Photo A Day: Days 24-26

Day 24: Inside your bathroom cabinet

It's not the cleanest of cabinets (have you seen the organizational pictures on Pinterest?), but I can still find everything and it doesn't drive me crazy. The top is extra shampoo, soaps, and hair styling products along with skin care in the front. Second is a basket of small things or travel size soaps, etc that tend to scatter everywhere. This shelf also holds the sprays and lotions I use every day so it's easy to reach as well as a radio. Next stacks of towels and a little basket of Brode's washcloths. Last is the little boy shelf with the storage tub/seat of bath toys, bubble bath, and fizzy colors. All of my make-up and grooming essentials are in drawers, and the cabinet above this holds the humidifiers, medicine, and first aid kits out of Brode's reach.

Day 25: Green

I couldn't pick a picture for this one, but we were able to get outside and ride the GREEN John Deere today. The sun was out but it was still pretty cold so we didn't last incredibly long. Long enough to get a good breath of fresh air.

My back-up picture was this picture of GREEN Tigger (his pajamas):

Tigger got a bath today so you can actually tell he is green, not brown. Here is a comparison with the identical Tigger we picked up as a back-up this year is Walt Disney World (and the old Tigger has had 10 months of additional love on top of this!)

Day 26: Night

Sunday was a relaxing night. We had dinner, laid around, took a bath, made banana splits, then headed off to bed. This particular night Brode had a "Squishy Baff"! Have you seen the commercials for this stuff? I haven't, but Grandpa and Matt insisted we pick it up for Brode and try it out. After filling the tub you put a powder in and it turns to goo, then when finished playing you put in a different powder and it hopefully turns back into water to drain. I can't exaplin what it feels like except for weird! Brode didn't like it at first but as it thickened up he loved it and just kept asking, "mom, why is this so WEIRD?" You can see in the picture below how it is beaded goo on his back, that's how the whole tub was!

After bath Brode got in his footie pajamas that he just HAD to have. Friday was PJ Day at day care, and Brode never participates he hates it! One of his friends (I'm a bit worried its his girlfriend) had footie pajamas and he wanted some just like it. We stumbled upon some at Kohls on sale. The new pair just reminded me of these same pair he had as a baby. How is he really this big?!?

Days 20-23

Day 20: Handwriting

This one is one of my favorites. I'm finding the pictures are getting harder to get something or remember, but this one I really like! My roommate from LaCrosse and I live nowhere near each other (ok 3 hours really isn't that far I know, but we are both really busy) so we're always communicating through snail mail. We write 4 page letters front and back to each other to keep up-to-date. It's hard not to give in to a quick email or facebook message, but it's so exciting getting the long letters to enjoy. In addition, she is amazing at throwing in an extra pick-me-up or celebration card at the exact moment you need it. We had a little incident with Brode that stressed me out and got me all frazzled a few weeks ago and I recently got this card in the mail from her with all the right words. She knows just what to say and how to say it to calm your heart and your mind. I'm so thankful I've got this special relationship with her that we can keep in touch so closely even if we do go long stretches of time getting caught up in our crazy lives. Who doesn't love a long best friend letter or a beautiful handmade card? Wait, did I mention that part, that all of her cards are first hand made and beautiful, then filled with the perfect words! We always joke in our letters about how my handwriting is horrible so I need to focus when I write her letters so she can read them, and she loves scribbling them out after teaching young children perfect handwriting all day. Perfect picture for handwriting day!

Day 21: A Fave Photo of You

My fave photo is currently my Facebook profile picture too of course. Brode and I do not have many pictures together. I'm always the one with the camera, or he has always taken his professional pictures alone. I looked through our Walt Disney World pictures the other day all 300+ of them and Brode and I have 3 pictures together! I love this one because it's just us, up close and personal, and filled with joy. Isn't his smile perfect?

Day 22: Where You Work

OK worst day to have this picture because I didn't work Wednesday as we were in Milwaukee! I suppose I could have taken one a different day, but it really isn't anything different than the YMCA or any other wellness center. A bunch of treadmills, ellipticals and weights lined up. My desk is in the corner and from the outside it's a big brick mill building.

Day 23: Your Shoes

I am always wearing athletic shoes because of work at both locations and running around! I have two pair I switch off between depending on what we're doing. These purple and silver pumas are more of my cardio and running around shoes. I also wear a pair of black and pink Nikes that I wear on strength days because they wrap around my heel a bit more and I stay much more stable through all the different exercises. These Pumas are extra good because they were 50% off at the Puma outlet the week of Thanksgiving/Black Friday sales!

Milwaukee Appointment

What am I suppose to title this post if I can't call them "Milwaukee Mondays" anymore?

We had an eye doctor appointment at Children's Hospital again yesterday! As we went into the appointment I had my same hope as the rest of them - PROGRESS!

We have been in a very large waiting game and finally started making progress last time we went down. They had discovered after patching that Brode's eyes were no longer changing in vision. As long as they were maintaining after we made progress this summer his doctor would be happy and we could move forward with next steps (surgery options). We have been patching for the last 3 months again to keep them where they were at in hopes that our appointment yesterday would get us to move forward.

We had to leave early for our appointment, but one of the gifts Santa brought us for Christmas made the drive a whole lot better. Brode watched a movie all the way down, staying fairly quiet.

The appointment was the same as usual: fast! We met with the doctor this time (past few times we have had the assistants) where he checked Brode's vision, then did a few tests for tracking. Ths vision parts are always entertaining as he matches letters but as they get smaller you begin to tell Brode is just picking his favorite letters and not even looking at the screen. Once again his vision has not changed so they have decided to go ahead with surgery. We are the schedule for late May to get muscles loosened in each eye. The surgery will correct the tracking problems he has in each eye, we will then re-test the vision and see if any more patching needs to be done once the surgery is completed.

We always struggle with finding something to do after the appointment. It's a long drive just to turn around and come back with the little guy, but you can only do the museum, zoo, or mall so many times. This time around we put a few stops together including Golf Galaxy, Toys R Us, Hockey Haven and going out to lunch to fill the afternoon before driving back.

(Toys R Us)

(Warming up in the golf simulator)

(Showing off with his swing)

(Stick inventory at Hockey Haven and Matt drooling over all of them. Brode left here with quite a bit of purchased and free things)

Brode fell asleep on the drive back so after a 2 and 1/2 hour nap in the car and on the couch he was fully refreshed. We played for the rest of the evening and made sno-cones with our new sno-cone maker!

Days 17-19

More photo catching up! I could never do this for an entire year, I'm horrible at trying to remember photos each day right now!

Day 17: Time

Game Time! Friday night the puck dropped at 7:30 for Kids Night!

Day 18: Drink

Our recent random grocery store buy was a case of Sun Drop bottles. Something about any drink in a bottle makes it much better and much colder. We drink our milk out of glass bottles, have cases of every Sprecher soda glass bottle flavor in our fridge, and now a large case of Sun Drop!

Day 19: Something You Hate To Do

Taxes! Mine are still easy because I don't have much, but having 3 jobs this year makes getting all the documents together challenging. Adding in Brode's information always seems to be a challenge, but I guess it pays off in the end when I get a big fat check!

This week seems to have everything jammed into making for a few long days! I'm starting today off with a 14 hour work day, tomorrow with a full day of work then a staff meeting/dinner in the evening, and finally heading to Milwaukee on Wednesday for a Children's Hospital appointment for Brode. Of course everything falls in the same week!

Fun Filled Weekend

This post is a bit premature as Brode is having a long weekend full of fun until Monday afternoon!

Friday night we hung out at home then went to Daddy's hockey game. This particular game was Kids Night so they had mascots from all over greeting the kids. The Brewer sausages, Smokey the Bear, Ground Round Hound, The Bar fly, Firehouse Dog, Famous Dave's Pig, Root Beer Bear, Fang, etc. were all there. Brode does NOT like any of these mascots and was too nervous to talk to any of them. Strange how he loved all the Disney characters and had no hesitation, but these local mascots were not fun to him.

After a late night Brode was up early Saturday morning to get ready for a birthday party. We went to his friend Ethan's birthday party with all of his day care friends! The party was at a local jump zone, and they all loved it. Brode likes these when he is there alone, but even more when all of his buddies are there too. We joked they were like ninjas running and diving together in their pack of boys.

After pizza, cake, and ice cream all of the kids were hitting their limits and ready to take a nap.

After a long nap we spent the afternoon playing. Brode and Grandpa made a mans trip to Fleet Farm last night for a bolt and came home with a sno-cone maker? I have no idea how, but Brode was very excited!

This morning Grandma Beth and Matt took Brode to the Blue Harbor Resort in Sheboygan to play in the watermark and stay overnight. I can't imagine how much fun he will have and all the stories he will be telling when he gets back.

What a fun and exhausting weekend!

Dance Marathon Party

 After we did the Woodward Radiothon in January I was asked to help with another event the local high schools are putting together to raise money for Children's Hospital.

70 high school students from the local high school are putting together a "Dance Marathon". On April 21st the high schoolers will dance through the night for12 hours straight. Each participant raises money and obtains sponsors ($100 entry) to participate in the event, all going to Children's Hospital of Wisconsin!

After I finished my radio interview in January I met with some of the students where they interviewed me on video. After putting together interview pieces of other families as well they have created a video to promote the event.

Today, they held a party for all the students working hard to plan the event. Families of patients were invited to go in and tell our story and thank the kids for all of their hard work. There were patients from high school age down to Brode as the youngest at 3.

Each patient painted a canvas (or in Brode's case, 2) that will then be given to the largest sponsors as a thank you!

Brode painting: (it's a lion)

He took a break and enjoyed cookies and juice, told the girls about his sports and favorite teams (major flirt!), and just giggled.

This is Savannah, she was another 4 year old patient telling her story. Brode and Savannah got along very well! She was very friendly and offered to share her Teddy Grams. She was also a great artist so she was a bit confused by Brode's 'tiger' he is painting here.

After the party we drove home and Brode was sleeping in 2 minutes. I carried him in the house and sat him on the couch. I left to fold laundry and came back to this:

It was a fun afternoon at the high school with the big kids, but missing his day care nap was rough!



We were thankful to get to participate and tell our story. The kids working hard on this event are using the motivation of "Kids Helping Kids". It was amazing to see them warm up to every patient so well, get to know them, ask questions, and find out how they can make their event a success! Patients at the Children's Hospital are their family, friends, neighbors, classmates, and community members and they are doing everything they can to help ensure all of those people and their families have the best care.

Photo A Day: Days 13-17

Time to get caught up on my Photo A Day challenge!

Day 13: Blue

Memory Match or "Remembery" as Brode calls it is one of his favorite games. He is really good at it and has a much better memory than me! He always gets everything on the first try. This night we were freezing so we turned on the fireplace, made apple cider, and played "remembery".

Day 14: Heart 

I'm repeating a picture for this day. Brode made this heart with his hands for his grandparents Valentine's Day cards.

Day 15: Phone

Oh the work phone. This thing is hard to navigate (imagine that the one with all the buttons is harder than my iPhone), but it gets the job done.

Day 16: Something New

This one isn't a picture I took obviously, but it's something new. I bought this for the little hockey fanatic yesterday and started saying prayers it would warm up immediately (of course in snowed today.ugh). I cannot wait to get it out and play with this summer and see the look on Brode's face! I have a feeling the neighbor boys will be over a LOT!

Check back for a post tomorrow about a Children's Hospital Benefit party we went to yesterday! Brode loved it!

Also, welcome to everyone from Kelly's Korner single mom's SUYL link-up! Here is a glimpse into our daily life of young working mom and 3 year old sports fanatic little boy.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day as a kid was so exciting. I'm living vicariously through my child.

Brode made Starburt (not Starburst in his language) valentine's for all of his friends in his class and his two teachers. I wrote the friends names on, Brode signed his name (and I may have clearly wrote it underneath) then we attached a pack of starbursts. He also brought cupcakes with red, pink, and white frosting with heart rings in the top for his class party.

When we walked in this morning all the kids were wearing red or pink (of course Brode's red was his Wisconsin Badger hockey jersey) and they were already bouncing off the walls. All the kids came running and yelling "we are having a party!" and Brode had to be mr cool man saying, "yeah, I brought cupcakes AND starburts". This afternoon they were having a full lunch party, cupcakes for dessert, then handing out their valentines to all of their friend's bags.

I really wish I could have stayed all day and played and taken pictures. Sigh.

We also made Valentine's for both sets of grandparents. Brode wanted to keep going and make 1,000 more he loved them. He named every random person he could think of and insisted they needed a fingerpainted Valentine!

Days 11-13 and The Weekend

Day 11: Makes You Happy This whole weekend makes me happy, but here is our picture from Saturday night:

We spent all day Saturday at home then went to Family Night at the YMCA for the evening. Brode and I played basketball, soccer, climbed in the playplace, went through the bounce house, swam in the pool, and played in the splash pad! I loved getting so much time to spend with him with nowhere we had to be then spending relaxing quiet nights at home.

Day 12: Inside Your Closet

The inside of my closet is a mess. I always tell myself I just need to empty it all out, but then I never get rid of half the stuff that could go. This half is all shirts, longsleeve on top and shortsleeve on bottom and or course color coded.  There are some buckets on the shelf in the middle with swimsuits, belts, bags, scarves, etc. The other half is all sweatshirts, pants, and dresses with shelves of jeans and shoes on the bottom. It is organized, only to my understanding and with 100 items too many, but it is organized.

I mentioned earlier in the post that we had a relaxing weekend. We had nowhere specific to be, nothing scheduled so we were set for a weekend of playing! Thankfully we didn't have much going since it was a cold and snowy weekend. Friday night we relaxed and played sports, cars, and colors all night. Saturday was a morning of relaxing (Brode really needs to figure out what sleeping in is!), we then did some things around the house including sorting through toys. They are taking over our house and we haven't taken any of the baby toys out. I was able to weed a few out that we were still good and pack them up for storage. Saturday night we went to the Y and played and Brode was exteremly tried by the time we were done.

Sunday we got out of the house a bit and started at Monkey Joes playing and running around. There were a few birthday parties so it was full, but still fun! Brode is at a perfect age for it and loves getting all of his energy out. I just chased close behind him the whole time.

After Monkey Joes we met for lunch then ran a few errands to Best Buy and pick out new fish for Brode's tank! I'm not the best at staying up-to-date on cleaning the water, but he has had 4 lonely fish in there for a while so we added a few now that I finally got around to cleaning it.

(This is Brode in the car on the way to lunch. He was talking very seriously to me about where he works and would not crack a smile as I was laughing)

The rest of Sunday we laid around the house watching movies and playing. Brode was exhausted from all the running and no nap. This was him at 5:30pm:

He woke up enough to have a jello-jiggler and garlic bread for dinner then went right back to bed and was silent by 7:30 until 7am. His blankets weren't even ruffled, I think he slept like a rock from a fun weekend.

Tonight we're planning on working some Valentine's cards for daycare, Brode is very excited to give them to his friends!

Photo A Day and Working Mom

Day 9: Front Door

This is our front door view all the time. Whether she is looking in or looking out this is HER spot. We also encounter a few days of fall puppy sadness when we cant just leave the front door open all day with the sun shining in and she can't lay and sleep and stare for 12 hours.

Day 10: Self Portrait

Awkward! I am not a self protrait-er, I'm not the girl that takes pictures of themself in the mirror with the funny duck face. This self-portrait is totally me on a typical day. Hair up because I didn't want to take the time to dry and straighten it (and honestly I don't have anywhere I need to be today that I am getting all dressed up with my hair down so it would go up later anyways!). Athletic clothes because I work in a Wellness Center so it's still cute workout clothes that I look presentable but I'm also ready to teach class and personal train or go to a meeting in a flash.

Kelly at Kelly's Korner is does a Show Us Your Life on Friday's for many different topics and this weeks is networking about working moms. Ironically I have been thinking about this a lot lately as I try and make the best decisions for Brode. We love his daycare, but he has some LONG days sometimes (in my opinion). My hours as my new job are structured so I cover the second half of the day and we can interact with as many members as possible. As I don't start untl 11 or 11:30 this forces me to be there until 5 or 530. In addition I work various shifts at the YMCA until closing at 10pm. Luckily between me, my parents, and Matt we've always got someone right there to keep him on a typical daycare schedule of 7:30-4.

Brode has completely excelled from daycare. He has learned much more than I think I could be capable of teaching him at home all day and for that I am very thankful to his teachers. There are downfalls with sickness but he interacts with other kids so well, has developed friends, and learns something new every day!

We've had some changes lately with my hours and his day care has had some changes that I feel like I'm constantly evaluating the best situation that works for us (especially when I work 11AM-10PM some days). Each time I get pulls at my heart strings just wishing there would be a clear answer, but then I remember it won't be long and he'll be in Kindergarten and all day school and I'll wish we could go back!

Working full time is hard to cope with not seeing firsts and wishing I had more time with Brode, but we've been through worse during school and work, and in the end it's what we've got to do for our family to succeed!