It's hard to believe that it's been over a year since my last post. I am happy to report that my flowers did come back this year. I've been working on the yard off and on and it continues to look better and better but there is always more to do! We now have a little girl, finally! Isabella was born on April 21st at 9:22 p.m. She is a wonderful baby! She sleeps in her own bed all night and sleeps in her swing throughout the day. She doesn't even like to sleep with me! The boys on the other hand - especially Brandon - will come crawling into our bed in the middle of the night still or just come get in bed with us when we go to bed. I'm sure they will grow out of it eventually but one night as Brandon cuddled up to me in bed (he's four now) I asked him, "Are you going to keep sleeping with mommy and daddy until you're a grown-up?" And he said, "YES!" I could just picture Brandon as a grown man sleeping in the middle of his mommy and daddy. The absurdity of it just made me laugh out loud!
The boys are great with Isabella. They just love their little sister. Brandon likes to hold her and hug and kiss her all the time. He calls her "sweetheart" and tells her he loves her. Xander likes to hold her, too. He is constantly putting his hands all over her face and arms and kissing and hugging her. He likes to call her "cutie pie" and tell her she is his "best buddy." They are just so cute! I'm hoping to get a good picture of the three of them together soon (a printable one for my wall.) I got a cute one at the zoo the other day. David's been on vacation. We took them to the movies on Saturday with Grama and Papa to see Toy Story 3. It was Isabella's first movie and she did pretty good. I didn't have to leave with her except to change her diaper. On Sunday we went to church and then we were supposed to go to the Crusher's game but it rained all day evening so we stayed home. Monday we did stuff around the house. Tuesday we took them to the movies with Papa Harvey to see Shrek Forever After. It was cute. (I'm curious though, if Shrek didn't rescue Fiona, wouldn't she have been rescued by Prince Charming who got there "too late.") Anyway, we took them to Memphis Kiddie Park and they rode every ride including the train which we took Isabella on. It was a terribly noisy ride but the boys enjoyed it. :) We took them to the zoo, Dave & Buster's, and The Museum of Natural History. It was a busy week. They had lots of fun and David and I did, too! It was nice to just spend time with the kids and each other. I enjoyed getting out of the house. It's not easy only having one car but it could be worse. Someday I'll have my own car again (Or should I say David will have his own car again. The boys call the Outlander "Mommy's car!")
We had our annual "4th" of July party yesterday on the 3rd. We didn't get to go to the fireworks though because they are not until tomorrow (Monday). We had a corn toss turnament. David and Aunty Roz were the winners this year. We had perfect weather. It was great to see everyone. Tomorrow we are going to meet some friends at the beach to watch the fireworks.
Xander is potty training. He wears only underwear now. "Mommy, I can poop and pee all by myself. Yeah, I go poop in the potty!" He is very proud of his big boy underwear. He pees in the potty every time all by himself. He likes for us to clap and say "Yay" when he goes - every time he goes! "Mommy, say "yah!" He stays dry at night and for naps. He's been making it to the potty for #2 today but we're still working on that. Sometimes he still goes in his underwear. He got a zhu zhu pet hampster for pooping in the toilet about a week ago. Now he gets a sticker for his sticker chart and usually a treat when he goes. We make a BIG deal out of it so that he wants to go in the toilet. He knows he gets a spanking and time-out when he goes in his pants. He will be THREE in only 18 more days! He's so excited about turning three. He has been looking forward to his birthday since Brandon had his back in February. There's been a lot of birthdays in between. He's gotten very good at singing the "Happy Birthday" song. He loves to sing and remembers songs pretty well. He learns new songs at church and comes home singing them. It's so cute. He sings "I want to be more like my Jesus everyday!" He knows his alphabet, colors and shapes and he can count fairly well to ten. He is a little sponge and picks a lot up from Brandon and t.v. He loves to watch Blues Clues, Diego, Dora and the Backyardigans. Lately he's been into watching the old Daffy Duck cartoons and now Pink Panther. (We recently got Netflix so his digital world has just opened wide up!) We don't have cable so we only get channels 3 and 5. We can't even get PBS out here. It's ridiculous.
Brandon is learning to write his name. He's learning to print capital letters and basic addition and subtraction. He's very smart but sometimes it can be a challenge to convince him that he CAN do something. He often will feel overwhelmed by a task but when we break it down into smaller tasks he does it and is very proud of himself. I think that we can all feel that way sometimes. I know I do! I see myself in Brandon often. It's not always in good ways, either! He's a good boy. I have to remind myself sometimes that he is only four. He's a good helper when he wants to be. He can be lazy but I've seen what the boy can do when he has the motivation! Right now that motivation comes in a box called "XBOX 360." He's in love with it. He played Lego Batman at Grama and Papa's house. A week or two later he told me that he had a dream he was at Grama and Papa's playing the Lego Batman game! Too funny. Between Ebay, the AL Kid's Closet and some parts from Grama and Papa, we where able to piece together a working console for him complete with a Lego Batman game. He likes to play with David. David "teaches" him what to do and then he is able to do it on his own when David is at work. I try not to let him play too much but it is nice to have somthing that occupies him for periods of time so that I can get stuff done. Otherwise, he and Xander get bored and just start wrestling and fighting and it's just too much! Xander will get bored when Brandon is playing video games because he isn't able to play yet but he likes to watch his shows on the computer now so I usually set him up with them or he helps me with whatever I'm doing. The other day we made Raspberry Banana Bread. It was very good - especially right out of the oven! I am a little worried about my little guys turning into couch potatoes! Hopefully that won't happen. They get their fair share of outdoor activities, too. We have a family membership to the zoo and two parks within walking distance. They love to play out in the backyard too. It's nice that we have a fenced in backyard and live in a quiet little neighborhood. They can play outside without me having to follow them aournd out there. Everything in moderation, right??
The boys are great with Isabella. They just love their little sister. Brandon likes to hold her and hug and kiss her all the time. He calls her "sweetheart" and tells her he loves her. Xander likes to hold her, too. He is constantly putting his hands all over her face and arms and kissing and hugging her. He likes to call her "cutie pie" and tell her she is his "best buddy." They are just so cute! I'm hoping to get a good picture of the three of them together soon (a printable one for my wall.) I got a cute one at the zoo the other day. David's been on vacation. We took them to the movies on Saturday with Grama and Papa to see Toy Story 3. It was Isabella's first movie and she did pretty good. I didn't have to leave with her except to change her diaper. On Sunday we went to church and then we were supposed to go to the Crusher's game but it rained all day evening so we stayed home. Monday we did stuff around the house. Tuesday we took them to the movies with Papa Harvey to see Shrek Forever After. It was cute. (I'm curious though, if Shrek didn't rescue Fiona, wouldn't she have been rescued by Prince Charming who got there "too late.") Anyway, we took them to Memphis Kiddie Park and they rode every ride including the train which we took Isabella on. It was a terribly noisy ride but the boys enjoyed it. :) We took them to the zoo, Dave & Buster's, and The Museum of Natural History. It was a busy week. They had lots of fun and David and I did, too! It was nice to just spend time with the kids and each other. I enjoyed getting out of the house. It's not easy only having one car but it could be worse. Someday I'll have my own car again (Or should I say David will have his own car again. The boys call the Outlander "Mommy's car!")
We had our annual "4th" of July party yesterday on the 3rd. We didn't get to go to the fireworks though because they are not until tomorrow (Monday). We had a corn toss turnament. David and Aunty Roz were the winners this year. We had perfect weather. It was great to see everyone. Tomorrow we are going to meet some friends at the beach to watch the fireworks.
Xander is potty training. He wears only underwear now. "Mommy, I can poop and pee all by myself. Yeah, I go poop in the potty!" He is very proud of his big boy underwear. He pees in the potty every time all by himself. He likes for us to clap and say "Yay" when he goes - every time he goes! "Mommy, say "yah!" He stays dry at night and for naps. He's been making it to the potty for #2 today but we're still working on that. Sometimes he still goes in his underwear. He got a zhu zhu pet hampster for pooping in the toilet about a week ago. Now he gets a sticker for his sticker chart and usually a treat when he goes. We make a BIG deal out of it so that he wants to go in the toilet. He knows he gets a spanking and time-out when he goes in his pants. He will be THREE in only 18 more days! He's so excited about turning three. He has been looking forward to his birthday since Brandon had his back in February. There's been a lot of birthdays in between. He's gotten very good at singing the "Happy Birthday" song. He loves to sing and remembers songs pretty well. He learns new songs at church and comes home singing them. It's so cute. He sings "I want to be more like my Jesus everyday!" He knows his alphabet, colors and shapes and he can count fairly well to ten. He is a little sponge and picks a lot up from Brandon and t.v. He loves to watch Blues Clues, Diego, Dora and the Backyardigans. Lately he's been into watching the old Daffy Duck cartoons and now Pink Panther. (We recently got Netflix so his digital world has just opened wide up!) We don't have cable so we only get channels 3 and 5. We can't even get PBS out here. It's ridiculous.
Brandon is learning to write his name. He's learning to print capital letters and basic addition and subtraction. He's very smart but sometimes it can be a challenge to convince him that he CAN do something. He often will feel overwhelmed by a task but when we break it down into smaller tasks he does it and is very proud of himself. I think that we can all feel that way sometimes. I know I do! I see myself in Brandon often. It's not always in good ways, either! He's a good boy. I have to remind myself sometimes that he is only four. He's a good helper when he wants to be. He can be lazy but I've seen what the boy can do when he has the motivation! Right now that motivation comes in a box called "XBOX 360." He's in love with it. He played Lego Batman at Grama and Papa's house. A week or two later he told me that he had a dream he was at Grama and Papa's playing the Lego Batman game! Too funny. Between Ebay, the AL Kid's Closet and some parts from Grama and Papa, we where able to piece together a working console for him complete with a Lego Batman game. He likes to play with David. David "teaches" him what to do and then he is able to do it on his own when David is at work. I try not to let him play too much but it is nice to have somthing that occupies him for periods of time so that I can get stuff done. Otherwise, he and Xander get bored and just start wrestling and fighting and it's just too much! Xander will get bored when Brandon is playing video games because he isn't able to play yet but he likes to watch his shows on the computer now so I usually set him up with them or he helps me with whatever I'm doing. The other day we made Raspberry Banana Bread. It was very good - especially right out of the oven! I am a little worried about my little guys turning into couch potatoes! Hopefully that won't happen. They get their fair share of outdoor activities, too. We have a family membership to the zoo and two parks within walking distance. They love to play out in the backyard too. It's nice that we have a fenced in backyard and live in a quiet little neighborhood. They can play outside without me having to follow them aournd out there. Everything in moderation, right??
