The letter of the day is W ...

So each Friday at preschool they learn about a new letter. The letter of the day tomorrow is W. Braxton and I started discussing this today in the car. We talked about all the different words that start with W and woman came to mind. He started asking me if I was a woman and then wanted to know if Carly was a woman. I told him Carly would be a woman when she was older. Somehow this turned into a discussion about getting married when he is older. I told him when he was older he'd get married to a woman and go and live with her and have children. He wasn't so into this idea. He made it very clear that he didn't want to get married and live with anyone else but me. He told me I was being a silly mommy and was trying to trick him. I love conversations with an (almost) 5 year old :)

Today we lost a friend. Baxter was our 1st child. When we were originally planning on getting a dog we thought that Boxer's were very protective and didn't bark a lot ... well, we got one out of the two! Many visitors were quite scared of him, but if they would have tried to pet and love on him he probably would have just peed on their shoe out of excitement. He was a wild and crazy dog. We used to have quite a bit of land at our old house and he'd run laps in the back yard so fast he'd throw up dirt. We could tell he had gotten tired the last few years. Everything happened quickly with his passing and we hope and pray he wasn't in pain. We appreciate his unconditional love and protection he's shown our family over the past 8+ years.

Time flies by :(

My sweet & funny little boy is almost 5 and I can't believe how much things have changed since he joined our family. Looking at old pictures usually makes me tear up so I thought I'd share some of my favorites. He is such an awesome kid and we're blessed to have him in our lives.

Valentine's Day festivities ...

So at the beginning of each preschool year you must sign up for to help with a party. This is always a stressful event for me because I'm not a teacher or very creative! Thankfully there are 14 kids in his class which means there were multiple Moms helping at each party which kinda lightens the load. I signed up for Valentine's. I got lucky and didn't have to figure out a craft which is a HUGE relief! The kids and us Moms seemed to have fun. This is such a great preschool year for Braxton. He has grown leaps and bounds when it comes to participating ... which is something we struggled with last year! He gets along wonderfully with his teachers who are absolutely awesome!

Zak and I went out a night early for Valentine's which meant we'd be at home on actual Valentine's Day. I decided this would be the perfect year to start teaching Braxton how you celebrate Valentine's Day. I cooked my normal dinner but decided to "set the mood" with the help of my 2 sweet blessings :) We lit candles, turned on music, and turned off the lights. Braxton was so excited to show Zak how we "decorated" for our evening of fun! Daddy even brought home roses and chocolates for me! We all exchanged cards/gifts and I think he realized that this is a special occasion and hopefully we can continue this tradition until he has his own special someone to share Valentine's with!

Hope you had a special Valentine's too!

Togetherness ...

I am so thankful that my kids enjoy each other. Don't get me wrong, they
definitely have their moments where enough is enough, but overall they truly enjoy each other.










Where ever Braxton is, Carly is right behind ... and thankfully Braxton doesn't seem to mind too much. Braxton often gets too rough with Carly but she smiles the whole time. I'm sure in another year or so she's gonna let him hold it. She's definitely not a push over!

Learning to skate!

We decided to see if Braxton would like to play Hockey and the 1st step in this process is teaching him to skate ... so we signed him up for lessons! "Mice on Ice" to be exact! We were both a little hesitant because he does have a history of not wanting to participate but he did GREAT! Still very much a beginner but I'm sure he'll get there!

Time to get a bowl I guess ... but I'm pretty sure the cheerios wouldn't stay in the bowl either :)

It's just a phase ...

I know that life is full of phases ... especially when it comes to kids. This phase we are in right now is particularly difficult. Carly is VERY clingy to me and only me. She is also not sleeping well during the day. Thank the Lord she is sleeping at night ~ 12 straight hours. But because she isn't taking good naps during the day I think it's making her ill during the day. Lucky me :) So we usually have about 1-3 hours of her crying during the day and wanting to be held. This fussy period is usually in the morning and then again late afternoon when I'm trying to prepare supper. It's quite difficult to prepare a meal while holding a child that weights 21 pounds. Braxton thankfully is relatively good behavior wise. Other than talking too much ... and I mean constantly ... and not caring if he eats a meal, I really can't complain. In all this communicating that he's doing he finds himself not quite using things correctly. Like he'll repeat what Zak or I say to him but it doesn't come out making sense or in the correct context. Sometimes it's even on the verge of being "back-talk" ... but I don't think he means it that way. Like sometimes he'll tell me that he's in charge or he makes the rules. Obviously he's heard me say that before.

I'm sure in a few years we'll be on to something new to complain about ... oh joy!

A Booger's in my tummy ...

So last night after I put Braxton to bed I could hear him up there crying, so I went back in to check on him. I asked what was wrong and he told me a booger was in his tummy. So trying to hold back laughter, I asked him how it got there. After not really answering the question I told him that he should not put boogers in his mouth but rather in a tissue. He was quite upset because he then wanted me to get it out. I told him to wait a few days and it would be in his poop :) ... I know gross but hey, we're already talking about boogers aren't we?

Truely a Girl

So Braxton came out loving cars, trucks ... anything with wheels. Well Carly loves her baby dolls. She got a stroller and cradle for her birthday and she is constantly taking her babies for a ride or putting them night-night. She even pats them on the back and tries to say "night-night". So cute :) She has several babies, but this one is her favorite. It has an attached paci and she is constantly putting it in and out of the baby's mouth ... or coming to you and wanting you to do it for her if she's having trouble.

The beginning to a Great New Year!

So my New Years Resolution is to get this blog up and running. I've had it for several years now but never even made a post. I worked New Years Eve night at the hospital so I didn't get to ring in the new year with my husband :( ... but we did enjoy some family time later that day. It was sunny and in the 60's so we headed outside. Braxton's bike that he got last year has been an "inside" toy that we let him ride around downstairs with and enjoy ... mostly because we've had some trouble finding a helmet to fit his giant gourd (aka head). So Santa was smart enough to find him the perfect one so we broke out the bike too for this fun day.