Sibling love

I took the day off yesterday to spend some time with the munchkins.  I thought it was the last day of swim lessons, only to find out when we got there that "tomorrow" is the last day.  Oh well, we still had fun.  Swim lessons, park, lunch, swimming and then home for relaxing and dinner prep.  I was getting dinner ready and I heard some noises coming out of Bray's room.  See what I found below...

11 Months

Seriously have we really had Haley for 11 months?  This does not seem right.  I'm not just saying this because all parents say, "Where does the time go?!" I'm saying this because it cannot be possible that Haley is 1 month away from 1 year.  I can say I have enjoyed our time with Haley, but I cannot say, I've enjoyed and documented our time with Haley, :(  I know this is common, but I was trying to be "better than that", FAIL!  Anyway, Haley is really something else.  This not a new revelation to us, but everyday she reminds me of how different and "female" she is compared to Braylen.  She gets mad and pulls my hair, she HATES her diaper changes and doing what I want her to do, she likes to smile at me when I tell her No and then just continues to do that, she wants to be around people all of the time, she is clingy.  These may be traits that Jeremy claims are similar to me, but I call BS!  Other than her slight rebellious ways, she is such a funny girl.  She is a cruiser when it comes to crawling, she will actually put her head down and motor if she's trying to get something or somewhere.  She is a bruiser with her brother.  Braylen will maul and crush her only to have her laughing the whole time while we are yelling, "Braylen be gentle!!"  She has started taking a few steps, but would still rather crawl or walk while holding on to things.  She LOVES being outside, even if she's in her baby cage and crawling under the kitchen table or anywhere she can get stuck (see pic below).  She does not mind the daily pony tails she has to endure due to her crazy hair.  Sometime she will wake up and I honestly do not recognize her, her hair is laying down and she looks so different.  This is incredibly uncommon, she usually wakes up looking as if she has placed all of her wet fingers into a three prong outlet for approx 5-10 minutes.  She has begun asking what things are by asking the now cute, ask in 6 months how we feel about this "cute" phrase, "ddatt".  She says, momma, dadda, nana and barks like a dog.  She claps, waves, blows kisses and gives kisses.  She mimics things, she will laugh if we laugh, raise her hands when we do and blink after we do.  I can honestly say she loves us so much and shows it daily.  We also share this feeling, but I think you can multiply my love by a million.  She is such a joy and keeps us all on our toes!  I can only imagine what I will be writing about next year and when she's older!!

A week of firsts

I think it's official, we have a BIG boy on our hands, his social calendar is filling up with camps and lessons!!  This week began with swim lessons and soccer camp.  I was a little nervous because he's never done group activities like these and on top of that, my co worker's wife, Hilary, was going to be taking Braylen to swim lessons due to the 9:40 am start time.  I went the first day with Hilary to swim lessons and he was ready to go.  They called his name, he stood with his group and instructor and away he went.  I could tell he was a little hesitant to jump in at first, but that lasted all of about 10 seconds.  On our way out he was already for the next day's lessons!  He hasn't been "learning" much other than getting comfortable in the water, but that's the first step!  Nana will just have to give him more in depth lessons at her private pool this summer :)

He went back to school and then I picked him up early for soccer camp at UD.  He was super pumped about this.  I had his water bottle and we picked up his mini kickers t-shirt, put it on and away he ran.  Literally, I turned around to put his shirt on my purse and he bolted to the first group he saw!  I can say my son is not embarrassed, nervous or reserved when it came to group activities.  I am happy to make this statement, I would rather this than scared and hesitant!  He followed directions and was playing pretty well, considering.  The funniest part was after camp, he ran up to me and told me he needed to tell coach something, I said that coach was busy and was cleaning up, but he was insistent.  I told Bray that he could tell him again on Thursday, he wanted to go now.  I finally asked what it was that he needed to tell coach and he said, "I am going to tell him that I am going to go home and practice hockey."  Hmmm, I really think that can wait.  Maybe we have him in the wrong camp??!!

 Needless to say when we got home he played hockey all night long!!

My little munchkins

This past Saturday was the "last" Saturday the kids and I will spend together while dad was working! 

Hallelujah tax season is almost over.  Most Saturdays are a little hectic and I get slightly frazzled by the sheer craziness and fussiness (sometimes) of the 2 of them!  But last Saturday was peaceful and bliss.  Haley is on some meds for an ear infection, which seems to be helping her mood immensely, Braylen was listening and good natured all day.  It was a PJ day most of the morning and early afternoon until Haley got a bath and Braylen was dying to jump in with her.  They had the time of their lives in that tub.  I couldn't help snapping pics and video because they were too cute.  I think i could have left them in there for hours.  Braylen really would have had raisins on his hands and feet, if that would have happened!

My First PONY

Not sure I thought I would ever be blogging about a child's hair, but because it's my daughter (and the fact that she's fricken adorable) I can't help but second guess that thought!!  Here is Haley's first pony!  Hope this makes you smile as much me!!!

Play time and work time

I try to make Friday nights play nights.  I have the kids and I don't worry about putting lots of time for dinner and I try to limit the distractions (TV, cleaning, picking up, etc...).  We usually head downstairs and play!  It's fun to watch them play together and just observe their imaginations as well as play along with them.  They are both too funny and Braylen has always had an active immagination, but it's interesting to watch Haley try to figure out exactly what Braylen is doing with his random toys.

Who needs toys??

Especially when you have a HILARIOUS brother??!!  This Braylen's new favorite game, every morning and even he asks, "Momma, can i take the cushions off?"  We have also used this as punishment, AKA his cushion privileges get revoked for a day when he doesn't listen.  Who would have thought I would use couch cushions as a behavior tool??!!