Family Updates: Brody

A blurry Brody with our Airplane behind him. Brody and Mommy had a special trip to visit the Brady family over Memorial Weekend and flew from Manistee to Milwaukee:


Loved flying out of Manistee, free parking, $30 fares and just one gate!

Some sleepy Brady boys at the zoo!

Three hot and tired boys!

Bob watching over Brody and Robert at the Brookfield Zoo:
Brody & Robert:

Brody checking out a giraffe:

And some camels...

Brody came to school with Jacob, here he is painting!

Sweet Brody. The great thing about Austin becoming a real pistol right now is that Brody is actually growing out of that phase. Don't get me wrong, he still has his moments but at least now it's only a couple times a week instead of a couple times an hour. And, they are way less severe than they used to be. He's been loving "church school" lately on Wednesdays and Sundays and it has me excited for when his preschool starts in the fall because I know he is going to love that too! He's cracking me up with the things he says lately, here is a recent gem that occurred after Jacob walked through a line of Lightning McQueen cars he had all lined up:

"Jacob, you have to be careful! These are my buddies and they are very special to me!"

His pediatric urologist appointment went well. The practice seemed very familiar with this type of issue and suggested we fix it right then in the office. The used a numbing cream that was left on for 45 minutes and then they reapplied and we waited another 15 minutes. Finally, we went back to the room (we were in the waiting room watching CARS in the meantime) and Aaron held Brody down while I distracted him with a new car and some Pez. It was over within 30 seconds and we were on our way home. The only discomfort for Brody was when they removed the tape that held on the plastic wrap to keep the numbing cream from wiping off, the first time he urinated and then when he gagged on the sticky hand toy they gave him as we left that he thought was edible. Overall, I was thrilled with how the appointment went. Unfortunately I have been not as thrilled with the results. At first it seemed to be much improved, but two days later it has become only slightly improved. :( He is peeing in a toilet now, but we have to be very careful.

I brought Brody in with me to Jacob's preschool for my final day of assisting in the classroom for the year so he could experience preschool before next fall. He really enjoyed it and dove right in head first. He tried his best to sing all the songs, a verse behind all the other kids. He did lose patience a few times, but overall he participated really well. He had a little trouble understanding "clean up time". A concept that is very foreign to him, despite my constant efforts at home.

Over Memorial Weekend Brody and I took a trip to visit Debby, who lives north of Chicago. Robert is about 6 months younger than Brody and they were so adorable together! Brody and I were also able to meet Baby Liam for the first time and I swear he is the most easy going baby I've ever met! It's hard to believe that he suffered with acid reflux just a few weeks/months previous to that, I'm so glad he is feeling better now. Saturday night we took the kiddos to a family friendly show to watch Bob's band play (the Aunt Janet Band), which is always a good time. Brody and Robert were a little freaked out at first, but Liam LOVED it! He smiled ear to ear and clapped his hands, it was hilarious! We also checked out the Zoo on Monday, which was a ton of fun on a beautiful day! Robert and Brody got along great for our trip, although there was definitely a decline in behavior from the Saturday till Tuesday! I'm glad our trip wasn't any longer, or else there may have been some punches thrown come Wednesday! ;) Brody did great on the airplane ride too, although he got a little impatient at times. Just glad it was a short flight with no delays! Thanks to the Brady Family for the GREAT hospitality and the AMAZING cupcakes!!!!

Race Weekend Pics

Our little race fans:

A little blurry, but Lexi and I ready for take off:

Aaron & Sherry:

Beautiful view of the bay on take off:

Gaining altitude, view of both bays:

Lake Mitchell & Lake Cadillac:

Ticking off the officials with a final photo op before the race:

Pace lap:

The crew looking very tired... maybe that is why they missed a lugnut and Martin lost 20 spots?

We had a great week and weekend with Sherry & Martin! I don't think I have one photo of their visit in the North, but I took a lot of race related photos! Our week flew by with lot's of shopping and delicious meals. Aaron and Martin had some phenominal days out fishing. On Saturday, Sherry was gracious enough to offer us a ride down to Jackson in their plane, who were we to say no? Despite being a little nervous, it was a great flight and the plane flew low enough for us to have a view the whole flight. I would say my favorite part of flying private is that your rental car greets you at the plane. No lines, no waiving of 17 different types of insurance, no searching for your car. Just a car, literally steps away, with your keys in it while someone else loads your luggage. Ok, ok, so the fact that the plane took a 4hr trip and condensed it to 30mins was pretty cool, too.

We drove Sherry to the track and had dinner with them and then headed on our way to our hotel in Lansing. The next morning we got up early and made our way to the track and did a little people watching and checked things out. We hung out on the bus a bit then made our way to the track for the National Anthem - which was crazy - we couldn't hear the music at all once the fireworks started! Then it was on to the pits for the race. This was my second Nascar race and it was crazy how much larger the pit box was than at Martinsville. Midway through the race we headed back for lunch and then caught some bad news on the tv that Martin lost a ton of spots after a lugnut was missed on his car and he had to pit again. We stayed for a few more laps and then hit the road with about 50 laps to go to avoid traffic.

We made it home to relieve some grandparents who were very eager for us to arrive and made our way home.

I have many updates to come on the rest of the family and should be able to get them posted this week since things (I hope) have finally slowed down!

My foot: 8-ish weeks later

Overall it's doing great! I really hurt it on Sunday chasing after Brody when it got caught in my opposite pant leg, but feeling back to normal now.

Family Updates! Austin First!

We'll start with this guy, Trouble... I mean, Austin.

Don't let his tiny little baby appearance and innocent smile fool you... this little guy can be an angry beast! For the longest time we thought he had a personality more like Jacob, but lately its been apparent his personality more closely resembles Brody. He gets very angry for things like... being set down, placed in his car seat, having toys taken from him and when he is mad you would never know he weighs just about 20lbs. He is STRONG!! Aaron says his favorite game to play is "Light as a feather, stiff as a board"... that sums up our struggles getting him into his carseat perfectly. He also likes to hit and throw things when he is mad. THANKFULLY he isn't a biter (at least not yet.... let's hope it doesn't develop!). But also like Brody, when he is happy he is just the sweetest, most loving baby of all and also very, very sensitive. Despite his attitude, it's a really fun age for him as he is really starting to act like a boy. Poor little guy is currently cutting his bottom two molars (teeth 11 and 12) and boy, do they look painful! You would never know unless you checked out his mouth though, he's been such a trooper.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

More damaging winds...

You may recall last October we experienced pretty strong winds that took down a tree on the house next door. Yesterday we had another one of those days. My parents watched our kids and my nephews while we went out to dinner with Mark and Lisa for my birthday. While they were home this huge part of a tree came down on the parents porch. It's hard to get a great picture of it because it's so heavily wooded.

You can see where it broke off of here:

Then we drove home to find that another tree had forked and fallen on the house next door again. You can see in this picture how close the tree that forked was to the tree from last fall (which is now the stump).

It damaged the roof and the antenna and there is damage inside to the room my treadmill is in :(

When the forester came out last fall for the other tree, he warned us about this current tree and one other one. He said not only did they have a fork in the tree that makes them dangerous, but now that the one tree has been removed it makes all other close trees unstable.

Crazy stuff.

Easter Photos!

We had a wonderful Easter and have a few pics to share!

Our group of boys: Austin (16months), Brody (3), Jacob (4), Noah (4) and Mason (2.5)

Aaron got the promotion!!!

I have lots to update on but the biggest and best news is that AARON GOT THE PROMOTION!! You may recall that Aaron's boss retired last December and Aaron has been the acting Hatchery Biologist since January 10th. After a long two months, they finally opened the position up right before we left for Florida in March and Aaron submitted his resume. Another month after that, Aaron was one of three interviewed for the position. Finally, last week Aaron was offered the position and is now the Hatchery Biologist which means he's the guy in charge of this hatchery. Unfortunately it won't mean a raise for another two years, but Aaron (and I) and still thrilled! Because Aaron's previous position was a specialized one, he was making more money than what someone starting out as a Hatch biologist would. And technically, he will actually make less money this year than he did last year because he will no longer receive holiday pay. But the good news? He won't be receiving holiday pay because he won't be working holidays!! Yay! More good news is that he will no longer have to work weekends, either! He will remain on call for 1 week a month, though which is good because we'll be able to keep the on site housing. So a big Congrats to my hubby!

More updates to come soon...