Cool Moves

Brandon is entering the world of toddlerhood, and is oh so cute!  He is starting to take a few steps by himself (which instantly throws his older siblings into ecstatic cheering) and he is dancing too.  He melts my heart!  Here are some short clips of his awesomeness.

Well, the best dancing video of Brandon won't upload.  So instead, I give you a cute one of Ruby dancing when she was here in June.  :)

 g

Leaving, On a Jet Plane...

I'm not going anywhere, except maybe to crazy town... But that's a whole other post.  :)

I miss my sister.  She moved to South Carolina.  And even though Texas was a million miles away, and this move doesn't really change anything about how often we will see eachother, it just feels worse.  I haven't seen her house.  That really bothers me.  I've cried a little about it.

So I've been feeling emotional, and it's the time of the month that I'm supposedly supposed to be able to control my emotions.  Sigh.  Then my 8 year old asks me to sit and look through her memory box with her tonight.  She has never really shown any interest in it.  It's possible she didn't know it existed until we moved.
So I sat on her floor, and began to unravel.

The first thing I grabbed was a small stack of pictures with her and my dad together.  (I know, can't you just feel your throat tighten up just thinking about it.)  You've heard it all before.  She was my first child, the only grandchild to meet my dad, named after my dad, born at the perfect time to heal our family...  She handled the tears rather well, and just said something like "You're feeling pretty sensitive, huh?"

Then came the old drawings, her blessing dress, the bracelet from the hospital when she was born, her first report card, the hat my mom knitted her, the blanket Todd's mom crocheted when she hoped Todd was a girl, her first bracelet, her Relay for Life certificate.  These all brought an onslaught of memories and accompanying emotions.  But then I found this.  (To the tune of 'Leaving on a Jet plane'.)


I'm growing big, I'm about to come out
Get ready mom, I'm gonna scream and shout
I'm going to wake you up all through the night  (this turned out to be way too true)

The dawn is breaking, it's early morn
My diaper's so full, it's very well worn
Already I'm so hungry I will cry

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you're my mommy
Hold me close, and never let me go
Cause I"m Marie and Todd's baby
Don't know how I got so lucky
Our baby, we love you so.

She'll be a genius, a music prodigy
And with her parents, she'll be a hottie
Bronwyn, we already love you so

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you're my mommy
Hold me close, and never let me go
Cause I"m Marie and Todd's baby
Don't know how I got so lucky
Our baby, we love you so.

Hilary and my mom sang this to me at my baby shower.  I had forgotten all about it, but remembered it instantly once I saw the paper.  So glad I saved it.  We sang the original song every time my dad left town, which was somewhat regular when I was growing up.  I remember the sadness in my mom's eyes every time he left.  We would wait at the airport until we saw his plane take off.  Then we'd sing.

This little parody means so much to me.  I feel so much love coming from it.  How on earth is my baby going to be 9 this year?  And why does my sister live so dang far away?  And why, oh why can't I get a grip?!

Much Needed Update

 

I have been getting major blog anxiety because I am getting sooooo behind.  Life is busy.  Life is good.  So good, I don't want to forget it!  

I finally broke down and signed the kids up for soccer.  It was 6 weeks, and all 3 kids played at the same time.  Ty didn't play at all, which reaffirmed my decision to wait until the girls were older.  But the girls really enjoyed it and did really well.  I loved seeing their confidence bloom, and see them try so hard.  I'm really glad we did it, but I definitely won't put Ty back in for a year or two.  

At least he liked the cupcake.  : )

 

We moved!  (More on that later)  I was bound and determined to be the first one to use our new soaker tub, but alas, the girls beat me to it.

 

Hilary came to visit, and brought the stomach flu.  Thankfully, my mom was also here to take care of us!  And I never thought I would be glad for one of my kids to be sick, but it was sooo much easier to take care of Brandon because he was sick too, and just stayed in bed with me for a couple days.  

He is so cute here, I could cry.

 

We tried to get a good cousin pic... This one is the best.  But seriously... Why can't my oldest child pull through when everyone else does?!

 

Also tried to get a good shot with my mom.  

Fail.

 

At least 3 adults can manage to smile simultaneously!

 

We are LOVING our new house!  Most rooms are still works in progress, but here are a couple before and after shots.  We had the fireplace mantle and the kitchen cabinets painted.  I LOVE how it all looks.  

 

 

I have always wanted a white kitchen.  Keep dreaming folks, dreams come true!

 

This little guy decided to turn ONE!  He is sooo cute.  He finally has two little, bottom teeth.  He loves to dance and gives the wetest kisses ever.  

 

One of our worst attempts at a family picture, EVER!  So disappointing.  And in case you are wondering, skeleton shirts are still in style in June.

 

We succeeded at creating another child with a massive sweet tooth.  Brandon loved his birthday cake!  

 

My mom and Lynn treated our family to a trip to Lagoon.  It was sweltering hot, but the lines were super short!  We had a great day!

 

First taste of cotton candy.  

 

We totally wore Ty out!

 

My kids loved playing all the carnival games, and came home with quite a bag of loot!

 

Lynn and my bonus nephew, Jonas.  

 

The best part was how much the kids enjoyed the rides.

 

WHEW!