Dress Rehearsal

Since we are going to be traveling over Halloween & the kids will be with relatives, we dressed them in costume for a practice run today at the local businesses.

Brecken the Monkey, Leighton the Lion & Reese as Strawberry Shortcake (her aunt tiff's costume when she was little)

The Clampetts

I'm sure the 'folks' around here thought the Clampetts had moved to town when they saw this in our driveway, but when you don't have a trailer....and you can't find one to borrow last minute, you improvise...



The boys were excited about what the crate held...



and we are too!

Introducing.....Mocha, our milk cow (or calf, at the moment).



You might ask, who exactly is going to milking this cow in the future.....that is yet to be determined....we have some learning to do :)

He's 3!

Brecken turned 3 on Saturday. The celebration started on Wednesday with a 'friend' party. It was wild & crazy in our house, but the kids had a blast.

On Saturday, we celebrated with family in the park. This picture is of 4 of Brecken's 7 cousins.

The day couldn't end without the traditional buttering of the birthday boy's nose, so that he will slide through another year. Hannah did the honors.

Birthday Boy was TIRED after all of his weekend festivities. He crashed hard after church on Sunday!

His 3 year appointment was this morning. He is 40" tall (95th%) and 30 lbs (30th%).

All by Myself...

Brecken has really changed this past month. He wants to do things all by himself.

*When going to the bathroom - he tells me, You stay out.
*He doesn't cry when we leave him in Sunday School or the nursery, or with a sitter. He tells me, "I tell baby, it's ok....mommy's coming back."
*He puts the toothpaste on his toothbrush by himself.
*He can ride his bike & use the brakes.
*He describes things with GREAT detail.
*He sings tons of songs & does pretty well.

The list goes on...but these are probably the most significant.

I'm (sort of) ok with this aspect - it's fun to watch him develop, but it's also sad to see him change so quickly.

My BIGGEST issue is that for the past two days, the majority of the time he has been addressing me as MOM, not mommy. Aaron thinks he's doing it b/c he knows I don't like it. I'm hoping this is one area where he will regress.

Tornado in my room...

This will teach me to leave a laundry basket full of clothes on the floor in my room. Thankfully they had not been folded....and thankfully I caught them as they were just starting to empty my drawers into the pile.

Rewards...

You may recall our potty training days with Brecken late spring/early summer. Shortly after this post, we started withholding popsicles until he started going #2 in the potty. The kid would request a diaper when he had to poop...so I knew he could do it. He just didn't want to take the time to sit on the toilet. It took one day of withholding popsicles & he's been going in the potty ever since (so for the last 3+ months). Shortly after that we didn't have to reward him with popsicles either.

Fast forward to today - I was on the phone with my mom and was interrupted by Brecken. Very seriously he said, "Brecken go potty and farted. Brecken have popsicle?" Now he thinks THAT deserves a reward????

My song?

While driving home from the farm after feeding cats tonight, we had Brecken's music playing. He's singing along to Boom Boom Ain't it Great to Be Crazy. I just couldn't help myself and joined in. So the conversation goes:

Brecken: NO mommy, I do it myself.
Mommy: Oh, sorry Brecken.
Brecken: It's ok......it's MY song! Your song's at home.

He said this very matter-of-factly, like I had NO business singing his song. I couldn't help but laugh. So, I guess because I have MY music playing at home, I can no longer sing along to his in the truck. Bummer.

Let me just say....

that I NEVER realized how much I LOVE my toilet...until it had been out for 3 days. We decided to pass on sleep (who needs it) & were up until 1:30am grouting 1/2 of the bathroom....just so we could be closer to putting our toilet in. We got it installed and I was happy as a lark. I have never been so excited to use the bathroom! No more midnight treks up to my parents.

We (or I should say Aaron) finished the grout this evening. We'll seal it next week sometime...when I return from my trip for Kendra's bachelorette party! I'll post a pic of the finished bathroom after we put the trim board back up....forgot about that step :)

Three Days

Three days may not seem like a long time, but it IS a long time to go without a toilet....and it's going to be more.

We decided on Friday that we were going to tile our bathroom this weekend. I think when we made that decision, we were delusional...and thought that we would be done by Monday....not so much.

Before picture(sorry - forgot to take one, so this will have to do)

Friday evening: trip to Home Depot (or the orange store as Brecken calls it)
Friday late pm: rip up carpet
Saturday am: take out toilet & trimboard
Saturday pm: screw in hardiboard
Sunday am: cut all tiles to fit & lay them out.

Sunday pm: lay all tiles except closet


Monday am: dang - hubby had to go to work...but mortar had to dry
Monday pm: yeah...hubby still working.

We still have to lay the tile in the closet, put in the grout & seal it. I think we can put the toilet in before sealing....but I'm novice tiler :)

I'm hoping for a toilet by tomorrow night :) When you only have 1 bathroom...removing the toilet makes things interesting. Brecken is a fan of going potty off the back deck anyway...but I make the 1/2 block trek up to my parents. Thank goodness they are close!

15 months

I'm posting this a little late...he was 15 months on Aug 29.

Leighton's 15 month stats (from last week's dr appt)
Weight: 20 lbs 11 1/4oz - 2nd percentile
Height: 33 1/2 inches - 97th percentile

Verdict - long and skinny

It's hard to believe he is 15 months old. He's babbling up a storm and some of it is even starting to make sense. He loves doing big boy things with Brecken - running around the yard, sitting on the couch, drinking out of a big boy cup (unless it's milk....then we're still attached to our bottle), playing at the playgound, etc. He has also discovered that he can get things out of reach with big brother's stool and carries it around the house.

Seriously?

Ok...is it sad that my almost 3 year old son asks the question, 'Mommy where are you going' whenever I happen to get myself ready? Most days if we are around the house, I wear shorts/t-shirts/comfy clothes...and pretty much ditch the make up & don't necessarily fix my hair....so I guess I understand, and it's evidently enough of a difference that he notices. How quickly they learn things...

46?

I've been neglecting my blog lately....I have been spending my free time on my digital scrapbook instead. So, to keep all my avid readers interested, I decided I better post something. Sorry for the lack of inspiration...but this is all I could come up with. I don't necessarily lead that boring of a life (or maybe I do...), but the last few weeks have been filled with outside play time, naps, park time, running all over...and nothing too exciting!

So, upon last count, we are up to 46 animals in our care....39 cows (well, 29 heifers, 1 bull & 9 calves), 2 dogs (one whom has been chewing up all our toys and cannot seem to stand still while going to the bathroom, thus spreading his waste all over...which thrills my husband since he's the one who picks it up) and 5 kittens. Oh yeah, can't leave out Melody - the beta fish- so 47. This beta has to be the oldest beta known to man...we have had this one for at least 5 years...can't believe it is still alive.

Brecken loves having kitties on the farm & they seem to be enjoying their new home!

Here are some pics of the animals! I promise to post something more interesting next time....

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy 32nd! This picture is from last year....only because I didn't have my camera ready for the 'buttering of the nose' tradition this year. Aaron's family has ALWAYS put butter on the birthday person's nose....so that they 'slide' through the next year. I thought it was a little different when we were dating and first married, but the little kids get a big kick out of smearing butter on each other's noses, so it's become a fun tradition to carry on.

Fun Week

Our oldest niece, Sara, spent last week with us. She was SUCH a big help with the boys. Brecken absolutely loved having her here....and the morning after she was gone, the first thing he asked when he woke up was, Where's Sara? He was very sad to find that she was gone.

He learned some things from her:
*new songs
*new things to build with play-dough
*that older cousins are pretty cool

She also learned some things from him:
*how differently her little boy cousins act compared to her little sisters
*boys like bodily noises...a LOT
*boys like to run, jump & climb - on things AND people
*boys like to wrestle
*boys stomp around the house, growl & are loud
*oh yeah...and they like to go potty outside

Where's my baby?

Leighton turned one 2 months ago....and it seems like all of a sudden he is making significant changes from baby to toddler....SLOW DOWN! He has decided that at meal time he wants to eat off of a plate - he is no longer satisfied with me putting a few bites out on the table.
Also, while playing with trucks, he makes the sounds & knows what the trucks/tractors are for (notice that he is hauling something in the pic). It fell out several times as he was pushing the tractor around & he put it back in the bucket.

It seems like he is growing up more quickly than Brecken did - maybe because a) he is watching Brecken & learning 'big boy' things much earlier or b) when Brecken was at this age I knew I was pregnant, so I wasn't bothered by Brecken turning into a toddler. I love the stages my boys are in - they are both so much fun for different reasons, but I do miss the baby stuff at times! Then I see this pic below & see that Leighton is still very much a baby...he's got the chubby baby hands with dimples still. Phew.

Rub-a-dub-dub

Three Kids in a Tub...

While changing a load of laundry, I heard squeals of laughter. After investigating, I discovered Reese & Leighton splashing in the toilet, with Brecken cheering them on. I wanted to grab my camera to catch some pics of them splashing, but couldn't bear the thought of fingers in mouths....even though the toilet was 'clean'. So, bath pics are what I went with.

Announcing our newest family member...

This is Gauge (or Gorge..as in a crevice in the earth...as Brecken calls him). We are now a 2 kid, 2 dog family. So far Gauge is enjoying city life - Brecken likes his big new lellow puppy.



This is Beemer - our schnauzer. He still thinks he's the top dog & lets Gauge know it. Thank goodness Gauge is a laid back dog....or we might not be a 2 dog family for long.

Top 10

Today is our 8th wedding anniversary! 8 years seems like a long time, but it's also hard to believe that it has been that long!

Top 10 reasons I love my hubby...

1. He loves me when I'm happy, sad...even when I'm grumpy.
2. He helps me around the house & with the kids - diapers (even cloth), dishes, cleaning...you name it, he'll help.
3. He encourages me to pursue my dreams & never tells me I can't do something.
4. He is a positive influence in my life.
5. He is a better father & role model for our boys than I ever could have imagined.
6. He gives great foot & back massages.
7. He isn't afraid to be himself...in any situation.
8. He is VERY slow to anger.
9. He is a hard worker, but doesn't sacrifice family time
AND...
10. What can I say....he's even better looking today than when I married him :)

Love ya sweets!

Weekend Getaway

We had the fun opportunity to spend a weekend at my aunt & uncle's home on the lake. We putzed around on the lake in their pontoon, went kayaking & floated the day away. The weather was perfect & it was actually relaxing, which is saying a lot with a 1 yr old & almost 3 yr old (around water...or anywhere for that matter). Thanks UM & AJ!

I've Been Tagged

I have been tagged by Miss Courtney of 'Carpenter's Colorful Collections'. She is a fun & light-hearted mommy of 2 sweet boys. Check out her wonderful creations!


Here are 7 Random/Weird Facts about me.

1. I don't like (never have....never will) ground meat. I can't stand the texture of it. I keep 'trying' to eat it, but I just can't.
2. I can touch my nose with my tongue...I know...I'm talented.
3. I would lock myself up in a room all day & read a book if I could.
4. We just started a grassfed beef operation...and I like going out & helping hubby do his work with the cows.
5. I can pick things up (and even pinch) with my toes.
6. I love being pregnant & the whole labor/delivery experience. I think I would have 10 kids just to go through it that many times....don't worry babe - we won't have that many.
7. I have a tattoo.

I tag the following people. Follow the instructions above!

Kristin
Lindsay
Kendra
Amy
Kate
Paige
Jamie