Easter 2013

We traveled to Manning, SC to spend Easter at Paul's grandmother's house.  Brady participated in his first Easter egg hunt.  He kept walking around yelling "ball!"  He would get so excited when he got one.  He didn't want a basket.  He just carried one egg in each hand, and he was happy.

He was also very excited about the dog that was at the house.  Paul's aunt and uncle have a black maltipoo.  He chased the dog around everywhere yelling "a dog, a dog, a dog".  That poor dog was doing her best to get away from Brady.

"Ball!"



The best of the family picture we attempted to take...


He got the dog!

Aunt Maggie and cousin, Caroline

Daddy and Brady (cute despite the closed eyes)

Trying to get a picture of the cousins, but Brady would not leave my arms.

Playing the piano with cousin, Amelia.
We had a great day, and Brady had a blast!

Brady at 18 months

Oh my goodness this is such a cute age.  I love that Brady is so curious about things and learning so much.  I may be biased, but I think he is just the most precious boy in the world.  He melts my heart every single day.  Here are some things I want to be sure to remember about him at this age:

1.  He is already Mr. Independent.  He does NOT like to be fed anymore.  Although, he has not quite mastered the utensils yet, so this can be kind of difficult at times.  He will try and try to use his fork or spoon, then he just eventually gives up and digs right in with his hands.

2.  He is talking so much now and says new words everyday.  I have been keeping a list on my phone to remember, and I keep having to update it.  He says:

  • dog- As soon as he wakes up in the morning he starts asking, "where's dog?"  A lot of animals are  called "dog".  He saw a cat on a commercial the other day and said, "dog".
  • ball- He is constantly looking for his ball.  He likes the little plastic golf balls that came with a set my brother got him for Christmas.  He likes for me to look for the balls under the furniture, because that is where they typically end up. Oh, and everything is "A"____ (a ball, a dog, a cup)
  • shoes- He is still obsessed with his shoes.
  • sock
  • sit-  He knows he is supposed to sit when he has his sippy cup.  So, he will say, "sit" and go sit on the floor or in his little chair.
  • blocks "bocks"- He loves to play with his "bocks"
  • car- more on this topic later
  • truck
  • please "peas"- so so cute
  • thank you "tank tu"- This is probably my favorite.  It is so adorable when he says this.
  • teeth- He knows after he takes his bath and we put on his pjs that we brush his teeth.  So he starts saying, teeth.
  • Mama- Oh my goodness talk about melt my heart.  Hearing mama in his sweet little voice gets me every time.  And, this is probably his favorite word lately.  He wakes up and starts calling for me from his room.  If I walk out of the room, "mama mama mama".  When he wants me to pick him up, he comes up to me arms wide open, mama.  I just love it!
  • Dada- He does not use this one as much as mama, but he certainly loves his Dada
  • hello "ello"- He says this with the Iphone to his ear of course.
  • bye- While waving...Unfortunately we have spent a lot of time at the doctor's office lately, so when the doctor comes to check him out he starts waving and saying "bye, bye" haha.  It is clear he wants him to leave...
  • cup- This one is always "a cup".  The first thing he says when we get to his school to pick him up is cup!  He makes sure we do not leave his cup there!
  • bath- He loves the bath!  As soon as we say you ready for your bath?  He starts yelling bath and runs to the bathroom.
  • treat "teat"- He loves to give his dog a "teat"
  • color "ca"-  This mean he wants to color or just sit at his table and chairs where we usually color.
  • No, no-  Wonder where he hears this from?  He will point his finger and say no, no, haha.  It is too funny.
  • Not nice "not ni"-  This is another one I tell him when he is being rough with Riley.  So, now he mocks me, "No, no, not ni"
  • poop- Lovely, I know.  He will tell you when he has a poop.  This also can just mean he passed gas :).
  • choochoo
  • cracker "cacker"
  • Night night "ni ni"
  • up
  • nose "no"
  • eye
  • mouth "mow"
  • duck
  • two-  We count, one, two, three, lift off when we take him out of the bath.  He will say "two" after we say one!
  • tv "tb"
  • hot-  I tell him this a lot when he gets close to the oven or grabs the knob for the hot water.  Unfortunately, it hasn't sunk in yet, not to TOUCH when I say, "hot".  But, we are working on it.  He always touches his food and says, "hot", even though it's not.
3. He is OBSESSED with cars, trucks, golf carts...basically anything with a steering wheel.  It is fun while it last, but he will throw a fit when we have to go.  He holds on to that wheel tight and turns it back and forth.  We are in trouble....

4.  He can point to lots of body parts including: nose, mouth, eyes, ears, tongue, teeth, feet, toes, belly, belly button, head, hair

5.  He loves to read his books.  His favorites right now are "Z is for Moose", "Clifford's Bedtime Story", "Goodnight Moon", "Trucks" (literally just a book with pictures of trucks), "Moo, Baa, La La La"

6. I always ask him for kisses and usually he shakes his head, "no".  But, occasionally he will lean his head up to mine.

7.  He takes one two hour nap a day and sleeps from about 7am-7pm.

8.  He loves to dance!  When he hears music, he just starts breaking it down.  He will kick his legs to the side, stomp his feet, and twirl in circles.

9.  He loves to play outside.  I can't wait for the weather to be warmer, so we can do lots of stuff outdoors.

10.  He knows a lot of animal sounds.  It is so cute to hear him make the noises.

11.  He likes to hang out in the bathroom with me in the morning while I am getting ready.  He likes to hold my hairbrush and mock what I am doing.  

12.  He is a climber.  You can't turn your back on this one, he will climb on the couch, his table, anything he can reach...

13.  I will ask him questions like, "Where is the dog?", and he will put his hands up and say, "I don't know?".

I know I am forgetting to write other things down that I want to remember at this age, but I will have to come back and add things as they pop into my mind.  I can't believe that in less than 2 months Brady will be a BIG brother.  I also have yet to take Brady's 18 months pictures.  They likely won't be taken until Easter Sunday.  But, I did remember right before bed to take a picture on his actual 18 month birthday (3/20/2013).

"Cheese!"

30 weeks and a sprinkle

This past weekend I hit the 30 week mark in my pregnancy!  I laugh when I read my 30 week post with Brady.  I was just sure that I would be the person a week over my due date begging for the baby to come.  Oh how I was so wrong.  So far, everything has been great and there are no signs of early labor.  I think it was around this week or next that I started having signs with Brady though, so we will just have to wait and see...

Someone wanted to get in the picture with me...

30 weeks :)

My friends also threw me a little sprinkle this weekend for the baby girl!  It was so sweet of everyone to come and sprinkle her with gifts.  I just love seeing all the pink.  It is so fun!

All the girls plus my best buddy.

All the goodies!
I am feeling a little better about things now, because Paul and I did a lot of cleaning the other day and actually have a room set up for the baby.  Her crib has been put together and her dresser cleaned out so we can use it.  It still needs a little decorating to be done, but at least she has a place to sleep!  The mattress just arrived in the mail today and her bedding is on the way.  We also set up the swing in her room (crucial!).  It is kind of hard to believe that in 10 weeks or less Brady will no longer be an only child.  It makes me sad sometimes to think about, just because I am afraid Brady will be mad at me or not understand. But, I think of my relationship with my brother and how I could not imagine life without him.  I pray that Brady and his sister will be just as close as I am with my brother and grow up to be best friends.  I realize this is truly a gift we are giving him and while he may not understand at first, he will be forever grateful.

Brady's 1st Haircut

I have been putting off getting Brady's haircut for the first time, because I just knew he would look too much like a big boy.  I just can't handle him getting any bigger!  But, he was starting to have a serious mullet, so I decided it was time.  He did such a great job and only fussed a little bit when she was shaving the little hairs on his neck.  He ate about 6 cookies during the haircut, so I think that kept him occupied.

Waiting our turn

Last picture of the mullet!  It will be missed...

Getting ready! 

He thought it was kind of fun!

Not so sure...

Cookies make it better...

All done!

Looking like such a big boy!  No more mullet..


28 weeks!

28 weeks!
We have entered the 3rd trimester!  I cannot even tell you how much faster this pregnancy is going by than my first.  I remember thinking I was going to be pregnant forever with Brady.  This time I am kind of wishing time would slow down since we have done NOTHING to prepare for this baby yet.  Ok, take that back.  We do have a crib, but it has just been leaning up against our wall for a month now.  It's probably time to put that together...And, why hasn't anyone told me how huge I look these days?! I saw this picture and while I know I felt like I was getting bigger, I didn't realize I looked like such a beast.  My goodness!  I also desperately need a tan.  Warm sunshine, where are you?  Here I am at 28 weeks with Brady.  Yeah, definitely bigger this time around...

We went to the doctor on Monday, and I passed my glucose test, yay!  We also had an ultrasound just to measure my cervix and make sure there were no signs of early labor.  Everything looks as it should at this point, and I convinced the ultrasound tech to let us take a peak at our little girl's face :).  She was back to vertex (head down) position too, so that is good news!  So far, everything is going great and hopefully it will stay that way.  I started having some of the same back pain I had with Brady a week or so ago, but thankfully it went away for now.

 How big is the baby? About 14.8 inches and about 2.25lbs. (About the size of a Chinese cabbage)

Weight Gain: Up about 17 pounds from my starting weight


Gender:  GIRL!

Maternity Clothes? Yup!

Sleep? I'm starting to toss and turn a little during the night.  I can't stay on one side for too long without my hips getting sore.  Sometimes when I wake up in the middle of the night it takes me a while to fall back to sleep.

Food Cravings/Aversions:  My recent craving has been for a hot fudge sundae (probably part of the reason I look like a beast...)

Movement: Lots of movement!  I love it :)

What I miss? It's the little things, like being able to put my shoes on easily...bending down, stuff like that is getting harder.  While I love my belly sometimes, other times it makes it much more difficult to do everyday tasks.

What I'm Looking forward to? My best friend Jennifer put together a little sprinkle for me and baby girl next weekend, so I am really looking forward to celebrating with family and friends and getting some PINK stuff :).

Baby Moon

For Christmas this year I gave Paul a weekend getaway to the Grove Park Inn in Asheville.  We have not been on a vacation together (just the 2 of us) since Brady was born.  It was a much needed break, and I know we won't be able to do it again for a while with the new baby on the way.  We were supposed to go about a month ago, but Brady got sick the week we were supposed to leave.  We just knew we wouldn't be able to enjoy ourselves worried about him.  So, we crossed our fingers that he would stay healthy for our rescheduled trip.  My dad and stepmom were kind enough to keep our little booger all weekend.


I was tempted to pack him with us...

On the way there we drove through a good bit of snow around the Greeneville/Spartanburg area.  The funny thing is as soon as we got to North Carolina, there was no snow in sight.  I was kind of hoping there would be a little snow on the ground in Asheville, but it sure was cold enough there!  We did get some flurries one night and a light dusting, but it was gone by the morning.


View from our room- beautiful!

The first day we got there about 3 so we checked into the hotel and then drove to downtown Asheville and walked through some shops.  The first place that drew me in was a chocolate shop of course.  They had the best fudge I have ever had.  I wish I had bought more while we were there!  I decided I was in the mood for Italian, so we googled Italian food in Asheville and came across a little family owned place called Vinnie's.  OMG it was soooo good!  Paul and I are still talking about how good it was.  Paul even mentioned driving there one night just for dinner...haha, that may be a little extreme.  But, it really was that good.

Me and my love at dinner!

My mouth waters looking at this photo...so yummy!

Apparently our little boy had Italian for dinner too, his favorite- spaghetti!  Of course we spent most of our time talking about Brady and wondering what he was doing.  I think he was having a great time being spoiled at his grandparents' house.


After dinner we sat by the fire and Paul got me some hot chocolate.  It was delicious and the perfect ending to a great night together.



The next morning, we got up and decided instead of spending a fortune on breakfast at the hotel we would venture out to another local breakfast spot.  Paul had been to this place once before and suggested we go there.  There was a 45 minute wait, but we decided we would just wait it out.  I am so glad we did, because again the meal did not disappoint!


26 weeks!
We decided to buy tickets to go to the Biltmore that afternoon.  It was a little crowded to say the least, but we still had a good time exploring the mansion.



Monday morning I had booked an appointment at the spa for a prenatal massage.  I was so looking forward to this as I have heard their spa is amazing.  It was nice, but would have been much nicer if I had more time to hang around and enjoy all the indoor pools, etc.  However, after I got done I had a text message from my stepmom to call her.  I knew that was not a good sign.  She said that Brady was burning up with a fever and very fussy.  So, we pretty much packed up immediately and headed back to Columbia.

Bye bye mountains!

The doctor could not see us until 7pm that night, so here I am trying to entertain a very sleepy, very sick little toddler.  (Excuse my appearance as I had not even had a chance to take a shower after my spa appointment...)



We had a great weekend together other than spending our first night back home at the pediatricians office.  Our poor boy had tonsillitis and a fever of 103.5.  Thank goodness we got some antibiotics in him, and he is feeling much better after missing a week of daycare.  I am glad Paul and I were able to spend some quality, relaxing alone time together, but now we are back to the races. There is so much to do and so little time before this baby will be here!

24 weeks

24 weeks!
This pregnancy is flying by.  I think by this time with Brady I had most of his furniture, his room painted, crib put together.  This time...I gotta crib, not put together yet, but we have a crib...that's about it.  I need to get on the ball with getting her nursery put together for her, because she will be here before we know it!

I am still feeling great, and everything looks great with me and the baby.  So far, no signs of early labor.  But, I really had no signs with Brady until around 30 weeks or so.  Of course, at our ultrasound today she was in breech position, taking after her brother already.  There is still plenty of time for her to flip, but with Brady once we got to the third trimester, he was pretty snug and not moving. I learned last time that you just can't plan everything to go the way you want it.  So, if I have to have a repeat C-section I will, but my "plan" is to have a VBAC.  But, we all know it is really what HER plans are.  As long as everyone is safe and healthy, that is all that matters.

 How big is the baby? About 1 foot long and a little over 1 pound. (About the length of an ear of corn)

Weight Gain: Up about 10 pounds from my starting weight


Gender:  GIRL!

Maternity Clothes? Mostly...still wear some of my normal clothes

Sleep? Sleeping pretty well.  I do have to get up to go to the bathroom pretty much every night which is annoying.

Food Cravings/Aversions:  Eating A LOT these days.  I am always hungry, and if there is dessert around, I'm not turning it down.  Hey, gotta take advantage while I can, right?

Movement: She is a wiggle worm.  You can actually see her kicks from the outside now.

What I miss? I still really don't miss too much.  Honestly, sometimes I forget I am even pregnant.  Oh how I know too well that will change soon!

What I'm Looking forward to? Well, since Paul and I had to reschedule our trip to the Grove Park Inn for President's Day weekend since Brady got sick before we were supposed to go last time...I am still looking forward to that!

Paul made this sweet little card and emailed it to me at work after our ultrasound today.  I can already tell that this little girl will have him wrapped around her finger.  She STILL didn't want to show her face at our ultrasound today.  She had her hands and feet in front of her face the whole time.  We managed to catch a little glimpse, and I am just so in love already.



Lastly, I got so excited to find these in my mail box today.  My sister-in-law hosted a Kelly's Kids clothing show, and I ordered their first matching outfits.  I can't WAIT to see my two babies in these this summer.  How freakin' cute are these??  Love!


 
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