Busy, Busy...

We have some fun, busy couple of weeks coming up! I have a feeling I am going to blink and it will be spring and summer (which is just fine with me!). Tomorrow we are going to host our family dinner with our group. Sunday we are off to Boyne Mountain for the week (thanks to Mark and Lisa for letting us use their timeshare!). Then the following Sunday we are off to Great Wolf Lodge to hang with Charissa and family (Chris, Kyra and Leah). Next thing you know it's Valentines Day and I'm sure that my husband will take me out or something. (Ok, I might have to plan that one, but whatever...) End of February we are going to a couple seminars to learn to enjoy the moments when our toddler decides to test us. That brings us to March where we will have a fun weekend with Debby and family (Bob, Robert, Scott and friend) and Kim and Peg (u guys are in, right?). Next thing you know it's Brody's first birthday!

So I'm really looking forward to it, but a little stressed right now with trying to plan for having 9 guests and also getting ready for a 5 day vacation, short trip home, then quick overnight. And worst of all? How the heck am I going to get by without internet?? Someone needs to let Aaron know that a laptop would be an ideal gift for valentines day :)

Likes and Dislikes...

Brody currently...

Likes:
Eating solids. Bananas are his favorite.
Nursing.
Sleeping on his tummy.
Being outside, even when it is freezing.
Jacob & Noah playing with him.
Being held.
Mason. It's like he 'knows' Mason is his future partner in crime.
Anything that Jacob has or plays with.
Sippy cups (he likes to chew on them).

Dislikes:
Teething
Medicine
Being playfully tossed in the air. (Such a contrast from Jacob).
Being walked away from when he wants to be held.
Getting hungry in the middle of the night.
Having toys stolen from him.

And Jacob...

Likes:
Everything. It's ridiculous. You can't walk 10 feet into a store before you see 20 things he would go crazy for.
Shoveling snow.
Snowboarding.
Sledding.
Having fires.
Building fires.
Jumping on furniture.
Making forts.
Peanut Butter Cups "Special Treats".
Harassing Roxy.
Stories.
Brushing his teeth.
Playing Wii.
Christmas Lights (Oh yes, there are plenty still up for him to admire around here...)


Dislikes:
Eating. (I think I overheard him once say "I don't have time for this sh*t..." Unless it's a peanut butter cup, of course).
Sharing, although he is getting much better at this.
Wet clothes. (remember the naked milk incident?)
Going to sleep.
Having his hair pulled. (I'm sure Brody will learn this soon and eventually use it against Jacob when he steals his toys...)



Brody, Brody. What can I say about my sweet-natured 10 month old? His hair is starting to come in and it's definitely looking red! Oh, I guess now would be the time to tell you he is turning into a feisty little Irishman. When he gets ticked off, he gets ticked off! What sorts of things tick him off? Well, Jacob taking his toys for one. Oh, and then trying to put him in his carseat, highchair, bed, floor, etc. when he doesn't.want.to.sit! He also needs instant gratification when he is hungry and you better keep it coming! But most of the time he is my little sweetheart. One of my favorite things about Brody is that when I pick him up he often will lay his head against my chest for a moment... it just melts my heart. Brody is now 10 months old! (and a day...)

Little Jacob. Jacob is at a great age right now. He can understand a lot now, which helps so much with separation anxiety. He no longer gets upset when we leave him (unless it's an unfamiliar place like the church nursery). He also rarely throws temper tantrums now, although I hear these return around 3. He responds really well to Time Outs (no more peeing on the floor - yay!)... although they usually go something like this:

Me: Jacob give that toy back to Brody
Jacob: (Ignores me)
Me: That's one.
Jacob: NO
Me: That's two.
Jacob: Grrrrrr
Me: That's...
Jacob: Quickly gives the toy back to Brody

So I guess this is the calm before the storm as everyone likes to warn us that 3 is even worse than 2...

Decisions, decisions...

Today we attended a preschool fair at a local Montessori school. I attended hoping to get answers and I left with even more questions! Things I am struggling with:

When to enroll him? We could start this fall (at age 3) or wait until winter or the following fall when he is 4. Initially I was thinking he has to be in school for the next 18years (if he goes to preschool at 4 and 4yrs of college) , do I really want to add ANOTHER year? But now I am less concerned with that because he can go as infrequently as one morning a week and I don't think that really equates to the same commitment as a full day, 5 days a week program.

Which leads me to my next question, how many days do I sign him up for?

Of course the big one, WHERE do I send him?? Of course, they all SEEM nice and have the best interest of the child. But one, eh, several, are Montessori. One is a co-op. One focuses on the outdoors. One on social interaction. And Benzie County was not represented at all. Does that mean there are no options out here or what? So that is something I have to research...

And the one question I didn't get around to asking anybody was if there is any financial aid available. Only one school mentioned that right away, of course the most expensive school that focuses on the outdoors. Could it be they are the most expensive because they have 22 acres across the street from the Bay with amazing views? Or that they are affiliated with Interlochen? Hmmm...

So I'm off to go through my two large bags full of information on all the schools hoping that something will pop out at me.

What else is new around here? Thursday the boys and I met up with Danielle, Cameron and Maddy to go to the local Children's Museum which was pretty fun. I'm now contemplating if getting an annual membership would be worth it. Afterwards we headed to the mall where Mom and Mason joined us. At one point both mom and Danielle left and I sat there alone with 5 kids under the age of 3. Boy, did I get some looks! Then it was off to Children's Place to check out the Monster sale. Danielle was in and out in 30 seconds, so she took the big kids to the playcenter. Unfortunately Mom and I took way too long deciding on our purchases and a frazzled Danielle came dashing back into the store with both Jacob and Cameron in total meltdown mode. This time our whole group got a few looks. And I don't think Danielle will go to the mall with me anymore. Other than that, it was fun! Got some good buys, anyway :)

We went to Jason & Janet's for dinner tonight. It was supposed to be all 4 couples, but Dennis & Kyra ran downstate and Adam & Danielle were fighting off a possible strep throat infection (well, either that or she hasn't recovered from the mall incident yet!). It was a lot of fun though and I made a greek salad that went over well - email me if you want the recipe! Jacob and Jack play so good together. It was really sweet, Jacob got his fingers pinched in a little laptop and started crying pretty hard and Jack brought him a tissue... SO CUTE!

Oh, and I'm now the proud owner of a new front loading washer :) I love it - it cleans really well and I'm loving all the new counterspace I have in my laundry room now! I used Craigslist for the first time ever and was able to sell the old one quickly and easily, we will definitely be using craigslist again in the future!

Yikes, is it just me or is this post kinda boring! I'll try better next time...

Here are two more pictures from our visits to Crystal last weekend. Fun stuff!

Crystal Mountain

It's bitter cold!

Yikes, it's January and freezing! Which also makes for very slick roads since the salt doesn't work too well melting when it's this cold! And I swear every other car I pass around here has a snow plow on the front, so you better stay in your own lane.

Jake's night time diaper issue is going pretty good. We've had an accident (although he slept through it) but what do you expect, he's 2! And we still force a diaper on him when he has had too much to drink in the evening, but overall, I couldn't be happier - the kid definitely has my bladder. I figured we would be using pull ups at night time until school (as this was normal for many kids I babysat growing up), but Jacob has shown he doesn't want them and his skin is a little sensitive for them too, so I guess that is how it is. How am I going to save money on pull ups if I don't need to buy them?! Oh wait... I guess that will work too :)

Brody has now outgrown both of Jacob's baby snowsuits. Jacob had to be evicted from his current set up and moved into the next bigger size so that Brody had something to wear outside. It's a little big for Brody though and I would much prefer to have a one piece set up for him, so I'm on the lookout for a clearance snowsuit for Brody. I'm soon going to find myself in the place I fear... where Jacob's wardrobe has decreased by 50% and there are no more "hand-me-downs", just shared clothes.

We got out to Crystal Mountain twice this weekend and took Jacob snowboarding. I have some video I'll upload later. He did great and had some competition out there! Maybe a future girlfriend or two? I didn't think to get footage of them until it was too late, oh well. They were super cute though.

We also got out to Church this morning. Jacob has finally reached the point where we can leave him (to go to dinner, etc) and when we explain where we are going and when we will return, he no longer cries so I figured we could try the Church nursery school again. I was a little overambitious. He cried. It was sad. Luckily, Grandma went in and hung out with him until he was comfortable. Poor kid. Brody, on the other hand, loved it. Although he is at the beginning stages of his attachment anxiety, he was super excited to play and hang out.

New Blog

I've started another blog to share info on good deals and cool things I find online and elsewhere, so they don't take up room on this blog. Check it out here!

A weekend of viruses...

Last weekend wasn't the best, it started out on Friday with Brody throwing up about 4 times in an hour. Aaron passed it off as a "bad cheerio" (ya, don't even get me started...) since he acted totally normal the rest of the day. Then Sunday, I guess Aaron and I ate some bad Cheerios because we were both miserable as well. Aaron had to work and I don't know how he survived the day. Thankfully, grandma was able to come to my rescue to stay with the boys. And the worst part about it? No computer! Our computer had a virus as well (darn facebook... actually I have no idea where it came from...) and was with the computer guy till Monday. Things are on the upswing now though. Aaron and I have recovered and our computer is looking good. Our computer guy had to remove and reinstall everything and managed to save our photos and music. In addition he installed a never-expiring virus protection, gave us a new mouse, and replaced our dvd drive. And although it felt like forever to me, I think 48hrs is pretty good turn around time in general. So if anyone in the TC area needs a recommendation for computer help, let me know!

So what else... oh, I've got a little Jacob story. Last night Jacob was jumping around and I asked him to stand on one leg, to see if he had enough balance to do so. So he grabs a hold of the couch and stands on one leg. I then ask him to stand on the other leg and he does, still holding onto the couch. So I ask him if he can stand on one leg without holding onto the couch and he proudly says "Mm-hmm" lets go of the couch, grabs hold of the coffee table and stands with one leg. Guess I should have been a little more specific...

In potty training news, we have taken the plunge and ditched the night time diaper. Jacob has gone 10+ days with dry diapers in the morning, so we thought we would try it out. That, and we've discovered he often takes them off on his own in the night, anyway. Night 1, success... keep your fingers crossed. Way to go, Jake!

Video of Brody *almost* crawling...

A few pictures...

After the milk incident, we've put Jacob to work. He needs to start pulling his own weight around here... Here he is doing the dishes:

Rub-a-dub-dub, two boys in the tub:

Jacob is up to 27lbs now *gasp*, so he tried some wii fit yoga to work on his figure. Here is "Warrior":

Not sure which yoga pose this is...:

Aaron has today off and then is working Saturday and Sunday. Saturday evening we will resume with our dinners with Harvitts, Rogers & Leachs' - should be fun! And good for the kids to get some socialization since kindergym is on winter hiatus.

Our computer is acting a little funny, so it's going to the doctor today. Hopefully we will have it back Saturday or Sunday.

Brody is 9 months old!

Yikes, 3 months until he is one! I've got a lot of work to do (updating his baby book, backing up his photos). He is still doing pretty good. I still continue to hear "Is he always that happy?" and "Where does he get that red hair from?" all the time. He is still "army man" crawling, but trying out the hands and knees frequently. I think it will be anytime. He says Mama, Dada and Hi and most of the time he uses them in the right context (coincidentally, I'm sure). He is still a big boy, but according to the percentiles, others are catching up to him now. He's been wearing 12 month clothing and size 3 diapers for awhile now, although his jammies are much bigger (those run so small). He weighs 22lbs - 68th% (same as a couple weeks ago, but the doctor was not concerned), length was 29.25" - 75th and had a head circumference of 19" - 100th% - He's going to miss out on so many cute baby hats I have for him! He has no consistent sleep pattern at all. Last night he went from 11 - 5:30, the night before it was every 45 minutes. Blech! He currently has 5 teeth and a slight cold. Oh, and I think I'm getting a little ahead of myself. This morning I thought I would try giving him Cheerios in milk. Milk. Like cow's milk from the fridge. Like he is a year old or something. I gave him his first bite and he made a funny face and my first thought was "he's just never had wet cheerios before" then I instantly realized, "oh no! He's not supposed to have milk yet!" Unfortunately though, once I switched it around he really quite preferred the cow's milk and was very mad at me. Poor thing.

Videos...