Wrapping up Spring Break.

I was off most of the week for Brennan's spring break. I think I posted about Monday, so Monday night Brody and Grady spent the night and Tuesday the boys played here and we went to the park.

The boys wanted a picnic lunch and they wanted pizza so I made the pizza and wrapped it in foil, packed everyone up and we headed to the park. It was pretty windy so I grabbed a couple of kites I had stashed and one Brennan got for Easter.

The picnic lunch went well. Then I was getting all of the kites ready and one broke right out of the package..wah! I was so excited about the kites, too. Brennan got a dinosaur one for Easter, one was Darth Vader, which Brody loves and the other was Angry Birds which Grady loves. I'm sure I had them both in mind when I bought them:) So Grady's is the one that broke. I tried to use the foil from the pizza to repair it and I tried to get it going several times and it wouldn't stay up:( So in the meantime I am also trying to get the other boys kites going. I get them both up and they have them and I am working on Grady's (Meanwhile Brooks is running all over the place haha) and Brennan and Brody were flying right next to each other and I had warned them to spread out and they got tangled. Like big time. It was super windy so they just spun around and around each other. Gahhhh!! I should have gotten a picture of that...but here is a nice peaceful picture when they were up. Surpriisngly, they didn't get tangled while they were sitting here, but they stood up right after this and then they tangled.

So at this point I'm giving up on Grady's kite and trying to get the other 2 untangled. I seriously needed some scissors! I finally got one of the strings snapped so I could untangle and retied them back together and got them both back in the air. Then Brody said his stomach hurt and he didn't want to fly it anymore:( Poor guy was laying on the blanket on the ground. So Brennan and Grady flew them for a few more minutes and we went home. #parkfail I felt so bad, like the boys didn't have fun although they said they did. Then Brody and Grady's grandma picked them up since Brody didn't feel well. Brennan was super bummed because he was hoping for more time to play so he asked if his friend that was supposed to be staying the next night could stay that night. The boys had stayed up late so I told him only if he napped;) It worked, he took an hour nap and Aidan got to come spend the night! I guess I didn't get a picture of the two of them. They pretty much just played-outside, video games, with weapons..you know, boys stuff.

Meanwhile, Brooks is being Brooks...pulling the laundry out of the dryer..

Hanging out in a 31 bag wearing only a diaper..

Climbing on the dishwasher, frantically pulling out every utensil as fast as I am putting them in there after he's raided the pantry of potato chips.

Playing with suction cup balls. These are awesome, any age child would love them-even Brennan likes to play with them. I got these in the party section at Target. They are $5 for a pack of 6 in store, but take them to Customer Service and get the online price of $3 :)

Carrying a stool around?? This child is random..it's blurry but I laugh out loud every time I look at it, he was insistent on carrying it around but didn't do anything with it.

Hanging out upside down...his favorite.

Wednesday night we went to my dad's house for a visit-here is Uncle Vance giving his famous smooches:) These boys get so much love from their Uncle Vance♥

Thursday morning, first thing I took both kids to the doctor with me..grrr. I went all winter without being sick and now I'm on my 2nd round of antibiotics. I had bronchitis a couple of weeks ago and I was just on the tail end of it and I picked up something else. I've had trouble with my ears my whole life. Terrible. I had tubes in my ears as a kid and twice in my adult life, which is sort of unusual. I remember crying in the middle of the night and waking my mom because my ears hurt so bad. I'm so glad neither of my kids have this problem. So it's actually been a while since I've had trouble, the longest ever by far. But they've really taken a beating this time. I'm pretty sure both ruptured, one Tuesday night and one Wednesday night. They were draining all sorts of nasty so I went in to get some antibiotics. I'm feeling better, mostly still congested and my ears are muffled so I can barely hear. I'm taking mucinex which is helping and I've been getting bad headaches and pressure behind my eyes so motrin has been helping. Overall it's getting better. 

Anyway, luckily I got into the NP and got my script filled in 40 minutes and we came home for physical therapy. Here is Brooks with Miss Patty. 

Miss Patty has been coming every week for about 10 months. Brooks just loves her! She has been so wonderful to Brooks and she might love him as much as he loves her:)

She really invests a lot in her patients. She always has something new for us to work on with Brooks every week she comes. Brooks is doing really well, really really well actually, so we decided it's time for him to graduate. I want to make her photo book so I was looking through pictures last night and it made me cry. We are going to miss her so much! She has been with us over half his life. She helped me with more than just therapy, she has had preemies herself and Brooks had so many sensory issues as a baby so she had a lot of good suggestions for that, too. Anyway, we decided the next visit will be the last one. Ok, I'm crying again writing about it.

After physical therapy, we met Casey on his lunch break at the post office to get this guy a passport:) 

We are going on a Disney cruise to the Bahamas in September so both boys need passports. I had to order Brooks' birth certificate and it hadn't arrived yet so we couldn't get his. Getting children a passport is different than getting one for an adult. I will fill you in on the details, just in case you ever need one. If you don't care, skip the next paragraph;) 

First of all, both parents have to be present to apply for one, with ID's of course. If not, you need a notary or whatever other official paperwork for why the other parent is not there. Child passports are only good for 5 years. You can get a card for $15 or a book for $80. What? So I had to get the details about the difference. I needed all this info before we even went in because I filled out the application online and printed it. So, Mark at the post office is now my new BFF. We've talked on the phone several times, so many times that when we finally went in, I just called him by name. Ha. Maybe this is the same for adults, I'm assuming it is, but with a card you can only travel by ground transportation-land or sea. With the book, you can travel those ways plus air. He did say, if something happened while we are on the island and  tried to fly home that we can't without a book, but he also said he can't imagine them not letting us back in. Well, we just got the cards so let's hope nothing happens. If it's only good for 5 years, chances are we won't be doing any international air travel in the next 5 years.  At this point it's $130 difference for something we're not sure we'll use again before it expires. So the post office charges $15 for the photo so I wanted to try to take my own. I figured if it didn't work, we could always just have it taken there. I had the background right and size printed was good, but I was zoomed in too close. Which I didn't even realize would be an issue. From the top of the head to the chin can only be 1 inch. They have a measuring tool to place over the picture to check. So we ended up getting his picture taken at the post office. These are all ones I took. So Brennan's passport was $55. It will be very interesting trying to get a picture of Brooks meeting all of the standards!

After the post office we went to Salvation Army. We are going to a 20's theme banquet Saturday night so I have been trying to find costume accessories for us. This was Brooks the whole time, no matter where we were in the store, he found his way all the way in the back where they were taking in donations. 

Brennan found this book as soon as we walked in. He has been reading a lot of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and he doesn't have any so it's perfect. 

I found these cute books for Brooks. 

Everything was 50% off so I got this gem for $1

After that Brooks napped and when he woke up and Casey got home, we played outside in the last bit of sunshine.

This was the first time Brooks had gone down the big slide. He likes it, but it's pretty big so I think he's still a little unsure. 

I'm hoping he plays on it more than his brother. Brennan only really wanted to play on it when he had a friend to play with. Now he has a little brother so he had fun playing:)

Brennan loves taking Brooks down the slide. They're too sweet.

Brooks liked the tunnel, but part of me wants to block off one side. This child can be smart about different heights, but he is also very adventurous.

After playing, he walked around the yard a little. He's getting alot better with walking in the grass. 

Him was sleepy, he had a busy day♥

Friday, I went back to work one day so both the kids went to Brooks' babysitter, Donna. Her granddaughter is off school and she is one year older than Brennan so he had someone to hang out with. Donna told me when I got there that Brennan and Aidan had been facetiming. Haha. These two are so funny. I love their friendship. Aidan is Brennan's first friend that he made on his own. Since he was always home with me, he was friends with my friends kids (and still is of course), kids we met in playgroups or swim class where I would become friends with the moms and then we would all hang out. Aidan moved to this school last year in 2nd grade and Brennan had class with him. They met and instantly became friends. They would send each others parents phone numbers home and beg us to call the other mom. I was pregnant with Brooks at the time, but I finally called Aidans mom and left her a message. They have been buddies ever since. They're in the same class together this year, too. I met a new friend, too. His mom and I text and talk, we hung out on the field trip a couple of weeks ago so it's really great all around:)

They were facetiming again this morning:)

Brennan is back into Ben 10. He was into a couple of years ago and got away from it. I think I mentioned that in my last post. He has all of these official watches, but this morning he wanted to make a paper watch:)

Our neighbor owns a BBQ place in St Louis. It was #23 best restaurants to eat at in America according to Yelp. We have been talking about going so this morning, last minute we decided to go. Our other neighbor, Caiden, went with us. The boys liked their food. Brooks looooved the pork. We got him baked beans and applesauce and he only wanted the pork. I ate the baked beans and they were so delicious. That is not something I would ever order, but since we got them, I like to try a little of everything and I ended up eating them all! The pork was delicious, too. They have 4 sauces on the table and they were all good. It was the best BBQ I've ever had. Brennan ended up going to Caiden's house after we got home and going to his soccer game and to eat pizza with his family and spend the night! When they stopped by to get clothes for him to sleep over, Brennan ran in and shoved a bunch of stuff in his backpack, gave me a kiss and ran out the door. He's getting a little too big. 

I made one of these today. I'm so in love with them. I made a few others as gifts, but I think I'm going to keep this one. 

I stopped by to see Reese and Scotlyn. They've been on my mind a lot and I've been wanting to go back since Easter. I was afraid the flower pinwheels we had taken would have blown away, they were still there. but broken:( I wasn't too terribly surprised because it's been so windy, so I picked up all of the pieces and arranged the tulips differently. The tulips were still spinning:) You can see the peach trees in the background, although the blooms didn't look as full today. Reese and Scotlyn are buried in the baby section of the cemetery. It's kind of sweet and sad at the same time. Almost every time I go, I look around and think about the babies that are buried there. And their parents. Some were born a long time ago and the only one in the same row as Reese and Scotlyn was born the same year as them. She's a girl, too. Her name is Lily. Sometimes I bring her decorations, too.  No other babies have been buried there since Reese and Scotlyn. I wish I knew it was because no other babies have died, but I know that's not true.  I can only hope that one day it will be.

Spring Break

Brennan started his Spring Break on Friday. I worked Friday, but I am off this week until Friday. I let Brennan plan the week out and he didn't have too many requests except to have a couple of friends sleep over. I did have one request and that was to take Brooks to the open gym near our house. I rarely get to take him and he always has so much fun.

I think he was tired today because while he did play and seemed to have fun, he wasn't his usual happy self. Not to mention, after we got home and he ate lunch-he took a 2.5 hour nap. I honestly don't think he has ever done that for me. Ever. So I got a lot done, mainly cleaned the playroom in the basement which was a wreck. It still needs some things cleaned out, but I hate to get rid of anything in case there's something Brooks would end up being into. Even Brennan was into Ben 10 a couple of years ago and hasn't been interested for quite some time until recently. I had been telling him I thought last time I organized down there that I saved his watches and when we went down there I found a whole bag of Omnitrix watches-he was thrilled!

He does look tired, doesn't he? Haha. He was a little more lively than this:)

While I was cleaning the playroom I also found Brennan's Mickey ears from Disney. We are planning  a Disney cruise in the fall (I think we're keeping it a secret from Brennan, so if you see him don't say anything). When I saw the Mickey ears I was so excited because I had forgotten about them and Brooks will be able to wear them on our trip. A feeling came back to me for a moment though, of the times when I would clean out his playroom before we had Brooks and I would be so sad wondering if we would ever get to use Brennan's toys for another child. I am so incredibly thankful for this sweet little man. He has brought me so much love, joy, laughter and healing. 

Giving the alligator kisses..he melts my heart♥

One of my besties, Jill, was in town from Georgia this past week so we try to get together as much as we can when she's home♥

Brennan is having Brody and Grady over to spend the night, but we all went to hang out with friends tonight and everyone had a good time:)

This is from Saturday, but we got to hang out with friends this weekend, too! Some of the kids in this picture are the same, but some are different. We're so lucky to have lots of friends! The kids always have so much fun. 

Easter 2016

I am extremely slightly embarrassed that it has been so long since I've posted. I was thinking a few months...6 months. Better late than never though, which is why I'm here. I do think often about posting, specifically about what Brooks is up to because these stages are fleeting. He is really so much fun. I am going to post just about him at this age, 16 months, but in a different post. We had a really fun weekend celebrating Easter so I am going to stick to that for now. Part of the pain of blogging is I typically have most of my pictures and video on my phone and it is a PIA to get stuff off of there. These pictures are from my big camera, which sadly I don't use much anymore. I think I will more now that the weather is getting nice again.

Brennan dyed our eggs this year. He is really so independent these days. Of course he is 8 years old, so he should be, but I am really proud of him. He is so helpful with Brooks and a lot of times because he is older and Brooks requires a lot of attention, Brennan doesn't always get what he wants right away. This is a change for him since he was an only child his whole life. His personality is such that he goes with the flow and handles change very well. He's still my super sweet boy.

We did an Easter egg hunt Saturday near my aunts house. We were going there for dinner and I wanted to take the boys to see the bunny and for a hunt so it worked out perfect. My cousin, Jack, came with us:)

This was Brooks' first hunt. He just started walking about a month ago so it's so fun to watch him toddle around. He isn't a big fan of the grass yet, but we took it slow and we definitely weren't in the race for the most eggs:)

I think we ended up with about 5 eggs;)

 After the hunt, we headed to my aunt and uncles for dinner. The weather was gorgeous, it could not have been more perfect. 

I didn't take many pictures there and I'm not really sure why. The kids were busy playing and at the neighbors house for a while and I was chasing Brooks, but I did get this picture. Brooks wouldn't cooperate so this was the best one. But my grandpa was super cute, he looked at Brooks' shoes and commented how they wear the same type of shoes-the kind that velcro;) 

I had to post this sweet boy.

I love Brennan's smile in the picture below-you can see his big teeth and the teeth that are missing. He looks so big to me here. I was standing next to him today and had to ask him when he grew all of the sudden, he's getting so tall. 

I like Brooks' smile in this picture, partly for the same reason-you can see all of his teeth:) Well, not all I guess-his are coming in slightly out of usual order so he has 2 on top in the back just coming in. So that makes 8 total. 

I didn't care for any of our family pictures at first, I am laughing in this one-my aunt said something hilarious, but slightly inappropriate (the kids didn't get it), but I'm not posting it on here haha. Anyway, Brooks isn't smiling, the lighting is off, but in the end it's our Easter family picture so it's perfect:)

We did set up the tripod when we visited Reese and Scotlyn today. We took some spring decorations out, too. It was so windy today. You wouldn't know it by the picture, but the flower pinwheels were spinning at a rapid rate almost non-stop, almost so much that it was a little uncomfortable if you touched it:) I love tulips, they're probably my favorite flower and these were like pinwheels so they were spinning, too. I love how colorful it makes everything look.  

 I didn't get a picture, but there is a huge orchard right around the cemetery and behind that fence are the peach trees. They are in full bloom and when we pulled up it was like a sea of pink right around Reese and Scotlyn. It was a really beautiful sight. I will have to stop back by to get a picture. I would like to go back alone anyway, I felt very rushed and that makes me anxious. I already feel like I don't give enough of my time to Reese and Scotlyn and I've said before that I don't feel like I have to be at the cemetery to grieve, but there is something about being there alone with the gift of time that allows me to stop and take a breath and focus on them without distraction. 

Brennan really wanted to play photographer so he snapped a couple of pictures. I had to get one of him in action, he looked so cute♥

Here's his shot:)

After I tried to get some pictures of the boys, tried meaning trying to get Brooks to smile. I snapped about 20 pictures with Casey and I both trying to get him to smile and this was the best I could get. 

After Brennan got up, I sat Brooks right next to their stone and shot a quick video of him. He was so precious. It was like he knew they were right there♥ It melts my heart every time I watch it.

First thing this morning, Brennan was up at 6:50, it most likely would have been earlier, but I told him not to get up before 7. That sounds mean, but he went to bed late-pretty late for him. He gets up at 5:30am on a regular basis and on holidays it's like 3-4am, no joke. He could sleep longer, but as soon as his eyes open, he thinks he needs to get out of bed. If I give him a time, then he will go back to sleep. Plus, like any kid (and myself) he's cranky when he doesn't get enough sleep. And I knew Brooks wouldn't be up as early as him. Brennan was up way before Brooks so I let him open his basket, but I made him wait for Brooks to hunt eggs. 

Brennan was excited about his goodies. He loved his shoes. The boy is obsessed with tennis shoes, he is always asking for a new pair. I got a steal on these plus I had a gift card so it was a no brainer. Everything else I found on clearance at Target or the Dollar Store. Except the Cardinals shirt, but he needs shirts for summer so I most likely would have gotten that anyway. He also got neon markers, mechanical pencils, and a laser, 

Totally forgot I ordered this, haha. We went out to the mailbox this morning and I opened an envelope and found it inside. I was like "Shit, what do I do now?" So when he wasn't looking I slipped it into the bottom of his basket and acted like he missed it. It was his new favorite prize...it's a Blastoise EX Pokemon card in case it doesn't look familiar;)

Brooks finally woke up and opened his goodies, played, ate breakfast..it was killing Brennan, he was ready to go hunt eggs-I mean he had been up almost 2 hours at this point. Haha. Brooks got a push toy, these little suction cup balls his physical therapist brought one day. You throw them at the window and they stick. Both boys love them. Target has them in the party supply isle. He got 2 books, Mickey shades, a wind up hopping bunny, bubbles, and a beach ball to practice kicking-another PT idea. Honestly, it was a little like Christmas, but I really didn't spend a lot and most of it was useful things. Not sure why I'm trying to justify.

OMG, I LOVE THIS KID!

These boys are amazing. The end.

After we played for a little bit, the hunt was on. I'm thinking next year Brennan may not be interested, but who knows. I love that he is still into it. The joy and excitement, magic and wonder of the holidays for my kids never gets old to me. I love every minute.

Luckily, this guy will give me many more years of magical holidays.

The Easter bunny didn't bring any candy-not in baskets, not in eggs, none. It was all prizes and money. No one was disappointed and I surely don't regret it. They got so much candy yesterday and I knew they would be getting more at my mom's so that made the decision easy. Today, Brennan said "Wouldn't it be cool if we could print money" Haha, Casey had a conversation with him about how that's illegal and he better never try it-ha!

We had Easter dinner at my mom's today. Sadly, again I didn't take pictures. Luckily, we did manage to get this picture together:)

Oh my goodness, this was so precious. As my grandma and grandpa were leaving my mom's today, Brooks was blowing kisses to my grandpa. My grandpa really got a kick out of it. It's a little hard to tell, but that's what's happening here and it was super sweet♥

So that was our Easter, probably in more detail than anyone cares to know. When I blog, I like to include the details, you know-the little things in life that are actually the big things:)