Hotels and Halloween

Brody enjoying having the King Size bed all to himself

Little Orphan Annie, an adorable tiger, and the queen (aka Maddy, Brody, and Jadyn)

How stinking cute is he?

We spent the last two days at a hotel in Hayden, ID. What is there in Hayden, you ask? Well, our hotel was attached to a VERY fun indoor waterpark and arcade! Okay, maybe it wasn't the biggest waterpark you've ever seen, but it was perfect for the three of us. The kiddie pool area was great for small kids. Of course, Brody wanted no part of it. He wanted to hang out in the wave pool and float. I am not sure if he was supposed to be in there, but the place was pretty empty and the lifeguards didn't say anything. Mike and I took turns going down the big slides and it was at the top of the FIVE FLIGHTS of stairs to get to them that I realized once and for all just how badly out of shape I am! It was sad, really. 30 years old and getting my butt kicked by a bunch of stairs!

Brody slept in the same King sized bed as Mike and I and to be honest, I don't think he enjoyed it anymore than we did! At one point during the night, I woke up to a little foot in my face. When I went to turn him around, he said "No, Mama". The kid argues with me in his sleep! He gets that from his dad. Once turned around, he decided to stay awake and talk to himself for a good hour. Needless to say, sleep was elusive for all three of us that night! In the morning, the little man slept like a sweet little angel (see above photo) until we rudely woke him up. Another hour at the waterpark, lunch at the Olive Garden, and we were on our way home!




We happened to make it home in time for the downtown trick-or-treating, so I frantically dressed Brody in his cute little Tiger costume (and I am not the only one who thought it was adorable, we saw at least five other little boys in the same costume, damn Old Navy anyway!). we met up with my brother and SIL at Subway and were off! They managed to get about two blocks ahead of us since every time a piece of candy landed in Brody's bag, he had to stop and look at it. This was cute the first five or six times, after that I was the mean momma on the sidewalk yelling at her 2 year old to get a move on! :)

The Gym

I feel like there should be Jaws-like theme music playing as I type the title of this post. You know, DA-DUM - The Gym. Yes, I joined a gym. It's time to force myself to overcome my aversion to all things exercise related and get in shape! Admittedly, my main motivation for this new venture would be the fact that the gym has a Kid's Club where I can leave my child for an hour. I'll take blissful alone time in any form, even if it means I have to do some working out to get it! Besides that, Brody needs to realize there are other people in this world besides his mother. So I will be attempting to get to the gym 3 days/week. M-W-F. Feel free to lay on the guilt trips when I "forget" to go or start making up all sorts of excuses to stay home!

10 AM and still asleep

This is killing me. I want to wake up the little guy, but I know he's feeling crappy with the ear infection and "slight cold" that the ped. informed me of yesterday. So I want him to get some rest, but it feels wierd to have my 2 year old sleeping in so late!

Outside Playing

While I went to the grocery store, Mike and Brody played outside. He got some pretty good shots of the kiddo.

Little Binkie Junkie

Last night as Mike and I were putting Brody to bed, he found an extra binkie and apparently decided 2 were better than 1! Seriously, I am NOT looking forward to taking this thing away from him!

Ear Infection

I took Brody to the pediatrician today because his right ear has been smelling kind of funky (not that I make it a habit to sniff my child's ears!) and twice I got a big hard ball of wax out of it. I didn't think it would really be an infection, he has tubes and hasn't had a problem since he got them last December! Well, there is an infection and the tubes were doing their job, I guess they are there to make sure the icky stuff drains out. So I get to put 5 drops in his ear 2X a day for a week. So fun. I hope this is the reason he hasn't been sleeping so well. At least I know I can give him some tylenol before bedtime! :)

Sweet Silence

Well, finally. after 2 weeks-ish of fighting, Brody fell asleep last night before the clock struck 10! It was beautiful. No crying, just some playing with his little matchbox cars. I, of course still stayed awake until 11:30 farming on FB and doing old lady word puzzles. But still, I went to bed knowing that for once, I won the battle!

I am thinking of writing another blog, just for fun. Hmmm...I'll think about it some more.

Homecoming and Up All Night

I decided to take Brody to the Homecoming football game last night. I figured, if he's going to stay up late I might as well do something fun! Turned out to be pretty fun! My good friend's son was crowned King, which was a little wierd. I knew him as a baby and now he is old enough to be Homecoming King! Wow, I am getting old. There were also fireworks at halftime, which Brody LOVED! He would crack up every time they exploded!

Here is Justin with his queen.It's kind of blurry, I don't think the flash was being used!

Brody and I left right after halftime. he was getting kind of antsy and it was pretty cold! We stopped at Subway to visit Grandma Pam and Cousin Jadyn. Jadyn loves to "work" at Grandma's restaurant, but apparently does not like it when I take pictures of her working. I thought this one was hilarious! She looks just like my mom when she's grumpy! Keep in mind, she is only 6 years old!

Once again, Mr. Brody decided to party with his toys instead of sleep! When it finally got quiet (about midnight) I went in to turn off his light and this is what I found:

I guess he decided that the hardwood floor was more comfy than his bed! LOL! I tried to put him back, but he got so ticked off at me! So I moved his bed over to this corner for the night and that made him happy. I guess 2 year olds have pretty strong opinions!

A night owl like his momma

It is 10:30 p.m. and I can hear Brody playing in his room. I have gone in there about four times in the last twenty minutes. I give up. Apparently, he will go to sleep when he is good and ready. This is why there will be a playroom in the next house, all those toys in his bedroom are much too rempting at naptime and bedtime. I wonder how happy he is going to be with me tomorrow morning when I wake him up at 8:00. I have been letting him sleep in however long he wants, which means he doesn;t come out of his room until about 9-9:30. I think it's time for me to crack down on the sleep schedule!

Carving pumpkins is Daddy's job now

I tried, I really did. I tried to carve a pumpkin for Brody this morning. We were bored and I was on the verge of hanging myself if I had to listen to the Imagination Movers sing one more time. So I drug in one of the five pumpkins sitting on the porch waiting to be made into a scary Halloween decoration. I got the top off and scraped out the guts easily enough. Then I tried to make a face. I got the eyes done and quit. Brody had long been done watching me (he was too scared to stick his hand in the pumpkin and help pull out the insides. So now I am offivially declaring pumpkin carving dad's job. Mike has way more patience than me anyway. I'll just do the clean up and pretend I helped!

Change of plans

The picture taking did not happen today. Brody and I went to Wal Mart and then my sister in law and her two girls came over for a while. By the time they left, it was naptime and once Brody woke up, it was time to meet my mom and nieces for dinner. It was still a good day. After dinner, we walked down to the lake and played on the toys, even though it was a little bit dark out. The kids all loved it! Brody took his bath, played with his cars and is now in his room, NOT CRYING! Please, Lord, let this not be a fluke.

Mike left this morning for Romania. He is planning to call me from Amsterdam tonight. It is so wierd to have my husband be in a different country so much, but he loves his job, and if I am being totally honest, I like it too. Not that I don't love my husband, but he has travelled for work since I met him and I don't know how we would handle being together every single day! :)

I managed to clean under the couch and chairs today, which may not sound like a big deal, but it is something I am always saying I will do later. I really need to make it a weekly chore, it was pretty dusty and gross under there! And I found one big spider hiding behind the chair, trying to make his home in my nice warm house. EW!

2 year picture plans

I have decided that this year, I will do Brody's picyures myself. Last year, we paid quite a bit for his one year pictures, and while I am not complaining about them (they were too cute!) I think I can do just as well, for so much cheaper! We'll see though, maybe I am not as good as I think I am! :) If I can get the little monkey to sit still today, I will take some pictures and post them later!

Bedtime Battles

Apparently, I jinxed myself and bragged one too many times about how well my child goes to bed. Usually, it took nothing more than a binkie and a blanket and he was good to go! The last 3 to 4 nights, he has thrown the worst fits at bedtime! I am at my wits end. He spends a good hour to an hour and a half freaking out. I thought he was scared of the dark, so I out a night light in his room. No luck. I rock him till he's alomst asleep and the minute I lay him down in his bed, he's screaming and crying. Mike rocked him till he was completely asleep and he still woke up and freaked out! I am now doing the "cry it out" thing and going in at five minute intervals to put him back in his bed and calm him down. Nothing is working!! I fear you will be reading about the crazy lady in the paper if this continues! Oh, and as an added bonus for me, Mike leaves tomorrow for 6 days. Yay.

The Pumpkin Patch

We took Brody to the pumpkin patch today and I think it was a hit! He loves anything that involves being outdoors, so it was a safe assumption that he would have fun! Mel, LeeAnne, Jadyn, Madyx and LeeAnne's sister and her two kids came along also. All the kids were having a blast finding their "perfect" pumpkins. Then Mike spotted a tiny field mouse running towards a pumpkin and the kids all went nuts! They chased that poor little mouse all over and I would like to think the furball made it safely home, but Jadyn informed me she accidentally rolled a pumkin over top of it, so who knows? Anyway, here are some pictures of the day!

Our little mouse friend

Some pictures!

Here are some new-ish pictures of the little man taken during the last month or two! We are going to the pumpkin patch today, so I am hoping there will be more later!

We were in the car wash in Soap Lake and it was scaring him, so he used his blanket to hide his face! We were laughing SO hard!

The night of his 2nd birthday, just family and the neighbors joined us for cake and BBQ. He really enjoyed his cake!
Here he is standing on the swim platform of our boat, he likes to get really close to the edge and give his mother a minor stroke!
Driving the boat
Wearing my headband and smiling like a doofus. This is what happens every time we tell him to smile!

Been awhile...

I am a terrible blogger! And really, there is no excuse, I have more than enough time to sit and write (type) about our days! I swear I will do better! I don't think anyone else reads this anyway, but it's still fun to go back and see how far we've come!

Brody-Wow, where do I begin? Brody is amazing. He is learning and growing every day! He keeps me laughing on a regular basis. It's hard to remember what life was like before he was here!

*He is talking more, though it's not always easy to understand what he's trying to say.

*His favorite word is still "Mommy" and while it's sweet, some days I wouldn't mind a "daddy" or two thrown into the mix!

*He is very active, he cannot sit still for very long at all. This is frustrating to a mommy that wants to snuggle and read stories occasionally!

*He loves his cousins and is great at torturing Maddy, who is 3.

*He eats fairly well but has days where I swear he lives on nothing but air and chocolate milk!

*He is big for his age. At his 2 year appointment, he was 37 inches and 32.5 lbs. Both in the 95-97th%. Basically, he is tall and skinny and makes me thankful for the adjustable waist pants! :)

Mike and I decided to start trying for baby #2 last month and I am excited to be pregnant again! I hope it happens quickly, it only took one try to get Brody. Though with Mike travelling for work so much, it may be awhile!

I started selling Pampered Chef and love it! Honestly, I am mostly doing it for the freebies right now, but I can it turning into something serious later on. Maybe when I have kids in school. Right now, my main focus is being a mommy, and the PC thing is more of a hobby.

Okay, that's my update today! Tomorrow, I will get my butt on here and post some pictures!