The Brummers

Under the weather...

2012-02-26T17:14:00.002-08:00

Well, Wyatt is sick this evening. Aaron took him to buy dog food around 5 this evening, and at the store Wyatt threw up on Aaron. Poor guys! I had Wyatt lay on the couch and I put on a movie for him on my laptop on the ottoman. Probably 30 minutes later I looked over and he was totally asleep! Sweet little boy. It makes me sad to see him sick!

This past week all four of us have had colds, though I think Wyatt had the least of it. Henry had a little bit of a fever, and Aaron and I both have been stuffed up and just a little run down. I'm feeling better today, but Aaron still has a cold. Both of the boys still have a bit of a cough, and now Wyatt has a stomach bug! This is the first time all winter we've been sick, so we've been blessed.
And here's Henry tonight - this is his latest adorable smile!

Henry is 10 months old!

2012-02-11T19:32:00.000-08:00

And what a big boy he is becoming! He is really becoming more of a toddler and less of a baby. He loves to play now. He and Wyatt play together - sometimes Henry will crawl as fast as he can, chasing Wyatt down the hallway.

He had his "9 month appointment" a few weeks ago, though he was closer to 10 months at the time. He is at 20.5 lbs, and he is close to the 50th percentile for weight, height, and head circumference. He is a pro at pulling up and standing. He also walks around things if he can hang on to them. He mostly wants to get into the stuff he shouldn't, like Mommy's glass of water, or Wyatt's supper, or the water in the toilet. We're starting the fun stage of being a toddler. :)

He is starting to sleep through the night. Last night he did not sleep through the night, but before that he did about 5 nights in a row. I am loving the nights that I sleep uninteruppted! What's ironic is that the first night he slept through the night, Wyatt woke up. :)

Henry, you are such a sweetie with a big personality! You definitely make your voice heard, and I'm excited to see what you will do with your energy!

My extreme couponing

2012-01-31T20:30:00.001-08:00

So, my latest hobby has been couponing. Not to the extent of the extreme couponers on TV, but enough to make it kind of fun! Tonight I ran to HyVee after the kiddos went to bed so I could catch some deals before the sales were over. Here's what I bought tonight:

3 boxes of Multi-grain Cheerios x $3 each

4 boxes of whole wheat Ritz x $1.68 each

4 boxes of Hamburger/Chicken Helper x $1 each

1 box of Kashi Go Lean cereal x $1

4 Yoplait Greek yogurts x $1.19 each

and...

1 package of Golden Oreos x $3.29 (these weren't on sale - they were requested by the hubs).

Before coupons, I spent $30.77. Already this is pretty decent for all of these items, but I also used $9.65 in coupons. So all I spent was $21.12! I think this is pretty good! If we lived down south where they double coupons, this would have been much more impressive!

So this is what I do with my some of free moments at work - I check out the weekly ads and then match up deals with coupons. Later this week I plan on going to Target because they have DiGiorno pizzas on sale for 2 for $9 - I have a $2 off 2 coupon, so that would make it 2 for $7. It's a few bucks here and there saved, but it's also fun to plan it out and see how much I can save.

Anyway, I promise real blog posts to come about the kiddos. They are keeping me busy, especially on the nights Aaron works late!

My little lovies

2012-01-16T18:59:00.001-08:00

Wyatt didn't want to smile for the camera. Stinker. :)

Henry enjoying cheerios and animal crackers. Big boy!

Tonight I cooked dinner with the boys. We made "chicken nuggets" (basically homemade chicken tenders) and penne pasta with garlic marinara (from a jar. Don't get too excited :) ). Since we made "chicken nuggets," Wyatt decided he would eat them. And he declared them "good."
Henry enjoyed the chicken tonight, and he also had some of the penne pasta. I cut them in half, and he could pick it up and feed himself.

I think he likes it! I love the messy face.

So... then it was bathtime. I really like bathtime lately since Henry doesn't need Mommy hovering right by him anymore.

"I guess it's time to wash the marinara sauce off my face now, Mom."

Henry is 9 months old!

2012-01-12T17:43:00.000-08:00

So this is almost a week late, but Henry is 9 months old! Lately I can't believe how big he is getting. He is learning to do so many things... crawling, pulling up, holding on to things and walking around them. He really hasn't been truly crawling for that long, but I think he will only briefly stay in the crawling stage. Now that he's discovered the world, he is always on the go!

Tonight he and Wyatt took a bath, and it was the first time I didn't hover right next to him to make sure he didn't fall over. He did great! He was crawling all over, splashing, and pulling up of course! I kept making him sit down, and he'd crawl over to the edge and pull up again.

Anyway, I'm not sure what he weighs yet - I have to take him to the doctor next week on my day off. But I think we are going to have to switch him out of his bucket carseat soon. He is eating all kinds of foods, and getting pretty good and feeding himself finger foods. He has quite the silver palate as he will not eat baby food. If I'm eating it, that's what he wants. He's still nursing, and wakes up once or twice usually during the night to eat. Last night he woke up at midnight, but that's it until I left for work this morning. So he's definitely starting to sleep longer stretches. His latest trick is waving hi or good-bye. Very cute!

Henry is crawling!

2011-12-31T18:52:00.000-08:00

Christmas recap

2011-12-31T11:33:00.001-08:00

So I've taken a little blogging hiatus - not on purpose really, but I've just been caught up in the busyness of the month! We started off the month of December with my work Christmas party at Montage. We had a very nice evening and Aaron called the bingo game for all of the employees. :)
Our little family of four celebrated Christmas a little early this month - we wanted to spread out the presents and the kids don't know any different yet.
Wyatt and Henry with their presents - Wyatt did the majority of the opening this year. Next year I'm sure Henry will be opening all of his own presents!

Wyatt was so excited to open presents! He didn't know what Mr. Potato Head was at first, but now he's a fan!
So serious about opening presents!

Wyatt got some trains this year for Christmas - we also got Wyatt and Henry a train table to go downstairs. We told Wyatt it was from Santa and he was very excited! We helped him set out milk and cookies for Santa, and he was upset the next morning when they were gone - he thought Santa would share with him! :)

Henry liked his presents, but he wanted to eat the paper more.

Big boy sitting up and playing with his new toy.

Henry is eight months old this month. I missed posting about that, but I'll recap that here. We haven't been to the doctor since his six month check, so I'm not sure how much he weighs or how big he is. Definitely continuing to grow though, as he is pretty much in 12 month clothes. He is army crawling now, and he can get up on all fours and take a few steps that way until he falls. Now at the end of the month he is just starting to think about pulling up on some things, but he can't quite do it yet. He is much happier now that he can get to most of the toys he wants. Playing in Wyatt's room is one of his favorite things because he scoots all around the room playing with his brother's toys! He's getting more talkative these days - when he holds a book he "reads" out loud. It's pretty cute! He's also a big eater and getting pretty good at feeding himself finger foods. Still nursing, but not nearly as often during the day. He still wakes up a few times at night, though we are transitioning him to his crib and he is starting to wake up less. Many nights he doesn't want Mommy to put him to sleep - he wants Daddy to rock him. It's a nice break for Mommy. :) He is such a happy boy.
Henry loves his big brother - he smiles and laughs when he sees him. He puts up with Wyatt's "hugs" which are more like a headlock.

One night when Daddy was working, Wyatt and I made some almond-bark covered pretzels, and he wrapped them in wrapping paper and lots of tape. At least half a roll of tape! He had a lot of fun.

Happy Henry!

Brothers in Christmas jammies. I love my blue-eyed boy and my brown-eyed boy. They are my sweeties and I think they are going to be best friends growing up.

Merry Christmas to you all, and a Happy New Year! I think January will be less busy, so hopefully I can catch up on the blog.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2011-12-03T10:17:00.000-08:00

Wyatt helped decorate the Christmas tree this year! He did a good job, and no ornaments were broken in the process. Whew! :)
Our tree this year - it is basically the same as last year, but I still really like it.

Here are two of my favorite ornaments - the baby spoon is for Henry's first Christmas, and the other baby ornament is Wyatt's from 2009. Those are way up high so they don't get broken!

Here's a close-up of Henry's ornament. Every year they will get a new ornament - Last year Wyatt got an Elmo ornament. We still need to take him to pick out a new ornament for this year, and we need to get a stocking for Henry!

Here are some cute pictures of Henry - almost 8 months old! We have some similar pictures of Wyatt here.

Well, indoors it looks like Christmas... outside it's raining today. Kind of gloomy, but hopefully it means the kiddos will nap well! I'm excited for Christmas this year - I know Wyatt is going to have so much fun, and Henry is going to love watching his brother get so excited!

Henry is 7 months old!

2011-11-06T17:00:00.001-08:00

Henry, you are seven months old! You are changing every day and learning new things.

You are starting to Army crawl and roll to get to things. Yesterday I saw you get up on your knees for a few seconds for the first time! I'm in no hurry to see you crawl because we are going to have to do some massive baby-proofing, especially some of Wyatt's little toys!

You are such a good eater. You eat breakfast, lunch and supper now. The foods you have eaten so far are banana, applesauce, applesauce with oatmeal and cinnamon, sweet potato, avocado, blueberries with bananas, banana puffs, pancakes, and Ritz crackers. You like to sit in the high chair now at home, but not so much at restaurants!

You like to jump in the jumpy chair, and you like to play in the activity center. I think you've just started to notice the dogs now.

You light up when you see your brother, and when he is running around wild and crazy, you think it's hilarious!

I love you, my brown-eyed boy! You are such a sweetie!

Sleep...

2011-11-03T21:00:00.001-07:00

At the risk of jinxing myself, I just have to write a little post about this wonderful thing called sleep. Lately Henry has been a little fussy, and we think we have figured out that he is overly tired. So last night he was starting to get crabby so I rocked him to sleep, but when I went to lay him down he woke up. I had to get Wyatt ready for bed, so I left him awake (not crying) in his bassinet. I checked on him 5 minutes later and he was back asleep! So great. Tonight he nursed to sleep, but two hours earlier than normal. I think he's been tired! I was able to go get groceries by myself after the kiddos were asleep! It may seem silly, but it's the little bits of "mommy" time that keep me sane. Now we just need to get Henry to be happy when we go out to eat and not scream the whole time! :)

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T20:10:00.000-07:00

Wyatt went Trick-or-treating for the first time this year! We dressed him up before, but this is the first year we went door to door.

Henry tagged along too - Wyatt was a dinosaur and Henry wore a coordinating hat. I'm very proud of that hat! :)

Happy birthday, Grandma Muffy!

What a cute little dinosaur!

And another cute little dinosaur!

All tuckered out from trick-or-treating! We had a lot of fun tonight!

Aaron's new job

2011-10-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

So for those of you who haven't heard yet - Aaron got a new job! He is now the general manager at Ferrari's and the Park Place Event Center (in the PIPAC building). He started last Wednesday, and he is really enjoying it so far. It is really neat for him to have a job where he is the boss and gets to run things the way he thinks they should go. I think this is definitely the type of job he was made to do! Right now he is busy learning how they do things, meeting all of the staff, getting to know the company, etc. So... he is working more hours than his previous job. It's definitely a trade-off, but it is worth it. Tonight he is working late, so I had the kids by myself. Every month it gets a little easier to watch both of them at the same time - I can't even imagine how things will be a year from now! We had a pretty good night - Wyatt and I had leftovers for dinner, Henry had fresh pureed avocado, we played downstairs awhile, both kiddos got baths - Henry screamed, and Wyatt didn't want to get out... An episode of Word World for Wyatt, and then the process of bedtime! I think Wyatt finally went to sleep around 9, and Henry just shortly after that. Whew! Now I get a moment for myself, and then I'm going to get ready for tomorrow and go to bed. Last night Henry did not sleep well, so I'm hoping tonight he catches up on some sleep so I can!

Well... That's all for now. Life is busy but good. We are blessed to have Aaron working his new job that he really likes!

Henry is six months old (up a little late... :) )

2011-10-20T19:15:00.000-07:00

Here is my little sweetie! He is getting so big - over six months old already!

Now that Henry is six months old, he is starting to get more mobile. No crawling or sitting up yet, but lots of rolling and wiggling and jumping in the bouncy chair!

He's eating more solids now, especially the past few days! I swear he is going through a growth spurt!
I love those little cheeks!

Wyatt's First Year

2011-10-16T18:46:00.001-07:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Create a gorgeous, high quality wedding photo album at Shutterfly.com.

I finally got his first year book done! Yay! :)

Pumpkin Paradise

2011-10-08T15:45:00.000-07:00

Today Aaron, Wyatt, Henry, and I went to Pumpkin Paradise - a pumpkin patch and entertainment area of sorts for little kids. Overall, the pumpkins were great, but the activities for the kids left something to be desired. I think next year we will see if there's another pumpkin patch near Waterloo.
Wyatt did enjoy riding the "horsey."

He also enjoyed running through the pumpkin field.

And driving the old tractor...

Henry didn't particularly care one way or another - next year he'll have more fun!

We've had a great weekend - last night we went to Bill's football game. Wyatt and Henry did great, and it was fun to see family. This morning we went to J's for breakfast - our usual Saturday morning breakfast place - and it was good as usual. After that the pumpkin patch, then home to put kids down for naps and clean! It's wonderful to have a clean kitchen and living room! Sad and frustrating to see the Hawks lose... But we still have Sunday! :)

A few random pictures of Wyatt and Henry

2011-10-04T20:37:00.000-07:00

We had to get this picture for future blackmail of Wyatt or at least his senior slideshow. Such a goof! :)

And a little bit of his mother's OCD coming out here - we were in the living room and he had been quiet for a little while. We found him in Henry's room, lining up Henry's diapers! :)

Henry, or as I call him, Henny Penny. He's getting better at holding onto things and chewing. I hate comparing him with Wyatt, but I do think he is a bit more laid back than Wyatt. He doesn't roll all over the floor like Wyatt did at this age. I think he is more entertained by Wyatt so he is less motivated!

He's my happy boy - well, so long as Mommy is near! :)

Weekend in Iowa City

2011-10-04T20:26:00.001-07:00

We had a great time in Iowa City this past weekend. We left Friday after work and made it there in time for supper on Friday night. Saturday morning, we had waffles - yummy!

Then we went downtown to play and walk around. Dance Marathon was sponsoring window painting for kids - we let Wyatt give it a try and he enjoyed it! He used every single color they had! :)

Daddy and Wyatt played one of the pianos that is on the sidewalk downtown.

Wyatt got to play on the playground by the library twice - once before lunch and then again after lunch.

Big climber!

He would look over his shoulder at me like, "Make sure and get a picture of this, Mom!" :)

He even went down the slide on his tummy and did a few face-plants on the ground. Luckily the ground is fairly rubbery so he didn't get hurt!

Henry tagged along and had a good time too. He hates his carseat - you'd never know it from this picture. He really likes when Mommy rides in the backseat with him, so that what I did for part of the trip! :)

Wyatt and Grandpa prepared asparagus together for supper on Saturday night. Wyatt helped break the asparagus into two pieces. He thought he was big stuff!

Henry enjoyed some Grandma time too! He was a little fussy this weekend - I think he is going through a little growth spurt or something!

All in all a good weekend! They go by too fast!

Henry's first foods

2011-10-04T20:03:00.001-07:00

Henry has recently started eating some solid foods! His first food was banana - I was eating a banana one day and he kept smacking his lips together so I gave him a taste. He kept fussing until I gave him more and more... so I realized it's time to start feeding him some solids!

Aaron bought some sweet potato and cooked it up. This is Henry's second food and he loves it too!

Just like his brother, he wants to do it himself!

We froze the extra sweet potato in ice cube trays so we can take out a little at a time. Next time I'll spray a little vegetable oil in the trays before I put in the food! I have tomorrow off work so I may try to make some applesauce and pears for Henry. He's getting so big!

Trip to the Omaha Zoo

2011-09-25T14:50:00.000-07:00

We spent this past weekend in Omaha - we drove Friday right after work and met up with Aaron's dad's side of the family in Council Bluffs. I can't tell you how happy I was to get there - Henry is NOT a fan of his carseat, so after he woke up from his two hour nap, we still had about two hours of entertaining and feeding to do to keep him content. After dinner with Aaron's family, we found our hotel and went swimming.

The first night Wyatt was not such a fan of swimming in the water - he really hasn't been swimming in a pool since he was a little baby. The second night he was jumping off the side of the pool and Daddy would catch him.

Henry really liked swimming - he would have stayed in the water more if it was warmer.

Wyatt hasn't really stayed in a hotel since he's been mobile, so this was SO much fun for him. He was bouncing off the walls the first night! He was climbing in cupboards, opening the fridge door, jumping on the bed... :)

Our room had a king size bed and then a pullout couch that touched each other when the couch was pulled out. Wyatt had a lot of fun jumping from one bed to the other! Both nights he fell asleep in our bed and then we moved him into his bed. He is a big fan of hotels! (just like his Daddy :) )

Our family picture at the zoo - I love this because we have a picture from two years ago when we went with Wyatt. It's crazy how much things can change in two years!

The Henry Doorly Zoo is so neat - they have so many different exhibits, and they had a great little petting zoo area with lots of baby goats. Wyatt was a big fan of petting the goats.

"Hello, goat!"

We took our double stroller, and sometimes Alex rode in it with Wyatt. He liked having a cool cousin to ride with. :)

The gorillas were great - they were so huge! At one of the windows, I pushed Alex and Wyatt up to see the animals and a gorilla came running up to the window and made Alex jump! It was pretty funny.

Daddy carried Henry part of the time in the Moby... he enjoyed napping and being carried throughout the zoo.

Wyatt also crashed Alex's stroller. :) Alex said it was a "really awesome zoo." And when I asked Wyatt what his favorite animal at the zoo was, he said "Grandma Muffy." :) And then when I asked him again he said the rhinos. Funny kid.

This weekend was a lot of fun, and I think we realized how much Wyatt enjoys traveling. Once Henry gets to be a little bit happier traveler, hopefully we can do a few more weekend trips like this!

Wyatt and Henry

2011-09-13T19:37:00.001-07:00

Wyatt ~ Two years ago

And... Henry now!

Definitely brothers, but they look so different!

Love my boys!!

Garage Sale!

2011-09-11T14:28:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we had a garage sale! We've never done one before, but in our five years together plus two kids, we've accumulated a lot of stuff! Aaron's mom came to help - very appreciated! It would have been a little hectic otherwise.

Aaron tried so hard to sell these chairs! :)

There were three rows full of stuff! Jim and Ellen brought stuff and so did my mom. We had several people tell us we had some good stuff to sell.

And look at this little cutie! He's getting so big! What a happy guy (except when he's in his carseat! :) ).

Henry is 5 months old!

2011-09-07T18:00:00.001-07:00

Henry is five months old, and every day he changes a little more. He's usually in cloth diapers, but for trips he's in size 3 disposables now. He's filling out his 6-9 month clothes, so for fall we'll be moving him into 12 month! He is still exclusively breastfed - no other food yet. Yay! With Wyatt we had to supplement with formula at 3 months, and by 5 months he was totally switched to formula. I am so happy to get this far breastfeeding Henry, and I hope to stick with it until at least a year old. Knock on wood, but I think we can do it! I feel like I could write a book about everything I've learned both with Wyatt and Henry! :)

Anyway, Henry is a pretty laid-back guy. He really just gets opinionated when he's hungry or sleepy or having to ride in his carseat! He can roll over both ways, but he doesn't seem very motivated to do it that often! He smiles a lot-many people tell us he is such a happy baby! We even had a woman come up to us at a restaurant to tell us that she would work in the church nursery if there was a baby like Henry there! (kind of an odd thing to say, but we'll take the compliment!)

Well, this weekend we are having a garage sale- great motivation to get the garage cleaned out!

Labor day weekend and such

2011-09-05T11:12:00.001-07:00

Wyatt and Henry enjoy cooking lately. Well, Henry likes chewing on spatulas (despite his angry-looking face) and Wyatt likes to sit "up on counter!"

Yum! Spatula!

Henry enjoyed kicking around outside at Guttenberg this weekend.

Such a handsome little guy!

And happy!

Wyatt also enjoyed riding on the "waterbike." That's what he called the waverunners. :)

And playing in the sand.

Snuggly baby!

We've had a good weekend, and we are enjoying the slightly cooler weather!

Baking with the boys

2011-08-29T19:22:00.000-07:00

Tonight Aaron had a photo-shoot with a family, so the boys and I had some fun on our own. While Henry snoozed, Wyatt and I mixed up some strawberry cake. While it was baking, Wyatt took a bath and Henry watched me clean the bathroom. After that, they both sat on the counter and we frosted the cake.

I had the hardest time getting them both to look at the camera!

It was the first time Henry really liked sitting in the bumbo!

The finished product!

And Wyatt got so close to the cake to smell it he got frosting on his lips and nose. He sat up and said,"Wipe! Wipe!" He was very distressed until he realized it tastes good!

Crazy life lately!

2011-08-21T16:18:00.000-07:00

Life has been a little crazy lately. I suppose it's always a bit crazy with two little boys in the house, but there's been a few other things that have made it crazier. First of all, both of my brothers were in the hospital this week! Jim was in the hospital for a few days with abdominal pain - I don't think we fully know the cause yet, but at least he is home and feeling better now!

Then, Friday night Tyler went to the hospital with a heart rate over 200 bpm! He had to stay overnight until his heart rate went back to normal Saturday morning. Aaron stayed overnight at my parent's house Friday night (Oh yeah, they were out of town too) to help watch all of the kids, and then Saturday morning I was going to go out to help him. Well, since my dad and the other dentist in our practice were out of town, I had to go in to the office to see an emergency patient. So a very busy Saturday!

Today we have had a low-key day to try to catch up on things. Henry's been a little high maintenance lately - just needing to be held or have Mommy's constant attention! I think it's a little bit of a phase though, and I'm sure once he gets a little bigger he will be much more into exploring his environment.

Wyatt is saying so many new sentences lately. "I want eat yogurt." "Mommy, come here right now!" "I need drink water, please." So cute to hear these new sentences!

Below is a little video of him singing his version of "Jesus Loves Me." (He sings "Jesus Mommy Daddy Grandma Grandpa." :) )

And here is a video of him doing a somersault!

Henry is 4 months old!

2011-08-07T13:48:00.001-07:00

Henry, you are getting SO BIG!!! I can't believe you are four months old already, though I was saying to your Daddy today that it feels like you have always been here. Life feels normal with you here. I don't know how big you are right now - your 4 month doctors appointment is on Wednesday, so we'll find out!

You watch your brother a lot, and once you can crawl, I'm sure you'll be following him around! Every once in awhile he makes you jump when he gets so close to you or makes a really loud noise.
This weekend you met your Great-Grandma Brummer and your Great-Aunt Marsha.

You are getting so social and you smile and coo when you see people.

You've also started to get interested in toys and you can hold on to them for a little while. And, on the 6th when you were exactly four months old, you rolled over both from back to front and front to back for the first time. I don't think you really wanted to do it, but pretty soon you'll figure out you can get around that way!

Cygnet Lake 2011

2011-08-07T13:02:00.000-07:00

So this post is a little late, but here are pictures from our trip to Canada this year! The weather was pretty near perfect, varying from cool and cloudy to warm and sunny.

This year Aaron, Wyatt, Henry and I stayed in our own cabin for the first time. We didn't go last year, and two years ago we stayed with my parents in the motorhome. Before that, we tented!

Here's the cabin we stayed in - the porch was a popular place because it has one of the best views of the lake!
Henry had NO fun at all on this trip. And Aunt "Cake" didn't like holding him either. :)
This year we implemented "Happy Hour" on our porch - well, it was really just nap time, but I took advantage of sleeping children and enjoyed sitting on the porch drinking a margarita!

Sometimes Henry cut our happy hour a little short, but I didn't mind!

Aaron took Wyatt out in the kayak - they both had a lot of fun doing that.

We just watched them kayak on the dock.

It was fairly hot a few days, so we swam in the lake. It was cold!!! Wyatt was not a huge fan of swimming, but I think he still liked it.

Wyatt also painted on the picnic table a few times.

And painted his hands and face as well! Getting messy is so much fun!

Wyatt went fishing for the first time on this trip.

He tried out his new fishing pole for a little bit, but no luck this year. Maybe next year!

Anyway, lots of playing...

Lots of relaxing
Just a great year overall!

No wonder the kids were wiped-out on the way home! :)

Henry is 3 months old!

2011-07-07T20:44:00.000-07:00

Henry is 3 months old! Can you believe it?? He is getting so big. He is moving out of 3-6 month clothing and into 6-9 month. He is so much bigger than Wyatt was at this age, so it is throwing off the seasons of clothes that I have. Most of the 6-9 month stuff I have is fall/winter, so I've been buying more 6-9 short-sleeve onesies. That's pretty much what he lives in these days. :)

He is a very happy baby, especially when his tummy is full. He lights up when he sees Mommy, which just makes my day. :) He's becoming quite social and smiling and observing things that go on.
When I am at work, he usually eats a lot less than if I was home. He is "reverse-cycle" feeding now - he waits till Mommy gets home! He's a good eater, and I'm so happy I've been able to breastfeed him exclusively. With Wyatt I had to start supplementing with formula when I went back to school, but now that I can control my schedule a little more, I can keep up with Henry's needs and even stockpile a little extra. I think it makes it that much sweeter this time around.

He's my little sweetie #2! :) Can't wait to watch him grow more!

Wyatt's 2nd birthday!

2011-07-07T20:15:00.001-07:00

Wyatt started the morning of his birthday with pancakes! I decorated his chair the night before, and we hung up a "Happy Birthday" banner in the living room. He was definitely sleepy, and I'm sure he thought we were a little crazy to be singing Happy Birthday so early!

Then he played in his new sandbox from Grandma Cheri and Grandpa Monte. Fun times! :)

Later that night, we went out to Grandma Muffy and Grandpa Mark's house for dinner.

We all wore party hats...

And Wyatt had a dinosaur birthday cake!

Wyatt loves "Happy Birthday Cake!"

Then Wyatt opened presents from Grandma and Grandpa and Mommy and Daddy.

He's getting the hang of opening presents!

The next day we drove down to Iowa City to celebrate with Grandma Cheri and Grandpa Monte. He had an Cookie Monster birthday cake!

We lit the candles and started to sing "Happy Birthday..."

But before we finished Wyatt had already blown out the candles! :) Cute.

Wyatt had a very happy birthday!

Getting ready for Wyatt's birthday

2011-06-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

Wyatt is turning two years old on Thursday - it's hard to believe that he's been here that long, and in the same way it feels like he's always been a part of our lives. Tonight I wrapped his presents after he went to bed - I took a picture so when he's bigger I can say "See what cute presents you got when you were two??" Just kidding. :) I don't think there is anything quite as fun as buying your child birthday presents - I can't wait to see how he reacts when he opens them!

He's really changed so much in the past few months. He is starting to speak in sentences, he'll pull me by the hand and say "Come here!" He's even started calling me "Mom," though I keep telling him it's Mommy, thank you! His favorite things right now are as follows: Cars/trucks, Dinosaurs, Horses (neighs), puppies, stickers, Elmo (Sesame Street), and Word World (a cartoon). His favorite foods right now are pancakes, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chicken nuggets, pizza, corn, peas, and yogurt. And of course birthday cake - after going to two birthday parties in May, he is all about birthday cake and singing "Happy Birthday!" Right now he likes to pull random shirts/shorts/pants/pajamas out of his drawers and put them on. He can also put on his shoes and sandals all by himself, though sometimes the shoes really frustrate him. I think his favorite color is yellow, or at least it's the one that he always points out first. I'm writing all of this down so I can look back and remember him just how he is right now. I keep telling him I'm going to put a brick on his head so he quits growing! :)

Well, Thursday we will celebrate his birthday with a little party with my parents. Then on Friday we are heading to Iowa City and we will celebrate with Aaron's parents. Between the two, he will have a very happy birthday!

Great weekend!

2011-06-25T19:04:00.000-07:00

Today has been a really fun day. We all went out for breakfast together, then Aaron went golfing for his birthday. Wyatt, Henry, and I met my friend Mary and her niece at Chuck E. Cheese around 10:30. Wyatt has never been there before, and he had a great time. He LOVED the animated Chuck E. Cheese - he would wave at him and say "Hi!" Super cute.

I had Henry in the Moby, and he eventually fell asleep while we bounced around from different rides and games. Mary and I decided against eating the pizza there for lunch and instead we took the kids to Sakura for teppanyaki. Both kids loved watching their lunch being cooked in front of them, though Wyatt was not a huge fan of the big fire at the beginning. I was really happy with how well it went when we were out, especially without Aaron to help me with two kids!

We had naptime after that, and I watched a little Wimbledon. More playing, and then Daddy came home with Pancheros for supper! Just a low key night - Wyatt played and Henry kicked around on his play mat. Henry is really getting to be a pretty laid back guy.

All in all a good day!

Weekend in Iowa City and fun with Elmo cake!

2011-06-19T19:58:00.000-07:00

Wyatt is really into "Happy birthday cake" right now, and his Grandpa Monte found an Elmo cake form so he could make him a cake. Here is the finished product!

Wyatt is really excited about "Elmo cake!"

Grandpa, Aaron, Wyatt, and the Elmo cake

A close-up of Elmo - pretty great, right?

And Wyatt stuffing Elmo cake in his mouth - it was banana cake with buttercream frosting. Yum!!!

And Henry just relaxed all weekend... :)

Then we played out on the deck today - Wyatt had lots of fun playing in the pool!

And Henry relaxed out on a mat on the deck.

Big smile! He loves being outside!

More playing in the pool...

And more cashed out Henry... So sweet!

We had a great weekend in Iowa City - Wyatt said tonight "More drive, Grandma and Papa?" I think he is ready to go back!

A weekend in Iowa City at Grandma's

2011-06-12T18:45:00.000-07:00

Here is Henry doing one of the things he does best - sleeping. He doesn't sleep in long stretches of time, but he does nap well! :)

Wyatt eating Grandpa's cookies at the counter like a big boy!

Wyatt likes to "mother" his Elmo and Cookie Monster dolls, and he was trying to put on my Moby so Aaron helped him put it on.

He needs his hands free so he can play! :)

Play the piano, that is. :)

We went to the Coral Ridge mall today - we had fun, but it was not as relaxing for me as I would like. Henry spit up all over me twice, and multiple little spit ups as well... Not fun. I guess I did end up with a new tank top and sweater because of it. Sigh... We did end our time at the mall well, though. Wyatt rode the carousel twice - first with Daddy!

They had a lot of fun - check out the video below.

Then I got to ride with him (in my freshly spit-up covered sweater).

He would yell "Hiiiiiii!!!" as we rode by Grandma and Daddy each time.

Henry is 2 months old! And other fun pictures...

2011-06-08T19:13:00.001-07:00

Henry is two months old! Time flies! He is getting bigger each day - if I had to guess, I would say he is around 10 or 11 pounds. We go to the doctor next week, so we'll see how much he weighs!
Henry is really getting attached to his big brother - he will smile at Wyatt now, which is so sweet.

Check out those little rolls on his legs - he is definitely eating well! Maybe a little too well... :)

Sweet boy. He is starting to take some decent naps here and there.

Wyatt likes to put the Boppy on his lap and "hold" Henry. He is a very proud brother and he likes to do everything we do with Henry. Sometimes he even pretends to feed Henry, which is pretty cute.

If you look close, you can see Henry grinning at Wyatt!

And another picture of my silly boy Wyatt. He loves his stuffed animals and Sesame Street dolls.

And he is working on drinking out of a cup. Still spills, but he's doing well!

Here is some of his artwork from the other day. Our nanny Jessica helps him do crafts, and this one is just precious. I framed his handprints, and now they are on the shelf in the living room!

Anyway, we are starting to really adapt to life as a family of four. Last night we went for a drive and the night before we went on a walk. I think the kids like to be out and about sometimes in the evening, and it does help keep Henry from having a long, fussy evening. This evening he has napped and napped! He ate the most during the day today than he's ever eaten when I was at work, so I suppose after all of that milk he is working on growing! :) I'm happy to have a small stockpile of milk in the freezer for days like today! Hopefully I can stock up a little more over my long weekend in case he is a big eater next week. This week I have a four day weekend, and in two weeks I have another four day weekend. After that, I'm back to work full time! I've really enjoyed working part-time. Three days a week is pretty great. However, three days a week is not great for building a practice... :) So, come July I'll be back full-time (but then I'll be off a week to go to Canada... yay! :) ). Well, hope you all are well!

Hide and seek!

2011-05-30T17:09:00.000-07:00

Daddy and Wyatt play Hide and Seek! We may need to work on Wyatt's counting... :)

More smiles...

2011-05-30T15:06:00.001-07:00

First from big brother Wyatt...

And some for Wyatt...

And lots for Mommy!

Really big smile!!!

Henry is almost 7 weeks old... :)

2011-05-23T15:11:00.000-07:00

Henry is continuing to change. He focuses more on things that are close by.

He is still very opinionated on eating, sleeping, etc. He eats very often, usually every two hours or sometimes more often than that.

And... he is really smiling now! I love it! Most of his smiles come at the end of mealtime, but he is starting to smile socially more now! Sweet boy.

Saturday fun with Daddy

2011-05-21T11:10:00.000-07:00

Today Daddy and Wyatt built a fort in Wyatt's room!

They used all kinds of things... His toybox, storage bins, rocking chair, sheets, quilt, two brooms, some tape, and some clamps.

They didn't have any fun at all.

That's the door into the fort where Wyatt can crawl through.

And Wyatt inside his fort on lots of pillows!

"Hi!"
"No girls allowed!!!" Stinks to be Mommy! Then Wyatt also said "No guys allowed." I think he means only Daddy and Wyatt allowed.

Well, we convinced him to let Henry in too. Henry wasn't so thrilled - he would have much rather been eating. :)
This is just a random picture of me with the boys after I was home from work this past week. Love all of my boys! :)

First day back to work...

2011-05-16T18:02:00.000-07:00

So today was my first day back from maternity leave. I think it went pretty well - I made it to work on time and didn't fall asleep while working. :) I think Wyatt and Henry had a good day too, so that's good. We had our nanny start two weeks ago so she could get to know the boys and us, and I think it made today go very well.

Right now I have Henry snoozing on my arm as I type. My fingers in my left hand are starting to fall asleep, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Wyatt is off with Daddy getting ready for bed. So... we are going to wind down for the night, and I may go to bed pretty soon. It's hard to go to bed when it's still light out. :)

I'll post more pictures on Wednesday when Henry will be 6 weeks old. :)

What have we been up to lately?

2011-05-10T16:49:00.000-07:00

This is my last week of maternity leave. Last week and this week our new nanny has been coming to help with the boys and to get to know them. I'm very thankful she's been here - I don't know how I'd make it through a full day of a new baby and potty training Wyatt! She took Wyatt outside yesterday to color. He's having a lot of fun with her!

Isn't he cute???

Wyatt continues to be interested in what Henry does. He likes to "rock" the baby in the bouncy chair, sit in his carseat, pretend to "eat" like the baby. He also is mothering his Sesame Street stuffed animals. He covers them with blankets, puts them in the swing, and has even tried to feed them like Mommy feeds Henry! :) So funny. He is really growing up and copying what we do. An update on potty training - we went five days with him in underwear, and he just wasn't figuring it out. I was exhausted and tired of cleaning up accidents. So... we bought some pull-ups and continued with having him sit on the potty, just not every 15 minutes. He's made a lot of progress - today has been his best yet. He's only had one accident all day, and he's starting to go right when he sits down on the potty. I told him right before his nap, "I want you to go pee and poo in the potty." And he did! He gets really excited about it, and so do I! :) I think he's really starting to get it. The past few days he's been waking up dry and going in the potty. Maybe in another week or two we'll switch back to regular underwear if he stops having accidents.

Henry is continuing to get bigger and bigger. He is gaining weight better than Wyatt did at this age, probably because Mommy is better educated on breastfeeding this time around. We figured out Henry is tongue-tied, and I think it's made it harder for him to eat. We had a lactation consultant come over on Saturday, and she agreed that he is tongue-tied. So on Monday I went to our doctor to get a referral to get it taken care of - when we were there, they weighed him and he is up to 9 lb. 8 oz. He is in the 40th percentile now! When Wyatt was two months old, he just barely weighed 9 lb. So... big difference! Anyway, long story short - I ended up taking Henry to the pediatric dentist in town, and he did the frenotomy to take care of the tongue-tie. It was very quick, and Henry did great. I think he is doing better eating now, so I'm glad we did it. Hopefully it will help him down the road when it comes to eating and speaking too.

Anyway, I've enjoyed my time at home, but I'm definitely tired! It's frustrating to have a messy house and not have the time or energy to take care of it! Today I did get the kitchen deep-cleaned, and as of right now it is still clean. So that's a small victory. :) I know this is just a season of life, and one day Henry will sleep well at night. And some day Henry and Wyatt will be teenagers and I'll be dragging them out of bed!

Aaron has been back to work for awhile - sometimes he comes home for lunch, or we meet him out for lunch like we did today. He has been painting again, and he took some of his paintings to a gallery in town today. They like them and they are going to sell them! I'm very proud of him - I know he is very talented! :) You can check out his work here: www.ambrummer.com

Hope you all have a good week!

Henry is four weeks old!

2011-05-04T18:45:00.000-07:00

My little peanut. He's still such a little sweetie. When he stretches out, he's long and lean, but he prefers to be all cuddled up like this.

Not a fan of tummy time...

But definitely a fan of his big brother. Well, I think he's starting to be aware of Wyatt. :)

This is how I feel after the past few days. Wiped out! Henry doesn't care to sleep for long stretches, and he likes to eat at least every two hours if not sooner. At least he is generally happy or easy to figure out. He has his fussy moments, but usually it's just that he wants to eat and eat and eat... The potty training with an infant thing was not the smartest idea. However, Wyatt is making considerable progress towards being potty trained - today he woke up dry from his nap and then went in the potty right after. He went potty a few more times in the chair, had a handful of accidents, and he went poo on the potty, well also near the potty too... :) We'll see how he does tonight. Yesterday I was really frustrated, and even this morning. However, I was encouraged after this afternoon. Potty training is intense! :) Wyatt really is trying - I think today he has finally got a hold of what it feels like when he needs to go.

Well, sleep is a luxury right now, so as soon as Henry eats again, I am off to bed! Good night!

Day one of potty training

2011-05-02T15:21:00.000-07:00

**Update** Wyatt has gone potty in the potty chair twice this evening! Yay!!!

So today Wyatt said "Bye-bye" to diapers! And I said "Hello" to lots of wet underpants and puddles on the floor. :)
I have to say that little boy underpants are totally adorable, so that makes up for some the clean-up. So far we have not been successful... I'm hoping maybe tomorrow!

And my boys... :)

Three weeks old!

2011-04-28T07:04:00.000-07:00

Henry is three weeks old, and the theme of the past few days is that he's been waking up! He's getting into a routine of being awake for a nice bit of time in the morning and then little patches throughout the day. Last night he did a 3.5 hour stretch for me. Usually I don't check the clock because it gets a little depressing seeing how little sleep I'm getting, but I did look last night and that was fairly encouraging. I have no expectations for a solid night of sleep for quite awhile - Wyatt didn't sleep through the night until he was 6 months old! (I know the "experts" say a 5 hour stretch is sleeping through the night - that's silly. No adult would call 5 hours of sleep a solid night's sleep. :) )
And Wyatt is still his silly old self. Tuesday and today he has stayed home from daycare - it's a little crazy in our house when I'm by myself with the two of them. I'm getting used to it though, and figuring out ways to still take a shower. :) Wyatt gets a little jealous now and then when I'm holding the baby and he wants my attention. Many times I'm able to put Henry in the bouncy chair and give Wyatt some undivided attention, but then many times I'm feeding the baby. He still loves to give the baby kisses and poke him in they eye... We're working on that! :)

Random stuff

2011-04-25T18:21:00.000-07:00

Henry had a really stressful day, as you can see by this picture. It's hard being a baby. All that eating, sleeping, and pooping can really get you down.

This is how we play with stickers at our house - first you take off your pants, and then you stick the stickers on your legs.
We are going to be switching over to having a nanny watch Wyatt and Henry instead of sending them to daycare. So, I've been wanting to put together some craft supplies for Wyatt so he doesn't miss out on getting to be creative every day. Here is my little box I put together today. I bought some supplies at Target - crayons, paint, stickers, pipe cleaners, etc. Fun times! Tomorrow Wyatt is not going to daycare, so we may try out our new craft box.

These are all crafts that Wyatt has done at daycare - I am definitely not as good at coming up with ideas for crafts, but I'm hoping the nanny will have some ideas! I may buy one more of the set of drawers and start collecting more things for crafts... I just don't want Wyatt to be bored at home!

Really long Easter post :)

2011-04-24T16:37:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter from the Brummers!

Last night we colored some eggs - Wyatt had a great time making a mess!

Wyatt and Henry

Wyatt got all dressed up for Easter - this is his modeling shot. :)

What a cutie!

Henry kept it a little more casual this year... :)

Me and my boys!!!

We had an afternoon Easter egg hunt. It took a little while for Wyatt to want to pick up all the eggs - once he realized there was candy inside, he wanted to stop and eat it!

Enjoying some candy...

He also got some play-doh in his basket.

Henry got a basket too - unfortunately Wyatt beat him to all the eggs. Maybe next year, bubba! :)

Happy Birthday, Cheri!

2011-04-24T15:31:00.000-07:00

Saturday was Aaron's mom's birthday, and we celebrated by flying Rachael back from Santa Barbara! Somehow we managed to keep this a secret for a few months, and it was worth it.

Wyatt and Henry enjoyed seeing their Aunt Rachael!

Grandma and Wyatt checking out pictures...

Grandpa meets Henry for the first time!

Happy Birthday, Cheri!

Henry is two weeks old!!!

2011-04-20T17:49:00.000-07:00

Today Henry is two weeks old! Time flies when you are sleep-deprived and having fun! :)

Here is Lamby - he makes ocean sounds and theoretically helps Henry stay asleep.

Awake Henry! He likes to lay on the ottoman and kick and look around. I have to keep a watchful eye on him, as Wyatt has tried to pick him up and "rock" him. :)

And of course here is big brother... getting into mischief!

Brotherly love

2011-04-16T20:03:00.000-07:00

I bought two of these frames at Kohl's today. I had a $10 off coupon, so I only paid $1.80 for them. Nice! I ordered pictures for them, so then I can put them in Wyatt's and Henry's rooms.

Wyatt wanted to rock Henry today, which was really sweet. I think they are going to be buddies. :)

Wyatt wanted to take pictures, so here we are!

I think we are going to try to make it to church tomorrow... Hopefully we aren't too late!

More pictures of Henry

2011-04-15T19:28:00.001-07:00

Wyatt is very interested in Henry when Henry is awake. I think he would have liked to sit in the bouncy chair too!
He spent a lot of time awake this evening, probably the most he's been since he's been born. Maybe he will sleep well for me this evening because of it. Ha! :)

Daddy and Henry. If I talk, Henry gets squirmy and starts rooting... sigh. :)

We spent a lot of time here with the Boppy tonight too. He ate and ate and ate... I think he's going through a little growth spurt.

Sweet...

Love those expressive eyebrows! :)

Working on the fence!

2011-04-14T13:55:00.000-07:00

Today Aaron has worked all day on the fence! He got up, took Wyatt to daycare, and bought the pickets to go on the fence. Henry and I hung out in the house all morning (When Aaron asked me if I have any plans for the day, I said "Feed Henry, change his diaper, feed Henry, change his diaper, feed Henry, maybe change his whole outfit when he has a diaper leak... and repeat!").

After lunch, I put Henry in the Moby wrap and we bundled up to go outside to "help" Daddy with the fence. Doesn't he look like a little doll in this picture??? He was very warm - I zipped up my sweatshirt over top of the Moby, and I put Aaron's windbreaker on over top. Then we helped carry pickets to where Aaron was nailing them on the fence. It was really nice to get outdoors for a little bit, but I'll enjoy it even more when it warms up!

It's looking good! Way to go Aaron!

Henry is one week old!

2011-04-13T19:22:00.000-07:00

Here is my sweetie, sound asleep. He has slept a lot today!

Here he is a few days ago - you can see his cheeks are starting to fill out.

And here is big brother playing with "monkey." Too much fun! :)

Wyatt really likes to do what the baby does... I'm not sure if the bouncy seat can handle that much longer!

Life as a family of four...

2011-04-11T19:31:00.000-07:00

I think we are all starting to adjust to life with our little peanut Henry. Today we went out to lunch and he did great - slept through the whole thing. I have to get used to this life again though - feeding him right before we leave and then feeding him right when we get home. He's still so little it takes almost an hour to feed him, so my window of opportunity to do things is about an hour, maybe an hour and a half. Wyatt is getting used to Henry, and he has been pretending to be like him sometimes. He'll climb into the bouncy chair, or if I'm changing Henry he'll want us to change him too. He even came over today when I was feeding Henry and pretended that he was eating too. Cute.

Last night I think I changed about eight diapers and four outfits. I remember again why we do cloth diapers - the disposables leak so badly! Once his umbilical cord stump falls off, we are switching over to cloth!

Well, tomorrow is Henry's check-up appointment. I was smart this time around - it's not until 12:30. I think I can manage to be up and showered by then. :)

Coming home

2011-04-08T15:02:00.000-07:00

On Friday we left the hospital just before noon. Here is Mr. Henry right before we left - doesn't he look tiny in the carseat???

When we got home, Wyatt was very excited to see Henry. I was really surprised by how excited he was, because it took awhile for him to really notice Henry when he met him at the hospital.

Wyatt decided to try out the bouncy chair after Henry sat in it.

"What are you looking at???"

Henry had some good awake time today - we can't tell what color his eyes are. They kind of look dark, dark blue, which makes me think they may turn brown.

Sweet boy. :)

Welcome Henry James!

2011-04-07T19:24:00.000-07:00

So, here I am at 36 weeks and 5 days pregnant. This is right before we left to go to the hospital! It was a marathon day on Wednesday - we went in at 8 am, started pitocin at 8:45 am, my water was broken at 1:30 pm, and then Henry was born at 8:52 pm! A long day! I managed to have him without an epidural - though in the last hour I did ask for one and they were in the process of starting one when he was born! I scared the nurse, because when I told her I needed to push, his head was already showing! She screamed, ran to the hallway and yelled for the doctor. Three minutes later Henry arrived! :)

Henry James Manuel Barnes Brummer - 6 lb 13 oz., 21 inches long. Love at first sight!

I think he looks so much like Aaron!

Wyatt came today with my mom to meet Henry. He wasn't thrilled at first - he wanted to see Mommy and Daddy. After awhile he did warm up and touch and kiss Henry. Aaron took lots of pictures - I'll have to post more of those later when I get them from him.

A Hawkeye fan already! :) He is doing great - eating frequently and generally happy. We can't wait to go home tomorrow!

Henry's room... finally done!

2011-04-05T18:50:00.000-07:00

Henry's room is done, and not a moment too soon! Today the changing pad covers came, so it's officially ready. Here's the view looking in the door.

This is my comfy chair - it is a rocker/recliner, so I can hopefully catch some z's even when he's having a fussy night.

Here is his dresser - it actually goes with our bedroom set, but it won't fit in our bedroom. We bought a smaller dresser that was initially for Henry's room, but it fits in our room better. Aaron used to use this, but he was willing to trade.

The mural wall - Aaron ended up painting the fish and octopus because the Target stickers fell off after the first day! I think it's cute. :)

Here's a close-up of the sea-horses. I think they are so cute!

The changing table wall with the long awaited changing pad cover! :)

Once Henry gets here, I can put some pictures in the frames. I hot-glued the fish and octopus on this frame from Target. I have some disposable diapers to use until his cord stump falls off. Then we are going to use the BumGenius diapers that Wyatt used - right now they are all put together and lined up by color in the drawer.

So... the room is ready. I'm as ready as I can be - it's definitely different having an exact date. I'm not sure how much I will sleep tonight!

Wyatt's room

2011-04-05T18:38:00.001-07:00

Welcome to Wyatt's big boy room! Grandma Cheri's students made this sign for him - isn't it cute!
Here's the view looking in his door. For now the mattress is on the floor - when he gets bigger we will get a bed-frame to put it on. My mom sewed the blue curtains - they really help to make the room dark! I hope he sleeps later because of them! :)

The rocker and ottoman are still in the room - eventually we'll phase these out. It's still nice to have somewhere to sit when he wants me in there when he's playing!

His table and storage for toys.

I love the cars. :) I think he likes it!

Living room update

2011-04-05T18:31:00.000-07:00

We've been working on updating the upstairs - first the floors, then we found a rug and couch we liked. Here is where we are at now (I took a picture - it will probably not be this tidy for awhile :) ).
Aaron got a chair and ottoman that matches - it's very comfy and big enough so that he and Wyatt can sit together. That's important! :)

I'm happy with how the room has turned out - it is very calming.

Busy weekend, sick child

2011-04-03T18:51:00.000-07:00

No pictures tonight. I probably should have taken some, but I didn't. In a few days, the blog will be inundated with pictures of Mr. Henry!

I took Friday off to get things ready, and I'm glad I did. I've been physically tired lately and I feel like Henry has dropped, so I'm just not comfortable. We've checked pretty much everything off the to-do list - Aaron has finished putting up the trim in the upstairs and then also in the downstairs bathroom... put up curtain rods and shelves... painted the mural in Henry's room... etc. etc. He's had quite the "honey-do" list. I've been cleaning and organizing and doing laundry like crazy (can you tell me how three people can make so much laundry??? Well, I guess Wyatt throwing up and having diarrhea has contributed a lot to the laundry. Yuck. :) ). This morning while Wyatt was eating breakfast and watching Sesame Street, I re-organized the linen closet and cleaned the kitchen. I also re-organized the shelves in our bathroom that are over the washer and dryer. I wanted to put up a tension curtain rod and some curtains to hide the shelves as a short term solution, but it just looked dorky. So we took it back down. Darn.

Henry's room is pretty much done - we haven't moved the chair into his room yet because our living room couch is being delivered tomorrow and I wanted something comfy to sit on in the interim. And... I'm waiting for the changing pad covers to come - they should be here by Tuesday! So hopefully when we leave to go to the hospital his room will be officially done. :) I'll post pictures when it's all in there. I'm very happy with how it's turned out. Wyatt's room is pretty much done too - it's definitely a little boy's room now. He added his own personal touch today when he took a pen and colored on the fabric on the ottoman that goes with the glider. Sigh. I walked in on him with the pen in hand, and he looked at me and said, "Oh no!" As if he had no idea who would do such a thing! I had a hard time not laughing at first, however, after scrubbing and scrubbing I was not so amused. Good thing he's so cute. :)

Well, two work days, and then it's the big day! Can't believe it's so soon!

A Dental Public Service Announcement

2011-03-30T18:47:00.000-07:00

I have been working as a dentist for just about 8 months now - not a long time, but enough to get a sample of the different patients that come to a general dentist. I generally see a couple kids a day on average, and the dental I.Q. of parents really varies. Today I saw five kids that made up two families - these are families at one end of the education spectrum. In the first family, there were two children, ages 4.5 and almost 3. When I checked their teeth, I found thirteen cavities in the older boy's teeth. In younger girl's teeth, I found none. In the second family, there were three children, ages 6, 10, and 12. I found 7 cavities and one abscessed tooth in the youngest boy, one cavity in the middle boy's teeth, and no cavities in the oldest girl's teeth. The moral of the story is that girls take better care of their teeth. Ha! Just kidding. No, seriously, what the two boys have in common is that both sets of parents think that their kids are capable of brushing their teeth on their own. It is frustrating to find so many cavities in such young children, and it is really easy to blame parents. However, I think it is partly the dental community's fault for not providing better education for parents. So, this is my PSA for parents on how to care for your child's teeth!

1. Brush your child's teeth. If your child is not able to write in cursive, they don't have the manual dexterity to properly brush their teeth on their own. Encourage them to brush on their own, then check their brushing and give them feedback. There is a fun product you can buy called "Inspector Hector Plaque Detector" - have your child do their best to brush their teeth, then have them rinse with this mouthwash. The areas that they are missing will turn blue, so they can see where they need to improve. This isn't something you need to do every day, but it can be fun for everyone, even Mom and Dad, to see how good they are at brushing!

2. Brush your child's gums. Many cavities in baby teeth are found at the gumline, as this is where plaque or build-up accumulates.

3. Use toothpaste with fluoride once your child has teeth. Starting with the first baby teeth, use a small smear of fluoridated toothpaste (smaller than a pea). Older children that can spit can use more toothpaste.

4. Give your child milk at meals and water in between meals. There is no need to give your child juice as there is no nutritional benefit of juice - it is full of empty calories that can stunt your child's growth, and it can cause cavities! Even watered down juice still has sugar in it.

5. Please do not put anything but water in a bedtime cup or bottle. Milk, juice, Kool-Aid, etc. will coat their teeth all night long and feed the bacteria that cause cavities.

6. When giving your child a treat, pick something that they will eat and be done with it. Suckers, hard candy, grazing on M&M's for a long period of time - all of these will continue to coat your child's teeth with sugar, effectively feeding the bacteria for a longer period of time.

7. Take your child to the dentist for regular check-ups, starting at 6 months from when their first tooth comes in, or when they turn one. There are many dentists who don't want to see kids this young, and I get that. It's not easy, as many children are in the "stranger danger" phase and will cry when the dentist tries to look in their mouth. If you are consistently following the previous guidelines, you may not need to take your child to the dentist until age 3 or 4; however, for those parents who are unaware of how to care for their child's teeth, it can be too late if they wait until the child is 3 or 4. The bottom line is this: be proactive and look in your child's mouth when you brush their teeth. If you see dark spots, chips, discolored teeth, gum bumps or pimples, call up your dentist and have them take a look. It is so much easier to fix a little cavity than to deal with a hurting child with an infected tooth!

Wyatt's second haircut

2011-03-28T17:20:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Wyatt before his haircut - he looks a little under the weather. No surprise, he has a mild temperature and runny nose. Poor guy.

I love this scowl - "Why are you taking my picture???"

After a bath - the finished haircut. I'm calling this his summer haircut - short! He definitely looks like a little boy!

Post haircut and bath, counting Mommy's fingers. Oh, what fun. :) He will NOT say "one" no matter how hard I try. He will say "two, three, four, five." But not "one." Silly boy. :)

I think he is feeling mellow because he's been sitting on my lap reading lots and lots of books. I'm guessing he will go to bed early tonight!

Good weekend

2011-03-27T17:18:00.001-07:00

We got a lot of stuff done this weekend, and yet still had some time to relax. Aaron finished putting up the trim in the living room, dining room, and hallway - yay! I need to putty and paint it, and also sand, prime, and paint the doors and door-jams. Hopefully I will find some time to do that this summer.

Aaron also brought in the kitchen table and hung up the picture. He painted that back when we lived in Iowa City, but we had nowhere to put it. I really like it here. So does Reuben. :)

Aaron saw this patio furniture in the Blain's farm and fleet ad, so we went to look at it. It's a really great deal - way better than anything at Target or Wal-mart! (Aaron did have to put it all together, so I'm sure that's part of why it was so inexpensive.) We did get two of the pillows and rug at Target - they just do decorative stuff so well. We sat out on the deck this afternoon while Wyatt was napping and enjoyed the sunshine. I can't wait for the weather to be just a tiny bit warmer so we can be outside even more!

We put the infant car-seat and bases in the cars... I washed and put away baby clothes... Put away the cloth diapers... And I also realized I don't have any changing pad covers that don't have elephants on them. I had two for Wyatt that matched his bedding, but Henry's bedding set didn't come with any. I thought I'd just pick up some plain ones at Target, but they only had one kind - pink polka dots! No good. Wal-mart had NO changing pad covers. They didn't even sell the changing pads for the changing tables! So where in the world am I supposed to find some??? Thank goodness for Amazon.com.

Henry's room will be done soon. Just some finishing touches and arranging things. If he decided to come even earlier than April 6th, we'd probably be fine. I think I'd be scrambling a little to get everyone packed, but we'd manage.

Well, I need to go rescue Wyatt out of his high chair. He had some chocolate pudding for dessert, and it's going to be tons of fun to clean up. :)

Saying hello!

2011-03-23T18:42:00.000-07:00

Tonight we practiced saying "hi" to all of the different family members - this started when Wyatt had his play phone and he was calling his Grandma's and Grandpa's. So I had him say everyone's names, and there are some cute ones! Here's a little shout-out to Rachael and Justin all the way in California! :)

Girls Day Out!!!

2011-03-19T19:56:00.001-07:00

Today my mom, sister, sister-in-laws, adopted sister-in-law :), and I had a girls day out. My mom has had this day planned out for awhile, and we had no idea what was in store until Valentines day. Personally, I thought she was having us save a Saturday so we could help her clean out her garage... Just kidding. :) We had breakfast at her house, then went to La James for a spa morning. We started out with massages, then had facials, and ended with pedicures. I think we all enjoyed the massages the best! Then we had lunch at SoHo and finished the afternoon shopping downtown Cedar Falls. Thanks to the guys for watching the kids! And thanks to Mom for such a fun girl's day!!

A sneak peak of Baby Henry's room

2011-03-09T14:25:00.000-08:00

We got some good work done on Henry's room! Well, most of it was done by Aaron as it was lifting boxes, moving furniture, and putting together the dresser. I just put his crib bedding together. :) We have a few more things to do, then I'll post more pictures!

Can't believe he'll be on his way in 4 weeks!

Update on Cholestasis

2011-03-08T18:51:00.000-08:00

So, today I had yet another OB appointment. I've had a few blood tests - the bile acid test came back borderline, but just within the normal range. My liver test came back high the first time, but after I was on the medication, it was back in the normal range. The medication seemed to make the itching stop, so my doctor had me quit the medication on Friday to see if the itching would come back. If it did, then we would know I have cholestasis; if not, then it was a fluky thing. Well, Sunday night it came back and was driving me nuts, so I went back on the medication. Today the doctor told us that since my symptoms came back, we are going with the cholestasis diagnosis. I got to have my blood drawn yet again... yay. :) And, we set a date for me to be induced. She wants to induce labor somewhere between 36 and 37 weeks when she is on call, so the date will be April 6th! Less than a month away! So, needless to say I am feeling motivated to get everything ready before the baby gets here!

First trip to Four Queens!

2011-03-06T16:36:00.001-08:00

We were brave - we ordered a baby cone with barely any ice cream over the top. I happened to have a bib in my purse... He did really well! He's still working on it now in his high chair at home.
I try to take a picture of Aaron, and this is what I get... Sigh. :)

The best thing ever - Chocolate and Strawberry stacked ice cream cone. Yum! Now that I've eaten it, the baby is kicking like crazy. I think he likes it too!

32 week update

2011-03-05T12:27:00.000-08:00

I'm 32 weeks as of Friday! I'm getting to the lovely uncomfortable stage of pregnancy. Large. Very large. :)

I went to the doctor on Friday for another check-up. The blood tests came back, and my bile salt level was borderline, but just in the normal range. However, with my symptoms improving by taking the medication, it's unclear if I have a mild case of cholestasis. So, the plan right now is for me to quit taking the medication and see if the symptoms come back. If they do, then I have cholestasis and we have to induce around 36-37 weeks. If they don't come back, we assume it was a fluke, and go on with normal appointments. We'll see what happens!

Big boy bed update

2011-02-26T09:12:00.000-08:00

So... Aaron has been out of town since Thursday afternoon. Wyatt and I have been fending for ourselves the past few days. My mom helped me out of a pinch on Friday by picking Wyatt up from daycare - I had to have my second non-stress test to check up on the baby. No test results back yet - I was really hoping to hear if I have cholestasis or not. I go back on Tuesday, so hopefully I will know by then! They did have one part of the test back - one of my liver enzymes is high, but it's not diagnostic for the condition. Anyway...

The big boy bed update: Wednesday night Wyatt did great - he only woke up once at 3 am and then he went right back to sleep. Thursday night he got up three different times and the first time he wouldn't go back to sleep for about an hour. Last night I lost count of how many times he got up. I think I ended up sleeping on his bed with him from about 5 till 7 this morning. So... not exactly how I'd like it to be going. I guess it's training for when the baby is born. Still, it makes me wonder if we are rushing the big boy bed thing. But I don't think it's safe for him to be in a crib he can fall out of. Today I have to figure out how to get him to nap on his bed - he naps on a mat at daycare, but they have peer pressure going for them.

Aaron is coming home tonight - yay!

Big Boy Bed!!!

2011-02-23T14:02:00.001-08:00

Today is my day off (and Aaron's too), so we took on this little project of taking the crib out of Wyatt's room and setting up his big boy bed. Last night when I put him to bed, he tried to climb out of his crib, and he even got his leg up and over the side. So... it seems like it is time to retire the crib!
We got the bedding at Target - I've had my eye on it for awhile. I had to get the little lamp that goes with it - too cute! We showed it to Wyatt, and he was very excited. We'll see how bedtime goes! I hope to get some sleep tonight - it just might be on a twin bed. :)

Itchy, itchy hands and feet...

2011-02-22T16:37:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged much about this pregnancy. I hope Baby #2 doesn't feel slighted by this. Life is just crazier the second time around, as many of you know. Anyway, I am almost 31 weeks pregnant now - getting to the large stage. The last two nights I've woken up with seriously itchy hands and feet, and just generally itchy all over. It's been better during the day, but it gets worse at night. So, I googled "itch and pregnancy" last night, and I was surprised to see that there is an actual condition during pregnancy called cholestasis of pregnancy. Basically, the bile duct gets blocked and bile salts accumulate in the blood, making a pregnant woman very, very itchy. It's typically the hands and feet, and happens more at night. It made me kind of nervous how much this sounded like me, so I made an appointment to see my OB doctor today. When I told her my symptoms, she said it sounded like a textbook case of cholestasis. Awesome. So... I had a blood test today and they monitored the baby for about a half hour today. He's still doing great, so that's good. I'll find out hopefully in less than a week if I have cholestasis, but in the meantime my doctor put me on medication in case I do have it. Basically, the biggest complication of cholestasis is that it can cause premature labor or stillbirth after 37 weeks if it's untreated. If I have cholestasis, I'll have to continue to take the medicine and be induced early. And as of right now I have to go back to the doctor twice a week so they can monitor the baby. So... it's been a lot to process today. I can feel my hands and feet starting to get itchy all over again, which makes me think it's pretty likely the test will come back positive. I hope the medication will start to work soon!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T17:11:00.001-08:00

Wyatt had a litte Valentine's party today at daycare - he took car valentines and Hershey kisses. He came home with a little bag of valentines from his friends - very cute. Tonight we gave him a little card, a Sesame Street coloring book, and some crayons.

Coloring with Daddy - I just love how big he looks, lying on his tummy coloring. SO CUTE!! :)

Hope you all had a very happy Valentine's Day!

How to keep a clean house

2011-02-12T11:01:00.000-08:00

Wyatt is really starting to want to do everything that we do. Case in point - vacuuming! Today I had him help me pick up his toys, then we vacuumed the living room. He likes to help me push the vacuum, but today I let him do it all by himself.

As you can see, he thought this was the best thing ever! I hope his wife will enjoy his domestic abilities someday. :)

Wyatt's toddler room - stage 1

2011-02-05T11:21:00.000-08:00

This morning we (I mean Aaron) put together the storage unit for Wyatt's room that we got at IKEA last weekend. As you can see, Wyatt already likes to takes his toys out of the bins and put them into different bins.

We are going to do a cars theme for his room, so we also got this rug at IKEA.

We got the table and two chairs there as well. Wyatt really likes to play with his magnets when he's sitting at his table.

The storage unit... You can see half of the bedside table that goes with the table and chairs. We will hopefully in the next month or two move the crib out of Wyatt's room and transition him to a twin bed. I think we'll probably just start out with the mattress on the floor. There's a twin bed that has a trundle that we liked at IKEA, but it was out of stock. They thought they should get it in by March, so we'll see. I think it'd be a good idea to start out with the mattress on the floor though.

Close-up of the table.

Wyatt and his "eyes." That's what he calls sunglasses. The weather has actually been fairly warm yesterday and today - it makes me believe the groundhog that there will only be six more weeks of winter!

Hope you all have a good weekend!

Playing in the snow

2011-02-01T17:00:00.000-08:00

Today I got out of work a little early because of the impending blizzard, so I got to pick up Wyatt early from daycare. We got home and it was snowing, and Wyatt kept saying "no", which is his way of saying "snow." :) He kept pointing at my boots (he calls them "boops") so I asked him if he wanted to go play in the snow. As you can see, we got all bundled up and went outside briefly. However, he kept taking off his left mitten, so I decided to call it quits outside after about 10 minutes. He was quite mad about this, so I compromised.

Snow in the house! :) I filled a tub with some snow, put dry mittens on him, and he had a ball.

What's a little mess when you can play in the snow in the warmth of your house?? :)

He's very curious about the "no."

Here's a little clip of him saying "snow."

Success!

2011-01-31T18:49:00.000-08:00

So... because you are dying to know how our meal-planning and budgeting is going, let me give you an update. Since I bought Quicken, it's been doing my budgeting for me (well, categorizing items and then compiling it so I can see what we are spending). It downloaded from our bank website December's info, so I can compare last month's spending to this month. Can I just say how amazed I am at how much money we have saved??? We cut our overall food (including eating out and groceries) budget in HALF! Wow. It makes me realize how much convenience really costs.

Tonight I went grocery shopping after Wyatt went to bed and I stuck to my list for our meals and such for this week. It really makes shopping so much more rewarding to know that what I'm buying is going to get eaten! I'm not a big coupon cutter, but I'm fairly happy with my cereal deal I got tonight. General Mills cereals were on sale at Hyvee, I had a Hyvee coupon and two General Mills coupons, so I ended up with three boxes for $5.53. Not too shabby. Now, I know there are some ridiculous coupon blogs out there where the store basically pays them to buy food - I will never have the patience for that. I'm happy with my semi-cheap cereal purchase. :)

I'm hoping we don't get too much of a blizzard these next few days, but I'm happy to have my cupboards and fridge stocked. :) Hope you are all staying warm and safe!

Cookie time

2011-01-23T15:59:00.000-08:00

Today we have stayed in all day. My last post was about how Wyatt and I were sick - well, on Friday Aaron came down with a nasty stomach bug and even today he's still been recovering. Wyatt seems just fine - extraordinarily playful even. I'm still not sleeping well at night and totally stuffed up and hoarse. Yuck. So... we stayed home to keep our germs quarantined. Naturally, by dinnertime Wyatt had exhausted playing with just about every toy, so we made cookies. How can I say no when he says "Mommy cook?" Too cute. So we made oatmeal cookies per Daddy's request.

Wyatt "helping." He's great at smashing cookie dough. :)

Making cookies just went by too fast, so we made Play-doh cookies.

He tried to sample some Play-doh, but he didn't eat much. The homemade version has so much salt in it, I'm sure it tasted gross!

Yay for cookies! :)

*Yes, he wore his jammies all day. No, I don't think there's anything wrong with that - it's environmentally friendly. :)

*Please don't judge my hair - it was in a ponytail earlier in the day... I napped when Wyatt did. I'm sick and pregnant. :)

Mommy's boy

2011-01-20T17:43:00.000-08:00

Wyatt has been all about Mommy the past few days. I think it's mostly because we are both sick - we went to the doctor this morning, and he has an ear infection and I have a sinus infection and lots of junk in my lungs! Yuck. Aaron didn't go to the doctor, but he's got a sore throat too... We're not the healthiest house right now. I'm hoping the antibiotics will kick in by this weekend!

So... Wyatt and I vegged out on the couch tonight, eating a brownie and watching Elmo. Life is rough. :)

My cute little 18 month-old

2011-01-17T17:52:00.001-08:00

I just think these are some seriously cute jammies, and Wyatt is even cuter! He just had his bath tonight, and now he is brushing his teeth before bed.

"Elmo?" We hear this word at least a hundred times a night!

"Fine, I'll just play for awhile. Please don't make me go to bed yet!"

Meatloaf

2011-01-12T16:54:00.000-08:00

Tonight I made meatloaf, and I was very happy with how it turned out. I got the recipe from allrecipes.com, but I made a few tweaks of my own.

Yummy meatloaf

2 lb. ground beef (I used 85/15)

2 eggs

1-2 T. Worcestershire sauce (I eyeballed it)

~1 cup of crushed saltine crackers

1/2 c. milk

2 T. dried onion flakes

1-2 t. garlic powder

a few pinches of salt and pepper

I shaped it into a loaf in a 9x9 pan (I couldn't find my bread loaf pan, and I think I will do it this way again!) and baked it at 350 for just over an hour. I did turn the temp up to 400 for the last twenty minutes because I put in the tater tots and garlic bread.

Aaron liked it and I liked it. Wyatt turned his nose up at both the meatloaf and tater tots. What kid doesn't like tater tots??? :) Crazy kid.

I'm taking the leftovers for lunch tomorrow, and I'm actually pretty excited about it. :)

Life lately

2011-01-09T15:08:00.000-08:00

I'm afraid I haven't been very good at keeping the blog up lately. As pretty much all of you who read my blog know, my grandma passed away last Tuesday. So, our week revolved around that, and yesterday we had the memorial service for her. It was a very nice service, and I think she would have been happy with how she was represented. We will miss her!

I didn't make any New Year's resolutions this year, but Aaron and I are going to try to cook more at home and go out a little less. We've never been good at planning out meals, so that makes grocery shopping a guessing game. So... we are trying to plan out our week so we only buy what we need. This week is our first experiment! :) Tonight Aaron made Bubble Pizza - very tasty. :) On the menu for the week:

Monday - Pork chops

Tuesday - Pizza

Wednesday - Meatloaf

Thursday - Chicken helper

Friday - go out!

Wyatt's first haircut

2011-01-02T14:14:00.000-08:00

Wyatt has had a mullet long enough. Daddy took it upon himself to cut it off. :)

The finished product. Pretty good, eh? :)

"Mom, quit taking my picture. I'm trying to play!"

Poor kiddo has my thin hair - hopefully it will grow in fuller as he gets older.

Aaron thinks I'm a nutjob for saving a lock of his hair. I can't help it - I'm a sentimental when it comes to Wyatt! :) I'll probably save the first tooth he loses too.

More Christmas Eve fun...

2010-12-24T18:52:00.000-08:00

Well, I don't think Wyatt has had any fun all day. :)

Wyatt and Justin bonding over crackers and a new farm toy.

A new Elmo flap book! Good thing Rachael can help open all of them!

Wyatt's new slide! (and check out the Elmo slippers. He didn't want to take them off!)

Wyatt's new dump truck from his aunt and uncle - "Vroom! Vroom!"

He's starting to figure out that you have to tear off the paper to get to the present.

Yay for a new book!

Wyatt's first ride in Mommy's new Moby wrap! While it's mostly for his little brother, it's sure fun to carry Wyatt around in it!

I think Wyatt is pretty spoiled... :)

Playing in the snow!

2010-12-24T14:12:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Eve to you all! We are in Iowa City at Aaron's parent's house, and his sister and brother-in-law are also here from California! Today has been very low-key, and this afternoon we went out briefly to play in the snow.

Wyatt is spoiled to have a Grandma, Uncle, and Aunt that lose all inhibition when playing with him! :)
Thank goodness for Aunt Rachael - Wyatt kept taking off his mittens but then he'd be upset and want them back on.

I can't believe I got him to look at me for this picture with Grandma! What fun! :)

And our latest family picture together - too bad we didn't take this earlier because it would have been a great Christmas card picture! :) We will definitely have a white Christmas this year. I can't believe it has snowed all day!

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Our family Christmas

2010-12-22T19:01:00.001-08:00

Santa came early to our house - we are headed to Iowa City this weekend, so we decided to do our family Christmas tonight!

Aaron and I opened presents from each other while Wyatt ate his supper - this helped him get the idea that we tear the paper off the presents and open the boxes. He was very excited!

We got him a toy drum with other instruments that go in it. As you can see by the grin on his face, he LOVED it! :)

And some puzzles - Mommy didn't quite realize how hard they are. Oops! :)

And a little pot that has play food and spoon - mostly he likes to put the food in and take it out and say "'Um!"

But what was the highlight of his gifts and stocking? Ritz crackers. Seriously. He loves crackers! :)
Merry Christmas!

In the Christmas Spirit!

2010-12-18T14:53:00.000-08:00

Today has been a productive Saturday! We went to Hobby Lobby and I picked up some new wrapping paper and ribbon - my theme is sort of an over-the-top North Pole Christmas. :) I spent the afternoon wrapping presents, most of which I never went to the store to buy. I love Amazon.com and Target.com!
Then we put up the Christmas tree... finally! :) I needed somewhere to put the presents. Wyatt had a lot of fun helping carry the ornaments to the tree. We'll see how well he does - so far he just likes to look at it, and he hasn't really touched the presents. Yet.

We have some "tradition" ornaments - this one I got from Hilary when I was pregnant with Wyatt in 2008.
Then we have an ornament for Wyatt's first Christmas - 2009.

And this year our ornament is Elmo. It's just so fitting for our stage of life. :) Aaron wrote 2010 on it. We'll see what next year's ornament looks like - something with Wyatt and his little brother!

These are my Christmas presents for our yet-to-be-named little boy. Aaron and I had a date night on Friday night and we went to Kohls after dinner. We had a 30% off coupon, so we got some really good deals! This outfit and the blankets are for bringing home our next little boy in April. So exciting! :)

These are a couple other things we got for him - the long sleeve onesies are SO soft and I love the colors.
And Wyatt is growing out of his last pair of tennis shoes, so we found some really great ones at Kohls. He LOVES shoes!

I just think they are the cutest shoes on the cutest little boy! :)

Ah, snack time. Or is it silly time?

This is what happens when I ask him to say "cheese!"

Such a sweetie... Wyatt makes me so excited for the new baby!

Baby BOY Brummer... #2

2010-12-15T18:14:00.000-08:00

Here is my baby bump. We took this picture today before my ultrasound - I'm about 20.5 weeks today.

We had a few minutes of 4D ultrasound today - we didn't have that with Wyatt so that was kind of cool. Honestly, though, I think that the regular ultrasound is just as neat. They have a lot of improving to do with the 4D ultrasound. :)

The baby's arm. He's measuring right on schedule and proportional.

Here's the baby's face from straight on.

And here is the profile - so sweet! Just for comparison, Wyatt's ultrasound profile picture is below to compare. I think it's human nature to compare. :)

The ultrasound due date is April 25th, but it's close enough to our original due date that the doctor is keeping it on April 29th. It should really be a time frame - it's hard on us pregnant folks when the baby doesn't come by that magical date. :)

Anyways, I am very excited for Wyatt to have a little brother. While we don't have to go shop for girl clothes, it's going to be fun to decorate the nursery and also update Wyatt's room!

Fun with homemade Play-Doh

2010-12-11T17:27:00.001-08:00

Aaron, Wyatt, and I are staying at my parent's house this weekend so Grandma B. isn't alone. My Mom and Dad are in Chicago with my sister and niece for an American Girl weekend. :) Cute. So... since we were kind of snowed in today, I decided to make some Play-Doh for Wyatt.
It was fairly easy to make, and not terribly messy. (Don't worry Mom, none of your counters are stained red or blue. :) )

Wyatt had fun trying to cut out shapes - it's a little hard for him still, but he'll grow into it. Anyway, here is the recipe I used:

Homemade Play Doh

2 cups flour

2 cups warm water

1/2 cup salt

1 T. cream of tartar

Food coloring

1. Mix all the ingredients except food coloring in a pan on medium heat. Continue stirring until the mixture is smooth and no longer sticky. It should be pretty tough to mix when you are done.

2. Remove from heat and let it cool a little. I wet the counter and then put down a sheet of Saran Wrap to protect the counter. Knead the dough until it is smooth.

3. Divide the dough and make a well in each to add the food coloring. Knead in the color until it is even.

4. Play!

Cheap, easy fun. I think I may make another batch next week and divide it up for little party favors for Wyatt's Christmas party at daycare.

Stay safe and warm, everyone!

20 weeks today!

2010-12-10T17:24:00.000-08:00

Today I am officially 20 weeks along with this pregnancy. Crazy to think we are halfway there! I'm much more distracted this time around - Wyatt keeps me busy! :) I'm starting to feel the baby move more and more.

Wednesday we have our ultrasound - I can't wait to find out what we are having! The Chinese birth chart and the pencil test say we are having a girl. Aaron thinks we are having a girl. Me... I'm not so sure one way or the other. I will be happy with either! I just want to know!

Anyway, I'll have to start taking some baby bump pictures soon. I'm starting to show, but not huge yet.

Happy weekend!

My silly little boy

2010-12-08T18:50:00.000-08:00

Messy, messy boy - this is what happens when Mommy gets distracted and doesn't keep him from using his fingers with the applesauce! He loves his applesauce! Probably one of the words he says the most: "Ab-sah!" He could eat applesauce for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And a bedtime snack. :)

Fun with Daddy's hat - another one of his favorite things. He has a blue hat he wears with his winter coat, but he thinks it's especially great to get to wear Daddy's hat!

It's hard to believe Wyatt will be 18 months the 30th of this month. His vocabulary continues to grow and grow - challenging for us at times because he will say a word over and over, and we don't know what he's saying! We still haven't figured out "nuck" yet. He says this sometimes when he's done eating, and it's not "done" or "down" or "stuck." We have no idea! :) He's starting to put words together at times: "More cracker" or "Bath please." Pretty cute!

And tonight he wanted to take his Elmo doll to bed with him. We dressed Elmo in some of Wyatt's old jammies, and he thought that was just hilarious! I love this age. The only thing I'm dreading right now is potty training... :)

Getting ready for Christmas!

2010-12-01T16:25:00.000-08:00

Today was my day off of work, and it was great for catching up on some things and just relaxing! Wyatt and I put up some Christmas decorations today - I bought some Christmas window stickers that he had a lot of fun putting up. And then he had a slight meltdown when they were all on the window. :)

I have a little Christmas tree that I thought would be fun to make Wyatt's tree this year. So we went to Hobby Lobby and picked out some ornaments that he liked. Puppies, rocking horses, snowmen, and a Santa tree topper. He calls Santa "nanta"... it's pretty cute.

I tried to get a picture of him with the tree, but this is all I could get. He kept jumping off the table before I could get a picture. Such is life right now. :)

Anyway, hopefully we will get the Christmas tree up tonight or tomorrow - I'm excited for Wyatt to see it! (And hopefully he doesn't "help" take the ornaments off.)

And... here is a little clip of one of his favorite words - UP!!

sick. sick. sick.

2010-11-29T19:14:00.001-08:00

This is the third Monday in a row I've been sick. The first Monday Aaron and I came down with the stomach flu - he and I both called in sick. At least that was a 24 hour bug. Last Monday I had a cold - stuffed up and coughing. Well, that cold has lasted and lasted to today, and now it's worse! Aaron has a bad cough that's been around for about 5 days too. Wyatt has done the best out of all of us - he must have fabulous immunity from daycare! He's just had a runny nose and a mild cough the past few days. So, we all went to Convenient Care tonight - each with our own diagnosis. Aaron has bronchitis. I have a sinus infection and a sore throat - my rapid Strep test was negative, thank goodness! But the real Strep test doesn't come back till Wednesday. Wyatt just has a mild cold, but since he's had it for more than a couple days the doctor is putting him on antibiotics so he doesn't get what we've got!

I'm hoping that next Monday is a healthy one. Stomach flu, cold, sinus infection... I don't want to know what comes next!

Wyatt's first visit with Santa

2010-11-27T10:24:00.000-08:00

I love this picture. Hilarious! Wyatt was less than thrilled with his first visit with Santa Claus. And Santa is just smiling away in the background. He was a good sport. We are in Iowa City this weekend, and we went to Sycamore Mall which is much calmer than the Coral Ridge Mall. I thought with most Santa picture places you have to pay, but at this one she said I could use my camera if I wanted. Um, yes?? She has the same camera that I have so I didn't see the point in paying $7 for a picture of Wyatt crying. :) I don't know how they make money if they let parents take their own pictures, but hey, I'll take it!

Anyway, Grandma Cheri bought Wyatt a Santa hat at Ben Franklin's after our visit with Santa. Isn't he cute?? :)

Well, I am getting in the Christmas mood - I want to put up our Christmas tree when we get home tomorrow! Happy Holidays!

Catching up on the blog...

2010-11-14T16:44:00.001-08:00

I have some catching up to do on the blog. Here are some pictures from Halloween - Wyatt dressed up as a penguin this year! I don't think he really cared what he was, but we did let him "pick" his costume. :)
He trick-or-treated at my parents - see him clutching his candy? And yet he had no interest in eating it. He actually got upset when I opened it up. Hilarious. :)

And Grandma B. dressed up as Ironman this year. Ha. Just kidding. She was trying on one of Alex's birthday presents. :)

Wyatt thought the sucker was pretty decent - that was a sticky mess!

And here are the most current pictures of Wyatt from lunch today. We ate at Old Chicago after church, and he just looked so darn cute in his overalls and plaid shirt. The waiter got a kick out of him eating his pizza... it's a messy affair.

I told him to "Say cheese!" and this is the face I got. Cute! :)

Way too much fun eating pizza...

And... modeling his new winter hat. It was kind of chilly today, so we had him wear his new hat and coat. He thought that was great. :)

Anyway... This weekend Aaron and I are heading to St. Louis (Wyatt is staying with Grandma Muffy). I'm taking an Invisalign course there on Friday, and then we are going to hang out there on Saturday for a mini getaway. I'm excited for a short work week!

The next week is Thanksgiving - again, I am excited for another short work week! Woo hoo!

Hope you are all doing well!

Pumpkin party

2010-10-24T17:10:00.000-07:00

Today Aaron, Wyatt, and I drove down to Iowa City. First, we grabbed some lunch from Sparti's (LOVE greek food) and then we headed over to see Aaron's mom for a little while. Wyatt had a fun time playing at Grandma's house, then we hopped back in the car and drove across town to our previous daycare provider's house for a pumpkin-carving party.

Of course, I forgot to take my camera in, but Aaron carved a masterpiece and Wyatt ran around and played like crazy. Oh, and he ate three cookies. I tried to get him to eat a cracker, apple slice, chex mix, or a pretzel. Nope. "Mo'?" "Googie?" Well... not like he eats cookies everyday.

Anyway, here's a picture from tonight of our freshly carved pumpkin. We put a candle in it and lit it - Wyatt thought that was pretty great. :)

Wyatt's new tooth

2010-10-21T17:48:00.000-07:00

So... it's been awhile since Wyatt got a new tooth in. He has four incisors on top and two incisors on the bottom. The new tooth he just got in is the lower left molar. The dentist in me is slightly concerned that he hasn't gotten in the other incisors on the bottom yet, but... he is only 15 months. :) I can feel the lower right molar is about to come in, and he has been quite fussy the past few days and finicky about eating. I can't wait for him to get those other three molars in!

Welcome to our sweet niece Piper!

2010-10-10T17:57:00.000-07:00

Today we stopped at the hospital to see Tyler, Katie, and Piper! Somehow Aaron got to hold her first - no fair! :)
Wyatt wanted to touch her head, but other than that wanted to explore around the room.

Here she is! So precious!

Finally my turn to hold her! :) She is so light - about 2.5 lb lighter than Wyatt was when he was born! We are very happy she and her mom are doing so well!

Weekend in Iowa City

2010-10-10T17:42:00.001-07:00

Aaron, Wyatt, and I headed to Iowa City on Friday afternoon - I'm done with work at 2 on Fridays, and with Aaron's new job he can be done whenever he wants! So, we packed up and drove to Iowa City where we met up with Aaron's mom for dinner at Sushi Popo. Oh, how we miss the crab rangoons, house fried rice, and sushi of Sushi Popo! :)

Saturday morning we got up and ate breakfast at Brueggers, another Iowa City favorite. We walked around the Ped Mall, and Wyatt had a blast at the playground. He was very excited when he saw it!
Daddy chased Wyatt around the playground so Grandma Cheri and I could get lots of pictures. :)

I love the joy on his face, and how excited he is about going down the slide!

I love this picture by the fountain - Grandma took Wyatt over to the fountain, and he reached out to touch it and it surprised him that it was water! It was pretty cute!

After walking around downtown, we drove to Swisher to check out a pumpkin farm there. It was not quite how it was advertised, but we still had a good time.

The pictures do no justice to just how steep the hill was that the pumpkins were on. Wyatt had a hard time walking around because of how steep it was!

Wyatt found a little pumpkin just his size...

And he tried to pick up pumpkins that weigh as much as he does! :)

We let him pick out a little gourd, and this is the one he went home with. Very cute. Until he tried to eat it in the car. :) We had a very nice weekend, and Wyatt enjoyed lots of attention from his grandparents. We'll be back soon!

Wyatt is 15 months old

2010-10-02T17:51:00.000-07:00

Time flies! Wyatt is already 1/4 through his second year of life! He is becoming very much a little boy and not so much a baby.

He is wearing 18 -24 month size clothing right now and size 5 shoes. I don't know his current weight - probably around 25 pounds - but his next well-child appointment is on Wednesday. We'll see how he's measuring! He is such a solid little boy, but he really doesn't have a lot of chub to him as he is so busy and running around all the time!

Anyway, here he is feeding himself yogurt this morning. I don't usually let him attempt this on his own as it gets messy, but I know he needs to learn how to feed himself! He tries to use a fork sometime, but it's more for playing than eating. He'll get there. No rush. :) Well, by next April it would be helpful if he could feed himself more... :)

Reuben waiting for any spills...

Chewie on the other side of the high-chair... They wait and wait, and sometimes he drops food to them, though Mommy says "no-no."

Here's a little clip of him eating the yogurt. So cute. :)

life ramblings...

2010-09-27T17:26:00.001-07:00

So... pregnancy this far has been much like I remember it - I'm still tired and queasy most days! But there have been a few differences. This time around I have very specific cravings. Like today, for example, I really wanted sushi. Really, really wanted sushi. I'm trying to stay away from raw fish, so tonight I had a California roll instead of the usual spicy tuna. And it was wonderful. :) Then at the grocery store tonight we walked by the peaches and nectarines, my hyper-pregnant nose picked up the smell and I HAD to have some nectarines. It's weird to have such specific cravings!

I can't wait to get past the icky first trimester!

Anyway, Wyatt has been a lot of fun lately. He is just so busy and active lately, playing all the time. His vocabulary is really expanding too. Here are the words he regularly says: Mama, Dada, Daddy, mine, hi, hot, nana, hat, woof, dog, down, more, Go Hawks, and no-no. He's a big boy!

Well, got to run, Wyatt is trying to climb onto the couch with me. :)

Baby Brummer #2 coming in April!

2010-09-22T16:56:00.000-07:00

Wyatt is proud to wear his new "Big Bro" t-shirt. He has no idea what it means. :) I suppose once the new baby gets here, he'll realize what was going on!

Our tentative due date right now is April 29th, which makes me 9 weeks on Friday. I feel like junk lately, and I can't wait to get out of the "all-day-sickness" phase!