"Real" Bowling

Drew got to go bowling today!  REAL bowling, at a REAL bowling alley, with REAL bowling pins, and a REAL bowling ball! :)  To say he was excited leading up to this event would be a bit of an understatement.  He actually woke up at 5am, climbed into our bed and said, "Mommy, Daddy, we are going bowling TODAY!"  Yes buddy, we are going bowling today, but NOT at 5am!!! ;-) 
My brother, Joe (aka Uncle Stan) is the resident best bowler in our family so naturally we wanted him to be there to indoctrinate Drew into the bowling world.  He drove all the way over from Lansing to meet us at Woodland Lanes in Livonia (side note: this is a WONDERFUL bowling alley).  They had a special 4 lb. ball for Drew to use and they even gave him a Hot Wheels car as a little treat for coming to their alley.  Very cool!  We got all our stuff together, and put on our "special shoes"...

got a quick lesson on some of the "ground rules" of bowling...

and then it was time to try the very first REAL bowling shot...

and he did GREAT and loved it.  I have seen little kids bowl sometimes where they enjoy the first few shots and then kind of get disinterested in it.  Not this child, he was so focused on every single shot he took for 2 whole games!!!  He actually cried when we broke the news that we were done bowling for this time.  We promised over and over again that we would go back and he really wants Uncle Stan to come again (Uncle Stan was his instant favorite for the day)!  We had a great time and Drew loved every minute of it (gutter balls and all)!
Brandon enjoyed himself too, being passed between me, Daddy, and Uncle Stan depending on whose turn it was to bowl.  Before we know it, I'm sure he'll be begging to go bowling too!

Thanks for the SUPER fun time bowling Uncle Stan!!! :)

Excuses, excuses...

I have none!  Not one excuse that is worthy of writing down as the sole reason I have not updated this in almost 3 months...so, I won't even try...I'll just continue on like nothing was missed! (HA!) ;)

A lot has happened in the last couple months here, so I will try to condense it and make it readable...

Drew

The biggest change in life is that he is a Cubbie now!!  I can remember when he was a baby thinking that dropping him off at Cubbies for the first time was SO far away...yeah, well it came quickly as all things in my children's lives do!  He L-O-V-E-S Cubbies!  He loves saying his verse every week (and he's actually pretty good at memorizing them!) and he rants and raves all the way home about all of the great things he got to do that night at church.  Warms my heart to the CORE! :)  His favorite activity thus far was when they got to go bowling for game time.  He is in love with all things bowling right now...(I'm starting to believe there is something to the "Stanski bowling gene" we've always talked about in my family).  He has recently discovered YouTube videos (he doesn't really know it's YouTube, he just knows there are videos of anything and everything he could ever want to watch!)  Some of his favorites are bowling videos, monster trucks, trains, and Lightning McQueen.  I have also recently introduced him to the wonderful world of PBSkids.com where he enjoys playing games from his favorite shows (Dinosaur Train, Super Why, and Sid the Science Kid)!  Some days it is quite the battle to get him off of the computer, but I do enjoy watching him learn new things and develop interests. :)  He is really starting to enjoy his baby brother.  He has always loved Brandon and has always done everything he could with him, but as Brandon gets older and develops more, Drew has developed a whole new level of enjoyment with him.  He enjoys playing with him, (we're still working on sharing) and providing him with plenty of selection of toys to play with. ;)  He loves playing peek-a-boo with him and having tickle wars.  He likes trying to teach Brandon new things and is SO encouraging when he does something!  I cannot turn my back for too long when Brandon is in the high chair or Drew will likely feed him as many Puffs as he can put in his mouth (and eat some himself too!), though Brandon actually LOVES being fed by Drew.  He is getting big SO fast, but we are loving every minute of it!

Brandon

Brandon is my little, almost 9 month old baby who likes to think he is 19 months old!! :)  His budding personality just cracks me up.  He is an energetic little guy who wants to always be "on the go"!  There is no more sitting and holding him on your lap, he wants to be down and moving around any way he can.  His favorite mode of transportation is up on two feet holding onto someone's two hands! :)  He is so close to figuring out crawling that it's killing me, but much like his brother, he decides that learning to walk will just make everything faster.  He is an eating machine now, eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner while still nursing 4 times a day!  He loves everything so far that he has tried, just like Drew always has.  I'm immensely grateful to have good eaters and I figure as they get older and need more and more food to fill up, it will just be a great "diet" for Jim and I! ;)  Brandon loves to eat finger foods too...he had his first taste of lasagna the other day, as well as a piece of shredded up chicken!  I can remember not being able to get Drew to eat finger foods for a LONG time, B has it all figured out though.  Brandon loves playing with toys, anything and everything he can get his hands on, although his favorite toy is whatever his brother is playing with which, of course, does not appeal to Drew at all!!  But, they do love eachother to pieces and most of the time Jim or I are around to be able to referee and teach them the all important lesson of sharing.  Brandon loves playing peek-a-boo with a blanket, he loves when we sing "Splish Splash" at bathtime, and he loves getting and giving kisses! :)  My favorite part of the day is when Brandon wakes up from a nap and finds Drew...his face just lights up and I just imagine he is thinking, "Oh good, more fun is on the way!" :)  Just today, Brandon got all the way from his belly to sitting up all by himself!  Fast, fast, fast....they grow so fast! :) 

6 Months Old

Today my sweet little Brandon is 6 months old!  I actually LOVE when my babies get bigger.  Let's just say the "newborn" phase of life is oh so adorable, but not my favorite for sure! ;)  I love when my babies grow up and can smile at me and laugh that cute, baby, belly laugh.  I love when they can hold their head up and grab at my cheeks when I'm face to face with them.  I love when they can play with toys and talk in their own little language.  I do get a twinge of sadness when I think of how FAST the time goes, but I relish every moment I get to watch them grow and grow and grow! :)  Here's how Brandon has grown over the past 6 months...

Newborn

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

And truth be told, I actually have gotten behind on taking these pictures and don't actually take them until about halfway through each month, so the 6 month old one will come sometime later on this month! ;)

Happy 6 Month Birthday Brandon!!

New neighbors, new friends, and new toys!

This summer marks 5 years that we've lived in our house on Riggs Rd.  We love our neighborhood!  I always say it's the best of both worlds because we have a nice big yard to play in, we live on a nice, quiet dirt road that doesn't get a lot of traffic, and there are all sorts of animals to visit just a short stroller ride away, but the grocery store, restaurants, and the "city" are just a 10 minute drive away! :)  Our neighborhood is very old and we have lots of "older" folks that live around us.  They are great neighbors who we've enjoyed getting to know, but we've always hoped someday for another "younger" family to move in close by so our kids could have some friends to play with.  Well, just the other day we walked across the street and down one house to meet some new neighbors that just moved in.  And wouldn't you know it, it's a family with two little boys (Jake - 4, and Jackson - 10 months), HA!  Awesome!  Jake and Drew hit it off from the start and the next day Drew was asking to go see Jake and ask him to come play.  This was one of the cutest things...to see him wanting to go invite his friend to play at his house!  Yikes, he sure is growing up!  So, Jake and Jackson came over with their mom and had a great time playing in the backyard!  I didn't take any pictures so as not to freak out our new neighbors just yet, hahaha!  Someday, I'll get some of them playing, I'm sure!


In other news, on Thursday, Brandon played in the exersaucer for the first time (and I did get pictures of that)!  He had fun for about 10 minutes or so...

And of course, Drew was right there to show him how everything worked!

Lots of fun times ahead with this, I'm sure. :)

Not Ashamed

I tend to consider Drew a shy child.  At least at first, it takes him some time to warm up to people and places he is not familiar with.  I can't count the number of times I've heard someone look at my pictures of him doing something silly or crazy and say "Is that really the same Drew?"  He can be a really outgoing little character once he's comfortable!

Well, apparantly, he is very comfortable in our neighborhood Target.  We were shopping there this evening and as we are walking the aisles, he randomly broke into song...
Now, this is not really all that surprising to me as he has always been a "singer" (evidenced by these older photos),

but this is the first time I have ever heard him sing so nice and LOUD in a place other than home or in the car.

I mean, here we are just walking through Target with all of our fellow Target shoppers in the greater Belleville/Canton area and Drew breaks into a rousing rendition of  "Climb, Climb Up Sunshine Mountain" (complete with hand motions)! :)  And he didn't just sing it once, or even twice...I actually don't know how many times he sang it, he just kept on reapeating it.  I tried to quiet his volume a bit and then thought, 'Oh, why not?  Let him sing loudly'...at least it's a good song, probably better than whatever they had playing on the radio in the store in fact. ;)

A nice, older woman approached me and asked how old he was and when I told her, she said that hearing him sing that song brought back great memories of when her daughter (who is now 40 she informed me) learned that very same song at the age of 3!

Glad to know that he made someone else's day too!!  Gotta love him... :)

Brotherly Love

I know these two will definitely have their moments when they fight or disagree, but for now I will relish in the love they have for each other! 

You never really know how your first child will respond to having a new baby in the mix...

I couldn't have asked for a better reaction!! 

Sometimes I catch myself wondering if Drew remembers what life was like before Brandon....

I don't think he does.  :)

Drew's favorite things to do with Brandon currently:
*Play "little fingers, little toes"
*Play "pat-a-cake"
*Play "where's the baby?" (in the same way that it's done on the movie Ice Age)
*Have Brandon "tackle" him
*Laugh with Brandon
*Hold Brandon's hand
*Shake a rattle or entertain Brandon with some sort of toy (and proudly proclaim "I'm playing with him!" while doing it) :)
*Get into the crib with Brandon when he wakes up
*Do "tummy time" with Brandon
*Tell us what he thinks Brandon needs when he cries..."He must be tired." "He needs to eat." "He wants to see Mama."
*Sing "Jesus Loves Me" to him when I am putting him to sleep.

Drew's current nicknames for Brandon:
*Little Buddy
*Little B (we all call him this)
*Little eyes boy (he came up with this one all on his own...lol)

***I am so blessed!***

Just a precaution...

I remember (honestly like it was yesterday) the day I took Drew to the Dermatologist at 7 months old so they could try and figure out what the little red bumps all over his body were.  His Pediatrician thought possibly eczema, but was leary of diagnosing it since there was no family history of eczema or allergies.  So off to the Derm I went with my 7 month old baby.  The doctor was super nice and very good with Drew being that he was so little at the time.  He said that his initial thought was a condition called acropustulosis of infancy...really a harmless skin condition that may eventually start to itch a little, but will be completely gone by 3 or 4 years of age.  He really wanted a definite confirmation of this though before talking about treatment, so he told me he'd like to do a biopsy of one of the bumps.  I remember my heart jumping into my throat at the sound of the word "biopsy"!  It's a scary word even when you know it's nothing really serious.  I remember (and kind of chuckle now) when he and the nurse walked out of the room, I just broke into uncontrollable crying.  A good friend of mine describes this sort of crying as "Mommy tears", and I can think of no better way to describe it myself!  "Mommy tears" are the tears you don't plan for, you don't anticipate...they just kind of come.  They come because you have never felt the kind of love you feel for the little human that God has entrusted to your care.  Well, those were "Mommy tears" for sure, and when the doctor came back to perform the biopsy (which was literally no worse than a vaccine poke) there sat my brave little baby not making a peep while his Mom sat there sniffling and wiping away tears. :)  My little Drew walked away with one stitch on his left arm and later a confirmation of what we already knew, he had acropustulosis and although it would be annoying for a time, it would eventually go away and he would be fine.

Tomorrow morning at 8am, Jim and I will take Brandon (almost 5 months old) to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital to get an ultrasound of his head.  His head measurement at his last check took a significant jump off the growth chart, so they just want to make sure nothing is out of the ordinary.  We trust that God will once again reveal what we already know...that we make children with big heads (lol).  I don't think there will be any "Mommy tears" tomorrow, but you never know...they often come out of nowhere... ;)

I'm thankful that these are some of the worst procedures (so far) I've had to deal with as a Mom.  Because I know there are so many others who go through so much more difficult things.  But I don't mind doing these things, just as a precaution... 

Some milestones for Brandon

I thought since we are fast approaching Brandon turning 5 months old (when did THAT happen?!?), I should post some recent milestones so I don't forget them!! :)

Doctor's visit at 4 months revealed these stats...
Weight: 16lbs. 2oz (95th percentile)
Length:  27 inches (off the chart)
Head circumference:  45 1/2 inches (off the chart)

Brandon rolled from his belly to his back when he was 5 weeks old, but just a week ago Wednesday (6/16) rolled from his back to his belly.  We laid him down for a nap (swaddled up tight just like he likes to be), and Jim found him on his belly a short time later, still swaddled, and still sleeping (maybe we have a Houdini on our hands!) ;)  So, long story short, I think we have a belly sleeper now!

Brandon's first smile was on March 18 and boy is his smile BIG!  It's like he smiles with his whole face!  I love it!!  You cannot help but smile back!  B's smile is a solid cure for a stressed out mom, a tired dad, a crabby toddler, or anyone generally needing a little "pick me up"!

The latest milestone to report....*drum roll please*........as of yesterday (6/24), Brandon has his first tooth!  Yep, one finally popped through believe it or not!  I can't believe how early it seems for him to have a tooth!!  Man, the second baby sure seems like he's growing faster than the first!  Ahhh...better take more pictures and savor the moments!

A Legacy

One of my all time favorite songs is "Legacy" by Nichole Nordeman.  I was priveledged to know this man and am proud of the legacy he has left.  If you have some time, take a listen to his amazing story! 









You will be missed here on earth, Tony...I look forward to seeing you in Heaven someday! :)

Potty Training Saga - Day 4

SUCCESS!!!!

Ok, so I may be a bit over-zealous here, but after 3 days of "little" successes, (as in a couple drops of pee, or a small dollop of poop hitting the toilet) and quite a few failures, we finally had a significant amount of both hit the toilet today!!!  YAY Drew!!!!  I was thinking how funny it is that when you become a mom, you get super excited about the most obscure things...

"The baby rolled over! Get the video camera!"
"He went to sleep all by himself without crying!  Mark it on the calendar!"
"There's poop in the potty!  Did you hear me?  Poop IN the potty!"

I wonder sometimes if my kids look at me when I'm having a crazy, happy-fest moment about their latest accomplishment and think, "Wow, my Mom is really nutso!"
Well kids, you are right...I am nutso!  But I'm the only Mom you get and I'm so proud of you that I can't help but act a little crazy when you learn new things! :)

Just like Dad

My little Drew seems to grow up minute by minute these days.  The older he gets the more I think he looks like his Dad.  He has always favored Jim's looks, but now I often feel like I am looking at Jim as a child, they look so much alike.  Drew LOVES his Dad!  And I don't just mean your "run of the mill, every little boy loves their Daddy" kind of love.  I mean this child LOVES his Daddy...fiercely!  Lately it has been nothing but tears when Daddy has to leave for work.  I love the bond that they have...it is truly something special.  Drew will tell you all day long about "riding on Daddy's tractor" today, as if it was the first and only time he got to do it (clearly that is not the case).  Anytime he did something deserving praise today, he would promptly tell me that he is "going to tell Daddy 'bout that when he gets home!"  This evening, I had to chuckle when he matched his father not just in looks, but personality as well...

Jim works VERY hard and does many projects for us around the house.  He is a very handy guy and does a great job with everything he does.  His only pitfall in this area is that he has a tendancy to attempt more "jobs" at one time than can really get done.  He will start a job, need to go out to the garage for a tool, and be out in the garage for the next 1/2 hour starting a new "job" out there that is totally unrelated to the original job! ;)  So, this evening Drew announced that he wanted to build "our house" with his big Lego blocks.  I told him that would be fine, but that he needed to first pick up his monster trucks so there would be room on the floor to dump the blocks.  He obeyed and while walking over to pick up the monster trucks, spotted a puzzle (on the other side of the room) that he then decided just HAD to be done right then and there!  I literally laughed out loud!!

I'm grateful that he not only looks like his Daddy, but has a lot of his personality as well.  Couldn't think of a man I would want him to mirror more than his Daddy!  I hope he always aspires to walk in his Daddy's shoes! :)

A "special" store

Today the boys and I took a "special" trip to a "special" store to buy a birthday present for Daddy's 30th birthday on Monday!  I really had to doctor up the "special" part so Drew would get overly excited, since he wasn't thrilled with the idea of Daddy going to work today...HA! :)  It worked!  I wish I would have thought to bring the camera because when we pulled into the parking lot of the "special" store, he had the sweetest little excited grin on his face and he said, "Mama, what is this place?"  I had to try very hard to keep from absolutely cracking up!  The child always keeps me laughing!!

The Potty Training Saga

So, I believe this is the beginning of many blogs to come on the saga of training my now 3 year old little guy!  My hope in actually blogging about this is that one day, when Drew is completely potty trained, I will look back and laugh hysterically at how stressed I was about this! :)  I really had a lot of high hopes for this...."oh, watching his cousin go potty will make him want to do it", "showering him with promises of rewards like M&Ms and race cars will do it", but alas, amid all of our trying, the child still exhibits ZERO signs of readiness for potty training!

Enter an article in this month's Parenting magazine entitled "Extreme Potty Training".  I'm skeptical, but open it up to read it anyway.  In a nut shell, it pretty much takes on potty training the way I have suspected I may have to with Drew.  JUST DO IT!  Lock yourself in the house for a couple of days, pump the child full of water, and usher him to the potty every 20-30 minutes.  Sounds simple enough, but I know that trying it is going to be challenging on so many levels.  So now, I must prepare myself for this venture...whenever it is I get brave enough to try it! =)

To be continued...

Starting out...

The boys are in bed earlier than usual and the house is relatively cleaned up from the day, so what to do, what to do....?
Oh I know!  I'll start a blog!

This is the conversation I just had with myself while checking on all of my friend blogs this evening.
So, here I am blogging world...I'm not promising anything spectacularly awesome, but I do plan to use this as a place to keep track of all the memories, stories, fun and funny things that happen and the good, the bad, and the ugly of my life as a wife and mother!

You see, I used to classify myself as a scrapbooker, but now I have fallen into the frustrated scrapbooker category, (as in I haven't scrapbooked much of anything since 2007...awesome, I know).  So, I figure at least if I blog about things that I would normally scrapbook, I'll have a record of them somewhere!  And maybe someday, when my kids are all grown and have families of their own, I'll catch up on my scrapbooks by using my blog!  Here's to hoping anyway... :)

I will TRY to be good about posting often, and I hope that this blog has a two-fold purpose...1. to keep my memories logged somewhere other than my forgetful brain and 2. to possibly encourage, bless, or just put a smile on someone's face every once in awhile!