December Catch-Up

We have been trying to fit holiday festivities between everything we have going on when we can.

We started with decorating the whole house. Grandma took care of this when everyone (certain "helpers") were out of the house so we could work on the tree. We hit a bit of a damper with our "wonderful pre-lit christmas tree" so the set-up process took a week and a half. After grandma got all the lights on Brode and I put on the ornaments a few days later. The top of the tree looks great, the bottom is a bit... bunched. I may or may not have rearranged as he went the other direction, but his favorites are still right in front right where he wants them. Two in particular that he likes are a hockey snowman and a Tigger ornament from our friend Leah. (Tigger is hard to see because he is wrapped in green ribbon as a gift to Pooh)

Brode helped with Christmas cookies this year as well! We handled the decorating. He chose a star, a bell, and a tree. You could quite possibly get a good sugar rush from all the sprinkles!

St. Nick also paid a visit to our house. We had been talknig about Tinsel and Santa on Christmas so much he was quite confused to why there was stuff in his stocking, but he still loved it. He was much faster at unwrapping, hopefully this means Christmas morning won't take 4 hours again.

Brode got a robot that lights up and walks, a box of Starbursts (his absoloute favorite!), and Rudolph hot cocoa. I got a gift card to Archivers and candy. Brode was quite confused why Grandpa, Grandma, and Libby didn't get anything. He told Tinsel to tell Santa not to forget them on Christmas.

Besides Christmas activities we have been doing our normal work (a LOT) and day care schedules. Brode is in swimming lessons this session at the Y. He is doing great! My goal with this class was to get him more independent instead of me holding him and him jumping to me and since he has no interest in his lifejacket or swimmies it is going to have to be all his skill. He is finally to the age that they are no longer parent-child classes and he is on his own.

Here is Brode's class of 6 kids (he is right off Mr. Ryan's right shoulder). Matt has been bringing him to his last few classes because my work conflicts but he says he is still doing great and gets better about trying the skills they are taught.

He is already signed up for next session so hopefully we can keep moving forward and he'll be ready for the cottage and friend's pools this summer!

Thanksgiving, Tinsel, Skates, and Stories

Thanksgiving was great! Brode slept over at Daddy's on Wednesday night and they went to breakfast at Matt's moms that morning before coming home for a little nap. Brode slept until 2:30 before we headed off to my aunt and uncles for Thanksgiving dinner. We played games, Brode did puzzles with the other kids, and followed my cousin Scott around like a little lost puppy (Scott is his idol - he is 19).

"Tinsel", our elf on the shelf, is going well! He has been spotted a few places around the house. He showed up Friday morning after Thanksgiving on the counter with a little letter to Brode. The first 2 days were the best when we would be out shoppnig and Brode would do something wrong "Tinsel isn't going to be happy with me is he!" This could be a good month of good behavior.

Funny story about Tinsel - we have a window on the second story that is in the foyer. Brode was insisting Grandpa throw Tigger up to sit in the window (10 feet above his head) because he got a soccer ball stuck up there one time. While Brode was brushing teeth for bedtime Tigger magically got thrown up perfectly into the window. It took 2 seconds and Brode was fearful Tigger would never come down again (if you know his attachment to Tigger, it would be the end of the world). Grandpa suggested we ask Tinsel to fly up there and get him down while Brode got his pajamas on. Tinsel had been sitting on top of a clock on the wall that day so when Brode came back downstairs there was Tigger and Tinsel sitting together on the clock. To this day he still thanks Tinsel for flying up and getting Tigger down.

His favorite spot of Tinsel's was when he sat on the light over the kitchen table, hanging above our food. Brode laughed and laughed and kept asking how he got up there!

Brode also started walking around in his skates. Matt pointed out that it would be much easier for him to learn if he learns to walk on ground with them first, then walk across ice, and then skate. It took a bit of convincing the first night but he finally put them on and it wasn't long before he was wearing the helmet, skates, jersey and had a stick and puck. He walked laps around the couch, went back and forth, squatted up and down, and fell down and stood up. We're all anxious to get him to open ice now.

Nothing else has been too exciting except for a few little stories I want to remember about Brode. The kid outsmarts us like you'd never believe and some of the thnigs that come out of his mouth are priceless. He gets into a lot of "Grandpa is my best buddy, and mommy is my best buddy, and daddy is my best buddy, and Grandma is my best buddy, and Libby is my best buddy" and he'll go on and on through all the people he knows. Bedtime takes 45 minutes longer now because he knows how to work it. A few weeks ago Grandpa was alone with Brode and just after putting him to bed Brode yells down the stairs. "Grandpa I can't sleep, my pillow is wet!" so Grandpa asks how it possibly got wet and Brode replies "When you filled my fishtank with more water it splashed!" Now, it is true that grandpa added more water to the fishtank, but it is also true that the fishtank is 15 feet away on the other side of the room and not a dropped missed the tank. Not a chance Brode lay back down.

He remembers everything and doesn't miss a trick. I wish I could be a fly on the wall in his daycare class and watch him all day. I can only imagine!

Sorry it took so long again - the truth is I write them to remember, then never get around to uploading the pictures so I end up with 1,000 drafts saved. There are already 2 more after this scheduled to automatically go up to catch up on December and holiday festivities so watch for those the next few days.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope everyone has a great day with their friends and family. I stopped in to share a story for inspiration. We're doing a wellness program at work currently to help people realize where they are spending their time and how they can rearrange priorities to get more time for family, health and less stress! This was a motivational story we used and I think it applies greatly to Thanksgiving - reminding us to be thankful for every day!

Imagine that you had won the grand prize in a contest - each morning your bank would deposit $86,400.00 into your private account for your use, and there were only two stipulations:
1. Everything that you didn't spend during each day would be taken away from you. You may not simply transfer money into some other account. You may only spend it. Each morning upon awakening, the bank opens your account with another $86,400.00 for that day.

2. The bank can end the game without warning; at any time it can say, it's over, the game is over! It can close the account and you will not receive a new one.

What would you personally do? You would buy anything and everything you wanted, right? Not only for yourself, but for all people you love, right? Even for people you don't know, because you couldn't possibly spend it all on yourself, right? You would try to spend every cent, use it all, right?

Although this is a ficticious contest, the theory behind it is real. Each of us is in possession of such a magical bank. We just can't seem to see it. The "magical bank" is time! Each morning we awaken to receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of life, and when we go to sleep at night, any remaining time is NOT credited to us. What we haven't lived up that day is forever lost. Yesterday is forever gone. Each morning the account is refilled, but the bank can dissolve your account at any time without warning. What will you do with your 86,400 seconds? Enjoy every second of your life, because time races by so much quicker than you think.

Keep this story in mind as you evaluate your personal time management, and what goals you have for "spending" your time.

Finally, a peek at Brode in his Thanksgiving checklist shirt!

Milwaukee Tuesday?

We are so used to Milwaukee Mondays that this Milwaukee Tuesday is throwing my whole schedule out of whack! The craniofacial clinic where Brode has has all of his appointments is only open on Mondays so we always set the appointments on Monday mornings to leave room for afternoon activities. After doing it so many times I don't panic about havnig to pack stuff up, find directions, etc. Boy, you move the appointment 24hrs later and it all changes. I was afraid I'd forget to wake up and go!

This time around we had an eye doctor appointment. The annoying ones (I shouldn't say that, they are all in the best interest of Brode's care). But really, the ones where we drive down there he identifies a house, a heart, a square, and a circle a few times, they tell us the plan and send us back home within 10 minutes all because the clinic here doesn't take our insurance provider for the same doctor. ANNOYING!

I was a bit worried about this appointment being so close to snow season. We had one experience driving down in a blizzard last winter and it definetaly ranks into my top 3 most stressful days ever. Thankfully we didn't get any snow taking that out of the equation. For the first time we brought our personal DVD player so Brode watched a movie on the way down keeping questions and dropping toys all over the floor out of the equation as well. Wonderful.

As for the appointment..... we made progress! Kind of. In one way but not another. We did all the matching game eye tests with Brode and although we pushed farther than he could possibly handle it was stil determined the vision in his eyes did not BUDGE this time! When we patched for 2 months his eye went from 20/50 to 20/40 and after 3 more months it's still stuck at 20/40. So although there was no progress there, since it maintained for so long they believe this is the farthest they can push it. Many of you know I was frustrated with going down and back and hearing the same thing over and over so after we tested vision we moved on to next steps. Because the vision will not change we will go down in another 3 months (oh yay.) and meet with the doctor (we meet with his assistant for these patching appointments) and test vision, alignment, and tracking to get full test levels and determine what surgical procedures will assist in his tracking. They have waited so long because they want to be extremely positive which muscles need help and now that Brode identifies the shapes/colors/moveis/etc. with words and his own knowledge the guessing game is over and they can move forward.

There is nothing like a trip to the Children's Hospital the week of Thanksgiving. Talk about reminding us what we're thankful for. The pediatric intensive care unit changed me in the middle of the summer, you can't avoid the overwhelming feeling of sympathy and desire to help all the families there through the holidays.

Barnes and Noble is doing a donation drive right now when you make a purchase to donate a book to Children's Hospital (in our hometown/Wisconsin at least). In each waiting room of every clinic, waiting room, playroom, and treatment room is a cart of books donated by patrons of Half Price Books and Barnes and Noble Bookstores that donate for children. Each appointment children are not only welcome to enjoy the books, but they are also able to pick one out and bring them home. Picking out a book helps tears from 'owies', temper tantrums from waiting, and keeps minds off of being at the hospital. We love them, as a parent and as a child. We have a good collection going on at home of our CHW books. If you're looking to donate directly to a good cause this winter instead of a dollar here or change from your pocket there, throw in a small book with your BandN purchase for families close to home!

Sorry for all the words! Thanks for hanging in there! Check back tomorrow for a peek at Brode's Thanksgiving shirt!

Catch Up

I don't know why I've fallen out of writing but it really has been a struggle to keep up. Ever since my computer crashed and burned I haven't gotten back in the habit very well (yeah that was approx. 2 years ago. whoops).

Anyways, another catch up. Hopefully through the holidays as I catch more pictures and we're inside a bit more I'll find time for regular posts again. Looks like I've got to go all the way back to Halloween!

Brode was a "fighterfighter" - A Firefighter. He was so excited about his costume at school this year and had a lot of fun with it on. That changed when he got home, he wanted to wear it but didn't want anything to do with going to the houses and getting candy. That changed quickly when all the high school neighbor boys joined us and ran him through the yards and up the doors. He LOVED it!

Since then we have had random things between going to the cottage to rake, volunteering at events for the YMCA I work at, showers, and weddings. I also accepted a job at a corporate fitness center so that makes 3 locations I'm working at causing complete chaos.

We're slowly preparing for our holiday season. We have a trip to Milwaukee for a Children's appointment next week then after that it's full on Thanksgiving and Christmas decorating! This week I went and purchased our "Elf of the Shelf" so we're excited to start the new tradition this year. If you haven't heard of Elf on the Shelf is a story based off of one of Santa's elves sneaking in the house and keeping watch over the kids for Santa. The Elf on the Shelf kit comes with the elf and the story book.  He usually appears around Thanksgiving, we'll see if Brode enjoys him or is fearful! Hopefully it's a tradition we can have for years to come.

Thanks for catching up with us, I'll really work on keeping up to date!

Pumpkin Carving

We have had our fair share of pumpkin carving this year!

Brode did some carving at day care and I carved afew pumpkins in Atlanta with a friend, but of course we needed more here at home.

Last Saturday night we went over to our friend Claire's house for pizza and pumpkin carving. Brode enjoyed watching this time and wasn't too excited about the guts.

Sunday morning we continued the festivities and carved pumpkins here at home. He loved to scrape out his own pumpkin and made sure it was spotless.

Here are the finished pumpkins at our house! I did the Trick or Treat and Brode insisted his have Tigger on it!

Farm Field Trip

Brode went with his day care last Wednesday to Mulberry Lane Farm, a local pumpkin patch and petting zoo. Grandpa also chaperoned! They had a lot of fun together. Grandpa was in charge of these two crazy boys: Brode and his best friend Dante.

 Here they are learning about the chickens. Many of them just wanted to touch

 Brode and Dante asked several questions about this turkey, including if the red part was blood.

 Brode fed the goats and the sheep!

 They were all able to ride the big tractor.

 Look at the chaos inside these pens, animals and children everywhere.

 Brode was thought the pig smelling his shoe was funny.

 All the kids rode the hayride out the pumpkin patch to pick pumpkins. This was by far their favorite part. When I picked Brode up all the kids bombarded me and couldn't talk fast enough.

 Brode and the cows.

 He even got to milk the cow!

 Trying to pet the bunnies.

 Lastly they play on the hay bails.

After lunch and packing up the pumpkins all the kids were exhausted and were still sleeping at 3:45 when I picked Brode up from day care. They had a great day and Brode loved that his Grandpa went with.

We are unfortunetaly feeling a few cold side effects from the sudden hit of this cold weather!

Check back to see what the pumpkins they gathered here turned into!

Little Farmer

We made our annual Little Farmer trip two weekends ago. Brode was much more into it this time and we had perfect weather. Of course because it was perfect out everyone was there, but it was still fun! Brode mostly liked the playground and climbing on the hay much more. We stocked up on caramel apples and Brode picked a pumpkin just before having a meltdown and needing to leave. We may need to make another trip back for pies and muffins as the season goes on.

Birthday Weekend

Brode's 3rd birthday was Monday, September 26th! I can't believe he is 3! The jump from 2 to 3 has made him seem like a little kid instead of a toddler!

The Sunday before his birthday we had a party with family and friends. We made a spread, hung a few decorations and had a party! After combining each of the families we had quite a houseful! Brode got great gifts from everyone - he was desperately in need of fall clothes so all the pants and shirts were perfect, he got great learning games and books, art supplies, and some fun boy toys like Nerf guns and a chainsaw.

(LeapFrog Write and Scribble - teaches writing and identifying letters - amazing! He loves it!)

Brode's cake was an adventure in itself. We had this plan to make cake pops that look like basketballs, footballs, and baseballs then we would have this small basketball cake for Brode to blow candles out.

Major failure. The cake pops were beyond disaster so we baked a sheet cake and decorated it for everyone else. He was very embarassed when everyone san to him, but blew his candles out like a champ.

If you have been around Brode anytime in the last 6 months you know what he was begging for for his birthday. Every time we asked he begged for hockey skates. He wasn't overly noted for his party and turning 3, he ju st wanted skates so Daddy got his his first pair of skates and Grandma Beth got him elbow pads to go with them when learning to skate.

Brode was exhausted Sunday night after his party. Monday morning he was up bright and early to play with all of his new toys! Monday we kept him out of day care to celebrate!

Our first stop was the credit union. Brode has been filling his piggy bank when he was born so after 3 years we cashed it in to see how much he made - $164.34! That made a good dent in his savings account! After he picked his birthday prize we headed to Toys R Us to be the honored birthday boy where he got a crown and to pick a toy. We went to Monkey Joes to play before lunch time. Brode is always begging to go and loves every minute there. After running, jumping, and diving we headed out to lunch and home for a nap.

We spent the afternoon playing with new toys then went out to his first birthday dinner! We picked a restaurant that would sing to him, and he hated it just as much as adults do. After dinner we stopped at the Halloween store where he picked out his costume for this year, here is to hoping he actually wears it!

Tuesday morning Brode had his 3 year check! He finally weighs 31lbs (he was 29 for over a year) and he grew 3 inches, putting him at 38inches tall! That's 75% in height and 50% in wieght = tall and skinny.

That ends birthday weekend, Brode is already looking forward to 4!

It's back!

This post is not going to be exciting, as in exciting I mean only 1 picture.

I lost the camera. I'm horrible at misplacing things. First I lost my handheld video camera then my Kindle. They alwys show up a few weeks later in random (or not so random) places! Well of course I MISPLACED our little black camera. My dad was to the point of making me buy a new one when...

It shows up! Again!

In my golf bag!

I should have known. I THOUGHT I used it last in our kitchen, but I guess I forgot I brought it to the driving range again. My bag went to the back corner of the garage until our family golf outing on Labor Day weekend and as I was digging around for tees and wouldn't you know there is the camera!

Whew!

(I really need to work on this, it's horrible. Of course it's always the expensive things.)

Well anyways, there is probably no point in updating on yet ANOTHER month. I knew I said I'd work on it but things were crazy yet again. I finished my internship for school and had been continuing to work at the Y so the 50 hour weeks were a regular thing. Our empty weekends became full fast (including completing my first half marathon!) and time flew by.

I've got a bit more down time as I'm working two part time jobs while I look for jobs (it's sick to think that working two jobs is a slow time for me, ugh) so hopefully I can get some more updates.

Definetaly one next week because it's Brode's Birthday Week! We're having a little get together and I'm taking him out of day care on  Monday for a day of fun! Now that the camera is back I'll be sure to get a lot of pictures.

That's all for today, just letting you know we're still around and not giving up on the blog updates completely!