More Disney Pictures!

Merry Christmas!

This is a LONG overdue post and I apologize. I will try to be better in the new year! I am going to post some pics of our trip to Disney. We went there in November to celebrate our 10th anniversary and had a wonderful time. The weather was perfect and there were NO crowds. I will never go there again in the summer after this experience. It couldn't have been any better. It got a little chilly in the evenings but not bad. Bradyn loved it. He was so excited by the plane ride alone. He of course doesn't remember going there last year for his birthday. When we boarded the plane each time he would say "here we go" over and over and people cracking up all around him. Too funny!

We stayed on Disney property for the first time which is definitely the way to go. We stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort and had transportation to and from our hotel and to all the parks which was awesome especially when it was late at night when we were leaving the parks. It worked out great. We went to each of the Disney parks. Bradyn loved all the characters except for the ones that did not have their face covered (like Aladdin and the princesses) Everyone else he would run up to and give them a big hug. It is all the kid talked about for weeks and still does occasionally. He says he wants to go back!

We went to Mickey's Christmas party at Magic Kingdom one evening and that was fun. The parade was awesome. The Christmas lights at Hollywood Studios (MGM) are breathtaking and will leave you speechless. They have over 3 million lights up on the streets of America buildings and they are set to dance to music every 10 minutes and they make it snow. I could have sat there the entire time! We will definitely go back again this time of year!

Since then we have been very busy. Trying to get ready for Christmas and with work. Bradyn had his Christmas program at daycare a couple of weeks ago and it was very cute. He sang a song with his class and then 2 songs with the whole daycare. He stood up on stage waving and saying "Hi Momma" That boy cracks me up.

Bob and I celebrated our anniversary on December 18th and our good friends babysat so that we had a an evening out by ourselves which was nice.

I have to work a half day tomorrow and then we are going to an early church service which is for young children so that should be fun. I wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and Happy and Healthy New Year! Remember JESUS is the reason for the season!

All my disney pics won't fit in one post so check back later for more!

Finally Halloween and end of fall pics!

Swine Flu

Yes, the swine flu has hit our home and has been awful. It has knocked poor Bradyn off of his feet since last Wednesday. It has been a rough road but I think that we are on our way to recovery- FINALLY! His temp has been as high as 103.7 which is scary. I was VERY close to taking him to the ER last Thursday because I thought he was dehydrated but then he started to drink again for me. Saturday he woke up with no symptoms and was acting totally normal so Bob and I went to the wedding that we planned to go to. Bob and I have only been out 4 times now by ourselves since we had Bradyn so we were happy we were able to go. We had a good time and Bradyn loved his sitter. It was one of his old daycare teachers that doesn't work there anymore.



However, on Sunday he had a relapse and woke up with a fever again. The literature on swine flu says that if kids have a relapse they are to go to the ER so off we went. What a joke that was! The doctor told us what we already knew- rest, fluids, Tylenol/Motrin and monitor his breathing. FRUSTRATING needless to say.



He had not eaten since SAT lunch until last eve. Today he woke up and ate cereal and lunch so we are on our way to recovery. However, he still has a fever and is a little fussy and now I have a sore throat and fever. UGGGHHH!



He was to get his regular flu vaccine today but that is on hold until his temp is gone which I am praying that by Thursday he is better. He missed his first field trip to the pumpkin patch today and Thursday is his Halloween party so I hope he is better then.



I am posting some pics from our family trip to the pumpkin patch. Enjoy! Hopefully by the next post we are all healthy again!

Oh the joys of a child

I know that I promised to be better at blogging and haven't lived up to that promise- sorry. I will try to be better! All is well with us for the most part. Poor Bradyn is getting sick. He woke with a pretty congested cough today and now has a fever. UGH! I called the pediatrician and I am sure that they are tired of crazy parents calling concerned that their child has the H1N1 ! They really have no recommendations for a 2 year old other than honey for the cough and Tylenol for the fever. I pray that he feels better soon. He is napping now so that is the only reason I am getting this blog done. Usually he is on my lap EVERY time I am at the computer.

Otherwise we have all been doing well. Bradyn has been extra funny lately with the things that he says. That boy has brought so much joy to our lives! He continues to learn new things every day. Sunday school is going well for him. He still has issues of us leaving him there because he hasn't gotten adjusted to a new atmosphere yet and new kids so he's a little clingy on Sunday mornings but his teacher is good at distracting him so that we can sneak out. Bob and I have been enjoying that hour together by having coffee and reading a book at IHOP (I know it makes us sound old!) but it has been very relaxing for us both.

Daycare has been going well for Bradyn. He went on his first field trip a few weeks ago to the fire station and they learned fire safety so he had fun with that. He has been coming home everyday telling on the other children- it is so funny! "Momma- Dufus (his pronunciation of Joseph :) !) threw rocks today and went to the corner" He cracks me up. He has been saying "hey dude" in the car when someone is driving bad (not sure where he got that) and "O my gosh" so funny! Today I got him to sing a bunch of songs for me and got him on the video camera- he was into performing today!

Saturday, Bob and I have a wedding to go to so Bradyn's old daycare teacher is coming to babysit him. He is VERY excited to see her. And WE are excited to go out and have a little fun by ourselves. It will only be the 3rd time we have had a sitter so we will enjoy ourselves. We usually take Bradyn with us every where we go.

I will try to post on Sunday. Have a good rest of the week!

End of summer pictures

These pics are LONG overdue-I know. It has been so busy here lately. The weather has been cold. Bradyn finished his swim lessons last night and now he has a 2 week break before the next session starts. He started going to Sunday school a few weeks ago and has really enjoyed it. He must really be listening because he asked me in church " Momma, where is God?" Too cute for a 2 year old. He is one smart boy.

I hope that you enjoy the pics and I am going to TRY and keep up with my posts better!

God has a plan

This is very difficult for me to write but I think that it may help a bit with my healing process if I can express myself in writing. Bob and I found out that we were expecting baby #2 a few weeks ago and were ecstatic of course to give Bradyn a sibling. Bradyn was very excited too and kept saying that he had a baby in his belly just like Mommy. Too cute. Well I went in for a sono on Thursday and got horrible news that there was no heartbeat. There was definitely a baby there but no heartbeat. Of course the tears just started flowing from Bob and I both. I am thankful that he went with me. The doctor was very sincere and he had a very long discussion with us. I am thankful that I have such a caring and compassionate physician. I was 9 weeks along but the baby only measured to be 7 weeks and 3 days so the baby had passed about a week and a half ago. We are heartbroken. I had a D&C on Friday and I am thankful that I was able to have it done right away instead of waiting through the weekend. It has been a horrible few days for us. Physically I feel fine but emotionally I am a mess.



I know that God has a plan for us and I pray to him that he can help us through this difficult time and help to heal our pain. I would not wish this on anyone. It is a horrible thing to go through. It is difficult to understand why these things happen and only God knows why.



I am trying to keep myself busy and having Bradyn around is a great distraction for me. I thank God everyday for giving us him because he has brought so much joy to our lives. I hope that in time we will be able to move on and that God will give us another healthy child someday.



Please keep us in your prayers. I pray for all the women out there that have gone through this. I thank God everyday for giving me a loving and supportive husband and a beautiful child. If anyone has any advice on how to cope with this please let me know.

Fall has settled in

Sorry that I have been bad about keeping this updated! I have gotten on facebook and so I haven't been blogging as much. I will try to do better. We have a had a great past few weeks. Bob's parents were here a couple of weeks ago and Bradyn had a good time with them. We haven't seen them for awhile so it was great to have company. We went shopping one day and went to the zoo one day. Bradyn LOVES animals and did not want to leave. It was a cool day but no rain so that was great.

This past weekend we went to the last home baseball game for our minor league team in town and they had fireworks after which they always have the best fireworks display. Then Saturday Bob raced his RC car and so Bradyn and I did some errands and then took him dinner at the track. On Sunday we went camoping. It was so much fun! Minus the rain. It decided to pour down rain Sunday evening and we had a hard a time getting a fire going and making dinner. It finally stopped raining and we got to enjoy the camp fire. We went fishing and Bradyn caught 4 fish on Sunday and 3 on Monday. Then he got bored with it. He had a great time and the weather was great on Monday. He slept really well in the tent. It was a great couple of days with the hubby and Bradyn. Plus Bob is an excellent cook on the campfire. He had lots of practice as a Boy Scout!

This week is going well. Busy at work yesterday. Today is my bday and so I am enjoying my day off. Bradyn has swim lessons tonight so we will go out to eat on Friday to one of my favorite places- OUTBACK! YUMMY!!!

On a sad note, there was a little girl in Bradyn's class at school that drowned on Monday. She managed to climb under the solar cover on the family's swimming pool and fell in. She was 2 1/2 and had Down's syndrome. She was a very cute little girl. Please keep her family in your prayers at this difficult time.

I will try to get pics up this week yet and get caught up!

Many Tears Shed

It has been a very rough week for me. Yesterday was my friend Julie's visitation and today was her funeral. My eyes hurt from crying. Last evening when I was driving home from the visitation I saw a huge beautiful rainbow and it really made me think of her. Today the weather was to be cold and dreary and it has turned out to be a beautiful sunny day. Her funeral was beautiful and truly was a reflection of her life. She was a remarkable person. Please continue to keep her family in your prayers.

There is one more angel in Heaven

My dear friend, Julie, passed away this morning. She fought a hard battle. I know that she is dancing in Heaven and can enjoy life again. She is pain free and that alone makes me feel better. She was a remarkable woman and I wish that everyone could have known her. She was a beautiful person on the inside and out. She fought cancer for 6 months and was strong every minute of her fight.

It has been a long rough and emotional day for me. I wish that someone would come up with a cure for cancer so no one has to go through what she did. My heart aches for her 3 children- especially the youngest one who is only 2 and won't remember hi mommy. Life is just not fair sometimes but I know that GOD had bigger and better plans for her!

Summer Pictures

Treasure every Moment!

It has been a rough 2 weeks for me. My friend Julie had a stroke last week and is now completely paralyzed on her left side. She finally came home from the hospital on Saturday so me and a friend went to see her. Neither of us was prepared! We didn't stay long because we couldn't control our tears. They just kept on flowing. She just turned 38 a couple of weeks ago and her youngest son just turned 2. Life is just not fair sometimes. I went back to visit again last night with a couple other friends. She was very groggy last night because they put her on some stronger pain meds because she's having so much rib pain. We had a nice long visit with her and her fiance. It is so heart wrenching to see her like this. Her prognosis is not good and they only gave her 10 days to live.

It has really hit home with me since we are close in age and have a son the same age. She is a strong remarkable woman and really has fought a hard battle. I am thankful for her friendship.

On a happier note- Bradyn is doing well. He is really into singing songs now. Every time we are driving somewhere he wants to sing. He can sing his ABC's (he knows them all), Itsy Bitsy Spider, The wheels on the bus and his newest on is Jesus loves me. It is the cutest thing. He sure is talking up a storm. We went to the pool a couple times this past week. He loves the water. He starts swim lessons again tonight. Our pool closes for the season on Sunday so hopefully we will get there one more time.

Yesterday at school he missed the last step and did a face plant on the floor. He has a huge egg above his eye and it's black and blue. Poor kid. It looks awful.

Bob and I are doing well. Keeping busy with everything. I promise I will try to get those long overdue pics up this week!

Can't believe it's August!

It is a rainy day here for the first of August and chilly. Not you typical August weather. It is hard to believe that summer is almost over and the kids will be back in school soon.

It has been a fun week for us. Daycare was closed this week for the yearly shutdown week. Bob stayed home with Bradyn on Mon and Tues and then I had the rest of the week with him. We had fun and kept bust. It's great to have him feeling well again, finally. Wednesday we cleaned the house (Bradyn LOVES to clean!). Thursday we tried out our new pool in town. It was a lot of fun! They have a great kids section for his age and the weather was perfect. Friday we spent the day at the mall (the boy LOVES to shop- he sure doesn't get that from his daddy!) and then we went to the racetrack to watch Bob practice and we took him dinner.

I have a feeling that Bradyn is going to struggle going back to school on Monday after spending all week with us. He had so much fun at the pool so I think that's what we are going to do tomorrow as long as the weather holds up. We bought some little toys yesterday to take with us this time.

I hope that everyone is doing well. I am going to TRY and get back into my regular posting days. Bob needs to download some more pics for me so maybe I will get them up in the next few days!

The fall like days of summer

The weather here has been cool the past few days. Feels like fall is settling in. Bradyn has had to wear winter pj's the past 2 nites!

We had a great week. Bob got one of his projects partially finished this week. We went to St. Louis after I got off work on Tuesday and spent the nite. Wednesday we took Bradyn to Grant's Farm which is such a fun place for kids (or adults like me as Bob told me!) It has at least one animal from 6 of the 7 continents. The weather was perfect and no crowds. Last year it was dripping hot and packed so the middle of the week was a good idea. Bradyn had a BLAST! He was so into it minus feeding the animals (Mom did that!) He did not nap while we were there but as soon as he was in truck he was out and slept the whole way home. It was a fun family day.

Thursday was back to work and the normal routine. Yesterday, Bradyn and I went to see my friend Julie that is ill. There was a benefit for her that we went to. It was great to spend some time with her. There was a ton of people there so I hope that they raised a TON of money for her and her family. After that we went to the R/C track to see Bob race. Bradyn loved that and was mad when we left.

Today we went to church and did a few errands after and we are hanging out at home. I have to go grocery shopping today which I hate.

Have a great week. Enjoy the pics!

BUSY BUSY

That is what our week has been! Bradyn is finally feeling better and we actually have enjoyed some time outside this week! Work was crazy this past week because my doctor was going on vacation so we had a ton of people squished into our schedule and it will be the same the first week he is back. This week I am going to enjoy a nice slow week!

Bob was busy getting his RC car ready to race for a big race at the track only to have it cancelled because the track was too wet due to all the rain that we had during the week. So instead we did some work outside yesterday and today we went to the airshow with the Thunderbirds! We have seen them before but no matter how many times you see them they continue to take your breath away because they are absolutely amazing to watch. The weather was perfect cloudy but warm. It was a fun day out and Bradyn had fun.

Bob is off work this week because of work being shut down for the week so he has lots of house projects planned. We are hoping to take a trip to St. Louis this week too depending on the weather. I will try to get some pics posted tomorrow.

Have a great week!

Happy 4th of July

Take a minute today and reflect on the true meaning of July 4th. Say a prayer to thank all of our military personnel that have given their lives to protect our freedom. Sometimes Americans take for granted all of the freedoms that this country allows and if it wasn't for our military protecting us day in and day out we would be without those freedoms. God Bless America!



I hope that everyone is having a safe and happy holiday weekend. We have been couped up at home today. The weather has been miserable - raining all day and cold. We were to go to a cookout and fireworks tonight but Bradyn has been sick since Thursday- AGAIN! I think that we have spent more time in the house this summer than out because of a sick child. He got sent home from daycare on Friday because of a fever. Bob took him to the doctor that day and he checked out fine- the Doctor thinks he has another virus (how many childhood viruses are there??I think that my child has had just about all of them:) ) He has had diarrhea and a fever off and on since then.



We did get to go to a cookout last night because at that moment he was fever free. We had a good time and got to see some fireworks. Bradyn had a good time too.



Today I have spent doing a good cleaning of the downstairs. Nothing like a fresh cleaned house- but I HATE to clean. It was a good day for it with the weather we have had.



Hopefully Bradyn will be feeling better soon. Have a great rest of the weekend and I will try to post some pics this week!

Chatterbox

Wow, Bradyn's vocabulary over the past few weeks has been unbelievable. He is really putting words together to make sentences. It is so fun to hear him talk. He is constantly saying something! There are a few times that it is hard to make out what he is saying but they are few and far between.


Tuesday he told me at breakfast that 'Peyton is my best friend!" I was like wow buddy where did you hear those words from- amazing for a 2 year old. He had water day at school and when he came home he said 'Joseph dumped water on me!" Too funny. They started water day Tuesday and it's going to be twice a week for the summer and occasionally they will take the kids to the pool in town. For water day they have several of those plastic pools set up in the playground and let the kids splash around. He loved it. good activity this week for sure since it has been almost 100 degrees every day!!

He has started using the potty again at school a few times a day. When Bob and I are off in July that is going to be the week that we try the full potty training deal. Hopefully it will work. He is around some older kids in his class that are potty trained and so I think that will help.

We went to swim class Wednesday. Got some errands done around the house today and we went outside to play with the elmo sprinkler. Well it took me more time to get him ready than it was worth it. He would run around the are the sprinkler was spraying because he didn't want to get wet. He would only run through the water if I held his hand. So we lasted about 15 minutes and came in!

Thursday I got a call from daycare because Bradyn just wasn't acting like himself - he laid down on the ground and didn't want to do anything. He had a fever and runny nose and watery eyes and refused to eat or drink so I knew something was brewing. We ended up going to the doctor and he thinks it's all allergy related with a possible virus on top of it all. He started him on a nasal spray (oh what fun that is to do to a 2 year old!!) and singulair in addition to his allegra. Poor kid is just miserable with all this congestion. He is a little better today. Daycare got concerned because of everything that happened 2 weeks ago.


On a sad note I got some bad news about my friend Julie. Over the weekend she was having some numbness on the left side of her body so she went to the ER and they did a CT of her brain and she has at least 20 lesions on her brain now. She is having a extreme difficult time dealing with this news and so are all of we. When she was first diagnosed in Feb she had a CT then and her brain was fine so just in 4 short months this has happened. She has been getting chemo but it obviously is helping. Please keep her and her family in your prayers at this difficult time. She needs it!!

Have a great weekend and I am going to post the rest of our pics from our trip to NYC- they are actually from when we got to stop and visit our family in PA!!

Happy Father's Day

To all the Father's out there I hope that you had a great day! To my husband and best daddy in the world it was fun to spend the day together as a family. We went to church this morning and then went to the state wildlife park to eat brunch and visit the animals. It decided to rain this morning but by the time we were done eating it got nice and we were able to walk around the park. It got very hot and humid! Bradyn had fun looking at the animals and spending the day with daddy.

It has been a busy but healthy week. Finally!! Bradyn started his new class on Monday and did well. The 4 kids that were in his class all moved up with him so that made it easier. He clung to me like a monkey on Monday but didn't cry and then did great after that. Wednesday he and I did some errands and then he had swim class that night. The kid cracks me up sometimes- usually on a daily basis - Wednesday I was changing his diaper and he was kicking me so I said "Bradyn Long be nice" and he said "Mommy Long be nice!" He has gotten his last name down!!

Saturday night we decided to go the local baseball game - they are a minor team for the cubs- Bradyn did great the entire game! I was quite surprised. He loved watching the people and then they had fireworks afterwards. He sat and watched those like he was in a trance. It was a beautiful night for a game but very humid. It was fun.

We have a busy week ahead of us. Have a great week!

Getting Better

Bradyn is getting better slowly- he has a horrible congested cough that runs with the course of mycoplasma. We went to the pediatrician on Monday for his followup and that's what he told us. His appetite has increased and he 's drinking fluids again for me. I ended up getting sick a few days after him even with being on antibiotics. I still have a sore throat but it is getting better.


It has been a long 1 1/2 weeks. I am ready for everyone to be feeling better so we can go out and enjoy the warm weather. We did get out to enjoy our little festival in town this past weekend. It's called the Turkey Festival because of all the turkey farms in town (I just learned that). They have carnival rides, craft shows, entertainment and lots of other little events. The best part of it all is the turkey sandwiches and strawberry shortcakes! Bradyn had a great time and the weather was great.


Bradyn moved up to the next class on Monday. He clung to me like a monkey but didn't cry. He was not interested in moving to a new class even though the 3 other kids that were in his previous room moved with him! He ended up having a great time. They are teaching them how to say their last names currently which Bradyn has caught on to but sometimes he will say his first name and then his best little buddies last name -too funny!


I am going to post the last of our NYC pics and then hopefully I can get caught up. Have a great week!

Scare of a Lifetime

This week has been awful . Started out with Bradyn getting a fever Sunday night of 102. Monday he got up and was perfectly normal except for the fever. So I stayed home from work in the morning and called the doctor. They told me that Roseola and Fifth's disease were going around. So Bradyn ate great all day and drank (I thought enough) a lot. Bob came home and stayed home with him in the afternoon so I could work 1/2 a day. Same thing for him except his fever got to 102.5! Still acting normal. We went to bed and then Tuesday morning was a nightmare!

At 5:30am Bradyn called Mommy and I went to his room after grabbing the thermometer and he said downstairs and walked over to his bed and collapsed face down on his bed. I yelled his name and he didn't respond so I picked him up and tried to arouse him and he would open his eyes slightly and they were rolled back in his head and his limbs were limp. So I carried him to our room and told Bob to call 911. This brings tears to my eyes as I am typing. That boy is my baby and as I always tell him he will ALWAYS BE MOMMY's BABY! I of course was hysterical and Bob gave me the phone to talk to 911 (I would NEVER want to be a 911 dispatcher dealing with hysterical people like me) as he tried to keep Bradyn awake. The police FINALLY showed up (it really wasn't that long but of course at that moment it felt like eternity!) He really didn't do anything but stayed with us until the ambulance arrived. We have a great group of people that volunteer for that job in our small community. Bradyn and I went by ambulance and Bob followed behind. (We got to ride in a week old Ambulance- really not the way that I wanted to see the inside of it) We finally got to the hospital and Bradyn was given such great care in the ER.

When we arrived they got a blood sugar on him and it was only 34(Boy did we get IMMEDIATE attention then) A Doctor comes flying in with 3 nurse and they gave him 3 huge syringes full of dextrose and it really didn't do anything for him. So then they hooked him up to IV fluids and finally after some fluids he began to communicate with us. His temp was only 101. We spent about 4 1/2 hours in the ER and then they wanted to keep him overnight to recheck his blood sugar and run some labs on him. We finally got to our room and he slept A LOT yesterday afternoon. He ate dinner but vomited everything back up. We found out that he tested positive for MYCOPLASMA. Which explains everything. It is very contagious so we were put in isolation and then I called our Doctor to get Bob and I started on antibiotics also. What a long day!

Bradyn was a real trooper through the whole thing. They stuck his poor little finger 3 time for blood sugars and started an IV in the ER and he never even cried. He was pretty much out of it at that time. Finally yesterday afternoon he started to perk up a little and cried when the resident came in to check his throat. He had already been through the painful stuff- finger sticks, IV's and rectal temps! I just think that he had had enough! He slept through the night and I actually had to wake him this am at 7:30! I can't remember the last time that has happened! He ate great this am and was totally back to normal so we got to come home. He has 4 more days of antibiotics to go.

Being a nurse I think made the whole situation worse for me because of knowing too much. It was the scariest thing. I am grateful for everyone that kept Bradyn in their prayers. I thank GOD for taking care of him and healing him and blessing us with this amazing and wonderful boy!. GOD is amazing!

On a funny note and about the only thing that was funny through this whole situation is that while we were in the ER, after Bradyn became more alert and realized he had an IV he looked at me and said-"Mommy I want my thumb!" The bad mother that I am I was not thinking when the nurse put the IV in but she used his right arm which is the thumb that he sucks and he couldn't get to it!!

I will post an update later this week when things are back to normal!

Rough start to the week

Well, the 24 hour bug hit our house this week. I was the lucky one of the group. It started last Sunday- Bradyn had a fever and was vomiting. By Monday morning he was fine and went to daycare. However, Bob who NEVER misses work got it Monday morning and missed work. By Monday evening he was feeling better. Not sure how it missed me!



Other than that not much else happening this week. Bradyn did start his next session of swim classes on Wednesday and did really well. We have had very rainy weather and strong storms this week. It was nice yesterday and rainy again today. Have a great week and I will post more pics from our trip to NYC!

Wonderful Vacation

What a wonderful time we had in NYC! I absolutely love that place! There is never enough time to see everything! We started our trip off on May 19th we left Illinois and headed to White Plains NY which is where we stayed. We spent the night in Columbus OH and then headed to rest of the way on the 20th. The trip started out a little rough- I picked Bradyn up from daycare and for the first 2 hours of the trip he was extremely fussy. I thought boy this is going to be a long trip! However, after that he was fine. Not sure what that was all about.



We arrived safely in NY that evening and went to dinner. On Thursday, we went and did some sightseeing. Bob had never been to NYC. We took the train into the city and went to the Empire State Building. What a beautiful day it was to go there. There was not a cloud in the sky and the view was awesome. We bought a bus tour package on one of those double decker buses so we rode that around the city and got to see where a lot of stars live- including Jeff Gordon!! We spent some time in central park just walking around and enjoying the nice weather. Bob's parents arrived this day also so we met up with them when we got back to our hotel.

Bradyn was happy to see Bama and Papa!



On Friday, we didn't have much time to do anything because wedding rehearsal started at 2. So we decided to go to the mall and walk around. Then Bob went to the rehearsal and we ate lunch and did a little more shopping. Then Bob's parents took me to the rehearsal and they babysat Bradyn for us. Bob and I went to the rehearsal dinner at the Boathouse Restaurant in central park. What a beautiful evening it was overlooking the water. It was a neat place. We rode with another couple that was in the wedding party. We had a nice evening and it was only the 4th time that we have been out by ourselves. However, the trip back was not fun. The Indian priests and their wives lost their car in the middle of NYC. Yep that's right. We all packed into a minivan and drove around central park for a hour looking for their car at 10:30 at night. NOT FUN! We did eventually find it and headed back to the botanical gardens to pick up our car.



Saturday was the wedding ceremonies.They were at the Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. It was a once in a lifetime experience. The morning ceremony was an Indian ceremony. Very neat to see. Then we had Indian food for lunch (the first for me0 it was very yummy!) then we went back to our hotel room to relax, shower and change clothes and Bradyn took a nap. Bob stayed with the wedding party to get pics taken. Then we went back to the gardens for the evening ceremony which was to be outside but they were calling for a chance of rain so they moved it indoors. Both ceremonies were beautiful and the reception was fun. The food at the evening reception was unbelievable. Bradyn was a real trooper all day. Several people commented on how he was an ANGEL! He was awake until about 11:30pm and then crashed. We got back to our room around 1am.



Sunday we would have liked to get and early start but we were exhausted from the night before so we slept in. We took the train into the city again and went to Ground Zero, Times Square and several other places. Ground zero is something to see. The pics on TV don't really show how big of an area was affected. It was really heart wrenching to see. There was a really nice museum there and a church that you could walk through that housed all the volunteers. Almost 8 years later it still brings tears to my eyes to think of everything that happened that day.



On Monday, we took the train into the city and got brave and rode the subway all day long. That is the way to go! We went to the Statue of Liberty and back to Ground zero because we had missed a few things there the day before. We went to central park to relax a little and Bradyn burned some energy off there. We went back to times square and ate dinner at Planet Hollywood. We really put some miles on this day!



Tuesday, we headed home. We spent the night in PA and got to visit with my parents, grandma, sister and Bob's sister and family. It was a short visit but we are glad we got to see everyone. We headed home on Wednesday. Bradyn did great on the he trip home. He was so tired he slept almost half the trip! He said he was going home to see"B, Belle (our cats) and my toys!" The kid went through toy withdrawal!



I took Thursday off to get caught up on laundry and get Bradyn back into his routine and Bob went to work. Back to work for me on Friday- UGH! We have just been taking it easy this weekend.



I have lots of pics to post - will probably do several posts to get them all up! Have a great week!

Time Flies

Wow, this past week went fast! Sometimes there just isn't enough time in a day!! Sunday, Bob put Bradyn's new toddler bed together and Bradyn was very excited to sleep in his new "big boy bed." He did great Sunday and Monday and it has gone down hill since!! He has been waking up in the middle of the night screaming "my mommy, my mommy" over and over again at the top of his lungs! When I go in his room his is standing at the doorway and refuses to get back in his bed. So when it 2 am I will do just about anything to get my sleep! We have been sleeping on the floor! I will sometimes sneak back to my bed after he falls asleep but it is getting old very quickly! Bob went in one night and Bradyn wanted only mommy. One night I let him cry for 45 minutes and it didn't stop until I went in his room. So if any of you mom's have ANY suggestions for getting over this please let me know.

Wednesday was his last swim class for this session. He has really been doing well. We signed him up for the next session which starts in June. Bradyn and I had a lot of errands to do on Wednesday- we were in the car more than we were at home. Of course it had to be the day that it was POURING down rain all day! Not fun. We did our grocery shopping today.

We are leaving for vacation on Tuesday- YEAH! We are headed to NY for a wedding and sightseeing. I am so excited. We are driving so that will be a challenge for Bradyn . It's a 15 hour drive that we will split in to 2 days. Bob is in the wedding- his college roommate is getting married. Should be fun. I will post when we get back.

Enjoy the pics!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! I hope everyone has a wonderful day! I am having a great Mother's day. We went to church this morning and then did some errands. Bob is going to cook me dinner tonight!

Yesterday we went to Chicago for the day and took Bradyn to see "When Elmo grows up" What a great show it was and Bradyn LOVED it. The music was great. The look on his face when Elmo came out was priceless! We went out to dinner afterwards at one of my favorite places- OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE-YUMMY! We came home then. It was a really fun day.

This past week has been very busy. Bob and I have a busy days at work. Bradyn has done well at daycare this week- thank goodness. However, he does have a little bit of a runny nose so I'm not sure what's going on. He may be getting some teeth. I sure hope he doesn't get infected ears again.

Bradyn had swim lessons on Wednesday. He did really well. He is actually starting to kick his feet in the water. This week is his last lesson but I think we are going to sign him up again for the next session because he has done so well. There is a 2 week break in between classes before the next session starts. He made me a really cute picture with a verse and his hand prints on it and gave me a potted flower that he had done at daycare. VERY CUTE and of course brought tears to my eyes.

Again Happy Mother's Day. Have a great week and I sure hope that our penguins win!!!

Another episode

What a busy week it has been! I can't believe that it is May already! Time sure does fly when you have children! Bradyn had a good week until Friday. I got a call from his daycare DIRECTOR at about 10:30 Friday morning at work saying that Bradyn had BITTEN another child AGAIN! Oh my what distress my 2 year is causing me (What am I going to do when he turns 16 :) She at then time thought he had broken the skin so she told me she needed to call the other parent. It had been 4 weeks to the day that he has bitten! It's always on a Friday that he does it. It was his best little buddy again. They were fighting over a toy and my child pinned the other on the floor and bit his belly. She out Bradyn in time out and had a heart to heart talk with him and the child that had been bitten kept saying- "it's ok Bradyn it's ok!" NO it's NOT OK!!!! Turns out he didn't break the skin just scraped it with his teeth but still bad. Thank goodness the other mom was ok with it and is very understanding that kids go through this. The director told me that these 2 are inseparable so not sure why Bradyn is biting his best friend! I pray that he outgrows it soon. I told her that his teacher needs to separate them when they are arguing so that Bradyn doesn't do it again- she needs to keep a much closer eye on him.

Other than that Bradyn is doing well. He and I went shopping a little today and he loves to shop with Mommy. We have to go grocery shopping later which I hate! It is a beautiful day here so we need to play outside a little.

Have a great week and I will post pics later !

Hot weather

It has been HOT here- in the mid 80's! I am not ready for that yet. It has crazy. Too hot to spend much time outdoors at one time. We have had a busy few days. Bradyn LOVES the nice weather and would spend all day outside if he could. Wednesday, he had swim lessons and did really well. He is really catching on to things and enjoying it.

Thursday was busy at work and Friday we took Bradyn out for ice cream after dinner- which he loved. The weather was perfect. Saturday I got to plant some flower seeds and clean my flower bed out. It looks great and of course I had some help! Bradyn loved helping! He has his own little tools and gloves and he put them to use. Bob had a birthday party to go to that evening and Bradyn and I went and got dinner and hung out at home.

Today we went to church, Sams and then to McDonald's for lunch and Bradyn actually ate pretty well. He's doing better with eating when we go out to eat. We are getting ready for our week to start tomorrow. Am sure I will be busy at work this week. We are to get some strong storms tonight again and rain the next couple of days. I love when it's hot outside and rains BUT not when there is a chance of tornadoes! Hopefully we won't have any of that but it is the season. Have a great week!

The terrible two's!

Oh my do I have a stubborn boy! My morning started out with Bradyn crying very hard for 45 minutes straight! He cried from the time that he got up until we left for daycare! Nothing made that boy happy. He was crying so hard that his nose was running and he was drooling because he couldn't catch his breath! It started out with the fact that he didn't want to take his pj's off, then he didn't want to eat or drink milk. then he didn't want mommy eating, he didn't want to go to daycare, didn't want to brush his teeth, then we get in the truck and we forgot to say bye to the cats so I had to bring Belle out and have her wave bye to him, then finally we are off to school BUT on the way there he forgot to make mommy coffee in his new kitchen and the crying starts all over again! I was exhausted BEFORE I even made it to work! Oh the drama of a 2 year old. And as I said before he is stubborn just like his daddy!!! Needless to say I was VERY happy to be going to work today!

Otherwise we have had a very busy week and a good week. Wednesday was swim lessons and Bradyn really did well. He is making progress. Thursday was a long day for him at daycare because I had an early meeting at work. We were busy each evening after dinner going to my friend's house to cat sit. Bradyn LOVED going to feed her kitties everyday. He still is asking about going to "Watch kitties" but my friend is home from her vacation.

We had a busy weekend. Saturday the weather was beautiful but we were busy doing chores. Sunday the weather was cold and rainy so we stayed home and hung out. The weather has been miserable this week so far but it is to be great by the end of the week.

Have a great week and I will try to get back to my regular posts!

Birthday Pictures...

Happy 2nd Birthday Bradyn!

It's official that Bradyn is no longer a baby he's now a toddler! He turned 2 on Thursday! It is so hard to believe! Wow how time flies- seems like yesterday that I had him! I still recall that very special day that he was born and will cherish it forever. He has brought us so much joy and love! He of course will ALWAYS be my baby. I ask him whose baby are you and he says "Mommy's baby!"

I got him the cutest cake to take to daycare on Thursday- it was an elmo cupcake cake with cool icing on it. He wore his elmo shirt and looked so cute! He was so excited to go to school. He really had a good day there and I got to pick him up a little early because I left work early. He was walking in from playing outside with 8 little girls! It was so cute he was holding their hands! He was the only boy! He was so excited to see me.

When we got home Bob's parents had just arrived. Bradyn was excited to see them too but was a little shy at first. It sure did not take long for him to warm up though. We celebrated a little that evening with the leftover cupcakes and he opened some of his gifts. Thanks to our family for all the wonderful presents. It was so cute every time he would open something he would say "Oh my!" Too funny!

Friday we spent the day shopping which was a lot of fun except that it was cold and rainy half the day. We took Bradyn for an Easter egg hunt on Saturday- it took a little while for him to catch on and then he was totally into it! He kept saying "more eggs". He got to see the Easter bunny there and surprisingly was not scared. We came home then and I finished his elmo cake. It turned out great! I could be a professional cake decorator (ha ha). We then went shopping at the toy store. We got Bradyn a kitchen and a toddler bed. I am anxious to see how he does in that. We colored Easter eggs when we got home and Bradyn had so much fun with that! He would dip his WHOLE hand in the cup to get the egg out!

Sunday we went to church and then made dinner at home. We had an egg hunt for him . It was very cold but he had fun. We then had his official birthday party. It was fun.

Unfortunately, Bradyn and I both ended up with colds from being outside on Sunday. We are both miserable. On Monday, Bob's parents went home and we were back to work. Bradyn did not want to got to daycare this week. Both days he said to me "No work Mommy" Talk about breaking my heart! I think it was a combo of not feeling well and having me home with him 3 days in a row. Today, he has his 2 year checkup so I am anxious to see how that goes and then swim lessons tonight. I will post a few pics now and then put up a slide show later so check back!