Saturday, June 25, 2011

Lots o' Firsts



Brennan has had a lot of firsts these past couple of weeks. I am so darn thankful that a lot of these transitions are going so well. Like my friend Trisha said, he's making us for the first year of his life, haha!

Like I mentioned before, he's basically potty trained! As a first time mama, it was an area I was kind of nervous about. I think the trick was that whenever we were home, we let him run around in his birthday suit (or with underwear on, Thomas the Train underwear if you must know). I read that tip from this blog. When the kiddos have accidents, you can tell them, "see that, that's you going pee pee (or tee tee as the southerners say). After a half day of accidents, he was starting to get the concept and sitting himself on the potty. I think it makes them aware of that sensation, when he was wearing a diaper, it was like he didn't even know he was going. We are facing one hiccup: he won't go without his potty insert, which means he won't go on public toilets! Any advice on this? I would hate to carry that potty seat around with me everywhere I go. ewww. Sometimes we just keep him in underwear when we're out and about and sometimes he wears a diaper. Usually he just holds it til we get home, but sometimes not (aka Target on Friday night).

Another big first for B, we took him to the movie theatres for the first time! We saw Cars 2. He sat in awe the entire time. Didn't make a peep. As for the movie? It was a bit intense, much different than Cars. I don't think it's anything terrible, but it seemed like a lot for a 2 year old.


And lastly, after finding Brennan reading his books instead of taking a nap last week (he had crawled out of his crib unbeknownst to me), we decided to switch his crib into a toddler bed. It has gone swimmingly. Not a big deal at all. He hasn't gotten out of bed at night or during naps (so far). Score 2 for the big B (not to be confused with Biggby, which I immensely miss).

Monday, June 20, 2011

Happy Father's Day!!!


I am blessed to have an awesome, God fearing Dad, great Father in law, and a wonderful daddy to our kiddos. The trifecta. Happy Father's Day to all three of you!



On a completely unrelated note. We have the bathroom mirror project almost completed. Here's a quick before and after of the master bathroom:

BEFORE


AFTER

I think it looks so much better! We still need to paint over the caulk and finish the guest bathroom, but hey, progress! I got the idea from pinterest and we basically followed this blog's tutorial.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

House Project Updates


We've been in our new house for a little over a month now. I thought it'd be fun to look back at what we've gotten accomplished on it so far. Maybe as a little nudge to help us continue working on it, a little encouragement so to speak.

So here she goes, here's what we've gotten done on the house 1.25 months in:

*Painted the living room and master bedroom

*Washed windows inside and out

*Put up shelves in garage and made work bench (not shown):

*Cleaned out garage

*Caulked guest bathroom tub

*Hacked down shrubs in front yard

*In progress, framing both bathroom mirrors (this is our "before" picture, and yes, I'm standing in the tub to take the photo):

*Installed new gate lock in back yard (crazy 2 year old could run, slam his body against the gate door, and open it up despite it being locked!)

*Made mantel monogram "A" (thank you Erin Z for the idea, I think I stole it from you, but I can't remember!):

*Bought and installed new light fixture in kitchen

*Sanded and painted areas where pest control made holes in our wall (pest control is a must down here)

*Put up new ceiling fan in living room

Gosh, there seems like there is more, but I can't remember. Mad props go to Jon, who did the majority of the projects above. I'm a blessed woman.

P.S. Although Brennan was a bear last week due to teething, he's made up for it this week by potty training himself. Seriously. He walks into the bathroom, asks us to turn on the lights, and he sits himself down and goes. This kid is awesome.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Saturday and Bumper Stickers

I'm excited to post a little house project that Jon and I have been working on (well, I did cut two pieces of wood, that counts, right?). But it's not done yet so I must wait.

But we really did have just the best Saturday yesterday. I went to a MOPS steering retreat in the morning (which was exciting!!) and Jon got some good one on one time with the B man. After I came home, and Brennan got a nap, we hit the pool in our neighborhood. Brennan is finally to the age where he'll jump into the pool into your arms and he loves the pool. After swimming, we went to Chili's for dinner and had a family movie night watching "Madagascar". Ahhh, I love Saturdays. Then Jon and I sweated our faces off working on our house project in the garage, but that's beside the point.

In other news, I love Texas bumper stickers. They are awesome. Check out some of my favorites:





And my personal favorite:


Oh, Texas. I have no words. I do love living here, but some things are just over the top times ten.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Two year molars = poke my eye out with a stick

Dudes.

Brennan is getting his two year molars in. Which, ya know, I never thought would be a big deal. But holy cow.

He's teethed before (obviously) and it's been the normal whiny, drooly stuff. But this time, totally different. He had a fever yesterday and literally looked sick. He layed around on the couch and wouldn't sleep unless I was holding him. Today, he was a hot mess, again wouldn't nap and is now crying himself to sleep. It's 10:23 and he still hasn't fallen asleep. This is sooo not our child. But we know it's teething because he is sticking his two fingers back on his two molars and chomping on them. And we felt back there and he has one tiny little piece of the molar that has popped through, but that's it. Whew.

How long did it take your two year old to get their molars through? Did you have to deal with symptoms like this?

I miss my happy baby, come back to us soon, son!!


Vintage Park this past weekend. Our favorite hang out place!

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Brazos Bend

We spent our Saturday at Brazos Bend State Park, just south of Houston. We really like exploring what Houston has to offer and love the different wildlife. We were a little concerned about the heat seeing that the heat index was 102 for the day. But it had a lot of shade, and a good breeze, and honestly, the heat wasn't too bad. Thank you Jesus!

Brennan sandwich on the lookout deck

We rode our bikes on a couple paths around lakes and were able to see a ton of alligators. This little man was hanging out on the bike path so we rode by one by one.


Chillin' in the water


Nate, Cailey and Brennan

We went with friends of ours and picnicked afterwards under a huge tree. I told Jon I want one of these in our backyard, tehehe.







Thursday, June 2, 2011

Gym, I'm not a Rat.

Here's today's weather from weather.com (my screen shot):



Not sure if you can see it, but it says 101. Feels like 156 (I don't exaggerate, right Meg?). Lord have mercy. Anyways, I've decided to get a gym membership every summer since most of our main activities have ended for the summer and it allows me to work-out and Brennan to get some socialization in. If I didn't, we'd stay in the house all summer long and that'd be pathetic. I just joined 24 hour fitness which is down the road from us and really convenient.


So far, I love it! I took a boot camp class yesterday that was a full one hour of intense plyometrics (jump moves), lunges, squats and a little step. I died. Today, I die. Saw the whole life flash before my eyes in the middle of planks with a twist. I just took a quick 15 minute hot bath while both Brennan and Kennady napped because I hurt. All over. Bad. But it feels soo good. I'm totally going next week. And I'm stocking up on more Advil.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

House Tour

Our new house is still very much under construction. Lots and lots of things we are working on and needing to do to it, but I thought it'd be fun to show a quick tour of the house "as is" this Tuesday morning.

Two things. There is a part 1 and part 2. Please watch Part 1 first. It's kind of funny. And he didn't pee on the floor, THIS TIME. Also, you may want to let it buffer all the way through before watching it.

(p.s. I'm sorry for the bad quality, it was either bad quality or editing it into three different segments and I didn't have the patience to do that.)

Part 1 (i.e. what it's like to try and get something done while being a mom):





Part 2: