Giddy Up!

Before Brian went to school this morning, he had a few minutes to play with some of the new birthday toys. Uncle Corey wasn't able to make it for the party this year but he sent a gift that only Uncle Corey would have thought of! The boys had to wait until this morning to get the full impact of it.....seeing the parts in the box was somewhat confusing. (I'm sure it will surprise no one that Uncle Colin sneaked upstairs to slip the unassembled horse head into Mommy and Daddy's bed before leaving the party.) When Brian laid eyes on the rocking horse this morning though - he saddled right up! With trick rider moves like he has, we expect to see him on the rodeo circuit very soon!

Since Brian is a HUGE fan of the PBS show called 'Super Why', he got a real kick out of this word reader. Wyatt (aka: Super W) uses one so he thought it was pretty cool. Brian really likes school! When Mommy said it was time to go he put his toys down and grabbed his backpack before racing for the door!

Party Time!

After the boys woke up from their naps today we made the journey to Grandma and Grandpas house (aka: across the street) for a small family birthday party. Uncle Kevin, Aunt June, Krista, Erika, Uncle Colin, Aunt Karyn and Haley were all able to join us so it was a fun afternoon! When we were finished with our dinner, we came across the street and we had cake and ice cream in our own dining room before the boys opened their gifts.

It was a little chilly outside - but not cold enough to stop the kids from burning off some energy in the back yard! Brian also sends out Happy Birthday wishes to his South Dakota cousin Nolan who turned 7 years old today!!!!!!!

Backyard Fortress!

Our new backyard is huge! We currently have two mulberry trees which Mommy and Daddy have mixed feeling about. They are great now - full and lush wish lots of room under the branches for two little boys to chase each other around in and play fort inside.

However, next spring when they blossom they will also be covered with berries. This is great if Mommy plans to do lots of canning and baking. This is not so great if we have little boys smashing berry juice into their clothes, as well as the floors, carpet and furniture. We hate the thought of cutting down trees just for the sake of cutting down trees. However, if they stop becoming beautiful foliage and become more of a nuisance, we may have to think about plan B.

Brian's 3rd Birthday!!!!!

August birthday rush continues today as we celebrate Brian's 3rd birthday AND Grandpa H's birthday too!!!!! Today was a school day for Brian but after he had his breakfast, he still managed to have enough time to open up a couple presents!

After school, naps and some more play time, it was time for Brian's special birthday dinner. With two boys who both love trains, they were both thrilled that we went back to the same restaurant where we had Spencer's birthday dinner. Once again, the All Aboard Diner in Downers Grove was a huge success with the boys......and Mommy and Daddy had a good time too! While we were waiting a few minutes for there to be space available for us to sit at the counter, Brian looked at Mommy and said "Mommy, I'm ready for my birthday." After we convinced him that we were still going to celebrate his birthday, we were just waiting for a place to sit we decided to distract him with some other conversation. Daddy asked Brian what he was going to have for dinner. This seemed like a straightforward question and we anticipated hearing.....a hot dog, or a grilled cheese sandwich. Without any hesitation he responded "Vanilla". Vanilla being the choice of flavor birthday cupcake he would get after his meal. Once we were seated, the look on Brian's face as the train rounded the corner carrying his food was absolutely precious!

The only thing that could have made this moment more special would have been with the birthday Grandpa and the birthday Brian could have celebrated together! Maybe next year! Happy Birthday Brian and Grandpa......we love you both!!!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

The boys are getting a lot of practice singing Happy Birthday! This morning they serenaded Mommy with a couple versions of the song and she loved every minute of it! After spending the day playing and just having a fun day together in general, we topped off the day by going out to dinner. The Old Country Buffet has become kind of our "child friendly" restaurant of choice and we go there fairly regularly. There happens to be another location of this restaurant chair pretty close to our new house so that was our destination tonight. Maybe it was because they knew it was Mommy's birthday, but mid way through our meal they brought out their "OC Bee". Spencer was curious about this big bee but he decided to just look at it from a distance. Brian wanted to meet the bee up close and personal!

No trip to the OCB is complete until we have enjoyed some of the yummy stuff from the ice cream/dessert bar! Happy Birthday Mommy - we love you!!!!!!!

The First Day Of School!!!!!!!!

Brian has been going crazy with the anticipation of when he will get to go to school. His patience finally paid off when he found out that today was the day! One of the school supplies that he was required to have was a backpack. Oddly enough though, it had to be a full sized backpack, one that would be big enough to bring projects and stuff home in. Since he needed the backpack today and his birthday isn't until Friday, he got to open one of his birthday presents early. Can you guess what it was??? (Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!!) It is very funny watching him wear it on his back. Due to how big it is, he leans forward in order to keep from tipping over!

Daddy's work schedule worked out so that our whole family was able to see Brian off this morning. At 7:45am we climbed into the RSV (red sport vehicle) and made the short 10 minute drive to school. The preschool teachers aid, Mrs. S met us at the door. She showed Brian (and Spencer who was right at his side) where his "cubby" was so that he could put his backpack away.

Next Brian went across the room to say hello to his teacher Mrs. V and give her an apple. As you can tell, Mommy and Daddy are not opposed to his sucking up to the teacher! She was assisting her students in finding their name tag. Each name tag had a sticker with their name on it which they wore to help everyone out on the first day. There are 10 kids in Brian's class, 6 girls and 4 boys. As anticipated, Brian was thrilled to be at school and could have cared less that Mommy and Daddy were leaving him there. The only tears that were shed today were from Spencer. He had NO interest in leaving without his big brother.

Brian was happy to see Mommy and Spencer when they came to pick him up, but he was even more excited to know that he gets t0 go back to school on Friday!

Watch Me!!!

Recently, Brian saw someone jumping rope. Several days later, out of the blue, he came up to Mommy with a length of cable cord saying :"Mommy watch.......I'm jumping rope!" We had to have a couple lessons on how to actually jump over the rope, but he caught on very quickly!

Professor Brian

Mommy was putting a few things away in Brian's bedroom closet while the boys were playing. Brian started out reading a book and when Spencer came over to see what he was doing, Brian took it upon himself to help his little brother with his letters. The book he was reading had the alphabet in it and their conversation went something like this:

Brian: Spencer, what's this letter?

Spencer: D!

Brian: Yes! That's good Spencer......what's this letter?

Spencer: B!

Brian: No, that's an E but try again......what's this letter?

Spencer: F!

Brian: That's right Spencer.....good job!

Playroom

Since the room that will end up being the playroom is currently serving as Spencer's temporary bedroom, we have come up with Playroom Plan B. There is an area by the kitchen that was probably a storage area or mud room for the previous owner. After a fresh coat of paint and a little elbow grease, it cleaned up nicely and makes for a great playroom! This is what it started out looking like.

And this is how it looks now. It's an "L" shaped room with windows on all of the exterior walls so it's bright and roomy. The boys are enjoying it and Mommy and Daddy are especially enjoying being able to keep about 90% of all the toys confined in one area instead of having them all over the living room floor!

Moving Day!

The boys had a wonderful distraction to keep them busy while Mommy and Daddy were with the movers today. They spent the morning with Uncle Kevin, Aunt June, Krista and Erika attending an event in Villa Park called "Big Rigs and Kids". It's in conjunction with the park district and while they are showing parents what activities that are available for their kids, the kids are distracted with the "big rigs". All kinds of trucks are on display and the kids can climb up into them and poke around. Brian is still talking about the helicopter that he saw land on a grassy field by the park. By late afternoon Daddy had the stairway railing back in place and the boys beds put back together so we got ready to spend our first night in our new home. This is a picture of what Brian's room used to look like........

.......and this is what his room looked like when we moved in.

Happy Birthday Baby Brother!!!

Brian's little brother Spencer turned 2 years old today! Brian seemed to understand this concept because he sang the Happy Birthday song to him at various times throughout the day. On the down side, we may have a little pyromaniac on our hands though because any time he can lay his hands on anything that in his mind, could be a match, he is "lighting candles." Sticks, yardsticks, pencils and in today's case, a little twig he found all work to light candles. With Brian in the house, Mommy keeps the matches on the top shelf and even there - they are hidden!

Order Up!!!

Brian's day got off to an exciting start. He FINALLY got to go to school. All of the 3 yr old preschool kids had a short scheduled individual visit with the teacher and Brian's appt was this morning. The first person Brian saw when we walked into the room was Mrs. S (the teachers aid). He promptly went over and gave her a big hug. Between looking at all the great "stuff" all over the room, Brian was still able to squeeze in a nice visit with Mrs. V (the teacher) before out appt time was up. Next Wednesday will be his first day of school and right now, next Wednesday sounds like a LONG long time away!

When we got home, Brian decided to do a little cooking. Mommy was quietly sitting back watching him cook - trying not to giggle because he was hysterical! Each time he grabbed a piece of play food out of the container, he looked at it and announced "Nope, not that one." After he decided it was the wrong food, he just chucked it over his shoulder and grabbed the next piece out of the container. He was very intent on what he was doing and was all business as that food was flyin'!

Jaws

This looks like a nice innocent face doesn't it???

If you answered yes, you would be wrong. This is the face of a little boy who has decided to start biting. He has also decided that his brother would be the best thing to bite on. We have heard that this is not an uncommon stage for kids to go through but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable - especially if you happen t0 be the little boy being bitten! Mommy had just taken a picture of Spencer's freshly bitten arm so Brian insisted that he have his arm photographed as well.

Chores

You never realize how much stuff/crap/junk/etc you have until you go to move it! Lots of things have found their way into the garbage but even with that, packing up to move is still a nightmare! Brian has been more than happy to pitch in and lend a helping hand hauling out the garbage though!

I Can Do It Too!

Apparently all this moving stuff has caused Mommy to completely loose her mind. Daddy had a meeting tonight so with jammies in place, books read, and prayers said, Mommy got both boys tucked snugly into their beds. Neither Brian or Spencer felt it was time to go to sleep yet - which made Mommy's post bedtime plans even more insane. She decided that the best thing to do after putting the boys to bed would be to pack up the hallway linen closet. Have we mentioned that the linen closet is located in the hallway right outside BOTH of their bedrooms?!?!?! Does it sound like a good idea to provide a show in a well lit hallway for two boys who don't want to go to sleep anyway???? Fortunately, within a few minutes Mommy regained some common sense and decided to postpone the hallway packing until they were asleep.

Thick as Thieves!

Daddy and Mommy frequently comment to each other "Those boys are nothing if not polite!" Here's a common conversation between the two boys.

Spencer: (while handing Brian a toy) "B-ian (the "r" is still silent), here go....here go."

Brian: (accepting the toy) "Oh thank you Spencer!"

Spencer: "Wel-com B-ian."

The other day Mommy was changing Brian's diaper and Spencer, who was out in the living room started crying. Mommy called out "Whats wrong Spencer?" Brian looked up at her while patting her arm saying "He's okay Mommy, he's okay."

WE FOUND IT!!!!!

This little foam alphabet toy is currently a favorite toy for both boy's. As is the case with most toys that have multiple pieces, like say........26 pieces......it's not uncommon for one or more of them to come up missing. The letter Q has been missing for months and in the process packing and relocating some boxes from storage today, Brian and Daddy found the Q! Which toy will be the next one to resurface?!?!?!

PS: Brian's eye is almost completely back to normal. We still have no idea what happened but are relieved that it went away.

What's This???

First of all.........Brian (as well as Mommy, Daddy and Spencer) would like to send out a HUGE thank you to our wonderful friends Aunt Karen and her daughter Jamie for coming over to play with the boys so that Mommy could spend the day working at the new house yesterday.

As the boys were sitting down to have lunch today, all of the sudden Brian started rubbing his eye, almost instantly developed a stuffy nose and began sneezing. It was like he was having an allergic reaction to something but Mommy couldn't figure out what it could have been. He hadn't eaten anything different and he hadn't been exposed to anything out of the norm. He requested to take a nap right after lunch and when he woke up, his right eye was really puffy and red. After flushing his eye with water, we decided to get outside for some fresh air (and to pick up some children's Benadryl). His eye looked much better by late afternoon - which is when this picture was taken.

Tool of the Day!

Daddy has been very busy moving the workshop from the garage in house location A to the garage at house location B. One of the final tools to get relocated is this Craftsman 1/3 HP 115 Volt 5.8 Amp 6 x 3/4 Bench Grinder. It was one of the last ones to get moved because Brian was using it. You just never know when you might need to grind down some stuff!

Pull Ups

Since Brian needs to be wearing Pull Ups when he starts school, we decided he should start getting used to them. We have opted to use the "Cool Alert" ones. When they get wet, they get cold which is suppose to help him see/feel/and begin to understand what is happening in his diaper. Mommy tried to explain what was going to happen as she put it on him this morning. During breakfast he said "Mommy my Pull Up is full". Since it had only been on a few minutes, we assumed that he meant that it just felt different. A little while later as Mommy was putting his play clothes on him she noticed that he needed a fresh Pull Up. About 45 seconds after the new one was on, Brian said "Mommy I need a new Pull Up." Sure enough - he did! Mommy's good friend Jenny recommended this particular kind of training pants and since she has had great success potty training kids, Mommy takes her advise to heart! Granted, we aren't done yet but I think we definitely made a step in the right direction today!

Middle of the Road!

When we were playing at a park this week Brian gave Mommy a nice chuckle. The slide had three choices of where you wanted to go down it. After a few times, Brian made it into a game.

Brian: "Mommy, what one should I go down?"

Mommy: "How about.......the middle one."

Brian: "Okay, the middle one........which one is the middle one?"

Light The Candles

Apparently Brian really IS paying attention at church. Here are a few examples. When he was playing out in the yard today he found this big stick and was carrying it around while he sang some songs. When Mommy came out to call him in for dinner he said, "Mommy watch, I'm lighting the candle". Apparently he wants to be a Jr Acolyte because he lite his pretend candle exactly like they do at church. After dinner we were all out in the living room. Out of the blue Brian came up to Daddy to shake his hand and said "God's Peace." (Sharing the Peace like this is something we do Sunday mornings.) Today while we were driving through a residential area on our home from the grocery store we passed a church. Seeing the cross on the outside of the building, Brian pointed to it and said "God's house!" This is the second time this has happened. The first time Mommy thought it was just a fluke when we drove by a church, Brian pointed to it and said "Oh, the Lord!"

License and Registration Please!

Mommy and the boys took a car load of stuff over to the new house today. Included in this load was the double stroller. If you can't visualize what the double stroller looks like, its like a big Jeep. The front driver has a snap on attachment which has a steering wheel, car key and horn. Just as we were getting ready to leave, Brian noticed this attachment piece and wanted to have it on his lap so that he could back seat drive from his car seat. Knowing that two boys and one toy made for a bad travel combination, before we left Mommy located a similar driving toy for Spencer to play with. Everything was fine until Brian decided that he wanted the toy Spencer was playing with. Proving once again that you can't reason with a two year old......

Mommy: "Brian, Spencer gets to play with that toy on the way there and then we will switch and you can play with it on the way back."

Brian: "Okay (brief pause until he starts reaching out trying to snatch the toy away from his brother, followed by crying when Mommy tells him to stop)."

Fortunately, Spencer could really care less what toy he played with and after the toy switch, the ride back home was much more enjoyable!

I Take Direction!

On Saturday mornings, we normally have pancakes for breakfast. Brian always wants to help, but lately he has taken to "reading the directions" on whatever we are using at the time.

It's very amusing to listen to him read. "Okay, we have to stir and then cook them for a couple minutes." He says it like he's been reading instructions for longer than he can even remember!

Of Course!

I never thought that we used this little catch phrase much, but apparently we must because Brian says it ALL the time now. For example...

Mommy: "Brian, would you like something to drink?"

Brian: (stated in a very matter of fact tone) "Of course."

Mommy: "How about if we go to the park this afternoon?"

Brian: "Of course.......that's a good idea!"

Daddy: "I think we should take baths tonight. Don't you think that sounds like a good idea?"

Brian: "Of course! I get to throw the toys in!"

Tool of the Day!

Daddy and Brian recently experienced a very sad loss. Their favorite lumber yard closed at the end of July. Daddy will especially miss the fact that over the past several years, he had established a very nice working relationship with several employees at this store. Brian looked on the bright side though. He was very excited to take advantage of some discount pricing and stock up on some tools and supplies during the final days that they were open for business. This Freud 12" 80 Tooth Diablo Model 1280 Titanium Carbide Saw Blade was one of Brian's favorite purchases! But hey, what almost 3 year old DOESN'T need a new saw blade?!?!?!

***Brian's Tool of the Day post from July 23rd has been updated!

Milestone Coming!

A few months ago Mommy and Daddy toured a Lutheran preschool/elementary school that is located fairly close to our new home. We made the big leap and with mixed feelings - Mommy went in today to register her baby for preschool. Brian's parents may not be ready for him to be grown up enough to be going to school, but we both agree that HE is ready. It will be very good for him to mix with kids his own age and to spend some time in the structured environment of an actual classroom. He will be in the three day a week program so beginning August 26th, he will be going to school from 8:15am - 11:00am Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.




For those of you wondering "What about his potty training status?" The school would "like" the kids in their 3 year old pre school class to be trained, but they are understanding of situations where that is not the case. Brian is somewhat interested and whenever he asks to use the toilet - he uses it. However, we are currently not really pushed the idea. Everyone we have talked to about this have told us the same thing. Until you are moved into the new house and somewhat settled......do NOT introduce another huge change (ie: potty training) in your child's life. That being said, we talk about the subject with Brian but in a very low key manner. What we ARE talking up though is school! So far, it hasn't required much to get him enthused about the idea. Most of yesterday and several times today alone he has asked "Mommy? I go to school now?"

(If you were wondering, Brian was in the middle of saying "CHEESE" when Mommy snapped this picture.)

Post Pool Boy

We have mentioned several times now that the boys are spending quite a bit of time over at Grandma and Grandpa's house lately. Mommy and Daddy are making lots or progress in our new house and we will be posting some pictures of that work very soon. Today the boys had a special treat. It was actually warm enough for them to go for a dip in the pool with Grandma! Even though the water was still a little chilly, Brian hung in there as long as he could before agreeing that it might be a good idea to go warm up. Mommy is anxious to get Brian into some kind of swimming lessons - hopefully next summer. He loves being in the water and takes instruction very well like when he is told: "kick your feet Brian....kick hard!" With some lessons, he should learn the basics very quickly!

Timber!

Even though it's been several days since we watched the village cut down the tree in our new yard, Brian remembers it like it was yesterday! Today he was walking around the house with his toy chain saw (yes, he has a toy chain saw) having a little conversation with himself that went something like this. "I need a rope so I can cut down the tree. When I cut it down it will make a big boom when it falls down!"

Size 4

We were in the dangerous close to being completely out of diapers so Mommy told Brian that we were going to need to go to the store. Brian immediately said "Okay, we need to go to the Red Circle." After a couple seconds it clicked with Mommy that the Red Circle is........

......Target! Brian is a big help when we get to the diaper isle. He has to pick out the box that has the number 4 on it! When we got home, he wanted to make sure that Spencer was familiar with the 4 too!

Wax On - Wax Off!

We had to be out of the house today so that our realtor could have an open house. Fortunately, we found lots of stuff to do! Our first stop was the Oak Park farmers market. If you don't live around here, you may not be aware that from about May to Oct, almost every suburb and several places in the city have a farmers market at least one day a week. Oak Parks happens to be Saturday mornings and it is a very popular one. Everything looked wonderful but we were able to keep our purchases limited to a few vegetables that we enjoyed later on for lunch. If you go to this farmers market, even though you will have to stand in line, make sure you get at least one of the home made donuts that the local church sells. Brian, Spencer and Mommy can all attest to the fact that they are yummy!

From Oak Park, we ventured down the street to Forest Park where our church's youth group was hosting a car wash. With a little help from our good friend Michelle, Brian got right in on the scrubbing action!

Shortly after the open house had ended, we got a call from our realtor and........drum roll......we got an offer on our house! It has been a long wait but this offer was exactly what we had been hoping for and we accepted it!