids a bath a couple of nights ago, Brynna looked up at Dj and noticed his mustache he's been growing for Man Day/Fantasy Football this weekend. She touched it and started giggling.

DJ: "yeah, that's daddy's stache."

Brynna: "haha Daddy's stache!"


Convo #2:

Tami: "Hey, guys, (talking to Cade and Brynn) why don't we lay down and rest our eyes."

Cade: "But mom, if we close our eyes, we can't see!!!"

Uncle Kevin comes to visit

My brother, Kevin came to visit for a short, one night stay. He was close by b/c his job required it, so he drove the extra couple of hours to see us and spend the night. This was the first time he has been to our house. It was nice to see him. He arrived around 5:30 on Wed. night and we went out to eat at Red Robin. Kevin had to leave the next morning to head back home, but we were glad to see him even for a short time. Brynna let him pick her up right away, but Baylen wasn't too sure of him. I think Kevin's deep voice kinda scared him a little bit b/c he cried whenever Kevin was holding him and talking at the same time to Dj or I.

Bath time fun

We have been giving both Brynn and Baylen baths at the same time. Now that Baylen is big enough to sit up by himself in our little bath seat, it's much more convenient to get them both clean simultaneously. Both of them love bubbles and Brynn enjoys giving Baylen a bubble mohawk or a bubble beard.

Auntie Mary....

We miss you!!!!!!!!!! Yesterday Brynna asked, "Daddy, where Mary at?" :)

Attention, Brynna...Brynna? Brynna, can you hear me?

LOTS of posts tonight...I know...making up for the weekend and we started meetings today for back to school, so who knows when I'll have time to get on here this week!


Our daughter is addicted to the television. At this point, we were limiting her to only a couple hours of TV during the day in the summer because I didn't want her to think that is all life is about when she's not even 2 years old yet. However, at this point, I know she's addicted. She loves Sesame Street. She loves Barney. She loves Mother Goose. She loves Elmo's World. She loves Baby Einstein. When I try to get her attention when she's watching one of these programs, she totally ignores me and falls into this deep stare just totally involved with the TV. If I stand in front of the TV and try and talk to her, she doesn't make eye contact with me and instead, looks around me like she's saying ("you're a better door than a window...") It's crazy, but true! I think she would watch TV all day if I let her. (The pic above is of her staring at the TV watching one of her favorite shows.)

Baylen's 1st Tractor Ride

This was Baylen's first tractor ride and he loved it. Brynn was in a bad mood and even though she rode along, she cried the entire time Papa was driving. But, Baylen just watched and helped feed the cows hay. :)

Corn...yummmmy

Brynna LOVED eating corn when we stayed at the farm at my parents' house. I will try and upload a video here in a little while of her eating some. :)

New Photos!

Dj posted new photos of Mt. Rainier on our Gallery site. Look over on right side of my blog under "My Favorite Links" and it should be listed under there...they are BEAUTIFUL photos. I love his big camera, because they take such amazing shots. Enjoy!

(We went to Mt. Rainier back at the end of June w/ my sister, Mary before we took off for Iowa. It was a great trip and well worth it.)

You know what's hard?

trying to take care of two little ones when both mommy and daddy are sick as dogs. ugh! It wasn't long after I posted about Bee and Dj being sick that I fell ill. It was nasty. Definitely feeling better today but still recovering. Hopefully tomorrow we'll all feel better. It was rough trying to take care of the kids while we were basically bed ridden. Thankfully Baylen slept all night for us.

vomit and new jeans

this morning, Dj woke me up shouting, "Sarah, get up! Brynn is throwing up all over!" Low and behold, she was vomiting on our bed at 6 a.m. Not something I enjoy waking up to. But, we got her out of bed and I threw her in the tub to clean her off. This is the first time she has ever really thrown up/had the flu. So, once she was out of the tub and in a new pair of Pj's, I threw her back in bed with us and she watched a show on TV and then fell asleep until 10. Poor girl! Dj threw all of our sheets in the wash and that was that. She seems to be feeling much better this afternoon, but I don't think she's 100% yet. When I got home from shopping, I discovered that now Dj's feeling ill with the flu...ugh, I hope Baylen and I are safe....

As for Baylen and I, we headed down to Staples in Burien for Teacher Appreciation Day, which I think was really disappointing this year. Seriously. It was not great. After a 5 min. trip around the store, we headed down to Old Navy b/c they are having a big $7 sale on all kids and baby's jeans, but only today. That place was a MADHOUSE. I did not expect that to happen. However, I found 5 pairs of jeans, 3 for Bee and 2 for Baylen...(boys' sizes in infant were hard to find) and stood in line for about 30 minutes. It was worth it, though, because the jeans were so cheap.

Oh Mommies....You better

Potty Success!

Update from daycare: Brynna went potty in the potty chair today at daycare TWICE! yayy! :) Today is a happy day! :)

Mister Porkchop and Princess Peanut

Lots of random things to write about today:


Mister Baylen Boo is quite the star at our house right now, because he is doing so well sleeping on his back. Last night, he didn't want to sleep in his carseat at all. REPEAT: he wanted nothing to do with his carseat. :O) He went down about 10 and up at 3:30. He didn't really want to eat and really I think just woke up b/c he had a full diaper. An hour of messing around later, he finally went back down to sleep on his back and was still sleeping when I went in this morning at 8 to check on him. I had to wake him up at 9!

One thing that is very scary though about this sleeping in the pack-n-play..when I went to check on him at 8, he was sleeping on his tummy. That little smartie rolled over and was sleeping soundly. It SCARES me to death that he has figured out how to roll over and sleep that way, just because SIDS scares the hell out of me. I know I am going to have to go check on him several times in the night now just to make sure he's okay...he can lift his head up really well and he's really strong, but still, I don't like it!!!

Brynn loves her new teacher and her new teacher LOVES her. She is one of two girls in the class, and the rest are BOYS. Those boys are sure wild little things! Anyway, Miss Kathy loves Bee because she is so sweet, polite--says please and thank you, and because she listens. (I'm glad she listens to someone!) Brynn has finally mastered the art of jumping off the ground and there's actually air underneath her jump. It's just hilarious to watch. I did manage to record it, so I'll try to get it up later tonight if I have time.

Bee's birthday is fast approaching...Sept. 14 she'll be two years old already. It doesn't seem possible that in about three short weeks, we'll be celebrating. Dj and I have bought her a lot of little gifts this year, although part of me wishes we would have looked into getting like a slide or a sandbox or something like that...a bigger toy. But, I think she'll like the things we picked out for her. Dj really wanted to get her a Baby Alive baby doll, so after much thought, we chose the wets 'n' wiggles doll b/c the baby wets her diaper and it can be changed. We also bought her another set of Melissa and Doug cutting food, a couple of books, a cute little sweater dress with polka dots from Gymboree, and a Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See? puzzle.

I am thinking we'll do a Sesame Street theme and I liked Kati B's Elmo cupcakes she made for Tyler last year, so I think I'll make those for her daycare friends and the party at school. I just hope this year she isn't sick as a dog like she was last year. :(

Daycare Day 2

How many fingers can I fit in my mouth?


Check out my cool Junk Food Tee! :)

Daycare Day 2 seemed to go well for the kids today. Both have adjusted well and I think it's really making them tired at night, which is a good thing. Brynn is still fighting bedtime a little bit yet, but I think once she has to get up at 6:40 a.m., she'll be ready for bed by 8 once we get into a solid routine starting next week. Last night she crashed by 7:00 p.m. and slept all night until 8 a.m.

Baylen slept fairly well last night, (up 2x) but the best part of his sleep was that he slept on his back in the Pack n Play from 9-1:30 which is VERY good for Mister. He is slobbering puddles and constantly chewing on anything he can get in his mouth. This boy is going to be getting a tooth any day now, I have a feeling. I see two big bumps on his bottom gums and little white specks.

Speaking of next week, I can't believe we'll be in school meetings so soon. It doesn't seem possible that our summer is coming to an end. Where did it go?

First Day of School

I have a lot of posts here today--3 already and who knows? I might get to more later. There are so many I need to catch up on from our Iowa Trip. I finally loaded all the videos and such and so now I will work on them little by little in iMovie and try to post a few.

Anyway, both kids had their first day of school today. (Well, Daycare, but we always refer to it as school). Brynna remembered instantly everyone and started saying, "Look, Nicky!" "Look, Jacob!" "Look, Colby!" and also saw quite a few of her favorite teachers from last year and the year before. We took her into her new classroom and immediately, the boys started circling around her and pulling at her pigtails and just kind of getting in her face a little bit. I think they were excited to have her back. She was trying to ignore them pulling at her, and had to push a couple of them away and out of her "space." Anyway, as soon as I left out the classroom door, she saw me and ran to the door and started sobbing calling "Mommy!!!!!" It was so heart wrenching. Of course, all I wanted to do was go running back in there and pick her up and tell her it was okay, but I know from experience that was not the right thing to do, b/c it would make it worse. Plus, I was going to be back to pick her up in 2 hours. Also, Brynna has to wear a bike helmet now when they go outside to play b/c they are playing on more cemented areas. While it scares me that she'll fall or get pushed down and get all scraped up, it does make me feel better they wear helmets for more protection. We bought a cute one at Target for her and she actually likes wearing it. She wanted to wear it to daycare this morning in the car!

Baylen's drop off next door went smoothly. He had a great time playing with all of the other babies and his teachers told me he did a great job and was a good baby. Let's hope he continues to be a good baby for them! He's such a sweetie when he's in a good mood. I am sure he had a lot to look at and there were babies crawling all over the place! :) It makes me happy to know he's one of the younger ones so he'll get a little more contact time b/c he's not so mobile yet. I was sad to leave him, but I know his teachers really well, and I know he'll be fine with both of them. It wasn't as hard as I thought, but then again, it was only for 2 hours...I was back in a short time to pick them up.

(Speaking of good baby, Mister had a good night of sleep--the BEST in a long time, I might add. He slept from 10-4:20 am and then from 5-8:40 a.m.) GOOD BOY! We fed him a 6 oz. bottle of formula (i have to save the bm for daycare) and then I nursed him about an hour later after his bath and he was out. NICEEEEEEEEE. Let's hope it continues. He only made it sleeping on his back in the PnP for about 1.5 hours, but did sleep in his carseat for rest of night. We'll get there on the sleeping on his back thing...step by step. He also loved his new bottles w/ a different nipple...adjusted VERY easily.)

Sat. Night Fun

We had a busy weekend this past couple of days. Sat. night (Dj's bday) we went over to eat dinner with some very good friends of ours. All of us have kids around the same ages, so it's always fun to see them interact and play together. Cade and Brynna couldn't wait to get into the swimming pool and Brynn jumped in with her clothes on! So, after that, C and B decided to shed their garmets and jump in nude. It was quite the funny scene seeing them slide down the slide into the pool naked. So cute! I will not post pics of them doing that on here to avoid any "reporting" of inappropriate pics, but you get my point--they were having fun!
We ate some VERY yummy food (fajitas) and drank some very yummy drinks that were mixed to perfection and had just enough alcohol to create a little tipsy feeling! LOL

Anyway, it was so fun seeing everyone and we hope to do it again soon at our house. Brynna always enjoys playing with Elsi, Sofia and Cade. She LOVEd all of S and E's neat toys both in their playroom and outside! :) Baylen enjoyed being outside all night and loved being passed around to everyone.

Re-connecting with old friends

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to catch up with some old friends, Rachel and Krissy. Krissy and I met when we first started teaching together for the H. District when we both were enrolled in the new teacher mentor program, EIGHT years ago. We have been friends ever since. We spent many wild nights out together, along with Rachel (and Mandy and Brandy) going to bars around the area, dance clubs downtown, parties at each other's houses, shopping, and more. We always had a lot of fun together. Two years ago, Krissy moved back to Montana to be closer to her family. Rachel was busy with her job, and I started having kids...needless to say, we still kept in touch the best we could, but we didn't always talk on a regular basis.

Krissy came into town for a wedding and stayed a few days to hang out. It was SO great to see her. Rachel just lives about 4 miles from me, and there's really no excuse why we shouldn't have been hanging out, but people get busy and life happens. It was SO great to see Rach and help her celebrate her b-day on Fri. night. Krissy and Rachel both met Baylen for the first time last night when they came over to our house for a visit. I miss these girls!

School is starting

Tomorrow the kids start going to daycare. This will be Baylen's first day ever in daycare and Brynna will be returning after a summer vacation. I know she is ready to go back to see her friends and interact and keep busy all day long. I am ready for her to get back into a routine. I am ready for Baylen to go to also get into a more predictable routine, and I am hoping d.c. will "tire" him out so he will sleep better and longer at night. I feel a little guilty for saying I am ready for them to go to school, but I am. I am so tired and it's been a good summer...we've had a lot of fun spending time together, but it's also been very draining and at times, overwhelming and a little lonely. I know when I drop them off tomorrow it won't be easy and I will shed a few tears, but I also know it's going to be good for them to socialize and separate from me a little bit.

Brynn and Baylen have sure started to get along with each other lately and he's always aware of where Brynn is at all times. Brynn is REALLY good at sharing with her little brother and constantly kisses him and hugs him. She also tells him "Nooo Baylen, Stop Baylen!" when he grabs for her hair! haha

Going to be BPA-Free

All this talk and reading I have done on BPA has always concerned me. But to be honest, I knew Avent bottles contained the chemical, but because we already had so many of them, I decided to stick with them to use with Baylen. Dj dropped off the daycare paperwork on Friday and our director told him that she took all of their Avent bottles into Babies 'R Us and exchanged them for BPA-free bottles. I was surprised to hear that BRU would take back used bottles, so I called the store to clarify this policy. To my surprise, YES, they take back USED Avent bottles, as long as they have the nipple and cap--all 4 pieces attached and the customer gets money credited to them to exchange for BPA-free bottles. So, I gathered up about 12 bottles and took them in. Those bottles were worth $47 so I decided to go for the Dr. Brown's BPA-free set. I love the new Born Free brand, but they are SOOOOO expensive, so I opted for the brand that was definitely more reasonable price-wise. Plus, that is the kind they will use at Bay's daycare, so it made the most sense.

Anyway, if interested, I highly suggest you call BRU and ask if they, too, have this policy in place and have interest in exchanging out your Avent bottles for a new BPA-free brand.

Here's what I know:
*The BRU cannot be attached to a Toys 'R Us
*The West Coast BRU stores are participating in this

Here's what I don't know:
*If it's a nationwide policy and all BRU stores are doing it across the country (let's hope so!)

And, be sure to tell all of your mommy friends to check this out...it's definitely worth the exchange!

I'm Convinced...

That the Chiro is doing wonders for Baylen. I'm not saying his sleep patterns are significantly better, BUT, I think it has helped his constipation problems, and I have noticed a bit of a difference in his spit up sessions. (they have decreased in amount) He has been EASIER to get to sleep esp. during the day, which has been a struggle, and he seems like he is in less stress/less pain as far as not arching his back as much, his crying has been less "scream/screech-like in the past 48 hours, etc. I am hoping these treatments will continue to help Mister remain a happy baby ALL the time instead of just a couple of days/times a week.

On another note, we got word of the daycare bill we'll be paying for 2 kiddos come..uh...next month to be exact. Yikes is all I have to say...although, it was a lot less than I was originally expecting, so I guess that is somewhat of a pleasant? surprise...not sure if pleasant is the word I'm looking for, but you get my point. Good thing my teacher's union bargained for a 15% raise this year...it will be interesting to see how much that really is per paycheck. I hope I don't have to coach a 2nd sport this year...b/c that is a lot of work and more stress than I need since I get so darn competitive.

Happy Birthday, Dj and Daddy!

Happy 32nd Birthday, (tomorrow, 8/16) honey! We are so blessed! We hope you have a wonderful birthday! (and enjoy that new Madden video game! Haha)

Love, Sarah, Brynna and Baylen

5 Months Old

Baylen turned 5 months old yesterday. I know everyone says this, but man, our kids grow up way too fast. Brynna will be turning 2 next month and I cannot wrap my mind around that fact, yet either.

Mister has been quite the boy since he arrived back in March. Here are some (mostly) fun things he's been doing lately:

-holding his own bottle
-rolling over everywhere, including in his Pack n Play
-trying to sit up on his own
-laughing hysterically when mom or dad try to "eat" his fingers
-laughs when he's tickled
-tries to pull Brynna's hair ANY chance he gets...seriously and it's so funny, although Bee doesn't think so
-enjoys his saucer
-starting to dislike his swing...he's figured out when all else fails, I put him in there to try and go to sleep
-screams at the top of his lungs OFTEN when he cries, which seems to be OFTEN these days--this is ear piercing (I feel sorry for our neighbors at times, esp. at 3 in the morning)
-I think his 2 bottom teeth are working their way through
-sucks on his fingers/hands constantly
-still enjoys his pacifier
-loves to play with his feet/eat his feet
-enjoys chewing on cold washcloths
-wears 3-6 mo. clothes, 6 mo. clothes and some 6-9 and 6-12 mo. clothes, depending on brand
-still not a great sleeper at night
-takes anywhere from 4-8 oz. of milk
-when he drinks a bottle with formula in it, he drinks it SOOOO slowwwwww....he doesn't really like taking a bottle from mom
-is eating some rice cereal
-is starting to get hair!!!
-his eczema is starting to go away on his head/scalp, thankfully!
-is a strong little guy....very strong
-I can tell he is going to be one stubborn little guy....

He's been really fussy lately, and I'm hoping it's just a short-lived phase. It's definitely been a little frustrating for me, esp, if he has been crying all day long. I feel bad for Brynn when that happens. But, despite his grumpy times, when he's happy, he's so much fun and such a little sweetie. I just can't get over how freaking cute he is! :)

**Oh and I did take little B to the chiro with me yesterday and he's going to go tomorrow with me as well. Turns out, one of the vertebrae in his back is slightly out of place, so Dr. is going to try and help ease it back into place to see if it makes any difference. Let's hope it helps Mister sleep betta!!!!

4 Gen Pics

Here are two 4 Generations photos we took on 7/26/08 at my G'ma Ruth's b-day party. I think they turned out pretty nice. The second one is blurry when it's blown up, though, so that sucks. I can't remember who took the photo for us, but I wish I would have had them take a couple more.


Me, my Mom, Brynna, and my G'ma Jacquie B.




Me, my G'ma Ruth Fitz., Baylen, and my Dad

Uncle Danno Spanno

This is Uncle Daniel. Uncle Daniel is the best uncle. He can carry you up on his shoulders. He can read you stories. He'll jump with you on the trampoline and he'll take you on a ride on the 4-wheeler. He will also go swimming with you or just carry you around. When you are crying and unhappy, he'll pick you up and rock you in the chair to sleep. Uncle Spanno will take you out to see the cows, help you get used to the new dog, Zoey, and lift you in and out of the tractor. Uncle Daniel will help you feed and wash the cows, help you take pictures of Elmo riding a cow, and he will give you gummy treats. Uncle Dan has a good heart and is very kind. Uncle Dan is everyone's favorite. :)