Everyday in 2012

Would it be possible for me to post something, even if it's small, every single day in 2012? I am going to try. My goal is to find one thing that made me smile that day. Maybe it will help make it easier to see the glass half full instead of half empty.....so I'm not calling it a Resolutin per se - just something imma try out! Wish me luck!

Dear Brenym,

I love you so much. So does your sissy. I am so happy that you and sissy still get along so well. When she comes home from daddy's, you run and give her the biggest hug. I think it makes me happier when you two hug than anything else in the world. You are trying to repeat every single word we say. The only word you will not repeat is grandma, you usually say "no" when we ask you to say grandma. I sure hope we are able to record it the first time you say it! You are a little boy who knows what he wants. You are not a picky eater, but if you have it set in your head that an apple is what you want, you will eat nothing else. Right now you like to be holding two toys at all times. The toy of the week is two red cars from the Cars movie. Anytime you see a car you start screaming car car. Your favorite cereal is Cinnamon Toast Crunch, which is your sister's favorite also. If you could spend all day, everyday outside, you would. You could live on fruit alone. We buy so much fruit at the grocery store and 99% of the time, there is none left at the end of the week. Our cats tolerate you, but I'm sure they are much happier now that you do not sit on them and say "vroom vroom". I don't think you will ever require much sleep. After 8 hours at night, you are ready for your day. Usually we can get you to take an hour or hour and a half nap, but that's it. I cannot believe that in almost a month you will have blessed my life for two years. I love coming home and having you yell "mommmmyyy" and run to me. You definitely get your affectionate side from your dad :)

I love you buddy!

Mommy

Goodbye dance - Hello gymnastics

So Brenym obviously has nothing to do with this post - but I couldn't resist the picture of him with my dad. He absolutely loves my dad. When we get to their house, the first thing he does is walk past my mom to find my dad. Grandma does NOT think this is funny. So I thought this picture truly captured their man to man relationship.

Onto Kendall ~ the girls she used to go to daycare with were involved with gymnastics so Kendall was always asking to go to open gym, which I always told her she could go to, but I didn't really know what she was talking about. So I asked her after dance last year (which she would always willingly go to, but was never really excited about) if she wanted to do dance or gymnastics. At first, she said both, but I think at her age that doing both while also going through her first year at school everyday was a little much. So she chose gymnastics. They have Tumble Bee 1&2 and Super Bee 1&2 - being that she'd never done gymnastics, I signed her up for Tumble Bee 2 since 1 seemed like it was really simple. She had her first class on Tuesday and she paid attention the whole time, unlike in dance. In dance I would hear her teacher constantly saying "Kendall look up here". With gymnastics, she was constantly moving and she just loved it. After class her teacher came to me and said she could skip this class, skip the Super Bee classes and move right into Girls 1. I was shocked. She said that Kendall was capable of doing more than some girls can after taking classes for a year. She had great body awareness and was great at following directions and caught on quickly. When class was over, she didn't want to leave! I took that as a great sign that she had made a good choice for herself. I was sad that she didn't want to do dance because I did dance and I love the recital~ but to each their own. She has asked every.single.day.since Tuesday when her next class is.

Her first week of kindergarten has gone AWESOME. She loves riding the bus. She loves having a locker. She did tell me that if they had homework, she wouldn't be doing any homework. She's always telling me that she wants us to have a "bigger" house (which, I have figured out that in her mind, a big house is any house with an upstairs) so I told her that if she didn't do her homework she wouldn't get a good job and be able to get a bigger house. She quickly said she'd do her homework, but only if we helped her.

Brenym got tubes in his ears back in August and it's been AWESOME. He's had no ear infections since. Thank goodness! We also took his pacifier away on the 2nd of September and it only took him two nights of screaming for about ten minutes and now he doesn't even seem to care that he doesn't have it. I was amazed. That kid could SMELL a pacifier within 5 ft of him. We were always hiding them for bedtime and he'd come out of the bathroom with one in his mouth! gross. So, for the first time since he was born, he now sleeps through the night. I figured taking away the bink would make him sleep worse, but it's made him sleep MUCH BETTER. He used to wake up when his bink would fall out and scream bloody murder. Night #1 with no bink he screamed when we put him to sleep, and I almost caved but Rob told me to sit down and give him ten minutes. After 9 minutes, he fell asleep. He woke up as usual around 230 screaming, and we let him scream, he didn't do it for long and before we knew it, he was back asleep with no pacifier. I must say that he is WAY MORE STUBBORN than his sister so far, so I was completely shocked when taking the bink away went as easily as it did.

Now that he's got the tubes in, his vocabulary has increased tremendously. He always hears Kendall calling his dad "Rob" - so usually when Brenym wants Rob, he says "wobbie". It's hilarious. He calls Kendall "my seesy". He knows all the animal sounds. Kendall wasn't much of a drinker (ha! I hope she stays that way) ~ if I got a glass of milk down her in a day, it was a good day. Brenym though, he would drink the whole gallon if I let him. He's still an awesome eater. He will pretty much eat anything we put in front of him. Sometimes he tries to act picky and Rob is the one who tries to cave and make him nuggets - but I am strong in the food department.....I tell him no snacks if he doesn't take a few bites. Usually if we ignore his request to get down from the table, he takes a few bites and then we give him tons of praise and let him down. I do not want picky eaters!! So far, I've been very very lucky.

Yowza

Kendall starts Kindergarten in less than one month. Still crazy to me to think that time has gone by SO FAST. She is very excited to ride the bus. I find that funny because I give my mother crap to this day for making me and my brother ride the bus, but sweet, perfect Becky was always driven right to the door and rode in on a shiny white pony...okay the last part is stretching it, but Beck had it good. I remember walking to the bus stop in my cheerleading skirt with sweatpants under it and freezing my ass off. No, I'm not still bitter about it. Not.at.all. Anywho - my little soon to be kindergartener broke her wrist THE DAY BEFORE we left for our vacation.which was by water.and sand.and everything else that a kid can't do with a big huge not waterproof cast. At the hospital, they gave her the equivalent to morphine for adults. She was like a drunk 5 year old. She tried talking to my mom, and said "grandma, um, grandma, um, grandma, um, I can't remember what I was gonna say." Hilarious. While telling the doctor what happened (I love how every person you encounter asks how the injury happened - come on people, I am smart enough to know how to abuse my children without getting caught, HELLO!) and this was her story:
     "It was my turn to help Miss Laura take out the trash, and on the way back inside Eli said the last one           to the door is a rotten egg! So we all started running. I tripped and fell because of my flip flops. So I wasn't a rotten egg, I was a cracked egg."

I have no words for where she gets her sense of humor. What five year old says that kind of thing? Was it the kiddie crack they gave her? Who knows, but it was beyond funny to me.

We left for vacation with her arm in a temporary cast that couldn't get wet and she was ADAMANT that it not get wet. I was kind like eh, who cares, you're getting another one on Wednesday, but my little rule follower wouldn't budge. We went to the beach and she refused to put her swimsuit on. I couldn't get it through her head that just because the suit was on didn't mean she had to go in the water. Rob's stepmom coaxed her into at least going with us to the beach, but she told her she could keep her clothes on. An hour before we left the beach she let me strip her clothes off and put her suit on. I felt so bad for her!
The first two nights of vacation BLEW. I wanted to go home. Rob's dad and stepmom rented a cottage in Saugatuck for the two of them, Rob, me and our two kids and then Rob's brother, his wife and their two kids who are 8 and 6. We all had our own rooms, and they were spacious - but when one kid wakes up in a room, both wake up. My kids are usually capable of sleeping through a huge storm. I like it that way because, let's face it, Rob is not exactly what I consider a quiet person and in our house full of hardwood floors, his booming man voice echoes even if he ATTEMPTS being quiet. Nobody besides me in this house has knowledge of an indoor voice. So night #1 Kendall wakes up because her arm hurts, then she has to pee and I have to help her b/c she broke her right wrist and she's right handed and she didn't have the one arm thing down pat yet. Then we get back to be and she's whimpering in pain, so Brenym decides that we should all party down at 3 a.m. NO WAY LITTLE BOY. Night number two was about the same. Thankfully, my husband is an early riser and I was able to sleep in while he got up with them in the morning. The rest of the nights weren't that bad, Brenym always wakes up at least once so that wasn't surprising.
Thursday was probably the best day for me. While the big guys golfed, Nana stayed at the cottage while Brenym slept and my sister in law and me and the 3 older kids went on the Dunes. We also made some tie dye shirts for my first time ever and it was fun. More on those stories later.....maybe i'll put some pictures up too!

what lies beneath.....

Don't Tell My Mom!!!!

I have 3 tattoos. Ouch. The first one I got because I was a rebellious 17 year old and I was always told I could never get a tattoo (i sure showed them huh? - stupid kids) and I felt cool that I found some CLEAN place (I swear mom, it was clean, I do NOT have the HIV) that would "pretend" I was 18. I am glad that almost NOBODY sees this tattoo. I mean, besides when I walk around downtown Detroit with my pants down....other than that, nobody sees it. Yes, it's on my low low hip, hidden by my granny pannies. Ugh, what was I thinking? I can still remember someone telling me "don't get something you'll regret......"but I was SO SMART and I knew everything - just like all 17 year olds, right? Oh and it's a fish with bubbles coming up - superb artistry right?

Tattoo #3 is the Zodiac sign for my daughter, which is Capricorn. It's on the side of my left food. It is TINY. But it hurt like nobody's business. Like, I'd rather give birth again than get another tattoo on my foot. But this tattoo, I do not regret one bit. It has meaning and I love it. I tried to tell my friend Jennifer of the immense pain that I endured with this tattoo, but she did not listen to me. Go to her HILARIOUS blog HERE. I honestly felt bad for her during our lunch, she was in serious pain. But the end result was worth it she says.

Yes I know, I did them out of order, but tattoo #2 was the one I had redone so I wanted it last. It's my blog so I'll do it in whatever order I want! So, when I was actually 18 (instead of almost 18) my best friend and I both got rose tattoos with the stem through the heart. I was a tanning bed addict - so my rose tattoo was REDONE once at age 23 and it still looked like I had had it for 80+ years. I wanted a change, something with some meaning, but I was SCARED STIFF to get the one on my foot changed. So I decided that I would get this flower changed. I am still friends with the girl who has the other tattoo - and I have no regrets with it, I was just ready for something else. 

So on our lunch hour a few weeks ago, I was re "inked" (which I guess is the new cool way to refer to tattoos, but who knows, i'm old and not down with the lingo). Both of my children were born in December, but they have different Zodiac signs (dang it!) So, what I now wear on my right shoulder is a Blue Daffodil. The Daffodil is the month of December flower, and the blue is for the stone of December - blue topaz. So this one now represents BOTH of my awesome, beautiful, much loved children. And the girl who did the cover up tattoo, drew it on me. She was AWESOME. 

And even though I am all grown up, I was still nervous to tell my mom! So Rob's big mouth blurted it out at a family gathering. My mom is old school when it comes to tattoos, so she'll never say she LIKES them, but she did say it's pretty....I guess that's better than the month she wouldn't talk to me when she found out about the first two, right????

where in the world have i been?

Sorry y'all - with Rob working 60 hours a week AND taking two on line classes and our laptop broke - my time on the home computer is limited!!!! and, let's face it, when he doesn't get done with homework until 11 at night - i'm already comfy on the couch and I don't wanna post :) But hopefully next week that will change since Rob ordered the iPad2 - i think he may have whizzed his pants when he hit submit. I'm sure we will fight over it at first.....I tried telling him he could only order one if he got a pink case for it - I was kidding of course!!!

What else has happened in the last two months......well the weather finally got nice so we've been outside a lot. Just like his big sister, Brenym screams bloody murder when it's time to come inside. I love a good deal, who doesn't right? Well, my mom had gotten some of those Step2 play things second hand when Kendall was younger - then my cousin borrowed them for his son - and now we have them back at our house for Brenym - talk about money well spent! And they are in excellent condition still. Brenym has no fear, he climbed right up the second my dad and Rob had it put together. Another good find was a cozy coupe on craigslist for $5 - and it came with a little gas pump too! I'd been looking for awhile b/c I really didn't want to shell out $50 for something that might only get used once......plus everyone on line said it took a few hours to put together and as I said earlier - rob doesn't have a ton of spare time and i do not consider myself a handy-woman by any stretch of the term. When Rob went to pick the coupe up, the guy said that almost 50 people had emailed him about it but I was the only person that gave my phone number to him :) SCORE!!!!

Kendall had a final preschool graduation - the excitement of that has wore off for me since it's her THIRD preschool graduation......but then I got thinking, THIS IS IT, next year she's a big kindergartner! We had her orientation for kindergarten about a month ago and even though I wasn't liking the fact that I knew NO PARENTS or kids at the school she's going to - we realized that a kid from her preschool and a girl from her dance class will be in her class! We are finally meeting people on this end of town - which is nice. Kendall has her dance recital tomorrow - and it might be her last one as she told me that she wants to try her hand at gymnastics. I signed her up for a summer session of gymnastics so that if she doesn't like it - it's only 8 weeks long instead of the whole year.

Brenym - he is Kendall's COMPLETE opposite when it comes to sleep. Unlike Kendall, who will still take a nap and will sometimes TELL US that she wants to nap - and she sleeps about 12-14 hours at night....brenym likes to sleep about 8 hours at night and SOMETIMES takes a 2 hour nap. And oh yeah 8 hours at night seems like plenty compared to a newborn.....but it's not 8 straight hours....it's like 2 and then he screams for his pacifier (don't judge, yes he's 18 months and still has it.....MOMMY.NEEDS.SLEEP and his dr said he wasn't too worried about it) and then he might sleep a 1/2 hour and then scream for his pacifier. you get the picture. and i know you are thinking, well, let him cry, um, yeah - tried that, he will scream and scream and scream and scream. for HOURS. i can't handle it. and when kendall didn't sleep good at night or take a nap - she was a BEAST CHILD. brenym - lack of sleep doesn't even phase him. he plays awesome by himself. by himself, with himself, whatever, he's a boy and the boy bits float in the bathtub and he finds it hilarious. he is completely like his sister when it comes to food - eats anything and everything you put in front of him. and when he's hungry - he stands in front of the fridge. one of his favorites - which is i think is DIS.GUST.ING is frozen peas. and yes he eats them frozen (unlike my friend Lynee' who eats frozen FRENCH FRIES ~ gross) and our freezer is one of those drawer on the bottom kind - so when i open the freezer he darts for the kitchen and screams for peas. whatever - i guess it's better than screaming for cookies. he terrorizes our dumb cats to no end. and i say dumb because the cats don't run from him. even after he just got done sitting on them horse style - they just lay there and wag their tail. i quit yelling at him for it - if they're small pea brains don't tell them to run when the kid gets off them - they deserve to be ridden like horses. we have a cat door so they can hide from the kids in the basement - well B learned quickly that he also fits in this door.

both the kids love water also. they love taking baths, the lake and I'm hoping they like the pool at grandma and grandpa's.

i'll get some pics up this weekend - but most of you see the good ones on facebook anyways!

But I don't know how to sleep

What a weekend. On Friday ~ Kendall lost her first tooth at her dad's! Her dad let me know that she had lost it - so I made sure to let the Tooth Fairy know. When she got home she had her tooth in a baggy and was oh so proud. She ran out of daddy's car and he was like hey where's my hug peanut? She said "daddy says we have to put it under my pillow and the tooth fairy will leave me 20 bucks." Good to see daddy has a sense of humor - but THIS fairy is on a budget! :) I told her to hurry and put it under her pillow before we forgot and I cannot even begin to describe to you the priceless look on her face when she lifted her pillow and saw money there. She turned around sooooo slooow and her eyes were filled with surprise that I have never seen before. She RAN to Rob and said "the tooth fairy already knew!" PRICELESS. Goes to show that GOOD COMMUNICATION between parents that aren't together is KEY to a happy kid.

Saturday, Kendall's friend from daycare spent the night. M is everything I hope Kendall is when she isn't around me. She was polite to ALL of us. She is not shy at all. I remember when I was younger and spent the night at my friend's - if I wanted something I always asked the mom, NEVER the dad. Dad's were off limits (and I don't know why b/c my dad is the shyest quietest thing ever so it's not like men scared me). Not M - while I was busy making dinner, she had no problem going right to Rob to ask him to help her put a barbie outfit on, for something else to drink or anything else that Kendall made her do. I did have to talk to Kendall about her bossiness. She gets that from me because I was always getting sent to my room for bossing Becky around. Beck and I had an understanding that if she wanted to play with me - she did as I said. Geez oh pete's I was a meanie! Anywho - they had a blast and M made us laugh a few times. Once, while Rob was going to the bathroom with the door SHUT - she just walked right in - Rob was like um hey I'm going potty and she said oh it's okay I'm just grabbing something. I attempted to go shoo her out of the bathroom but I was on the flooring laughing my arse off. I hope none of Brenym's friends EVER do that to me! Then when it was time for bed she told me "i don't know how to go to bed." Nice try honey - but I don't play this game. So I told her that was fine, but she could NOT bug Kendall. She said "well i'm not closing my eyes." again - that is fine, but your mouth does need to stay shut. They fell asleep in like 30 minutes and slept pretty good. They played "dance" and let me tell you that Kendall is MUCH better at her dance routine this year - but the parts she is the BEST at - is when she SHAKES THAT BOOTY. She does NOT dance like a white girl. I gave her and M my camera and here are some of their fab shots.

 i guess they are gangster?

 how bout some zoom girls?

 finally settled down and eating popcorn

 brenym didn't bug them too much - but he loves it on the couch!

I couldn't help but laugh at his "poor me" face - she was combing his hair and if he tried to get up - she pulled him back down by his shoulder

Some'r teef

PERFECT day!

I couldn't have asked for more of a perfect day. This morning Kendall and I rode the local Bunny Train - it was a first for both of us since we've never ridden a train. Even though it's slow movin - we had a great time. Kendall's favorite part was when they brought around huge easter baskets and the kids were able to pick a "gift". She chose a blue bunny with a purple carrot on his belly - and she appropriately named hers, Purple Carrot.

Kendall doing the chicken dance in the aisle

When we got home it was super nice and sun shiny out so we played outside. We ran around the backyard - okay, they ran and I "walked fast." Don't judge - Brenym had one of his worst nights of sleep ever - I'm tired! We played on the swingset and took a walk. It is 615 in the evening and BOTH the kids have been napping for 45 minutes. I can hardly get Brenym to take one good nap in a day and today he's on his second and Kendall hardly ever naps anymore - proof to this mom that it was a GOOD day. *I must add that it's proof of a good day spent outdoors when I am required to use my stain remover on the knees of Kendall's pants and the behind of Brenym's pants. It's still kinda muddy and gross in our backyard. And for those of you who know how much I LOVE DIRT......it says a LOT that I told Kendall "it's okay, it washes".....but ew gross don't touch mommy with your dirty hands - go touch Rob is what I was thinking....

just some pictures