Most Valuable Baby

Bring on 2012!

2012-01-04T07:00:00.000-06:00

Alright, everyone is doing it (except my husband)...

It's resolution time!!

So let's start with how I did on my 2011 resolutions.

-Organizing. I made great strides, but this is a continual effort.
-Losing weight. Happy to report that I lost about 10 lbs in 2011, but I still have about 10 to go to be at a reasonable weight (in my eyes).
-Spending life living in the moment. I'm happy on the progress I made on this one last year. As I blogged, 2o11 was spent with a lot of family travel time. There was the slight hiccup of August where I dissapeared for about 6 weeks, working way too many crazy hours. But I think i've recovered from it pretty well and tried to make up for it when I can.

Now onto 2012 resolutions:

-Get in shape. I like this better than "losing weight" because at the end of the day, I don't care how much I weigh if I am healthier and more physically in shape. My sister is helping me with this resolution and we start preparing for a 5K in March. I have to blog, facebook, whatever I can about it, so that I get enough peer-pressure to make me stick to it. Honestly, I used to love running, so getting back into it will be really good for me. And then, obviously the weight will come with it.

-Continue to organize. I still have opportunities here and with all the stuff we keep accumulating with Brody, we need to find a better way to organize. We also plan to have more children, someday. (Not committing to when or how many for those grandparents out there reading this). But along with future child/children comes more stuff! Ugh, I groan just thinking about it.

-Home improvements. Starting with little things like curtains, hanging more pictures, organizing. Then moving to bigger stuff, re-tiling our bathroom, painting, landscaping. I often dream about buying a new house, but clearly the cheaper option is making the house I already own more loveable. So that is what we're going to do.

Happy 2012 to everyone & help keep me honest on my goals!!

Goodbye 2011!

2011-12-31T14:58:00.005-06:00

2011 was a great year for our family, but more than anything, it was the year without any major changes!! It felt good. (OK, Jason was promoted to VP and I was promoted to Manager, but I am not counting those as major changes since we stayed in the same jobs, just added responsibility)

I look back at our lives since we got engaged. Basically, Jason put the ring on my finger and we took off running:

*2005 - Engaged, graduated, moved to Kansas City, started a new job (also the year Jason and I got back together after a 1 year hiatus)

*2006 - Jason moved to Kansas City / started a new job, married, bought a house

*2007 - Sold our first house, moved to Cincinnati, adopted two doggies, Jason started a new job

*2008 - Sold our second house, moved back to Wisconsin, started new jobs

*2009 - Pregnant!! Bought our third house.

*2010 - Brody! A fun, but exhausting year...

*2011 - Time to breathe....

2011 really was the year of travel. I love vacations, big or small. I don't like to sit still, so getting out of town every chance we got, was really fun. We had big vacations (NYC & Punta Cana) and we had a ton of smaller vacations (Michigan, Indiana, Kansas, couple of Wisconsin getaways).

Without the big changes, 2011 was really a great year. It had it's ups and downs, but we really had fun and grew as a family this year. Taking Brody on a plane for the first time was probably the highlight of the year as well as an entire week with my husband and friends without children. While I love Brody to death, it's refreshing to spend a little time on ourselves.

I look forward to 2012 and everything that it will bring, hoping for an equally low-stress year.

But look at how far we've come...

Dec 2010

Summer 2011

December 2011

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T06:01:00.001-06:00

Christmas Day

2011-12-25T06:00:00.005-06:00

Today Santa will have brought Brody wonderful gifts placed underneath the tree. He will likely get bored from opening gifts and end up distracted by the ones he's already opened. Jason and I will exchange gifts (I really think he'll love what I bought him!!)...and we'll enjoy the not so quiet Christmas morning with a toddler.

Then our crew will come over. Our immediate family on my Dad's side consists of 7 children, 2 parents, 1 spouse, 1 boyfriend, 1 grandchild...and that's how we became the Brady Bunch...

It will be noisy, it will be fun, and we'll love every minute of it. Again, Brody will be a spoiled little man, as he loves it when all of his aunts come over.

Brody's GG (Great-Grandma) & Great Aunt Molly will join us later in the morning before we do nap-time and head over to my step-mom's parents house. The rest of the day hasn't been decided yet, but there will definitely be a Packer Game and quiet time. With all fingers crossed that Brody is in bed by kick-off.

At the end of it all, we'll be exhausted, but I'll wonder how it came and went so fast.

I love the holidays.

Merry Christmas Eve!

2011-12-24T06:00:00.005-06:00

Today we will head to my Nana's house to open gifts, eat food, drink wine and love. Brody will be super spoiled and I will un-successfully try to keep him on a normal food/sleep schedule.

Then we will head to church with Jason's family. Likely, Brody will not have napped, but he will love the attention he will get from his cousins at church. Afterwards we'll head back to my in-laws house for food, gifts and family. Again, Brody will be spoiled with love and attention and enjoy every minute of it.

We may or may not get him to bed on time. Such is life with a toddler at the holidays.

But all in all, it will be fun, we will be with those we love and we will enjoy every minute of our toddler's Christmas.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

It's the holiday season!

2011-12-22T07:00:00.002-06:00

I LOVE Christmastime. I love it even more now that I have a little guy to share it with. Last year was fun as his first Christmas, and he was able to do a lot since he was almost 1 at that point. However, this year, I know he'll enjoy it a lot more and he understands a lot more.

We've been reading him the Christmas Story in his bible for awhile. But one of my proudest moments as a Mom (so far) was when my sister told me that Brody pointed out Jesus when they went to look at Christmas lights. It was one of those moments where you realize that what you teach them and tell them really sinks in! (He also calls the bible his Jesus-book...too cute)

Since we were on vacation for a week in December, it put me a bit behind on the Christmas spirit (though my shopping was basically done Thanksgiving weekend...woohoo!) So as soon as we got home, I kicked in the Christmas mode...

First up? Decorating Christmas cookies! A friend of ours bakes cookies with her 2 year old, and I've never really done that with Brody. So I though sugar cookies would be a perfect start.

He did a pretty good job putting on the icing...

Then he soon realized he could eat what he was decorating with and started licking the side of the sprinkles container (since frosting was all over it). He did a pretty good job though and loved eating his artwork!Next up? Santa Claus! Now, as I mentioned before, I was already behind on Christmas stuff...which included prepping Brody for the big Santa Claus visit. He freaked out last year...
So I probably should have been talking to him about it for at least a week ahead of time to get him excited. Instead, I really only gave him 1 days notice. He was so freaked out by Santa that I couldn't even attempt to put him on his lap. I've never seen him so scared in his life, so it wasn't worth making it worse. Get me outta here!!!

Daddy, help me!!

It went quick and then we were able to take some pictures of him in his cute outfit. Oh well, hopefully next year will be better!

Week Away

2011-12-15T07:40:00.007-06:00

Jay & I spent last week in paradise. Also known as Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. We left the little guy at home (heart-breaking), but he obviously was in good hands. Plus there was plenty of skyping to satisfy my need to see my baby.

The trip was perfect and just what we needed. Time alone, fun with friends, a week without a clock (seriously, I didn't know what time it was most of the days) and lots of sunshine.

Picture taken by Photo Souvenir

30 Seconds with my Toddler

2011-12-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

"Shoes" as I put on his shoes

"Moon!" pointing to the Nike symbol on his shoes

"No Brody, that is a swoosh - can you say swoosh?"

"No! Moon!"

"Swoosh"

"No!" OK - that argument was pointless.

"Shoes on....socks on"

"Airplane" points outside

"Mama gloves" points to my gloves

"Dada gloves" no gloves to be seen

"Dada working"

"Yes Brody, Dada went to work, are we going to go to school?"

"Doggies! Doggies barking!"

"Milk cold"

"Yes, your milk IS cold, let's go to school now"

Lather.Rinse.Repeat.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T07:00:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for...

My amazing husband - he truly supports me in everything I do, is an awesome father and day-to-day life would not be nearly as fun without him. He really is my best friend.

My adorable, sweet toddler - he makes me laugh daily, melts my heart constantly and is truly a blessing in our lives. We're so lucky that he's a healthy and happy toddler.

My wonderful family - my siblings are my rocks. All of our parents are awesome, constantly helping us when we ask and always there for us when we need them. My extended siblings are just as awesome, and Brody loves having so many Aunts and Uncles.

My friends - no matter how far and how close I know I can count on them whenever I need them. Even if we don't talk everyday, when we do catch up, it never feels like time has passed. I'm lucky for such long-standing friendships.

My Job - Not everyone is lucky enough to be employed, so I am thankful for a job that is both fulfilling and helps me provide for my family.

And many other wonderful things in my life, like being healthy, and living in a free country.

Today I will be celebrating with wonderful family and cheering on the Packers! Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

When Brody Grows Up...

2011-11-23T06:00:00.001-06:00

He wants to be just like his daddy...

Love.Them.To.Pieces.

Sometimes I Forget...

2011-11-22T07:00:00.001-06:00

To remember how lucky I am...

Between the naptime and bedtime struggles as well as a preview of "terrible twos"...Brody has been a little more stressful than usual. And with a long winter ahead with less and less time outside, I imagine we'll have plenty more stressful days ahead.

So yes, sometimes I need to remind myself...

The sleepy boy who refuses to take a nap is the same boy who loves to cuddle in the rocking chair and read books or sing a song.

The boy who can get frusterated to the point that he'll scream or cry is the same boy who says, "love you mama."

The high-energy toddler that loves to run around like crazy, pulling out everything onto the floor is the same toddler that will let you tickle him until he's laughing so hard you think he'll stop breathing. Then when you stop, he'll yell' "more!" because he loves to giggle.

He makes my heart melt on a regular basis with his love, smiles and personality. So -- when he's crying because I did something as simple as breaking a piece of bread in half instead of giving him the full slice -- I just need a simple reminder of how lucky I am to have him.

Chatty Brody

2011-11-11T06:00:00.002-06:00

"Between 18 and 20 months, his pace will pick up as he acquires ten or more new words each day. If he's especially focused on learning to talk, he can add a new word to his vocabulary every 90 minutes!" -BabyCenter.Com

As much as I was surprised to read this statistic, I am also not very surprised. Even though Brody is almost 22 months, this describes him perfectly. He constantly is saying new words that I had no idea he knew! Even when we're not intentionally teaching him a new word, he's learning it by listening to us.

Aside from the fact that I need to watch what I say (and do!), it's amazing watching him pick up every little thing. Somehow in the last couple of weeks Brody has learned the word "Coffee." So every morning he points to our cups and says, "Mama coffee/Dada coffee." And I swear we don't drink THAT much! Then we were out to dinner and he asked for our "fries." I think he gets fries at daycare, but he's never had them at home or out with us before. So I had no idea he even knew what those were! Guess I should probably start watching what I eat too...

He also likes to put ownership to everything. It's "Brody's milk", "Mama's coat" etc. He also generalizes certain things. Mommy and Daddy is universally applied to anyone that looks like a Mom or Dad....in books, at daycare, at the store... It's akward the first time your child points at a strange man and yells "Daddy!" I just keep repeating, "yep - that's one of your friend's dads" and hope one day he'll catch on.

You know you're the mom of a toddler when...

2011-11-09T21:00:00.001-06:00

When I first started working after Brody was born, it made me laugh at the stuff I had at my desk with me in my laptop bag.

Today I was reflecting on how I am so used to carrying around stuff for Brody that it doesn't phase me, but it's amazing how different life is with a toddler. A year and a half ago I blogged about having onsies, bibs etc. Check purse today:

--Toy Cars
--Pacifier (that's being hidden in a zipper so Brody won't find it)
--Hand sanitizing wipes & bottle of hand sanitizer
--iPad that Brody refers to as "Elmo" because that's what he uses it for
--Lots of advil

And on the weekends you'll find a spare diaper and wipes, sippy cup and a snack.

It's not a glamorous life, but I love it.

2nd Halloween

2011-11-09T06:52:00.007-06:00

Last year we were able to do quite a few fun Halloween activities with Brody, but with each year I know it will get more fun to do new things with him as he grows older.

So this year, we tackled pumpkin painting. I'm not brave enough to carve pumpkins with Brody yet, but since he does a lot of art projects, I thought painting would be perfect. But first, we had to head out to get a pumpkin...

We didn't end up finding a weekend to go to a pumpkin farm with hayrides, pick your own pumpkins and corn mazes. So instead, we headed to a farm nearby where all their pumpkins on are near the road. I also believe this is the cheapest way to go too.

Despite the low-maintenance pumpkin picking, Brody had a great time. He was able to pull around pumpkins in a small wagon, ride in a bigger wagon and pick out his own pumpkin.

Then we headed home to paint our pumpkins. Brody had a great time painting his pumpkin and my ever-so-patient Mom sat next to him to make sure paint did end up all over the floor and so Jason and I could paint pumpkins as well. The finished products:

Halloween at Brody's Daycare is also a big celebration. Every year they host a Costume Fashion Show. Parents attend of course, but it also draws a crowd from many others in the office. By the time we got there it was standing room only!

All the kids walk (or are pushed in a stroller if they're too little) across a stage. Walking is so much more fun, so I was excited that Brody was out walking on his own. He actually did a great job and I snapped a picture of him when he saw me. He pointed and yelled right away of course, but didn't try to run over. Many other kids get pretty upset when they can't run over to their parents right away, so I was glad that Brody did such a good job.

Our Little SpiderMan!

Friday night we headed to a Haunted House/Halloween party that my sister helps host every year. While it was cold, we were still able to stay for awhile, which allowed Brody to go through his very first haunted house. While it was a good/scary haunted house (which they do in a garage), when we took Brody through, we used a flashlight and all the people in the haunted house were extra nice to him. So, it wasn't truly that scary, but we still got a chance to check out all their hard work.

Since Halloween was on a Monday this year, our city chose to do Trick-or-Treat from 6-8pm on Saturday night. At first I was annoyed that it was so late. (Brody goes to bed by 6:30!!) Then I realized that at least it wasn't a weeknight and reminded myself that it's not the end of the world if Brody stays up until 8pm. We were in the middle of weaning the pacifier (more on that another day), so any disruption to bedtime was worrisome.

I personally believe that a 1 year old is too young to trick-or-treat (especially since he's not allowed to eat any candy). However, Jason disagreed, so he headed out to take Brody to a few houses. It was a great way for Brody to get the experience with some of our nearby neighbors, without doing too much. Although, he still ended up with a ton of candy! Apparently they thought he was cute.

Then they headed home and he helped pass out candy. This was by far his favorite activity. He would run down to the end of the driveway with a piece of candy to drop it in a kid's bucket. Then when it would quiet down, he would yell, "More Kids!!"

Toddler Talk

2011-11-06T19:01:00.003-06:00

Conversations with Brody:

Jason: "After we get a haircut, we're going to go to Kohl's"

Brody: "Cole!!!" (Brody's name for Aunt Nicole)

Me: "No Brody, we're going shopping, at Kohl's Department Stores"

Brody: "Cole's!!!"

Me: "Boy, he's going to be pretty dissapointed when he realizes Nicole won't be there and he has to go shopping for Kitchen gadgets..."

______________________________________________________________

Brody: "Ben? Where Ben?" (Ben is one of our chocolate labs)

Me: "Ben is upstairs, Cody is right there" (Cody is our other lab)

Brody: "No, Ben!"

Me: "Is Ben your favorite?"

Brody: "Yes"

Me: "Is that because you can only say 'Ben'? "

Brody: "Yes!"

______________________________________________________________

Me: "Brody, what do you want for breakfast? Waffles?"

Brody: "No! Cereal."

Me: "Oh, you want cereal?"

Brody: "No!!"

Me: "What do you want for breakfast?"

Brody: "Waffles!!"

Weekend Getaway

2011-11-04T07:03:00.003-05:00

So after the craziness at work, I just wanted to hibernate with my favorite boys. So...we headed on yet another vacation!!
Over Labor Day weekend we hopped in the car and drove a couple hours north to Green Bay. We had a couple things in mind for when we got there, but the best part is that it was one of those last minute vacations where every minute wasn't already planned.

We got there Friday afternoon for lunch at Lambeau Field and a tour through the Packer Hall of Fame. It was my first time, as well as Brody's, and it was pretty fun. Obviously Brody will enjoy it more when he's older, but he did a great time hanging out in the stroller while we looked around. He also didn't sleep the whole car ride up there, so it was a miracle he wasn't melting down. Waiting for lunch & playing his first arcade game

Checking out the Lombardi Trophy (Super Bowl Champions '10-'11)

That night we just went out to dinner and headed back to the hotel to get Brody to bed at a normal time. There was also a pit-stop to get eye drops since Brody had developed pink-eye. Though he gets sent home on a regular basis for "pink-eye" this trip was the only time I actually think he had it. Let me tell you, classic pink-eye is actually pretty nasty. Luckily he was able to get medicated right away so that he didn't spread it to us or anyone else.

We also learned the key to success in hotel-ing it with a toddler. Separate bedrooms!! We stayed in a suite (in the middle of nowhere, this was still a pretty cheap room), which had a separate bedroom, with a fridge/microwave/sink area separating it between the living room. We were able to put Brody to bed and we could actually stay up. He slept great both nights in that hotel room and napped as well. It made things so much easier.

Then on Saturday we headed to Bay Beach. This was actually our main purpose for picking Green Bay, so I was a little dissapointed when we woke up and it was raining outside. For those who don't know what Bay Beach is (I just learned this recently), it is an amusement park directed at younger kids that is super cheap. You don't pay to get in and each ride is about $0.25. The most expensive ride we went on was $0.75 per person (Merry Go Round). Many of the rides are geared towards younger kids, but children up to the age of 8 could easily be entertained there. And we struggled to spend $5 in about 3 hours.

At first I was a little nervous. Brody had never been on a carnival ride and the first one I saw didn't have a seatbelt. I really thought he might try to climb out during the ride, so we went to look for one where he'd be belted in. Though, there really was no reason to worry. Here's his first ride...

He LOVED it!

By the end of the morning, he was a pro. Jason even yelled out to him, "put your hands in the air!" So, he did...

The best part was, he wouldn't put his arms down until Jason told him to. It was pretty funny.

The weather wasn't ideal, but Brody didn't mind at all. We headed back to the hotel for lunch and nap thinking we'd go back to ride more rides in the afternoon if the weather cleared up.

Unfortunately it rained all afternoon. There was no way I was getting stuck in a hotel room with a toddler on vacation. So we pulled out the laptop, did a few google searches and found an indoor place with inflatables to bounce around in. This also was another first for Brody. He was a little hesitant at first, but quickly got the hang of it. Especially when he figured out that one of them had a basketball hoop and ball in it.

Turned out to be a great couple of days and we loved the more laid-back vacation. Definitely think we'll head back there again in the next couple of years.

Working Mom Struggles

2011-11-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned before, the end of our summer got a little crazy at work. For a few months I was working crazy hours. At least 6 weeks of it Jason was basically a single parent, when I never even left town! I easily thought about quiting my job daily. (OK not really since I knew it was only temporary and I love my job).

I've gone through busy periods in my career and had jobs that never seemed to not been in a busy time. Everytime that happened though, there was only one person I was leaving at home. When it was just Jason and me, he was very understanding when I had to work late. Sure I'd get the occasional complaint, but at the end of the day, he understood that I enjoyed my job and sometimes that required a lot of hours.

Ever since Brody was born, I've been in a job where we have busy times, but that really only amounted to 50 hours a week. And I've been very lucky where I can work at home at night instead of staying at the office late.

Then we had an unexpected thing come up at work (it was accounting related, so I won't bore you with the details), that not only did I have to work late and work weekends, it wasn't optional. For the first time in my career, I was told that I had to work all weekend. We were here for 15 hour days for over 10 days straight. Which = not seeing Brody for most of those days.

Things I learned:
1. There is a reason I work where I do...this was a rare situation, where other career paths I could have taken would expect this on a regular basis.

2. I'm not emotionally capable of handling being absent from my family for long periods of time. There were a lot of tears shed... (Also, working 90-100 hours in a week is exhausting)

3. I have the BEST HUSBAND IN THE WORLD! Ok, I already knew that, but, he's always been there for me when I needed it and this time was no exception. I normally take Brody to daycare every day. But in order for me to get home before 10pm at night, I had to start coming in earlier than daycare opened. So he had to go to work late a couple days a week, just so I could be in at 6am. His job is important to him too, so it wasn't easy to have to balance that as well as taking on Brody full-time.

On the weekends when I was at work, Jason didn't just sit at home with Brody staring at the TV, he actually took him out to do things. Our zoo passes were awesome because they would just head out to the zoo for a few hours and then head home when they got bored. He really is a great father.

4. We have a great family. Again, I already knew this, but we had a few people have to come and babysit last minute because I couldn't get out of work. It's a huge help having them around and knowing Jason wasn't in it alone.

5. I do really work for a great company. There were many people who had to go above and beyond this summer and they made sure to recognize everyone.

Family Vacation

2011-11-02T07:38:00.000-05:00

Every summer, my Dad, Stepmom and as many children that can make it, head to Grand Haven, MI for a family vacation. Between my Dad and Sara, they have 7 children, 2 extended children (Jason & my step-sisters long-time boyfriend) and 1 grandchild. So we end up with quite the crowd (all pictured above).

Last year, when Brody was about 6 months old, we took him for the first time. It was fun to bring him along, but there were a lot of things we couldn't do with him. He was barely eating solids and couldn't even crawl yet. So, this year, we had a lot of things we were excited for him to do.

First, we decided we were going to take a ferry across Lake Michigan, instead of making the drive around. We had to take a 6am ferry there and an 11pm ferry back to get the best deal, but it seemed worth it to save on sitting in a car for 6 hours. We were wrong...

The ferry ride to MI was great. Despite getting up early, Brody was happy and unlike an airplane, you could actually move around. It was rocky of course, but he was able to walk around and we even went on the top of the boat to get some fresh air and check out the water.

The ferry ride home? Awful! I'll spare you the details, but it was stormy and the lake was choppy. Needless to say, it was 11pm at night, Brody was tired and seasick and I was on my own in taking care of him since everyone else on the boat wasn't doing so well either. I'm never complaining about the 6 hour car ride again!!

Aside from the ride home, the rest of the trip was a blast.

There are several traditions we have for this annual trip. One tradition involves ice cream at a place in town that has a huge variety of yummy flavors. So, despite the fact that I generally don't give Brody much for dessert, he had to have ice cream with everyone else. I did make the mistake of getting his in a bowl when everyone else got a cone. He ended up finishing my ice cream cone instead and I had to eat out of the bowl!

Second tradition is a place called "Pronto Pups." They batter and fry corn dogs in a stand on the road and while completely awful for you, they taste great! Brody's first experience with fried food was a good one of course.

We stay at a home a block away from Lake Michigan, so there is a lot of beach time while we're there. Last year, Brody freaked out when we tried to expose him to the lake. The water was even relatively warm and he wouldn't go near it. So we were a little unsure how he would do this year, especially when I wouldn't go in because it was too cold (and this was in the middle of August!!)
So we walked him to the water....

He checked it out...

And within minutes he was laughing like crazy and loved running into the waves. This is the kid the can't handle it if his bath is lower than 98 degrees. Yet he went running into a freezing cold lake with no problem. What a crazy guy.

We knew the sand would be his favorite part and it definitely was. He even let Jason bury him in it. All was fun, until he ended up with sand in his eyes...

The best part about vacations with the entire family is not only the fun we have together, it's also a huge help when you have a little guy. Everyone there is more than willing to help take care of him and keep him entertained. And since we stay in a house, it's easy for him to adapt to a "home away from home" atmosphere. It's by far the easiest vacation with a toddler. And next year he'll be able to do even more!

Laughing our way through Toddlerhood

2011-10-31T11:58:00.007-05:00

It's been way too long since I've blogged. First, it was because I was working ridiculous hours...I mean "ridiculous, I haven't seen my child in 5 days" kind of hours. Then I was back to working normal hours and spending every waking minute with my son, husband, family, friends and then catching up on all the house related stuff we ignored.

Now...we're catching our breath, so it's time to blog again! Which is really a good thing, because, seriously, toddlers are funny. I mean babies are cute, sleepy and cuddly. But toddlers are really fun. They're also difficult, stubborn and stressful. But very fun.

Brody is in a stage where he freaks out if anything isn't the way he expects. Example: he likes it if you give him a cheese stick whole & he'll take bites off of it. If you break it into little pieces for him, he doesn't want it, and will literally cry about it. In his mind, it's just not the same! You learn which battles to pick and move on.

So this morning, Brody and I were walking out to the car in the garage like we do every morning. However, today, I wasn't wearing any shoes. My shoes were in the car already and I was going to put them on in the garage (my husband is probably rolling his eyes right now that I didn't at least put sandals on and now my socks are probably dirty).

And Brody, could not handle it at all. "Mama, shoes!!"

When I reassured him that they were just in the car and I could walk out to get them, he just started picking up every other pair of shoes I had by the back door.

"Mama shoes, mama shoes" as he hands me one shoe after the other. He actually refused to walk out the back door until he saw me pull my shoes out of the car and put them on.

It's times like this that you just have to laugh at how his little brain works. If you're not laughing, you're probably pulling your hair out trying to rationalize with him...so we choose to laugh.

More stories, including a catch-up on how our last 3 summer vacations went (Michigan, Green Bay, New York), coming soon!

Children Come First

2011-07-14T06:45:00.000-05:00

I believe this is a phenomenon that happens with all mothers, we tend to put our children's needs before our own. However, I found that not only do I put Brody's needs before my own, but my choices for him are held to a higher standard than my own. Let me explain...

--When I was pregnant, I stopped drinking my daily lattes and cut down to one caffeinated beverage a day. Brody's health came before my addiction to caffeine. Despite the fact that I was able to survive with less caffeine for 9 months and it's clearly healthier for ME to cut back...it's just not enough motivation.

--I have never taken Brody outside for more than 5 minutes without putting sunscreen on him first. Yet I seem to forget every once and awhile to put it on myself. And I have the peeling skin to prove it.

--Vegetables with dinner? For Brody? Of course! Do I make enough for myself? Not always...

--I won't feed Brody take-out/drive-thru food, yet I'll eat it myself. We go out to dinner and Brody eats grilled chicken and broccoli and I'll order a breaded chicken sandwich.

I do try to take care of myself and know that I need to live a healthy lifestyle so that I can be around to watch Brody grow old. It's just a lot easier to make the right decisions for him than it is to make them for myself.

Road Trip

2011-07-13T06:45:00.005-05:00

Early in June we took a 4 day weekend to drive down to Kansas City. The city that started it all for us. Jason & I only lived there for about a year and a half, but fell in love with it pretty quickly. We had many firsts in that city: first time we lived together, first year of marriage, first car, first house. Not to mention, it was the first time either of us had lived outside of Wisconsin. We grew a lot that year, both together and as individuals.

We absolutely loved living there, but for my career, ended up moving quicker than we would have liked. We're now back in Wisconsin because we love being close to family and friends, but if we could convince all of them to move to KC, we'd do it!

The drive is long, but I wanted to save the money on the airfare, so we did it anyway. The first night of our trip we slept in a random hotel in Iowa after driving as far as we could make it. Back up early to get on the road, we arrived in KC mid-afternoon on Thursday. It's was a little later than we planned, but not driving too late the night before was worth it.

First item on the agenda was eating at my absolute favorite restaurant in KC. Jack Stack is a BBQ restaurant with amazing food. I was excited to eat there, and I'd say Brody enjoyed it as well!

The best part about this trip is that we had no real plans. So Friday, once we got up and ready we walked down to Country Club plaza which is an outdoor shopping plaza several blocks long. We spent all morning shopping, had lunch and headed back to the hotel for nap time.

I've already blogged about how difficult hotels can be for toddlers. Our biggest problem is that Brody doesn't sleep well in hotel rooms. He can see us up and about, so he doesn't understand why he should be napping. Every day of this trip we had a battle with him during nap and bedtime. Aside from sleeping challenges though, he handled being in a hotel room just fine.

Without the toddler-amenities of home, like a high chair, we did a lot of improvising. But it all seemed to work out.

Friday night we drove out to the suburbs for another one of our favorite restaurants and to drive through our old neighborhood. We were surprised to see a lot of boarded up windows and broken shutters. I guess that the houses were hit pretty hard with the storms that caused the tornadoes in Missouri. The only downside of Kansas was the tornados, though we were pretty lucky while we lived there.

Saturday after some pool-time, we headed to another part of the city, to another favorite shopping area. Again, everything being outdoors, we just loved walking around. We also were able to stop at a restaurant we thought Brody would love, T-Rex, which is themed around dinosaurs. We were right and he loved every minute of it. He kept "rawr-ing" like a dinosaur and making fish faces since we sat by the fish tank. The best part was, that when this restaurant opened up, Jason and I talked about how it looked like a great place to take kids and talked about taking our children there someday. I loved thinking back to what life was like just the two of us back then, and now the three of us.

We headed out of town after that and spent the night near Iowa City. Sunday was left for leisurely driving home and it worked out well enough that we stopped in Debuque, IA to watch our nephew's basketball team play in a tournament.

I'm really glad we made the trip out of town. We have a lot of vacations this year, but as last-minute as this was planned, it was great to have a relaxing but fun getaway. The rest of our travels this year include a lot of other family and friends, which we're really excited for. However, the part that made this trip special is that it was just about the three of us, and I loved it.

Why I blog

2011-07-12T18:42:00.000-05:00

As anyone who actually still looks at this blog knows, I have barely written anything in the last few months. So I began reflecting on why I blog...

Well, it started as a way to document my pregnancy and then realized it's also a great way to keep family and friends (who I never have time to call on a regular basis) in the loop on Brody's development as a baby. He was changing daily, so it was nice to document it.

Now...Brody has gotten a little older and while he is still growing and changing at a rapid pace, it's not the same as the first year of his life. Some weeks, I don't have as many things to write as others. Then there are the weeks that I have a ton to write, but don't have the time to do it. Then when I find time, I forget some of the things I wanted to write about.

The other day I was browsing through older posts on my blog and looked at some pictures of Brody that don't seem so long ago. Yet, he looks so different today than even a couple of months ago. And I realized that I'm missing out on documenting his first summer as a toddler. And it's been a busy, adventurous summer!

So on that note, a preview of our 18 month professional photos (taken by McManigal Photography). Once again, she did a wonderful job capturing Brody and our family. These are only the first few that we've seen, but I expect the rest to be just as wonderful.

Our little traveler

2011-06-05T19:43:00.007-05:00

We actually have quite a few vacations planned in 2011, so it should be a year of adventure. Earlier this year, we headed to Valparaiso, IN to cheer on our nephew JJ's basketball team. Then this past weekend we headed to Kansas City, just the three of us. Later this summer we'll head to Michigan with more of our family for our annual trip. Then this Fall the three of us will head to NYC for a friend's wedding, with my older sister to help take care of Brody the night of the wedding. Then to end the year off, we'll leave Brody home for a week, while Jason & I celebrate our 5 year anniversary / the wedding of a good friend in the Carribean. At some points all the vacationing with a toddler will be stressful, but I'm excited to start these trips early. By the time Brody is two he will have slept in 7 different states.

I'm excited to share these experiences with him, but even more excited to do more once he's old enough to actually remember them. Needless to say, a lot of the trips this year and last have been about us, more than him. But we love having him along and showing him new things. It also helps this control-freak of a mama get out of her element every once and awhile.

So the latest trip? Overall I'd say it was a success! Though it did have it's ups and downs. Pictures and stories to come...

Routine

2011-05-17T08:23:00.009-05:00

From early on in Brody's life, we've worked to keep his bedtime routine fairly consistent. Usually, we take him upstairs for pjs, put his sound machine on, read a book, hug and kiss goodnight and lay him down. We've had to switch it up a little over time, like when we stopped bottles & formula and rocking him to sleep, we started reading books. Since he's such a good sleeper, I try not to mess with what works.

Though generally stick to the routine, we're not at all rigid about it. Sometimes he falls asleep in the car if we've been out, every other night we do bath, some nights if he's tired enough, we don't even read a book.

So apparently we weren't being consistent enough for Brody...

He's going through a stage where he's latched onto one book that he has to read before bed EVERY night. No matter what. And there's no playing tricks on this kid, he knows right where the book should be each night and demands that it's read to him.

After several nights of reading the same book over and over, I tried to put it in his closet. He caught me doing it and started crying and pointing at it instantly. Fine, we read it anyway.

Then...last night I thought I'd lucked out. He brought the book to the bathroom but then got distracted by the running water and set it down. He loves baths just about as much as this book! After bathtime, we went to his room, leaving the book behind. He instantly went for the shelf where it belongs. When it wasn't there he looked up at me with a sad face, like where did my book go?! Then, he quickly remembered where he left it, ran out of his room straight to the bathroom door.

So what did we do? We read the book. Why mess with what works?

P.S. Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma Sara for the "Baseball Counting Book," he loves it, we hate it. :)

Daycare Fun

2011-04-27T08:38:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I got the following e-mail from daycare:

"Once again Brody was the only boy in the room. When I was putting 'prettys' in the girls' hair, Brody pulled his own hair and signed 'Please.' He even looked up at where we keep the rubber bands! With the new refined 'please' baby sign and those big blue eyes I couldn't say no..."

She also added that she told him that some football players wear ponytails too! And then said, I hope you don't mind! This type of thing doesn't bother me in the slightest, I think it's cute. With Brody's mohawk the first year of his life, it isn't the first time a teacher put his hair in a ponytail! I laughed, put the picture on my phone and forwarded it to Jason right away.

However...Jason thought Brody should have a hairstyle more like Daddy's...so here's what he looked like this morning...

I do have to say, the styled look does make my heart melt. He looks like such a big kid!

Easter 2011

2011-04-25T12:39:00.005-05:00

Easter was great this year and we got to spend a lot of time with family. Of course I always over-book every minute of the holidays which ends up stressing me out, but I'm not sure I'd really have it any other way. I love that we have so much family to enjoy the holidays with.

After early church service, which Brody did pretty well (we sit in the cry-room at church which makes it easier), we headed for a quick visit with at my Nana's house. We don't generally spend Easter with my Mom's side of the family (since we do Thanksgiving with them), but it's been too long since Brody has seen his Great-Grandparents, that I really wanted to make sure we stopped by. Brody played the shy-guy routine the whole time we were there, but since it takes him an hour to warm up to new houses and we left after about an hour and a half, I couldn't expect much more out of him.

Since we were hosting Easter dinner with my Dad's side of the family and Jason's family, it allowed us to get Brody down for a nap before the guests came. As stressful as hosting a holiday dinner for 17 people can be, it easily offsets the stress of lugging Brody from house to house, trying to squeeze in a nap and some sort of normal routine. That, and our family helps out so much with the food and prep for holidays, that I can never really complain!

Dinner seemed to go pretty well and despite the fact that I burned the glaze for the ham & had to make a quick substitute, I think the food turned out great.

The Easter Bunny brought Brody a lawn mower to play with outside and a basket with a few smaller goodies. He seems to like the lawn mower & the bubbles that it makes, but probably loved throwing the plastic eggs more.

When to expand

2011-04-19T08:13:00.003-05:00

We get this question all the time. Are you ready for #2?? When are you having another baby!?!

I keep saying, we just had one - leave us alone! Then as 15 months is coming up, I am reminded that I was born when my sister was only 15 months old. 2 babies right now? I don't know how my parents did it. They're amazing.

But I'm more practical about my limitations. I was useless the first three months of my pregnancy falling asleep almost immediately after getting home from work. I know I won't have that luxury next time. Then I imagine myself 9 months pregnant trying to carry a toddler, or waking up in the middle of the night with a newborn, but still getting up early with a toddler. I am quickly reminded that I am just not ready yet.

But then, Jason and I will be watching a tv show with an adorable little baby and how quickly I forget about everything else. Babies are just so cute! How easily a cute little smile from a tiny baby can melt your heart...

But...no, we're not ready to expand yet. And no I don't know when we will be (or I should say, when I will be...Jason is probably already there). But we do know that there will be another one, someday.

Working Mom - 1 Year

2011-04-14T11:50:00.012-05:00

One year ago today, I returned to work after 12 wonderful weeks of maternity leave. I will be honest, I was happy to return to work and 12 weeks was actually a little longer than I think I needed. Brody was taking 4 hour naps at home and I got a little stir-crazy. With a second child (down the road...) 12 weeks probably won't seem boring when you have an older child to take care of at the same time!

Now, a year later, I am still glad that I work. As hard as it is at times, I do love my job and what I do. I know that Brody is well taken care of at daycare and I know they are much more creative than I would be as a stay at home mom.

There are a lot of challenges to being a working parent. But I think the one thing that makes us working mothers stress out more than our male counterparts, is guilt. I constantly feel guilty that I'm not doing enough for Brody or spending enough time with him. I feel that men can look at this more rationally, where I tend to be more emotional about it. Jason will be the first to tell you that we need time together just the two of us and that we both need to make sure to make time for ourselves as individuals as well. But then I instantly worry that it's taking away from Brody. Especially since I spend so much time away from him at work.

I will also tell you that I am definitely my worst critic. I often feel that I could be a better mother, a better employee and a better wife. Don't even get me started on how I could be a better daughter, friend and sister... That said, Brody is obviously thriving, I was promoted at work and my husband continues to love me. Clearly I'm not failing!

This isn't a blog for reassurance that I'm doing okay, this is just something that I think most mothers struggle with and I'm no exception. The desire to do the best for all of those in our lives with not enough hours in the day to do it.
While I know that one day it will probably get even harder, for now the three of us seem to have a system that works and I love every minute of my life with my favorite two boys.

I know this works somehow

2011-04-08T20:55:00.007-05:00

Today Brody was determined to figure out how to put his shoes on. Apparently he didn't like that I took them off and wanted them back on. Hmm, maybe these socks should go on first... Ok, I give up. HELP!

Best Purchase Ever

2011-04-07T20:12:00.005-05:00

There are a lot of silly purchases we've made since we found out Brody was on the way. But more often than not, we end up getting something that works out really well.

This past month we bought Brody a play kitchen. Winter seems to be never-ending in Wisconsin this year (though I'm truly hoping the 70 degree forecast for Sunday turns out to be accurate). All of us have been feeling a little stir crazy. So we need something else to play with in the house.

So a few coupons and my employee discount combined, we got this kitchen for steal. And it was worth every penny. Though I have to say, I end up finding pretend food scattered across the house. I found an orange in the bathtub tonight...the same orange that is in the bookshelf in the picture below.

Even tennis balls make their way into the play kitchen somedays. The best part is that I really think it will last for awhile as he gets older.

Go Brewers!

2011-04-05T21:04:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was our 2nd Annual Family Trek to Opening Day at Miller Park. Taking a 2+ month old last year, was much different than a 14+ month old this year. But for the second year in a row, I'd say it was pretty sucessful.

Unfortunately, it was FREEZING! I looked back at our pictures from last year, and the sun was shining and we were all wearing short-sleeve shirts. Yesterday, we were bundled up with hats and gloves. That made tailgating a little less fun than normal. But we got there early, attempted to play washers (only one of us could actually score a point), and grilled some brats. Brody loved the food and running around. Unfortunately we were on a slight slope in the parking lot, so when he tried to run downhill he ended up on his face. Not to mention he had a strong desire to run circles around the grill. We spent most of the morning stopping him from hurting himself.

We headed into the game a bit early, even though we actually had seats this year. It was too cold to stay outside any longer. Brody had fun running around the stadium a bit with no one in his way.

Then, the game starts, and Brody passes out...

He slept for about 3o minutes until Jason attempted to move him. Since that was unsucessful, Brody ended up staying awake the rest of the game.

We left after the 7th inning, when Brody started to lose patience. When we left, the Brewers were up 1-0. Unfortunately they ended up losing 2-1 after a couple home-runs in the 8th inning. But if they were winning when I left, do I have to admit that they really lost? Because that's two years in a row they lost the home-opener...

It could have been a warmer day, but it was still a fun one. And needless to say, all of us were in bed early last night.

We survived!

2011-03-30T11:31:00.020-05:00

I'm happy to report that our first vacation with a toddler was very sucessful! After a couple in-town stops (including my necessary Starbucks run) we were on the road by 7am. Since we woke up Brody around 5:30, he was sleepy enough to pass out within 10 minutes of the drive. He woke up for the last half an hour of the drive but I sat in the back seat with him and he was happy as a clam. We watched our nephew's basketball team shortly after arriving and like usual, Brody loved watching them play. Unfortunately they lost but the boys played hard! The girls team from their school was still in the tournament, so we came back Saturday night to see them play. And this is when we started to get way off of Brody's normal schedule.

Normal nap time at our house is around 12:30, last weekend, Brody finally got a chance for a nap around 3:30. Then he ate a late snack since he didn't actually get dinner until almost 8pm that night. And if you know Brody, you know that he's usually long in bed by 7pm. I anticipated a major meltdown at some point during dinner. Aside from his sleepy eyes, there was no meltdown and he was amazing.

The next morning we decided to take him in the hotel pool. He hasn't had any pool experience, so I was really excited to see how he'd react. Well....he cried. He loves warm baths so a 75 degree pool was apparently too cold for him. So he was one unhappy kid. We comforted him and tried to get him used to the water without giving up right away. He quickly got used to the water and started having fun. Luckily we had the pool to ourselves so it was fun to play with him.

After we watched another basketball game Sunday morning, we headed back on the road. Since we left after lunch, Brody was able to get his afternoon nap in the car. And so did his mommy!

As for all my concerns, I think they worked out well. And I learned a lot about traveling in the process. We were always able to find relatively healthy meals for Brody despite what we ate. Continental breakfast in the hotel was great and also allowed us to grab fruit for later! I will say I was a little dissapointed in the kids menu at the restaurant we went to Saturday night. There was mostly fried food options or burgers. We went with mac & cheese. Then for side dishes they offered cole slaw or fries. Really?!? No veggies?! So we asked to substitute veggies instead of fries. Not only did we pay extra for the vegetables but were charged for a glass of milk since we asked for that instead of soda. Apparently healthier choices will cost you! But we feel pretty strongly about getting Brody healthy options as much as possible and I'm willing to pay for it.

As for the hotel -- while not completely baby-proof, Brody managed to stay safe and entertained just fine. Though as we're planning our trip to New York in the fall, I'm definitely looking at an apartment style hotel room to give us more space. Not only to give him room to move around but to keep him separated from us when he's sleeping. It's hard for him to fall asleep when he can see us right next to him -- wide awake.

It was a fantastic weekend & I'm so glad that Brody handled all the change and disruptions so well. He truly goes with the flow and it makes it so easy on all of us.

What I Wish for my Son...

2011-03-26T06:00:00.001-05:00

This blog is generally about Brody. However, I still like to write about my non-Brody experiences from time to time. Who I am as a person both before and after Brody really shape the type of mother I am. And this past weekend as I was driving home from a really wonderful Friday night, I began dreaming about Brody's future and the types of friends that he will have someday...

Let me start by saying, I have truly amazing, wonderful friends that I never see often enough. Most of them live too far away to see on a regular basis. And even if they lived closer, we are all busy with babies, pets, houses and work. On top of that - I'm awful at staying in touch on the phone. Luckily one of my best friends is pretty good at calling me - otherwise I swear we'd never talk.

So last weekend she invited me to her house for a girls-night. It wasn't all of our girls, but the ones that live close enough to get together. It was perfect. It's great when you get together with the husbands, and children, but every once and awhile you need time with just the ladies.

And what did we do? We sang Karaoke. Yes - it sounds silly - but that is actually what we used to do when we were in high school! (Did I mention I've known these ladies for a very long time?) So we took a trip down memory lane and sang some really good and not-so-good songs.

As I drove home Saturday morning I thought about how lucky I am that no matter how often we get together - they're still the people I can tell anything to or sing stupid songs with and we'll still be friends.

As Brody grows up, I hope he's as lucky as I am to find good friends that stick with you for life.

It's the little things

2011-03-24T12:33:00.007-05:00

As I've written before, I was never surprised at how good of a father Jason or how much he'd interact with Brody. If you know him well enough, you know he's just one of those guys. He cares about other people, even if it comes in the form of teasing or a little harassment.

However...every once and while I'll sit back and watch him interact with Brody and it melts my heart. And reminds me once again, how lucky I am to have them. The two of them are adorable. Below are pictures from last weekend when it was actually warm enough to be outside. I won't digress to complain about the snow on the ground this morning.

First Hotel Stay

2011-03-23T19:40:00.000-05:00

In Brody's 14 months of life, he's never stayed in a hotel room. We've taken two actual family vacations. One we stayed at a friend's house and the other was at a family vacation home. Though both prior vacations brought their own complications...

1st vacation: trip to MN to visit friends. We went to a Friday night Brewers vs. Twins game. How would Brody handle the late night? Would he sleep through well at someone else's house? At 4 months old - he handled it perfectly.

2nd vacation: annual trip to MI with family. He had just started solid foods, so I was worried about working in his eating schedule with the busyness of a vacation. I also wasn't sure how he would handle the beach & Lake Michigan. Of course - he did a great job. Not without a few hiccups along the way - but it was a great trip.

Now we're off again, to not only stay in a hotel room - but stay in one with a TODDLER! Scary thought right? Hotel rooms aren't baby-proofed. They aren't entertaining to a 1 year old. Not to mention he'll probably be staying up much later than normal...so hopefully he isn't cranky!

Then there is the complication of what to feed him all weekend. We're going to Indiana to see our nephew's middle school basketball team play in a national championship tournament. So we'll be at basketball games, grabbing food in between and possibly eating fast food on the road? So obviously I'll be packing lots of food/snacks to take along. (And no, you don't have to tell me I worry too much...that I already know.)

With every phase of his life comes new challenges. But I keep thinking...#2 will be much easier because we'll know what we're doing, right?

Score!

2011-03-20T18:41:00.007-05:00

For those of you who know my husband, you know he LOVES baseball. He played baseball from a young age through high school. He helps coach his nephew's little league team when he has time. He's also a die-hard Milwaukee Brewers fan.

Despite this strong influence, Brody has decided to work on his soccer skills...

Our Milk Drinker

2011-03-16T07:00:00.000-05:00

As previously posted, we've had a lot of issues with dairy. What I'm not sure I mentioned, is that I had a similar allergy when I was a baby. So I did fully expect that Brody would grow out of it, as I did. So when it wasn't a quick shift at a year - I was a little dissapointed.

After a month of very, very, slowly introducing whole milk (by mixing it with soy formula), he was finally able to drink an entire cup of milk. Now, several weeks later and he's doing such a great job of drinking his milk. He's even drinking more at each meal than when we were mixing it (not surprising -- I'm sure the formula/milk combo tasted awful!)

The number one thing that Brody continues to teach me everyday, is patience. We're very lucky to have an overall healthy, sweet, smart, adorable little man. The rest is just details...

Updates

2011-03-15T12:19:00.001-05:00

It's been over a month since I've blogged. So obviously my resolution to blog more often is failing. As for my other three resolutions, I'm 1 for 3. Organizing - I'm made good strides here: updated fridge calendar, coupon organizer, place to put bills and even organized my pictures on our computer.

As for the other two, I haven't lost any weight and a promotion at work in early January hasn't been helping my ability to be home more often. But it's early in the year and at least I'm trying to make an effort on working less & living in the moment more - I swear!

As for our adorable little toddler...

Brody continues to change in front of our eyes everyday. I think I say this about every stage, but I'm really loving all the new skills he's learning.

He's up to using 4 baby-signs to communciate with us (more, all-done, eat and please/help). The last one just recently and he's using the sign "please" but seems to use it mostly when he wants help with something. He understands the sign "drink" but doesn't use it. We, however, use it with or without the word and he understands what we want him to do.

He also understands us really well. We ask for a hug or a kiss and he's happy to share them with us (by far my favorite skill - even though his kisses are a bit sloppy :) ). We ask him where his doggies are and he'll point right to them. He knows the word "no" but cleverly ignores it when he wants to (how young they start!)

Brody's favorite activities these days are: playing catch with his doggies (although he does get upset when they run off with the ball and don't come back), playing with shape-sorters, dancing and playing with blocks. He giggles constantly and I can't get enough of it.

Par-tay!

2011-01-28T19:07:00.009-06:00

Last weekend we celebrated Brody's first birthday with family and friends! First birthday parties are an interesting phenomenon. It's the very first one, so it has to be great! However, you know that the guest of honor will never remember the party and barely knows what's going on.

That of course didn't stop us from wanting to do something special for his birthday. We invited our closest in-town family members and the couple of friends that Brody has close to his age. We tried to keep it small to stop from overwhelming him, but we're also lucky enough to have amazing friends and family & ended up with a pretty full house. At first Brody was shy, but it didn't take him long to warm up to the attention.

The party was themed around his favorite toy, a yellow and green train that signs the alphabet. He loves riding it and playing with the alphabet blocks. So I thought a train theme would be perfect for a one year old party. We found a cake decorator who did an awesome job on the cake.

Other than that, we had basic 1st birthday decorations and themed the colors around his train. We had a custom shirt made with a train on it and his name.

We had to try to plan it around his bedtime, but due to family conflicts, we had to make some sacrifices there. (That's the part you never think about until you have a 1 year old...no one wants a melt-down mid-party because the birthday boy didn't get a nap!) Luckily we got him down for an early nap that day and he was able to get a couple hours in before the guests started to arrive.Everyone was so generous and Brody got a bunch of wonderful gifts. A month after Christmas, I was a little worried he would just get more of the same toys (which are awesome - but I'm not opening a daycare here!) However, everything he got was more unique than what he already had. Big crayons to practice his art at home, puzzles, blocks, lots of books & some super cute clothes. And...his very own rocking chair!

Brody had a great time, even if he didn't really understand that it was his birthday. He loves cupcakes and loved having his friends there. He was even giving hugs by the time his friends left.

It's a little sad watching your baby grow up, but I love the little man he's become. And I can't wait for the many adventures of his second year...

Our battle with dairy

2011-01-26T08:09:00.003-06:00

As past readers know, we've had milk issues with Brody from the beginning. First breastfeeding didn't work (due to me or him or both), then milk-based formulas caused a reaction, then soy formula didn't work, then hypoallergenic formula was the final, expensive solution.

After a month or so on hypoallergenic, we tried soy again. It worked perfectly. Then, several months of something that worked. It was great. We started baby food and just avoided anything with dairy.

Then around 10-11 months I tried yogurt. He got sick. Took some time off, we started cheese, no reaction!! Tried yogurt again, he didn't want to eat it. Tried yogurt bites (freeze dried baby food), no reaction! Tried mac & cheese - perfect!

Then the big test...whole milk. The week of Brody's birthday we mixed in 1oz of milk with his 5 oz bottle of formula. He drank about half of it and about 10 minutes later it was all over the carpet along with everything else he had eaten for the day. Ugh...

We gave him a week off and tried again. Now we started with a tablespoon of milk mixed with his formula. We're up to almost an ounce of milk after 4 days and so far so good!

It's a long process but I finally have hope that he'll be able to drink milk before he's two. In fact, he may be drinking whole milk by the time he's 13 months old!!

Happy Birthday!

2011-01-20T07:51:00.002-06:00

Then and Now

2011-01-17T07:46:00.004-06:00

Brody rediscovered his love for his bouncy seat over this weekend. He clearly wasn't able to enjoy it's bouncing powers a year ago.

There's a birthday coming soon

2011-01-14T09:06:00.007-06:00

Brody's first birthday is less than a week away! Party planning has been going on for a few weeks now, but overall we're hoping to keep it simple and fun.

Based on the invite, you may have guessed that his party is going to have a train-theme. We picked this theme based on one of his favorite toys right now, "The Alphabet Train." However, when I picked this theme I didn't realize how hard it would be to find decorations that aren't Thomas the Train. So we're focusing around the toy and the color theme that goes with it.

The invites have been sent, menu has been planned, the decorations purchased and the cake ordered. And before my eyes this week, my baby will turn one year. And I am sure there will be tears.

Happy New Year

2011-01-05T17:16:00.000-06:00

The year of 2011:

I know my baby is going to go through toddlerhood and every minute will be fantastic. We plan on our family continuing to be a family of 3 (plus two dogs). So as I look forward to the year ahead, I reflect on the one thing I can change, myself.

So here are my resolutions to make me a better mother and person:

-Organize, organize and organize. I'm always top of things, plan our schedule well and always pay our bills on time. But...my house is definitely not organized. So, I waste time finding things and doing things that should be faster. I'd rather spend that time with my favorite boys. (Yes, a house-cleaner is in our near future as well...and I refuse to feel guilty about it)

-Lose the pregnancy weight. A year later, Brody can no longer be an excuse for my poor health choices. Enough said.

-Spend more time living in the moment. Time flies by and I have a habit of looking into (a.k.a worrying about) the future too often. That also means getting home from work earlier more often. I realize I'm lucky to be alive and lucky to have the people that I have in my life.

And then...blog about it more often!

Every mother should post this in her house...

2010-12-28T12:10:00.002-06:00

"I hope that my child,
Looking back on today
Will remember a mother
Who had time to play;
Because children grow up
While you’re not looking,
There are years ahead
For cleaning and cooking.
So, quiet now cobwebs,
Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby,
And babies don’t keep." - Unknown

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-26T21:10:00.004-06:00

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! I know we did. It was jam packed with 5 Christmases in 2 days, but was worth it since we got to spend time with so many of our families. More details to come...

11 Months!

2010-12-22T10:44:00.007-06:00

Yes, the countdown has begun. We're officially less than a month away from Brody's 1st Birthday! And I say it every month (and will continue to say this for the rest of my life) but he's getting so big so fast. I see it every day but every once and awhile it still catches me off guard when I realize how much he's grown in 11 months. He used to be so tiny!

Okay, I'm wiping away the tears now and onto what he's been up to...

Walking! I have to say we officially have a "walker." He's not perfectly steady on his feet, but he usually chooses to walk from one part of the room to the other. Many times (i.e. when he's not tired) even when he falls, he'll stand himself back up and keep walking. He's not as daring as I thought he would be, since he will walk towards something that he can hold onto to steady himself before walking to his end goal. However, not surprisingly, he usually falls because he's trying to walk too fast. He wants to run, but his feet won't keep up!

Honestly, I think he's been working so hard on walking and standing up on his own, that he hasn't had time for any other skills. But there are a few other small ones he's working on. Rumor has it, he can wave! I have yet to see it, so I still don't believe it, but his daycare teachers swear it's hilarious. He doesn't go for the typical baby hand flopping up and down wave. No -- he apparently swings his arms from side to side like he's drawing a rainbow. Apparently him & another boy in his daycare room do this to each other after nap time. But he's in no hurry to show his parents.

He's added "na-na" to his "baba, mama, dada" rambling. I think he's pretty sure what mama means, but he still will use it out of context. But many days he'll say, "mama" directly to me while he's coming towards me. So it's hard to say. He's also getting really good at turning pages while we read books & he loves to clap! He's also "pointing" at things, at least that what we think. He actually uses his whole hand to point instead of just a finger, it's pretty cute.

As far as personality, I do think we have a little shy guy on our hands. He adapts well to new situations in the fact that he doesn't cry or freak out in new places. Or if we leave him alone & he cries, he'll get over it very quickly. However, if we're there, he does tend to cling to us a little bit until he's sure of the situation.

More than anything, he never "shows off" in big groups. We couldn't get him to clap at his cousin's basketball game, but he loved watching the game and sat still for an hour to do so! At his Aunt's graduation party, he walked a few steps but nothing like he does when it's just us and him.

For now, I'm classifying him as an observer. He seems to love watching what other people (and kids) are doing before he jumps right in. And this is where his personality continues to take after me. I'm actually pretty shy in new situations, but eventually warm up.

Last month until we officially have a toddler on our hands! But at least there will be a fun birthday celebration!

And this last picture is his reaction to taking 11 month pictures -- I'm outta here!

Looking Back to Thanksgiving

2010-12-16T07:30:00.005-06:00

Weeks later, I'm finally getting around to blogging about Thanksgiving. We hosted for our extended families for the 5th year in a row, however this was the first year as a family of three. Unfortunately, I didn't go as smoothly as I imagined.

Weeks prior to the holiday I was picturing Brody sitting down in his highchair next to us and eating turkey, rolls and veggies. I was very excited for him to eat his first Thankgiving meal. It's the first major family holiday that he'd be able to participate in. I could not wait.

The Friday before Thanksgiving I took a vacation day to do the grocery shopping while Brody goes to daycare. Then I spent a little time getting the house ready, but I figured I had all weekend to finish it and went to pick up Brody early. That night, he came down with the stomach flu. Fast forward to a weekend full of an unhappy, clingy baby and a lot of napping in my arms.

Honestly - what mother doesn't love lots of cuddle time? Right?

I still had a lot to do to get the house ready for our 15 Thanksgiving Day guests. And since the end of the month is my busiest time at work, what didn't get done over the weekend wasn't going to get done until Wednesday night. I'm a bit too neurotic to let things go until the last minute. Oh, and where is the husband during all this? Yep - sick with the same flu as Brody. I was on my own.

So I repeated to myself, "It's okay if the house isn't perfect", "my family will love me anyways". And when that didn't work, I called my sister & brother and begged them to come over and help. (Which they usually do anyways)

And was the house perfect? No.

And for the most part, it went unnoticed.

All in all it was a great day of family celebration. Brody was still a little unhappy but was mostly starving after a week of being sick. And his grand Thankgiving meal? He ate Cheerios while we ate Turkey. But at least he was there with us.

I was too busy being a part of the fun, that I forgot to snap pictures during the day. But here are some from Thanksgiving morning. Luckily his Aunt Nicole brought him a new toy to play with! It seemed to make getting over the flu much easier!

Proud Daddy

2010-12-08T08:18:00.004-06:00

I've heard other women say how much their husband impressed them when they had their first child and how they love him so much more watching him turn from husband to loving parent. Honestly, it wasn't the same with us...

The thing is, I knew Jason was a wonderful father long before we had children. I knew he'd be a natural and I knew he'd love our son more than anything in the world. There was really no surprise there! He has two nephews who he cares so much about. When one of Jason's best friends had her little girl, he naturally loved playing with her. He was born to be a father.

However, every once and awhile he still catches me off guard with something he says or does.

You see, Jason is a fairly practical parent, where I tend to be more doting. However, he's also a bit competitive, wanting his son to be the best. So when he tells me last night that Brody drew the best picture at daycare that day, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Really?!? Our 10 month old is artistic? I personally think his art looks like scribbles, or blobs of paint. Somehow though, Jason sees through all that and brags about how his chalk art was much better than the rest of the class. How he used "shading" to make it more artsy.

This morning I checked out the masterpiece. I really think it looks like he smeared chalk all over paper -- but I guess that's just me.

First Haircut

2010-12-05T19:27:00.008-06:00

After dragging my feet for at least a month, I finally booked a hair appointment for Brody. Jason has been bugging me for awhile as Brody's hair got longer and longer. I knew once he no longer had his baby hair then I'd really have to realize that he's growing up!

We booked an appointment with a kids salon, knowing that we'd want someone with experience cutting the hair of a 10 month old. He barely understands the word no, so telling him to hold his head still was out of the question. Obviously, I was a little nervous -- not just about losing his baby hair - but throwing a temper-tantrum in the salon.

The hair place had cars instead of chairs. You could pick anything from a pink Jeep to a blue mini-cooper-type car. We went for the blue one that was open. Each station had it's own TV with a kid movie playing. I imagine this works well for kids that are a little older, but Brody has very little interest in TV, so it didn't help much.

Overall - Brody was a trooper. He didn't get cranky once and he held still very well. Every once and awhile he's turn his head quickly to see something else going on around him. He loves to watch everyone around him, which worked well until they started vacuuming out a seat behind him and he quickly turned his head around mid-cut. In the end though, he hair looks great and it's no longer in his eyes.

But he does look more like a little boy than my baby...

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Steady Feet

2010-12-02T19:11:00.002-06:00

Brody is getting so close to walking! Tonight he pulled himself up using the cabinet handle so that he could walk over to the other cabinet -- no hands!

So of course we tried for a repeat performance...but this is the best I could get on video.

A Day in the Life

2010-11-18T19:03:00.000-06:00

In order to get to know Brody better, his new teachers asked me what a typical day was like at home. I wasn't exactly sure how to answer...I mean, I don't know? We hang out...

Then I thought about it more and here's really what it's like at our house. There are naps, meals, snacks and errands. But in between here's what we do:

Pull Brody away from the dangerous things he likes to play with

Crawl into laundry baskets & then ride around in them like a play-car.

Hangout in toy bins.

Carry tupperware lids around the house.

And probably our most normal activity? Learning to play basketball!

Talking

2010-11-15T09:07:00.005-06:00

Brody can say "mama" and "dada" and "baba" and "lalalalala." However, none of those things actually seem to mean anything to him, except that they are fun sounds he can make with his mouth. Until now...

I'm now convinced that Brody thinks "Mama" = "More food now!" We hear it the most when he's in his high chair waiting for food. And when he's especially hungry he starts saying it more frequently and more urgently. "MAMAMAMA!"

Then it stops when I walk over to him with his food. Therefore Mama = Food.

Jason tried reassuring me the other night by reminding me that when Brody wants out of his crib, he will occasionally say "mama" as well. So he's convinced that Brody just knows who will give him what he wants.

I can't complain though...there aren't a lot of "dadas" flying out of his mouth. :)

9 Month Check-Up

2010-10-26T08:56:00.005-05:00

Off to the doctor again! This time for Brody's 9 month check-up.

Brody weighed in at 19lbs 1oz - still a little peanut in the 25th percentile. He grew another inch, now at 29 1/4 inches tall (75th percentile) and his head is still in the 25th percentile but grew 1.5cm since last time. At least he's consistently long & skinny with a small noggin!

The main topic of conversaion was around Brody's eating habits. Transitioning to more table foods is the next step and of course we discussed Brody eating dairy. His doctor is recommending waiting until closer to 12 months before starting dairy products (yogurt, cheese etc.) and we'll transition to whole milk at 12 months as well. He recommended easing him into it as much as possible, starting off very slowly with the whole milk. At the very least he validated my approach of holding off on dairy until he's a little older. In the meantime we'll be working on expanding all of Brody's non-dairy table foods and drinking from a sippy cup.

The other big topic of conversation was baby-proofing, especially when I told him Brody could crawl. He's clearly seen too many injuries that could have been prevented, because when I told him that we've already done a lot of baby-proofing (we have pillows in front of the brick fireplace!) -- he brushed it off and kept warning me that there are always more things he can get into. Like I didn't know that!? We do have "Dennis the Menace" on our hands!

Then we wrapped it up with a good 'ol flu shot and vaccination. Brody screamed, I held him, he screamed some more, then he eventually calmed down. Keep your fingers crossed that we really don't end up back at the doctor until his 12 month check-up!

Toddler

2010-10-25T07:11:00.000-05:00

Yes, I'm scared of the word toddler. That means Brody will no longer be a baby and I might have to accept that he's growing up way too fast. I know there are lots of moms out there rolling there eyes and thinking, "get used to it, this is only the beginning!"

Honestly, I am not great with change in my personal life. Up until now, I've been able to plan ahead for big changes. We planned when we wanted to start a family in advance, we've planned our house purchases in advance, I had 9ish months to plan our wedding. Can you tell I'm also a control freak?

So of course I approached motherhood the same way. I read a lot about baby milestones and "what to expect." For those of you that are laughing right now, yes I realize it was naive to think I could plan the ups and downs of having a baby. But there was one thing I thought I could count on...I had 12 months until he was no longer a "baby."

Then about a month ago, I received an email from our daycare saying that Brody would move to a Toddler Room on November 15th. After re-reading it 5 times, I realized they must have just made a mistake. Clearly they mixed him up with someone else. He won't be a toddler until January!! So I sent an email back explaining their error.

Then came her very understanding response,

"I know what you are saying, I thought the same thing. It's hard to think of these little guys so close to being a Toddler!"

But, no, he is really is moving up in November.

Our wonderfully awesome daycare is actually expanding by adding a couple new rooms and Brody will be one of the lucky ones to move into the new room. Which means, moving early.

While my logical side of my brain says, yes, this makes sense and yes the teachers are doing a great job managing the early tranisiton. And yes, I know he's going to love his new room with older friends. But the mommy-side of my brain says, "he's just too little!!"

So I thought I had 12 months before I had to accept sleeping on a cot, one nap a day and eating table food...I guess I really only had 10 months. Slowly but surely I'll start to accept that I cannot control everything about my little guy. But it won't stop me from trying!

Brody is 9 months old

2010-10-20T10:15:00.011-05:00

Brody is officially 9 months old today. Which is less exciting as Brody's friend and future wife, Aubrie turning one year old! Time sure does fly!

Brody is continuing to show us his crazy side by speed-crawling and getting into everything. He giggles furiously when we try to stop him from doing something he's not supposed to do. His favorite toys right now are his walker, shopping cart, balls and activity table that plays some great dancing music!

He's getting better at standing up without holding onto anything but doesn't stand up on his own yet. He walks great while holding onto walking toys, or really anything he can push around the floor. He'll be transferring to an older room at daycare in the next month, so he's been playing with the toddlers outside a lot and loves it. He's also eating finger foods for snacks at a toddler table & chair. He's practicing drinking from a sippy cup but hasn't quite mastered it yet.

He's had some trouble sleeping this month and has had a couple colds again. He also has pink-eye this week caused by his cold virus. His doctor gave him eye drops just in case and once he wasn't contagious, he headed back to daycare. He isn't loving the eye drops and it's a two-person job to put them in. Hopefully his immunities are getting stronger with each cold and we'll have a healthier year next year!

Letter to Brody

2010-10-15T14:50:00.001-05:00

Dear Brody,

Please drink your afternoon bottle. I promise it will fill you up! And then you won't need to scream for the entire 15 minute ride home because you're starving.

Thank you!
Love,
Your overworked, overtired mommy

P.S. If you could figure out that sleeping through the night thing again, that would be good too.

I blinked

2010-10-13T13:51:00.008-05:00

I blinked and we went from here:

To Here:

Yes, that's a sippy cup, finger food and eating at a toddler table! He's doing so well at growing up. I'm not going to lie, I don't think I like it.

Choo Choo!

2010-10-10T19:32:00.006-05:00

This weekend we headed off on another Autumn themed adventure. We celebrated my Mom's birthday by heading to a local apple orchard. We had never been there before so we weren't sure what to expect.

It was a little weird heading to pick apples and pumpkins in almost 80 degree weather, but we went anyway. I figured that despite the great weather, if we went during the football game, maybe it wouldn't be so busy.

I was wrong.

Our main goal was to go on a hayride, yet we quickly discovered that the line was a 30-40 minutes long. There was no way any of us were going to wait in line in the hot sun for that long. So we looked for plan B. Luckily there was a train that passed through the farm that looked interesting, so we went for it.

The train took us through the some of the country areas that we were nearby and the conductor talked about some of the history of the railroad. He also told some pretty corny jokes, on the way there and back.

Brody didn't take in the train as much as he would/will when he's older, but he seemed to have a good time. Most importantly, he didn't freak out when they blew the whistle right next us. Instead he gave the driver a look like "what the heck is that noise!"

And possibly the best part? The day ended with a decadent carmel apple and an apple pie to bring home to Daddy.

Pumpkins with my pumpkin

2010-10-03T19:26:00.007-05:00

With Fall officially upon us we thought it would be fun to take Brody to pick out his first pumpkin. Along with our good friends and their daughter, we headed to a local farm to see the animals and pick out a pumpkin.

It was a little chilly out but we bundled up and brought along extra layers. Brody got a chance to see some farm animals, go on a hay ride and pick out his very own pumpkin (sort of).

We also let Brody play on the swings and slide for the first time. He didn't seem too interested in the swing but loved the slide. He giggled the whole time and it was cute. Here are a few glimpses of his experience.

All of us had fun time and it's always great to get Brody & Aubrie together! Happy Fall!

Little Dancer

2010-10-02T16:23:00.005-05:00

I love to dance with Brody and we've been dancing since the day he was born. Which really means, I dance, he's just looks at me like I'm crazy. But apparently I'm starting to rub off on him...

Peek a Boo

2010-09-12T19:40:00.008-05:00

People usually ask about the physical milestones that babies hit, like crawling, standing and walking. And then some ask if he's talking yet. But no one really thinks about the cognitive milestones. These are actually some of my favorite!

For instance, young babies don't understand that when they can't see someone or something that it still exists. That is why it was so hard to leave Brody at daycare when he was so little, he really didn't understand that I still exist and I will come back. Over time though, his brain starts to grasp this concept.

A few weeks ago I noticed that Brody dropped his pacifier while standing in his jumperoo. It fell near his feet and out of his eyesight. Normally, he would just go on playing. This time, he leaned over the edges of the toy trying to see it where it went! He finally figured out that it's down there, but he just can't see it. Of course this makes hiding things from him a lot harder, when he realizes what you did with them!

He also started enjoying peek-a-boo a lot more over the last few weeks. Just last weekend, he grabbed his burp cloth and covered his own face. Then he dramatically pulled in down, to which Jason & I said, "Where's Brody?" and "There he is!" He kept doing it over and over and laughing as soon as he pulled it down. It was so cute!

Another thing I've noticed recently is how he reacts to mirrors. He used to laugh at himself and me when I held him in front of the mirror. He really thought it was a different baby in the mirror. Now, I don't know if he realizes that he's in the mirror yet, but he realized that it is a reflection.

One day we were standing in front of the mirror and once he saw me in the mirror, he turned around to look at me. Instead of watching me in the mirror, he figured out that I was behind him. It so fun to watch.

An age old tradition

2010-09-09T18:15:00.000-05:00

We've all heard the stories from our parents about how when we were little we loved to play with pots & pans or tupperware, or some other random household item. Well, I'm here to say, that times have not changed.

The toys today are fancier than ever. Brody has a dog called My Pal Scout who is programmed to say things like, "I love you Brody" and makes up songs about Brody's name. However, while he does love his Scout, he also loves a lot of other random things in our house:

Wipes containers, diaper boxes, phone books and plastic cups are among his favorites. And I am definitely not complaining. He's easily entertained by the tupperware cupboard while Jason and I work in the kitchen.

However, he also loves: brick fireplaces, oven doors, electrical cords, laptops and dog food bowls. Which of course, just keeps us on our toes!

Family Photos

2010-08-23T11:52:00.017-05:00

Back when Brody was around 6 weeks old, we did our first set of Family Photos. The 6 week ones were done at your typical portrait studio, 15 minutes of snapshots and then pressure to buy as many pictures as possible. I'm not really complaining because I loved the pictures they got of him and you can do it at a relatively low cost.

However, for his 6 month photos, we decided to go a different route. I came across a photographer via facebook who had done some adorable pictures of a 9 month-old girl who was the daughter of someone I volunteered in college with. I thought she did a really great job and contacted her about doing Brody's pictures.

Check out her blog & facebook site:

Sarah Jayne Photography

http://sjaynephotography.blogspot.com/p/portfolio.html

I really loved the idea of doing outside pictures and Sarah had a great place to do them. We met her there (about 45 minutes away) on a very warm, mosquito-ey (I know that's not a word), morning. Brody didn't sleep as well as we would have hoped on the long car-ride to meet her. So of course these would be red flags for disaster. But our Brody? Nah, he's so good at this stuff...or so I thought!

We started off on the grass, he didn't seem to like the feel of that too much, so we moved him onto a blanket. Sarah had this hilarious Cookie Monster toy which honestly made me laugh out loud, yet Brody reacted like this:

Then of course I was a mean mommy and put this adorable hat on him (which Jason hates by the way), and I got looks like this.

So...off went the hat. And I still got a look that said, "Mom, I'm sitting in a bucket, c'mon!"

But Sarah was patient, and spent over an hour photographing him while Jason & I tried to get him to smile as much as possible. When he doesn't have a camera in his face, he can't stop giggling. But that morning, he definitely wasn't in the mood.

All in all, she got a ton of great pictures along with some funny ones. My favorites are definitely the action shots, where not everyone is looking at the camera.

I'm very happy with the pictures and feel like our money was well spent. As part of her packages, we have the copyright release on the photos for printing as many as we want! And who wouldn't want a million pictures of this adorable little guy?

Brody is 7 Months Old

2010-08-21T15:44:00.008-05:00

Babies grow fast and Brody is no exception. However, I honestly think his biggest month of change occured over the last month. Looking back at my post at 6 months, Brody wasn't crawling or standing and still had zero teeth.

Today, Brody crawls like a pro, pulls himself up on everything and has two very adorable bottom teeth.

His new found talents have made him quite an explorer. He loves all the things he can get into around the house. He's discovered the dog bowls, toys and tries to even steal the bones away from the dogs while they're chewing on them. Luckily he hasn't been bitten yet! We do keep an eye on them but the dogs are pretty good with him. He's constantly falling over and bumping his head on things, but handles them surprisingly well. He came home with his first accident report from daycare when he tried to pull himself up on the shelves and bumped his eye. It was a small bruise that went away in a day.

He's also doing a good job of forming sounds (instead of just squealing) and I think he loves the way his mouth moves when he says "ba-ba."

We haven't weighed him this month, but he definitely getting bigger, including his appetite. He now eats baby food 3 times a day along with 5 bottles of varied amounts. He food selection has greatly expanded and he's made it through most of the fruits and veggies for his age group. In the next month or so he'll try some meats and practicing with a sippy cup.

He's still doing great at daycare and has become really good friends with a girl in the room (his girlfriend). They sit facing each other giggling non-stop and now that they're both on the move, they chase after each other. It's adorable. She's also a tall girl and has a very similar personality to Brody, so it's a natural match!

Ladies Man

2010-08-06T13:10:00.004-05:00

Who knew you had to worry about boys at such a young age? I came home to a note from Brody's daycare teachers that went something like this:

Brody was kissing a friend today! He "crawled" over to her, grabbed her head and kissed it.

Now, Brody doesn't know how to kiss yet. So I imagine it was really an open mouth full of slobber on her head. He really knows how to turn on the charm!

I imagine with a cute little man like him, we'll have lots of these stories down the road. However, I'm not looking forward to the day when it's no longer cute that he's kissing girls and a little bit scary.

Life isn't fair

2010-07-28T11:58:00.013-05:00

Okay Mom, you've finally won.

When I was little I would always say "that's not fair" in my not-so-cute whiney voice. To that, my mom would said, "life isn't fair." I of course felt the need to argue that point...long into my adult life. I am an eternal optimist. While that hasn't changed and I will still continue to look on the bright side, I've finally come to the conclusion,

Life is NOT fair. Or rather, death isn't.

This past weekend a friend of mine died in a tragic car accident at the age of 27. She had been engaged for less than a month, completely in love and planning her wedding. Her fiancee was in the car with her. Along with two of their friends. All of them were very young and all of them deserved to live much much longer.

Even if you didn't know her, this is clearly unfair.

My heart is broken. It breaks for her family, her fiancee's son and her best friends.

I've known Becky a long time and we've been in the same circles of friends since 5th grade. Ever since this weekend I've been remembering the most random things about her. The glasses she used to wear when we were little, when everyone fought over the same guy in 5th grade, New Years Eve parties at her house in high school and hanging out in the pool at Jason's apartment after our senior year of college. The last few times I saw her our conversations were usually about her fiancee, rings, weddings and usually Jason and I telling her how we couldn't wait until her Jason finally pops the question. She was happy and always had a smile on her face. My very smart and strong husband reflected last night, "I will never forget her smile."

And this brings me back to the beginning of my post. LIFE IS NOT FAIR. I believe in God, I know He has a plan and I hope someday I'll understand it. But for now, I can't help being pissed. I'm mad that she didn't get a chance to walk down the aisle, be married, become a step-mom and possibly have children of her own someday.

The last time we saw Beck. I remember joking with her about how she was standing closer to Jason than I was. They were much closer friends but we will both miss her dearly.

Open Wide!

2010-07-27T19:37:00.007-05:00

It's hard to see in the picture, but Brody has two little teeth coming in! They've already broken the surface and you can feel their sharp edges against his gums. He's hanging in like a champ and doing great.

So Close!

2010-07-20T20:32:00.004-05:00

I apologize for the bad video quality, it looked much better before uploading!

Happy half birthday Brody!

2010-07-20T12:05:00.014-05:00

Brody is 6 months old! I know, I know, they grow up too quickly. I've been hearing that since the day he was born. But what truely amazes me is how in 6 short months he went from this:

to this:

No, he's not crawling, but he can push himself up on his knees and arms and rock back and forth. Then he loses momentum and collapses to the floor. He can push himself backwards quite sucessfully which drives him nuts when he's trying to go towards a toy! In the last week he's been trying to pull himself up by grabbing onto us or a couch or anything nearby, but he probably still has awhile before he has enough strength.

He's not quite double his birth weight, but weighs in at 16 lbs (only 25th percentile) and is 28 inches tall (90th percentile). Brody wears mostly 6-9 month clothes but I think he'll grow out of them length-wise sooner than later.
He's eating baby food purees twice a day and so far had tried: Applesauce, Peaches, Pears, Bananas, Prunes, Carrots, Sweet Potatoes, Green Beans and rice cereal. He doesn't seem to love the green beans anymore, but he likes the rest of what he's tried. I'm working on making most of his baby food and so far he loves my homemade carrot & sweet potato baby food.
He sits up great by himself and has learned to catch himself before he falls to the ground. He'll roll a little as he tumbles to soften the landing. And when he doesn't quite catch himself, he usually doesn't cry. Though every once and awhile he'll slip away, tumble or fall backwards resulting in tears that usually only last a few seconds. He even ended up with his first bruise this week. Since he's half-mine, I know he's in for many many more of those in his life.

He's still a very happy active baby boy. He doesn't like to be held still, but when he's sleepy or needs comforting, he's a great cuddler. He turns towards voices he recognizes and smiles at familiar faces. Even if your face is familiar though, he sometimes gets a bit apprehensive. I haven't quite figured it out. He may be experiencing some stranger anxiety, but it's a little early on the learning charts for that one.

No teeth yet but he continues to show symptoms of teething. It could be awhile before we see anything pop through or it could be right around the corner. It's really hard to tell!

Other new experiences for Brody this month include: first family vacation, first "swim" in lake Michigan (big fail!), first beach experience and first fireworks.

Happy 4th of July

2010-07-05T22:03:00.000-05:00

Brody celebrated his first 4th of July this weekend. It was a busy weekend and overall he had a great time!

Saturday we headed downtown to the fireworks that I used to go to when I was a kid. It meant a lot to take Brody with me even though it took a toll on his regular sleep schedule. He decided to boycott his afternoon nap and didn't fall asleep until well after 9. Then when the fireworks started he woke up again. However, he didn't seem to mind the noise at all! He actually started to giggle at some points and just wanted to play. We were so close the fireworks that debri was falling down on us, so he stayed in his stroller well covered up. But we did let him see the fireworks a little.

Then on Sunday we headed to Brody's Uncle Nick & Aunt Jenny's house to celebrate the 4th with Jason's family. Again, his sleep schedule was very off. Despite his constant yawning and rubbing of eyes he refused to miss out on any fun by taking a nap. We couldn't get him to sleep all afternoon/evening and when he did fall asleep, he woke up 15 minutes later. Finally he fell asleep....once the fireworks started! Who knew that loud booming and crowd noise could put a baby to sleep? We were smart enough to keep him strapped in his carseat the whole time, so he slept through the fireworks and straight to bed when we got home. Apparently this is also the trick to getting him to sleep in until 8am.

To wrap up the fun-filled weekend, Monday afternoon we headed to the Brewers game. This was Brody's third Brewers game in his short 5 month life. He slept a bit during the game waking several times to loud cheers. I don't think he appreciated the crowd constantly interupting his sleep. He handled the heat really well, but his clothes didn't last long. What's cuter than a baby in nothing but a diaper in public? I didn't care as long as he was cool enough.

In the last month...

2010-07-04T12:31:00.001-05:00

Brody has started eating solids:

Been swimming:

Started sitting unsupported (he cannot pull himself up yet, but will stay sitting for quite awhile!):

Got an exersaucer:

Started playing in a jumper:

He's also had multiple runny noses, fevers, two ear infections, a sinus infection, hives, rounds of antibiotics and passed all sorts of germs around the house! So between the doctor appointments, busy summer activities and my busy work schedule, things have been a bit quiet on here. If not sooner, I'll definitely be back to posting more regularly in the fall!

Our little Tiger

2010-06-17T08:45:00.002-05:00

His daycare teachers have so much fun with him!

Wordless Wednesday (mostly wordless)

2010-06-09T21:27:00.005-05:00

This is the closest Brody will be to a McDonald's cup until he's much, much, older.

4 Month Check-Up

2010-06-08T20:04:00.000-05:00

At the end of May Brody had his 4 month wellness check-up. I originally scheduled it for the same week he turned 4 months. Then realized we'd be taking him on a road trip the same day, which probably wasn't a good idea since he didn't do so well after his 2 month shots. So, I rescheduled.

My favorite part of the appointment, growth stats: weighed in at 14lbs 6oz (25th-50th%), 26 inches tall (75th%) and a head circumfrence of 42 cm (50th%). So in reference to the charts, his weight is lower, his height is a bit lower and his head is becoming more average. I've never taken too much stock in the growth charts, but it's always nice to see where he fits in. Even though his weight looked on the lower side, he went to the doctor again 3 days later (another post on this later) and he already gained a couple ounces.

We talked with the pediatrician about his soy formula and he recommends keeping Brody on it. He's been doing pretty well and although he still doesn't digest it as well as nutramigen, there doesn't seem to be any evidence of an allergy.

Next step...solid food! (Well, you know, that pureed baby food that looks nasty but I hear tastes alright)

This will definitely be a new adventure for us. The doctor recommended we start rice cereal for about 2 weeks and then move on to veggies then fruits. He expects that Brody should be eating solids about twice a day by his 6 month appointment. This did surprise me a little since some babies don't start any veggies or fruit until 6 months. However, these are only guidelines and I'll be following Brody's cues as to whether or not he's ready. For the first year of Brody's life, he will continue to get formula, since it includes many important nutrients that he'll need.

I talked to the pedi about how much Brody is eating of formula each day. I've read mixed opinions about formula toxicity, which is when actually having too much formula can be bad (who knew?!?) Apparently it has to do with the amount of vitamins in it. He kind of looked at me like I was crazy and said I don't need to worry about too much formula right now. At Brody's 30ish ounces a day, he has no concern. Also, since he'll be phasing in "solids" soon, he'll end up eating less formula.

On a side note, does anyone else think it's weird they say that he's starting "solids" when it's actually mushy and not very solid. Anyway...

His pediatrician saw pretty quickly how much Brody moves around and made sure to do his safety lecture. This is nothing new, he goes over safety stuff at every appointment (back to sleep, rear facing car seat etc.) But this time he was very clear to say, keep your eye on this guy, he can roll off of something in a second. While I obviously already knew this, I do have to remind myself every once and awhile. I have gotten a little too used to leaving him on his changing table for 2 seconds while I grab a diaper. Now, 2 seconds is all it takes to fling himself over.

End of appointment = vaccines. Same ones as 2 months, same screaming from Brody. I also thought it would be a great day to go shopping with Brody since I was off all day, but that didn't last too long. He ended up getting pretty fussy when we left the mall because I hadn't given him any Tylenol yet. Unfortunately I still had to run to the store to buy generic Tylenol because all we had was the recalled name brand Tylenol (thanks a lot!) Once he had some pain relief and a nap, he was great the rest of the day.

Look what I found Mommy!

2010-06-05T07:27:00.003-05:00

Brody loves discovering new things
Ooh, what's that? Okay, I just have to reach for it now...Almost there...

Look Mommy, I got it!

Stomach Sleeper

2010-06-02T07:34:00.000-05:00

Where's Brody?

2010-06-01T08:12:00.005-05:00

So I have to admit it, this blog has fallen down on my list of priorities in the last couple of weeks. As many of you experience first-hand, the start of summer can be a very busy time! We've been out of town, in town but away from the house and busy watching Brody grow up.

So what's Brody been up to? He's rolling back and forth, but he's better at rolling back to tummy than tummy to back. He went "swimming" for the first time this weekend. He's trying to sit up, but is far away from actually doing it. He'll be practicing eating with a spoon starting tonight! I'll make sure to post the messy pictures.

In the meantime, I'll catching up on the last couple of weeks soon.

Brody is 4 months old

2010-05-24T10:12:00.001-05:00

Time continues to fly by as Brody is another month older, bigger and smarter. He's over 14 lbs and around 25-26 inches. We will know for sure how big he's gotten when he has his four month appointment next week.

He can roll over from tummy to back though its not consistent yet and he still does it more often at daycare than home. He has rolled from back to tummy but this really involves him turning on his side, which he loves to do, and then accidentally ending up on his tummy. He's done this in his crib a few times at day-care and buries his face in the mattress. The teachers know to keep a closer eye on him and they do.

He loves moving and will dance I you hold him in a standing position or be unable to keep his head still. His favorite pastime is watching other kids, observing facial expressions or just looking around. This makes it pretty easy to entertain a 4 month old. Aside from that, he love his Tigger toy. Its a blanket with a stuffed Rigged head attached. Of course the thing he loves the most is that he can hold it well enough to stick it in his mouth. He hasn't truly discovered something new unless he's put it in his mouth. This includes your fingers, so watch out when he gets his death trip on you!

He also loves mirrors, things that light up, and toys that make a crinkly noise. He hates getting his nose suctioned. Since he's been sick with a cold for two weeks and now has a sinus & ear infection, we've been battling over the nose suction for awhile.

He's still a pretty happy boy and smiles at us all the time. Now that he takes better naps at daycare we get to see his happy face during the week again. We'll be discussing practicing solids with his pediatrician and getting him ready to start diversifying his diet, though formula will still.provide most of his nutrition for awhile.

We love him more and more each day and I cantnwait o see him develop even more over the next month. I just hope he doesn't start crawling at 6 mmonths like his teachers keep predicting! I'm not ready for a mobile child yet, he can stay put!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-05-19T14:39:00.002-05:00

Not so fun first

2010-05-19T07:58:00.000-05:00

Baby's firsts are always great right? First smile, first laugh, first time rolling over...ah the joys of a little baby.

Well...first cold? Not so fun!! Brody has had a stuffy nose for at least two weeks now. We've been vigorously cleaning it out (which causes him to scream his head off) and just trying to keep an eye on his temp. This is what the pediatrician suggested and it makes sense. There's really nothing you can do to get rid of a cold.

However, we're past the stuffy nose stage and now on to the chest congestion, tiny cough and I can't breathe and suck on my paci at the same time stage. So sleeping of course is a real challenge. The first night after the cold worsened, Brody kept spitting out his paci so he could breathe. Then he wanted it back. Remember how I told you he'd try to get it on his own? Apparently sick-Brody isn't that independent. So that just resulted in crying every 10 minutes until he was in a deep enough sleep not to need his pacifier.

Night two went much better, but he still woke up screaming his head off at 3:30 in the morning. I'm not sure why, but he's much crankier when he's sick. Just like his mommy...

Luckily he's still sleeping well at daycare, he doesn't have a fever and he's still a pretty happy guy. And what did his teachers tell us when we mentioned his cold? Oh yeah, most of the kids in the room have been sick this week. Ugh. Well at least he's working on building his immune system!

Little Mr. Independent

2010-05-16T21:52:00.001-05:00

For the last 12 months Brody has been completely reliant on me. He needed me for 9 months in utero, then as a newborn he couldn't do anything without my help. Now he's growing up (you know, he's almost 4 MONTHS old!) and he doesn't need me as much as he once did.

Brody is already exhibiting signs of being able to do things for himself. About a month ago, I reported that he was already trying to hold his bottle, tonight, he held his bottle for the entire time. After letting him feed himself with some assistance from me I was feeling a bit sad and proud at the same time. Then he did something that brought tears to my eyes.

I placed him in his crib after his bottle. He was tired but still awake. So I sat back and watched him put himself to sleep. All of a sudden he dropped his pacifier. Now I've seen other kids at daycare do this and it brings instant tears. But Brody? Nah, he doesn't cry. But he didn't fuss either. What did he do? Tried to get the paci back!

First he rolls onto his side to get his mouth closer to the pacifier. He tried to grab it with his mouth. But his weight shifted and he was on his back again. After two more attempts at this he still wasn't giving up and still hadn't cried for help. He remembered he has two hands that can grab things now. So he picks up his paci and brings it to his mouth. However, he grabbed the part of it that goes in his mouth. Now he's trying to put something in his mouth that just doesn't feel right. Now does he cry for help? Nope, he just happily sucks on the part of the pacifier that you're supposed to hold onto. That's when I step in and fix it for him.

I had to admire how much he's already showing signs of strength and determination. He already has an "I can do it!" attitude. While I do hope this continues into his childhood and I do think self-sufficiency is a good trait to have, but it is sad to not have him need me as much.

Then I look back and remember that he still hasn't figured out how to put his bottle in his mouth. At least I'm good for something!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-05-12T17:53:00.002-05:00

You know you're a working mom when...

2010-05-12T08:01:00.002-05:00

Your laptop bag holds not only a laptop and paperwork, but also a onsie, baby pants, a thermometer and a bib.

It's a glamorous life I lead.

Push Present

2010-05-11T07:00:00.000-05:00

Did you know that there is something called a push present? Apparently, your husband is supposed to get you a gift for having a baby. Okay, I get it, I did go through the pain of labor and the awful recovery, so it is nice that some husbands choose to recognize that with a gift. But for me, Brody was enough.

But this did get me thinking about what Jason did do for me after giving birth. If you know Jason, he isn't the type of guy to just do anything I ask him. He's helpful for sure, but he makes it very clear that he's not here to wait on me, just as I do not wait on him either. We are partners.

However, after Brody was born the recovery harder than I expected. With no hesitation, Jason took over everything I didn't do. In the hospital he ran out to get anything and everything I needed. Once home he took over the cleaning/cooking/diaper changing/dog care etc. With non-stop visitors he was also in charge of entertaining and coordinating schedules. Since I was breastfeeding, Jason made it possible for me to focus solely on that and recovering.

After about a week of this, I started to feel guilty. I realized that he had changed more diapers, given more baths and played more with our dogs than I had. In my sleep-deprived, emotional state, I started to doubt myself as a mother. Shouldn't I be doing more? I knew deep down that healing quickly would help Brody in the long-run, but it was still difficult to let Jason do so much. (In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm also a bit of a control freak)

Looking back now, it was the best thing he could have ever done for me. Within two weeks I was feeling great and by the time he went back to work I could handle it all on my own. And 3 months later, I can guarantee I've changed more diapers than him.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T20:00:00.004-05:00

Today was our first Mother's Day as a family. It ended up being a little bit of a Mother's Day weekend, due to family schedules. Friday night Brody brought home a picture of himself framed with a frame and a mat decorated with his handprints. His teachers at daycare had helped him put together the gift. It was adorable. And it explained why his hand was blue when he came home from daycare on Tuesday!

Saturday morning we had breakfast to celebrate with my Mom and my Nana. Also, my Papa, Aunt and sister joined us. I absolutely love going out for breakfast, so this was a nice treat for me.

Sunday we spent half the day as a family of 3 and the second half the day with Jason's family. In the morning, Brody and I spent a lot of time playing together, while I just enjoyed my baby boy. In honor of his mommy he wore his "bananas over mommy" onsie. That after noon His brother and sister-in-law were generous enough to host a barbeque. All in all it was a relaxing and fun day.Along with a latte from Starbucks for breakfast, Jason also brought home some beautiful daisies to brighten my day.Happy Mother's Day to all of my mothers and the many other beautiful moms out there. Here is a little sentiment from a Hallmark card given to me by my mother:

"Being a mother means knowing that whatever else you did or didn't do, you gave the world something beautiful"

The day we knew it was all beginning...

2010-05-07T07:57:00.007-05:00

From here:

To Here:

One year ago today, we found out I was pregnant. It was a great, exciting, shocking day. A year later it seems so far away. We're now "parenting pros" (haha!) set into a routine of raising and loving our baby boy and working to provide the best for him.

I can honestly say, yes my life has changed a lot in the last year. My priorities changed, my love for Jason has changed (for the bettter), my body has changed.

But I can also say, that our family of three seems like the most natural thing we've ever done. It feels like we were always meant to have Brody in our lives.

I'm going to start sleeping with my camera

2010-05-04T08:40:00.002-05:00

because I really wished I had it last night!

Brody has started sleeping on his side. We lay him on his back and about 20 minutes later he's on his side. This was one of the first signs that he's getting strong enough to move the way he wants.

Then, last night, I woke up in the middle of the night. Thanks to our really awesome video monitor, I peeked in on Brody. What did I see? An EMPTY crib! Or at least that's all the video camera could see. I dashed out of bed and ran to his nursery.

He was peacefully sleeping on the other half of the crib with his feet facing to the top of the bed and his head towards the bottom. I just sat there thinking, how the heck did he get like this?

Then, a couple hours later, I heard him. He was just making noise in his sleep, but I checked the monitor just in case. All of a sudden he looked like his head was towards the top of the crib. So I lay there in my sleepy state, thinking, "did he really turn around again? or was I imagining it a few hours ago?"

So I went into his room. He was now sideways in his crib! Then I realized I was looking at the monitor wrong, his head wasn't at the top, it was on the right side of the crib (it's hard to think straight at 3 am!)

This morning Jason and I were wishing our video monitor also recorded. It would have been hilarious to see how he managed to make his way around the crib last night.

Just like his daddy

2010-05-03T10:22:00.001-05:00

He'll fall asleep anywhere! His teacher did assure us that they put him in his crib right after snapping a quick picture.

Where's my baby?

2010-04-29T09:53:00.004-05:00

These days, I'm starting to wonder if I even have a child?! If it weren't for onsite daycare, I'd never get to see Brody.

Last night I didn't get home from work until 7:15. I was so sad that I missed the evening with him. When I got home he was still in his carseat, sound asleep.

Brody still isn't napping well at daycare. So he's started a pattern of falling asleep on the car ride home. He'll then sleep until 7pm when we wake him up for bath/bottle/bed. After about 45 minutes of time with him, he's down for the night again.

While this means that I really don't miss anything when I work late and yes, we get more time to get stuff done around the house. But I really miss my baby!

My morning drop offs now include more playtime (and thus getting up to my desk later) and my daycare lunch break is getting longer as well. I definitely can't wait for the weekend when I can have him all day!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-28T06:00:00.000-05:00

Our little blessing

2010-04-26T11:12:00.007-05:00

I frequently read online message boards and blogs related to pregnancy and parenting. I love reading what about other parents experience both good and bad. So of course, I also come across sad stories that break my heart. This past week, I came across the most emotional blog to date. If you read her blog and twitter updates, I recommend having a tissue on hand. Long story short, she lost her son about 12 hours after he was born this weekend after months of knowing he wouldn't make it. Jason and I discussed her story several times over the weekend and hugged Brody constantly.

We really just sat back and realized how truly blessed we are. We were able to conceive a child and carry him to term (and beyond). He's healthy and fantastic. We are truly lucky to have him. There are so many families out there who have had struggles we haven't had to endure. I am truly in awe of the strength of those women.

For everything in my life, I am truly grateful.

Working mom

2010-04-21T21:12:00.000-05:00

I thought I had a busy life -- until we had Brody. I know it's only the beginning (I'm sure the days of sports practices and after school activities will be even worse!)

Here is what my days look like. This is on a good day, which means Jason is actually home at night (he coaches/bowls some nights during the week) and I only work until 5:30. When I work late, it just means less playtime with Brody.

Mornings
5:15 wake up/shower/get ready
5:30 Jason wakes up/showers/gets ready
5:45 whoever gets downstairs first takes dogs outside, feeds them and warms Brody's bottle
6:00 Jason wakes Brody & feeds him, while I pick out his outfit and put together my lunch
6:20 Jason leaves for work, if Brody hasn't been dressed, I dress him
6:30 Pack up everything for daycare/work & take the dogs outside again
6:45-7:30 leave house, drop off / playtime at daycare.

Days
7:30-5:30 work (on a good day)

Nights
5:45-7:30 Playtime (if Brody isn't napping) and dinner
7:30-8:30 Bedtime routine (bath, bottle, rocking)
8:30-9:00 Make bottles for the next day
9:00 E-mail, blog, watch TV, spend time with Jason, or just fall asleep early!

Brody is 3 months

2010-04-20T18:45:00.004-05:00

My baby is no longer a newborn, the first three months have come and gone. We think Brody weighs around 13.5 lbs and he's definitely growing lengthwise. He's in 1-2 diapers but quickly moving to size 2. He's wearing mostly 3-6 month clothes and already outgrowing some of his 3-6 month sleepers.

This month Brody has become more and more active. He's even starting to enjoy tummy time thanks to his teachers at daycare. He's getting so close to rolling over, but hasn't yet. He kicks his legs a ton like he's getting ready to crawl, though that won't come for awhile. When he's kicking and pushing himself up he can rock on his side a little, but just can't quite get over his shoulder. Although his daycare teacher says he rolled over, no one has seen it since.

He's starting to play with toys more and will hold onto things for a while. He is still so observant and will now turn his head around as much as possible to watch people. He's even started taking interest in the TV, which means we are lot more careful about which direction he's facing! His daddy is trying to get him to love watching baseball, but I'm not a big fan of my three month old staring off at the TV. He continues to entertain us with his facial expressions and crazy hair. Overall he's very happy and only cries when he's overtired or hungry. Unfortunately, he's not napping very well at daycare, so being overtired comes with the territory. Luckily, he's still sleeping through the night! Crying or not, he's still my little man and makes me smile constantly.

1st week at daycare

2010-04-19T11:13:00.005-05:00

The time has come for me to return to work. So along with Brody's 12 week birthday came his first day at daycare. He started on a Wednesday in order to ease myself back to work and him into his new surroundings. So his first week was only 3 days long.

So far? It's been great! We went back and forth between two day cares but once we found out that my company daycare had an opening in April, we took it. I couldn't be happier with our decision. I am very lucky to have daycare located on site which is about a 2 minute walk from my desk. Originally I didn't think I'd take advantage of the open-door visiting policy that often. So far, I've found myself making time for at least a 10 minute mid-day trip to see Brody. I also spend about 15-30 minutes playing with Brody in the morning before I head up to my desk.

There are two primary teachers in Brody's room with 8 babies under the age of 1. There are several support teachers who help out during their lunch breaks and before/after his teachers get in for the day. They have both been very good with Brody and helpful to us as parents. They are constantly telling us how strong he is for his age and one teacher commented that she can foresee him starting to walk early (we've had the same thoughts since he seems so active, but only time will tell). The teachers send e-mail updates along with pictures they've taken of Brody during the day. All of his pictures included in here have been taken at daycare. As you can see, he seems very happy.

Another positive aspect is that in only 3 days we can see that Brody is already loving his new friends. When I am there I have noticed that he smiles at the other kids a lot and is constantly observing them. When I have held him in a "standing" position, he starts to move his legs like he wants to run over to the other kids. The teachers also sent us a picture of Brody holding hands with another boy in the class! (The picture is so adorable, but for the privacy of the other child, I am not including it in here). I believe that all this interaction with kids that are slightly older than him will help him learn faster.

The only downfall (and my biggest fear) is that he supposedly rolled over for the first time at daycare. Now, I do say "supposedly" because I don't think anyone actually saw him roll over. His teacher set him down on his tummy for tummy-time, turned around and when she looked back at him, he was on his back! No one has seen a repeat performance since. He's a little young to actually roll over, so I think that she may have set him down in a way that made it easy for him to flip.

Overall we're having a positive experience with him in daycare and I think he is handling the new routine very well. I, of course, am having to adjust a lot as well as a new working mother...but I'll post more about that later.

Brody is 12 weeks old

2010-04-14T06:08:00.005-05:00

Brody's last week home with his mommy is officially over. It was great to be home with him for 12 weeks even thought it flew by. The next time we will probably get this much time together will be when his little brother or sister arrives (MANY years from now!)

Brody is still growing like crazy and I think this week he's started to enter into the 3 month growth spurt. All of a sudden his 5oz bottles aren't enough for him. This is either due to a growth spurt or he's still recovering from his pedialyte diet. Last week due to more digestion issues, we had to reduce the formula he was receiving and supplement with pedialyte. We were giving his stomach a rest until his stools went back to normal. Of course he was hungry after several days of this. Now he's back to normal and receiving full bottles. But I think he'll be moving up the amount of ounces he'll be eating each day.

This past week Brody has started grabbing things more, including my necklaces, sweatshirt strings and toys. He just discovered the mobile in his swing and started reaching for it. He also has a new toy called a Bumbo that helps him work on his muscle strength. His head control is good so he's able to sit in it pretty good. However, he'll be using it for only short periods of time until he can hold up his head just a little better.

Over the last week Brody's had a few adventures. Last Friday we went to dinner with our friends Tina and Mark and their little girl Aubrie. Aubrie is 3 months older than Brody so it's great to see the differences that they go through in such a short time period. Aubrie is sitting up great and a lot more active than Brody. She is playing with toys and reaches for items with ease. Brody is just now figuring out what toys are. We took some adorable pictures of the two of them together.
This week we also took a trip up to Madison to see our nephew play in a basketball tournament. The noise during the game didn't seem to upset Brody at all. I thought it might be a little much since he was startled during his first Brewers game but he was great. He didn't flinch until the last second of the game when J.J's team won by a game winning shot! Of course the crowd was cheering like crazy! He still didn't cry, just tensed up a bit. Then we took advantage of the drive to Madison and Brody & I spent the rest of the day with my friend Katie and her adorable German Shephard Mika. Brody and Mika bonded over shared pacifiers and cute kisses.

He's getting so big!

2010-04-13T09:51:00.002-05:00

He's growing up so fast! He is already trying to hold onto his own bottle (unsuccessfully).
He's cuddling with something other than his parents, even if it is a burp cloth.

And he can scoot himself out of his bouncy seat if he's not strapped in. Good mommy lesson! Don't worry, I was right there with him and he never made it out of the chair.

Go Brewers!

2010-04-08T21:39:00.006-05:00

Anyone who knows Jason knows how much he loves baseball and the Milwaukee Brewers. He's been a fan through all the team's ups and downs. Then it should come as no surprise that Jay wanted to take Brody to the opening day game. He wanted to start a tradition of taking his son to the season opener every year, so why not start this year?

Due to the team's success over the last few seasons, it has become increasingly difficult to get tickets. Since we didn't have season tickets this year we had to put our name in to be picked to even attempt to buy opening day tickets. Needless to say, it wasn't very surprising when we were only able to get standing room only "seats."

Obviously we had to prepare for the game a little differently than if we were sitting down. We have a baby carrier that we could "wear" Brody in. Also, we planned to get into the stadium early with the hopes of getting a table. A couple days before the game we decided we would tailgate before the game since the weather was going to be warm.

We went to the game with our friends Todd & Natalie. They are both great with Brody and understanding about taking a baby to a Brewers game, so it was nice to have them along!

We did get into the game early but weren't able to get a table. Brody didn't mind and he quickly fell asleep in Jason's arms.

Then he woke up hungry and I bet Jason didn't imagine that one day he'd be feeding a baby at a Brewers game instead of watching the team warm up.

Brody handled the game very well. When everyone cheered he did get startled a little, but then got used to the noise. Then all of a sudden we noticed that the circulation in his legs was off and they turned purple. It freaked me out of course, so I tried adjusting the way I was holding him. They went back to normal. Then a couple innings later it happened again. We figured he'd had enough after being held while standing for a few hours. It was the fifth inning and we decided to head home.

We got home in time to see the 9th inning and unfortunately the Brewers lost.

All in all, I think it went well and we'd definitely take him to a game again. I wouldn't take him to a game where we didn't have actual seats. I think standing that long was too much for him and if he could sit on our laps he would've been more comfortable. And with any luck, he'll grow up to be as big of a baseball fan as his daddy!

Brody's 1st Easter

2010-04-08T21:12:00.002-05:00

Last Sunday we celebrated Brody's first Easter! While Easter isn't very exciting for a 2 1/2 month old, it was nice to celebrate his first big holiday. We didn't put together a basket for him or color any eggs, since he is still too little to enjoy either.

Ironically, Easter is the first holiday Jason and I celebrated as a couple when we started dating 10 years ago. So each year we give each other an Easter basket. This year, we just made a family one and took pictures of Brody with our basket. Don't worry, he will not be consuming any of that candy!

After Brody's little photo shoot, we took him to church before joining up with our families. We spent lunch with my Dad's side of the family. There was an egg-hunt for the little kids which was great since it was beautiful outside.

Then in the mid-afternoon we went to Jason's parent's house for Easter dinner. We had a relaxing evening with the family. Even though Brody will not remember his first Easter, I know everyone enjoyed spending it with him.

Brody is 11 weeks

2010-04-07T18:41:00.006-05:00

11 weeks have come and gone. Brody and I only have one more week together before I head back to work. That means only one more weekly update and then I'll be moving to monthly updates.

Brody had a big week with his first Easter and first Brewers game. I'm a bit behind on blogging about those events, but check back in a day or two for the full story. This week, he also spent the evening away from us for the second time while we went to a hockey game with our friends. It was our first night out with friends without bringing Brody. It wasn't a romantic night out (we didn't even sit in the same section at the game) but it was a lot of fun spending time with our friends.

Brody is still sleeping through the night but his naps seem to be shorter during the day. Instead of a 4 hour nap plus a couple smaller naps, he seems to be settling into a more normal pattern of several 2 hour naps. He's really only awake for 2 hour spans before getting overtired and cranky.

When he's awake he loves playtime. He's not much into toys yet and the only one he loves as much as starting at us is mirrors. There's nothing like making faces at yourself in the mirror!

He also loves bathtime, which we do every night. His tub is pink (the store was out of blue ones!) but he doesn't seem to mind!

He still hates tummy-time, but we contine to work on it each day.

And he's definitely discovered his hands, often sucking on them and trying to stick them as far into his mouth as possible.