Easter outfits!

I have the kids's Easter outfits all purchased. I bought parts of them in two different weeks b/c I had coupons for each week and wanted to split up the cost a bit. I LOVE love love the Children's Place stuff they have out right now. IT is just darling and it coordinates so well. I have been waiting to find more outfits that match that I can put on the kids that is different than ISU clothing. Thank you CP for creating fun, matching/coordinating outfits. These outfits the kids will also wear in their next round of profess. pics.

Here is what Brynna will be wearing:



Here's what Baylen will be wearing:

Broom Crew!

THe Video of our Broom Crew Performance is up on my Gallery Site...Sarah's .Mac/Mobile Me Gallery and it's the first video titled, "Broom Crew." Enjoy! It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much fun. I haven't done b.c. for like 4 years or so and let me tell you, it was so awesome. :0 We all bought matching shirts, and I ordered all of them from the same guy who did our volleyball uniforms. he was great! Enjoy the video! :) I'll try to have another one on Tuesday when we perform again. Now, of course, everyone who wasn't in broom crew wants to be in it b/c they saw how cool it was. silly people. the kids LOVED IT! we brought the house down. :)

Oh little one

when will you start feeling better? :( Bee came down with a cold a couple of days ago and she's still fighting it. I can just tell that she is not feeling very good tonight especially. Poor girl!
One of the pics is from a nearby bouncy house we visited last Monday and met Cade and friends there. Brynn absolutely LOVED it.

done

Baylen finished his 3rd and final rocephin shot today. Let's hope the "big guns" did the trick. I called ENT Doc today and made an appointment for March 11. He'll have a hearing test and an appt. w/ the Dr. Brynn has recently fallen ill with a cold--runny nose and a cough again. :( She was feeling pretty achy last night so we gave her some Tylenol and she said she felt fine this morning. Not much else to report other than I'm busy as all get out grading since midterm is Friday/Monday, making, finishing and distributing baby invites for a co-worker's baby shower that's next Friday, planning a field trip for next Friday to see Othello, helping the kids with the yearbook pages, and dance practice for Broom Crew, which I'm in charge of--our first performance is this Friday. :) Not to mention I'm a mom to two sick children. I need another week vacation. Good thing spring break is coming in about 4 weeks.

Poor Little Man

Well I have some very disappointing and frustrating news: Baylen's ear infection has returned. This makes #6. This little guy has been sick since he's been about 6 months old. Today when Dr. D. looked in his ears, I could see the disappointment in his face. He said, "ohhh his ear is bulging." He explained it was time to bring out the "big guns" and prescribed Baylen with a strong shot of antibiotics called Rocephin that he has to get in his thigh for the next 3 days. So I will be going to pick him up tomorrow and take him in the afternoon and then Dj will take him on Wed. to get his final shot. I am not fond of the side effects of all of these meds he's had in his little system b/c he gets the runny bunnies every time and diaper rash to match. Not cool.

Dr. D. also wrote us a referral to go see an ENT Dr. downtown. He said that he was afraid all these e.i.'s were going to cause Baylen the inability to hear his own voice to formulate sounds and words. Dr. D. explained that since he is at a critical age where it's important that he continue to babble and start forming more words, that it was necessary to get another opinion or take the next step with the ENT. So, Dr. C., I am hoping you'll have an opening for us soon. And honestly, I am hoping you will be able to tell us what is going on and that tubes is the best solution for Mister's ear issues.

I just feel so bad for Baylen and it breaks my heart everytime he becomes miserable or wakes up in the middle of the night inconsolable. Now it makes me wonder how many of those nights he was up so many times if it was really his ears bothering him. And, as a result of him not feeling well or sleeping well, he's been in our bed off and on the past 2-3 weeks for a couple hours or more at a time b/c that's the only way he'll stay asleep some nights. I don't particularly love him in our bed but when he's feeling poorly, I know it makes him feel better to be close to his mom and dad. Plus, I just can't have him crying and waking up all night and waking up Brynn all the time. She needs sleep too...and because they share a room currently, this is how we have to work things out for awhile. I'm hoping this 3-day round of super strong meds does the trick at least to get him through his b-day alright and then long enough until he sees the ENT.

This Girl...

is rockin' the potty training! Today alone she went potty on the toilet SIX times! :) She initiated 5 out of 6 potty-ing adventures and is doing so great! :) We are so proud of her and she gets a sticker each time she goes potty, which she loves b/c she gets to pick it out. The last week and a half, she's been going every morning when she wakes up and at school, we get usually once, sometimes twice a day. At home, she's doing so well. It just happened all of a sudden...she is getting so close! Yay for Brynn!

Happy Birthday Danno!

I know I'm a few days late w/ the post, but Happy 17th, Daniel! :) Gosh I can't believe you're almost 18....you are making me feel so old.

Happy Birthday, Calleigh!

Happy 1st Birthday, little niece! :) Sorry we couldn't be there to help you celebrate. I am sure you had a great day. :)

P.S. I love your onesie...wonder who got that for you...hehe

More bows

I worked on a few more bows last night and am learning little tricks as I go. I think the hardest part is attaching the clip or barrette on the back b/c I want to get it just right and make it easy enough to clip on. I'm still working on that. I have a few more crafts up my sleeve I am looking forward to trying out. Of course I had to make an ISU bow. :)

Santa Photo Revealed

Finally we were able to not only pick these photos up from Nordstrom's a couple weeks ago, but scan it. Thanks to our friend, Tami, we found that Santa at Nordy's is so much less of a madhouse and if you go at just the right time, there's no line. Last year, we waited almost 30 min. to get our pics with Santa...this year..5 minutes! :) Brynn would not even get out of the stroller to stand by Santa, thus, Mister Mister braved the man in the red suit and did just fine with him.

Mr. "Holden" Sun

Please shine down on meeeeeeeeeeee

Bow-tastic

Briana inspired me to try out this bow making stuff so I grabbed a few spools of ribbon and some other materials I knew I would need. I only had a little bit of time for crafting tonight after the kids went to bed, but I did finish 2 bows. The St. Patty's bow is actually 3 bows put together into one ensemble. As I was working on the bows, I got to thinking that this was definitely not as hard as it looks but it did take me awhile to get them just right. I think for my first couple they turned out pretty cute! :)

Cinderell-Bee

Thank you Gramma Cindy and Papa Kevin for the cool princess dress, crown and shoes! I love it so much! :)

♥ , Brynna

SCrappin'

I'm on vacation all week--mid-winter break. Though I feel somewhat guilty taking the kids to daycare this week, I keep telling myself it's best for to try and keep them on schedule and routine. Plus, I feel it's necessary to take some time for myself. I rarely do that, and this week, it's my turn to do a few things on my own. YEsterday I took advantage of "me" time and did some scrapbooking. I accomplished 6 or 8 pages worth. There are a few journaling things I need to finish/do but the pages themselves are close to being finished. I uploaded most recent page pics to my Mac Gallery...link over on the right. Inspiration does not always come easy to me these days when I have just a short amount of time to get things done, so I spend about one night a month scouring the internet for scrapbook page ideas and then alter them based on the materials I own and design it in a similar fashion. Or I take parts of ideas and then come up with my own and create a layout. I am no Martha Stewart by any means, but, I enjoy doing this when I can. I would say I am at least half way done w/ Brynn's first year. So much left to do, though!

Making Brownies

On Sunday evening, Brynn helped me make brownies. These were just the quick box kind, but she loved dumping in all the ingredients, watching the Kitchen Aid mix it up, and then helped pour it into the glass pan. The best part? She was able to lick the spatula! :)

Clones Photo Shoot

Dj took some of these over our Christmas break. We have finally had some time to get them downloaded. Don't worry, mom, I'm going to print some for you this week. :)

A visit to the Children's Museum

Sunday we went to the Children's Museum downtown. IT is a fabulous place to take kids. There was a lot we didn't do and we decided to buy a year pass b/c Brynn had SUCH a great time! We met T, B, and Cade and A and Elsi. The kids had such a BLAST! Brynn was just running all around trying all that she could. It was so cute.

11 months old

Mister Mister turned 11 months old on Friday the 13th! The scary part is that his birthday next month also falls on Friday the 13th. Luckily, we didn't walk under any ladders, on any cracks in the sidewalk or see any black cats yesterday, so we're all good.

In one short month, Baylen will be a year old. I am looking forward to my parents and brother Dan coming out to visit for his bday in a few weeks! :) This also means that: I have to get some planning done for a party, I need to figure out what we'll buy him for his bday, we're getting closer to tearing up our carpet in our dining room and putting in laminate flooring in our kitchen and dining room. Right now, I'm leaning towards a camouflage themed party, but not quite sure yet.

Baylen has been taking lots of steps. He's getting so brave and will try walking from different pieces of furniture to get where he needs to go. He's fearless. Because of he's fearless, he often falls hard, which has caused him several bruises this past month. His most recent one is on the back of his thigh. He was walking around in my bathroom and lost his footing and fell on top of this wire thing I keep my costume jewelry in. It's not something that would feel good falling on and he cried and cried. I felt so bad for him and we put a little ice on it to make it feel better. He's still working on the whole paying attention where he's going thing when walking...

Now that he's walking more, we need to try to put shoes on him. He has not worn shoes much at all mostly b/c once he became a chunky baby, which was quite early on, we just never could fit shoes on his wide feet. So we gave up. his feet have slimmed down, but he still can't fit into most "normal" sized baby shoes. So when I do put shoes on him, he is not a fan. We just need to keep practicing.

He's been crabby the past few days especially because he's been sick so much this past month with ear infections and teething and he's transitioning over to the next room at daycare. His eye teeth are seriously so painful for him and those huge bumps on his top gums look so sore. :( I hate to see him in so much pain and all of us around here will be SO happy when those suckers break through. He has not been eating much, and sleeping has been inconsistent for him (and us) as well. This morning I went in to get him after he woke and discovered he had a bloody nose in the night. It is a little dry in our house and with his cold and the meds he's on, it just feels like one thing after another. Of course, I freaked out and wanted to make sure he was alright. I was planning to call the nurse's line and Dj looked it up online for me and discovered it is quite normal. Although, I must say, I have not heard any of you mention your children having this issue...have you?

He does this really cute thing with his hands--he puts them on his cheeks and says "ohhh" and we play a little game with him saying "ohhh noooo!" he loves it. I am working so hard with him to say the word "No."

He shakes his head no and totally gets what it means now.

He enjoys eating more table food like: pizza, peas, toast, waffles--plan and blueberry, yogurt, pasta, cheetos, rolls, beans, corn, Cheerios, graham crackers, pancakes, oatmeal, peaches, scrambled eggs, french toast, crackers (Ritz), arrowroot cookies, goldfish crackers, English muffins, baked potato, stuffing, chili, grilled cheese sandwhiches, meatloaf, whipped potatoes, etc.

He is still eating a little bit of baby food but is refusing to eat it more and more each day.

He still drinks from a bottle--usually between 4 and 8 ounces. His biggest bottle is at night--8 oz. before bed.

He does like drinking from a sippy cup and we will start weaning him soon from the bottle slowly.

He enjoys playing with all sorts of toys, especially his John Deere tractor, pushing the shopping cart or Brynn's doll stroller around, legos, Brynn's play food, etc. His new favorite toys are Brynn's phone from her kitchen--he holds it up to his ear and pretends to talk on it. so cute. And, he loves Brynn's hair brush and tries to brush his "full" head of hair on a daily basis. haha

He's still a big fan of technology. Loves remotes, cell phones, light remotes, computers, trying to touch the TV, etc.

He absolutely loves our cats, Zoey and Cammy. He just mauls Cammy every chance he gets and grins from ear-to-ear whenever he is tackling her or pulling her fur or tail. She tolerates it for a very short time, but has never bit him once despite his brutal attacks. And she always goes back for more. Zoey doesn't want anything to do with him, but he still loves her and always tries to "pet" her too. So far he's been unsuccessful.

He continues to get this rash on his face around his mouth that comes and goes. It can get really bad at night and we can tell when his teeth are flaring up because the rash becomes more intense.

He babbles often and his vocab is still pretty limited to his main few words of mama, dada, uh-oh; However, I swear he says "Di-di" for kitty, and "nah-nah" for Brynna, and "day-doo" for thank you. But I have not heard the thank you word in awhile so maybe that was just coincidence. Or me thinking he was saying it when he really wasn't.

He loves to giggle and giggle. It's the best thing ever.

Our newest nickname for him is "Bull." Dj will say, "Here comes Bull!" whenever he's making his way over to see what's going on, primarily to get into something. He truly will just come into any situation and just fly in and make all the noise, throw all the toys, hit things, push things off, etc. He's just a rough little dude and makes the biggest, loudest entrance. It's so funny to watch.

We turned his carseat around about a week ago to face forward. His feet were touching the seat when he was facing rear and it was getting uncomfortable for him. He loves it.

Baylen has discovered the toilet water and likes to put his hands in it and play around. I am not a fan of this. He also has found the toilet paper and learned quickly how to unroll it.

Mister loves clapping and singing and whenever Brynn breaks out in song, he's right by her side dancing and clapping and bobbing his head to the music. It's so freaking cute to watch.

The fighting and screeching continues among the brother and sister. She takes something from him--all hell breaks loose. He reciprocates, and the she's screeching or crying. We have had several interventions this month to break them up from fighting over toys. Sometimes it's because he's getting into a snack she's trying to eat or ruining her play-doh while she's trying to make spaghetti.

He's been throwing food, throwing his sippy cup, throwing toys, throwing his paci. He thinks it's hilarious. I'm not a fan of the throwing of the food, although I do crack up almost every time he does it b/c the look on his face and in his eye is priceless. Please God I hope he is not one of those kids who is always ornery and getting sent to the principal's office. :0

We can give him his bottle and then lay him down even if he's awake and he'll go right to sleep. This is EXCELLENT progress.

He has had many more nights of sleeping all night...well until he got sick last weekend. But still...the 2 weeks it did last was quite amazing.

Sizes: 18 months, some 12 months, 12-18 and some 18-24. (depends on brands)

Getting him to sit still, lay for a few minutes to pose for pictures was damn near impossible. Distraction only works for so long which is not long at all. He currently weighs in at a whopping 24 lbs. and is my little love bug. :)