ABCs

So Brendan's new teacher this year seems to be wonderful for him. We do miss Ms. Mary a lot though! She seemed to have a better sense of humor. They're working on writing letters and he writes his As really well and they're working on Bs now. He LOVES drawing them for us all the time on his magna doodle. I don't know if she's correcting how he holds a pen/pencil/crayon. Most of the time he doesn't hold it correctly. His teacher told us that he did very well on his counting check the other day. He had to count to 15 and he did it :-) She said next they'll work up to 20 I think. We told her he can count to 30 but he usually says twenty-ten. He is seriously cute most of the time. I hate that I keep focusing on the bad stuff. Most of the time I'm probably to blame for getting annoyed cause he's interrupting an iPod game. As if that's important. Ugh. I have an iPod addiction I'm trying to kick. One of his cutest sayings at the moment is "That'd be good." Usually said after he says "let's go watch... (insert name of movie we'll be watching for the millionth time here)". And he pats you on the shoulder when he says it. He also recently become aware of all of our friends who come over. If he hasn't seen someone in a while, he says "hi, I'm Brendan, these are my friends Mom, Dad, and Kaylee". So cute! I'm still mourning the fact that I'm Mom instead of Mommy by the way. Seriously don't know why/how that happened. He is confused about pronouns at the moment. We try to get him to call everyone Mr. or Miss. Like our friend Aaron is Mr. Aaron to him (usually pronounced Misser Awon). But he seems to have a lot of trouble calling the girls Miss. Not sure why. Maybe cause they're not his teacher? Cause he's never had a problem calling teachers Miss. And when he does get the concept, he usually says Mr. Go figure.

Kaylee is her normal happy-go-lucky self. Her new thing is pointing out eyes, noses, and mouths. But she tries to poke your eye out when she does it! And she'll point out eyes, but then she wants you to touch her nose and mouse (as she says it, lol). She still loves her elephants. And I'm still in search of a twin size bed set with elephants (there are literally two that aren't circus or jungle animals, just elephants). She LOVES to say Hi and Bye to everyone. Star is another favorite word cause they're singing Twinkle Twinkle at school. It was funny the other day cause we went to pick her up and she said something (maybe star, can't remember) and her teacher said "hey, she does talk!". We were dumbfounded cause it's hard to shut her up most days. Lol. She's also started saying "I silly" probably because she hears brother say it 20 times a day.

I think that's all I've got for now. Hope everyone is doing well!

I got bit!

We just came inside from checking the mail and Kaylee obviously did not want to come inside. She bit me hard enough that I'm gonna be bruised. She doesn't get enough of a nap at school but takes forever to fall asleep if I try to put her down for a nap after school. I'm sure that's part of why she bit me. Frustration and overtiredness are never a good combination.

Anyway... Other than that, school seems to be going well for both kiddos so far this year. Although I am going to email Brendan's teacher just to make sure he's on his best behavior. Cause he definitely is NOT at home most days. We're working on him, but it's tough. The latest fights seem to be over getting out too many toys and not putting them up. And he is such a Mr. Bossypants right now! I think it's cause that's all he hears all day long is us barking orders to him. But I really don't like being ordered around by a 4 year old. It's funny, I LOVED working in the four year old class at VBS for years. I am finding parenting one to be a lot more challenging. He has his sweet moments of course, but it's a tough time in life right now. He actually got optional homework from school, lol. We'll try to get it done but since we've got a busy weekend, so it won't be till Sunday or Monday.

Kaylee LOVES all things elephant right now. So I've decided that will be the theme for her birthday party. http://www.bigdotofhappiness.com/elephantbirthdaytheme.html Isn't that adorable?! I need to get on that and order it soon. Time gets away from me all the time these days! Kaylee carries an elephant around with her almost everyday. When you ask what's that, she says elepha (usually the n and t aren't audible). Then you ask her what sound does an elephant make? Then you have to make the sound for her, and she'll do it back to you. So cute! I can't believe she'll be two next month.

4 Year Checkup

Brendan did SO much better at this doctor's appointment than any other doctor appointment. He didn't cry and squirm a whole bunch when the doctor was looking at his ears. Definitely a HUGE improvement. And I seriously think all the credit goes to that Doc McStuffins show we watch a lot. I really love Disney Channel for adding that show. Now if UVerse would just add Disney Junior... but I digress. But now I feel a whole lot better about scheduling a dentist appointment for him. He would've been miserable a year ago. 

Everything is looking great. Brendan is now 36 lbs, 6 oz and 40.25 inches tall. He is right in the middle on weight and height charts. They took his blood pressure again and it was 90/62 and heart rate was 115 bpm. They also did a hearing and vision test today. I was kinda shocked. I seriously don't know how they measured the hearing test. It was just me, Brendan, and the nurse in the room and she told him to look at me and tell me when he heard a noise in the headphones. It ended up that we had to watch him for a sign of recognition. Don't think that was accurate, but then again, I don't think he has ever had a hearing problem. Then the vision test was odd too. He knows his letters very well and yet they made him do the little kid vision test. And some of those shapes are quite odd. And instead of just an outline, each picture had other lines in it to make it look strange. Reminded me of the art in the Watership Down cartoon except in black and white. In trying to Google an image to show you what I mean, I discovered that LEA symbols are typically used. THOSE would've made more sense. There was one picture that I think was supposed to be a cow and he said dog. It was very weird. So it was a coffee mug, a house, the dog/cow, and I can't remember the other two. 

I do like this pediatrician's office for several things, but there's still things I'm not too sure about. I really hate changing docs though. Today's weirdness was partially with one of the nurses. She was going through our history and double-checking a few things (finally! see Kaylee's last checkup to see my beef about that) and Brendan kept talking to me. Well duh, he's four, he chatters. But she kept looking annoyed that I was talking to him! That's really aggravating. And then later I asked the doctor about his teeth grinding. Absolutely no help. "Just use gentle reminders not to do that." Ugh. What do you think I've been doing for four months?! I've tried everything short of threatening the kid's life! <-- Exaggeration, but it is driving me up the wall! And with veggies, he was all "Well, this is an age where you can bribe him to eat four bites or no dessert." Wow. I have enough trouble getting him to finish the stuff he does like. I don't like fighting about food, so I just don't with him. He'll eat well later in life and when we get past some of these other frustrating things, I might push the veggie thing. For now, he's taking a vitamin and drinking V8 fusion juice and eating Mott fruit snacks that have veggies in them too. And he's growing beautifully. Our doc is very laid back and there are times when I just can't tell if he doesn't wanna be there or if he's just really that mellow. 

Life

Life has gotten to a point where I feel like I do the same thing most days. Ever feel like that? Also to where I feel like I get very little accomplished. 

In that vein... I feel like most days with our sweet son are negative. I don't start each day thinking he is on my last nerve, but I end almost every day like that. He has his moments where he is very sweet but he also has a lot of angry moments. He is grinding his teeth constantly right now. This is definitely the greatest source of my frustration right now. I thought when he started doing it (again, you know, not like in his teething days) that he was trying to be funny cause Kaylee was since she was teething. But somehow it has grown into this monstrous thing that he does most of the day every day. Something I will definitely talk to our pediatrician about. And no... we still haven't taken him to the dentist. He is awful for doctors and haircuts, I'm truly terrified to take him to the dentist. But I digress. I think he grinds his teeth when he is concentrating, when he is nervous or anxious, and most definitely when he is mad and upset. There are many days when I wonder if taking naptime away was a good or bad idea. And if there is any correlation to his current behavior issues.

Sunday we had a big meltdown. Brendan got a new Spiderman toy this weekend and he left it lying on the floor. Well, Kaylee, doing what little sisters do best, went and picked it up and it was instantly a baby doll for her (really hysterical to watch by the way). Brendan, doing what big brothers do best, took it from her. I told him to give it back cause we don't take toys from each other. He got very angry and did what I'm now dubbing his angry dance. And for the second time in his life, I sent him to his room. Which means making him go upstairs and putting up the baby gate so he doesn't come right back down. He started bawling and saying please as soon as he heard the "Doc McStuffins" songs on the TV so I let him come back down after being up there for maybe 10 minutes. He's just gotten to point where has to be removed to calm down.

So now for a sweet story so I don't feel like I'm once again dwelling on all the negative stuff he's doing. Doc McStuffins is the kids new favorite show on TV. It has this girl whose nickname is doc because she always fixes everyone's toys. It is a fantastic show that I hope Brendan is picking up stuff from because she is always telling the toys it's ok when they need a checkup and they sing an adorable song before each checkup. And the "patients" always sing a song when Doc makes them feel better at the end. So one day Brendan had a cut or something and Daddy fixed him up. So Brendan starts singing "I feel better, so much better. Thank you Daddy for taking all my ouchies away". I almost started crying. So sweet! Side note: I'm still not sure (after a million viewings) if the song says "ouchies" or "ouches". I love that show and love that both kids love singing along. Makes me happy :-)

A couple of more sweet moments with Brendan: He loves Snow White now. We went to Burger King and got crowns in the kids' meals and I asked him if he wanted to watch a prince movie. So we watched Snow White and halfway through he says "I want to marry a princess". Oh, how my heart melts! The kids have also gotten attached to Apple Jacks so I've started pouring a bowl for them for breakfast each morning. Well, rather than pouring two bowls, I usually just put one out. Brendan is usually the first to grab it but after a gentle warning that he better share with Kaylee, he almost always does. I love hearing him ask "Kaylee, do you want some Apple Jacks?". Sweet big brother :-)

Kaylee is hysterical. She is our little ham right now. She is as happy-go-lucky as a kid should be. She makes us smile and laugh a lot. She makes THE funniest faces and I wish I could capture them all on film. Ever seen that baby on YouTube that will laugh hysterically and then make the meanest face you've ever seen? I've seen Kaylee do that. She won't do it on command like the YouTube baby though, lol. And even though I make her sound like a perfect angel, she does have her share of tantrums and bad moments. Hers usually relate to her being overtired though. She does require her beauty sleep. The one thing getting on my nerves about her at the moment is her crib rail covers. I loved those things when I got them for Brendan. It made him stop making dents in the crib rail from using it as a teething toy. Kaylee, from the time she could stand, discovered that she could pull fuzz from the underneath side of them. I thought it was from a blanket at first but finally saw her do it one night. She constantly has fuzz on her pajamas. I don't want to take them off though in case she decides to use the rail for a teething toy. 

Brendan and I both just celebrated birthdays. He turned 4 and I turned 30. So hard to believe on both counts. My birthday trip to Vegas was awesome. But please, someone explain to me why on earth people take their children to Vegas?! It is quite possibly the worst place to take a child for SO many reasons. I saw so many miserable babies in strollers with pink cheeks cause it was so hot outside. 

A sad week this week cause my Great Aunt Ruby died on Saturday. Me, Mom, Shannon, and Matthew are flying to Arkansas for the funeral, flying up one day and flying back the next. My poor kiddos are gonna be very confused with me being gone again. Ruby was the last blood-related grandmother figure in my life. Looking forward to seeing family, even if it is under grim circumstances. I see that part of the family so rarely. Really glad we got to visit Ruby last summer and she got to meet our kids. 

18 month checkup

Kaylee had her 18 month checkup at 19 months. Lol. We don't like doing things on time around here. Correction, I almost never do things on time. Procrastinator extraordinaire right here! But anyway... Shocked that we didn't talk much about her asthma since we saw a different doc for that appointment. She weighs 25 lbs, 9.6 oz, she is 33.25 inches tall, and her head circumference is 19.094 inches. I don't think (I'd have to go back and look) she gained much weight but she got taller for sure. She also had to have two shots. Poor baby. I like our doc, I really do. I am getting frustrated with the fact that their office considers what the American Academy of Pediatrics says to be biblical. I feel like a terrible parent every time I walk out of there. My kids drink juice (watered down every time) and they watch more than an hour of TV a day. Both kids were in forward-facing car seats on their first birthday. I keep my children safe and they eat and sleep. These are the things I care about the most. Brendan has been taking a vitamin every day since he turned two (I think that's when we started that) because I know he doesn't eat well. I know he'll eat better (more variety) later, my brother and I are perfect examples of that. I'm also getting frustrated that with both children I have to answer questions that won't (shouldn't) change EVERY time we go in there. Like "are there smoke detectors in the home", "does anyone smoke in the home", and "do you have stairs". It's really ridiculous. I feel like our old office understood that every kid is different, every home is different, and every parent doesn't raise their kids to the letter of the law. Sorry, had to vent.

One day soon... hopefully... I'm gonna gather up all of Kaylee and Brendan's stats and compare. I'm pretty sure she weighed more all along the way, but not sure if she's taller than he was at this age. Very curious about it though.

Until next time!

Picture Post

Time to catch up on some pictures. I will not post near as many as I should to actually catch up but I'll pick my favorites to post for each kiddo. Considering I haven't posted a single picture on here in 18 months, I might crash Blogger if I tried, hehe. (For whoever is keeping score, I narrowed it down to 76.)

The proverbial Daddy and baby pic. This time playing Xbox instead of the computer.

Kaylee with Great Mamaw

Brendan right after a haircut and Daddy's fuzzy beard he was growing for Ren Fest.

Propped up and not too sure as to why.

Hey brother, whatcha doin?

Christmas morning

I love how Kaylee looks like she's looking at our cat in the background.

Papaw, Nana, and Kaylee

Brendan liked our White Elephant gift.

Aww... cute sibling cuddle time

One of my favorite pictures from the park that day.

Look how well I can hold my head up at 4 months old!

Cute brother and sister pic in their brother and sister shirts.

Family Christmas picture

3 month pic

4 month

5 month

Love that grin!

This was the best we could get of them together. So silly.

Great smile. 6 month pics, I'll have to find the rest of what we did for her monthly pics. We didn't make it the full year. She'll probably hold that over my head when she's older. Sigh.

Cute hat pic

Cute dress pic

Swinging at the park and Grandma photo-bombing, hehe.

Easter 2011

Aren't they adorable?

Brendan's first school performance. As soon as he saw me and Grandma, it was all over. Shortly after this he ran off stage to us.

Chilling by the lake in Arkansas.

Brendan had a lot of fun feeding the goats and deer.

He did NOT want to touch the baby alligators though!

Uncle Matthew had fun meeting his niece on the Arkansas trip.

Brendan's 3rd birthday party.

His awesome cupcake cake from WalMart.

Kaylee giggling on July 4th.

Brendan geared up to play in the sprinkler in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard.

Proof that my hubby still gets to skydive... sometimes...

Preparing for his jump.

There he is, coming in for a landing!

This was the best shot I could get of Kaylee's first day of school.

Kaylee's 1st birthday!

Family (minus Brendan) pic

All ready for cake! (Actually, cupcakes made by me!)

She helped a little bit with opening her gifts.

She loves her coat that her Great Aunt Karen and Great Grandma gave her. (This was the only non-blurry pic, she smiled in a blurry one of course.)

Butterflies on a trip to Moody Gardens in Galveston.

Aunt Shannon is really good at picking up butterflies.

I could not believe how close we could get to that monkey. Kind of scary actually.

Cute bow :-)

Bat Girl!

Batman!

At cousin Blake's 2nd birthday party.

My awesome turkey creation for Thanksgiving. These were fun to make AND delicious.

At a local Christmas tree farm to pick out our tree.

Daddy and Brendan with our tree

Brendan and Kaylee

Brendan had fun sledding on the hay hill. (Hope you get a kick out of this one Susan, this is how we roll in Texas!)

Tried for a cute photo opp. Didn't work.

Putting the star on our beautiful tree. (This tree was the greenest tree we've ever had, definitely going to the farm again next year!)

Kaylee in front of the decorated tree.

Brendan's second school performance. He had a lot more fun. I was at the back and didn't get any good pics from it unfortunately. Video will be posted later!

Family pic at Christmas

Look at all those presents!

Tried to take my own posed pics of the kids. Didn't work.

This is what greeted us Christmas morning. All they would tell us was that someone down the street wasn't having a good Christmas. I found the incident report later and it was labeled a "mental health incident" or something like that. It wouldn't let me read the report of course.

Kaylee and Mommy on Christmas

My cowgirl and cowboy all dressed up for Go Texan Day!

Easter baskets

In his Sunday best

Kaylee and I on Easter

Daddy and Kaylee

Hunting for eggs

I think Kaylee will enjoy this more next year.

Playing with our cousins from Israel.

Bubbles!

Kaylee didn't leave Grandpa's side much that day.

Playing with kites.

Kaylee wanted to blow bubbles too!

So next will be a video post and any pics I find on the external hard drive to add to the catch-up (forgot to look there). No new stories for now.