Easter 2011

We had a wonderful Easter! On a day that the 2 year old could potentilly have a million breakdowns for his basket, in church, too many people around, too much candy, and wanting more eggs.... we seemed to avert them all!

Friday night we started with dying eggs. Brode dyed eggs at day care last week and loved it, but they only got one egg so he had a tough time picking one color. When we went to dye eggs at home he didn't understand that we had a whole carton full that he could put in any color he wanted.

After he colored them all he put stickers all over and wouldn't you know, he picked all the sports ones off the sheet then said he was done so I finished up.

Saturday Brode had his first 'soccer practice' that he is doing through the Park and Rec. Matt and Grandma Beth brought him so I'll have to save that for another post and get some pictures! After soccer Grandma and Daddy took Brode to McDonalds to play in the playplace and he got a magnadoodle and a bubble gun for Easter from his grandma!

Sunday morning our goal was to get up, feed Brode, get dressed and head to church right away and avoid the whole "I want to play with my toys fro my Easer basket meltdown". Didn't happen. As I was in the bathroom finishing getting ready I hear, "Mom! My duck! My duck is full! Look"

I ran down the stairs to see his little behind sticking out from behind the chair. He dragged his chick basket out with a huge smile on his face. Brode got a book, a movie, a spiderman car/guy, and some candy! Luckily he was dressed and ready to go so after a few minutes of play time he was alright with leaving them home for later.
He was great in church and wondered why all the other kids around us were crying and talking. Brode only hadhis one moment that he needed to yell above the rest of the church when he stood on my legs "I can't see Father Mike!" At least they all knew he was paying attention.

After church we came home for Brode to play and have a nap before our family came over. He did very well with an early nap and got a good 2 hours in before heading outside to play. While we waited for company Brode played bubble gun, chatted with his neighbor friend Blake, and ran around while we tried to get pictures.

Our family came over for an Easter egg hunt and dinner. Last year Brode didn't really understand the concept but he was really into it this year!

 

Grandpa had a few surprise eggs we didn't know about for the hunt.

Brode's winnings from the egg hunt!

Inside each of his small ones was candy from Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma. The large eggs were a gift from Grandpa and Grandma - water shoes, swimmies, and a singing and dancing Mickey - all for vacation!

We all had a large dinner and cupcake desert:

Yes, I made these, and yes they were a lot of work, but talk about a fun spring desert!

We're hoping after that beautiful holiday the spring weather can start to come around!

New Bike!

Brode picked out his very own new bike this weekend. When I say he picked it out, trust me, he picked it out. We tried to talk him into Toy Story with all of our might, but he insisted on Cars. We got up to the checkout and sure enough Toy Story was all gone and would need to be stored ordered but there were 4 Cars bikes left. Needless to say we walked out of the store with a racing red Cars bike and matching helmet on Friday night.

Brode has been starting this thing where he gets out of bed and leaves his room by himself on weekend mornings. Saturday morning we came down the stairs as Brode skidded around the corner in his socks "Grandpa! Can we put my bike together?" I wonder if the kid even slept that night.

After a big breakfast Grandpa and Brode gathered their tools and put together his racing red bike. He was a fan of the helmet too and wore it the whole time.

All finished and ready to try it outside!

Our Week

Our week hasn't been anything exciting. I went back to school after a nice Spring Break week off, I started working at the Y at night, and Brode was in day care.

Brode did have a bit of trouble with a cold and fever this week, and by Thursday he was too glassy-eyed and snot filled to go to day care. We got him into the doctor to have his ears, throat, and lungs checked to see why he had a 101 fever all week, but it was determined to be just a virus with a cold. He is slowly recovering but we're still flying through tissues.

Luckily, Brode picked Thursday to say home sick and watch the Brewers on their Opening Day!


Matt made progress with his foot. He got his stitches out and upgraded to a boot instead of a cast, but he is still on crutches and still anxious to play hockey. Brode has been a big help getting him water from the jug and carrying his foot up the stairs.




We don't have much of anything else planned! We're just hoping the snow keeps melting and we can get outside soon. I'm also hoping April goes fast so graduation, Florida, and summer are that much closer!

One last picture: Brode got a new sleeping bag for day care and he is in love with it. He insisted that he must nap in it and use it at bedtime, but he slides right out of the bed on it's slippery fabric so we made a nice bed on the floor for him. And yes, he is sleeping in this picture, he loves his hands behind his head.

Catching Up

I promise I'll get back into weekly posts... just not yet. Things are just crazy! I always wait until I have pictures to post, then I forget we took pictures and I don't post for a month. When I finally get around to posting it is somewhere that doesn't have pictures loaded and I put it off longer.

Anyways, why have things been so hectic?

I have no idea. School, work, Brode, all of the above.

School is taking over. My schedule is crazy, there is barely any routine. I'm personal training two clients, have to work hours in the fitness center, and have to teach group exercise classes and the times change every week! I really only have two structured classes on top of those things, as well as two online classes. Somehow 16 credits come out of that.

Work has completely changed which is causing most of the chaos. The project I was working on at KC calmed down so my contract ended after 2 and 1/2 years. I quickly got a job at the YMCA working in the lifestyle center and personal training people. I'm currently job training for that which makes random hours all over the place ,also constantly changing. In addition to the YMCA a coordinator at the Student Rec on campus heard I was personal training and they have been looking for more people to work so I agreed to train 1 client there.

Brode has been great, when I actually see him. Between school, work, interviews for internships, and volunteering for the Shamrock Shuffle 5K we only get a few hours together a week and then on weekends. His independance has changed a bit recently and he is expanding greatly. He plays by himself much more, if you ask "Brode want to play some matching game?" he will reply "No thank you I'm playing train right now". He is also getting better at changing and costumes and such. He voluntarily has changed his winter hat to one he refused before, and loves putting on his chef outfit... this is huge! As usual he has been going to all of Matt's home hockey games and has gotten much better at cheering and watching the game. He also got a new baseball bat, ball, and batting gloves that he loves as well as a football tee for kicking so we have been playing a lot of sports.


We had one big event since my last post, Disney on Ice! We went in the middle of February and Brode loved it! He sat and watched the entire show, except the Little Mermaid part with Ursula. His two favorite parts were when the blow up crocodile ate hook, he looked at us as chomped his mouth, "Got 'em!" His other favorite part was the Zamboni at intermission,... of course.

We have been spending our weekends at Matt's hockey games when they are in town. If they have two games at home they usually take up our whole weekend as it completely changes Brode's nap/wake up/play time schedule. He sits through the entire game and picks up on every possible detail! Often the games include popcorn, skittles, chuck-a-bones, and pep talks with Daddy between periods, but he really does love the sport too!
That won't last much longer as Matt broke his foot in a game last weekend. The fracture on the foot was not going to heal in the proper position so he needed to have surgery to plate and pin the bone back in place. Hello 8 weeks on crutches. Matt happened to break his foot the game that had "Skate with the Ice Dogs" afterwards, so Brode went out on the ice with Petey. He was not happy he didn't have his own skates for this event!Other big news, I accepted an internship for the summer at Kimberly Clark Health Services! I was extremely happy to hear that I got it and quickly accepted. We have been talking about the projects I'm going to be doing, and although it is a lot, there is a large variety and it is one of the best opportunities I can get starting out in the field! It will open me up to many positions.

After securing my summer schedule with my internship we have been evaulating what we're going to do this summer. I graduate in May and my internship starts in July so we're left with about 6 weeks of just evening work shifts every other week. I have been thinking I would much rather love to spend these weeks with Brode by pulling him out of day care. I really do love his day care - he learns a lot, he has a perfect routine, he interacts with other kids and I don't want him to get rid of that but time for us together and some independent play time will be just as valuable! I have him signed up for soccer lessons/class/play and a Wiggles and Giggles class, I would really love to take him swimming more often again, and we could have fun daytime trips to the zoo, park, and museums. When my internship starts I would then put him back in his spot at his current day care! It sounds like a perfect summer to me. Getting a job at the Y has been wonderful as I am able to enroll him in classes and take him to open play times without paying an arm and a leg for a membership, it will definately keep us busy!


Our last major plans for the summer - Walt Disney World! We have planned a trip that I'm sure Brode does not understand, but we're all very excited! More on that later


This week is my Spring Break, and you want to know my large plans? Well.... I'm working on a group project and working all day tomorrow, I'm hoping to finish two 7 page research papers, and do some spring cleaning of my closet, my room, and my car! Yes I know, it is just so terribly exciting!

Few Weeks and Fresh Air

Yes I realize it has been a month, I'm horrible at updating during school.

I started school the first week of February and our first few weeks are known to be the most demanding. I'm in clinical, exercise leadership, and facilities management which all require we personal train clients, work in the fitness center, and teach group exercise on top of our projects and research papers. I've also volunteered to be a student volunteer coordinator (those of you at Oshkosh watch for me on the Oshkosh Today show this week!) for a large 5K (I'm talking thousands of people) half way through March so we've been having planning meetings for that event. On top of all that I've had random appointments including the dentist, where I locked my keys in my car, stretching it out 45 minutes longer than it needed to be.

Anyways! That first week of school I celebrated my 22nd birthday! Yes... 2-2 on 2-2! It wasn't anything too exciting. We had a snow day that day so Brode and I hung out so it was pretty relaxing. That night after I opened presents Brode and I played play-doh and he insisted on making snowmen since we had gotten so much snow... and of course we need to make it out of every color!Friday night my parents, Matt and I went to Wicked at the PAC (if you haven't you must go). It was my 3rd time seeing it, but I just love it tremendously. Two of my friends came over and babysat Brode, and from what I heard they had a lot of fun playing!

Of course, we're still hockey crazy around here! We've been going to all of Matt's home hockey games. Brode has really been loving them and especially likes going to visit daddy on the bench between periods. When I picked him up from day care the other day his teacher told me, "Today Brode said our of nowhere, my daddy sits in the naughty box!" We have this conversation at home and at hockey games but out of context his teachers probably didn't realize we call the penalty box the naughty box! They probably thought Brode meant jail (ahhh)! He also came home with these gloves from Grandma Beth's a few weeks ago and they haven't come off since!
Today we finally got a lot of fresh air. The temperatures were in the 30's! Earlier this week we set a record for this time of year at -11 (the record was -10, but still, that is cold)! For some odd reason the sun came out today and everyone sprung from their houses for the fresh air! We took Brode to the park to play hockey. All the city parks get ice rinks in the winter that are kept up so we brought him out to play! Brode loved it, see for yourself:
He went from end to end skating, shooting, and passing! We spent a good hour and 45 minutes out on that ice. After lunch and a nap Brode's buddy Blake, our neighbor, was outside in the snow so Brode went out to join! Blake had a big snow for dug out of the drift that they played in, he pushed him down the hill in his sled, and they had a snowball fight. Brode laughed and laughed!!Right before heading in for dinner we built a snow man! You may remember the 2 foot tall snowman we had earlier in the season, we needed to redeem ourselves. The snow was sopping wet today, perfect for building a packy snowman. A few short rolls across the yard and we had snowballs that we couldn't even lift. We improvised for eyes, teeth, and buttons but it looks good! Brode likes his big snowman much more than that little one.



Finally, we got all of our Valentine's ready this weekend! Brode meant business when I told him to write all the names on them. He organized them (of course they are sports), colored a bit on each, I wrote on the names and then we taped on some suckers! They're all ready to go for his friends at day care tomorrow!