Snow day!

We rarely get snow in South Carolina, so when we do it's a BIG deal.  This was Brady and Katelyn's first time seeing snow!   Katelyn stayed out for maybe 5 minutes, and then it was nap time.  Brady enjoyed playing in the snow and the make-shift sled his daddy made for him.  He was a little under the weather, so we didn't stay out too long.  But, it was still so fun to watch him experience another first in his life.

My sweet snow babies!

Katelyn had to borrow momma's gloves :).

Daddy came through with the make-shift sled!

My boys!

First snow at our new house.

So much fun!

The snow was fun, but it's nice to come in to a warm house and snuggle with Elmo :).

Brady Boo at Age 2

I don't blog as much as I would like to, but it is so important to me to try to document as much as possible so I never forget these precious childhood years.  Brady is such a bundle of fun these days.  He keeps us on our toes, that's for sure!  I just had to take a moment to write down all the sweet, funny things he is up to.

He is talking up a storm now, and he will repeat anything you say.  One of my favorites is how he calls his corduroy pants his "cordurboys".  When he sees his picture he says, "That's Brady boo momma!" (He got this nickname from his teacher.)  He also calls Katelyn "Katey boo".  He still LOVES his cozy coupe.  He will go jump in and tell me, "I gotta go to work momma."  He also likes to put his sippy cup and his cell phone in his car.  He then tells me, "I gotta call daddy momma." He has his routine of waking up in the morning and coming downstairs to get in our bed, drink his milk, and watch TV (currently he is obsessed with "Elmo Christmas"- we may be watching this one all year).  He wakes up before Katelyn, so when he hears her wake up he says, "Go get my baby momma."  He loves his baby sister so much.  He always wants to hold her, kiss her, play with her.  It just makes my heart melt.  There is the occasional snatching of a toy, or a little shove, but he is mostly sweet to her.  He always uses my name in his sentences when he talks which is so cute, "No momma", "Please momma", "You take me to my school momma?"  When we ask him what he did at school he says, "I play ALL day."  There is a little girl in his class named Evie that must be his favorite, because he will tell me a lot, "I wanna play wif Evie momma."

He is doing really well with potty training.  We finally got him to go #2 on the potty which he refers to as, "I did a big one."  He still has the occasional accident, but he is doing great!

His memory is amazing.  He does not forget a thing.  He is still talking about how Ma-ma fixed his booboo (this happened several months ago).

He is VERY into doing things the same way everyday.  Paul and I often wonder if he is OCD or just very Type A.  He must come home from school and drink his milk in "momma's bed".  I am not sure how this became the routine, and I really wish it was not, but he will have it no other way!  He sleeps with several stuffed animals, his "hunny" (bunny), Elmo, giraffe, cow (which is actually a giraffe, but not to Brady), and his kitty cat.  They must all be present for him to go to sleep, all in their particular spots, and I must kiss each of them before bed.  I have to give him a "big kiss momma", and a "little kiss momma" then Paul has to be the one to cover him up.  Since Riley would not participate in his bed time story like he wanted, we got his fake "Manny Dinkins" (this is what Brady calls Riley) to sit with him while he reads his book.  Now his Manny Dinkins must sleep in his chair in his room every night.  When he wakes up same thing: he likes to drink his milk in momma's bed.  He still likes it heated up a little bit, and he MUST press the button on the microwave or else!  Then, he likes to go take Riley outside, give him his treat when he comes in, and feed him his food.

He has hit the terrible twos a little bit and somedays I feel like I am going to be driven to insanity, but then he does something to just make me laugh or smile.

He loves to play in his playroom or outside.  Cars are still his favorite thing.  They are closely followed by choochoos and airplanes.  He also loves to go to church.  He tells me, "I needa go to church momma."

He still takes a 2-3 hour nap during the day, and for the most part he is great sleeper at night.  A few nights he woke up randomly crying, and I had to go calm him down, but thankfully he went back to sleep.  I don't DARE bring him to sleep in our bed because a) he would never go to sleep and b) he would get it in his head that this was his new routine.  Don't think so bud, this momma needs her sleep!  All the more reason why he is still in his crib.  He is perfectly content in there and has not climbed out YET.  There have been a couple of incidences where I swear he was going to do it, but then doesn't.  I will move him in the near future to a big boy bed, but I don't see any rush.  After all I have only been a getting a full nights sleep again for a couple of months!

He loves to try to help me.  The other day I had a laundry basket of clean folded clothes sitting upstairs.   I was changing Katelyn's diaper and turn around to find that Brady had attempted to shove all of the clothes into his drawer.  They were all hanging out and now completely unfolded, but he sure is a good helper :).  He loves to use his pretend Dyson vacuum that he got for Christmas (why don't they make those things functional??).

He has recently written his first song on his guitar and it goes as follows, "Dus-in build my trains, Dus-in build my trains, Dus-in build my trains".

I know I am slightly biased, but he is really is the sweetest little boy.  People tell us this all the time.  Even the director at his pre-school told me the other day that he was just the sweetest little boy she has ever met.  He LOVES his family and his friends.  He will tell me, "Momma I love you SOOOO much!" He truly cares about everybody.  I love that he has such a warm heart.

This little boy lights up our world, and we are so thankful that he is ours.

KVD 8 months old

Katelyn is 8 months old!  She is growing and learning so much everyday.  She is not crawling yet, but she is definitely trying.  Brady didn't crawl until he was 10 months old, so we will see if she will follow in his footsteps.  She can now clap her hands and wave!  She loves to "dance" when she hears music.  When she gets excited she starts kicking her feet really fast (i.e. when she sees her food :)).  She still loves her exersaucer, and she really likes to just play on the floor in the playroom with Brady.

She has 2 teeth! (They actually came in between 6 and 7 months, but I forgot to write that before.)  She loves taking her bath with Brady.  Her favorite toys are the shovel and the Gamecock cup.  She is "talking" now and her favorite thing to say is "Dadadadadada".  She is really responsive. I will tell her, "Say dada," and she will!  She has also started yelling something that sounds more like a lion's roar.  It is pretty hilarious.  She loves my cell phone and the remote control.

She still loves to eat!  She says "mmmm" in between each bite.  She is back to finishing most of her bottles as well except for the one before bed.  She never drinks more than 1-2 ounces at that time.  She loves to read a book before going to bed.  She sleeps with her bunny lovey (the pink version of Brady's "hunny") on top of her head.  She still sleeps on her back and never rolls over.  I guess she is just comfy!

She is still wearing size 3 diapers and size 12 month clothes.  She sleeps from about 7pm-7:30am and takes 2-3 naps a day typically.

She has the sweetest little grins and giggles that just melt my heart.  I don't think we could possibly love you any more our sweet Katey boo!

Katelyn's Baptism

Katelyn was baptized today!  It was a very special day shared with lots of family. Katelyn wore the same dress that I wore when I was baptized.  She did great except for when the minister poured the water on her head.  She was not a fan of that, and she let it be known.  He quickly handed her over to me and all was well again :).

Following the service we had a brunch at our house.

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted what I asked of him." 1 Samuel 1:27